I have once again been experimenting with weathering and I have tried out the salt weathering technique. I wanted the chipping I was doing on my menite 'jacks to look a little more pronounced and this seemed to be the best way to do that. I coated the Talon first in a unidentified Vajello paint. I think it is something like bestial brown or beast brown. I can't read the label anymore so I have no idea what it is. Once I had a nice even coat of this I wanted to already make a rust effect so that when the weathering began I would have a nicely textured rust effect already done just waiting to be revealed. I made a turpentine based wash for this. Using turpentine for a wash is a massive departure from what I am used to but I have to say it is really good, at least for rust effects. Turpentine will strip paint from a model pretty easily so you have to be careful with what you are doing. I also didn't buy odourless turpentine... big mistake. Anyway the wash can be quickly spread all over the model. Don't brush over areas you have already coated as this will cause the paint to start to lift off. I then left mine to dry, it doesn't take too long. I didn't measure out the wash too perfectly and I was left with a thick residue underneath the liquid. However this meant I got a good uneven coating of the pigment something that adds very much to the natural look of the rust.
So the next thing to do is to place salt where you want the rust to show through. Now thats a lot easier said than done and it took some experimentation to get everything going the way I wanted it to. Basically you have to wet the area and then sprinkle the salt on. I found that this left a very thin coating of salt that the paint could soak through. I used rather fine salt and I have seen most other people use coarser grains. However I noticed that if I coated a larger area and then using my brush to apply a drop of water to this I could manipulate the salt nicely and gather it together into some thick and well shapped clumps. It took a lot longer for the salt to dry but it was worth it in the end I think. You have to be careful where you place the salt so that the weathering looks natural and I am really still learning this. Its easy to see tanks and how they get worn. There are awesome guides explaining how to use this technique. However nobody has, that I have seen, done this for Warjacks before. The technique has been used but never in a way I feel captures exactly what has been done on some of those beautiful scale tanks. I definitely won't manage it for a long time yet either! So with the salt dried, which I left overnight, I then sprayed the model as gently as possible with the basecoat. This is going to be a grey for my Mercenaries. I was worried that the pressure of the airbrush might knock off the salt but thankfully it didn't. I was able to coat the model easily without any problems. The extra water on the salt gave it a good strong bond to the model. It was pretty difficult to actually knock it off when I needed to! I also tried to paint the model a little with the salt left on. The spear I gave a rime of salt to and I painted the point of the spear in silver to see if it would soak under the salt or just be a pain in general to paint.
So here is what I have once the salt has been knocked off. I think the effect is interesting but not as of yet perfect. Having now done this I am left with a few problems. How can I justify such harsh rusted patches and yet still have untarnished or not as tarnished metal elsewhere. I have a few more tchniques that this 'jack is the test piece for but I have to collect a few more materials to try them all out. I can at least say that the salt weathering achieved exactly what I wanted it to. It isn't perfect and I know what I will do better for next time.
August 29, 2011
August 25, 2011
Devil Dogs, will they ever end?
Okay so this is the last of the Devil Dogs except for their leader Sam McHorn. I didn't have much time last night so I focused on getting just this guy finished and making sure that Sam was washed ready for highlighting and detailing. I wanted to get a good rusty feeling for the net as a contrast to the armour. I put three pigments on it in various levels. I am not sure how good the overall effect is though. You can see two shades or orange, one very strong. There is also some yellow. Getting these to mix is pretty tough. No matter what order you brush them on the first colour always seems to come through.I really need to figure out a better way to apply them I think. They came out fine but not in the same way you see a lot of scale modellers manage it. I will be doing some salt weathering on the Mercenary 'jacks eventually. This seems pretty effective and I am thinking that it should be better than what I managed with the menite 'jacks. At least the dirt on the boots is easy to apply! I guess just brushing the brown pigment everywhere is a far easier skill to learn. So anyway Sam McHorn is awaiting some paint. Lets hope I can get her done quickly. Then if my Exemplars have arrived I can get back to painting the Kreoss project.
August 24, 2011
Devil Dogs, second ones done!
