Speedpainting Space Marines #9 - Librarian

Hey Guys!

Here's the librarian I was telling you about. I spent quite some time on this model (so this one doesn't really count as "speed painted"). I took the time to try and increase the contrast on the chipped armour by adding small beige lines to the dark brown spots I had made.

I found it to be more difficult than it looks. Manageable, but you need patience and a steady hand. I found it hard to get my white lines thin enough, but I suppose that one does get better at it over time.

I also tried out a non metallic metal (NMM) effect on the power sword. It is the first time I tried this and I think I was lucky because it turned out quite nicely. Actually, once you get it, NMM is pretty easy to do (I spent quite some time staring at NMM miniatures to figure out where to put the light and dark shades). However the name of the game here is patience: if you want to stick to speedpainting, forget about NMMs. So I won't be doing this for all models.

Turns out the only thing to remember for NMM swords is the following:

1. Pick a dark and a light side
2. On each, paint a gradient (*) of the same colour, but keep the overall hue darker on the dark side and lighter on the light side.
3. What makes the NMM look "metallic" is sharp contrast borders between the light and the dark bits. Try to get this as clean as possible.
4. Add a light edge everywhere to enhance this contrast (see 3)

(*) "How do I paint a gradient?" I hear you ask. One method is to build up layer by layer, darker and darker (or ligher and lighter) by classical layering. Of course, this is not perfectly seamless, but does look so at arm's length.

The other method is to use blending. This is done by painting successive layers on (like for layering) but while the paint is still wet, so that your different hues "merge" together somewhat, creating a more seamless gradient. Ideally, when blending, you should have several hues (dark --> light) mixed and ready (or as I do it: actually have a gradient on my wet-palette!) and then build up your gradient on the miniature.

WIP: The librarian was painted like all the other marines, with my "speedy" routine. I just spent more time fiddling with the details on this particualr miniature.