EXT: Power Mad

Long-time readers of this blog may be aware that I, Stylus, would rather be locked down in a global pandemic than ever paint any scenery for myself.

It's a brave new world.

The spur for doing this was our recent Skypehammer campaign, which demanded some different scenery, since there's only so many times you can scrap over an Ophidian Archway.

I was also lucky enough that, one of the participants, Rapid, did some 3D-printing for me, and I was eager to get it painted up.

These power generators were undercoated with Leadbelcher, but when it came to adding colour, I found that normal citadel washes weren't having much effect (either due to the scale, or the type of 3D printed material).

Luckily Contrast paints came to the rescue - Black Templar for the metallics, and Tallisar Blue for the power conduits. The brass bits were just Balthasar Gold with an Agrax wash.

I printed out some industrial warning signs and stuck them on, with a quick smear of Seraphim Sepia to look suitably shop-soiled.

In addition, I got some craters - always useful for any battlefield (but quite expensive if you want to buy them from the usual outlets). A quick slather with Vallejo's Earth Texture, wash with Agrax and drybrush with Terminatus Stone, and we're good to go!

I got so ambitious that I picked up a project of my own that I'd abandoned - a couple of industrial tanks made from posh coffee cans (I'm back on the store-brand, now I've got the empty cans I wanted).

These were sprayed black, then Averland Sunset. For the numbers, I made templates, then sponged on the black paint, so it wouldn't look too perfect. I then sponged on some diluted Typhus Corrosion in strategic locations.

On top of that, I kindly received a Warp Portal from Pootle - a massive piece of prepainted resin terrain from Gamemat.eu. Owning a couple of their mats, I was itching to get one of their scenery pieces, and this is going to be an excellent centrepiece.

It doesn't stop there. I also picked up a Warhammer Conquest with half of the Magnavent Walkway (I like the grids, but wasn't too keen on the height - seems to clutter the battlefield to no good purpose).

So I glued the walkways to a decent-sized box and added some sprue bits to the side for extra industrial flavour.

Again, this was sprayed with Leadbelcher, and washed with Nuln Oil. The red metal was stippled on with various differed reds, to avoid a smooth finish.

The longest part involved colouring in all the wires and tubes below the surface (but worth it - it's a lovely kit. Just glad I didn't have to do the whole thing!)

Some more printed 40k posters and industrial signs and it was all done. I like it as a piece of terrain by itself, but I also wanted it as a platform for a portable plasma lamp that I'd also bought.

I didn't want to mess around with this too much, in case I broke the gubbins. So just a light stipple of leadbelcher, to make the black plastic less obvious, and some cabling made from the edge of a marigold rubber glove.

The effect is best in dimmed lights, but I'm happy with that.

So there you have it. And I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of making and painting scenery. If only I didn't have a gazillion more models to get around to first, I'm sure I'd do more of it.