Along Came a Spider Part 3 - GW Arachnarok

Sooooo...this post has been a long time coming.  I first started blogging about Arachnarok in 2011 and it is now 2013; that is not to say he never got finished, oh on the contrary he was done immediately and given to his rightful owner.  I just have a tendency to SQUIRREL and then just completely SHINY forget what I was doing.  Not to mention that I paint a lot of stuff in the course of a week and my little FUZZY KITTY brain just can't process that much all the time.  But, here is the last installment for the Arachnarok as promised.  Sorry to have kept you waiting.

Legs
Colors Used:
Carapace Colors - 

• Base coat - Model Color, Red.

• Wash - Leviathian Purple in middle.

• Wash - Badab Black around spines.

• First highlight (Dallimored) - Cel-Vinyl, Red.

• Second highlight (Dallimored) - Cel-Vinyl, Orange Yellow.

Used as the overall color and highlights

Joint Colors -

• Base coat - Citadel, Hormagaunt Purple

• First highlight (Dallimored) - Hormagaunt Purple with Creamy Ivory added to achieve a moderately lighter shade.  Could do a second highlight with a slightly lighter shade.

Used in the joints

Techniques:

The shell of legs were based colored with Red from Model Color (as was the entire carapace of the spider in previous tutorials). As you can see in the above picture, the Leviathan Purple wash was placed around the middle of each leg section and Badab Black wash was used immediately around each spike/horn.  From the tip of each leg Leviathan Purple is drug up and while still wet Badab Black is added to the very tips.
Next, Red from Cel-Vinyl is detailed on with a 10/0 liner brush.  It is dotted carefully onto all the little raised bumps of the carapace, as well as trimming around the edges of the leg sections, and highlighting the spines.
Between the leg shell sections, in the joints, it is painted Hormagaunt Purple just as the belly of the spider had been painted.  They are then highlight with the purple mixed with creamy ivory until a lighter shade is achieved.

Then, as you can see in the picture above, Orange Yellow from Cel-Vinyl is used as a second highlight on the section edges, the spine tips, cracks, and it is added only to the bumps on the very top of the leg sections nearest to the spines.



Horns and Spines

Colors Used:

• Base coat - Cel-Vinyl, Burnt Umber

• First Highlight (Dallimored) - Reaper, Stained Ivory

• Second Highlight (Dallimored) - Reaper, Creamy Ivory

• Third Highlight (Dallimored) - Cel-Vinyl, White

Technique:
The spines/horns are base coated with the Burnt Umber.  If you look at the picture below you can see the darkness poking out at the base of the horns.  Then, with a 10/0 liner brush, paint delicately lines from the tip of the spine to the base with the Stained Ivory.  By doing it this way you ensure that the thicker portion of the line is at the tip and it becomes thinner as it travels to the base. 

Do this again with the next color, Creamy Ivory, making sure that you are traveling over the original lines done with the Stained Ivory but stop before coming to the end of the Stained Ivory line. 

Finally, use the White to make the very tip of the horn stand out and appear shiny and pointy.  Using the same technique, draw the thin lines down toward the base but stop only a 1/4 of the way down or so.

Fangs
Colors Used:

• Base coat - Cel-Vinyl, Black

• First Highlight (Dallimored) - Cel-Vinyl, Gray 25

• Second Highlight (Dallimored) - Cel-Vinyl, Gray 5

• Third Highlight (Dallimored) - Cel-Vinyl, White

Techniques:

Using Gray 25,a medium gray, add a delicate stripe that runs over the top of the fang's crescent shape.  Also, trace along the underneath portion where there is an edge.

With the Gray 5, a nearly white gray, very very lightly go over the original medium gray line that you drew in the first step.  This line should be much thinner than the original line.

Finally, using white, add an even thinner line that is intermittent, meaning that it doesn't need to be solid. This is to mimic shine or gloss.

Log Base
Colors Used:

• Base coat - Cel-Vinyl, Wood Gray

• First highlight (dry brushed) - Cel-Vinyl, Grayed Orange Yellow

Technique:
Simply base color the entire log with Wood Gray just as you had done for the scaffold system.  Then, when dry, dry brush the Grayed Orange Yellow to catch the high-points of the log.

