Astra Militarum - Test Model

Hi all. I finally got my compressor and airbrush and with some help from Praetor I am now up and running! It's a fantastic piece of kit and has opened up a world of new opportunities for me. I managed to get the primer on a squad of troopers which was fun and I can't wait to experiment more with it in the coming weeks. For now though, before I plough ahead and airbrush every piece of plastic I have, I thought it prudent to do a test model.

Initially I was going to go for grey and black but after doing several test models I decided I would like a bit more colour and opted for a more traditional green and brown approach. I started out with a base coat of P3 bastion grey on the armour and troll blood highlight on the fatigues. These are nice colours but quite similar in tone. I therefore ended up using glazes to add more saturation to the bastion grey and more warm greys to the fatigues. I wanted to avoid the real sandy colour if the traditional fatigues which I think I managed. I also wanted to give warm shadows to the armour to help add contrast to the model without darkening it and losing saturation. I manage this by creating custom shades and glazes which was quite simple. 

I wanted the model to feel like it had been on the battlefield for a while so used Vallejo pigments as well as GW technical paints. They were a blast to use and perhaps I did apply them a bit too liberally but I had so much fun with them :)

The base is looking OK but I think I'll use less static grass on future models. Other than that I'm quite pleased with the final look. Now I need to set out a plan for doing the rest!