So my painting schedule has not been interupted and I am getting close to finishing the Devil Dogs. It is really nice that they are all individual models rather than having duplicates in the unit. It does however make it a little annoying as you really have to pay attention to what you are about. At least the two I finished yesterday are similar enough. I really like theis model. He looks huge and they captures a nice level of movement. He really looks like he is piling forward ready to smash something with that axe. You can see the armour a little bit better than yesterdays photographs. The rust is visible too and hopefully not over done? I think it is a nice level but it is really easy to over do it. I am using Vajellos pigments for this and they are really nice, better than the artisits pigments I got though they are at least twice the price.
This is the first time I have done dark skin that I remember. It came out okay but not really what I was after. It is really red, far redder than a normal colour. The paints seemed fine when I mixed them but they really dried much lighter than I expected. I used Vajello Dark Skin as the highlighting colour. I think I should have stuck with bleached bone. At least I know for next time! The bases on these are not finished as I am awaiting some new products to arrive in the post. These are grass tufts that look better than the standard static flock. I want to use these on the Mercs as I think it will look a lot nicer in the end. The few models I have seen with them really look great. That combined with some other basing stuff should be good!
This is the first time I have done dark skin that I remember. It came out okay but not really what I was after. It is really red, far redder than a normal colour. The paints seemed fine when I mixed them but they really dried much lighter than I expected. I used Vajello Dark Skin as the highlighting colour. I think I should have stuck with bleached bone. At least I know for next time! The bases on these are not finished as I am awaiting some new products to arrive in the post. These are grass tufts that look better than the standard static flock. I want to use these on the Mercs as I think it will look a lot nicer in the end. The few models I have seen with them really look great. That combined with some other basing stuff should be good!
August 23, 2011
Devil Dogs, first ones done!
So I should be painting the rest of my Kreoss list but like the good hobbyist I am, I got distracted! It seems to be really easy to be distracted when new shiny models arrive. I wanted to raise the bar a little with my Mercs and so I am spending a little bit more time with these fellows than I usually would. I am doing them in pairs so that I don't have to rush the highlighting hoping that the mixed paints don't dry up. I always hated that. I picked a very neutral colour selection for these, light greys and browns. I felt that fitted them a little better as the main factions all have very strong colours. It is also easier to highlight which is a benefit! They will also stand out when used with one of the main factions not because they have a contrasting dominant colour but simply because they look a little different.
I concentrated much more on getting the metals to a good standard. With my menites I keep the silver dull and dark. It contrasts better with the white that way I find. With these I thught that bringing up the silver a little would help show off the rust effects a little better. I think it has and while these guys are not really bedecked in armour I think the rust comes out a little better already. My lighting is a bit too effective for good photographs, especially with bright metallics. I really need to consider something to diffuse the light a little more. This shot shows off the back of the model and some of the highlighting better. I went very neutral with the colours. I also tried to avoid my usual mistake of over highlighting and actually changing the colour. I mix all my highlights with Bleached Bone (GW) as this keeps the colour warm and ties togther all the highlights in terms of tone. Here you can see the nice dirty boots from yesterday! So on the next ones I am going for the guys carrying the axes. They are much more armoured so I need to get the highlighting better and they have some interesting issues with skin tone. I want to do one with a dark skin tone. Thats something I haven't attempted before so it should be fun. I am hoping that I have a guide in an old White Dwarf somewhere. I don't think it has been covered in No Quarter?
I concentrated much more on getting the metals to a good standard. With my menites I keep the silver dull and dark. It contrasts better with the white that way I find. With these I thught that bringing up the silver a little would help show off the rust effects a little better. I think it has and while these guys are not really bedecked in armour I think the rust comes out a little better already. My lighting is a bit too effective for good photographs, especially with bright metallics. I really need to consider something to diffuse the light a little more. This shot shows off the back of the model and some of the highlighting better. I went very neutral with the colours. I also tried to avoid my usual mistake of over highlighting and actually changing the colour. I mix all my highlights with Bleached Bone (GW) as this keeps the colour warm and ties togther all the highlights in terms of tone. Here you can see the nice dirty boots from yesterday! So on the next ones I am going for the guys carrying the axes. They are much more armoured so I need to get the highlighting better and they have some interesting issues with skin tone. I want to do one with a dark skin tone. Thats something I haven't attempted before so it should be fun. I am hoping that I have a guide in an old White Dwarf somewhere. I don't think it has been covered in No Quarter?
