Ksarkin Sergeant WIP

This is going to be my next mini to work on. I love this mini. I can't wait to get started:



I want the uniform to match the Sisters of Battle colors I used on the Canoness. I'm thinking green clothes with blue armor plates and helmet?

I dunno. I probably wont get started till late next week or later... still haven't moved.

Now that I'm all moved in to my new Condo, and my heart surgery is all taken care of... I finally got back to painting last night.

This is my Ksarkin Sergeant with all the base coats done.



I want my Imperial Stormtroopers to match the color scheme of my Sisters of Battle, so that's why I went with green armor, blue clothes and grey appointments (to be highlighted in white)

If you don't remember, this is my SOB color scheme:



Though with the Ksarkin I hope to use a better looking blending technique and perhaps use some NMM and integrated POV lighting. We'll see.

Looking good so far.

Armor shading and highlighting:



I don't know if I'm happy with it. I remember being better at this than I appear to be. Maybe I just never had good close up photos before so I never got to see my work so close up.

3 things.

First I think your model looks good and might be look better once finished, but I think your primer might be giving you a undesirable bulky look. I say this because I have two of these sergeant models and yours looks a little bulbous?

Second is it just me or is your sword curved? Is it intentional, like a saber design? It just sorta looks out of place to me, then again I could be biased because I have the model. But again, in your army it would probably fit in better.

Third, and this is purely constructive ( you paint better than I do, I'm a modeler not a painter!) Your sisters model looks on point, the colors and the job work well together.

With that said, I think your face really takes away from the model. I know I have a rep for being an ass and I'm not trying to further that, but I think if you went for a less dramatic look or perhaps looked at some other peoples style for faces your model would look awesome.

At this is something very common I see, good models and then some big red lips and big black eyes. I will try to find some links of peoples work who do not use this method.

All in all your stuff is very nice, dont be afraid to use some "pop" colors on those weapons and holy icons. And make sure your using "flat" prmers.

I like where you're going with it, Caelyn, but I do agree with archite about the primer. It almost looks as if it's really thick? Not sure, but I do know from experience that the primer can make or break a model. I've recently been working with Dupli-color black car primer, and have been having really good luck with it. I think that if you find the right primer, you'll have an easier time. Just thought I would share that in case it might help!

archite666 wrote:

3 things.

First I think your model looks good and might be look better once finished, but I think your primer might be giving you a undesirable bulky look. I say this because I have two of these sergeant models and yours looks a little bulbous?

Second is it just me or is your sword curved? Is it intentional, like a saber design? It just sorta looks out of place to me, then again I could be biased because I have the model. But again, in your army it would probably fit in better.

Third, and this is purely constructive ( you paint better than I do, I'm a modeler not a painter!) Your sisters model looks on point, the colors and the job work well together.

With that said, I think your face really takes away from the model. I know I have a rep for being an ass and I'm not trying to further that, but I think if you went for a less dramatic look or perhaps looked at some other peoples style for faces your model would look awesome.

At this is something very common I see, good models and then some big red lips and big black eyes. I will try to find some links of peoples work who do not use this method.

All in all your stuff is very nice, dont be afraid to use some "pop" colors on those weapons and holy icons. And make sure your using "flat" prmers.

I think you may be right on the primer, it does cover a little thicker than other primers I have used, except it also goes on REALLY smooth. And I hate rough primers. If I could find a medium gray primer that goes on light AND is smooth...I'd buy it, but I'm not going to buy 5 different cans of primer to find it either.

As for the sword, I've seen this model with both a straight blade and a curved blade, I'm guessing that it sometimes comes bent, and since it kinda has the look of a saber or cutlass, people just leave it. I like the cutlass idea cause Marines use the cutlass, and this model looks like a marine.

And the face isn't done. I've been having trouble finding a brush that works for fine details too... I just got a new 20/0 though and I hope it will help me with the face.

Anyway thanks for the feedback.

A smooth primer, eh? I can't remember if the dupli-color is smooth or not. I think it is, for the most part, because it's the main color of several of my tanks and my Vandetta. Huh... I'll have to check that out when I get home and will let you know if it is or not.


As for your brushes, I've got some 18/0 brushes from Michaels that were pretty good with faces. I think they were only like 2 bucks apiece, but they do tend to lose their point quickly, but for 2 bucks, it isn't too bad.

I've learned you get what you pay for in regards to brushes

I'm considering changing paints too.... I really REALLY hate the GW bottles.

I think before my next mini I'm going to try the Reaper paints, or if I can find them, the Villejo paints..... squeeze bottles and a pallet seem lest wasteful to me, and will make it easier to mix accurately.

