Battletech: Com Guard 5th Army Paint & Lore

[@MechanicalFrog]

Hope you enjoyed the video. Careful with that calligraphy ink!

[@rankovich09]

Hello. Did you water down that calligraphy ink? It looks like it barely stained the white base coat. I’ve had trouble with GW washes on white. Trying out ProAcryl wash medium but still very time consuming. Any advice?

[@MechanicalFrog]

@@rankovich09 It is heavily watered down. at least 15 to 1.

[@MechanicalFrog]

@@rankovich09 Yes it's heavily watered down.

[@Living4Crits]

These look absolutely FANTASTIC! I'll be painting my son 3 Level II's for an upcoming Battle of Tukayyid event in Dayton Ohio in May. Your painting tutorials are, as always, completely on POINT!

[@MechanicalFrog]

Thanks! I'm always glad to be useful.

[@HandFullofCheese]

Any chance you'd be willing to share some info on the Dayton event? Dayton isnt a bad hike for me. I'm new to the table top but have been actually working on a comstar company to get into table top, and would love to meet some other players near(ish) me.

[@meining-mech4378]

I just did a bunch of WoB 6th Division , “The True Believers”, for my own forces. They were one of the divisions disguised as 21st Centauri lancers who took terra in 3058, and considered one of the elite non-Manei Domini units. They are definitely on the opposite spectrum of the 5th army. It’s lamentable we no longer have a ComGuard or WoB force in the ilClan era, or even a faction to represent the “Humanist” theologies and prerogatives reminiscent of those factions. Only time will tell I guess. Great video!

[@MechanicalFrog]

Yes, it is a shame there isn't even just a token force out there to give the Comstar fans something.

[@tmorton42]

The mech paint job is awesome! You did amazing getting the recesses dark and leaving the white...white. Cockpits are better than I've ever done. Outstanding mech paint job.

[@MechanicalFrog]

Thanks a lot!

[@Rhaumar]

Lance looks great. I have 4 Level IIs painted, two in white, two in camo. I need to get my 5th and 6th Level II done to complete my Level III. :) White is really tough to paint, which I why I do camo as well.

[@mathewkelly9968]

Ah the mysterious IS heavy battle lance I ordered from the largest Australian battletech stockist like 9 months ago but I'm still waiting for . I have both ComStar level IIs sitting in their boxes though as I'm too scared to paint white , dont want them looking like a fridge or worse grey , might give this method a go though

[@MechanicalFrog]

If you end up with grey, just keep drybrushing white until your wrist gives out. :D

[@Living4Crits]

@@MechanicalFrog This is legit the best painting white tip I've ever seen :)

[@MechanicalFrog]

@@Living4Crits When in doubt, cover up all your mistakes. This works better with painting than it does in real life.

[@haileysaint5443]

This was a cool vid, and I loved the lore. While I don't think I can do the exact same scheme for the 5th, I wouldn't mind trying to do it for my Command Level II - though I do have another idea in mind for them.

[@MechanicalFrog]

Thank you!

[@tmorton42]

Just saw this. I chickened out of painting a 3rd level ii white, just couldn't get that star wars storm trooper white with black trim right. Thus is a better technique tho', so com guard is back on the table. Which is a long way of saying..."nice job!" Do you do commission work? Kidding!! Mostly.

[@Dogue83]

Never ask a Tukkayid vet what he did after 3052

[@MechanicalFrog]

Opened a B&B in New Hampshire?

[@jackl4349]

Another great entry

[@MechanicalFrog]

Thanks!

[@Makaan]

The tri-blue marks on some of the panels are common to all comstar armies, the 5th one or a personal touch?

[@MechanicalFrog]

Personal. I tend to go my own way with schemes.

[@ogrehaslayers605]

Downloaded your video, so i can watch it several times to get my Comstar Division painted up! I suck at painting. Your videos are super helpful. My favorite Comstar unit? If i remember correctly, there was a 13th Army BEFORE the Battle of Tukayyid. In my alternate timeline, some of them were sent elsewhere. They still exist. I currently have about 145 units.... Buying more each payday until i have an entire Division (Level VI) ready to do battle against the Clans and the jated Republic of the Sphere remnants... I even have an HPG Station!

[@HandFullofCheese]

I'm going to use a 3d print as a test mech but just want to make sure with the ink wash before I start. Overall it looks like you did a bit of a zenithal with dark primer onto the Grey, but are there any pitfalls I should worry about with the ink wash? Know going to be thinning it a lot, but should say a $5 calligraphy ink from a hobby store do fine here so long as it's really diluted? And just straight water, or you think a flow medium or the like?

[@MechanicalFrog]

Go lighter than you think with the ink wash. You can always do another coat if necessary. If you go too dark, you have to start over. A little bit of flow medium and water is fine.

[@HandFullofCheese]

@@MechanicalFrog Thanks much. I'll share my results with this and the bases when I get there!

[@MechanicalFrog]

@@HandFullofCheese Good luck!

[@thomasrobson6370]

White then black wash then white dry brush then other colors?

[@MechanicalFrog]

Yep

[@etheridgeerik]

What did you use to prime?

[@MechanicalFrog]

Black Vallejo for the base. Then a very light grey ProAcryl for the top down Zenithyl.