August 22, 2011
Tutorial: Dirty Boots
So I am in the middle of painting the Devil Dogs, a band of Mercenaries for Warmachine. I wanted these to be a little bit grubbier than standard. They are not a regular force and I don't imagine them taking to much care over a little bit of dirt or rust. I have basecoated the models and I want to now start detailing them. One of the last things I basecaoted was there boots. I didn't really have another colour available that suited the boots. All the standard browns were used elsewhere on the model and I didn't want to have the boots in the same/similar colour as something like the belt. So I ended up doing them black. I usually avoid this colour as I think it really detracts from a model. Black draws the eyes to it. It is also a nightmare to highlight effectively. So with that in mind I decided these needed to be caked in dirt. I don't imagine the battlefields of the Iron Kingdoms to be nice and clean. I doubt many battlefields are... So I found an easy method to do these boots. A little highlight to the black and picking out the details were really all that was needed. Then some dark brown pigment was brushed completely onto the boots. A generous amount so that once I blew the excess off I was still going to get a good effect. So immediately you can see the effect. The black is toned right down and given a very dusty feel. Then on the raised areas of the boot a thicker layer of the pigment sits. This gives a good mud look. On the metal areas you can see the effect too. The metal is dulled down a lot too simply leaving a brown residue. So thats basically it. The lesson is: cover it with brown pigment! Couldn't be easier right? Well you now have to seal the stuff on. Its important to not touch the stuff while doing this and so I recommend that you spray on a varnish. You have to be careful not to do this with too much force however as that can move the pigment around. Also the varnish tends to remove some of the dusty effect, thats why more is better! I haven't found a fixative that won't do this but I am still searching. If you find it has removed too much then simply reapply some pigment. The great thing about the models feet is that you are very very unlikely to ever touch them so the pigment won't come off.
August 20, 2011
Old Woldwatcher
So yesterday I showed my Paint the Target entry and I thought it might be good to show my first Woldwatcher. You can play spot the difference maybe... I painted this guy around 2007 I think though it may have been the following year. The photograph is really poor despite my best attempts to improve it! I really wasn't capable to taking good photographs then and while I am not much better now it is at least somewhat better! I also painted all the other Wolds around that time too and they can out quite well. I really wish I had that army with me here in Germany. It is most defintely my favourite so far!
August 19, 2011
Paint the Target: Complete!
So I suprised myself and managed to get this model painted in the course of an evening. The Wolds are really easy to paint. I haven't managed to copy the previous ones I painted I guess. Once I get that army from Ireland in October I can judge better. I only had some really terrible photos to try to get a match. I am very tempted to start picking up Circle models now but I must resist. I have already ordered more Mercs and Kahador this week. I guess discipline is not a usual strong point in miniature collectors... I keep telling myself I could just collect a small supplemental army that wouldn't take long to paint. Thats exactly what I said before I ordered the Mercs!I am happy with the highlighting here. The raised areas really have come out nicely with the rest of the model falling into a light shadow. I used only Vajello paints on this model and I am very satisfied with them. The stone colour is done only with london grey highlighted with a bleached bone equivalent. This gives a warm colour to the stone as you highlight and softens the lines of the model. The runes are a mixed wash. I don't know how they match my other models so I might have to go back and change them. Hence why I didn't spend too long on them. So all in all this was a lovely reintroduction to the Circle Orboros and I look forward to painting some more in the future!
August 18, 2011
The Kreoss Project: part 5
It seems I am suffering from shiny model syndrome. I hadn't intended to paint this fellow just yet but I wasn't able to resist. The Fire of Salvation is a real pleasure to paint, far different from the Avatar of Menoth. I concentrated on getting a nice weathered effect on the shoulder pads. The photograph is sadly washed out as usual so you can't make out this very well. I put some verdigris on the shoulders and also a white wash, something I have been experimenting with on metals recently. This came out really well and I hope that varnishing the miniature doesn't obscure it too much.
So despite my best intentions I haven't even finished the fifteen point list yet. I had intended painting the Grand Exemplar as that would have finished the list but I got carried away by his usual escort! So hopefully I can concentrate at the weekend and get Kreoss done. That does mean I shouldn't paint the Devil Dogs though...
