Large Blood Angels Terminator

[Meph]

And so it begins...

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_2383.JPG

The painting of Cassar's (commissioned from a CMON frequenter) awesome sculpt.
Today I've added the brass etchings and some resin detail. If all goes well, I can undercoat the pieces tomorrow.
I'm not too sure about the resin skull on the back though, I might get rid of that...
In general I think it doesn't need that much more in terms of little glued-on tidbits. I think I'm going to add more detailing with self-made decals and freehand.

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_2386.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_2390.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_2392.JPG

[Tynskel]

At first, I thought you had a really tiny spray box, and then...

[Tynskel]

Titan Sized Terminator!!!!!

[armbarred]

I want one of these for my Salamanders... and then a more ornate version for my Grey Knights... who did the comission sculpting?

[geisthammer]

How and where did you get this from!?!?!

[wittdooley]

How and where did you get this from!?!?!

Seconded.

[bloodangel 83]

Meph looks good so far. I like the finished Veteran SM.

[Meph]

Thanks a lot guys! Yeah, it's going to be a blast to paint, I'm sure. ^^^

First hurdle is encountered with the etched brass Aquila I'm putting on his left leg. After pre-bending it around a cork and leaving it rubber-banded and clamped overnight, the top-right corner came loose again.
So that's been glued on again and re-clamped... No undercoat for the legs today... :(

The sculpt was done by 'Cassar' from the forums over at Coolminiornot.com. I commissioned it beginning of December and received the package end of January. The whole progress of communication & feedback went very smoothly, even though he's in Northern Ireland and I'm in Belgium.

For those of you who are genuinely interested in a commission from him, just send me a PM and I'll provide his email address. ;)

[dannyat2460]

how much was this beast?

[isotope99]

how much was this beast?

If you have to ask, you can't afford it :D

Or is that diamonds :confused:

[Meph]

Hehehe, well, luckily it was less than a firstborn or a pot of gold. ^^ Prizes depend from commission to commission but let's say I paid around 200 quid for this sculpt, and considering the size, level of detail and speed of the sculpt it doesn't feel that expensive.

Well, here's some progress. I mounted and undercoated most parts. The legs are still giving me a headache though. I added a large etched brass aquila, which I pre-bent, but I'm now at attempt numer three and the top-right corner still is popping off. If this last gluing attempt doesn't do it I'll be forced to snap it off completely and rework the bending...
Oh, and I added a pic with the FW marine head, it kinda shows the scale difference.

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_2423.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_2424.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_2428.JPG

[fuzzbuket]

looks fantastic!! id love to see that 90mm space marine army thet your obviously building (hehe:p)

also what happend to the FW SM head that had the cool targeting effect on the lenses? on the 'salty-sm' thread i assumed it was cause they were old CMON pics?

and to fixy your aquilla problem how about a blooddrop/ pendant/ purity seal to hold the corner down?

-fuzz

[Meph]

Hehehe, a whole army of those... tempting, tempting... That was I would also need some large scale Land raiders. Sturdy enough to strap two of them to my feet and skate to work with them...

The lenzes with the targeter were photoshopped on. ^^ In the end I feared it might look a bit too busy and decided to go with regular ones.
Ah... a purity seal to fixate that nasty bit... a splendid idea! I could drill a tiny hole, fixate the bloody thing with a tiny pin as if it were a rivet and then hide the river with a purity seal...
If I had cake, you would get some! :D

[marcus]

the cake is a lie! :eek:

[Meph]

No it's not, it's at the party. Go on, it's your party. Assume the party escort submission position!

[Morgan Darkstar]

I Have Seen The Cake it is Not a Lie! :D

[shrike]

This is really nice...ever considered using it as a titan? TCCW and gatling equivalent...;)
I can't wait to see this thing finished, but I'd prefer having a bare head for such a giant piece...all shouting and stuff...pointing with his PF...

[marcus]

like this
http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu323/cassar1photos/Photo007-21.jpg
http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu323/cassar1photos/Photo012-14.jpg

[Tynskel]

ack! Ultramarines in a Blood Angels post!!! Ewwww!

:)

[Meph]

Aaaah! Sengaya! Sengaya! I feel all dirty now... :D

But honestly, I've never been a fan of bare-headed marines... Unless his helmet got shot too pieces. There's something about the 'I'm wearing a portable tank but stick my head out of the window all the time" that doesn't sit right with me...

[Meph]

Update:
I've been sidetracked to magnetize some small terminators and doing some work on the other vehicles.
Also, that top-right corner of the Aquila keeps popping of his leg and is driving me crazy!!!!! I think I'll pin that brass into place and hide the pin with a purity seal. Or maybe dab around with superglue activator but then I'd still need to find/buy some first...

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Minis/IMG_2505.JPG

[bloodangel 83]

Hey Meph, your Termie is looking good, i agree that a purity seal over the edge of the aquila would look great. BA83

[Meph]

Cheers mate!
I'm actually getting a growing urge to break out the Dremel and have at him. I think some bullet impacts and glancing hits could look awesome.

