SHIP PAINTING: STEP BY STEP

Today I am going to write about how I paint a squadron of Iron Dwarves  "Anvil" class heavy cruisers

Step 1: Assembling and primming.

First of all I based the ship (see "Ship basing tutorial" in this month of the blog) and primed it with a brush, but it is possible to prime it with a spray. The base was also primed. The Anvils have a turret that I did not decide to glue becuause it will prevent me for painting the deck and the front side of bridge of the ship, so the turrets will be painted separately and later glued. If your model has parts that will make diffficult to paint the main body is preferable to paint them separately before assembling.

Step 2: Basic colours.

The basic colours of the hull and cannons are added to the ship. Also small details are painted because when I dip the model in the next step those details will be remarked. I re-check the ships to see there aren´t any colours that run into zones painted in another colour, and correct the mistakes before proceeding to step 3.

Step 3: Selective Dipping

It is called "Dipping" because the original procedure for it was to dip the model into the quickshade can then swing it until the shading stuff is gone from the outer zones of the model, but, because I do not have a place to swing the ships (no garden) and the ships are too big for that (and swinging could damage the base) I used a brush, to selectively paint the zone where the shanding liquied will be required, in this case the decks of the ship and lower hull (wich is "made" of wood planks) Then I use anothe brush to remove the  excess of shading stuff from teh zones. I do not cover the pannels in the upper hull because it will then require to paint each pannel separately and will consume a lot of time that is why I call it "selective" (the panel will go darker). The metallic details (except guns) are covere with the shader to remark the details and separate it from the hull.

The dipping or Shading process requires at least 3 days of drying then you can continue painting the model. The details of the lower hull should be perfectly remarked. At this step also add a black wash to the funnels of the ship.

Step 4: Panelling, part 1

In this step I paint the upper hull (the blue part). first covering the remains of the shading stuff that ran into the blue zone and then paintig the lines separating the pannels with a fine brush. I try to paint a white line thick enough to reach the two adjoining pannels using a brighter colour used to paint the hull. I also add lights to the edges of the blue zones of the ship.

Step 5: Panelling, part 2

I use even a finer bursh to paint a black line inside the white (or brighter) line that separate the pannels of the upper hull of the ship. The effect is a upper hull "made" of independent pannels. Sometimes I have to repaint one or"thin" a line with the hull colour. Some othe details are added like lights and shades to the metallic parts,  like the ram.

Step 6: painting the base, part 1

 I forgot to mention I paint the edge of the base in black using as less water in the paint as possible to protect the base from bending this can be done as early as step 2. Then, in this step I properly paint the base with a "base" colour of navy blue, covering the edges of the base, but you can leave them black. At this stage I also glue the turrets to the ships, as the zone they block for painting is already painted. It is possible to magnetize the turrets, but in my opinion the Anvil's turret is quite small for doing that.

Step 7: painting the base, part 2

Then I mix white with blue in a 3 parts of white , 1 of blue  to paint the "waves" in the base, starting with the ones at the aft and the prow of the ships then I add more waves in the middle zone trying to paint them as symetrical as possible.

Step 8: painting the base, part 3

Finally I add the white colour to the waves, on top of them, painting half  in white along the line of the wave, except in the prow, that is painted to look as realistic as possible, painting the upper zone of the wave and leaving the lower zone of the wave in light blue. In case of the Aft waves, I add a wash of  dark blue to separate the lines of the trailing waves first. Within the prow area I also add a little more lines to make the ship look "cutting" the waves.

Step 9: painting the base, part 4

Thinning. In this last step, I thin the lines representing the waves with navy blue to give the model a smoother look. Sometimes this may make the wave to be smaller but its OK as long as you keep them symetrical with the other side of the base. It is possible to drybrush some of the base to give more "texture" to it, but the models are just finished and I barnished them with a coat of matt varnish. except in the metallic zones where i mix gloss with matt varnish (50%) to make them look metallical and not just a tone of grey.

And that is all!!

I hope you liked the tutorial :-)

Dan

SHIP BASING TUTORIAL

As promised I am going to tell how I based my ships.

Step 1:  Materials

For bases, I use the thick card that come the last in an A4 pages bookbind. You can ask in the shop for them if they sell them separately (or just ask them to have some blank pages bookbinded then get thick card for the basses.

The thick card has the advantage of being easy to cut but you have to be carefull and prevent it to get wet in the wrong zone such as the edges, because it can bend. The other alternative is plasticard but I did not use that.

besides the thick card for the ship's base you will need: green stuff, PVA glue, filler and super glue.

The tools required: some pincers, scissors and a cutter (or modelling knife)

Step 2: Adjusting the base size

Use the model to get the desired size for the base. Some models may require a base larger than usual if for example have metal sails that can cause the ship to be accientally knocked over the side easily.

Step 3: Glue the ship to the base

For this step you will need both the PVA glue and the Super glue. The first will be doing the main gluing and the second will hold the ship in place because it dries fasther. Otherwise, if you only use PVA, the ship can "move away" while drying,  and if you only use superglue the ship can be easily rip off from the base in an accident.

In order to use the superglue correctly, just add two little drops at the prow and the aft of the ship's bottom. Wait some seconds and then let the PVA dry. Make sure you center the ship in the base before pushing it onto the base!

Step 4: Adding the waves, part 1

Take a bit of green stuff and place it next to the hull, where the hull "cuts" the waves. Make sure the ammount of green stuff is not too much to give it a realistic look. Once it is nex to the hull separate it from it a bit with the modelling knife and shape it into a "rising wave" from the prow of the ship.

At the aft of the ship, add the "trailing waves" with green stuff too, and shape it them with the knife until you think they look OK.

Some ships may have complex patterns of trailing and cutting waves.

Step 5: Adding the waves, part 2

Let's add some texture to the base, so it can be drybrushed a bit later on. You will need the filler this time and the pincers (and some water). Make sure you also have something to dry the thick card because if the water gets to its edges it may bend if you don't dry those edges often.

First use your fingers to extend the filler, but do not approach too much to the model. Use the pincers and the modelling knife to extend the filler towards the hull, to avoid touching the model with the fingers and removing some detail from it! If you touch the model accidentally wait for it to dry and remove it with a modelling knife.

Finally you may add some detail with the pincers (more waves) if you want.

All that is left is is to wait until the filler dries, and here you go! the base is ready for painting. I usually add a base coat to the model and its base. I also paint more waves to the base, and if you want how I paint the  model wait for the next tutorial ! ;-)

Hope you liked it!

Dan

IRON DWARF SHIPS

Last entry there was the picture of the whole fleet but I think it could be more interesting if you can see the models more closely. When I have more time I will post a tutorial about how I painted those ships and the basing of the models but at the momment I have a German exam next week and have to prepare it. When it is done and I get a moment to do it I began to post the tutorials.

Now let's see those ships individually:

Dwarven submarines

(closer look)

Mixed squadron:  regular cruisers (Hammer class) and one heavy cruiser (Anvil)

The flagship of the dwarven fleet: a Chainmail class (modified battleship)

(front view)

And finally a Heavy cruiser squadron (full of Anvil class) These are the latest models painted by me before the exams

I hope you liked it!

Next: basing tutorial

Dan