Painting Van Saar Leader

It has been a couple weeks since my last update, I had a respiratory infection for a little under a week and then went on vacation for a little over a week, over 4500 miles and 50 hours of driving! I have been back a few days and started painting my Van Saar. 

I am huge 80s kid, especially when it comes to science fiction and dystopian future! One of my favorite movies from back then was RoboCop and I am big fan of the 2014 remake. I have watched Dredd, RoboCop (2014) and Mad Max Fury Road every weekend except one since I started modeling again. RoboCop (2014) was my inspiration for my Van Saar gang. My leader will be in the black armor and the rest of my gang will be in the silver armor.

I started off with an alternate model for my Van Saar Leader, he has a Plasma Pistol and a Hystrar Pattern Energy Shield. His primary model has a Plasma Pistol and a Las Pistol. In an attempt to achieve the metallic black affect of the armor I used Reaper Miniatures Adamantium Black over a Games Workshop Mechanicum Grey spray.

I was very happy with the look of the paint, however it is very thick out of dropper and dries quickly. At this point I had a lot of anxiety and was not sure how to move forward, this is the point in the past I would have just given up. I wanted the model to look metallic but not silver and I think the paint accomplished that but I didn't know how to highlight it. I decided to apply a light wash of Games Workshops Nuln Oil in an attempt to give it some definition.

I do think it helped to show definition but it greatly reduced the metallic affect. The plan at this point was to apply another layer of Adamantium Black to the larger smoother surfaces. After that I attempted a highlight and used Games Workshop Leadbelcher on the edges and raised areas of the armor. Also at this time I used Games Workshop Ceramite White on all of the ares I wanted to be red and flesh.

Next I started on the Hystrar Pattern Energy Shield, scroll to the next post for info on how I painted it.

I knew I wanted to have a laser-like red for the secondary color on my Van Saar. I used a combination of Reaper Miniatures Clear Red and Green Stuff World Fluorescent Red. I started with a 1:1 mix of Fluorescent:Clear, then applied a light wash of Games Workshop Carroburg Crimson and a very thin layer of 1:1 mix, next was a tiny highlight of pure fluorescent. On the plasma coils I did an additional highlight of 1:1 mix of the fluorescent and Games Workshop White Scar. Here are pictures with the energy shield attached.

The model is not finished, I still need to paint the crate he is standing on and his flesh, but since I am just starting out I still very limited on the amounts of paint I have.

You can see by the picture that it is just various monochromatic colors, metallics, yellows and reds. I am very pleased with him overall, he achieves the feel of the character I wanted. At this point he is the closest I have ever come to finishing a model and I am highly motivated to do so.

What will I do differently on his primary model? I will definitely attempt to thin the Adamantium Black a little more, I am getting more comfortable applying thinner and thinner coats. I doubt will use a black wash over the armor and skip straight to edge highlighting and I will likely start with a 2:1 mix of fluorescent:clear for the red.

Riding a high right now and trying to stay motivated!