Whaddayathink?

[bloodangel 83]

Sounds good, battle damage is always great, even better given the scale. It would make it look like he had deep striked into a nest of CSM and came out on top.

[shrike]

yep, chunks out of the armour is a good idea...I tend to have mine on the shins and shoulders...
purity seal sounds good too- will it be big enough so you can actually read the scripting? That'd be cool.

[SotonShades]

Seconded (or thirded?) but don't go too crazy with the battle damage. You want the Terminator armour to look all but impervious, not like power armour covered in swiss cheese.

[Meph]

For battle damage, yeah, I' think I'll put the Dremel to him and introduce some bullet impacts and glancing hits. I'm going to look up some real photo's for that. I remember seeing some pics from the Gulf wars of a destroyed T-something that had also some damage on the turret from a glancing Depleted Uranium penetrator, looked just like something a Lascannon would do.It looks as if someone held a soldering iron against a pack of butter. Can't seem to find the pic anymore though. All I can find are clean penetration holes like this one. http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2004/03/07/tank5.jpg. The scorch patters around the holes are burn marks of the DU penetrating sabot shedding its layers like a flaming onion-spear. So I'm not looking for clean kill shots like this but rather scars of molten metal. ^^

For for the purity seals, yeah, legible text would be cool. And seeing as I've got both transparent and white decal sheets to print on, that should be no problem. ^^

[shrike]

For battle damage...
Lascannon would do...
It looks as if someone held a soldering iron against a pack of butter...
molten metal...

It works on plastic, not sure about resin:
heat up a metal rod.
put it against model.
melted metal!

[egorene]

What about forgeting the eagle and just putting a greenstuff Grail on it ?

Or a large blooddrop ?

Keep going on , it looks real great

[Meph]

I've had a chat with the chap who sculpted the model and he advises against going at it with a Dremel... so no herdcore battle damage then, but no matter, chipped he will be!

And as progress...
Superglue activator is like..woah!

I should have heeded that advice a long time ago... Now let's see what it does over the following days. :D
The plasticard-copy would've been a good alternative though. Finally this thing can move forward if the sucker stays on now. Hurrah!

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_2517.JPG

And also, the demon in progress... The horns still need drybrushing and I'm thinking of giving the runes a light blue colours, as if glowing, and also give them a healthy coat of glow-in-the-dark paint.

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_2519.JPG

But the LEDS have run into a problem. When first having bought those UV LEDS, the guy at the show told me they were 1V, so I prepared for a setup of 9 LEDS on a 9V battery on 3 x 3 LEDS wired in series to spread the voltage. But a test setup relusted in lo light whatsoever.
A mate of mine, with his infinite LED wisdom, informed me that they are probably between 3.2 and 3.8V but that much voltage that means I can probably only setup 3 LEDS max on a 9v battery. That would give me nowhere near enough light I fear and the base of the thing won't allow for more batteries...

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_2527.JPG

[gwensdad]

Perhaps some research into non-standard batteries is in order? (22v or so)

[L192837465]

You don't need that fancy bracket for the 9v. You could easily just get the caps and get 3 to even 4 9v's in there.

[Meph]

Long time no update, but I've just been lagging behind on taking pics. I haven't solved the LED issue yet, the lack of space inside the thing is a bit worrying. Also, time-wise, I might have to ditch the LEDs altogether (it a present) and just go for a clean base. In any case the UV paint does shine quite brightly in even low light conditions.

So here's the bust, more or less finished I feel. There's glow-in-the-dark paint on his bulging veins, his eyes, the silver and copper disc, and the glowing runes on his horns. purely from an aesthetic point of view, it might look better with dark inlays for the runes, but the light paint job does work its wonders in the dark.

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Land_Raiders/BA/IMG_2539.JPG

[Meph]

Well, I've decided to take another route for the LEDS. I bought a second base, painted it up in glossy black and delivered the bust as a gift for which it was intended. I now have some 'over time' to fix the lighting.
I'm thinking it would be best to go for a direct power supply with an adapter.
But being a electronics layman, I have no idea on what hardware to get. I'll need a power adapter/charger for sure, a female receptor and probably some other electronic thingamajig to get it all working.
If anyone has some concrete advice and knowledge on some specific hardware and setup, I'd be much obliged. Even some direct URLs to webshops or ebay would be wolderful! Wehey!

[marcus]

i can see this thing going up in a burst of flame at this rate meph lol:D something like national lampoons christmas vaccation where the house lights take out the entire power grid lol

[Meph]

Hmmm... perhaps I should look into putting up a ginormous lightning rod, and then running some cables back inside the house. :D

[Meph]

Alright *****eez, it's onnnn! No mo' messin' about.
I applied a metallic coat and some rust patches. I just sealed it with some satin varnish and when that's dry, the salt is going on. If that manages to dry out this afternoon, I'll undercoat both the Stormraven and the Termy today, huah!