Goblins
Colors Used:

• Base coat - Cel-Vinyl, Green

• First highlight (Dallimored) - Cel-Vinyl, Lemon Yellow

• Wash - Citadel, Thraka Green

Techniques:

The goblins are painted with the Cel-Vinyl Green.  Then they are highlighted with the Dallimore method by only painting the high points with the Lemon Yellow.  After that dries I washed them entirely with Thraka Green so it would seep down into the cracks.  You could try dry brushing the Lemon Yellow on but you run the risk of getting stray marks onto the log - so why bother.  Their eyes are Red from Cel-Vinyl.

Skulls are painted using colors in a picture below.  They are base coated in Stained Ivory, then highlighted with Creamy Ivory.  When dry, a wash of Gryphonne Sepia is used to get into the sockets and cracks.  Finally a highlight of White is lightly dry brushed on.  One could skip the middle color, I just choose to use the white sparingly because I want them to look old.  If you went straight into the white they will appear brighter and newer.  Your choice. 

For the mushrooms you can paint them any color you like.  I just used a bright red and an orange in order to tie it in with the spider above it.  I like to do that kind of thing.  But, I'm sure that purple or blue shrooms would have been cool, even plain white ones, too.

The baby spiders are painted exactly the same as mommy, only more simply since they are kinda tiny.

Base coat the baby spiders in the Model Color Red and then dot on the highlight of Red from Cel-Vinyl.  I didn't bother to try to highlight with the Orange Yellow, they are much too small.

Spiderwebs are painted using colors in a below image.  Coat the webs entirely in Bone Shadow and then highlight with Aged Bone and Polished Bone.  Again, you could skip the middle color but I used the Polished Bone specifically just to run the very edges of the tops of the webs to make them pop.  The Aged Bone goes over all the edges of the webs.

 Scaffold, finishing touches

These colors are used for skulls and bones on the entire model, including the base.

Used for all spider webs on the entire model.

The scaffold is time consuming because of all the fiddly bits.  Here is where you need to detail all the spider webs that are used to lash the scaffold together, complete the skulls and bones and lighten the sharp, pointy ends of the scaffold that stick out.

Notice in the images above and below that the points of the scaffold are painted with Grayed Orange Yellow, they were also given a drybrushed highlight of Creamy Ivory (not shown in picture).

The shields are done in Citadel Chainmail and washed with Devlan Mud or Badab Black.

Feathers are simplest done when painted solid white and washed with a diluted Badab Black, so that it forms a soft gray.  Or, you can water down a gray paint until it becomes a wash.

Spiderweb lashings are painted Bone Shadow, washed with Devlan Mud, and very carefully detailed with a 10/0 liner brush with Polished Bone.  I tried drybrushing them to make the process easier and quicker, but it looked too sloppy.  Just take your time, make sure the Polished Bone is wet enough (but not too wet that it seeps between the strands).  By ensuring that the paint is liquid enough you can make smooth lines quickly.

 ____________Finished Product____________

Along Came a Spider Part 2 - GW Arachnarok Spider

So the other day I posted what was the beginning of this adventure to slay the beast that is Arachnarok.  Okay, so maybe it's not an adventure and maybe I'm not actually slaying anything, but lately it feels like it.  Onward and upward, or at least forward, perhaps downward, maybe sideways - at least not backwards.

I'm making progress but it is slow going due to all the legs getting in the way, and I finally did break off one of the scaffolding parts like I thought I would.  I warned you, be careful.  Even I, who was ever cautious, managed to bust off a piece.  Bob didn't find it amusing.

Now here's some more of my progress...however, I'm not finished yet.

At last post, the carapace was done.  I was working on highlighting the abdomen, painting the rigging, and beginning the legs.

The Abdomen

Paints Used:

When I mix paints I usually make up a card, like this one, to remind me how the colors I made are supposed to appear.  So now you see the transition between the original Hormagaunt Purple with the mixture of Creamy Ivory.

Process/Techniques:
Last post I had only base-coated and applied the first highlight.  This time I went back and added the final highlight by using a mixture of the Hormagaunt Purple and Creamy Ivory.  I can't give you a percentage per say but I can say that it is mostly Creamy Ivory with a touch of Hormagaunt Purple.  If you go to mix it you will find that the purple is very strong and it takes very little to make the ivory purplish.  I'd say a 2:1 ratio of Ivory to Purple, almost a 3:1.
Basic application is a pseudo-Dallimore method over the other, middle, highlight.  Only this time you can create additional creases and separate some of the bulbous folds into smaller bulbs.  For example, check out near the back two stingers in the picture below.  All those little lines provide depth and create the creases or folds. 

