Dark Star GT Painting Update: Part Two!

Hello everyone!  As promised, I told everyone that I'd give regular updates on my painting progress.  This is as much for me, as it is for you.  It'll keep me motivated to finish my army, as well as getting better as a painter.  By putting my models up for everyone to see, I open myself up to critics and "embarrassment".  That way, I'm always pushing myself.  The stuff done here was done a few nights ago, but I was too tired to get everything uploaded.  So here it is.  :)

I use Vallejo paints now, as I find them to be a much better consistency than the GW paints.  They also flow much better from the brush when applying it to the miniature.  To be more specific, I use Game Color paints, as I've found these to be better suited towards the painting I'll be doing.  Model Color paints are higher quality, if that's possible, but are tailored more for "showcase" miniatures so I don't use them.  That isn't to say that I don't use any GW products, however.  I do make use of their washes (which really are "magic in a bottle") and their foundation paints.  Vallejo has their own line of similar products, but I've not had a chance to test them out yet.  ;)

Here are my model's humble beginning.  If you've got a quick eye, you'll notice that this is one of the Crusader squads from my video.  Specifically, the one without the power weapon (he'll be painted by his lonesome).  This was after priming, but before any actual painting was done.  As you'll notice, there is somewhat poor undercoat coverage on parts of the miniature.  This was likely due to the can of primer being either A) Too far away from the miniature so it had a "misty" effect on the plastic or B) I was running out of paint and not enough was coming out of the can.  Whatever the case may be, it needs to be corrected before I move on to initial stages.  So I grab my trusty Black (#72051) and applied a quick undercoat to all of the needed areas.  If you do this yourself, you'll notice that this black likely has more of a glossy color than your undercoat black.  That's okay, the Purity Seal sealant that we'll be applying to the miniature as the final stage will take care of that.

As you can see, my next step was to put the base color on the tabards and shoulder pads.  I also painted the parchment, skulls, tear drops, and crusader seals.  I start painting a miniature from the middle and work my way out, as a general rule.  That way you get the majority of the model done and out of the way before you start doing detail work on the outside.  This will save you having to fix mistakes later on. 

The natural start place was going to be the tabards.  Scarlett Red (#72012)/Scab Red is the color of choice here for the base coat.  After this was applied (its okay to be messy on this stage), I proceeded to paint all of the crusader seals and tear drops, as you should try to paint all of your like colors at the same time.  For the shoulder pads, parchment, and skulls, I used a very thinned down Astronomican Grey (4:1 Water:Paint) to give me the coverage I needed.  Now I'd be able to get the lighter colors (i.e. white) on the miniatures without having to do a billion coats.  At this consistency, the paint flowed nicely and didn't leave any brush strokes on the shoulder pads.  That is extremely important, as brush strokes are a quite visible flaw to the eye, even from a distance.

Anyway, that is my progress for now.  See you in a couple days with the next set.  :)