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4419.JPG

[Sanguineone]

Can't wait to see the finished product.

[bloodangel 83]

The termie looks good. Keep up the great work. BA83

[Meph]

Cheers guys! :D
*Deep bow*

And behold! Ze red!

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4429.JPG

[fuzzbuket]

is that a retro red bolter :D

awsome work! cant wait to see it finished!

[marcus]

looking forwards to more, more, more:D:D:D

[Warhamster77]

might I suggest CR44 or CR65 watch batteries, they are 3volts apiece, and you can stack them as well as easily make a battery holder.

[Meph]

Cheers guys! Here's some moah!

Some shading and subtle highlighting done. I'm not too sure i'll give it another highlighting at this point as once the salt is gone, the red will need some touch-ups in any case.
I also gave it a dark red wash.
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4451.JPG

[Meph]

Desalted! :)
Of course, as before with the FW Marine, the effect is by no means perfect, some touch-ups with red are needed here and there and of course more weathering will follow. But it's a solid base to work with.

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4471.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4477.JPG

[40kChampion]

So, the title of your post was not an overstatement. That is definitely a large terminator lol.

[bloodangel 83]

Look good, can't wait to see it finished. BA83

[Meph]

After a long hiatus... Cheers guys! Don't hold back on comments or critics. Any and all are welcome. ; )


I'm looking at the helmet and I'm wondering If I should perhaps apply a facial marking like I had done on some ancient mini's. Might look good I think.
I'll post two pics I took of the old mini's I'm talking about.

What do you guys think? Facial marking or not? Any suggestions for face markings, or other small details are welcome. : )

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Land_Raiders/BA/IMG_0054.jpg
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Land_Raiders/BA/IMG_0060.jpg

I'm actually thing to put a face marking along the lines of the T-H guy. That might look good, seeing as the large model has an extra little plate on the face compared to the ancient mini.

So here's the progress on the big 'un! Al mayor areas that need to be black have been painted black and I've applied some sponge weathering on the edges. It might look rough at the moment, but once the hardcore weathering starts, it will be blended together more. I also just realizes that I probably need to apply any decals now, before I weather further and apply the oil paints.

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4567.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4576.JPG

[Meph]

In the meantime, I though I'd post some high-res photos to show off the texture left behind by the salting. They're the full high-res ones, straight from the camera. 2592x1944 for some zoomy scrolly goodness.
As you may have noticed before I didn't sift it that thoroughly this time compared to the FW Marine. But seeing the scale of the model I like the little stuff quite a lot. It add to the sense of weight and age of the parts.

I'm also thinking that perhaps I should take a brush and add some slight metallic weathering in the recesses of the finger joints. It seems only logical that you'd get some wear where the finger joins slide over each other.
Whaddayathink, go for it?

High-Res One (http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/Large-IMG_4571.JPG)
High-Res Two (http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/Large-IMG_4572.JPG)
High-Res Three (http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/Large-IMG_4573.JPG)

[bloodangel 83]

Meph, he looks great. Keep up the great work.

[Meph]

Cheers mate! My apologies for the late reply... The holiday season, and the SWTOR game ate a lot of my time. ^^

I've got some free time and I intend to spend a lot of it painting.
But first up in my pipeline is the large scale terminator, who is in dire need for some lovin'. And a vertical stripe it became!

Right now I've brought it up to the point where it's ready for masking so I can airbush on the bronze/golden metallics. I've also applied the decals as these will need weathering as well. As you can see I painted on all black area's, dappled on applied some weathering using a little ripped packing sponge from a models blister. I used dark grey and metallics, making sure the sponge was almost dry before dabbing it on. I also used a small brush to add some boltgun metal in some little recesses of joints, such as fingers and elbow joints.

It may look a bit messy at the moment, but once the bronze-golden metallics are on, the whole thing will have a more balanced look, and after that I'll prep the model for some oil washes. These will do a lot to tie the whole look together.

At the moment, the model's extras are put aside, such a the shoulder shields, hip shields, and gun. These I'll do separately as I still need to make some custom decals to go on those. I thought to add some more custom decals to the main model parts but frankly I wanted to get some stuff done and making custom decals in Photoshop would have put me back by a day or two.

As always, if the photos are too scaled, just right-click, open in new tab for full resolution goodness.
Also, the lighting conditions outside are terrible, ànd it's freezing, so I was forced to take some photos inside, using some artificial light to boost the light quantity. Hence the somewhat dubious quality of the shots. there some glare and reflections, but I'm sure you get the gist.

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4589.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4603.JPG

And voila, my o so professional lighting setup and photo studio.

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4606.JPG

My usual one outside is actually a whole lot better, I kid you not. I use that A3 sheet op paper to pull down as needed and block the direct sunlight.