Spider Babies and Egg Sacks
Paints Used:

Spider Babies

Egg Sacks

Process/Techniques:

The Spider Babies will eventually look just like their mama.  So far I've painted them solid Model Color Red and washed them with Badab Black.  Eventually they will be detailed with Red and Orange Yellow; however, not so detailed as their mother.

As for the Egg Sacks, I wanted them to stand out a little from the creamy purple abdomen.  At first I thought I wanted a sickly green, almost nasal infection green.  Yeah, you know which green I mean.  However, after careful consideration I felt that that would look a bit off so I chose a more muted sickly green with the Undead Triad from Reaper Master Series.  The egg sacks are simply painted with the base color of Ghoul Skin, highlighted with Moldy Skin, and a final dot of Bloodless Skin.  They will probably be glossed in the final product to give them a wet appearance, as if they are about to burst.

Webs

Paints Used:

Process/Techniques:
So far, only the base color has been applied to the webs and they will be washed with Devlan Mud in order to bring out all the tiny strands.  After that I will either dry-brush or carefully paint each strand with Polished Bone.  I'm sure I'll be holding my breath a lot for that one.

Scaffold

Paints Used:

Process/Techniques:
I simply painted the scaffolding with the Wood Gray and then dry-brushed on a highlight of Grayed Orange Yellow.  The "cut" ends of the scaffold that appear to be spear-like are painted Grayed Orange Yellow and will eventually be detailed in Stained Ivory and Creamy Ivory.  I'll show more of that when I finally do it, which won't be until the end. The log at the back of the spider is colored exactly the same way as the scaffold.

Next up: Along Came a Spider Part 3 - finish the scaffold, the log, the legs, and begin the horns/spines.
BTW - I'm waiting on doing those spines/horns because they are good gripping points for my fingers.

Along Came a Spider Part 1 - GW Arachnarok Spider

If you are feeling intimidated by this spider, you should be.  Not because you have a fear of them, but simply because it is daunting to assemble and paint.  Never fear!  I'm here to give a few suggestions that might help squash your spider troubles. 

Bob assembled the spider and found that it took him over two hours because the schematics are rather poorly put together.  He suggests reading the full schematics first, then dry-fit assemble prior to actually trying to glue.
Another suggestion is this, perhaps painting it on the sprue is a better idea than fully assembling prior to painting.  That way all you would have to do is touch-up where you cut off the sprue and where the glue left a residue.  Right now I'm having difficulty in doing the detail work between the many legs and the scaffolding rig.  The pieces that jut out from the main body not only get into the way of the paintbrush but also mess with my depth perception and I have found my brush going astray on many occasions.

*Note: These directions seem out of order, they are grouped by the body part of the spider but follow the STEPS if you really choose to paint in the order that I did.  This order was done for ease of painting.

Main Body Colors for Carapace:

First let's start with the paints that I used...

Base-coat: of Model Color Red.  Let dry thoroughly, may take two coats.  Do not dilute with water unless your paint appears to be too thick.
Washes: Citadel Badab Black and Leviathan Purple.  Used over the base-coat to go into the crevices and darken chosen areas.
Highlights: Cel-Vinyl Red and then Orange Yellow.

Techniques/Process...
Step1 - After the initial base-coat I darkened the very top of the body, the face, and the portions of the collar above the head with the Badab black.  Before the black dried too much, I used the Leviathan Purple around the edges of the black and bled it into what was left of the red at the edges of the carapace.  You'll see that it nicely darkens the crevices as well as all the little bumps, horns, and spines on the carapace.  Let this dry thoroughly.
Step 3 - The tricky part.  See Step 3 image(s).  This takes a very steady hand and don't let the legs get in the way or you'll find you're making squiggly lines.  I suggest taking deep breaths and holding it as you make lines.  I'm considering becoming a pearl diver in the orient when I'm done painting. I typically brace my painting hand at the wrist with my opposite hand as I do the edging lines.
Use the Cel-Vinyl Red to make the first highlight.  Go over all edges, all bumps, and around the horns/spines.  Again, take note on the box art.  You'll notice that there are also triangular accent marks that come down off the edges of the carapace, see note under picture.  I used a 10/0 brush to do all these details.  You may need to thin your CV Red just a little to keep it flowing, the red tends to be/get sticky and you won't have smooth lines. 

