I just finished painting an Inquisitorial Acolyte (non-GW) and thought I would try making an animated GIF to show the differences between a coat of gloss varnish and a coat of matt.

Give the files some time to load. They are about 1mb each.

The first one shows the model after 3 coats of gloss spray varnish. The second one shows the same model after one coat of Testor’s Dullcote, applied with an airbrush.

This is my first go at taking photos like these and animating them. I used a simple camera setup (tripod and macro lens). Then I drew a circle around the cork the model is on, marked 16 points around the circumference, rotating the cork by one mark per photo. Then I used GIMP to correct the white balance, improve the brightness and scale and crop. Batch processing is a godsend, but anyone know of an easier way to do these?

The model is Lorenzo Cortes from Anima Tactics. I added a bolt pistol and the inquisitorial seal, which is from Forgeworld. I will use him as an Acolyte, with a power fist.

Some larger scale images of Mr Cortes. Click to embiggen:-

Being a huge fan of Testor’s Dullcote (in both its original and reformulated versions), I took the current UK product drought hard. When my last can ran dry – I won’t lie; it wasn’t pretty. Going cold turkey like that left some scars. I had to get more, and fast.

To cut a long and, I now realise, boring, story short I bought some of the Dullcote in liquid form. Would it airbrush?

Yes

That’s pretty much the gist of this post. If you were hoping for more, sorry. I wondered if I would have to thin the Dullcote, so added some white spirit. This was a bad idea, as it turned out, and my test model got the dreaded ‘cloudy white’ finish. Turns out you can airbrush the stuff without thinning. It dries very quickly, and you can see the dulling effect almost immediately (I’m talking about 1 or 2 secs after spraying unless you soak the model, which you shouldn’t do).

And that’s it. Until someone starts selling spray cans again, use the liquid stuff and any airbrush you fancy.

The model you see here (something from Halo) was given two coats of a very gloss varnish (Plaka spray) and then a single coat of Testors using the airbrush. Click on it and take a look at how matt it is.

If the far away wing looks dirtier than the nearest wing, that is because I was trying out some oil washes on it. Looks pretty good, huh?

(The TX-42 squad was also finished off with airbrushed Testor’s)

Finished apart from the varnish, that is. I am now out of Testor’s Dullcote, and cannot find a supplier in the UK who is quoting less than 6 weeks to restock

But in the meantime here are finished Heavy Gun Drones I promised.

As models go, the shield drone is okay. It does the job, but I always thought it was a bit odd that the same shield drone that provided a 4+ armour save to a Pathfinder’ui would also provide a 3+ save to a Battlesuit and a 2+ save to a Broadside.

I already have the Forgeworld DX-4 technical drones, but they lack the sheer bulk implied by a 2+ save. Little floating toasters should not have a 2+ save in 40k.

Then I found this on Forgeworld’s website. It is a Tau Security Orbital from the Battle Fleet Gothic game. I’ve never played BFG, but you get two of these for £8.80, so I ordered them and painted them up (I see all the BFG stuff is “temporarily out of stock” at FW. I wonder what’s up).

In order to ensure that they looked the right scale I decided to use some decals.

I am following a fairly set path for painting my Tau stuff right now. Here’s how I did it:-

1. Usual soapy soak, wash and assembly common to all FW stuff. The resin gate on these things is – annoyingly – right on the smooth curve of the top dome. This has got to be the worst place FW could have put it. Even cutting it off as carefully as I could left an indented area on the top of the model. I could have filled this with greenstuff, but it would have taken ages to smooth it out exactly and I’m just not skilled enough to make it look seamless. So – battle damage it is.

I don’t like the stub at the bottom of the model, and prefer a clear flight rod. I snipped off the stub and drilled a 2mm hole in the centre of the lower dome. A normal GW flight rod fits in.

2. Prime with Plastikote black primer.

3. Paint top and lower domes with Vallejo Earth (GW Graveyard Earth). I watered this down 1:1 with tap water and a touch of washing up liquid. The washing up liquid is the best flow-aid improver I have found for the price! Four light coats is enough for coverage, allowing time to dry (5 mins) between coats.

Shield drones are usually white, but I didn’t think the top dome would look so good if I painted it all white. I tried painting some of the panels in white, but it didn’t work well. Eventually I went with the Vallejo Earth, reasoning that such large drones would warrant the regular army colour scheme.

4. Paint interior with Boltgun Metal. Again watered down 1:1 with a dab of washing up liquid. One coat does the job.

5. Add decals. Paint Microset onto the model. Soak decal for 20 secs and slide it off with a wide, flat brush onto the model. Position it with the brush – gently. If it tears or bunches up, take it off and use another one. One it is in position, apply a liberal amount of Microsol. Wait till it dries. Using a fine scalpel, cut any parts that have bubbles or are over panel lines in the model, or are just not lying flat. Then apply some more Microsol. Wait again till it dries, then using a rounded needle file, gently score and scratch some wear into the decal. Finally, paint the whole top dome with Future floor polish. This helps seal the decals in and stops the weathering layers from softening and lifting them.

Click on the picture at the top for a close up of the decals. Compared to simply using GW’s instructions, the combination of Microsol and Microset is nothing short of miraculous.

6. Weathering. I start with a wash (more like a filter) of black ink (Vallejo), watered down 6:1 with a little washing up liquid. This just darkens the tone of the surface areas, and also gathers in panel lines to shade them. Apply this to the whole model.

7. Apply a thin wash of Asurmen Blue to the metal areas.

8. Drybrush Shining Silver on the metal areas.

9. Paint the lights on the metal areas white and yellow.

10. Using black ink watered down in varying amounts, apply scores and scratches to the top and lower domes with flicks of a no.2 detail brush.

11. Apply MIG pigments. I used Black Smoke. Lots in the ‘damaged’ area of the top dome. Small amounts over each of the ink scratches to soften them and make them look like damage from shooting. A little around the edges, feathering towards the centre. Spray on MIG pigment fixer.

12. Paint lights on top dome.

13. Run the edge of a graphite pencil around the edges of the top and lower dome, to simulate exposed metal.

14. Apply gloss varnish and then Dullcote to knock off the shine. If anyone is any doubt about the quality of the new formulation Testor’s Dullcote, take a look at the finish on these. If anyone knows where you can get the stuff in stock in the UK right now, let me know!

15. Paint gloss varnish on the lights, and it’s done.

See below for a close up and a picture of my Forgeworld XV-88 with his brand new shield drones.