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_0398.jpg


Bounce! Bounce!

[marcus]

thats just wicked what you have done there Meph largescale thumbs up so far:D

[fuzzbuket]

wow meph that stuff is really good! the termi is..... swagtastic :L seriously its amazing!

onlu 1 thing, did you nick my 'pro' lightbox :P hehe
http://fuzzbuket.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-lightbox-setup-smallesteasiest-l.html

-fuzz

[Meph]

Cheers fellas!
lol Fuzz, it's like a virus that's spreading. But I do see that mine is an obvious MkII. You can tell the difference by the bleached organic cellulose light diffuser which I expertly engineered onto the primary photon projector.

Meanwhile...
*Cough*Cough***Huaaarch!*Archkh*Archkh*Splfft*

Yaiks, where did that come from?

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4608.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4622.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4630.JPG

[bloodangel 83]

Looks nice. Keep up the great work. BA83

[SotonShades]

Really liking the metallics. I was beginning to think that the heavy chipping looked a little too much (only a little), but it really doesn't seem so heavy with the gold in place. looking forward to seeing this beasty come along. Really can't wait to see it finished!

[Meph]

Cheers guys! Yeah, I'm glad with the way it turned out as well.

Applying the masking tape and -fluid took me well over two hours to apply. Scissors, tweezers, a tiny poking device, and a lot of patience. But it's sure worth it to then spray it like a madman instead of fiddling with a brush.

I gave it a brown/tin mix undercoat, then I copiously applied hairspray and some rock salt. For the gold, I used the same paint I used on the FW Marine, basically an alcohol-based gold paint which I let dry out until just the pigmented paste was left and then thinned it with Vallejo acrylic thinner and the new brilliant discovery: Demineralized water, the kind used in ironing erm, irons. That's seriously brilliant stuff to thin your paints with, and costs next to nothing...

As you can see from the pics, the contrast was a bit too harsh with the undercoat, so I sprayed on another thin layer of the gold paint to better blend in the effect.
After that i lightly drybrushed it with Burnished Gold (I think, the palest of the GW golds) and some mithril silver mixed with gold.

The shading was dead-easy thanks to Vallejo's brilliant smokey ink. Which for some reason is always rather thick for an ink. But seriously, it's brilliant. part by part I coated the whole lot in the gooey smokey ink, and then... rubbed it off with a finger. That's it, just coat copiously and after a few seconds, just rub it off with a nekkid finger, and voilà, instant patina.
For the spiked vertical plates however, I did brush on some ink, heavily thinned with water, because no human finger is thin enough to get between the armour plates and the spikes.

[Meph]

So far I've been busy re-applying a decal on the right shin that got ripped off with the masking tape. . was stupid enough not to seal the model before sticking tape all over it... I also tore off a little piece of the top BA icon decal on the main body. but hey, that's insta-weathering. So applying the decal actually took some time, what with all the layers of Micro Sol and furious stabbing with a modeling knife.
By the end of the weekend, the model will be sealed in Klear and have some oil paint applied.

I took a pic...

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4637_resize.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4638_resize.JPG

[marcus]

thats a brill job you're doing Meph keep up the great work:eek:

[Meph]

Cheers mate!

Yesterday I started with the oil paints and messed up a bit. Something went wrong with the paint/turpentine mix as it looks a bit flakey when drying out. I used a mix i had left over from the vehicles and small marines and I just added some more paint and turpentine to the little pot. After shaking like crazy for a while, it looked like the wash had mixed properly, but when drying out all the pigment went a bit grainy and looks as it just 'floated' at random over the surfaces, not clinging to the nooks & crannies as usual.

I never had that problem. And it's the same paint ànd turpentine as before... And it's not the first time either that I've kept a premade mix like that for a long period on end without using it. Really odd. I think I'm going to give the model a good rubdown with a cloth damp of turpentine and a cotton swab and try again. (lol, now read thàt sentence again from a fashion perspective).
There are also some areas of which I feel they would benefit more from an acrylic ink wash, such as the armour joints.

But for now, behold the pictures of shame!! See the horror of free roaming pigment and strange gray discoloration!

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4686.JPG

[SotonShades]

Oddly, it's nice to see that even the best of us can make mistakes. Hope it's not too costly a fix for you though :)

[Meph]

Oddly, it's nice to see that even the best of us can make mistakes. Hope it's not too costly a fix for you though :)

lol, falling down & getting up again, the best way to learn, innit?. :D

Costly, not at all. Yesterday I rubbed off all oil paint using a cloth damp with turpentine. I let it rest/dry/cure overnight, and let's hope it was the varnish undercoat which caused the anomaly. I only let it dry for 3-4 hours, and while it was dry and hard, it might have reacted with the pigment or turpentine because maybe it didn't cure well enough. So today is another retry one one piece and then I'll see what happens.

Luckily the varnish also provides a solid layer of protection for the paint underneath. That think can take quite the punch now.

