Paint Log - 3/28/11

So... there's some painting I've meaning to add here but forgot to... whoops.

So, Laris - still not done. He's looking pretty great, but not quite there yet. I love how his cork "stone" base has come out - Tim's suggestion to use pliers to rip the pieces off came out great - much better than simply cutting them with an x-acto blade. The Druids of Orboros have come along, as has Morvahna and Morraig, but they're still in limbo.

I decided for a change to work on some of Julia's Khador over the weekend, so I pulled out her Devastator and got to work on it. Actually, I pretty much had to start the entire paint job over from scratch, since I wanted the red armor to now match the "official" color scheme I've created for her army. And speaking of scratches...

I found some tutorials online for painting battle-damage and decided this was the perfect 'jack to try them out on. I used the dipped piece of foam sponge method first, but the results were disappointing. Clearly, I'm doing something wrong with it. However, the "scratches" I painted on the armor came out fantastic - from the right angle, they really DO look like gouges and the like. Since the Behemoth isn't entirely finished, I'm thinking of adding a few more scratches and gouges to his paint job to "batter him up" a bit.

There was ONE small snafu during the whole process... somehow, and I have yet to still figure out how I did this... I managed to get a giant glob of silver paint on the finished right arm that then dried over a bunch of the details. I wasn't able to wash it off, but a toothpick allowed me to scrape it off enough so that it didn't obscure the details and I was able to paint back over it. Salvaged, but frustrating.

I also used the opportunity to break out the brand-new fine detail brush that Julia convinced me to buy and decided to use it to help paint her Winter Guard Officer. While not finished, much of the work is done, and dear god, what a difference that brush makes! I was able to paint the eyes, lips, eyebrows, medals, and wood grain on the rifle stock without any trouble.  In fact, I'm almost scared to use the brush, for fear of ruining it and having to find a replacement... I can't wait to post up some pictures of the Officer.

Last night I went ahead and did some more work, this time almost exclusively on Dannon Blythe. This figure is Tim's, the second of two I offered to paint as payment and thanks for the pinning work he did for me (the first was Gerlak Slaughterborn). Tim requested that the colors on Dannon not be bright, her hair be red, and that I could follow the studio scheme/artwork for Blythe if I wanted to. Taking a look at both, I decided I would. It looks like Tim had tried doing some very basic work on her already, and unfortunately the paint on her had obliterated some of the details in her hair and I worried that possibly her face, too. Thankfully the latter wasn't the case, and I was able to paint over the initial work that had already been done, such that it no longer looks like it was there.

Again the fine detail brush came into play, helping to pick out the details on Dannon's face, her eyes, lips, eyeshadow, hair and assorted buckles. I'm quite proud of her so far, overall. While I love the face, the colors still don't quite match the studio's scheme, and I'm trying to make myself ignore that. I almost ruined the face by going back in and reworking parts of it after I finished it. But so far, she's looking quite good. I'll have to take some snapshots of her. I'll be showing her to Tim tonight to get his opinion on her so far.

PICS: The Behemoth!

As promised, here he is, in all his massive glory!

In truth, he's not 100% finished - there are still a few very minor details to paint (rivets, and the like), and he still needs to be bullet-coated, but otherwise, he's pretty much finished.




So here's a nice head-on shot... probably a view no enemy wants to see!

I'm rather happy that I got the glow in the eyes to come out as I'd hoped, too.

I'm thrilled with how his custom base came out - a Large Cygnar wreck marker with modifications. The inside joke behind it is because one of our friends who got us into this game plays Cygnar... originally, the wrecked jack was to be painted in the colors of his army...

Also, a big thanks to Tim, the Press Ganger at my LFGS who was kind enough to offer his suggestions for how to pose this monster.

I'm proud of the fact that I was actually able to get the glow painted in his furnace, in addition to the boiler gauge painted properly.

The battle-damage came out looking much better than anticipated, as well. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I may just add a few more dents and dings to his paint, but I'll save the majority of it for Julia's Devastator.

3/4/11 Work - Behold, the Big B!

I've actually been painting just about every night this week in preparation for the Highlander tournament tomorrow noon. Since Julia is going to be partaking, and she has chosen the Behemoth to be her "heavy warjack" (since it's about as heavy as Khador gets, really...) I've been working my ass off to get the thing assembled and painted.

And ho, it's finally done! Well, mostly - there are still a few very minor details to paint, like various rivets, touch-ups, etc. But I'll wait until after the tournament to do all that. I wish I had time to get the thing sealed before the tournament, but it's not to be, so it'll have to do for now. It still looks impressive, so I'll have to get some pictures of the thing when I get the chance.

About the only thing I'm not happy about with it is the pose - if I could, I'd redo his legs to pose him a little more upright instead of slightly crouched over. It would help give him a little bit of extra height that I think the model desperately needs, since this IS supposed to be the biggest warjack in the entire game. But given all the work and modifications that went into making the wreck marker base he's on work, I'll be happy with how he turned out and file it away for any future modifications I do for any other figure.

Finished Julia's Kodiak yesterday, so he's ready to join the Behemoth on the battlefield tomorrow.

Currently I'm also working on Krueger the Stormwrath, since he's been sitting around mostly painted for some time, but not finished. Time to rectify that, if I can for tomorrow's tournament. I'll see about also getting some dabs of paint on my unit of druids, too.

The wash on Krueger should be dry now, so back to the painting table...

PICS: Vladimir Tzepesci, The Dark Prince of Umbrey

Finished photos of Vlad.  He's one of Julia's warcasters, since she really likes the pairing of Vlad and Sorscha in the lore.  That, and she really likes Vlad's abilities in-game... Blood of Kings, anyone?

Khador Red Recipe

Paint Scheme: KHADOR RED
I think I've finally settled on what will be my "official" set of red colors for Julia's Khador forces. While the one detailed in her FoW: Khador book is nice, I think it's a little too bright (and very time consuming). Color scheme is as follows:

1) Base coat of GW Foundation: Mechrite Red.
2) Lighten with GW Red Gore + Mixing Medium.
3) Lighten further with PP Khador Red Base + Mixing Medium.
4) Highlight with PP Khador Red Base + Khador Red Highlight + Mixing Medium.
5) Extreme highlights should be done with Khador Red Highlight. Glaze with Red Ink if necessary.

An additional step using GW Blood Red + Mixing Medium can be used between steps 2 & 3, but likely isn't needed.

Multiple thin coats will be necessary with each step to blend properly. For deep shading, PP Sanguine Red should do nicely, possibly with a slight touch of PP Exile Blue or Umbral Umber, depending on look.

Julia's Khador - Ice Front Arc

Finally was able to get the front arcs on Julia's Khador models painted as I had initially envisioned.

Paint "recipe": 4 parts (Skull) White + 1 part Arcane Blue.  Add some water.

1. Take the watered down mixture as above, feather from the top of the base to the bottom to create the "icicles."
2. Take Skull White, water down. Feather from top to halfway down, blending as you go.
3. Continue step from above - till the top is white.

I'll have to post a picture of Vlad soon, as an example.
EDIT:  Vlad can be found here.