New Jawaballs Blood Angels!

I finally found my battery charger and am back in blog business.  Sorry for the long delay since my last post!  I will start today by showing you all some images of my newest Blood Angels infantry. Behold, the Jawaballs MKIII.  Sorry for the quality of the pics.  I am using a little canon pocket cam to shoot close up high def macro pics with no tripod.  :)


What is the difference between this and my old guys?  Well lots!  To begin with, I am now using Army Painter Dragon Red as my base.  My MKII BA used a modified version of the method presented in White Dwarf when Space Hulk came out.  Army Painter made this method much easier with their new fantastic spray.  

So again, what is the difference?  Well I begin with a black undercoat, then a light application of Dragon Red, almost just a dusting.  Army Painter spray has the unfortunate habit of filling in details, so the least amount as possible should be used.  

Here is an example of a model that has only been primed with Dragon Red:


I went back and painted the details black, but notice the black showing at the cuffs of the armor on the legs, on the codpiece, under the chest piece... all of that black showing throw the red creates a nice shading effect. This marine will be holding a meltagun when I am finished.

So on to the next step.  I begin layering Blood Red onto the edges, and working it towards the insides of the armor plates.  If you use it little by little, you can get a nice blend from Blood Red to dark Dragon Red. A nice example of where this happens is at the bottom of the lower leg. I fade the BR from the bottom up to just below the knee pad where I leave DR showing.  In the next picture I have a model almost completely finished with this step.  You can see the effective blending and highlighting using just Blood Red and Dragon Red. This model is already good enough to be on the table and an army painted to this standard, with finished details of course, could easily compete for best painted.


Then I use Red Gore to reinforce the dark. Now doing the reverse of the first step, I work from the other end of the armor plates and blend red gore into the blood red.  Again, the lower part of the leg of the model in the pic is a great place to see what I mean. 


From here I paint the spaces between the armor plates with black and/or a dark mixture I have of dark flesh and blood red and black.  (from White Dwarf)

Then I start working the highlights with Blazing Orange. But I do not want to "orange" my Blood Angels out too much, so as I finish the highlights, I use a mixture of Blazing Orange and Vomit Brown. (also from White Dwarf.)  The brown is sufficient enough to mute the glaring orange without taking away the brightness of hue. In this marine you can see the stages all coming together. I have not used any washes yet.   


So on to the near finished marine!  Here is an example of one almost complete, with all of the above steps almost finished. I did the helmet using the same technique, but I used Iyanden Darksun painted on as my base over black. Then I used Valejo Deep Yellow on the edges, followed by GW golden yellow, and finally Valejo Lemon Yellow with a white highlight.  I did the eyes using Catachan Green, Snot Green and Goblin Green.  


I did the studs by leaving them Dragon Red, then just layering on blood red, blazing orange and the mixture of BO and VB.  I need to finish the details and weapons and rebase him, but he is just about complete!  End result will be a squad of marines that matches my new tank painting recipe which looks much more dark and most importantly crisp on the table. My previous style was very messy and artsy. With this method I am taking a much more graphical approach, from the point of view of a designer. 

I will be posting up more pics as I finish the squad. Hope you enjoy! Feel free to ask questions. I will try to answer them in video form.  

More to come.

Jawaballs








  






29 comments:

Killswitch said...

Loving the work mate! Really like the red and blending, great work. Have you changed your lists recently or keeping the same?

Alex.

Jawaballs said...

I made a recent video of my new list. I will edit it into the end of the post. Check back in a few for the link!

Jawaballs said...

Bah, of course I cannot access my youtube channel from work. Go check out my youtube vids and you will see my newest army list. Land raider, termies, las/plaz razors, speeders and predators. Oh and thanks for the compliments! Every time I think I have red solved, something new pops up. :)

Matthew said...

May want to start filing the mold lines off. I can see the ones on the bolt pistol for sure.

Jawaballs said...

Yah I gotta drill the pistol and shave the flash. Its hard to tell sometimes until you get it painted black if you got them all.

knightyc said...

hey jawa glad to see you blogging again youve been missed. went to gamesday uk yesterday and was awsome except the forgeworld order online pickup on day farce... stood online for 2 hours still didnt get gamesday only mini. also missed the dark eldar must of walked past them 10 times.... just waiting to be able to pre order the ultramarine movie steel book and limited comic :)

Jawaballs said...

Hey Knight, got any content? You can post it up here. Was the GD mini the same as the US?

knightyc said...

I have a few pics ill zip them and send them to you. not sure what forge world mini was was an ork i think. the games day mini was a chaos sorcerer that mini I do have lol odly got that when got ticket used to get it when got to gamesday odd

knightyc said...

check your hotmail ;)

Dalinair said...

Nice work! been painting my first marine with using army painter sprays this weekend myself and though im miles behind you in skill! was quite happy with the result you get with it for the ammount of work you need to put in.

Definately agree that too much orange highlight just isnt the way forward!

Jawaballs said...

Be careful with AP spray. While it is fantastic, it is very easy to use too much, and some times the spray crytalizes mid air and results in a gritty finish. Spray in short bursts, very close to the model.

Dalinair said...

I Know exactly what you mean i did that with a razorback and it ended up with a finnish like sand paper and ruined it, this is how my marine looked with the spray on it - http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__VXOe-NTeIo/TKEdKa2CMbI/AAAAAAAAABU/URXblIZS8ew/s1600/IMAG0351.jpg

Which did not end up too bad i think, least it was not gritty anyway.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Michael Hogan said...

