Iron Snakes: MOAR plasma!

Hi folks,

Last night I spent a couple of hours working on my Contemptor Dreadnought's plasma cannon arm. I wanted to try and get some of the back-lit glow effects we have been seeing on the Adeptus Mechanicum Skitarii weapons, in particular, this beauty (top left):

I started by painting the entirety of the plasma coil in Enchanted Blue. I then created a 4:1 mix of enchanted blue and Skull White and thinned it down to the consistency of milk. Holding the cannon at a 45 degree angle I washed very small amounts of the mix at the very base of the coil, allowing capillary action to draw the colour up the coil groove. I then let this dry completely (2 minutes).

Next I made a lighter shade by mixing another part of white into the original mix. I didn't thin it down to maintain the consistency, as I didn't want this colour to travel as far up the groove. Again I held the cannon at 45 degree and washed very small amounts at the very base of the coil. Capillary action moved the colour up the coil groove a little too far, so I very carefully soaked some away with a fine detail, dry paintbrush (painting's version of Ctrl Z!). I let it dry again, before repeating the process with yet another, lighter, shade.

For the last wash step, I took Skull White and added a minute amount of Enchanted Blue. I thinned it down a very small amount and, holding the cannon at 90 degrees, washed the base of the coil again. I used a dry paintbrush to soak up any paint that moved too high.

After that I drybrushed Leadbelchers from the top of the coil downwards, before highlighting it with Runefang Steel. Et voila...

I think the effect looks quite nice; my original idea for the pose of this figure was that it had just fired its plasma cannon and was waiting for it to recharge. The effect lends itself to this concept, unlike my other plasma weapons which have the coils glowing white hot all the way to the top. The reduced glow also lowered my compulsion to add OSL to the purity seals (though the jury is still out on that one, if you would like to offer a suggestion...). Most importantly, I tried something new :-)

To finish this guy off I have to paint the powerfist/plasma blaster arm, the right foot and the power plant on the back. The glow effect I am planing on painting in the palm of his powerfist is going to be a particularly challenging job, so keep an eye out for it.

In between coats, I have also started assembling some Hive Guard for my Nids. After finishing off my Contemptor I am going to do a Nid blitz, in an attempt to cross off a few more things from my 2014/15 To-Do list, before it turn into a 2014/15/16 To-Do list.

See you across the table,

M4cr0