[Meph]

Work's been hectic, the weather's been ****e, and I had a few more failed oil attempts. Finally, with a coat of stain varsnish, it took better and I also added some dark brown to the black wash, which seemed to improve the consistency as well.

This is just the as-is, The effect is a bit too harsh here and there but as it's oil paint, I will feather and blend it a bit better.
Also, the last pics are not for the weak-hearted. Pure shock and horror. The right arm went for a bit of a tumble and the dry snap it produced did stop my heart for a second. Luckily I recovered all broken off pieces so I can patiently reconstruct it... :(

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4721.JPG

[celestialatc]

Man, that is going to look sweet when you get it together!

[SotonShades]

Good luck with the reconstruction. I know it's not exactly part of th ebattle damaged look you were going for!

[bloodangel 83]

Your termie is looking great there Meph. Cannot wait to see it finished. BA83

[brotheryorei]

all i can say is.....awesome!

[Dragonlv8]

I am quite excited to see this finished!

[Meph]

Thanks for the support, guys!

Alright, progress on the damage fix. The front bit that broke off was actually in two pieces. They set seamlessly but the line across the knuckles needs some more love. I need to gently sand it even and then carefully bring it on par with the rest of the paint again. Luckily it's only black though.

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4743.JPG

I've also been sidetracked for a moment with a deadline project for a mate's birthday.

it's a 80mm Clone Trooper. Nice model to paint, bought it from the Coolminiornot shop and I also found and bought a perfectly sized glass bell for the trooper to fit under. ^^
It's very gently shaded, received a light drybrushing, and I added a pattern. The chest and arms were masked using masking tape but the helmet I freehanded. I painted the orange on just with a brush. Airbrushing seemed like to much hassle for just a few stripes. For some of the scratches on the orange, I dabbed on some masking fluid while other bits I painted on using a brush and some dry-sponging. I used the same dark grey as the body glove to dry-sponge on some chips and stains here and there.
The model just received a layer of spray varnish, ready for oil paints.

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Trooper/IMG_4740.JPG

[Cherub]

I very much like that clone trooper

[St.Germaine]

As everyone else has said, this is absolutely amazing work. The sculpting is exquisite. Not so keen on the paint job but it's not a knock on the quality of your paint job. You've done a very good job on the battle damage but I'm in the camp that battle damage on space marine armor will never get to this point. They worship their armor and the spirits inside the armor. This level of neglect by the marine or the chapter serfs responsible for maintenance would almost surely upset the spirit to the point that it would fail at a critical point. Not going to let that happen.

[Milez]

omg.............

[Meph]

Cheers fellas!

@St.Germaine: Well, I actually agree, marines would treat their armour with reverence and compulsive cleanliness between missions. But I figure that Marines also can be kept away from a decent facility for long periods of time. One can easily imagine a squad of marines pulling of a campaign of weeks, if not months in the field without any real downtime to fix scrapes and dents, let alone freshen up the paint.

[Meph]

Finished! This must be some kind of record... :D

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Trooper/IMG_4755.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Trooper/IMG_4757.JPG

[Meph]

Progress! Or rather, the start of progress. I gave the repairs a coat of black to see how it all dried and cured. And it looks spot on to me, not a seam in sight. Once his hand guard has been weathered up-to-date (which would take only a bit of sponging), and the gold's been retouched I can continue the rest of the model. Actually, it's been so long that I kind of forgot where I was in the whole process. It actually looks as if I could go straight for painting gems and lenzes and then it's the final round of weathering. Some grease around the armour joints and some weathering powders here and there and then the main body is done. After that I still need to paint up the bolter, the halo, the cabling, the besagews, and the hip guards. I should probably come up with some heraldry for one of the armpit guards...

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_4980.JPG

[marcus]

Should be nice to see this come together dont suppose theres any chance of a teaser shot of the whole termi :D

[bloodangel 83]

Nice work. BA83

[mot666]

thats really cool. good work man.

[Tynskel]

It's nice to know that terminator armor can survive a 'tumble'.

[SilkySkullShell]

Wow the mind boggles - I'm looking forward to following this project. Thanks for the post!;)

[Meph]

Never forgotten! Altough it did took some brushing to get rid of all the dust... :)

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_5666.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_5675.JPG

Inching closer... Currently finishing up the arm cables and the hip armour, after that, just the Storm Bolter, the halo, and the besagews.

(right-click on the pics and open in new tab if they don't show full size, as usual ;))

[fuzzbuket]

oh my

[SotonShades]

For some reason, I can't get the image of an American Footballer out of my head.

Every bit of it looks right, but for some reason I can't put my finger on, the model looks a little 'off'. Really wish I could be more specific. Maybe it is the lack of Storm Bolter, so I'll bite my tongue until we see him fully armed :)

Despite that, it is still a masterful creation!

