Doug-Wing Part 1

I'm out for the next week, practicing Tae Kwon Do in the mountains of New York with the headmaster, but that doesn't mean the posts are going anywhere. This is part 1 of 2, showing some of my more humble beginnings. Several years ago I painted an entire deathwing army for my friend Doug. This army was affectionately known as the 'Doug-Wing'. We decided it would be cool if the army was painted so each squad looked like it had come from a different chapter, so I set to work on the largest batch of metal models ever to cross my painting table.Here I will be showing what my painting looked like in the mid-2000's, and what lessons I learned from this project.

Lesson 1: Highlighting Red

One thing that never really sank in with me the first time I painted red was that it needs to be highlighted a little differently than other colors. There's a whole explanation that goes along with this that has to do with lightwaves, the human eye, and color theory, but it doesn't change the solution. The fact of the matter is that to avoid flat red tones, you need to go to a different color, instead of a brighter hue like you can do with every other primary color. When I did the Howling Griffons, I used a razor-thin line of orange to pick out the highlights that I had done with blood red, and the depth it added was critical.

Lesson 2: Solid Whites:

Another problem color, white is simply a pain to get right, especially on dark surfaces. My solution is to simply start with white, so you don't have to try and built it on top of a dark color. If circumstances don't afford you that plan of attack, a coat of foundation grey will do wonders to help you out. These models were painted before foundation paints and magic washes existed, so I didn't have that luxury. It really is a world of difference to now have those products readily available.

Lesson 3: Purple can be Your Friend

I'm a guy, and even as a guy who went to art school, I'm still a guy. Purple and pink were two colors I stayed away from at all costs for many years of painting before I did this squad. When I had a chance to see the test model painted up with the white and gold trim, I was pleasantly surprised. Purple and even pink, under the right circumstances and with proper complimenting colors, can be really nice. Just take care not to overdo it, lest you wind up with a "Hello Kitty" army.

Lesson 4: Trim and Dark Colors

I intentionally didn't paint my Black Templar army black because I didn't want to try and break up all that dark space with color. Little did I realize how potent the red and white trim effects could be until I saw them in place on these models. Yes, when painting black armor, highlighting is very important, but it makes the rest of the model extremely vivid in comparison. It's a bit of a misnomer in that regard; for a low contrast color, you get a high contrast model.

And that's it for now. Enjoy the pics and the lessons, and next week we'll pick up where we left off with the other half of the Doug-Wing!