With the bases for my Rough Riders complete, it was time to turn my attention to the bikes themselves. I painted them in the manner that I used to paint my armour. Once upon a time it was a nice, clean shadow grey, and all the rivets picked out painstakingly. That gave way to the scheme I currently use in 2009. It has really lent itself to a more grim dark feel for my army as opposed to the fresh from founding look they had.
I started by first washing the models in warm soapy water. This will remove any leftover release oil from the resin parts. I didn't do this when working with my first ever resin miniatures, and ended up having to strip the model and start over. The painting process begins with a coat of flat black, followed thin coats of Shadow Grey. This allows for the coverage to be smooth and even, keeping brushstrokes from showing through. Then the models were drybrushed with Codex Grey, and washed with black wash. This is a custom mix, made from Delta black and a 1:4 mix of Future to water. It acts a lot like the Badab Black wash from Citadel's old line up. The bikes were then given a drybrush of Space Wolves Grey, and the metallic areas painted with Gunmetal Metal.
The ID plates really pop on these models. Hell, everything really pops about these models.
Once the bike bodies were complete, I set to the saddlebags. These began with a coat of Graveyard Earth, then an overbrush of Kommando Khaki. This is followed by the picking out the straps and buckles with Graveyard Earth and Gunmetal Metal respectively. A black wash over the saddlebags and they are complete. The headlights got a coat of Space Wolves Grey followed by a coat of Skull White.
I begin the riders by blocking in all the base colours: Shadow Grey, Codex Grey, Scorched Brown for the gloves. Then the faces were painted Tallarn Flesh, washed with Ogryn Flesh, and drybrushed Elf Flesh. The web gear was painted in the same formula as the saddlebags. Finally, the boots were painted black, and I cleaned up any mistakes.
The riders were next given an overall black wash. The Shadow Grey and Codex Grey areas were then given drybrushes of the same colours. The gloves were drybrushed with a mixture of 1:1 Scorched Brown to Graveyard Earth. The flamer muzzles were drybrushed with Beaten Copper for two thirds the length, and then Tin Bitz for one third. The whole area was then given a wash of Asurmen Blue, which makes the burnt metal effect look that much better.
The next installment of these boys will see them added to their bases and weathered.
Cheers,
Xi