So despite my best intentions I haven't even finished the fifteen point list yet. I had intended painting the Grand Exemplar as that would have finished the list but I got carried away by his usual escort! So hopefully I can concentrate at the weekend and get Kreoss done. That does mean I shouldn't paint the Devil Dogs though...
August 17, 2011
Devil Dogs, getting them built
So I picked these miniatures up a while ago and now that my unpainted menite collection is starting to look bare I thought it high time to start with something new. Its nice to finally be seeing an end to one of my many large piles of unpainted lead but I guess it means I will just start building a new one soon! I have a few mercenary units already so adding another will basically give me exactly what I need to start an army. I guess a few 'jacks and a 'caster are all I need now! So I hope that the Devil Dogs are good. They look like they will be fun to paint at least.
August 16, 2011
Paint the Target?
So I have been challenged by a friend, Owen from the Farfaraway Blog, to take part in the Paint the Target challenge hosted on the Lost Hemisphere blog. I have seen the challenge a few times but as it never matched anything that I was doing I didn't make an effort to take part. This month I don't really have anything either. However as a break from menites I thought I might try my hand with some Circle Orboros. So I stripped a second hand Woldwatcher to have ready for the August challenge. The challenge is just to have a medium base model done and the Woldwatcher suits perfectly. I wish I had a few of my Circle models here in Germany with me for reference. I have some terrible photographs at least so I might be able to get the colours close enough to fit with my old force. As I already have a Woldwatcher I converted this one a little to differentiate the two. I just cut the arms near the elbow and turned them downwards. It gives a better walking pose I think. The stock model has a strange raching pose that never looked right. A little greenstuff fixed up the joins so nobody will notice!
So lets hope I can get this guy done!
So lets hope I can get this guy done!
August 15, 2011
The Kreoss Project: part 4
So I managed to get these guys done. I cut a few corners I admit but they're fine for now. Again I wasn't able to make them as dark as I would have liked. I have no idea of the original receipe that I used on the gold. At least they match the most recent Seneschal! So this almost finishes the first fifteen points. I just need to finish the Grand Exemplar. At the moment I will just add a full unit of Exemplar Errants and attachment to bring me up to twenty five points. It doesn't help me reach the next tier but it is a decent beginning and forces me to paint some Errants a task I had been holding off on. I have to buy them first of course so lets hope that they are in stock somewhere...
August 12, 2011
The Kreoss Project: part 3
So my Fires of Salvation model finally arrived. I don't know why but I was expecting him to be in a blister rather than a box. I was delighted to get him so quickly. I actually had an evening where I really wasn't up to much so I could devote some time last night to assembling the brute! I was a little annoyed to see that he was designed in a similar manner to the Avatar, which I have to ocne again repeat, sucks to assemble. However some more thought was put into this guy and he went together easily enough. There are a lot of parts to the model and once again I managed to make some mistakes. The flags for instance went together in a different position than I thought and by the time I realised this it was almost too late to do anything about it.I thought they attached to one of the ball sockets that are on the top of the model. These are actually chimneys and there are two holes behind these for the flags. Of course I had obscured one partially with a shoulder plate and so I had to trim down the peg so that it could still fit. Thankfully I was able to trim it to fit as I had pinned the shoulders and arms as a single piece. I put one pint through the entire, admittedly it is hollow, model and out through the arm joints into the arm pieces. You can see in this picture what I mean. It was a little bit difficult to do and I don't really know if it makes that much sense really but it seemed like a good idea at the time and who am I to argue with that logic! The pieces fit together quite well unlike the Avatar and even the leg joints worked without too much pain. I didn't pin these which I guess I will eventually come to regret but it really seemed like a secure joint and I was lazy. I would point out that you need to be careful to judge the angle on the hips correctly so that the body doesn't lean to far forwards. I noticed this in time and I was able to compensate for the lean. Intuitively you might tend to set this pieces at an angle so make sure to dryfit the components first.
