You're Gonna Land On That?!

Good day fellow hobbyists.

Many moons ago during one of Charlie's scenery parties. Yes, that a party where we all get stuck into building and painting scenery, it's a really great way of getting a lot done in a short time and takes a lot of the tedium out of the process. Anyway, I had the honour(?) of painting a Skyshield landing pad. Whilst its a really good bit of kit, it's rather huge and I decided in my foolish youthfulness to paint the whole thing in the patented Jeff-Rust method (PVP Workbench tutorial: rusting). Well, doing that over the 500 square inches (I counted them!) of the surface it was definitely a labour of love.

Now, Em and I are building our very own urban board and I really wanted to have a Skyshield of my own. They make great objectives and general scenery piece. Since times and paints have changed, here is an updated step by step of getting the same/similar effects in new money.

Mobile users, this is going to be picture heavy.

First thing, Reference materiel. It's always a good idea to find real world examples of what you are aiming for. This is the man-hole cover in our back garden.

Right, primed and ready to rock.

Step One: Doom Bull Brown all over. Doesn't have to be the neatest paint job ever, just avoid huge streaky bits. 

Step Two: Whilst that huge thing is drying off (both sides) Get with the dry brushing of the concrete pillars. They don't have to be concrete, but I like the effect and it breaks up the brown. This is a simple Mechanicus Standard Grey followed by Dawnstone Grey. Then Doom Bull Brown on all the metal bits. 

Step Three: Dry brush everything that is metal with Leadbelcher. Be sure to give some areas a heavier dry brush than over to give the feel of uneven corrosion. Also, give some focus on the parts that will see more use than others. 

Step Four: Half dry brush and half stipple Riza Rust dry brush paint. The dry brush gives a soft variation to the colour and stippling gives a nice fresh rust feel. Going nusts at this stage will give you a really heavy rust. Lighter coverage will look less corroded. Just go with what feels right for you.

 Step Five (Optional): So this is where I started painting some of the surface details that I wanted to blend into the rusted metal. Hazard stripes are always a favourite and give things a lovely industrial feel. I started with a black back ground then roughly sketch the guides for the stripes. Some people fine it easier to mask things off, I dislike myself and decided to freehand the stripes.

Step Six: The wash. You can do this with Nuln Oil but, it's a huge area to cover and you'll get through a pot or so. I find it easier to simply water down Abaddon Black, with a touch of pva glue to hold it together. The heavier you make the wash the dark and dirtier your final finish will be.

Step Seven: Once that wash was dry (it takes a while) I set about doing the surface details that I didn't want covered in filth, so the white of the imperial eagles here. Also to note, I've not gone all the way up to the edges and left it rather rough. This is to give the impression of paint flaking off with wear and tear. 

aaaaaaand we're done! 

So, this was a little less painful than the last one I did and I think it turned out alright. We've still got more scenery to get though but I'll stick more photo's up once the rest have been done and set out on the board, if our dear readers are interested.

till then, take it easy!

Maisey