A Call to War: Capellan Confederation 4th MAC Regiment - Photo Update 10/3/15

[Azakael]

Okay, so I am *not* doing the entire 4th McCarron's Armored Cavalry Regiment. Just saying.
So, this event actually works very well for me. Once again, I'm running an event for FlintCon next February. While I could have repeated the same two formations I used for last year's event, I realized there were a few hiccups. The least of which, is the sheer number of special rules that the Dark Age 'Mechs had. So this event, I decided to go with a 4th Succession War event. It should have a lot less special rules and such. My other reason for going with 4th Succession War is that I wanted to use all Alpha Strike/ Intro Box Set 'Mechs. Not a great idea because the other force happens to need two 'Mechs *only* found in the IBS... Durn Jagermech.

With that in mind, we have the following:

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Battle Lance:
CTF-2X Cataphract - 35 pv
GHR-5H Grasshopper - 39 pv
VND-1R Vindicator - 28 pv
VND-1R Vindicator - 28 pv

Assault Lance:
CGR-1A5 Charger - 38 pv
CGR-1A5 Charger - 38 pv
AWS-8Q Awesome - 39 pv
CTF-2X Cataphract - 35 pv

Recon Lance:
QKD-4G Quickdraw - 30 pv
HER-2S Hermes II - 21 pv
CDA-2A Cicada - 16 pv
ASN-21 Assassin - 17 pv

Look familiar to anyone? Bonus points to anyone who can identify why those 'Mechs are the ones I'll be using, and thus be able to tell me what I'm doing for FlintCon. Here's a hint, the Battle Lance is actually supposed to be a Command Lance, but because the 'Phracts and Vindies are all Brawlers, there isn't the required mix of roles.

The list comes out to 364 points. Now, while they are organized into Alpha Strike formations, I will not be using them at the event. The less confusion the better.

[Louie N]

Is this a Sarna battle from the 4th SW? do you have the 4SW Atlas sourcebook around?

As my unit icon avatar implies I must hate you and all you stand for (JK)  ;)

I am also collecting a 4th MAC unit so I am most interested to see how you work the white stripping. 

Good luck

[insane_kangaroo2]

Nice choice of unit.....i'll be watching this thread. Looking forward to seeing what you put together

[Azakael]

Is this a Sarna battle from the 4th SW? do you have the 4SW Atlas sourcebook around?

It is part of the Sarna battle, yes. It's not from the 4SW sourcebook, it's from the Battlepack 4th Succession War, "Line in the Sand" I did tweak the 5th Syrtis side to be a full company as the original list was only two lances, versus the company of the 4th Mac.

As my unit icon avatar implies I must hate you and all you stand for (JK)  ;)

Don't hate. I have more Davion forces, and Davion-friendly forces than Cappies. (Two companies of Cappies, versus four Davion. Plus a reinforced company of a Merc force that despises the Cappies - Khorsakhov's Cossacks.)

I am also collecting a 4th MAC unit so I am most interested to see how you work the white stripping. 

Good luck

Luck sounds about right. I'm still picking out the green. I'm currently leaning towards Vallejo 72-028 Dark Green, or the next shade up. As for working the white striping? My answer will be poorly. Heh. I'm doing this scheme before I actually work on the 1st Alarian Jagers I have, because white stripes are not easy to paint. And a white checker will be worse.

Nice choice of unit.....i'll be watching this thread. Looking forward to seeing what you put together

Oh, hey, no pressure. No pressure at all.

---

So I still need to pick up the 'Mechs that make up the Recon lance, and the second Cataphract. Needed to wait until this month for that. Budget and all. And my green. Need the green as well. Once I have everyone I'll get the first group photo up, of the unpainted grey.

[Louie N]

You must realize this as well

We will have a Dark green force fighting a Dark green force. All hail the green!

I am planning on using Minitaire "Orc complexion" airbrush color.  I hope is it different enough from the Dark Angels green I used so many years ago to make my 5th Syrtis.

I don't have any mechs painted with it but my Romulan warships came out good.

[Azakael]

You must realize this as well

We will have a Dark green force fighting a Dark green force. All hail the green!

I am planning on using Minitaire "Orc complexion" airbrush color.  I hope is it different enough from the Dark Angels green I used so many years ago to make my 5th Syrtis.

I don't have any mechs painted with it but my Romulan warships came out good.