So the result is this. I am hoping to get a careful basecoat laid on with the airbrush. Hopefully it will behave better than with the Avatar so that I don't clog up the detail with paint. I think I will go for a very gold carapace in keeping with the Knights Exemplar. It also makes for some eaasy painting, something I am a fan of! I would like to add some verdigris too, something I usually avoid. I might be able to pick up some of the Vajello Verdigris mix, which would make that very easy. I am not sure if the local shop stocks it though. Anyway maybe I can get something done on this guy over the weekend!
So the result is this. I am hoping to get a careful basecoat laid on with the airbrush. Hopefully it will behave better than with the Avatar so that I don't clog up the detail with paint. I think I will go for a very gold carapace in keeping with the Knights Exemplar. It also makes for some eaasy painting, something I am a fan of! I would like to add some verdigris too, something I usually avoid. I might be able to pick up some of the Vajello Verdigris mix, which would make that very easy. I am not sure if the local shop stocks it though. Anyway maybe I can get something done on this guy over the weekend!
August 11, 2011
The Kreoss Project: part 2
So I am making some decent progress with this Project. I managed to assemble and basecoat everything for the 15pt list except the Grand Exemplar himself. I also managed to get the first Exemplar Senechal finished. The photograph is a little starkly lit so you can't make out enough of the details. I need to consider a light box I think as it should help. The Seneschal on the left is the new one and he isn't as heavily shaded as the old one I painted in January. It wasn't intentional but I was unable to mix a wash to the same receipe. So I have to live with the difference. It is amazing how hard it is to match up colour schemes from even a few months ago. It is going to be hellish once I get back to painting my Circle forces.
So now I have to sit and get some Knights Exemplar finished. The basecoating was annoying due to my crappy gold but at least now all six have an even coat and the fun can begin. Hopefully my order for reinforcements arrives soon. I need to get some Errants along the way and I guess they will fit nicely into my 25pt list as a maxed unit plus attachement is exactly ten points! Thats an easy way to go from 15pts up.
So now I have to sit and get some Knights Exemplar finished. The basecoating was annoying due to my crappy gold but at least now all six have an even coat and the fun can begin. Hopefully my order for reinforcements arrives soon. I need to get some Errants along the way and I guess they will fit nicely into my 25pt list as a maxed unit plus attachement is exactly ten points! Thats an easy way to go from 15pts up.
August 10, 2011
Stripping again, I just can't get enough!
So once again I want to cover stripping. I picked up some Circle Orboros models recently and I needed to take some of the paint off of them. I have always painted my Circle forces to the highest standard I am possible of so I knew I wanted to get all of the paint off of these. The problem with what I have used before is that it won't strip black GW primer. Now in some ways thats fine as it can be really handy to strip a model right down to the primer and then save the effort of repriming. However despite the fact I will prime these again I wanted to make sure all the detail was free of paint. I normally use acetone free nail varnish remover as it is safe enough for plastic models (I still wouldn't leave them in it too long!). The acetone however really gives paint remover a kick so to get the black primer off I knew I needed some of this stuff. I picked up the cheapest stuff a I wasn't going to use this for my nails or anything else I didn't need to worry. It was €1.50 so pretty cheap. I poured about three quarters of it into a glass jar and dumped the models in without their bases. I am assuming that the bases would be quickly dissovled if I put them in. The effects were pretty instant. Within a few minutes of having dumped the miniatures in I could see paint on the large flat areas begin to come off. The detail heavy areas were more resistant. So I left them overnight and here is what the result looked like. The liquid was completely black though it hadn't turned into a sludge or thickened at all in fact. Shaking it a little I could see that the paint was 95% removed from everything. The only exceptions were really deep recesses and the face on the Stoneward. I quickly washed off the excess and with some warm water and a light brushing all the paint came off. Of course I forgot to take a photograph of the cleaned models. I have dumped some of my ebay acquired Khador into the black soup to see if if can be reused a number of times. Hopefully it can!
August 9, 2011
The Kreoss Project: part 1
So this weekend saw me busy assembling what I needed for my fifteen point Kreoss list. I don't know if I mentioned it before but Knights Exemplar don't really glue together well. I don't know if it is just me but the arms don't in any way fit together. I now have two models with about 5mm between their hand and the wrist. My previous ones were just the same maybe a little less pronounced. It was really annoying as I had forgotten this part. I tried everything to get them into position but failed. I had considered getting a third box of these but they annoyed me too much so I guess I am investing in Knights Errant instead!
