USAriadna: Maverick

Maverick... not Goose.

Well, I finished another model today.  

I'm going to count it as two- because it was so tricky to paint.

Smirking gun.

I experimented with a few different techniques.  Chiefly non metallic metal.

NMM- sort of.

It was a long, painful, involved process and I'm trying to think of better ways of doing it.

Attempting break lights... with some success.

I'm reasonably pleased with how she has turned out for a first time attempt.

Dials.

Now for a few abbreviated step by steps....


Non Metallic Metal

The best tutorial I could find on the internet is this one:  Empire Greatsword.

I essentially copied his technique as closely as possible... though my blends have not turned out as well.

You will need a wet palette as there is a fair amount of mixing and thinning needed.

You wil also need a high definition reference picture to see where the highlights and shadows have been applied (I just google imaged 'USAriadna Maverick'.

Stage 1: VGC Cold Grey

Leave the black lines alone.

Stage 2: Highlights/ Shades

Progressive highlighting/ darkening.

There's an alternating process- adding a bit of white to the VGC Cold Grey and painting where the light would catch.  Then adding a bit of black to the VGC Cold Grey and painting the 'shadows'.

This process is then repeated- with more white (and alternately more black added) to highlight the highlights and shadow the shadows.

Stage 3: Glazing

Post glazing

In order to try and capture a 'blue steel' look to the metal, I glazed the metal with a very thin film of thinned out VMC Prussian Blue.

Stage 4: Final Highlights/ Shadows

Using (almost) pure white and pure black (for the black lining).


Painting Windshields at 28mm Scale

Gem... but in reverse.

There are some windshield tutorials out there but they are mostly for 15mm vehicles.

I found an excellent 28mm windshield WIP on this blog- but it was far beyond my skill to replicate.

The best summary was on lead-adventure which basically said- "Gems but in reverse."

I started with Citadel Kantor Blue and painted it on as a base coat.  Then I added some black to it and painted it into the bottom diagonal third of the wind shield.

Progressive blue highlights

I then successively highlighted up towards the top left hand corner using thinned out Citadel Teclis Blue, Lothern Blue and finally highlights with Baharroth Blue and Blue Horror.

Highlights on the upper edge where it catches the light.

Periodically, I would mix two blues, thin them out- and then paint over the transition zone to smooth it out.

The headlights I painted with base coat of VMC English Uniform, added some black for shading the bottom right corner, then added some yellow for the top left corner.  I finally highlighted with some VMC Dark Sand.


Painting Dials

Keep it simple.

I painted the dials with VMC Dark Sand and then washed it with thinned down Citadel Brown Ink.

I then use some thinned Black and a fine tipped brush to put the arms in on the dials.


Conclusion

A worthy experiment- but I'm looking forward to something a lot more straight forward to paint in the near future.

Until next time.