How to paint a forgeworld basilisk; research thread and advice sought.

[lilloser]

Recently I was fortunate enough to buy the wonderful basilisk model from forgeworld quite cheaply on EBay.

It's my first forgeworld model and its one of my favourite sculpts from them. I want this model to be a centre piece for my growing dark elf army (link for pictures). I've used a very sombre palette so far on my dark elves and I'd like to introduce a little colour to my host as a counterpoint. I've gathered a few photographs from the web to inspire me. My apologies if the pictures are blurry, I was looking for strong colour contrasts;

I don't think this scheme would be suited for a model the scale of the forgeworld basilisk, I just wanted to share him because I think he looks bad ass.

from all the photos I've seen I think the following is my favourite;

I use dusting to undercoat my miniatures but I've been experimenting with a third coat of grey primer which I'm flirting with using here.

I'm looking for any advice people would be willing to give when tackling a project like this (especially if you have painted one of these models yourself). Are there any pitfalls when using resin I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance to any replies.


LilLoser

 

[TrystanGST]

Pitfalls with resin - not really. It will paint just like plastic does. The hardest part with large projects is just consistency.

 

[Garshnak]

Ah the male kangaroo lizard. Magnificent. I think you're already off to a good start. Planning and preparation with large and involved projects is vital. Doing experimentations, working out precise colour formulas (since you need to be able to reproduce the colours consistently throughout the model) and taking your time to work things out is good for a great end result. Not putting it together completely before painting can also help to reach though to reach parts like the insides of the legs.

 

[RuneBrush]

A number of things you need to do with resin models, they're not difficult but quite important! Firstly, wash the model in warm soapy water before you start to assemble and and once it is assembled. This ensures that the model is grease free. Try and avoid handling it after the second wash. Also once you have done the second wash and it's dried, spray it with a proper primer (all over) - I don't mean a GW undercoat, something like an automotive grey or similar and make sure the whole model is covered with a layer or two. This will provide you with a decent base to undercoat onto else you may have adherence issues.

 

[lilloser]

Cheers all. I'll give the model a through scrub down and start planning arrangement of pieces to be primed. I think I'll assemble the base and the beast separately.

@ Garshnak: Male Kangaroo lizard - is that what is is? Thank you for that bit of info. I'm really inspired by just how bright the coloured markings are in contrast to the muted greys and brown of its hide. I'm still a little clueless on how to go about recreating this, or whether it would suit the scale of the model.

Right now my plan is to prime the model white, airbrush the face turquoise, green and blue, then mask it and prime the rest of the model grey.