WIP: Grey Knights Power Weapons

A quick commission job, and a combination WIP/Tutorial!

I recently received about 40 different swords to paint up as the standard "Grey Knight power weapon" scheme. I've seen a few people try to achieve this effect, but realistically, the best way is by airbrush. I've seen a few people get good results with the blending/feathering technique, but it just isn't the same.

That being said, there really isn't anything "new" under the sun here. Its the same effect that you'll find in a hundred other tutorials on the web, but if you made it here first, then I'll go a little in depth as to the process.

I started with the swords, already pre-cut and primed.

Then to save on time, I basecoated them all in the lightest common color, which was white. A lot of sites have you mask off, then do all colors in the gradient. To me, that seemed inefficient, so I laid down white to base all of them at once instead of piecemeal:

 

Then came the most difficult part: masking. Its not too big of a deal on the regular swords, just strips of Tamiya masking tape (this stuff is awesome, BTW).

I flipped the mask on this one to eventually do the same side, instead of opposites as pictured. Momentary lapse in judgment.

 

However, for the halberds and other swords with a curve to them, I settled on liquid mask. Just brush a bit on like paint, spray, then peel off:

Next was to start the gradient. I used solely Tamiya paints. I don't own Vallejo paints, but I hear they're also good through an airbrush, but there's no way I'd use Citadel paints. So I made my own color gradients. I started with Tamiya Sky Blue (and pics are so-so in this step, as I was moving fairly quickly while my paint was still fluid):

Then just a little bit less, with just plain ol' blue (which is actually quite dark):

And finally, while I still had some blue in my paint cup, poured some black in to make an "almost black."

Finally, after giving the paint time to dry, peel your masks off. Also, be sure you're doing light coats of paint. If your paint is going on too thick, you're going to peel some up with your masks. So here's the halfway point result:

So I wait for the paint to fully cure overnight, then its on to masking the NEXT side, and just inverting the process. I'll add a part two in the coming days when its finished. Thanks for stopping by!