ForgeWorld Masterclass techniques

While I was at Warhammer World I picked up a few things from forgeword, or rather ordered them to be delivered back home.  One of these was the Masterclass Volume 1 and it is a beauty.  I highly recommend picking it up for the wealth of simple and effective tips within.  (Not to mention all the complex and effective tips also jammed in there!)

Here the masking process starts.  The model was first primed with Army Painter's Uniform Grey.  Remember to press down on the sides of the tape with a pencil tip to make sure the tape conforms to rivets and smaller details.

As I got home and looked at all my conversion and scratchbuild projects I began to yearn for simpler days.  A bog standard army, straight out of the box began to appeal.  I considered selling all my armies and starting over, but I've had that feeling before and I knew it would pass.  To scratch the simple-build itch, I assembled a Hellhound that's been sitting in its box since my last birthday.  It's a great kit, I just hadn't gotten around to it and wasn't sure how to make it fit in with the Blood Pact.  Let me put this in perspective for you: sometime's I'll spend hours, days even, just building and converting a tank or a handful of infantry, so when I built this hellhound in less than an hour I was amazed.  Well done GW, your new kits are better and better.

Here it is after the masking tape is off.  The stripes were sprayed with Montana Steel Grey.  While Montana brand makes excellent paints with low pressure nozzles, be careful to stay close to the model or some "dusting" can occur.

With a simple build under my belt I thought I'd try some Masterclass techniques and as everyone who's looked at the book knows, the only way to do that is with some Death Korps of Krieg.  Luckily I had a spare commander or two laying around and tossed one in the turret.  The following pictures are my first attempt at masking camouflage and pin washing.  (Pin washing is a fancy sounding technique wherein you don't wash the entire model, just the rivets and the panel lines.)  This gives heightened contrast and actually lets you see all those tiny details from across the room.  Simple to do, with great results.  With the pin wash picture, it's worth clicking the link for the full size as the effect is pretty subtle.

 Before pin washing.

After pin washing with third parts Gryphonne Sepia, Ogryn Flesh and water.

Next up will be the sponge-weathering you may have seen on my Blood Pact tank previously.  Then it's a gloss coat and I'll try out some oil paints on a model for the first time.  Exciting!

The rest of the process: