Friday 7 March 2014

Imperial Knight (WIP Week 1)

Well it's been a hectic week with shift change at work and a game or three at the local store in between assembly of the legs and torso of my Imperial Knight. From day one the cost of the kit was always going to be mitigated by the use of existing spray cans and colours from both my Blood Angels and Necron forces, and although the blocked out colours don't quite mix well I feel the use of various weathering effects will help unify the model. I will be using similar techniques to my work on the Leman Russ Exterminator. As an aside, this guy is so big I need a new photo box!



Most of the armour plating in the above photo is loosely resting in place, and apart from a few masked off areas on the arms and feet, can be completely detached for painting. I am looking to recreate a gold edge and various fleur-de-lis like details on the armour, but I will have to get cracking on the skeleton first. As with most of my newer highlight/glaze painting attempts the darks and lights are far too subtle for a model this size, and I will be continually reworking until I have probably gone too far! You can see some of the experimental shading work on the chainsword arm in the photo below.


I have been inspired by more than a few Knights on the blogosphere, and I recommend you follow their progress over the coming weeks. The best WIP's so far have wisely chosen to use an airbrush for quick and smooth paint jobs (not to mention excellent colour modulation) but I feel I will just have mine finished by the end of the month with my drybrushed/lined highlights and glazed shadows, fingers crossed!

40k Hobby Blog's "Heresy Era" Knight complete with detailed cockpit!

Tale of Painters' ThirdEyeNuke's deep blue and red combo Knight

Lil'Legend's House Taranis Red/Silver beauty (completed already!)





4 comments:

  1. I think you're on the right track with experimenting on the one arm first. With a model this big, it might be a good idea to try various techniques in this scale, see how it looks, before committing to using them on the whole model.

    I have to admit, this model scares and excites me at the same time. Years and years ago, I painted up a Forgeworld Warhound Titan, and a Forgeworld Thunderhawk gunship (as well as a few super heavy tanks). I remember them all being exhausting to finish, but feeling a great sense of pride and accomplishment when they were done. Seeing as how I'm a much slower painter now than what I was then, even a slightly smaller Knight seems incredibly daunting.

    Best of luck! Can't wait to see how yours turns out.

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  2. I think the colors are going to look great once you apply the highlighting and damage from your LR tutorial. I especially like your battle damage! I came across that tutorial a while ago and tried out the techniques to less effect.

    As to the photo booth... my plan for Sunday is figuring out how to take a decent photo of the thing.

    Keep up the great work. (40khobbyblog)

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  3. Thanks Kelly, I agree this model does scare and excite me at the same time, and I can't imagine painting a Titan having worked on this guy! I have actually procrastinated a little by working on the base..

    John, I definitely copied the technique from James Wappel, and I would say my version is also "to less effect" but I'm sure James would be pleased to see people using some of his ideas in their own work. I can't wait to see the brush work on your Knight. The cockpit was too adventurous an idea for my time frame, and yet you managed to have yours done in only a few days! I look forward to some more photos.

    Cheers,

    Matthew

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  4. Looking good. My wallet is dreading the day I decide to pick up one of these.

    Will look awesome when finished, and as John said, your weathering technique should look great!

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