I even managed to get the basecoat laid down for the unit. My gold paint really needs replacing but I am lazy! Well there is also the problem with the new GW paint pots. Another great example of a terrible idea. I have been through every incarnation of the GW paint pots and even factoring in the set that allowed to paint inside to dry within a few weeks this is the worst. The lid doesn't stay open... Thats kind of the point in having lidded paints! Anyway I will slowly switch over to Vajello as the more I use their paints the more impressed I become. However I do want to stick as far as possible to the same scheme for the gold I am using so I think I will get some GW new pots and simply pour them into the old one. At lest then I won't have a massive variance in the tone and I hope the coverage is smoother(and maybe quicker!)
I even managed to get the basecoat laid down for the unit. My gold paint really needs replacing but I am lazy! Well there is also the problem with the new GW paint pots. Another great example of a terrible idea. I have been through every incarnation of the GW paint pots and even factoring in the set that allowed to paint inside to dry within a few weeks this is the worst. The lid doesn't stay open... Thats kind of the point in having lidded paints! Anyway I will slowly switch over to Vajello as the more I use their paints the more impressed I become. However I do want to stick as far as possible to the same scheme for the gold I am using so I think I will get some GW new pots and simply pour them into the old one. At lest then I won't have a massive variance in the tone and I hope the coverage is smoother(and maybe quicker!)
August 5, 2011
Kreoss, Grand it is!
I have been looking at what meites I need to complete still in my collection and I quickly realised that I really don't have much left. While I am not 100% satisfied with what I have I won't be buying much more. I am eager to get my khadorans started! However I would like to have a Tier 4 list for someone complete even though it does invlove duplicating some units. As I mentioned previously Grand Exemplar Kreoss is the list I am thinking of. While I have to duplicate some Knights Exemplar thats not too bad as I have them already. It does give me the chance to pick up some cavalry which I have never used in Warmachine. It also allows me to pick up some Errants and Incinerators. Well as the new starter set comes out soon I will be getting the Incinerators there so it kind of helps me build up by default. However yesterday I went to order some miniatures to start the army off and I couldn't. Stock levels are nearly non-existant in stores. Maelstrom Games have almost no Exemplars. Magierspiele, a local and sometimes very cheap gamesstore have very little too. In the end I just bought the Grand Exemplar and and Fires of Salvation.
So I want to build the list up in stages and in the tiers. The first stage being 15pts. Now you don't get a lot at this points level so meeting Tier requirements isn't the easiest. At Tier 2 I need only two units of Knights Exemplar. Thats pretty simple and here is what I have been thinking of:
Points: 15/15
Tiers: 2
Grand Exemplar Kreoss (*6pts)
* Vanquisher (8pts)
Knights Exemplar (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Knights Exemplar (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Knight Exemplar Seneschal (3pts)
The Vanquisher thankfully comes in the starter box too and while I already have one this gives me a good excuse to have a second painted up and ready to field! It also provides me with some strong though short ranged fire support. So here comes Project: Kreoss, I don't know if I am brave enough to set a time limit for the 50pt army just yet. I need to sit down and think about what is really effective and what isn't first.
So I want to build the list up in stages and in the tiers. The first stage being 15pts. Now you don't get a lot at this points level so meeting Tier requirements isn't the easiest. At Tier 2 I need only two units of Knights Exemplar. Thats pretty simple and here is what I have been thinking of:
Points: 15/15
Tiers: 2
Grand Exemplar Kreoss (*6pts)
* Vanquisher (8pts)
Knights Exemplar (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Knights Exemplar (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Knight Exemplar Seneschal (3pts)
The Vanquisher thankfully comes in the starter box too and while I already have one this gives me a good excuse to have a second painted up and ready to field! It also provides me with some strong though short ranged fire support. So here comes Project: Kreoss, I don't know if I am brave enough to set a time limit for the 50pt army just yet. I need to sit down and think about what is really effective and what isn't first.