Yeah, I realized it. Thankfully I'll have Davion decals and Liao decals for them? Plus the 5th Syrtis is going to be Vallejo 70-975 Military Green, which is what Psycho used for his CamoSpecs 5th Syrtis.

Edit 9/3/15:
Rather than double-posting, I figured I'll just update this post since I have only a minor update. (No pics.)
I now have all but the last Cataphract. Looks like the Assault Lance will be the last one taken care of.
Decided that I'm going to prime everything using Army Painter's "Angel Green", and use the Vallejo Game Colour Dark Green for cleanup.

Edit 9/16/15:
So. I've been waiting for the humidity to drop down so I could actually prime these guys. Today was about 39% or so, I felt that was good enough. It didn't feel humid when I stepped outside, so... everything save one Cataphract is primed. (I am still in need of said 'Phract. Waiting for distributor to get it back in stock...)
I'll get pictures later this week. I'll have steps 1-3, pre-priming, post-priming, and post-inking.

[Azakael]

Pictures coming in!
I'm fairly "Meh" about image quality here... I'm still not great with photography, and adjusting it in GIMP. But here we go:

First Step 0, The Gang Before Priming:
Left to right: Battle Lance, Assault Lance, Recon Lance. The Cataphract in black is a metal figure standing in until his replacement arrives next week. I hope.


Step 1, Post Priming:
Left to right: Battle Lance, Recon Lance, Assault Lance. The metal 'Phract has been removed.


Step 2, Wash:
At this point, everything has been blackwashed. Which is why everything looks so dark.
Left to right: Battle, Assault, Recon. This will be the last time you see the entire company together as a whole until everything is done.


Step 2a, Battle Lance, Flash:
Slightly photo edited to bring the white balance back. In person, the figures are so dark, they are almost black at this point.


Step 2b, Battle Lance, No Flash:
Still too bright. I hate using the flash, but without a lightbox, it's my only means of keeping my colours from being washed out when adjusting levels.


Currently I am going back in with my Game Color 72-028 Dark Green and filling in panel lines using a W&N Series 7 #1 brush. I have the LT, RT, and CT of the Cataphract done. Holy cow does that take a while! Once that's all filled in, I'm planning on using Savage Coyotes' technique from his CSO paint along - only in green. With the Vallejo 72-030 as being the highlight colour. (The Ashen Blue to my Templar Blue, as it were.)

The plan is to hopefully have the Battle Lance done by the end of September. October will be the Recon Lance. November should be the Assault Lance. Everyone will likely get decals at the same time.

[Louie N]

good luck.

[Azakael]

So, this was the paint job after I painted the Vallejo Dark Green over the panels. I decided to try and get a picture outside to see if that did better for the details and... well... it has its own set of issues. But here's a picture.
I don't think I'll quite make the end of September deadline for 100 points painted. They are on step 4 though.

Step 3 in natural light, no flash:


Step 4 is 75% (Or more than I should have...) of the panels painted with a 3:2 mix... I think the upper colour of Vallejo Goblin Green was probably the wrong choice, as it's a bit brighter than I wanted. But. We'll see. I'll have pictures of that tomorrow, likely. Depends on how froggy I feel about the second Vindie. Also, quite likely that the subsequent units will not be quite step by step as these guys.

[Azakael]

Update after Step 4:
The first layer is done. I'm not entirely pleased with the result. One, my hand isn't steady, so the edges of my layers aren't crisp. Two, estimating 75% of a panel is suck. Three, I think that I picked a green that far too light for my base. But I committed to this, so... Here's another pair with and without. At least this step is visibly different with my photography. I do adjust levels to make sure the contrast is somewhat visible. But these seem pretty close to the mark. The image with flash seems to be a little more accurate as to how it looks in person.

Without Flash:


With Flash:


So step 5 will be a 3:4 mix of my color, and is half the panels. That should go much faster and less laborious. I might even have Step 6 (Pure secondary color) in with the next post. Step 7 will be applying black to all parts to be metallic and cockpits, 8 will be adding the metallic, 9 will be the wash over that. 10 will be cockpit. 11 will finish up with the white stripes and accents. At that point, these guys will be considered done until I get the decals. Which I will probably decal the entire company at once.

[Louie N]

It's a good green.  The Grasshopper came out very well.

[Azakael]

It's a good green.  The Grasshopper came out very well.

Thanks. The Vindies, I'm not incredibly happy with - especially the legs, but... Meh. We'll see what the next step or two gives me.