Eldar! Continued

I spent at least 30 minutes on this figure, if not more. It's not really noticeable in the photo, but even from arms length it's visible. I base coated the armor in a deep green, and the undersuit in brown (i use a vareity of paints including GW, Vallero, 50 cent craft store, liquitex, and krylon).

I layered progressively lighter shades of green onto the armor ... perhaps 4 coats.

I did the same with the under-suit, but only 2 coats. I wanted it to remain subdued. The gun, was only highlighted once.

I finished it off with a low gloss varnish. I've gotten in the habit of varnishing everything. One, i think it adds an element of completion to a model. Two, it gives a nice protective layer vs. oily finger tips and "table top battle wounds".

I really like how this guy turned out, and it was only a few minutes total of work. I base coated him in a green mix (GW foundation green + lighter tone craft paint). I also base coated the gun in a homemade version of GW bleached bone. Then i gave it a dip in Army Painters Strong Tone.

The same as above, except with a black gun, and different tone of green. Army Painter dip is like a colored varnish (comparable to Minwax polyurethane) which really shades the model and adds an excellent protective layer.

The army painter does leave the model incredibly glossy, which is why i use a matte finish over the model. Army Painter does provide a spray finish ... which worked best on the tyranids.

Lastly, i'm very please with this model. He took perhaps 3 minutes total working time, and for the time put in, turned out best. Base coated black I put two thin layers of a craft paint green (two layers, because craft paints have terrible coverage). I painted the gun bleached bone, and the face plate black. After that i just gave the mini a dip in the Army Painter, and shook him off.

When dipping a mini you need to shake the excess dip off. If not you get a globby mess. I saw a neat video that attached the mini to a drill, and you can then use the drill to throw the excess of the mini ... that works really well. You then leave the varnish to dry (24 hours) and put a matte finish on... then presto.

To me, the layers and dry brushing creates far better looking mini's. But in terms of speed the dip is very efficient, and for basic troops and core units, can't be beat for those who want to start playing with assembled painted mini's. The big catch is making sure that if you matte varnish your boys ... it doesn't ruin the paint job you had ... no matter how simple it may have been. The next batch of guardians will hopefully be free of the white specks of doom.