Good evening! I didn’t know the best place to post this, but I thought that this would be a good guess. I'm here to introduce myself and also talk about my new (old) project: Epic Squats! I plan on using this thread to track my painting progress for all things EPIC.



What you see here is the beginnings of my Epic Squat army. I actually purchased all of this years ago when Space Marine v1 and v2 first came out. I also picked up Renegades and the Warlords supplement. The last boxed set that I purchased was Titan Legions. At the time I fell in love with the Squat ‘copters, Colossus, and other war machines, so I picked up a number of blister packs for them. I had visions of beardy victory as my machines would roll forward and lay waste to all that stood before them.



At that time darkness fell over the lands. My ex-wife, feeling that I was wasting my time, insisted that I get rid of 3/4 of my games. While I kept 40K and some historical games, Epic did not make the cut. Instead of Ebaying them, I gifted them to a friend who had a number of Epic armies. Although strong at first, the urge to play Epic receded over the ensuing years… as if it were a ring long forgotten, resting at the bottom of a river… waiting.

That was more than 20 years ago.

Which brings us to today. I stumbled across an old box of miniatures in the garage. In it I saw an old Space Marine Epic command stand (Crimson Fists). I went online and found NetEPIC. I signed up on Tactical Command. I spoke to my friend and asked if he might want to play... and he dug around and presented me with all of my Epic Squat models! Yes! I’m ready to go. I have:

1 Colossus
12 Gyrocopters
1 Land Train + 1 Car
2 Overlord Airships (need to make pressmolds for lost weaponry)
2 Goliath Megacannons

So, I'm ready. Well, sort of. Actually, I need infantry. If any of you have extra that you’d be willing to part with, let me know. I’d rather give money to people who are into the hobby first, before I give it to a random person on Ebay.



I am also interested in finding out what some of the painters on this board use for basing. The normal GW grit is too large. Something finer would be better. I plan on posting here to track my painting progress. Stay tuned!

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http://squadpainter.blogspot.com

For basing, I'm happy to recommend textured acrylic paste rather than flock or grit. You can add larger terrain pieces first, such as small ballast for rocks, ruins, whatever, then work the paste in to cover cracks, seal the base, generally make it look like a contiguous landscape rather than bases with things on top. Personally I use Vallejo "Sandy Paste" and "Grey Pumice", but I'm sure there's lots of options.

Also, PM sent regarding infantry.

nice!
just keep us updated with your work, and wellcome!

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My Tyranid army: http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=29905

Hi!

Cool!

Looking forward to the final result!

Primarch

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Primarch


The Primarchload
Magnetized Titans Tutorial
Net Epic Gold
Heresy Rules

Thank you very much for the well-wishes. I appreciate them!

Okay, I was able to grab a few stands of Squat infantry and do some test figures so that I could finalize my technique and pick my colors. From left to right you can see (1) the figure after the wash of black paint, (2) the figure with the base colors and highlights over the black washed figure, (3) the figure with layered base colors over the black washed figure, (4) a figure primed with Armory Grey Primer, and (5) the figure with blocked in colors and dipped with Army Painter Quickshade Strong.



I did the Army Painter figure on the end first as I thought that would be the best choice... and I was wrong! It was easy to block in the colors and apply the dip, but there isn't enough contrast at this scale. Maybe if I used AP Dark it would work better, but as it stands it fails in the contrast department.

Then I remembered that I used to paint my Baccus 6mm Napoleonics with a black undercoat without any highlighting at all; they just recommend bright colors. Now, my figures were already primed grey, so I decided to do a quick wash of black to put dark into the recesses and keep the raised bits light. Then I'd add my colors on top. So that was my next figure (3). In addition to doing a layer or two of paint, I also drybrushed the red quilt with a little red/yellow mix. It turned out very well. So well, in fact, that I decided that I'd try to improve on it by doing a Foundry style two layer job (black, then a base color and a smaller highlight) on the last test figure (2).



As you can see, there isn't much difference between (2) and (3) if you ignore the paint placement. The (2) starts with slightly darker shades and then has a brighter highlight applied. It was double the work for a minimal payoff when compared to (3). I think that the middle figure is the best.



