Gallowdark, part 4

This project has languished, almost finished, on my shelves for years now. I stopped working on it near the end of 2022. My motivation for it evaporated, along with my interest in the 40k universe.

But The Traveller has sparked something and I've really enjoyed returning to finish this project.

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It's probably going to make for some exceptionally brutal and deadly battles but I'm very pleased with how rearrangable it is. 

Every tile is based on multiples of 60mm squares. Most are 3x3 squares (180x180mm), and a small number are 5x3 or 2x3 squares.

They can be laid out as a single Kill Team sized board, or a single long and winding corridor, or something in between. 

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The last 4 tiles, before undercoat:

Gallowdark, part 3

I managed to "finish" the first three tiles.

I've done two different colours of screen, but I think I might repaint the green ones to orange.

I put a few Adeptus Mechanicus transfers onto screens as icons.

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On to tiles 4, 5 and 6. Undercoat and zenithal primed:

Block colours on:

Chipping.

Athonian Camoshade over the Sybarite Green on pipes and tanks. Chips are a messy not-quite-drybrush of Sybarite and white on hard edges and a few other spots. Then a sharp brush with Dryad Bark over most of the light green, but leaving an edge all round, especially focusing on edges and corners.

Filth and rust everywhere next.

Gallowdark, part 2

I absolutely churned out the first 7 tiles for my Gallowdark scenery project but then I stalled a little on it. I shifted gear to a "quick" (ha!) Warcry scenery project - I built and painted 3 Wyldwood trees for a new campaign - and I struggled to shift back into the right gear for Gallowdark scenery.

Partly this was due to being unsure about the colour scheme I wanted to use for the project, and partly it was down to the large amount time that adding the small details and texture to each tile took, compared to the small amount time it took to assemble the large components for each one.

Add all the little bits of junk into the "gutters" around the walkways and walls took longer than I expected (maybe I am being too fussy about what goes where?). Then getting the texture paste into them in a way that doesn't cover them completely and looks believable also took a while (and of course both these steps need a lot of drying time between).

Once the first tile was detailed and textured I undercoated it black and zenithal-sprayed it grey. Mainly to make sure it looked okay!

I think it does, so I carried on going with the detailing and texturing.

For the paint scheme, I wanted a small splash of colour on each tile that was fairly bright and striking, that tied the different tiles together to make them feel like one "place", while still keeping the overall industrial/spaceship feel.

After a lot of thought, chats on Instagram about colours other people had used on their scenery, paint tests, and no small amount of Google image-searches, I settled on the idea of painting all the Sector Mechanicus pipes, cylinders and storage tanks in Sybarite Green, washed with Athonian Camoshade and then lots of chipping effects, under a few layers of filth and weathering.

So far this is Sybarite Green, washed with Athonian Camoshade and then stippled with a 60/40 Sybarite Green/White Scar mix.

Chipping and first layer of rust/filth one. Pretty pleased so far!

As I was happy with the colour scheme and process I started painting two more tiles: both 3x3, one crossroads, one T-junction.

These are the 3 paint-in-progress tiles together, before I started the "filth wash" stage on the 3x3 tiles:

Chipping going on and brown washes next!

I also started work on making the Necromunda / KT Rogue Trader doors I have wider, so they fit the 60mm wide doorways. I only have six doors, so I will have to source more at some point.

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There is obviously still lots to do on the project, but I'm getting into the swing of painting them now.