Great looking unit, if slightly heavier than typical. Mind walking us through the painting process?
Oh goodness, thanks! This was a learning process for me. I tried doing the zenithal(?) highlighting, with dark gray primer and some white drybrushing. Then I painted them blue, Steiner Blue speedpaint from the set iirc. After that I painted a few long stripes of lighter blue (army painter thunderstorm, I want to say) across them. In the whole process, I discovered I really enjoy playing with shades of blue. Later on, I would learn to dread painting in whites.
The next part is what almost made me throw them across the room: I tried painting a thin layer of white over some of them, then ended up switching to a liberal drybrushing of a thin white primer instead. That took me longer to sort out than I'm proud of admitting to, but it pulled together enough for me to do touch ups and highlights. Finally, I had the idea to do a few "Hellion stripes" in a bright medium blue, which is when I actually ended up liking them again. Decals and matte varnish finished them off, et voila.
I had initially planned on only doing the Kodiak (because, hey, Kodiaks are fun to paint) but in my zeal settled on doing a fully trinary. After muscling my way through the first five, that plan got paired back into a binary super fast. Perhaps I'll add a light star to them at a future point to even them out; after my memory fades on those long moments of staring at the Ice Ferret's tiny cockpit, questioning my life choices.
Here's a few closer pics of the Kodiak and the Black Lanner, the two that turned out the most how I hoped they would. Also it just needs to be said, but that Hellion logo is an absolute beauty to see on a mini.