August 4, 2011
The Avatar of Menoth
Okay its done... finally done! It might not be my best work ever but he is done. The Avatar has possibly been one of the reasons I have been so demotivated to paint recently. He has been sitting half started for a very very long time on my desk. This model sucks... well at least he sucks to put together. I also guess he will suck to keep together. So much of this model hangs precariously over the edge of the base I know the second I transport this model it will break in numerous places. I can see him sitting in my cabinet for a long long time.
Most of the problems I have with this model I have to admit are due to my own failings when attempting to assemble him. The rest of the problems came from my over zealous use of an airbrush. As you can see in the links below I had a really tough time getting this guy to go together. I really still didn't manage it very well as the head of the model is looking downwards, so I glued the body at the wrong angle. I think a lot of the problems came from the fact that I treated him as I would a more standard Warjack. These are relatively simple to put together. The Avatar isn't. He comes in a lot of pieces that don't easily hold to one another meaning you need to balance a lot of pieces at once hoping that they form a decent bond. Those legs and tabard nearly had me throwing the model in the bin.
Another problem I had as shown in the selective stripping article below is that I really swamped this model in white paint. Having put some brown undercoat and hairspray on didn't help much either. The problem started with the hairspray that can be difficult to control. It tends to clump and doesn't flow very well. It can really easily swamp detail and as it is totally clear that can be hard to notice before the next coat of paint goes on. When I can to putting the white on my airbush (or rather the propellant I use) was not behaving well and I had a very variable rate of coverage. Combined with the hairspray some areas were completely obscured. I stripped as many as I noticed back to the metal and repainted them. There are still a few areas on the model that would have benefitted from that. At least I know to be more careful when it comes to the next few character jacks and eventually the Battle Engine.
So I would like to add some more battle damage to this model but finding a nice flat area that will take it is hard. I don't want to have to work to close to the intricate details and this then just leaves the same few large white areas. Anyway for now he is done and can reside with the rest of the collection!
The Saga of the Avatar:
Why the Avatar sucks!
Selective Stripping
Preview
Shield complete
Most of the problems I have with this model I have to admit are due to my own failings when attempting to assemble him. The rest of the problems came from my over zealous use of an airbrush. As you can see in the links below I had a really tough time getting this guy to go together. I really still didn't manage it very well as the head of the model is looking downwards, so I glued the body at the wrong angle. I think a lot of the problems came from the fact that I treated him as I would a more standard Warjack. These are relatively simple to put together. The Avatar isn't. He comes in a lot of pieces that don't easily hold to one another meaning you need to balance a lot of pieces at once hoping that they form a decent bond. Those legs and tabard nearly had me throwing the model in the bin.
Another problem I had as shown in the selective stripping article below is that I really swamped this model in white paint. Having put some brown undercoat and hairspray on didn't help much either. The problem started with the hairspray that can be difficult to control. It tends to clump and doesn't flow very well. It can really easily swamp detail and as it is totally clear that can be hard to notice before the next coat of paint goes on. When I can to putting the white on my airbush (or rather the propellant I use) was not behaving well and I had a very variable rate of coverage. Combined with the hairspray some areas were completely obscured. I stripped as many as I noticed back to the metal and repainted them. There are still a few areas on the model that would have benefitted from that. At least I know to be more careful when it comes to the next few character jacks and eventually the Battle Engine.
So I would like to add some more battle damage to this model but finding a nice flat area that will take it is hard. I don't want to have to work to close to the intricate details and this then just leaves the same few large white areas. Anyway for now he is done and can reside with the rest of the collection!
The Saga of the Avatar:
Why the Avatar sucks!
