Secret Project, Masterclass weathering, Blood Pact N-20 wheels

In this episode of PaDA! I waffle on about trying to write a novel, post pictures as I attempt a Forgeworld Masterclass weathering technique and show off wheels for my Blood Pact vehicles that I made and a friend cast for me.  Read on, and take a tour of the three wings of my hobby mansion.  Please enjoy your stay, and do not feed the residents.

Now that the deadline for Black Library has passed, I will reveal that in most of my recent spare time I was working on a submission for a 40k novel.  I think my submission was around 16,000 words altogether and with the help of my wonderful wife, we managed to get in three reviews/edits in before it was sent off.  I'm pretty happy with the end result, and surprised that it seemed to take on a life of its own.  Now I'm curious what happens next in my own story!  Of course I know how it ends, but I want to read all those little details, I want to write all those little details.  It was also strange to read it after I sent it, if was like I wasn't reading my own work.  What was it about, you ask?  Well here is my pitch line:

"A calloused veteran of 10,000 years of war transforms two criminal youths into power armored Astartes and forces them to confront their inner darkness during his endless crusade against the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable." 
-

I'm excited to say that just last night I tried out  the Forgeworld Masterclass technique of oil-paint weathering.  Not only is it very simple, the results are amazing.  It boils down to this:

1. Paint your vehicle and add minor wear like paint chips and pin wash.
2. Spray it with a couple good coats of gloss varnish.
3. Flick burnt sienna oil paint on randomly.
4. After the thinner ("spirits" for our friends across the pond) evaporates, take a wide brush and drag the oil spots down.

What this technique does is mimic the subtle streaks of dust and dirt on a vehicle, as well as create a few areas of rust which have likewise streaked vertically.  Oil paint is a pain due to its very long drying time, use of thinner (spirits) and the need to glosscoat the model first.  This is balanced by the ease of applying the technique and the amazing, subtle effect it produces.  I will be using this in the future.

Here you can see two rust spots on the front hull, as well as a few subtle streaks on the turret and upper right hull.

Some excellent subtlety in the streaks in this one.

I went heavy on the rear because it would lower to touch the ground, and thus chip more.

Opposite side.  Some tiny rust spots towards the aft, more subtle streaks towards the front.  The lower left corner of the rusted panel was painted on before hand but the oils covered the boltgun metal with grime and matched the foundation brown paint well.

-



I'm also very happy to announce that Mal over at http://darkmaneuvers.blogspot.com/ is learning to cast custom pieces and as a result, my Blood Pact got some resin wheels for their N-20 halftrack.  He also made some molds for the bogies and road-wheels from the old tank kits, which are out of print now.

Very nice, very blurry, but very nice indeed.

They're the perfect size and knobbly-ness for 40k.

Here you can see the inside of the cast tire, revealing that it was but a humble drop-mold.