A Christmas Exchange Mini

[Valkerie]

Howdy all.  Hope the holidays have treated everyone well.  I participated in a Secret Santa Battletech mini exchange this year.  Now that everything has been sent out and received, I can share what I did for my recipient.  They had a love for the Combine, so I choose to do a metal Thunderbolt in Legion of Vega colors for them.  I had not done the scheme before, and it was listed as a favorite, so it seemed like a fun idea.  It was a fun scheme to paint, and I may have to add a company to my collection.

Wish I could share what I got in the exchange, but it is a MWO print, so that can't happen here.  Suffice to say, it was hilarious, awesome, and a fine tribute to the Federated Suns. 

Questions and comments are welcome as always.  Happy New Year all! 

[Mecha82]

Sweet!

[jimdigris]

 

[worktroll]

You've come a long way! That's a great looking Thud. Walk us through the paint work, thanks?

[Daryk]

That is a gorgeous Thunderbolt, and I'm happy to hear you got something in exchange that pleased you too! 

[Xan]

That is a very good looking mech!  Really great job on the base too!

[Valkerie]

You've come a long way! That's a great looking Thud. Walk us through the paint work, thanks?

Thank you all for the kind words.  Here's the walkthrough:

Primed with Krylon ColorMaxx Gray Primer
Black Ink Wash
Gray:
Wetbrush Vallejo Charcoal Gray
Wetbrush DecoArt Zinc
Drybrush Vallejo Wolf Gray
Ghostbrush Vallejo Ghost Gray

Red:
Base - DecoArt Deep Burgandy
DecoArt True Red
Pro Acryl Bold Pyrrole Red
Finish - Blue Ink Wash

Gun Barrels: Drybrush Vallejo Gunmetal
LRM launcher: Drybrush Vallejo Hammered Copper

Sealed with Krylon ColorMaxx flat clear acrylic.

I think I have a better pic that shows off the gun barrel effects.  I'll post that with the write up for them.

[worktroll]

Blue ink wash on the red?

[Valkerie]

Blue ink wash on the red?

Yeah, I had the same reaction.  As it was explained to me, the blue ink wash can add some shading and depth to the red without making it look dirty like a black wash can.  I still didn't believe until I tried it.  It does work.  My wash was one to one mix of Vallejo Blue Ink, flow improver, and water.

EDIT: Before and after pics of the wash added.

[Daryk]

Nice!  That does look good... 

[worktroll]

Going to have to think about that ...

[Mwenski]

This looks great, Valkerie! Great job on the mini, and an excellent unit choice. It was fun seeing it come along. Thank you for sharing the progress along the way.

I got the idea for blue as a shadow for red from Gunji's incredible paint along tutorial. Cooling off that warm red and creating a purple transition really helps with making red pop. Adding a sand or tan flesh as a highlight can help with the contrast.

[avon1985]

Very nice!

[Schwerpunkt Prinzip]

Really gorgeous work. Thanks for sharing your recipe, too!

[Daemion]

I got the idea for blue as a shadow for red from Gunji's incredible paint along tutorial. Cooling off that warm red and creating a purple transition really helps with making red pop. Adding a sand or tan flesh as a highlight can help with the contrast.

Yup.  A very thin tan. It'll let the underlying layer show through.

On the flip side, if you don't want the red to dull, I've found that tan as a base to the raised plates covered over by a True Red looks brighter.  That's how I got Optimus to sport his truly 'Prime' colors.

I've been hearing a lot of counter-intuitive color mixes, recently, like shading gold with purple.  Blue on red does not surprise me one bit.