[FireHazard]

Aaaand he's back! Awesomer and awesomer :)

[Meph]

Cheers, fellas! :D
Well, the reason he looks a bit 'off', is because the proportions are not 100% true to the small mini's. The terminator is a shape that's notoriously difficult to get exactly, exactly right. Still, with all the little bits in place, he will look a lot more balanced.

[StarWarsDoug]

The off part you are referring to is definitely the waist. The waist is too small proportionately to the mini. The legs are set further apart on the mini. With this large scale, I am sure having the mini proportioned waist/hips/cod would look odd still, but I'm sure thats where everyone is getting that "Blink" feeling from.

[marcus]

This is where i come in lol, the proportions of the sculpt look odd when compared to the 28mm scale gaming pieces because the arms /shoulders do not sprout from the side of his head and the waist looks odd because he actually has one, in the 28mm mini the terminators chest seems to sit directly on his hips with no stomach area, on the whole i went for a more anatomically wearable look for the armour rather than the mutant shape you would have to be to wear the 28mm mini's armour
When the hip armour plates and besagews are added it will fill out the waistchest without the model looking too wide at the waist but also giving the impression of massive size and weight.
On the whole i've tried to go for something that looks like it might actually work in real life whilst trying to stay as close to the original concept. Enough of my waffle :) all i have to say is MEPH BRILL PAINT :)

[Denzark]

Think maybe the chinese were binding his feet when younger...

I like though it is awesomely skilled.

[Meph]

I'm awake! I'm awake!
Whuh? 2013? Ermm...

Well I've been sidetracked for a while... A little gift for a friend.

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_5837.JPG

Et voila!
Lighting conditions are less than optimal, but they have to do. I also managed to loose the little loose strand of hair that's supposed to go on top of her head. After finishing the entire model & assembly, I was a bit to quick to clean my workspace and managed to chuck it into a full garbage bag. :( I could make a replacement using some green stuff, but I didn't have the time to let it cure and then paint, sadly.

Anywhoooo

http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_5852.JPG
http://postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_5862.JPG

[SotonShades]

That doesnt look like a Terminator! It is pretty damn awesome though.

[Meph]

Alrighty, after a long pause it's time to continue. I've got so much in the pipeline but seeing as this project is closest to being finished, it deserves to be. :)

It's just some small odds & ends really, and first up is the Storm Bolter.

I was tempted to paint the magazines fully in another colour but them it seemed it might look a bit at odds with the rest of the model, which is predominantly red. Finally I decided to just add a detail stripe in a no-too-contrasting colour.
Although I like the combo with the red, it also looks just a tad too bland, but I'll add a freehand black line to separate the colours, and if I can pull it off, a thinner white line withing the black one. That should provide sufficient variation considering the gun still needs its metalics and the gold/copper detailing.

Then I still need to do the Halo which will receive the same treatment as the rest of the gold detailing on the armour.
The two hip plates I'll definitely leave red but I am pondering what to do with the armpit armour, a.k.a. the besagews.
Although I'm tempted to do so, I'm also feeling hesitant to make them too contrasting with the rest of the model. The shields are perfect to paint some personal heraldry on them using white or yellow, halved or quartered, and then add some small iconography, but I fear that the result might draw the eye in too much and thus distract from the whole of the model. The alternative would be be a full red or black background (one each?) and the keep the iconography accordingly simple in black (on red) and white or yellow on black.

I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are on this?

http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6032.JPG

And just because it's a cool pic. :)

http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_5670.JPG

[bloodangel 83]

He's looking good . If you want to go for color, go for it as BA's do pride themselves on their art work.

[interrogator_chaplain]

I'll reserve judgement on the weapon until you've cleaned up the weathering like you did on the body, but it looks good right now, and I think you made the right choice with the white band on the drum mag.

I think for contrast, you might go with a white shield mounted on the hips. Dirty white of course, but the piece definitely needs at least one piece of contrast, but not in a central location where all eyes will be drawn to it.

Two questions for you:
1. What kind of tape do you use for masking areas that doesn't tear off paint when you peel it off?
2. How the heck do you put in more than 4 pictures on a post?

Incredibly solid work, good sir!

[Meph]

He's looking good . If you want to go for color, go for it as BA's do pride themselves on their art work.
My initial thought as well, at one point I was even tempted to add some detail to the entire red armour using slightly darker red lines but I don't trust my hand to be consistent enough to really make it work. As for the shields, visual balance takes precedence over flufff in this case.


I'll reserve judgement on the weapon until you've cleaned up the weathering like you did on the body, but it looks good right now, and I think you made the right choice with the white band on the drum mag.

I think for contrast, you might go with a white shield mounted on the hips. Dirty white of course, but the piece definitely needs at least one piece of contrast, but not in a central location where all eyes will be drawn to it.

Two questions for you:
1. What kind of tape do you use for masking areas that doesn't tear off paint when you peel it off?
2. How the heck do you put in more than 4 pictures on a post?

