And with 2014 Comes….

…more N-Scale! Just for the moment. I got the final pieces needed for the 1/60 Scale Catapult while i was on vacation over the last week, so I will have that built and painted very soon here. But while I was packing up before I left I had the chance to take a few (admittedly crappy) pics of the N-Scale Orko_one Dragon I bought off Lords of the Battlefield sometime back in 2012 and finally got around to painting.

Sometimes it’s hard to work up the courage to paint something you really enjoyed building. I know that’s the case with myself anyway. A lot of times a model will be great standing on its base, built and converted lovingly, and still grey plastic or resin…..and then when you paint it something goes wrong. I’ve had that problem with Warhammer 40,000 models all my life. I consider myself a decent painter, don’t get me wrong, but there are times where I draw a blank on a good paint scheme, or the way I envision it just doesn’t pan out in practice. Whatever the case, it helps to have a strong vision of what you intend, and carefully plan out how you’re going to accomplish it.

The Dragon here I feel turned out very well. I’ll try and get better pics up this weekend, but for now, you can view the phone versions. I primed it black, and then painted on several thin layers of Citadel Astronomicon Grey, a good flat shade which I think turned out okay. I washed the entire model in Citadel Gryphonne Sepia shade, which gave it a dirty texture and washed into the recesses, a good basic weathering effect so your ‘mechs don’t look like they’re straight out of the factory.

Since I already had the ruined brick wall piece on the base, I felt a rural-urban setting was necessary, and with red brick and brown dirt, the grey of the ‘mech needed camouflage- albeit in a contrasting color. I used a mustard-brown/yellow camo scheme. I started with Citadel Zandri Dust, applied via stippling, in a banded pattern across the hull, arms, and legs. This was then highlighted with Citadel Dry Hexos Palesun, which gave it a yellowish, sulfur-colored finish which I really like.

The metals were done using a base of Citadel Warplock Bronze followed by a layer of Citadel Boltgun Metal, and then a wash of Citadel Gryphonne Sepia to take the sheen off of it.

The cockpit was done in a contrasting tone, in this case bright green, using Vallejo Game Color Escorpina Green, followed by the brighter layer of Vallejo Game Color Livery Green, with a wash of Citadel Coeilia Greenshade to blend the two colors, followed by a glaze of Citadel Waywatcher Green.

Lastly, I based the model with the resin ruin and a specialty mixture of 3/4 sand and 1/4 slate. I find that I get the best texture from this mix, and always glue the model and any basing accessories (like the ruin) to the base before applying basing material. A battlemech weighs a whole hell of a lot, so the machine is bound to sink into mud or dirt or sand or gravel that it’s stepping in. And it works well to, say, press some footprints into a mud mixture if you plan on having a super-detailed base beforehand. With this model, and many of my N-scale pieces, I use a set of 15mm/N-Scale ruined buildings from a manufacturer that’s sadly now out of business. However, you can find base accessories like it from other sources out there. I highly recommend 15mm Stalingrad buildings found on FRP Games website. I base coated the dirt and grit with Citadel Rhinox Hide, then drybrushed heavily with Citadel Doombull Brown, followed by Citadel Tuskgor Fur, and finally with a very, very, very light brushing of Tuskgor Fur mixed with Citadel Screaming Skull white. The bricks were done in one layer of Formula P3 Khador Red base, shaded with a wash of Citadel Gryphonne Sepia. And the faded wallpaper on the inner walls of the ruin were done with Citadel Screaming Skull and the same Gryphonne Sepia wash.

Overall you get the sense of a heavy battlemech stomping through a long-abandoned, bombed-out ruin, perhaps on the outskirts of a greater city. I think it turned out well.