Hey Guys, Rage of Khorne here from The Order of Chaos looking to add some more models to my collection of pre heresy Sons of Horus. The model I will be working on today is something you wouldn’t usually find in a standard space marine army and that’s exactly why I’ve chosen it.
I’ve always loved the appearance of Basilisks on the battlefield and the opportunity to field one of these nasty artillery pieces crewed by a space marine was too good to pass up.
I started off by base coating the entire model in black spray primer and then giving it a quick covering of dark metal. There are a number of spray specific metals that work for this step and if you are okay with mixing a bit, you can make normal acrylic metals work through an air brush as well. I would suggest for this step being careful not to add too much water or solvent as it can really effect the metallic coverage.
I then dry brushed over the whole model with light silver (Rune fang Steel) and washed into the cracks with a mixture of black and brown (Nuln Oil and Agrax Earth Shade). The reason I went through the effort to prepare the metal areas to this stage was that some of the metal areas will be left showing after the green air brushing stage.
I then dry brushed over the whole model with light silver (Rune fang Steel) and washed into the cracks with a mixture of black and brown (Nuln Oil and Agrax Earth Shade). The reason I went through the effort to prepare the metal areas to this stage was that some of the metal areas will be left showing after the green air brushing stage.
I then taped off areas of the model I wanted to remain silver and sprayed the whole figure with a mixture of Caliban Green and Ceremite white to get the basic Sons of Horus colour scheme going. Touch ups were necessary on several of the trim areas as the masking tape sometimes allows the wet spray to leak under it. The next couple steps were to apply the base coats using Abbadon Black and some Rhinox Hide to the trim and hull details.
To get a weathered old appearance on the tank I spray washed the entire model in 4:1 water to Skrag Brown mix and quickly dabbed the pools of it off with a damp towel. The reason I did this was to make sure that brown didn’t completely ruin the nice green of my Sons of Horus and the reason I used a wet paper towel was to make sure that while I was dabbing the paint away I didn’t have the towel stick to the surface of the model.
At this point I also found it useful to apply some brown India ink to the barrel of the gun which created the appearance of built up axel grease.
At this point I also found it useful to apply some brown India ink to the barrel of the gun which created the appearance of built up axel grease.
At this stage the model was looking a bit dull and didn’t match very well with the rest of my army because of the heavy application of washes so I went over the green areas with a dry brush of the original green mix to bring out a bit more brightness and detail. The rivets turned out particularly well as they retained their rusty brown edging and were highlighted on the top to stand out more.
The metals were also given a dry brushing using Rune Fang Steel to bring out the depth detail on the working parts of the tank. Edge highlighting the black areas of the model can be done at this point or at the very end but those areas weren’t given too much more attention.
To bring out the ridges of the tank and add battle damage I made a 2:1 mix of Ceremite White and Caliban Green which was applied using the side of my brush. The battle damage was drawn on using the tip of my brush and was concentrate around areas facing forward and the edges of armour plates.
These bits of battle damage were then accented by drawing a single black line on top of the White and Green mix line added in the last step. This gives the visual impression that there is a small hole or scratch and the light is catching the lower lip of it. It’s worth mentioning that the yellow hazard stripes were also hand painted onto the front of the dozer blade at this stage using Averland Sunset.
These bits of battle damage were then accented by drawing a single black line on top of the White and Green mix line added in the last step. This gives the visual impression that there is a small hole or scratch and the light is catching the lower lip of it. It’s worth mentioning that the yellow hazard stripes were also hand painted onto the front of the dozer blade at this stage using Averland Sunset.
To add some character to the piece I painted on some squadron icons and kill markings to denote the vehicles as having been through some rough battles. Seraphim Sepia was applied heavily to the front of the dozer blade over the black and yellow hazard stripes to leave a gentle fade on the colours and leave a dark line of rust colour built up on the lip of the shovel.
After this step was dry I highlighted the yellow with a 1:1 mix of Averland Sunset and White Scar and then roughly wiped a brush across the dozer with Rune Fang Steel to make it look like the blade is used often.
To create the effect of a scorched muzzle I dry brushed the tip of the barrel first with Rhinox Hide and then again slightly less with Abbadon Black. To finish off the model I applied a thick coat of yellowish weathering powder to the lower track area and some of the shovel and sealed it in with some Purity Seal Spray.
From start to finish this model took a little under an hour to paint and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I will be adding the crew soon but they will be used to man several heavy weapons teams and artillery pieces and so will be included in another article J.
Next up is a few small infantry models and then maybe something bigger and cooler (I’m looking at you Kabuki miniatures).
Next up is a few small infantry models and then maybe something bigger and cooler (I’m looking at you Kabuki miniatures).
~Rage of Khorne
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Virginia Restless, Miniature Painter & Cat Dad.
I blame LEGOs. There was something about those little-colored blocks that started it all... Twitter @catdaddymbg
