The varnish is barely dry, but I had to meet my (new) deadline of the end of the week. So here she is, in all her beaten up glory, the Valk!
Since you last saw her, I've:
- Painted on some rust and rust streaks
- Finished painting the pilots
- Added silvery/aluminium chips to the darker areas
- Glued on the wings and landing gear
- Painted and glued the rocket launchers
- Finished the canopy (stupid canopy! see below)
- Added rust and some white buttons to the interior
- Added painted and assembled heavy bolters to the interior
- Airbrushed a light coat of black/brown behind the engines, next to the las cannon and to the wing roots - to reflect burnt/shadowy/dirty areas
- Finished with an airbrushed coat of Matt varnish
Happy?
All in all I'm very happy with the result. It pretty much fits what I had in my head when I set out and I've learned loads along the way as well. I think the overall effect is pretty realistic and that's what I was shooting for. I also achieved my goal of completing the kit with a removable roof!
Would I do anything differently?
From a modelling perspective I should have worked harder to remove those pesky seam lines from the engines and rocket launchers. Other than that the only thing I struggled with was the cockpit and canopy sections of the kit. They were a nightmare!
I like the rust effects but they look a little homogenous, I should maybe have varied the colours more? Not sure, still a bit close to it to get an objective view. The wings have turned out ok but I think on balance I should have been less patchy in the colour modulation stage. Again still a little too fresh out of the project to really assess.
I made a bit of a mess of the decals, they were very 'silvery' and still are a bit now. Have to try and do something to combat that in the future.
Finally, I would paint the interior something closer to a white colour, similar to the colour of this Valks belly. It would be more realistic and stop it from getting lost with all the other detail.
I like the rust effects but they look a little homogenous, I should maybe have varied the colours more? Not sure, still a bit close to it to get an objective view. The wings have turned out ok but I think on balance I should have been less patchy in the colour modulation stage. Again still a little too fresh out of the project to really assess.
I made a bit of a mess of the decals, they were very 'silvery' and still are a bit now. Have to try and do something to combat that in the future.
Finally, I would paint the interior something closer to a white colour, similar to the colour of this Valks belly. It would be more realistic and stop it from getting lost with all the other detail.
Stupid canopy...
I discovered too late that both pilots left arms were preventing the correct fit of the perspex canopy. It was so bad I had to take a file to the perspex and the pilots, then repaint that side of the pilots. It's still not a great fit, but I don't want to push my luck.
Finally, as I couldn't find a way of removing the roof section without also removing the rear canopy, I decided to join them together. It's not ideal but it works after a fashion.
What next?
I'd like to build the Valk again in the future now that I've learnt how to build it but right now I'm going to take a bit of a rest from modelling for a few days. I'm also eyeing up an Imperial Guard Stormsword for my next big project. Having said that, I may ease myself back in by doing some figure painting, so keep your eye out for that.
I hope you've found these WIP's helpful, I certainly have. They've been a great way of measuring my progress and breaking up my workflow into specific chunks, so I always knew what I was doing next. Until next time, enjoy the pics and let me know what you think.
If you'd like to read the previous WIP's click on the links below:
That is one damn impressive valk. Ugh, your talent makes my feeling hurt ;)
ReplyDeleteCheers Zab! I'm just glad it's finished at last!
DeleteYeah, this turned out great. On the color modulation transitions, the slight patchiness on the wings helps with the beat-up look, IMHO. Also, I'd say not only vary your rust next time but maybe up the amount of rust as well. Same goes for the amount of streaking. Of course, that's all subjective. Overall, this is just a really striking Valk. Awesome job.
ReplyDeleteHey Gary, many thanks! Appreciate your thoughts re: patchiness and rust. It certainly felt like it was coming together when the rust went on, I just bottled out of making it too 'orangey'. Maybe I should do another Ork vehicle to liberate myself a bit? : )
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