Friday, September 27, 2013

alien conversion idea

September 22, 2009

Aliens

Saw on Frothers someone had the idea to convert plastic bloodletters into Aliens' Aliens. I had to try it out for my plans to pimp out my old copy of Space Hulk with EM4 Colonial Marines and proper Aliens. Of course a day after I did this the new version of Space Hulk was announced. Kinda killed off the project, ah well I'll still do these up as Aliens as I have time.





4 comments:

  1. please tell what u used for the head and tail in the alien :) wouldnt it be so awesome f they made avp warhammer. i knowlike a gazillion people who would start playing if there was
    Reply
  2. what did you use as the tail i have been looking for something to replae the tails on my genestealer aliens onversions
    Reply
  3. Closest you could get to AVP warhammer is AVP minis for Horrorclix which seemed to be available everywhere but Australia. Never saw them in any local shops unfortunatly, I really wanted the Aliens box.

    The head on this conversion is the standard bloodletter head I've just cut off the horns and added putty to smooth the whole thing to get the Alien/Alien 3 smooth xenomorph style head. Used green stuff then Tamiya filler putty, then sanded it down.

    The tail is from an alien look a like figure that Oz Made Miniatures used to make, they were a bit small but I really wanted the tails to convert some genestealers, and pestered him a local con he was selling at about it a bunch of times but he would only sell the full figures. But I was lucky at the end of the day that there were 10 tails left in the bits box after he'd sold all the minis so I got the bunch. I never got around to putting them onto stealers but they work great on the Bloodletters, which I think convert better anyway.
    Reply
  4. Randomly ended here, and that is one sweet conversion! I've been working on an Aliens Space Hulk project for a while now, feel free to check out my blog for more.

    best,

    Mikko
    Reply

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

painting shemes

Black Marble
Stage 1
Undercoat in black.
Stage 2
Stipple on dark grey using a stiff bristle brush, and the same amount of paint as for drybrushing.
Stage 3
Stipple mid grey over this using less paint. Try not to cover all the black.
Stage 4
Stipple light grey using even less paint.
If the result is too even or light, stipple black on top.
Stage 5
Using a fine sable brush and light grey paint, add some veins. First using very watery paint create an uneven stripe.
Stage 6
Highlight this with a very fine line, whilst wobbling your hand a little. Apply gloss varnish to finish.
 
White Marble
Stage 1
Undercoat in white.
Stage 2
Stipple on light grey using a stiff bristle brush, and the same amount of paint as for drybrushing.
Stage 3
Stipple mid grey over this using less paint. Try not to cover all the white.
Stage 4
Stipple dark grey using even less paint.
If the result is too even or dark, stipple white on top.
Stage 5
Using a fine sable brush and dark grey paint, add some veins. First using very watery paint create an uneven stripe.
Stage 6
Highlight this with a very fine line, whilst wobbling your hand a little. Apply gloss varnish to finish.
 
Red Marble (Click thumbnails for larger images)
Stage 1
Undercoat in black.
Stage 2
Stipple on burgundy using a stiff bristle brush. Try to cover most of the black, just leaving a few darker patches.
Stage 3
Stipple burnt sienna over this using less paint. Try to leave some of the darker areas.
Stage 4
Stipple a mix of burnt sienna & terracotta using even less paint.
If the result is too even or light, stipple burgundy on top.
Stage 5
Using a fine sable brush and white paint, add some veins. First using very watery paint create some uneven, jagged stripes.
Stage 6
Highlight this with a very fine line, whilst wobbling your hand a little. Apply gloss varnish to finish.
Honey Marble (Click thumbnails for larger images)
Stage 1
Undercoat in white.
Stage 2
Add some uneven washes of a milky coffee colour. Keep the paint very thin - you just want to slightly stain the piece.
Stage 3
Stipple some of the same colour over the piece.
Stage 4
Using the same colour, add some veins. The stippling should suggest some divisions between darker and lighter areas - just accentuate some of them.
Stage 5
Changing to a burnt sienna or chestnut brown colour and a fine brush, add a few more veins, and "highlight" some of the existing ones.
Stage 6
Add a very thin wash of the second colour to one or two areas. Finish with gloss varnish for a polished appearance.
  
