After my recent 3rd place at Data Spheres Q2 painting competition, I decided to enter in the subsequent comp for Q3 as well. The theme for their current challenge is Infinity Specialists - so Doctors, Hackers, Medics, Forward Observers and Engineers first and foremost. But which one will it be for my PanO?
PanOceania has a couple of specialists, although I'm not particularly fond of most of their sculpts. Especially their support pack - the engineer and the trauma doc - are not really my thing. They also use the old style of armour, which I'm trying to avoid with all new additions to my current collection. But since I'm actually in need of some more specialists for the ITS escalation league we're running, I needed to find an alternative.
Looking around the other factions' ranges, I quickly settled on my new trauma doc:
It's Machaon from Aleph, a sculpt that caught my eye even before I got back into Infinity. All he needs is a proper PanO paintjob and he'll look the part, since his armour doesn't differ too much from the standard PanOceania fusilier, with boots similar to those of the Hexa's.
So I layed down a blue basecoat with my airbrush and added some highlights, using some Vallejo Model Air and Game Air for the first time.
Blacklining
All well and good, so let's refine the armour a bit. I blacklined the armour plates with a mix of Abaddon Black and the Vallejo Model Air Blue. Now, blacklining is something I've rarely done before and only added to my set of techniques recently. It helps to bring out separate armour panels, as well as make details pop even more than with your standard washes. It's also not easy to do - think of it as taking washes to the next level. Every beginner can do a wash and get some definition from it. With blacklining, you do the definition in the most controlled way possible - by taking a very fine brush and painting those lines in by hand. You'll need very good control of your brushwork, a steady hand and the proper liquidity of your colour to pull it off.
This is what I got after blacklining:
To add to the now defined areas I went on and highlighted them by adding some Vallejo Electric Blue and then pure white to the mix.
Next time, I'll block the other colours in and will start highlighting them.
Looking good so far Kenza, good luck for another podium finish!
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks, man. I'm not sure I'll be able to pull it off this time. The other two winners are in it again and there's some newcomers who are very talented painters, too.
DeleteI, on the other hand, am swamped with work and got a vacation coming up. But that won't keep me from rsing up to the challenge. :)