Decals...

   I've never been a fan of decals.  From the mythical days of my childhood and building model cars and airplanes to the current times of retired professional, I just never had good luck with them.  Waterslide transfers, or decals, just never 'do it' for me.  I don't like the way they leave the border, the way they shine against the matte model body, or the way they look too 'clean' compared to a hand-paint job.  But I want to use them as I have hundreds of sheets of them lying around.  But they never work out and I just default to freehanding (which I am talented enough, just not motivated).  

  But I decided to paint up an old tank for my Chaos Marines and figured to do some research and give the pro methods a try.  Flat surfaces (Space Marine shoulder pads are the bane of decals!) make for good learning.  And, as promised in the post about that tank, the attempt would make a great post for later!  So after watching others' videos and reading their blogs on the process, I found that I wasn't far off- the process hasn't changed much in 40 years!  

  As with any hobby project, you have to first gather the materials.  For this, you will need a small tub or cup of warm water (they're called 'waterslide transfers' for a reason), a small paintbrush (I used a new 'layer'-sized brush), paper towels, a set of tweezers, a sharp hobby knife, the decals (of course), and a couple of products from the interwebs- 

  Once you have all those materials and some calming music playing in the background (I tend to enjoy some Bach or Mozart, or early Metallica), it's time to begin the fun.  The first step is to coat the area of the model with gloss varnish (or 'ardcoat in this case).  Be sure to use quite a bit of water in the varnish as the goal is to make a very smooth surface.  While that varnish is drying, cut out the decals (as close to the image as possible) and drop them into the warm water.  

I cut out the decals and staged them 

Applied 'ardcoat to all the target areas...

And started dropping decals into the water.

  As the decals are slowly washing off their sheets, and obviously well after the 'ardcoat has dried completely (I rushed this and I'm not confident that it didn't have an effect), brush some Micro-set onto the area.  This vinegar-smelling chemical is a very weak adhesive and allows the decal to cling to the surface better.  Then, remove the decal from the water with the tweezers and, using a paintbrush, slide the decal from its sheet onto the surface that you'd like it to go.  

Lay down the 'set...

slide the transfer/decal to the area...

and adjust as needed until the decal is placed perfectly.

  Once the decal is placed on the model where it's meant to go, use a paper towel to gently smash it into the surface.  This is to flatten the decal, remove the excess water and Microset, and push out air bubbles.  If the decal is being placed on a rounded or irregular surface, this may still leave folds and bubbles as the flat decal doesn't fit well.  This is where that sharp knife may be necessary to cut some micro-slits, but that needs a video to show.  Otherwise, applying the other 'micro'- the Microsol, will help as this chemical slowly melts the decal.  There is a risk that the image may be faded off, but focus the brush with Microsol around the edges and any folds in the center.

So much 'feathering'...

  Once the decal is completely dry and fits on the area it's supposed to, go back and slather gloss varnish over it again.  This is to 'fill the edges' as well as seal the decal onto the model.  As warned before, be sure that the decal and chemicals are all dried as the effectiveness could be lessoned if you move too quick (ask me how I know...).  

And slather the 'ardcoat again!

  This post is wholly motivated by my Predator tank and the attempt at this stuff again.  Therefore, pics of said tank and the placement of all the decals must be shown:

I even 'stacked' the decals for this one!

  Once all of everything is dry and the decals are solid and set, it is time for the final step.  At this point, spray the entire model with matt varnish (I used the Munitorum stuff from GW)- this will 'flat' all the shiny decals and join the texture to the rest of the model.  Be sure, of course, to retouch anything that was supposed to be shiny with 'ardcoat after- those headlights got me!

  I haven't taken any pictures of the end result because I'm not a fan of the final result.  All of the reasons that I don't like decals, as listed above, still showed.  Now, I have to give credit in that the decals did fit quite a bit better than past attempts and they are certainly sealed in (I did the chip-corner test and nothing moved!), so there was some obvious success.  But the glossiness still showed and many of the decals still had 'edges'.  This could be because I rushed much of the process and didn't have the patience for the results, and it could be that I'm VERY paranoid with spray varnish as I don't want to ruin a good paint job with the fog (PS- that's what happened to the Termie Lord you see above- I'm a little upset by that), so I always go too light.  