Amazing. Glad to see your back to posting again. I hope work has been going well for you. I really look forward to the inevitable Dark Eldar/Grey Knight painting videos.

After seeing the new models, are you still planning on making a Dark Eldar army? I'm even more inspired myself to work on mine. These current models are so... ugly compared to the new ones. I might have to try to sell on eBay to get some money to afford all of this.

Elbrun said...

I love The Army Painter products, but a word of advice on their Matte Clear spray. When using it keep at least 10" back with it and do fast flowing movements of the can, if you go too slow it pools and becomes milky when it dries. But otherwise it gives an awesome protective cover that helps tone down a lot of the GW paints vibrancy to a more manageable level. If you still want to have that 'pop' from the colors, just give a VERY thinned 'wash' of the color over the clear finish to bring it back out.

Gredus said...

Looks awesome Jawaballs. You ever going to get round to finshing off your Tau Crisis Suit tutorial? I can only seem to find 1 video/guide and then nothing.

Flekkzo said...

Looks very good with the blends. I got the theory of the blend down but struggle with the execution (and thus avoid doing it at all). I'd be all over some videos on "how to improve your painting techniques" rather than "use these colors" type of stuff. But I got off subject there:)

The switch from light to dark/top to bottom to dark to light on the lower legs looks a bit odd to me. Care to elaborate on why you painted it like that? Am I missing something? Sometimes photos does funny things to ones brain:)

And now for a double question. Black/white basecoat, what is your take on that? And being quite the well versed guy in the art department have you considered a paintbrush so you quickly can basecoat/prime in whatever color you choose?

And while I am at it, noticed someone with a nice looking red banner in a post from GW about games day US *grin*

Jawaballs said...

Theory behind shading: The bottom of the legs flare out, and the knee pad sort of obscures the top portion. SO I think it would make sense that it would transition from a shadowed top to brighter bottom.

Black Basecoat: I use black because it enhances the shadowed, dark and brooding blood angels that I am looking for. By using black, and only giving it a dusting of the red spray, it leaves some of the black showing, creating instant shadows. I used a gw drybrush to apply quick coats of paints to my models previously.

Did my banner make the GW site? Link it up!

Flekkzo said...

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?catId=&categoryId=4100001a&section=community&aId=12500100a&utm_term=events&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text-link-body&utm_source=e2000001-en_US&utm_campaign=GamesDayCoverage-OctoberEvents-en_US

Giant link there:) Check the bottom right:)

I think that it is the close-up that is throwing me off. I'd love to see a squad on a table. More in their natural habitat so to speak :) (I know, I know, their natural habitat is inside a razorback:)) Because they do look sweet!

Oh, and how about air brushing?

Jawaballs said...

Michael, I've been saying since rumors of a new DE codex first started whispering around the warp that I would be all over them! I need an alternate army to the Blood Angels and try as I might, The Tau just wont cut it. If the new DE book follows the trend, they should be an outstanding army! Plus if the rumors are correct, I will finally get to use Harlequins, and I get to paint up a bunch of Jawa-girlfriends. (inside joke) So yes, I will be leading the flavor of the month bandwagon jumping charge! As commentary, it is kind of funny to me how many 'long time' DE players are starting to pop up already. My beef has been the stupid looking models. If the few glimpses of the new stuff are an indication of things to come... I can't wait!

HuronBH said...

Jawaballs, great looking mini. I can't wait to see a whole army of these guys on the table. You are really stepping up your already impressive BAs.

Also might I suggest you go check out my blog, http://bloodandblades.blogspot.com. It should be in you blog roll as well. There is something there that pertains to your Friday night at BfS... ;)

Jawaballs said...

Haha Huron, sorry I didn't see your post sooner! Smack talk has been delivered. And thanks! See you next week. Jawaballs

Brent said...

(Where'd my comment go?)

Re: Dark Eldar, I'm really looking forward to seeing that army get the Jawa-treatment.

Any ideas what scheme you're going to use?

Michael Hogan said...

Ah the Jawagirl-friends, how I miss the Wednesday live-streams. Apparently my DISQUS name doesn't have my nickname anymore, but I used to watch most/all of them under the nickname Xethik. Not sure if you remember me.

The Dark Eldar have made me so excited that I might start posting about them on my Grey Knights blog. I'm sure that would go over well.

Michael Hogan said...

Well then, I just realized you don't use DISQUS. D'oh! to me.

Jawaballs said...

Haha. I don't like Disqus, it wont let me post on BOLS. Thats why I never respond to comments over there. And yes I remember you! I miss the live shows too. I will be doing them again soon, at least on a monthly basis.

knightyc said...

hey jawa did you get the pics?

get the live shows started lol need a reason to paint :p

Anonymous said...

Hey Jawaballs could you recommend a substitute for army painter dragon red from the GW line?

Jawaballs said...

There is no color straight from a pot to match Dragon Red. Mechrite is close, but much brighter. You can make it useing Blood Red and Dark Flesh. But it takes forever to use. That is what I was doing before DR came out.

matthew said...

Chris,
How do you blend so smoothly? For my ultramarines, I do a mordian blue base followed by asurmen wash, but if ever i try blending ultramarines blue, it just looks bad. Any advice?
thanks
Matthew Martel

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