I love dreadnoughts, especially the original boxy ones. Recently, I was lucky enough to be asked to paint a venerable dreadnought for a friend. He plays Blood Ravens and it was a restoration job. Fortunately, it was a metal dread, and metal is great for stripping and restripping. Unfortunately, it was a metal dread, and those things are heavy, fit poorly, and rife with casting problems!
What I thought would be a quick and easy job (full disclosure, I did not realize it was metal at the start) quickly became much more complicated. I took apart more metal pieces than I thought the model could possibly include, then filed and sanded all of it, followed by milliputting, then sanding the milliput, then pinning just to get it ready for painting! After that, I felt I'd put so much effort to making it I'd have to give painting it extra attention. It's still what I'd call a tabletop piece, but I'm very happy with the result. (So was my friend!)
Yes, the banner/scrolls/scratches are freehanded. I left a couple of scrolls blank as I felt it was becoming cluttered with script. I also had no idea what to write. Perhaps once it has earnt some victories on the table I'll be asked to add some accolades...
I hope I'll be able to paint another dread soon. They really are a joy. I also hope it'll be plastic.
Until then, happy painting!