  Overall, I'm certainly closer to conquering the decal-life, but I'm still not a pro at it at all.  Through trial-and-error shall I learn this, so what will my next victim be...

Happy Hobbying!

Annihilator in red!

 

  I have been 'flitting' between games and armies in 40k lately, being too busy and stressed to focus on any one thing.  But I still needed to justify my insane investments, so something had to get some paint.  My brother was excited to build a couple of units to add to his Combat Patrol, and I decided I would do the same.  Plus, my Combat Patrol disappoints me and NEEDS some additions, and a tank is always a good choice in my mind.  

  This particular model has been in my collection for a long time.  I acquired it from someone years and years ago and it was painted so poorly that it sat in a bitz-box, nearly forgotten.  Then, many editions ago, I dug it (and a ton of Destructor bits to build- the sequel to this one, planned for some point in the future) out and realized (again) that it needed severe attention.  With the addition of skulls, spikes, and stars, I emptied a can of Mephiston Red spraypaint (or airbrushed it- I really don't remember after all this time) and turned it into a usable unit for my Chaos Marines.  I must've played this model (despite being annoyed by the unmoving lascannons and ungainly weight distribution of metal with thin plastic) a hundred times by now, but never got around to just painting it.  Now it is time...

Basecoat all metal bits with Iron Warrior- my favorite silver base colour right now.

Basecoat all 'weird' areas black- remember that this is a rogue-trader era model!

Wash all of the areas with Nuln Oil, of course.

Some bone on the skulls, some yellow in the headlights, and it's playable!

I taught my bro how to 'gem' on these easier, flat surfaces.  He got it!

Line in all the panel-breaks and inside corners with Khorne Red and black mix to add more detail

Ah, line highlighting black...

So many options, and I eventually just chose the basic 'black' for the casing and cowlings.

Time for the blue lascannon glow- start with Corax White basecoat,

wash heavily with a blue wash,

and then just highlight the coils.  Not great, but done!

Always gotta remember to highlight the skulls!

  Here's where things got fun- I spent a couple of hours (spread over all day) painting all the red, silver, and black details but now I needed to add markings to really make it stand out!  I was more excited about the addition of decals than I was painting, so the quality of my paintwork isn't the best (nor rarely is, to be fair).  I'll have another post about how I worked on those decals...

DONE!

  After a couple of decades (at least), this model is finally finished and useable like I'd prefer.  This is a 'Deimos' pattern Predator, reflecting the ancient stockpile of the renegades.  The veterans of the long war would not have new equipment kicking about, so they'll be extra dependent on the old stuff.  My son described it as 'tiny' and a 'block of red'- success!  It is smaller than the current scale (not by enough to affect gameplay) and is certainly very red.  

Happy Hobbying!

Zeus is Steiner

   The Lyran Commonwealth has the credits to fill their armies with 'mechs, even if not the most skilled 'warriors.  One of the most commonly-seen battlemechs is the mighty Zeus, so I felt compelled to add one to my first lance.  While I've never used one or even considered it, this war machine looks cool and, with some colour added, I think I may have to add this to my games.  In any case, here's the work:

base blue on the left 2/3

wash with dark blue to bring out the details

drybrush with a lighter blue to smooth out the wash

now paint the remaining third with a light gray

paint weapons black

paint weapons and joints silver, right over the black!

wash the metal with black wash to darken and detail it

line highlight the blue

line highlight the light gray

line highlight the black casings

highlight the silver on the weapons and joints

  And that's it!  Painting 'mechs is always a 'cheat code' for accomplishing anything for the hobby.  And big, beefy mechs like the Zeus are a joy to finish.  

Happy Hobbying!