Tiny Giant Robots

Finally finished painting my third G.U.A.R.D. unit pack. The MR-Tank was fine, I just used the same basic colours as my G-Tanks but with a slightly different brown to help it stand out a little on the tabletop. I didn't really put much effort into deciding which bits would be which colour. I think it turned out OK, but the lighter brown of the G-Tanks was nicer.

I did the same with the Exo-Armours, but this time instead of going too dark with the brown I went too light. One model got a few more areas picked out in brass than the rest, to act as the Elite.

The Exo-Armours actually took me three times to get right good-enough-ish. The first time I painted them I used three shades of metallic paint to get a zenithal-style steel basecoat, then tried to block out some parts with masking fluid before airbrushing the rest with purple (I tried three models with a purple glaze and one with a thin layer of metallic purple; the glaze looked better). However I didn't like working with the masking fluid as it wouldn't go where I wanted it. So I tried multiple layers of watered-down PVA instead, hoping that would allow me to apply it in a controlled way but dissolve in water later. Unfortunately the PVA would not seem to dissolve, so I ended up having to strip the models. Then I tried again, applying the purple glaze by hand, but this time I abandonded the idea because I decided I didn't like how it looked after all. I did briefly paint one in a very simple primary colour scheme as a demonstration:

Finally I decided to stick with my existing military brown scheme, and just airbrushed over them all without bothering to strip them - something I would never do with models that I actually cared about. This time I used Army Painter Quickshade Dip instead of the wash I had used before; I find it works better on more organic shapes, so I thought it might be better for the smooth and curved armour on these guys. Also it saved me a varnish step, and I was so eager to be done with them that skipping a single small step was very appealing. I did use my usual matt varnish, but airbrushed it on in a different way than I usually do, and I actually think that effected the results; it actually looks slightly cloudy to me, especially on the metals. It's not a big deal, especially not on this lot, but I think I'll be sticking with my old method from now on.


MR-Tank:
I airbrushed on a basecoat of Vallejo 71.287 Model Air Ija Kakhi Brown, then picked out areas in brass and steel (Citadel Base Leadbelcher, but I don't remember which brass I used; it might actually have been Vallejo 71.068 Model Air Metallic Copper). After a coat of Army Painter Quickshade Soft Tone Wash, I picked out the lights in Vallejo 72.005 Game Color Moon Yellow with a dot of Formule P3 Morrow White.

Exo-Armours:
This time I airbrushed a basecoat of Vallejo 71.122 Model Air US Desert Armour 686. Again I used Leadbelcher, but this time I used my old Citadel Layer Gehenna's Gold for the brass. I dipped them in Army Painter Quickshade Dip Strong Tone, and finally painted Moon Yellow with a dot of Morrow White in the visors.


Honestly, they all look OK, but not great. I don't really like the whole "mini giant robot" thing in Monsterpocalypse to begin with, so I wasn't all that invested in painting them and was mainly using them as an excercise in speed painting. Which was technically a failure what with the whole "painting them three times" thing, but I guess the final paint job was much faster than I usually paint humanoid minis in this scale, so that's OK I suppose. Whatever, I'm just glad they're done. With this I technically (finally) have a single fully-painted minimum-sized Monpoc faction. Now I just need to paint five more dinos and Terra Khan and I'll finally have enough models ready to play a minimum-sized game...