Green Granite (Click thumbnails for larger images)
Stage 1
Cut a piece of nylon pan scourer to about 1/2" x 2" to use for the stippling the paint. This gives a rougher texture than using a bristle brush.
Stage 2
Undercoat in black.
Stage 3
Stipple on a light grey, twisting the scourer in different directions as you apply the paint. A piece of card will help you decide when there is the right amount of paint of the scourer.
Stage 4
Stipple a mid grey over this - it doesn't matter if the first coat is dry.
Stage 5
Mix a 50% Emerald Green to 50% light grey colour, and stipple this on next.
Stage 6
Mix a 50% Forest Green to 50% mid grey colour, and apply this coat. Add a coat of gloss varnish, if you want your granite to look brightly polished.
  
Rock Texture Spray (Click thumbnails for larger images)
Materials
Plasti-kote "Stone Touch" Spray Paint
Post-It Notes / Masking Tape
Acrylic Paints
Stage 1
Mask any areas which you do not want to cover with the spray paint. Post-it notes are perfect for this, especially if you have already painted the parts. If using masking tape, stick it onto your jeans a couple of times before use, to reduce the adhesion.
Stage 2
Liberally spray the "Stone Touch" paint on the areas to which you want to add texture. Unlike many aerosol paints, this spray does NOT eat into expanded polystyrene. Leave to dry thoroughly - this will take 2-3 hours or more, depending on how thickly you spray.
Stage 3
Undercoat in black - providing you have covered any exposed polystyrene, you can use a spray primer. The "Stone Touch" protects the underlying material from damage. (I deliberately allowed some of the polystyrene here to get damaged, to show what happens.)
Stage 4
Drybrush, starting with a dark grey colour, followed by a mid grey using less paint.
Stage 5
Add a light grey highlight, drybrushing even less paint.
 
Verdigris (Click thumbnails for larger images)
Stage 1
Undercoat in black.
Stage 2
Basecoat the whole figure in copper.
Stage 3
Wash with a dark brown ink.
Stage 4
Mix a turquoise/green colour - I used about 50% cobalt blue and 50% emerald green. Apply this like a thick wash to the figure, and then wipe off the excess with a cotton bud. Cover as much or as little of the model as you like - the greener it is, the older it will look.
Stage 5
Add a little white to lighten the paint mix, and stipple or drybrush this over the areas which still have the turquoise/green colouration.
Stage 6
Add a touch more white, and very lightly drybrush the turquoise/green parts to add a highlight. I added the statue to a base made from Roman blocks, and painted as grey granite.
 
Rust (Click thumbnails for larger images)
Stage 1
Undercoat in black, and liberally drybrush with a dark silver colour. This is GW chainmail, but a little black added to standard silver will work just as well.
Stage 2
Lightly drybrush with a bright silver colour - this should pick out all the highlights.
Stage 3
Wash with a black ink mixture. I used 3 drops of water / 3 drops of Pledge Multi-Surface Wax (Future in the US) / 1 drop of black ink. The polish "drags" the ink into the recesses on the model, defining the lines there.
Stage 4
Mix a rust colour - I used 50% GW chestnut ink and 50% GW orange ink. Apply this to the areas that you want to be rusty - bear in mind that rust forms first where water collects, and then spreads. Streaks of discolouration will drip down from these areas.
Stage 5
Take a terracotta colour of paint, and lightly stipple this onto the main areas of rust - this will give it a slightly rough texture. Also using this colour, carefully paint over any sharp silver highlights in the rusty areas.
Stage 6
Using neat chestnut ink, add a few darker streaks and patches. I thought the helmet looked a little too rusty, and "removed" a little of the rust, painting over it with chainmail. For large areas of scabby rust, add a coat of  matte varnish to dull the shine.
 
Random Fieldstone (Click thumbnails for larger images)
Stage 1
Undercoat and drybrush the entire wall in stone colours.
Stage 2
Make up a wash from 3 drops water / 3 drops Pledge Floor Polish / 1 drop black ink. Apply this to a few randomly selected stones.
Stage 3
Make a similar wash with brown ink, and apply this to some more stones.
Stage 4
Make a similar wash with chestnut ink, and apply this to some more stones.
 
Stage 5
Make a similar wash with flesh ink, and apply this to some more stones. Be sure to leave some stones in the original colours.
Stage 6
Using a light cream colour, gently drybrush all the stones to emphasise the highlights again.