d - Finishing the Hang Glider Frame

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Finalist comicbkguy writes:

Most of the work on this piece is finished. After today's step, all that will be left is detail work.

The Frame

So today the frame of the glider will be completed. My first instinct was to paint the wood on the glider a light color. I had the impulse mainly because (and note I am no expert on wood here, and am probably wrong) I think of lighter-grain woods as being lighter in weight. This to me would be very important for any type of flying machine.

Unfortunately, there are a couple of things very wrong with this idea. First and most importantly it won't read well at all next to the very light canvas color of the wings. Also, perceptions and expectations are important to consider while painting. Although something may make perfect sense to you while you are painting it, your audience may not have the same perception - in fact, they make have a certain expectation. In this case I think a great many (though obviously not all) fans of fantasy minis expect wood to be a darker color. Since I am doing this to present to the general public, I decide to go the conventional route. If this were for my own personal use I might be inclined to experiment a bit more.

With all of this in mind, here is what I did:

I basecoat the frame in a mix of 2 parts Vallejo Burnt Umber, 2 parts GW Scorched Brown, and 1 part GW Chaos Black. For my first highlight I prepare an even mix of just the Umber and the Scorched Brown, 5 parts to 5. I lay this first highlight on fairly heavy but apply each of the next three, which I get by adding 1 part of GW Bleached Bone to the mix three different times, more sparingly. I do this by either following the wood grain in the sculpt or in some areas that were filed, painting it in myself. My final highlight is straight Apple Barrel Caramel Candy. I don't generally use craft paints, but this color is a personal favorite of mine. I find it very versatile and probably use it as a bit of a crutch, which really isn't a very good thing as I might tend to overuse it.

The Ropes

Now I will move on to the ropes which I have been putting off for the last two reports. These things run all over the piece and at this point I will have to be careful as they lay over all three previously completed sections. I very meticulously basecoat them with Vallejo Leather Brown. Some areas of the ropes seem to lose a bit of definition, so as I make my first highlight pass (that I get from adding an equal amount of Vallejo Ivory to my base color), I am careful to paint the rope texture back into those areas. My second and final highlight is mixed by adding more Ivory to the existing mix. Now I know what you are thinking. "Now that he has finally done those ropes, he surely will also do the metallics he has been putting off." Or maybe you weren't thinking that, either way those pesky metals will have to wait for one more report.

Freehand Painting

The final thing I am going to cover is my formerly promised first attempt at freehand painting. Actually you will get to see my first two attempts, and I am infinitely more pleased with the second than the first.

I thought it would be nice to add a bit of a flourish to the piece by giving the pilot confirmed kill markings in the style of a modern fighter pilot. I painted these onto the upper section of the right side of the tail structure. Using simple black paint, I went for a icon-style look instead of trying to actually paint images. I painted an assortment of swords to represent infantry, arrows for missile troops, and horse heads for cavalry.

Upon reflection, I think that the scale of the piece was a bit small for me to try these images. In order to give the pieces detail I was forced to make them larger than they probably should have been.

From the beginning I looked on the pilot as a bit more of a heroic figure than a member of a standard unit. In order to represent this, I wanted to paint the other side of the tail with some type of family crest. I decided on a winged warhammer, as I felt that this respects both his heritage as a dwarf and a pilot.

To start, I paint the basic shape in Chaos Black. I then fill that area with Vallejo Grey Green, being careful to leave a border of black around the entire piece. I shade two more coats over the hammer, first Vallejo Neutral Grey and then Vallejo Sky Grey.

I have decided to use grey instead of metallics, based on the fact that many NMM (non-metal metallics) painters often point out, that two-dimensional painters don’t use metallic paints to achieve a metal look. In the case of this piece I really wasn't going for an NMM look, and didn't put in the kind of thought that would have resulted in proper lighting effects on the hammer, I was just trying to quickly simulate a painted image on a piece that I am painting to get a realistic look. I hope that makes sense (it does to me, anyway).

Next, I fill in the wing area with Vallejo Neutral Grey. I then pick out the actual feather structure in Vallejo Sky Grey and highlight that with Vallejo White.

After finishing the bare bones of the hammer, I decide that it needs more and decide to paint a split shield beneath it with the pilot's family colors on either side of the disc. I begin the same way, basing the circle in black. I then paint the left side GW Red Gore, highlighting with GW Blood Red. I do the same on the right side, using GW Storm Blue and GW Ultramarines Blue.

Overall I am fairly pleased with the results, and feel that considering the very small area I achieved a decent gradation with colors. When you look at the close-up photos, just keep in mind that they are at least magnified ten times, maybe more. I feel that it looks a bit better to the naked eye.

Well, that is it for now. Two more updates to go. The next will cover the gun assembly and all the metallics on the piece, along with any final detailing. After that I will wrap things up by describing the process of sealing and flocking the piece.