Little Red Wagon of DOOOOM! Part 1

Khador Gun Carriage Part 1

So my friend Erik somehow keeps roping me into painting models for him instead of for myself ;P If you look back through the blog (try clicking the Warmahordes  or Khador label on the right hand side of your screen) you can also see the Sorcha and Harkevich models I have done for him.

Truth is I owe this guy big time for taking care of my house when I am away, for the incredible amount of time and care he puts into the local hobby community and lots more besides. Erik is a genuine friend who deserves nothing less than a few super cool minis.




Anyhoo - he got a gun carriage which is one pretty darn cool model and something I am actually eager to paint. It also gives me an opportunity to create a cool tutorial on snow basing so win/win (until I have to battle him, in which case it is almost always a loss for me - Erik is easily one of the best players in our local meta - but at least ill get to see some nice looking models clobber me!)

So I started off with basic assembly and a coat of GW Chaos Black primer. Khador red P3 paint loaded into my airbrush with just a little water and Windex and we were of to the races building up layers of opacity and colour depth.
The result can be seen to the right.

Next up I took GW Warplock Bronze and basecoated ALL bare metal areas.

Please take note good reader - This is how I start ALL metallics that I do (Alclad2 Lacquers being the only exception). I find that the base of Warplock Bronze (formerly Tin Bitz) gives additional warmth and depth to my metallic tones.  I also took Vallejo Air 71042 Camo Black Brown and sponged some chipping across the piece. Wanting it to look worn and a little beat, I stippled and roughly layered the metallics with translucent coats of Reaper Master Series 9196 Aged Pewter and a little of a brighter metallic (probably P3 Cold steel and quicksilver) and added the same inside of some of the larger paint chips suggesting scraped through to bare metal. I also took a 4b pencil and started adding scratches and adjusting the tones of some of the metallic areas as well as hitting all the rivet heads. Once done I dull coated the whole thing and then reapplied a little pencil here and there. Pencil is fun to use on models - I highly recommend giving it a try. Next I used a bit of Forgeworld Dark Iron weathering powder on the big barrels and a few other areas sealing it in place with pigment fixer.

I added further tones to the metal using some AK Interactive enamel washes (mostly tracks wash and OIF wash IIRC). When I painted up the stowage I used some of the same washes on them to give a cohesive tonal feel. I also used some Tamiya "smoke" to add a wet oil look to some stains and around the swivel areas of the cannon joints. If I were to redo this piece I wouldn't have done the stains with these - just the joints - for the stains/streaks I definitely would have used enamel streaking washes because the give a more natural look - but hey this still looks pretty good and I do like the slight glossiness of it in contrast to the flat red.

Horses were finished in the same manner with the flesh being painted in camp black brown blended up into Vallejo Game Colour beasty brown. Nothing fancy - just some good simple techniques with a modicum of control and flair. Next though, I would need to build it a nice base that would help to elevate the presentation and make it a worthy centerpiece/attention grabber on the table......

All ready in fresh holiday red for Santa Harkevich to ram some cheer down Cygnarian chimneys ;)

Next Week - HOW TO MAKE EASY AND AWESOME SNOW BASES!