Ferrus Manus Day 1

"How tall is Ferrus Manus? About a head shorter than Fulgrim..."

Common Emperor's Children joke. 

The above picture is the stopping point of the day. I'll quickly run through the stages and expand upon them in another entry (gives me a chance to collect questions and queries). 

Step 1 - The Zenithal base coat. 

This stages helps build contrast and also helps me plot highlighting and shading points. This stage also helps me visualise the end result. The head was undercoated grey first and given a zenithal blast of white directly from above. 

Stage 2; Airbrush

I use a cool grey mixing black white and purple with a touch of turquoise for the first thin layer which covers the black armour. I add a little more white and turqoise to highlight and then shade the armour with pure black mixed with a little black ink. I yo-yo between these stages until the undercoat layer has vanished and the armour is smooth. 

I spray the base with the same grey as the armour but do not add the black shading. The dead Iron Hand undergoes the same treatment as his father primarch. The Emperor's Children are given a pre shade of dark blue, a mid tone of reaper master series clear purple and warlock purple for the contrast on the highest points of the armour. 

The head is sprayed with a redish brown underneath and lighter, cooler shades of skin until I am practically spraying pure white straight down at his face. 

Step 3: The rest...

This stage is brutally short and needs expansion. 

The armour was shaded with black, washed with turquoise and re-highlighted with white to sharpen the  details. 

The bronze was created by mixing VMC Air bronze and copper. This was then juiced with Tamiya clear yellow, red and green (to create a warm, murky brown - mis in more green for deeper shadows). The silver was VMC Air black (metallic), VMC air gun and chrome mised and blended together. This was washed with nuln oil and re-highlighted with chrome. Looking at the pictures I think the arms could benefit from a few more layers of Chrome to lighten them. 

The face was given a wash of tallarn flesh and VMC skin wash ink. I applied shadows by mixing brown with blue (increase the blue for the deeper shadows). I used Tallarn Flesh and VMC Glacier Blue to highlight the skin. I gave Ferrus a smattering of white on the side of his head. Despite the super regenerative capabilities of a Primarch on the celluar level rendering them all but immune their hair from turning white, I thought he would look quite distinguished with a smattering of salt and pepper side hair.

That's your lot for tonight. Any feedback will be hungrily received. 

Myles