Incredibly solid work, good sir!

Hmmm, an unexpected idea indeed! Contrast with the hip shields, good one, I'll let that sink in for a while. Although I'm feeling really hesitant to do them entirely in a different colour, I could add enough detail there for it to add a visual counter balance. Maybe even something simple like a campaign markings, or kill marks. Good idea....

1: I use the Tamiya masking tape (comes in different widths), I love that stuff. Like goldilocks, it sticks just right, cuts easily and is strong enough to handle manipualtions of all kinds. As it is a bit pricy, I only use it for fine detailing. If I need to cover large surfaces, I use that tape for the edges and fill in large surfaces with tin foil, or with 'generic' paint masking tape. But that stuff you do need to make it slightly less sticky with your fingers as it tends to rip off paint otherwise. Also, when peeling off any kind of masking tape, do it gently, and never, ever, pull 'up'. Pull & slide the tape flatly back over itself so you give as little upwards leverage as possible to the tape+paint.

2: Photoshop ^^. First I rescale the photos to a 800 pixel width (some forum have these restrictions). I actually use something handy such as ACDSee for batch-resizing. And in Photoshop I rescale the canvas size of one photo length-wise and stick the other ones below it. Flatten, save, and voilà, ONE very long photo. Muha-muha-muhahahaa! *little finger on mouth corner*
Actually, any kind of image/photo software would the trick, but seeing as I can play piano with Photoshop's shortcuts, it's my tool of choice. :)

[SotonShades]

Yay I have missed this project.

Looking great, I agree that the bolter mag looks a little bland though. I think your black band idea should work though.

As for the besagews, go crazy on personal heraldry! Leave the blood drop unblemished (other than weathering, unless you plan on repainting it as a shaped gem stone or seomthing) but otherwise go full out on free hand designs. I'm kinda surprised you have two though. I would have thought one would be enough, but more might make the model look cluttered. That said, I am sure you have dry-fitted them and so have a better idea of that than I.

[Samuel Rose]

Omg that is amazing

[UrielVentris]

This is where i come in lol, the proportions of the sculpt look odd when compared to the 28mm scale gaming pieces because the arms /shoulders do not sprout from the side of his head and the waist looks odd because he actually has one, in the 28mm mini the terminators chest seems to sit directly on his hips with no stomach area, on the whole i went for a more anatomically wearable look for the armour rather than the mutant shape you would have to be to wear the 28mm mini's armour
When the hip armour plates and besagews are added it will fill out the waistchest without the model looking too wide at the waist but also giving the impression of massive size and weight.
On the whole i've tried to go for something that looks like it might actually work in real life whilst trying to stay as close to the original concept. Enough of my waffle :) all i have to say is MEPH BRILL PAINT :)


Personally I dig the changes. Anatomically the marine 28 mm model is crap. I think you captured the feel of the model well in a way that could be worn by an upscaled person no problem. The shoulder placement and shape of the body really works well in my opinion.

Well done!

[Meph]

Cheers fellas!

@SS: Here's one of the last photos that Marcsu/cassar made right before boxing the pieces of the sculpt and shipping it to me. (Hence the 'slack' pose of the arms)
As you can see the twin shields work quite well on the whole of the model. :)
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z430/cassar2photos/Photo008-12.jpg

@SR: Your first post on the forums here! I'm flattered, cheers! :D

@UV: Yeah, Marcus did a kick-*** job on the sculpt, that's for sure!


Alrighty, the Storm Bolter is ready for sealing with varnish and then it's time to pack out the oil paints for washes and stains.
The weapon may look a bit rough at the moment, but as you may have seen from my previous models, oil paint washes are wonderful, wonderful thing. the lighting also isn't showing all the subtle details in the paint.

Also, painting the freehand stripes made me realize that free-handing complex details on the shields will be out of the question. Getting those little lines straight, crisp, and parallel is frickin' stressful. Being the scale that it it, any iconography will have to be mathematically crisp in order not to look too dodgy. Considering I the rest of the detailing on the model are either etched brass and decals, I need that same crispness to stay consistent. I've gone through the decals I have and already found some usable stuff, and I'm thinking maybe to print some new ones. I still have some laserjet decal paper and that way I can go all-out if I want to. Now just to design some...

http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6038.JPG

[UrielVentris]

Lovely work man. I had a question about your salt weathering technique. First, how do you do that! secondly. For 28mm sized models, do you use a finer grain of salt? it looks like you used a 'crusher' salt on this model to get varried pebbles sized up, but for 28mm obviously the size disparity would be enormous!

