Realistically Wrapped Weapon Grips

I've used string before on bows, though that's a much more subtle use than you're going to see today. The idea here is to wrap an entire weapon grip such as a long axe shaft in this case, though you could easily apply it to sword hilts, terrain columns, large battlefield weapons like catapults and more. If you read my terrain tutorials, you'll see I often work with real supplies because I feel it adds an element of realism and credibility to your art which brings our miniatures to life.

What I'm trying to change is the basic sculpted leather wraps. As you can see in the photo here, there's a difference.

Black 2.0 - Worth the Hype?

I've seen a lot of questions about the validity of Black 2.0, supposedly "The world’s mattest, flattest, black art material" (According to their website.) and decided to order a bottle and find out the answer myself since most articles about this product are just re-using the same imagery from the company behind it.

update: I'm tagging this post with Black 3.0 as well because people should have a legitimate review of the product. Other reviews of Black 3.0 are just using Kickstarter marketing materials. My concern with what Black 3.0 will actually be like is based on their 2.0 marketing images (as you can see below) and what the product actually looked like when I tested it. Decide for yourself, but this is another instance of why I won't post reviews based on marketing images.

Vantablack

Before getting into the review, a quick look at the baseline of what we're aiming for. Basically, a company called Surrey NanoSystems developed a paint called Vantablack which absorbs 99.96% of light that hits it. Without light reflecting from objects, all you see is a black blob without any detail no matter what angle you're looking at it.

Vantablack

Unfortunately, an artist named Anish Kapoor bought exclusive rights to this paint, which means we're not going to get access to this stuff any time soon.

What I'm going to look at here is a paint that bills itself as the next best thing.

X-Wing Miniatures - Core Courier Services

A little while ago we started playing the X-Wing Miniatures game and to properly represent the Scum and Villainy faction there were two things I needed to do. First, because it's a miniature wargame, they needed a quick paint job. I'll cover that first. Second, a friend asked, "You're Scum and Villainy - what's your crime?" That got me thinking and I've provided a write up after the jump.

Painting them was quick as outlined below, but you can also read a detailed post on the process.

1. Paint the Ship Bodies
1. Primed Black.
2. Airbrushed Dark Grey, Medium Grey, Light Grey, White.
3. Washed Black.
2. Paint the Windows
1. Paint Black.
2. Thin Bright Green down and carefully paint around each window.
3. Paint the Trim
1. Thin Bright Green down and run it between some of the natural hull plates.
4. Paint the Engines
1. Paint the engine holes Bright Green.
2. Paint the center of the engine holes White.
5. Varnish
1. Spray Satin or Gloss Varnish over the ships. (Hard Coat)
2. Airbrush Liquitex Matte Varnish or Citadel Matte Varnish over the ships. (Dull Coat)
3. Paint Liquitex Gloss Varnish over the windows.

Core Couriers - Front View

Also, for anyone curious about the logo, it's just the "C" from the Star Wars common alphabet doubled up.

Click on through to see individual photos of the ships and read the background I've created for my fleet.