And here's the completed model. I painted him up to match the official color scheme but kept him a bit more muted overall. The only real color that makes him stand out is the red on him. The grey highlight on the black is a cool grey as I wanted him to be more cold and impersonal than warm and inviting. Besides, I figured it would help tie him into the cool greys on his base too.
I do like the contrast the bone helmet creates against the black armour. It really makes his head pop out from the rest of the figure. The smaller skull on his chest plate and the side of his gun help tie it all together.
The only weathering I did on this guy was with some powders at his feet to tie him into the base. A few weeks ago, I mentioned trying to make my own powders out of pastel and the epic failure that was. I ended up picking up a few light grey powders from Secret Weapon Minis to try them out. I got my hands on Slate Grey, Ash Grey and Ancient Earth. I hadn't planned on getting the Ancient Earth powder, but the color looked so cool.
Using powders over black seems to be a bit tricky. I varied the colors I used and found it took a couple of passes to build it up to where it started to look natural. I kept the powders down around his feet to simulate the little bit of dust he would have kicked up moving around the battlefield. I figure this guy is not like a regular troop and he's going to be much more careful with how he moves around a warzone.
Like all powders, the loose stuff comes off after applying it and then you can see how much is left after each pass. When you're working over a color (and not black or white), you get the change in hue that helps show the difference. When working over black, you're not getting that change in hue, you're trying to build it up from a dark nothing. The opposite is true with putting powders over white... it takes next to nothing to get a substantial change.
All in all, he was a fun build and it gave me a chance to try using light colored weathering powders over a black surface. He's not going to win any awards, but he looks the part and I can imagine him returning with his trophies as proof of a job done.
And as a side note, if anyone is interested in buying this guy, drop me an email. He's not going to do anything but sit in my display case so I'd much rather see him go to a good home and be put to use.
If you want to see what went into building him, that post is here.
Make sure to check out these posts as they might help:
Making your own weathering powders, don't do it.
