Inquisitor in Power Armour - cloack painted

Just finished the cloack - loincloth. I went for a classic and slightly boring red colour but you realy can't blame me. I've watched all these movies with Roman centurions and generals wining battles and looking cool with their ornate armour and red cloacks so it has been drilled to me that red cloack = awesome combat and strategic skills. See, you can blame it on the movies!

Recipe for the red:

- Basecoat with Mechrite Red
- Re-basecoat with Red Gore
- Paint recesses with a 2:1 Red Gore: Chaos Black mix
- Paint deepest recesses with a 1:1 Red Gore: Chaos Black mix
- Wash with a 1:1 mix of Devlan Mud and Badab Black
- Highlight with Red Gore
- Highlight wth a 1:1 mix of Red Gore and Blood Red
- Highlight with Blood Red
- Highlight wth a 1:1 mix of Blood Red and Blazing Orange
- Highlight with Blazing Orange
- Glaze with a 1:4 mix of Baal Red and Water
- Highlight with Blazing Orange

Actually the recipe is easier than it sounds beacause the sharp folds of the cloack make highlighting very straightforward.

Inquisitor in Power Armour - A test for marble armour (updated with recipe).

And now something slightly different. I always felt Inquisitors should have distinctive armour and as I had some converted Inquisitors laying around I decided to try out a marble effect on one. I went for a quick and dirty technique based on washes and I have to say I'm very pleased with the results taking into account how fast the technique is. Take a look and tell me what you think.

Here's the recipe for the marble:

- Basecoat with a greenish colour.
- Paint 3 layers of diluted Bleached bone. You could also try overbrushing Bleached bone instead.
- Wash with Devlan mud.
- While the wash is still wet add patches of yellow, blue, purple and realy any other wash you like. You can blend some of the washes and leave others more pronounced.
- Highlight edges with Bleached Bone.
- Highlight extreme edges with Skull White.

Deathwatch Marine - Finished!

After some varnishing, revarnishing  and the obligatory CoolMiniOrNot voting link I declare this mini finished!

Deathwatch Marine

That's all I managed to do during the easter holidays. Well I also managed to catch an awfull cold and suffer misserably but that's not very hobby related I guess. Anyway the gloss on the shoulder pad is there for the decal to stick better and won't be there after varnishing. It does look kinda cool IMHO though so I wonder if I should experiment with this gloss/ lacquered look. What you think?

I need your help! Image size and compression?

Lately I have been adding lots of pictures on my posts and I've grown a bit concerned about image size. When I post on forums I use 600 pixels wide pics in a highly compressed .jpg format in order to minimize load time. Here however I have been posting large size pics with no compression at all. Do you like the large pics and the detail they provide or you'd prefer smaller pics that are easier to load? I'll give you some examples of possible pic sizes and compressions so you can better see what you'd like me to use:

Uncompressed large pic (what I'm using so far) - 1,994KB file size:

Large pic saved as a compressed .jpg file - 779KB file size:

Large pic saved as a highly compressed .jpg file - 366KB file size:

1200 pixels wide pic saved as a highly compressed .jpg file - 144KB file size:

600 pixels wide pic saved  as a highly compressed .jpg file - 84KB file size:

So there you got it. The same pic in saved in different sizes and file compressions. Please let me know what size and compression you feel is the better compromise between image quality and file size. 

Grey Knights test schemes almost finished!

After tackling the purity seals and the gold and silver details all that remains is eyes (with obligatory OSL effects) and the NFW blades. I like how the GKs are turning out so far. What you think?

Grey Knights test schemes progress

After some delay I finally present you the progress of my GK test schemes. I tested some recipes for red and the recipe for the black-grey colour of the halberds and the storm bolter casings. Having 4 minis to test new techniques on is great fun and I think it'll help me decide on a fast and effective GK painting recipe. Of course I'll share the recipe with you once I figure it out! In the meantime here are some pics for you: