One of my clients has recently retired from the Coast Guard, and has asked me to paint an Inquisitor and his retinue in Coast Guard colours. This group also need a super cool transport, which I have been working on this past week. He asked if it could be painted in the colours of the Coast Guard’s vehicles, with their symbol on the back. I was only too happy to oblige. It turned out to be quite the challenge. This is the symbol I worked from, and the car for reference too:

I wanted the symbol to look really cool, so decided the yellow would be a non metallic metal gold. First thing I did was sketch out the symbol where I wanted it on the tank in pencil

I then proceeded to add the gold, working up through the colours starting dark and then layering up yellows and browns until I had the effect I wanted.

I added the gems in the crown and tidied up the details.

The final part – which was the hardest – was adding the ‘Greek Key’ pattern over the top of the gold. This was particularly nerve-wracking, as if I had gone wrong, I would have had to start over again. I practiced the pattern first, then lightly drew it on in pencil. I then painted over it.

Lastly, I used bluetack to lift of the remaining pencil and the end result is what you see.

Now I just need to finish the rest of the tank!