Custodes Terminator

After looking high and low for one of these rare models, I was finally able to get my hands on a Legio Custodes Terminator model.

It'll serve no purpose in my army but will just look really cool with the rest of my Pre-Heresy minis.

Finished Blood Angels Assault Terminator

Finally finished my Assault Terminator.  This was perhaps the most technically complicated/advanced painting technique I've ever employed and I'm incredibly happy with the results.  The red alone was an eleven-step process.  The Crux Terminatus on his left shoulder was an 9 step process.  Even the gold trimming on the shield, hammer, belt, and wrists were a four-step process.  While the quality comes nowhere near the 'Eavy Metal level, it was interesting to follow in one of their painter's footsteps and use their techniques.

The only thing I’m disappointed in is the gloss factor in the photos.  I used a brush on matte coating and it came out a little glossy and not sure why when in-person it’s actually pretty matte.

There's no way in hell I'd use this for every single mini, otherwise it would take me months just to paint a single squad. As it is, I've spent close to 60 hours on this guy.

For the red armor:
1. Primed black
2. Base coated 1:1 Dark Flesh/Blood Red
3. 2:1:1 Chaos black/Dark Flesh/Blood Red watered down and added to the recesses
4. 3:1 Blood Red/Dark Flesh layered on to the armor, avoided the shaded areas
5. Pure Blood Red was then layered into the much more prominent areas of the armor
6. Pure Blazing Orange used as a highlight to the armor panels
7. 2:1 Blazing Orange/Vomit Brown was used for edging/extreme highlighting
8. Watered down Baal Red wash was used to re-center the layers and tone down the gradients
9. 2:1 Blazing Orange/Vomit Brown was then re-applied to the highlighting in a thinner edge.
10. This resulted in a very dark red model so I then mixed 4:1 'Eavy Metal Matte Medium/Blood Red and applied it as a glaze to brighten it up.
11. Blending again 2:1 Blazing Orange/Vomit brown

For the Crux Terminatus:
1. Primed black
2. 1:1 Chaos Black/Scorched Brown leaving the recesses black.
3. Wash of 1:1:1 Scorched Brown/Chaos Black/Badab Black liberally applied.
4. Codex Grey layered on over the raised areas.
5. Fortress Grey then used as a midtone.
6. Highlights with Deneb Stone.
7. Highlights with 2:1 Deneb Stone/Skull White.
8. Highlights with 1:1 Deneb Stone/Skull White.
9. Edging with pure Skull white.

For the gold parts:
1. 1:1 Scorched Brown/Shining Gold.
2. Washed with 1:1 Scorched Brown/Chaos Black.
3. Layered on Shining Gold to the raised surfaces.
4. Layered Burnished Gold on to the highlights.

5. Mithril Silver was used sparingly just on the most prominent parts.

'Eavy Metal style of Blood Angels

My normal method of painting red on my Blood Angels has been pretty formulaic.  If I need quick results, I'll use Army Painter's Pure Red, then shade with Devlan Mud then highlight with Blazing Orange then Vomit Brown.  If I wanted quality results, I'll prime black, then gradually layer Blood Red. I'll then drench it in Devlan Mud then gradually build up Blood Red layers followed by Blazing Orange, Vomit Brown, then re-adjust the hue with watered down Baal Red.

I wanted to try some 'Eavy Metal style of painting so I used Anja Wettergren's method of painting Blood Angels Terminators from the October 2009 issue of White Dwarf feature the 3rd edition of Space Hulk.  I improvised a little more and added a couple extra steps (steps 10 and 11 were not in the original tutorial).

1. Primed black
2. Base coated 1:1 Dark Flesh/Blood Red
3. 2:1:1 Chaos black/Dark Flesh/Blood Red watered down and added to the recesses
4. 3:1 Blood Red/Dark Flesh layered on to the armor, avoided the shaded areas
5. Pure Blood Red was then layered into the much more prominent areas of the armor
6. Pure Blazing Orange used as a highlight to the armor panels
7. 2:1 Blazing Orange/Vomit Brown was used for edging/extreme highlighting
8. Watered down Baal Red wash was used to re-center the layers and tone down the gradients
9. 2:1 Blazing Orange/Vomit Brown was then re-applied to the highlighting in a thinner edge.
10. This resulted in a very dark red model so I then mixed 4:1 GW Matte Medium/Blood Red and applied it as a glaze to brighten it up.
11.  From there I reapplied Blazing Orange from Step 6 and then the edging highlight from Step 7.

The result is an absolutely gorgeous model.  I don't dare say I can even come close to Anja's quality of painting, but following in her footsteps at least gives me an idea the lengths these artists go to in order to paint obscenely beautiful minis.

Apologies for the poor quality image as I took the photo at my desk at work.  Will provide a better one later.