Showcase: Renegade Knight Titan

Greetings! I have crunched my time hard and painted up an Imperial Knight Titan as fallen to the lure of Chaos. Meet the Renegade Knight, codified as Proditor.

Bwomp.

Yes, the eyes and thermal cannon are lit up via LEDs! My dad had given me a set, along with an effects PC board, as a gift a couple years ago, so I wanted to put it into something special. Once it became feasible to acquire, my wife then got me the new Renegade box to essentially get another knight for free as well, so it's an extra special knight to me, really. Anyway, enough of the feelings, on to the kit!

I wanted to get it ready for NIMCON, and unfortunately the weather wasn't agreeing, so I wasn't able to prime when I wanted to. This left me with about two weeks from prime to finish...and I didn't take complete advantage of it, naturally.

Proditor is Latin for "Betrayer". Fitting!

I did work on the metal parts for a few days, so at least I got that out of the way...up to the day before. I started the armor panel banding on the Friday afternoon before the event, finishing the metal by dinner, and starting the armor panels themselves around 7pm. I finished coloring them in by...2:30am I believe. I then did decals and started the weathering process by 3 something, finally finishing up around 4, dropping into bed a few minutes later...and getting back up at 7:40 to get ready to go. Classic Andrew!

It glows, it GLOWS!

Despite my setbacks, I got there and had a good time. It won a gold medal, and was chosen as the best of all the Sci-Fi/Real Space/Fantasy models, wooo! So that was fun.

You may have noticed that it isn't on a base; I didn't have time to finish the base, and since it stands on its own easily enough, I just let it stand!  I also didn't have time to finish a carapace weapon (though I will almost always be using one in games), so I rummaged through the ol' bits box and stuck a spare icon from the Defiler kit in the hole. It fits perfectly and looks the part!

Pictured: The Cost of Procrastination

I also converted a chainfist for the sole reason that I wanted to use the gauntlet bits (love the look!) but mainly wanted to use the chainsword in games because the rules are superior. This basically lets me use it as either one as I want, so it works out!

Pictured: Brutality

I snagged the idea from Nusquam, a member on the Bolter and Chainsword forum. I thought it was rather metal and knew I needed to have it on my own! I also magnetized the non-LED arm so I could swap out weapons as desired. Stay tuned to this page, as I'll be writing articles about how I added the LEDs and magnets to the kit.

I looked into a bunch of different paint schemes, trying to sort out which one I wanted. It definitely needed to look Chaosy and grimdark, and somewhat neutral so that it could go with any of my Chaos armies.

I cast about for a few days, hemming and hawing, but in the end I came back to the box art and ended up really liking it. It has a dirty industrial look, and the orange gives it a little splash of angry color.

Conveniently, there was a painting guide printed in the White Dwarf released alongside the box, so I put it to use! I had to make it my own of course, and changed up a couple colors to be more to my preference.

I also heavily referenced the first two Imperial Armour Masterclass books and they were of immense help; if you haven't yet acquired these books, they are golden for inspiration and techniques.

So, you've read this far thinking you would have read my paint shopping list by now, and I'm afraid to have disappointed you. Let's change that! I used all Games Workshop paints, though more than a few are from the older ranges. Here are my recipes for the various colors:

White Armor Panels
- White primer undercoat (grey might have worked better)
- Celestra Grey basecoat (required 4-5 thin layers)
- Agrax Earthshade recess wash
- Ulthuan Grey highlight level 1
- White Scar highlight level 2

Black Armor Panels
- Black primer undercoat
- Abaddon Black basecoat
- Dark Reaper highlight level 1
- Fenrisian Grey highlight level 2

Orange Lines
- Tape off areas to make clean lines
- Jokaero Orange basecoat
- Fire Dragon Bright overcoat
- Bleached Bone highlight level 1

Metal Trim 
- Black undercoat
- Warplock Bronze basecoat
- Brass Scorpion overcoat
- Reikland Fleshshade all-over wash
- Runelord Brass heavy drybrush highlight level 1
- Mithril Silver drybrush highlight level 2

Metal Skeleton
- Black primer undercoat
- Leadbelcher spray basecoat
- Nuln Oil all-over wash
- 50/50 Reikland Fleshshade patchy washes in various places to add variety
- Chainmail drybrush
- Agrax Earthshade all-over wash
- Chainmail drybrush highlight level 1 and stippling
- Mithril Silver drybrush highlight level 2 and stippling

Oiled Pistons
- Mithril Silver basecoat
- Brown Ink all-over wash
- Mithril Silver drybrush, painted horizontally for striations

