Sunday, March 9, 2014

Knight, knight, knight!

Ok, so I couldn't resist getting started on the Imperial Knight, and the Blood Angel Tacticals are gonna be put on hold for a while. Story of their lives, really. Anyway, to business...

The kit is absolutely excellent. The pieces fit together beautifully, and there were barely any mold lines for me to file or scrape off. That said, though, the Knight is a fairly complex model, and to make life easier when the time comes to paint it, a little forward planning is in order.


Painting-wise, the components can be divided into 2 main parts, i.e. Carapace, and everything else. The carapace will form the most visible part of the Knight, bearing its colours and heraldry, so it's best to leave those unglued for the moment and only glue them on after they've been painted. Here's a nekkid Knight.


Here are a couple of pics of the shoulder joint...



It's worth noting that if you glue on the pauldron (big shoulder armour plate-thing), it is actually quite impossible to slot the arm in on those plastic tabs in the previous couple of pictures. Think about the final pose carefully. I recommend gluing the arms in position.


I wanted my Knight to have a reasonably boombastic base. The thing was, the knight's legs only come in one sensible position, with both feet flat on the ground. Usually, if I want a somewhat nicer base, I'd use some corkboard to simulate rock, then pin the model in place after painting the model and base separately. Thing was, with the Knight's feet... well, see for yourself.


Yep, nothing to pin. So I decided to just use my plain old standard technique. First, glue the model on the base...


Then cover it with PVA glue and sand...


And then, I plan to proceed as usual, using the usual colour scheme for the base that I use on my Blood Angels. If figure that, at that size, I'd rather go with a simple base to begin with and embellish it as time goes by. Kind of like how I put trophies on the bases of certain models after particularly notable victories.

So, with the model assembled, next came spraying. My weapons of choice:


And the result so far...


Well, of course it's going to be red; what did you expect? Since I've decided to take this opportunity to do a little freehand work, I'm gonna paint this in the colours of House Raven. Stay tuned, more to come soon...

SOON...

2 comments:

  1. How do u PVA and send the thing with having excess sand on the Imperial Knight legs?

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    1. Step 1: Apply the glue from the bottle directly onto the base, spreading it as widely as you dare.
      Step 2: Spread the glue around with a large brush, making sure to distribute the glue as evenly as possible.
      Step 3: Using a smaller brush, spread the glue in between the toes. Note that Steps 1 to 3 must be done quickly, lest the glue dry in patches and you end up having to start again.
      Step 4: Drown the glued-up base in sand.
      Step 5: Turn the model on its side and tap on the bottom of its base sharply with a brush while rotating it. This will get rid of the excess sand.
      Step 6: Using a large, soft brush (I use an old make-up brush my fiancee discarded) brush away any sand clinging to the model. Use a knife to pick off any bits that may have ended up glued to the model.

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