Showcase: Dark Talon

In record time I finished this Dark Talon in a little under three weeks from start to finish. Unfortunately I did not take many photos during the painting process apart from the ones I did for the previous post which is a shame because I tried out a lot of different ideas and techniques.

One of the major things I attempted was a marbling technique on the wings(explained here). I really wanted a cool way to differentiate between multiple Dark Talons and doing colored marble seemed to be the best way to do it.

Another thing I did was an attempt at panel modulation on the hull of the Dark Talon. I have very little experience painting vehicles so I was not sure how to go about placing the highlights, even more so on a Ravenwing color scheme which is predominantly black. So I highlighted the panels of the hull about halfway using a 50/50 mix of black and field blue with the airbrush. Then I followed it up using pure Field Blue and then a 50/50 mix of Field Blue and Wolf Grey, making sure to cover less and less of the panel. I then did a final edge highlight using pure Wolf Grey. Looking back on it now I could have gone further on several panels, particularly in the back half.

During this project I also took the opportunity to test some new metallic paints, the Vallejo Metal Color series. In particular I used Magnesium as a alternative of GW Leadbelcher or P3 Pig Iron. It is already pre-thinned as it is formulated so that it can shot of an airbrush right away but it still has good coverage with a brush so it took very little effort to paint the engines and weapons. As good as it it with a brush, it is phenomenal through an airbrush as I used it to paint the cockpit. Needless to say I look forward to painting my Knight Titan with this stuff.

The last thing I attempted was some quick and dirty OSL using the airbrush. First, I laid down some white on all the wing and tail lights as well as on the Rift Cannon. Then I used Scale 75 Inktense Green through the airbrush on the Rift Cannon to give it that glow effect. For the wing and tail lights I used a thinned down yellow ink from Daler-Rowney.

Something important I learned was how much superglue frosts up clear plastic. On one corner of the cockpit there is some pretty egregious frosting where I applied a little too much super glue. So from now on I will have to be very conservative and methodical when applying glue for clear plastic pieces.

Assembling and painting the Dark Talon was very informative and I learned many things that I am going to take into my next project which is my piece for the Jersey Devil. One of my Warhammer buddies was nice enough to let me build and paint one of his kits, the Astra Militarum Valkyrie, which will be the first time I do a vehicle for a competition. Also, it will be the quickest I ever do a competition piece because as of writing this I will have a little over a month to assemble and paint it. Which is a far cry from the 6 or so months I gave myself for Joan for the Capital Palette, so I have got my work cut out for me. That being said I look forward to the wild ride assuming work and life don’t get me down too much.

Till next time my wayward compadres.