Wednesday 31 October 2018

"The Adder Is The Standard Light Ground Vehicle For The Muster."

"Do you want to liberate worlds held by the Marcher Barons or resist the advance of the Prydian Army?"
This 15mm scale white metal and resin vehicle is produced by “The Ion Age” and is model IAF035A Red Adder Combat Car from the company’s Prydian Army Vehicles range. Staffed with "a crew of two" and "capable of dealing with low level threats", I fitted the transport's turret mount with a Moth rotary cannon and actually went as far as to super-glue it upon a large “Battlefront Miniatures” plastic stand.

However, having previously painted one of the range's other Adder vehicles, I decided against trying to frustratingly paint its under-floor whilst it was already 'based' and prised it off by its wheels, having first allowed the grit I use for my basing to dry. This left me with four spaces on the stand into which I could later re-attach the vehicle, and meant I could also pigment the Combat Car's underbelly like it was an overturned turtle.
"Rumours abound about the ever increasing numbers of Muster and Retained..."
Due to my ‘modelling’ part of my Prydian Army upon the "Rogue Trader" era of the Imperial Guard, I undercoated the entire automobile with two coats of “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey and washed the entire "four wheeled light" transport with “Citadel” Nuln Oil. I then 'picked out' its easy to reach axles and exhaust pipes with a combination of "Citadel" Ironbreaker and (more) Nuln Oil.

I painted the conveyance's lamps with "Vallejo" White and Pale Grey, before applying some "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil to its hub caps, as well as its formidable-looking Moth rotary cannon. Ordinarily at this point I then treat my miniatures to a layer of "Coat d'arms" Gloss Varnish, but startlingly, my trusty pot of protection did anything but preserve my paint-job, and instead 'tore off' the vast majority of its "Citadel" Nuln Oil shading.
"...Along with some of the shining lights of the Starvaulters being sent to the remote Carmarthen Star Cluster."
Mightily miffed, I decided to try my hand at applying a white and dark grey camouflage pattern to these 'bare' areas, and actually managed to get half-way around the tankette before I spotted just how poorly the paint seemed to be covering the "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey undercoat. Something was definitely going amiss with the varnish, so having experienced a similar result with a second camouflage coat, I resigned myself to simply re-painting the entire vehicle "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, washing it with (even more) "Citadel" Nuln Oil and this time varnishing it with "Vallejo" Gloss Varnish.

Unfortunately, probably as a result of either the first coat of varnish, or perhaps the four layers of "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey used to undercoat the model, parts of the resin sculpt would appear to have significantly softened, especially on its bonnet. In addition, the "Citadel" Nuln Oil has turned out a lot darker and rather gloopier on this model than it did on my previous Combat Car, despite my desperately trying to imitate the self-same coverage of shade...

24 comments:

  1. More excellent additions mate. Cracking stuff. :)

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    1. Thanks Leon. I'm not at all happy with the Combat Car tbh, so don't be surprised if it appears as a wreck at some point on my tabletop ;-)

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  2. From the pictures Simon it all looks good, but only you know what it's like in the hand with the problems you've had. The group shots look great too

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    1. Cheers Dave. If it was still sunny I’d probably stick the model on a window sill for a few days and let the sun lighten it up a bit. It does looks okay from a distance on the tabletop, but I’m now wishing I’d gone with a darker grey for the vehicles... might try that on the next Combat Car I paint, and perhaps dry brush it too to help bring out the detail...

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  3. They all look great from here matey.

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    1. Thanks Dai. I’ll leave it be for a week or so and then take a look at it. I should have painted another (probably using “Vallejo” Dark Grey) by then, so will compare paint schemes.

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  4. Nice additions. The force is coming together.

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    1. Cheers Clint. I’ve a few more from “The Ion Age” and then I’m on top some “Ground Zero Games” models :-)

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  5. Did you wash the models before painting?

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    1. Hi Fran. I didn’t, and it has sat on the shelf for about four years. But I did dust it down before painting, and the prime took well enough - it was the varnish which seemed to have caused the problem... perhaps it went off?

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  6. Always annoying when you're painting is compromised by the finishing touches. I had a similar, if less diastrous, issue with Rom. Apparently Plastikote spray paint reacts badly with Citadel inks and I almost lost his entire chest panel before managing to soak up tge excess ink with a paper towel. Nice work on ALL the models you've posted recently - I have read all the posts, but not commented on the majority of them. Time has bern getting away from me of late...

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    1. Many thanks indeed, Jez. No worries about comments, its not an expectation I assure you :-) I think ultimately I think I've probably picked the wrong combination of colours, and should have dry-brushed them too. The "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil work well enough for the tiny uniforms of the soldiers, but not for an entire combat car.

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  7. That's a bummer about the adhesion of the paint, you never really know what's caused it, I've had varnish pull paint of before but usually when I've not let the paint or wash dry properly.
    They do look good in the photos so a good result inspite of the apparent disaster.

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    1. Cheers Vagabond, that's much appreciated. I actually let the wash dry overnight for that very reason you mention, so it had about 24 hours to cure before the varnish was applied.

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  8. Well, I wasn't convinced by the infantry you showed earlier, but I do like that combat car!

    Paint woes? You have my sympathy...

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    1. Oh dear, which infantry were those you didn't like, Hugh, the beaky marines or 'imperial guard'?

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  9. It does look a bit heavy-handed but hardly surprising condiering the varnish episode. Nevertheless it's finished and will probably be the luckiest vehicke about!

    Group shots look excellent too btw.

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    1. Thanks very much Joe. I fear this Combat Car is destined to be a wreck at some point tbh. Glad you like the group shot - hopefully I'll have a BatRep using them posted up soon :-)

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  10. Force is coming together nicely Simon. Top work!

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  11. Nice work Simon, not really seeing the problem you had with the adder in the pictures (I think I like the darks grubbier finish on the second one), they all look the business to me, I'd be glad to have any of them in my collection, if I had to choose I think I'd go for the "Crimson fists" because the colour scheme just works so well, but great work all round mate.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. Very much appreciated. I have a third Combat Car to finish off, and will be trying a darker hue on that one, and giving it a dry-brushed post-shading too. I'm hoping to add to my Crimson Fists once some reinforcements arrive ;-)

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  12. Those units look cool! Can't wait to get my hands on that Ion Age order I'm waiting for...

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    1. Cheers Skully. I've found "The Ion Age" turnover times to be excellent, so fingers crossed you order will arrive soon. What did you order?

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