Topic: Dog of War's Multiple Army Project (Ork, Nurgle, Eldar, Dark Eldar)

[Cavalier]

Another great model DoW. Really love your stuff man. Yeah no sweat on the praise, its very well deserved. Can't wait to see what you do with an airbrush. Just some quick tips... clean the hell out of your airbrush after each use! Don't lose the little rubber washer on the tip or order a new one should you use it and most importantly experiment with air pressure! It makes all the difference and thats something I've only learned recently.

It should make your life super easy... especially using it to at least base-coat your models.

Sorry to hear about your friend. That really sucks... I've been in a similar situation down here where my group has scattered to the four winds and the GW where everyone plays is a 2 hour round trip for me which just makes it not worth it.

But if you are in Barrie I think you have a good little group up there! Don't worry about competitive/casual. Just tell your opponents hey- I only play casual. Lets do single CAD no formations... something along those lines. It really brings everyone to a good baseline. Everyone is used to playing making those kind of arrangements so dont worry about it! I'd recommend getting on FB and trying to reach out. If you've got people nearby capitalize! I wish I did 

Good luck buddy and keep on hobbying. You are killing it!

[dog_of_war]

I wanted to finish off the rest of my vintage kans before I started into my new dark eldar army to break in my new airbrush and compressor.

These guys I went with a desert motif to fit in with the corresponding dread that will be accompanying them. I probably need to add more weathering, but that can come later.

[Cavalier]

Looking great as ever DoW. Love the huge wing of walkers for your Orks. So classic and they all came otu really great. Love the red rockets and wires bud. I think this guy looks great as is!

However I truly cannot wait to see your Dark Eldar! After I'm done fleshing out my Dark Angels and Chaos armies I'm gonna go back and get my Dark Eldar into fighting shape. Can't wait to see how you are gonna paint them. Make sure to keep us posted and good luck with your airbrush. Be patient with it!

[dog_of_war]

So I needed a change to painting something a little more stylish. I love my orks and chaos, but you can only paint green and brown so many ways before it starts to get repetitive.

I've been fiddling around with some dark eldar wyches to see if I can get something close to resembling a lhamaean. I'm not even close to finished, but I thought I'd post something to see if I'm on the right track. I'm not sure if I'm going to do a cape or dress, but I'm definitely adding ornamentation and hair extensions. Let me know what you think. If I'm totally off base, I may have to look at using a different model for a base.

[Cavalier]

Hey bud I love it so far! You know me, I like to keep things basic, so afterwards when Wyches eventually become good again, you can just blam-o! shuffle them off into your Wych squads as Hekatrix or make them be Blood Brides.

Love the banner, the posing and the double blades is really nice. Can't wait to see you paint these guys man. Big fan of all your stuff, I know you are gonna do great!

[dog_of_war]

Thanks for the support Cav. I was a little worried that the back banner was too stiff and rigid for such a dynamic model, but if you didn't pick that up, I'm sure its just in my head. I was seriously considering running bloodbrides as a pairing to my archon when I was starting the whole list building process, despite all the negative press they've gotten. After these conversions, I can definitely play them either way.

[Cavalier]

Yeah the banner looks great. I like seeing it real taut, as it implies the model is running at a tremendous pace. Yeah I like multi-purposing my units as much as possible. I don't have the finaces to re-configure my army with each new edition or supplement!

Yeah I wouldn't change a thing. Really love this model. Can't wait for more!

[Ynneadwraith]

Absolutely love the stitched-together look of the banner. Very DEldar

How did you do it?

[dog_of_war]

Thanks a lot, I'm glad you like it. I used a dire avenger exarch banner and made sure to file off the rune stones and 'cross'. Next I clipped out sections with some side cutters. Then I used a knife to score lines to create sections. I use a little pocket knife because the blade is thicker and stiffer, but I'm sure you can get a similar affect with a hobby knife. Then I follow each line on both sides and press small holes into the plastic with the tip of the knife. The stiff blade of the pocket knife really helps with this step.

[Aurics Pride]

You've done a great job of that Banner, really works well!
I also really like the posing, it's actually pretty hard to pose the arm with the reverse grip dagger but you've done a great job. Love it!

[dog_of_war]

Thanks a lot. Your kind praise is highly motivating. Had some more time this morning and knocked out the last three.

This is strictly kitbashing and modifying with a pocket knife and a file. I'm hoping to smooth out the transitions and add some more details with green stuff after everything sets and I have a fresh look at it another day.

[Looshkin]

Looking good DoW! Can't wait for you to get some paint on these bad boys...sorry, girls!

[Cavalier]

Really liking these DoW. Can't wait to see paint on them. The Wych models are really nice... its such a shame they are nigh on unusable as actual Wyches! I'd love to the sale figures on them... it'd probably be frightening!