Then, after the Red highlights have dried, use the Cel-Vinyl Orange Yellow to add extra dimension.  Lightly go over the red highlights.  Attempt to do so thinly.  If your lines appear intermittent, that's okay, it'll look a little more natural than a perfect accent highlight.

STEP 3.  Also, notice how the black and purple wash help to detail the carapace.  However, the wash isn't the ultimate fix.  Unfortunately, the model's details are too smooth to take a wash very effectively.  So, if you were hoping to base-coat this monster and simply wash it; you're in for a let-down.

STEP 3.  Highlight all the bumps and around the horns/spines in Red and then with Orange Yellow.

Triangular accent highlights.  TIP: Basically, when I could, I held the figure with the ass-end up and drug my paintbrush from the edge toward the center giving the greatest amount of pressure when I started and letting off when I finished the stroke in order to create the triangle effect.  Sometimes I works perfectly, sometimes it doesn't, don't be discouraged.

 TIP: I suggest doing doodles using the 10/0 brush with paint on sheets of paper.  Hold the brush up further on the handle and wave it like a wand using only the dexterity of your fingers to do the moving.  Or, think of it as a pen or pencil instead of a brush, write with it, do cursive and feel the flow of the brush.  Play around with creating wider/heavier strokes by putting weight on the brush and then letting off to create a thin tail.  Create a simple images of animals or shapes.  I liken this to Japanese Calligraphy using the subtle movements of the fingers and even wrist to glide the brush.  You may gain dexterity and brush control by doing this, even practice with a calligraphy kit seems to help.

Abdominal Colors:
Here are the only two colors...

Base-coat: Citadel Hormagaunt Purple
Highlight: Citadel Hormagaunt Purple + Reaper Creamy Ivory = a pale, creamy purple.
2nd Highlight: Reaper Creamy Ivory


Techniques/Process...
Step 2 - Paint the abdomen underneath.  I suggest looking at the box art to see where the abdomen ends and the carapace begins (If you care).  Use the Hormagaunt Purple from Citadel straight out of the jar and base-coat.  The foundation paints are rather thick, so if you find yours not speading well, dilute lightly with water or add a retarder like Liquitex Slow-Dri.
Step 4 - Highlight the abdomen.  Mix the Hormagaunt Purple with the Creamy Ivory until you get a pale, creamy purple color.  Apply this pseudo-Dallimore style over all the high bumpy parts and high ridges of the fleshy part of the spider's abdomen.  See image Step 4 below.
Step 5 - I have yet to do step 5 on this model; however, it will involve a final highlight with the Creamy Ivory over the raised bumps and high ridges of flesh. 

STEP 4

STEP 4

Eyes:

Colors used...

Base-coat: Black (any kind)
Highlight: Citadel Necron Abyss
2nd Highlight: GW Ultramarines Blue
3rd Highlight: Model Color Deep Sky Blue
4th Highlight: White (any kind)
*Note: after a spray varnish coat when the model is complete, a gloss varnish will be applied to the eyes.

Techniques/Process...
The eyes can be done at any point in the process, however I was feeling bogged down by the highlighting of the carapace and wanted to see progress so I painted the eyes. See Eye Image.

• First, paint the eyes black.
• On lower half of eye apply Necron Abyss.  It will be rounded on the top; follow the contour of the eye.
• Next, apply a comma-like swish to the bottom of the eye using Ultramarines Blue.
• Then, apply a tinier comma-like swish using the Deep Sky Blue on top of the Ultramarines Blue.
• Finally, apply a dot and curved dash of White at the top of the eye in the Black portion.

Eye: Notice the shapes that create the eye.

"Along Came a Spider Part 2" will be coming shortly.  If I don't explode my lungs first.

Be 100% careful about accidentally bending the back legs attached to the fallen log and with the scaffolding on the body.  Again, this is why I'm thinking it would have been advantageous to paint then assemble or perhaps do some assembly, paint, and fully assemble.  Hey, live and learn.
Love - Allison Chicka