Convergence of Cyriss Project

I've had a small lot of Convergence sitting around for the past 8-10 months that I've done very little with. Other projects have taken precedence over it and I could never pull myself away to get back to it.
Recently I acquired a large lot of Convergence that nearly completes the faction and I've got some renewed interest in getting this army up and running. This is going to be a very different project for me as I'm going to attempt to basically paint the entire faction at once. Now, I would never consider doing something like this if I was painting the models to a high standard. No, this is going to be a quick, table top quality job with minimal to no mold line cleaning to get the faction done and onto the table.
Last year when I got my first batch of models for the faction I started brainstorming some paint scheme ideas based off a single color in the Vallejo range, "Gunmetal Blue" or if you prefer.....

(Kids, ask your parents)

I tested out the color on a few pieces and liked the result for the most part but felt the color wasn't as saturated as I would have preferred.

I then got distracted and went onto other things. Finally coming back to it now but I've decided to go with a different blue using Createx's line of wicked airbrush colors.

This color is much more saturated and gives a stronger metallic finish which is what I'm looking for. I've seen a couple people use this line before and really love the work that Tyson Koch did with this line of paints (http://www.figurepainters.com/).

I tested out a few pieces with the color trying out different primer colors as well as backing it first with a base coat of a few different shades of silver metallic before applying the blue.

I found that I liked the look best when it's applied over a darker metallic silver. So, finally time to get to work.

Got my base color down over the first batch of models. I've still got some things to assemble and prime for the next batch but I'm liking the look and once the other colors are filled in, I think it will look pretty good for the table top.

Legion: Archangel

Finally!!!
So glad to have completed work on this model! I've spent a ridiculous amount of time working on this one. Easily the most time I've ever spent on any one painting project. I don't think I even want to try and estimate how many hours. It's finished though and I am very happy with how it's turned out. It's certainly among my best work if not thee best.

Let's take a quick look at the progression of this of this project. Here's what this project looked like at the start.

The next three pictures were pulled from the net as I didn't get any shots of my own project until after it was completely assembled and primed.

Assembly and gap filling. The gaps that needed filled were considerable and took a good amount of time. I also magnetized the larger set of wings for easy transport.

Unfortunately this is the first WIP shot that I took of mine. Primed in white, black base coat and first highlight on scales applied using an airbrush.

Onto the blue skin tones and initial highlights. Black areas were masked off and the blues again applied with an airbrush.

Wing colors applied with airbrush

Then began the long arduous process of applying all the brushwork and fine highlights. This took an extremely long time as this is a huge model with so much surface area.

The finished product was many months in the making but it is pretty rewarding to see the end result despite the loooooong road to get there.

Legion: Archangel WIP 2

Finally getting back to putting some more work into this guy and hopefully finishing within the next week or two. You can check out WIP part 1 here in case you missed it before.

It's an amazing model and deserves my best efforts thus it's taking me awhile to get it finished. It can be pretty daunting painting a model this size and knowing that you'll have to put in quite a few hours to make it come out the other side how you envision it.

Here's a shot of my work so far on the wings.

Be sure to check back soon.

Legion Raek #2

As in my post just before this one, I'm picking up some doubles that I really like in some lists. Fine by me. I love raeks both aesthetically and rules wise. I've been running double raeks in my Vayl 1 list and will likely run them with Abby 2 once I start playing her. Like my recent work on a Ravagore/Scythean, this model was primarily done with an airbrush to get some practice using it more extensively.

The base was done using my usual method that I recently did a tutorial on. However, the foam by itself doesn't support a heavy metal model by itself very well so a little internal support was needed to make the model secure. I've used the plastic rulers that come with the warhammer starter boxes for various hobby uses before and they work well enough here.

I started by placing the model onto my sculpted foam and then outlined where the feet were going to sit with a sharpie and then I cut out a couple areas in the foam where I would attach two plastic supports that would secure the model to the base.

I then glued the red supports to the base. Once those were dry I glued the foam piece to the base with hot glue by sliding it over the supports and into place. I then  pinned two of the raeks feet to the two red supports and glued the model into place. Any gaps between the feet and the foam were filled in using foam putty.

Legion Ravagore/Scythean

Anyone who plays or plays against Legion knows we like to double or even sometimes triple up on our beasts in lists. This is my third heavy beast kit. I only built and painted the Ravagore and Scythean since I don't see myself ever needing three Carniveans but occasionally a third Ravagore or Scythean.
For this model and one other coming up soon in another post, I decided to try and paint the model using primarily my airbrush with minimal brush work. All but the finest highlights were done with the airbrush. I've never really done extensive highlights or much work with my airbrush up to this point. I've mostly just used it for applying base coats but I knew it could be done and I wanted to get some practice and stretch my skills. The end product I feel came out pretty good with some aspects of it I prefer over my normal brush work and some things not so much. It was definitely faster I think that doing all the highlights with a brush. Either way it was a good experience for me.