The Final Push - Lawnor approaches 100% painted
115 MTG: Neko Twilight Knight & How to Paint Lanterns
Models remaining:
Batch: 0, Normal: 56, Luxury: 11, Modular: 48, Bits Box: 3, Terrain sets: 13, To Ship: ATO Wave 2, TSoH, KDM COD
Models Finished in Collection: 2929 Models since start of project: 615 out of 63 completed and still not done!
I was able to finish the Neko Twilight Knight this week. I also did a lot of building, and started work on my next project.
Over in the WAYPN Facebook group they complimenting my lanterns in the review videos so I thought I’d put together a quick guide for them. Lanterns can seem tricky but this is really quick and easy and requires no skill. If you want more pics or anything I may have 50+ more lanterns awaiting painting over the next few months. Feel free to ask questions. Instructions on individual pics.
This is all based on a Youtube video I watched. Unfortunately it’s all recorded at high speed. There’s enough frames missing so you can’t slow it down to tell what she’s really doing. This is my best guess interpretation of what she’s doing.
OSL timestamp: 8 mins 25 s, with some shadow added later at 14mins 50s
Lanterns timestamp: 15mins 54s
This is not my video
1: Undercoat white, light grey, or another suitable colour to enhance vibrancy later
2: Drybrush OSL VGC 72.037 Filthy Brown where the lanterns would shine (I used MP 88 Golden Brown) You can push the strength of the orange with VMC 72.008 Orange Fire, or create a brighter spot with VMC Sun Yellow or P3 Sulphuric yellow. You can add red to the outer edges with SC Aldebaran Red. I used Khador Red Base. I just did the first drybrush on this piece. Extra steps are better for larger glows. Always drybrush ONLY in the direction the light is shining, ie away from the lantern.
3: Base coat the lantern with Vallejo Hot Orange. Go for a solid coat, but a little variation can add to a natural look
4: Get a small old dryrbush that's got a bit of a played end. You want control but you also want an irregular shape. Here's what I've been using. The end is smaller than any glass pane on the lanterns. Paint pot for scale
5: The yellow is painted with Scale75 Sol Yellow or P3 Cygnus Yellow using that drybrush. Don't thin your paint. Don't drybrush. Don't regular brush. This is more like heavy stippling or sponging. Get some paint on the end of your drybrush and dab it once or twice on some kitchen towel. Remove just enough that you're in control of what comes off. Don't remove much. You still want to blotch over the under colour. Don't brush, but dab this over most of the orange, leaving a band visible at the top and bottom. You might want 2 coats. That's up to you. This should be irregular and uneven. If bits small of orange show though, then that's just how fire burns.
6: Next, add a little white to the yellow until it's an off white. Repeat the above, but in the middle of the yellow band. One coat should be enough. If you want, do a final coat with pure white. I'd suggest getting an even smaller brush, probably a normal brush that's lost it's usefulness. I did not do this here.
7: Paint the metal. I paint it black, and then gently drybrush it with just enough iron for the edges to look worn in places and give it a slight metallic black feel. The dominant colour remains black. Let the light spill over the edges. That's what would happen in real life, and it stops you accidentally getting black where you don't want it. 
8: When you're all done and you've varnished everything, come back and put a little gloss over the glass panels. 
Lloyd will love this post.
All Lloyd shots all the time! 24 hour Lloyd shots!