Selective Stripping
Preview
Shield complete
August 2, 2011
Photography and why mine sucks
I was scanning through some of the images on my Photobucket account today when I came across my Circle and Minion miniatures. These are all sitting on a shelf in Ireland now not doing much except gathering dust. They are some of the best miniatures I have ever managed to paint and yet I was never really able to show them off. Why? Well my photography skills suck. I could blame my camera as I have had it for nearly ten years now and even back then it was a basic model! However that wouldn't be true. My camera hasn't changed and yet my current crop of photographs are much much better. These Swamp Gobbers are about the best of what I would have taken back then. The first thing to note is the model is poorly framed. Back then Photobucket didn't have a crop function and I certainly didn't have Photoshop. So this guy sits swallowed up by the gloomy background. The next thing to notice is the lack of contrast between the model and the background. Both are shadowy and dark. This was due to the fact that I was relying on some thin sunlight coming in through the venitian blinds of my apartment. Depending on the irish weather I could have a lot or I could basically have none, generally I had none. Now I have two daylight lamps that drown my subject in light. I could do with at least one more to be honest as I often still have some shadows in my photographs but this is kept to a minimum in general. The coulrs are much truer to what they are when viewed by the eye and I also can't hide the many mistakes me the lazy painter makes. Finally one big change I made and one I don't see replicated much is a grey background. Having scoured many fora in the search for the best miniatures and their painters I often noticed that the best had been photographed on a grey background. I copied this as far as I could. In a lot of my photographs you will have seen the simple grey t-shirt I use. Suprisingly it is quite blue but comes out much more neutral in the photographs. Why? Well I have no idea but it looks fine and whatever is happening to the colours of the t-shirt doesn't seem to be happening to the colours on the model, at least that I can make out. The reason given for this background on various fora is that professional photographers use it and so if they are getting paid for their knowledge then they have to be correct. So ever since then I have used it to.
I would love to have access to my Hordes models again. I really poured a lot of effort into them and as an army they are by far the nicest I have painted. I would really really love to take them out again and do them some justice in the photography department. Maybe if I can finally get back to Ireland then I can collect these too. At the moment I need to bring what is left of my Warmachine army, the remnants of my Dwarves and then pretty much everything from Primal and Evolution for Circle... Thats a lot.
I would love to have access to my Hordes models again. I really poured a lot of effort into them and as an army they are by far the nicest I have painted. I would really really love to take them out again and do them some justice in the photography department. Maybe if I can finally get back to Ireland then I can collect these too. At the moment I need to bring what is left of my Warmachine army, the remnants of my Dwarves and then pretty much everything from Primal and Evolution for Circle... Thats a lot.
August 1, 2011
Avatar Shield
I always wonder why when it comes to the end of an evening I find my inspiration and motivation to paint! Really I spent the whole day yesterday doing some boring painting because I wasn't motivated. I took up some shields of my Dwarves and started doing them. I am a pretty lazy painter at times and I didn't bother doing the shields for my rangers originally. So now I am playing catch up. The shields are on the Dwarves backs so you can't really see them when ranked up. So due to my low motivation I decided to struggle through and get these done. Then by the end of the evening as I was slowly starting to get into the mood for painting I pulled out my new Knights Exemplar and got them undercoated, despite an annoying airbrush. I also got out some Warcasters, Kreoss and Severius, to paint. These got undercoated and hopefully over the coming weeks I can have a challenge to get five Warcasters done in five days... Finally as I was readying to finish I deecided to start on the Avatar or at least his shield. As you may have noticed I got a miscast shield. The top left corner is damaged. I actually like it as I want some battle damage. I haven't painted that area yet as I want the shield mounted befoe I do. However I got everything else done and I am pretty happy with that. There are a few areas I could make some improvements. I would like to have some 'dirt' collected under the rivets along the bottom of the shield. Anyway for now at least this part of the Avatar is done! Now I just need to sit and get the rest done too!
Here are the Dwarf shields I have been doing. I need about forty with the flying hammer design on them. I found a box of used sprues yesterday that should have enough for me to do the complete regiment with the same shield designs. I may be a few short. I generally try to keep the same shields throughout the regiment as I guess a lot of people do. I think it improves the regimented nature of the army and identifies each unit. I am not sure why I am painting Dwarves at the moment. Some warmachine crew were even painted over the weekend. Maybe my fingers are itching for a game of Warhammer sometime. Well it will be nice to have everything ready if the new book comes out anytime soon.
Here are the Dwarf shields I have been doing. I need about forty with the flying hammer design on them. I found a box of used sprues yesterday that should have enough for me to do the complete regiment with the same shield designs. I may be a few short. I generally try to keep the same shields throughout the regiment as I guess a lot of people do. I think it improves the regimented nature of the army and identifies each unit. I am not sure why I am painting Dwarves at the moment. Some warmachine crew were even painted over the weekend. Maybe my fingers are itching for a game of Warhammer sometime. Well it will be nice to have everything ready if the new book comes out anytime soon.
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