[dog_of_war]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. Well after a week of playing around with my new air compressor and air brush I'm very underwhelmed. Either I don't know what the heck I'm doing or there's something not right with the setup. Most likely its a combination of the two. I'm just not getting the flow of paint I'm expecting. I did get a compressor with a tank, but I'm only getting about five seconds of spray before the compressor kicks in, at which point I get the pulsing. After another 10 seconds I get no paint, as the pressure dips too low. I'm thinking now as I type this that maybe my expectations are too high for this and I may be using it for the wrong application. I'm using it to prime/base some minis, which may be too much for small kit I purchased. I'll keep fiddling away before I actually apply any coats of paint to the dark eldar. I've built my ten scourges, one set with four blasters and I built the second set with two haywire and two heat lance. The lances and haywire are easily convertible to each other so I'll play 'counts as' for some test games until I decide to paint the models, at which time I'll modify two to match the two that I decide to keep.

So as I'm waiting to figure out this airbrush do-hicky, I decided to work on my chaos and try and finish of the bikes. I was able to base coat the brown with the air brush and base coated the black parts by brush. Not much to look at, but a WIP floats some people's boats 

[Cavalier]

Hey DoW... I feel your pain bro. I didn't know what the hell I was doing with my airbrush for nigh on 3 years! I had no idea how to adjust the air pressure and was just blasting the hell out of my models with paint. If you can take a picture of your compressor maybe me or Looshkin, or Auric can help you.

The keys are making sure your paint is thin, adjusting the air pressure and trigger control on your airbrush. Take some pics of your setup and I'll try and help best I can.

Anyway off to a good start on your bikers! I'm looking forward to getting some myself. Bikes seem to be all the rage in this addition. Whether your Loyalist Marine, CSM, Eldar, Dark Eldar or Necron... everyone's rocking bikes!

[Aurics Pride]

Very strange, the pulsing generally means you aren't getting an even pressure which if it is a cheap compressor that may be a fault of the unit itself.
I would definitely have a look to see if you can adjust your spray pressure, if you have it too high you may well be emptying the tank and that's what is causing the compressor to kick in. It's very strange that you are only getting such a short period of spraying before it's kicking in.
Feel free to post up the setup that you are using though and I'll have a look!

[dog_of_war]

Thanks for the tips guys. I think its an issue of me having the regulator set too high, which is draining the tank too quickly and when the compressor turns on I get the pulsing. What the main issue seems to be, after some more testing, is that I'm not thinning out the paint enough. The paint is too thick, causing me to run a higher pressure to get the paint to spray.

I did some youtube searches and got some good suggestions on paint consistency. It seemed to make an improvement and I was using a much lower PSI, but the paint I put out barely stuck and the air just blew it off the model. Experiments will continue until I can find a good middle ground.

I'm using a double-action gravity feed airbrush that came with the compressor. I have a Badger syphon feed air brush as well, but I need to buy some adaptors to make it fit. The compressor is an AS-186 which seems to be pretty standard out there in the hobby world. It's a 1/6 HP single cylinder piston compressor with a 3.0 L tank.

What tips do you have on paint thinning and what PSI do you normally run? I'm trying to use base paints at the moment, as I want to get base coating down pat before I get into layering.

[Aurics Pride]

That sounds likely although 3l is a pretty big tank to empty so quickly!
Thinning paint does depend quite a lot on what paint you are using. I almost always use Vallejo Model Air or Game Air paints which are somewhat pre-thinned ready for use in Airbrushes. Some of the paints in the range do require a little bit more thinning but you do kinda have to go with your gut a bit!
Most of the model air stuff I'll do a drop of Vallejo thinner for each 5/6 drops of paint, that seems to work pretty well.
The compressor I use is actually only an Iwata neo air which rather than having set PSI has three settings (Low, Medium and High) I've looked at upgrading it a few times but it's been so good for the price I paid for it I can't justify spending out a load of money on something new.

A lot of Airbrushing really does seem to be trial and error, my first trials with the brush were absolutely horrendous!

[Looshkin]

If you can take a picture of your compressor maybe me or Looshkin, or Auric can help you.

I think you've mistaken me for someone who doesn't have to replace his airbrush every 6 months due to misuse 

I did some youtube searches and got some good suggestions on paint consistency. It seemed to make an improvement and I was using a much lower PSI, but the paint I put out barely stuck and the air just blew it off the model. Experiments will continue until I can find a good middle ground.

I think AP and Cav are definitely the ones to go to here, but it does sound, to my very untrained ear, like you're either gone too thin, or it's still too high a pressure.

The only other thing I can think to do is practice your flow control and pressure control. Not ramming through all the air at once, and not putting through the maximum amount of paint at once might help greatly. Don't know that I've explained that at all well, but youtube is your friend here.

I hope you get it sorted DoW. Let us know how you get on.

[dog_of_war]

Thanks for the input guys. I posted on AP's thread some further questions, but I've started to see some more success.

I'm still have more fun with the good old brush, and having picked up some new ones (I'm a cheapskate and use my brushes until they look like they've been abused by several generations of kindergartners) I've done some more work on my chaos bikers.

Added some washes and drybrushing, they've still got a lot of layering and detail work, but here's some more work in progress picks.





My local gaming buddy may be up for some games after some serious health issues and he's promised me a game of man o war. I'll keep you posted and I promise some pics.