Foot Pads (I wanted these to be hard durable metal)
- Abaddon Black basecoat
- Tin Bitz stippling
- Shining Gold stippling
- Chainmail stippling around the lower edges
- Mithril Silver stippling on the corners

Fingers (also wanted to be hard metal, but a different kind to the feet)
- Follow the steps for the metal skeleton
- Nuln Oil all-over wash
- Drakenhoff Nightshade all-over wash
- Chainmail stippling over edges

Loin Banner
- Rakarth Flesh basecoat
- Gryphonne Sepia all-over wash
- Rakarth Flesh drybrush highlight level 1
- Pallid Wych Flesh highlight level 2

Scrolls
- Dehneb Stone basecoat
- Gryphonne Sepia all-over wash
- Agrax Earthshade recess wash
- 50/50 Scorched Brown/Abaddon Black scriptwork

Engine Shroud (over the metal colors already there)
- Hashut Copper basecoat (mine went over very thinly, needed two layers)
- Agrax Earthshade all-over wash
- Hashut Copper overbrush
- Mithril Silver drybrush highlight level 1

Thermal Cannon Shroud
- Hashut Copper basecoat (mine went over very thinly, needed two layers)
- Agrax Earthshade all-over wash
- Hashut Copper overbrush
- Mithril Silver drybrush highlight level 1
Heat discoloration:
- Fuegan Orange section wash, blended into the metal at about halfway up the shroud
- Carroburg Crimson section wash, blended into the orange wash about 2/3 of the orange surface
- Drakenhof Nightshade section wash, blended into the crimson wash about 1/2 of the red surface

Red Chaos Stars
- Blood for the Blood God

Decals
- Gloss coat the area to have a decal
- Dampen decal til it can be slid off
- Brush some Microset on the area
- Slide off decal into place
- Once in place, use damp paper towel to push out any air bubbles and firmly set in place
- If necessary, brush on some Microset or Microsol
- Once dry, cover in gloss coat
- Once dry, cover in flat coat

Weathering
- Charadon Granite sponging and thin lines for chipping and long scratches
- White Scar/Fenrisian Grey/Bleached Bone (depending on area color) highlight on the bottom edge of the chips and scratches
- Gryphonne Sepia stippling for grime and oil
- Abaddon Black heavy drybrush for soot/charring on engine stacks and thermal cannon

Used pictures of real chainsaws for reference.

Hot cannon!

Here's where all the batteries and wires are.

So that's it for now! In the near future I'll be writing up how I lit up the knight with LEDs and my simple conversions.

Thanks for reading!

Cantigny pt.2: Flowers!

In my second segment about Cantigny, I will be showing off my pictures of various flowers and pretty things we came across. I seriously love the colors present in the spring, and it gives such a wonderful fragrance as well (the whole park was in bloom it seemed).

I'm not a big flower guy but I'm a big picture guy, so I'll simply present them for your viewing pleasure!

Right, so, not a flower, but a fun opportunity!

That's all for now. Thanks for reading (looking?) and hopefully you've been inspired!

Cantigny pt.1: Tanks!

Greetings! I apologize for the absence, but I have been busy taking pictures of things and hobbying away my time, busy busy!

First up will be about a visit to Cantigny in Wheaton, IL. We go every year and it's superawesomefun, or at least it is rather enjoyable. The gardens are full of blooms, and the tank museum is great for references and of course, climbing on.

Tip #1 - Hang a right as you enter the park. This will take you to the parking lot at the tank museum, which is generally empty most of the time. This actually gets you closer to the park faster, as there are often busloads of kids in the main parking area.This also takes you to the best part of Cantigny: the tanks!

Tip #2 - Go during a weekday, because there's practically nobody there to crowd up your outdoor enjoyment, except the aforementioned school buses.


Here are the vehicles they have on display:

I'm on a tank! (Patton)

Rifling...

...for this. It can launch missiles through the barrel!

Rawr. Patton tank.

M5 Stuart.

The first American tank, based on a French Renault.

Bulldog.

Bulldog and Chaffee, my two favorite light tanks!

Classic American muscle car.

Finds something possibly more interesting in the distance...

As always I had fun in the tanks area. It was nice being there right around lunch time, which leads me to...

Tip #3: Visit the tanks during lunch hours, because the students will all be having lunch somewhere and not getting all in your vehicle photos.


So this was the tanks segment for Cantigny. They also have a field artillery section and indoor museum, but I did not cover those this time around. Next post will feature some nice shots of flowers, and trust me, they are very vibrant.

Til next time!