Retrospective: Devastator Salvage Job part 1

This is my first salvage post, about minis that I am trying to bring back from the dead. I hope other beginners might find it a useful (and cheap) way to update their lists. I won't go into too much detail, but I will try to point out the pitfalls...hope you enjoy.

So back in the day I had some devastators, led by my fave captain:

Needs some love

They're all metal or plastic/metal minis, so I did the 'Dettol' trick. Basically brown Dettol (disinfectant) is an ace acrylic paint stripper...it's also cheap, safe and available from most hardware shops.  However, tip 1 is that it stinks to high heaven...my wife was furious with the smell in the house, so just do it outdoors.

Dudes taking a Dettol bath

I left them in 24 hours, and the paint just flies off with a tooth/paintbrush. Metal seems to strip better than plastic, so you may need longer for plastic guys. There are reports that you can leave minis in almost forever and they won't degrade...the longest I can testify to is about 48 hours.  Also, DO NOT DO THIS WITH FINECAST. It will literally melt your models. There are a ton of other strippers about,  but this one works for me...

Stripped and on first attempt bases...I went off of these early on.

Onto paint then...I prme in black spray as it hides mistakes better than anything else...and boy do I need that.  I would totally recommend that everyone primes black, especially when you're starting out (sensible exceptions of course...). Then over sprayed in Mephiston red and base colours put in (leadbelcher, black, gehannas gold, hashut copper) with the brush.  I have picked a fairly narrow pallet for my Blood Angels, as you will see...this is to try and tie it all together a bit. Tip 2: never paint gold onto red (especially not GW golds as they are not heavy in the pigment department). ALWAYS put an undercoat on first.  I use Snakebite Leather, but any dark colour will do (bear in mind you will see the undercoat though the finished gold).  If you want a brighter finish then a silver base (Runefang Steel) is also good.

Tip 3: ALWAYS thin your paints. I used water at this stage, but I am experimenting with medium too...will keep you posted.

So they're back to pretty much how they were, except painted within the lines this time.  The fun starts now, with the washes. I use a combination of washes to get my tones really deep. For the metal areas I used Nuln Oil, followed by a go with Agrax Earthshade (let them dry super loads between coats).  For the rest (literally everything else) I use Seraphim Sepia to key everything in nicely, and then Agrax Earthshade to get the crevices nice and dark.  Tip whatever (I lost count): direct your washes. Use a brush to get the wash into the recesses, and don't let it pool. Avoiding plates of colour can also save you time in the highlighting stages.

Clearly this is a different model...same stage though.  My phone has deleted many of my WIP shots...sorry!

So now the minis are pretty much table top I reckon...time to push on.  Highlighting takes forever and can be a proper pain, but if you stick with it you can get some super subtle effects. I'm gonna put the rest in another post because this got a little long...adios.