Friday, November 25, 2022

Mantic Armada Ships

 I got "stuck" on these ships. I like them, but I found it difficult to find time to get them painted. They are the contents of Mantic's Armada starter set. It took me a few months to get them painted (other, non-miniature related, things have been going on in my life that caused me to take a bit of a break). I thought it'd take a long weekend. They are surprisingly large (about 2-3 times the size of a man o war ship) with a lot of detail. Without a doubt the most annoying bit was the blue and white sails on the Basilean fleet. I think I spent about 2 months on getting those sails painted. By the end I was wishing I'd just painted them white like all of the ones online are.

The formula's used:

Basilean Sails: Contrast Snakebite masts and spars, Contrast Guilliman Flesh ropes (highlighted with Ushabti Bone). Contrast Talhasar Blue, Caledor Sky Blue, Lothern Blue for the blue stripes. Contrast White, Pallid Whychflesh for the white. Nuln oil painted between the stripes to separate them (after washed, but before highlights put on).

Basilean Ships: Light wood, Contrast Guilliman Flesh. Dark wood Contrast Snakebite Leather. Accents I did two ways. One was Contrast White followed by a drybrush of Pallid Whychflesh, the other was Contrast Guillaman Flesh followed by a drybrush of Pallid Whychflesh. The second came out better (the first looked good from a few inches away, but "washed" out when viewed from 2-3 feet away ... the second seemed more vibrant at both viewing distances). Fire was my standard fire technique. Metals were Runefang Steel with a wash of Nuln oil, highlighted back up with Runefang. Dress was Contrast Talahar Blue.

Orc Sails: Iadyen Yellow with a drybrush of Git Yellow. Spars and Masts Snakebite Leather. Ropes (& Horns) Contrast Skeleton Horde. Horns highlighted with Ushabti Bone and Screaming Skull. The axes are a light bronze, wash of Agrax earthshade, followed by a highlight of light bronze.

Orc Ships: Light wood is Contrast Skeleton Horde. Dark wood is Contrast Snakebite leather, followed by a drybrushing of Zandri Dust. Metallics are Ironbreaker followed by a wash of Agrax and highlighted with more Ironbreaker. Any horns were done like the sails, Contrast Skeleton Horde followed by highlights of Ushabti and Screaming Skull.

Water Bases: Followed a youtube guide for these (labeled something like "Easy Mantic Armada Water Bases"). Toilet paper soaked in white glue around the ship and spackle to fill in the gaps. I think if I put the toilet paper in two passes I could almost skip the spackle. One to get the "shape" of the ship, and the second to make some waves. Tricks that worked well. 1. Apply near a sink with wet fingers (else it sticks to your fingers better than the base and you can't make realistic wave effects without it all falling apart). 2. Apply in a ribbon around the edge of the base and use a tool to push it toward the hull of the ship carefully. Ideally you'll be a 1/2 mm away from the ship (you won't notice it once you glue the ship down, but you'll get a much better/flatter attachment if you don't have any toilet paper pressed against the ship ... I think part of the problem is that when you pull the ship up to let the TP dry, the suction pulls the TP in a bit, making it not fit after it dries). 3. Spackle is a bit of a pain to put on, but it will paint better than it looks. 4. It all dries rock hard, so even though it seems flimsy when you're putting it on ... it won't be. For painting, Caledor Sky Blue, Dark Blue Wash (Naggaroth Night?), Caledor drybrush, Biel Tan Green wash, Caledor drybrush, Lothern drybrush, White Scar drybrush.




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