Painting Elemental Scyks

With the current commission still taking up most of my time I haven't exactly had time to do any paint guides. Let's try to do something about that, shall we? Here's how I painted the elemental Scyks. This primarily shows how I painted the water Scyk, though the methodology was mostly the same for all the ships. So first I'll go through the water Scyk, then I will post the paints used for the rest of the ships. Hold on to your hats, this is going to be a long post.

Water Scyk

The first step was the all important fade effect. This had to be carefully airbrushed to get the smoothest transition possible. I started with the front and worked towards the back.

1.  2:1:1 mix of VGC Wolf Grey, VGC Falcon Turquoise and VGC Ultra Marine Blue.
2.  3:2:2 mix of the first step.
3.  1:1:1 mix of the first step.
4.  1:2:2 mix of the first step.
5.  1:1 mix of Falcon Turquoise and Ultra Marine Blue.

The last step was also used on the front end and around the the canopy as can be seen in the photo above.

With the base colours in place I used gloss varnish to protect the model and prepare for the shading step. The shade was a 1:1 mix of black and dark brown oil paints, which I carefully painted into all recesses and panel lines. When dry I used some cotton swabs, dipped in white spirit, to clean up any excess wash. This was then left to dry a full day before I sprayed the model with matte varnish to seal the oil paint.

For the highlight I reversed the work order, going from the back towards the front instead. As you'll notice, some of these mixes are the same as some used to achieve the fade.

1.  1:1:1 mix of VGC Wolf Grey, VGC Falcon Turquoise and VGC Ultra Marine Blue. This was also used on the front.
2.  2:1:1 mix of the first step. This was also used to highlight the front.
3.  4:1:1 mix of the first step. This was also used to highlight the front.
4.  Pure Wolf Grey, though this step was not used on the front.

Finally I could add the details. The lasers beside the cockpit was first given a dot of VGC Gory Red, followed by an even smaller dot of VGC Bloody Red.

The cockpit canopy was painted with VMC German Grey with a small amount of Ultra Marine Blue mixed in. To achieve the reflection I added small amounts of Ultra Marine Blue, Falcon Turquoise and Wolf Grey to the German Grey mix until I had pure Wolf Grey. When this was done I could finally highlight cockpit frame which used the same mixes and steps as the previous highlights.

To get the engine glow I started by applying many thin glazes of Army Painter Red Tone ink around the engines. When I was satisfied I had a good start, I switched to thin glazes of Gory Red which I mixed with small amounts White until I had a nice pinkish glow. For the middle of the engines, I used even more White mixed into the Gory Red, until it was almost white.

With the details done I could seal the model completely, first with a coat of satin varnish followed by another coat using matte varnish. To finish the model I painted some gloss varnish on the cockpit canopy to give it a nice shine.

Earth Scyk

Fade effect

1. 1:1 mix of VGC Escorpena Green and VGC Sick Green.
2. 1:2 of the first step.
3. Pure Sick Green.
4. 1:4 mix of VGC Cayman Green and Sick Green.
5. 1:2 mix of the fourth step.
6. 1:1 mix of the fourth step. This was also used as the basecoat on the front.

Shade - Same as for the Water Scyk.

Highlights 

1.  Pure Sick Green. This was also used to highlight the front.
2. 1:1 mix of Escorpena Green and Sick Green. This was also used to highlight the front.
3. Pure Escorpena Green. This was also used to highlight the front.
4. 2:1 mix of Escorpena Green and White. Not used on the front.
5. 1:2 mix of the fourth step. Not used on the front.

Details

1. Lasers - Same as for the Water Scyk.
2. Canopy - German Grey with a little Sick green mixed in. The highlight steps were used to paint the reflection.
3. Engine glow - Same as for the Water Scyk

Air Scyk 

Fade effect

1. 1:4 mix of VGC Shadow Grey and VGC Stonewall Grey.
2. 2:3 mix of the first step.
3. 2:2 mix of the first step.
4. 2:1 mix of the first step.
5. 4:1 mix Shadow Grey and German Grey.
6. 3:1 mix of the fifth step.
7. 2:1 mix of the fifth step. This was also used as the basecoat on the front.

Shade - Same as for the Water Scyk.

Highlights 

1. Pure Shadow Grey.
2. 2:1 mix of Shadow Grey and Stonewall Grey .
3. 1:1 mix of the second step. This was also used to highlight the front.
4. 1:2 mix of the second step. This was also used to highlight the front.
5. 1:4 mix of the second step. Not used on the front.
6. Pure Stonewall Grey. This was also used to highlight the front.
7. 1:1 mix of Stonewall Grey and White. Not used on the front.

Details

1. Lasers - Same as for the Water Scyk
2. Canopy - German Grey with a little Shadow Grey mixed in. The highlight steps were used to paint the reflection.
3. Engine glow - Same method as the Water and Earth Scyk but VMC Fluo Blue replacing the Gory Red.

Fire Scyk

Fade effect

1. 2:1 mix of VGC Plague Brown and VGC Hot Orange.
2. 1:1 mix of the first step.
3. 1:2 mix of the first step.
4. Pure Hot Orange.
5. 2:1 mix of Hot Orange and Bloody Red.
6. 1:1 mix of the fifth step.
7. Pure Bloody Red.

The front was painted with a 1:1 mix of German Grey and Black. I wasn't satisfied with the fade so I  painted several thin glazes using Red Tone ink on the 'fins' to improve the red colour.

Shade - Same as for the Water Scyk.

Highlights 

1. 1:2 mix of VGC Plague Brown and VGC Hot Orange.
2. 1:1 mix of the first step.
3. 2:1 mix of the first step.
4. 2:2:1 mix of Plague Brown, Hot Orange, and White.
5. 2:2:2:1 mix Plague Brown, Hot Orange, White and Army Painter Daemonic Yellow.

Front Highlights

1. 1:2 mix of German Grey and VGC Cold Grey.
2. Thin wash using Army Painter Dark Tone ink as the first highlight proved too bright
3. 1:3 mix of the first step.
4. Pure Cold Grey.
5. Pure Stonewall Grey.

Details

1. Lasers - Same as for the Water Scyk.
2. Canopy - German Grey with a little Gory Red mixed in. For the reflection, Bloody Red and Hot Orange was added to the mix until the reflection was bright enough.
3. Engine glow - Same method as the Water and Earth Scyk but VMC Fluo Blue replacing the Gory Red.