writes:
Howdy! My name's Ross Hines, and I go by SavageCoyote on most forums. I've been painting BattleTech miniatures "full time" since about 1999, and have been evolving and hopefully improving since then.
For the first round of the Last Painter Standing II contest, I chose a 'Mech titled Brigand. In the BattleTech Universe, a secret force is helping pirates manufacture a 'Mech that is ideal for pirate activates. Light, cheap, reasonably fast with a large punch for its size, the twenty-five-ton Brigand delivers. After discovering the first round was a "well worn" themed round, I was immediately drawn to this little guy. In the BattleTech Universe, pirates aren't always able to re-supply their 'Mechs, and paint is the last thing on a pirates to-steal list.
With that in mind, I took out the miniature - whose original pose was less than dynamic, and wouldn't strike any fear into some landlubber. I cut and filed down all of the pieces to erase casting lines, cleaned the pieces and then set to work.
The 'Mech itself came in a multitude of small parts, with the torso/leg section as a piece, each arm, each hand, the two rear jumpjets, and the two torso-mounted lasers. Before assembly, I took a pair of clippers and cut the left leg free of both the body and the base, then trimmed the area around the base so I could pose it better on the hexbase. I then added a small amount of green clay (I don't think it's the "greenstuff") to the area I cut the leg from, to stand-in as the hip actuator. From there, I glued the main 'mech body in, and then quickly added the left leg and positioned them until they were in a more dynamic pose. I then completed assembly - assembling the right arm outwards to achieve the pose, though I left off its hand.
So, with the pirate concept running in my head, I also decided that any good pirate would keep a weapon around just in case everything went haywire. So my pirate decided he would uproot a large telephone pole/wood beam/tree (in fiction, the 'Mechs are between 25-35 feet tall, or 10-or-so meters high) to carry around with him. I accomplished this by clipping a toothpick down to the desired length and then fitting the loose hand around it, bending the fingers so it looked like he was grasping it, and then gluing the hand to the arm.
Now, we can get to the painting! I initially base my miniatures by brushing on Testors Model Master Flat Black.
From there, I took a large #1 flat brush and Games Workshop Ghostly Grey, and heavily drybrushed the miniature. This helps to define the panel lines, while giving a brighter base for the actual color you want to use. Just remember that you don't want to go too far; there is a reason I started with black!