So, the colors and techniques are set. It's time for mass conscription. Forward!

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http://squadpainter.blogspot.com

Yep middle one definitely best. My wife picked it too.

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http://hordesofthings.blogspot.co.nz/

Which do you find is smoother? Sandy Paste or Grey Pumice?

- Jeff

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http://squadpainter.blogspot.com

they look really nice, but the middle one looks better I think

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My Tyranid army: http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=29905

IIRC sandy paste is the smooth one. The vallejo website actually has it all indicated on the 4 technical textured paints.


A bunch of years back I did a whole 10mm army for a friend on commission (pre-children ) and using quick shade was one of the major steps i did.** In my tests for the project I've found that yes, at the smaller scale the greater contrast is desired so go with the Dark tone *always* (YMMV). Do not dip, paint it on, and more important is to be aggressive in the amount of quickshade applied and length you let is sit (you'll get a feel for it). I also found that it's a good idea to get a pattern down to apply an intense edge highlight on a few parts of the model so I had two colors for each "modle color" (e.g. dark and light grey, dark green and lighter green, brown and a tan) already picked out. I based with the darker, picked out sections with the brighter and when the whole unit was ready, washed with QS. I got fairly nice results I had to admit for the amount of effort I put it for him.

**note: I have to admit I've done historicals back in the 80's using minwax (a super common technique in that type of modeling) so the process conceptually was fairly well known to me therefore the learning curve was nil. YMMV so best I can say is run some tests on crap models - i suggest some old 2nd edition marines which are plentiful

I am an avid user of Vallejo sandy paste so I paint, wash, etc my infantry on Popsicle sticks first. When I'm ready to base the entire formation at once and use the paste in various ways to create a scenic base. I color, paint, etc everything and then, as the paste isn't hard and can be a victim of wear, my experience on that commission lead me to use the QS strong tone (as I have dirt / rock / scrubland / ruins themed bases) on them which makes them rock hard and totally protected. It's a good combo I feel. Basically I'm throwing that out there as the QS strong tone purchase still might have use for you, albeit not on your models.

In the years since then I've almost 100% moved over to using oils and my airbrushing myself because I like they way they work, personally. It's something to consider as well.

Looking forward to seeing where this project goes!!!

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As you've already heard (listen to Jimmy, he is wise in the ways of the Force) Sandy Paste is the way to go. I use the Pumice on my churned-up earth 15mm scale bases and it's perfect for them.

Ha! Your wife has a keen eye.

Yes, the middle one looks best, I think. Building up the same color in two coats adds enough extra depth without the hassle of mixing new colors. Once they are based up they'll look even better.

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http://squadpainter.blogspot.com

Yep, I'm going with the middle one. It is a good result and I think that the figures will pop nicely on the table.

By the way, your Tyranid army is excellent! You have a very clean painting style. It's nice!

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http://squadpainter.blogspot.com

Thanks for the information, DK. I have put that in my Amazon cart and it awaits my finger of capitalism to click on the submit order button. That said, I live in San Diego, and it would be remiss of me to not check the local beach for sand to use with watered-down white glue.

But my backup plan is in place, thanks to your help!

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http://squadpainter.blogspot.com

I have also been a big fan of Army Painter for historicals. I did a unit of Perry 28mm Napoleonics using a Base-Dip-Highlight sequence and they turned out better than I had hoped.


I was disappointed at first when the Dip didn't work as I had hoped on the Squats. But then I remembered that different scales and armies call for different techniques. I'm happy with the direction that the figures are headed now. I'll keep the Strong Tone for my 20mm WW2 and 28mm historicals.


It's interesting that you use the QS Strong Tone to fix the Vallejo paste to your base. I hadn't thought of doing that. I'll have to dig around and look for some of your results. Thanks for the tip!



Again, I'll have to take a look at your stuff. I've used oils and airbrushing for 20mm WW2 armor, but not for infantry. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and I love learning and applying new techniques in this great hobby of ours!

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http://squadpainter.blogspot.com

Napoleonics look great!

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http://hordesofthings.blogspot.co.nz/