40K Vehicles; Forge World Weathering Powders
This morning John French brought his Chaos army into the office in preparation for a game of Apocalypse this evening. Apart from the sheer amount of miniatures in John's collection, the first thing that struck me was the cohesive painting style he'd used across all of his models: to John 'everything Chaos should look and feel brutal and barbaric'. In particular, I thought his vehicles looked very stylised and realistic.
Here's a look at two of my favourites:
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John converted his Shadowsword to represent one belonging to a force of rebel Imperial Guardsmen. He used a Spray Gun to basecoat the model with Codex Grey and Desert Yellow. He got the running-rust effect by first dabbing on weathering powders and then using the spray gun to blast the model with thinner.
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John converted his Soul Grinder by replacing the sword arm with a claw from the Defiler kit and add Lord Kroak's mask to his face. After dry-brushing all of the metal areas Chainmail, John dabbed weathering powder into all of the recesses. He then applied a mix of red and brown washes with a sponge.
John's use of the Forge World Weathering Powders and techniques intrigued me, so keen to learn more, I went to Forge World and caught up with Phil Stutcinskas, who I was reliably informed, was a master at weathering vehicles. Luckily, Phil was just adding the finishing touches to one of his Red Scorpion vehicles and gave me a mini tutorial in using weathering powders.
Here are some pictures of Phil in action, and also some of the other cool stuff I saw over at Forge World:
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To apply weathering powder Phil uses a dry brush and dabs it onto the required areas. Click on the image to see stage two where Phil lets some thinner run onto the powder. Note that Phil doesn't brush the thinner on as this would move the powder. The thinner is allowed to run over the powder naturally.
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You can see in the image above that the thinner is beginning to dry. If you click on the image you'll see Phil's finished Land Raider Helios - notice the subtle weathering effect around the top hatch.
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This Land Raider is part of Phil's Red Scorpion army. Like the rest of his vehicles he's used weathering powders to give it a battle worn look and to add mud around the tracks. Click on the image for a top-down view and note the blending Phil's down on the lascannon muzzles.
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Sculptor Mark Bedford painted and weathered this Thunderhawk Gunship. Click on the image for a closer look at some of the areas where the weathering powders have been used. I particularly like the way that the Imperial Eagle has been weathered.
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Another of Phil's models, this Valkyrie has had various colours of weathering powders used on it. Notice that every Imperial Eagle on the Valkyrie is in perfect condition - obviously devoted servants of the Emperor wouldn't let such a symbol become tarnished.
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Stewart Williamson converted this Ork Battle Fortress by replacing the Kannon at the front with a Supa Kannon. He's also added a Flakk Gun to the rear of the Fortress. Like Phil, Stewart has made good use of weathering powders to give his model a more realistic finish.
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I couldn't leave Forge World without a picture of the awesome gaming table that the guys there have made for the forthcoming Imperial Armour VIII. Notice the rust and dirt that they used weathering powders to add to the various pieces of scenery. Click on the image to see the board in its entirety.
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Here's a look at the board from the other side. All of the buildings have components from the various Warhammer 40,000 building kits - Orks use whatever they can loot and adapt it to purpose. Click on the image for a closer look at some of the areas where weathering powders have been used.