I like Villejo, but they are reallllly thin. So be warned. Extra layers means extra time.

GW paints aren't that bad imo. Just remember to thin them out. The new wash range is particularly good too imo.

I just grabbed a few of the new GW brushed (fine detail brush + small dry brush) and they are working great so far.

Agreed with Marc though. Look into fine art brushes. You pay premium for them, but with proper care they will look after you for a loooong time to come.

For a good care primer on paint brushes you can check out an article in the new white dwarf magazine. Sure you could find the information online (or in our links section somewhere) but the article in white dwarf is pretty good for an intro to good brush care.

The model's looking good! I think some deeper shading on the gun metal parts (looking at the sister here) would really help the weapon look more realistic. I like the armor and the scheme though. I bet it pops really well on the table top.

You know what I think would help massively though... base them desert colors to contrast against the blue green. With grass basing they will pop less imo. So sand base with some reeds or something would look awesome I think.

Matt wrote:

I like Villejo, but they are reallllly thin. So be warned. Extra layers means extra time.

GW paints aren't that bad imo. Just remember to thin them out. The new wash range is particularly good too imo.

I just grabbed a few of the new GW brushed (fine detail brush + small dry brush) and they are working great so far.

Agreed with Marc though. Look into fine art brushes. You pay premium for them, but with proper care they will look after you for a loooong time to come.

For a good care primer on paint brushes you can check out an article in the new white dwarf magazine. Sure you could find the information online (or in our links section somewhere) but the article in white dwarf is pretty good for an intro to good brush care.

The model's looking good! I think some deeper shading on the gun metal parts (looking at the sister here) would really help the weapon look more realistic. I like the armor and the scheme though. I bet it pops really well on the table top.

You know what I think would help massively though... base them desert colors to contrast against the blue green. With grass basing they will pop less imo. So sand base with some reeds or something would look awesome I think.

Thanks Matt,

It's not that I don't like GW paints... I don't like GW paint bottles. The lids suck, they don't seal well and when you open them, the lids tend to keep half closing due to the plastic, it makes for a difficult pallet. Especially when you have bright overhead lighting shadowing everything under the lid. When mixing paints, with regular GW bottles there are two ways to get the paint out of the bottle and into your mixing tray, dipping a brush, or an eye dropper..either way wastes paint.

Dropper bottles are the way to go on both those counts. If anyone wants to buy my current GW paint bottles, let me know, cause I'm pretty sure I'm changing to Reaper or Vallejo.

The cheap synthetic brushes I bought from Hobby Lobby though, the detail brush in that set fell apart after one mini..and I know how to care for brushes.... the bristles were coming off in the paint on the second use. I have brushes from 10 years ago that are in better shape than the cheap brushes I got when I first got back into this a couple of months ago.

As for GW brushes.... not gonna pay that price for a brush... just wont. I actually have some fine art brushes already from Hobby Lobby, haven't used them yet.

Now basing... I'll think about your suggestion, though I would have to go against a big standard for me. It's complicated, I'll try to explain.

Ok... so we know that in the 41'st millenium not all armies are worried about camoflage, in fact many go out of their way to be as visible as possible on the battlefield. I personally LIKE that fact, and I often paint my 40K minis in bright flashy high contrast colors. My color blind eyes prefer it that way anyway. BUT...

I also like to pretend that they would at least TRY to dress appropriately for the surroundings.... so green with grass, tan with sand etc.... Even though I know my armies will fight in all terrain, but will always wear the same color scheme... I still like to have my base match with the outfits if possible.

Plus, for gaming pieces, I tend to like uniformity in bases... and my base recipe is very very sturdy (My turf NEVER comes off) I mean, I know I could just as easily ink with brown and dry brush with tan... but I don't know... I'll see when the time comes.

Oh and for reference, this is my base recipe:

Paint entire base with dark green paint.
Paint TOP of base with water/white glue mixture
Dip base in fine grain sand.
Use brush to drop water/white glue mixture into sand so it wicks out and fills in around the sand.
Let dry completely overnight.
Use brush to drop green ink into sand so it wicks out and fill in around the sand.
Let dry completely
Dry brush with light green.

I've been doing bases this way since the beginning in the early 90's.

***EDIT***

I forgot to respond to your point about the guns... I know what you mean on the SOB and your right. This hell/lasgun on this miniature though isn't going to be painted metal, but on future boltguns and such, I'm definitely going with a more shaded and high contrast metallic look.

I know some people take the GW paints and empty them into dropper bottles. You could always do that. Granted it means you have to buy blank dropper bottles.