[Meph]

Well, the technique is deceptively simple really. Firstly, you seal the undercoat(metalic, rusty) with spray varnish. When dried, you copiously cover the entire model with cheap hairspray until soaking wet, and then carefully sprinkle the salt on. Once it's dried you airbrush or spray over it. With the airbrush you can also apply some highlights. And once that's completely dry, you rinse the model under cold running water and rub it gently with an old toothbrush. The cold water will melt the salt and voilà, you've got weathering which actually lies deeper that the top coat.
You really need the size of the salt grain right, usually with a mortar and pestle, and then it's critical that you sift it very well. You do not want any fine salt as that will either just melt away partially in the paint leaving a bubble which won't rub off, or cover in clumps, resulting in huge chunks of paint being scrubbed away under the water.

That's exactly the reason why this technique is best suited for large models and vehicles. Personally I wouldn't use it on 28mm infantry as scale-wise you'll need rather finely grained salt and the risk of it covering large chunks or just texturing the paint is just too damn haaa! :D I think large grain salt on small models could work for stuff as nurgle, rusty necron, renegades etc. Or hmmm. perhaps even for subtle colour variations on camo for IG and stuff like blotched eldar colours, if you keep the two colours near enough. Food for thought.

The whole process, while simple, is rather time-consuming (the drying and scrubbing mostly) so I haven't used it on my 28m BA vehicles either, preferring 'dry-sponging' as time-quality wise it's a lot faster while still doing a good job at believable weathering.

[UrielVentris]

Cool thanks! Ill have to try this technique out!

[Meph]

Sure do! :)


So the black oil paint was is on and dry. It still needs some cleaning up here and there with a damp brush or ear cotton and then I can seal it for the next step. :)
The halo I had to spay in a solid colour, as the too much paint came off smooth surface, while rubbing the salt off. It was till prepped with some rock salt ever since I first started the project so I guess that two years isn't that brilliant for the 'salt' technique. Still would have worked wonders though in case I wanted to flake off larger chunks of paint though.
I'll add some blemishes here and there with the 'dry-sponging' technique.

http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6039.JPG

[bloodangel 83]

The stormbolter and Iron Halo looks good as does the rest of the Termie. BA83

[Meph]

Cheers, mate!

The bolter's been cleaned up a little but, and the halo received its ink wash and drybrushing.
Everything's sealed with varnish for the next bout of oil paints. ;)

http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6056.JPG

[Meph]

So, the bolter & halo almost finished. Then the hip shields, which need little work, and the besagews, which still need a design...

And the base, that's on order. I decided i do not want to lose half a year making a base so I ordered some.

I thought simply to put this (from the CMON store, oval, 120mm)
http://www.coolminiornot.com/shop/media/catalog/product/b/0/b01126.jpg

On either this (ebay, 30x13cm):
http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/d/l180/pict/181235517613_1.jpg

Or this (also ebay, 20cm round):
http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/d/l180/pict/151140175058_1.jpg

[Meph]

Look what the cat dragged in! :D
Just finished him so sadly no daylight for some decent pics.

http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6057.JPG
http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6064.JPG
http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6066.JPG
http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6068.JPG

[KrewL RaiN]

The dust has cleared off this thread for the OMG awesomesauceness of it all. I wouldn't mind seeing a scale shot with a normal sized terminator hehe.

[Meph]

Oh, tomorrow I'll take some more photos for sure. ;)
In the mean time, some more:
http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6076.JPG
http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6077.JPG
http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6079.JPG

[Wolfshade]

Awesome...

[Meph]

Cheers mate!
Well, I managed to take one picture before the right arm fell off... Even with heavy two-component glue and thick pinning. I'll have to clean up the glue surfaces and put him together again. It's going to be a zen exercise to apply enough pressure for long enough so the glue can set. Now I just held it for a few minutes before making sure the arms were supported by random items found around the house.

http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6087.JPG

And a High Res version: Clicky (http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6087-HR.jpg)

[Meph]

Well, one week later and the dropped-off-right-arm fix is complete. I tried bracing the arm using all kinds of constructions with books and carpentry vices etc etc. Until I just braced the arm using three plastic, ermm, whatchamacallit in Anglo-lese, zip-strips? http://media.allwheels.nl/media/855x855/510749-artPic_public_L_2_SSS200ZI.jpg


I connected three of these and no extra support was needed. So, tadaaa.

As you can see he's huge. So huge in fact that I can't take any decent pictures of it... He's just too large to make an improvised lighting setup using white paper and such. I think I'll have to poke some hobby-photographer friends of mine to see if they wouldn't mind using my model as a model. :)

http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6099PP.jpg

And of course, a High-res photo:


http://www.postwarvandal.com/Meph/Physical/Terminator/IMG_6099PPHR.jpg


.

[Brakkart]

Beautiful. Nice to see the big fella finished at last after following this thread for so long. You gonna get back to work on your Blood Angels army now?

[Meph]

Cheers, Brakkart. Yeah, it kinda took a while there, didn't it? :)
Yup, next up is the Contemptor Dread. :)

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Woooooow. Meph.
You've made me want to build a large scale Fire Angel now. :D

[Meph]

W000! Go! Go! Go! :D