Sunday, May 29, 2011

More progress on Satyxis Raiders

I've been ticking away at the gurlz while I slog through an LotR commission, and I've gotten them this far






  • I don't usually highlight black with blue, but I decided to try it.  I'm not 100% sold on the results. . .
  • I finished the steel - note the ticks of Boltgun on the sharp parts - and the NMM gold, and the faces.
  • The horns need some work.  I think they look fine from the front, but they could be a little cleaner in the back
  • And finally, the buckles need to be picked out.

Morannons Basecoating Complete

Ready for dip!


My goal is to have the cosairs, warg riders, & command/characters complete by the end of this week.  Quite the challenge!!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Another day, another glaze

Here I've added a glaze of Flesh Wash mixed with Vallejo Glaze Medium and diluted about 50/50 with water.  To me, the grayscale looks almost like metallic paint at this point.

Also, there are touches of highlighting on the purple.  Not sure if its working for me yet.


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Satyxis Progress - Base coating and some NMM

I made some progress on the whip chicks over the weekend.  Basecoating took a couple of passes (you can see a little bleed-through in the purple of earlier color choices), but I'm not going to fix anything else until I get to highlighting.

The main reason I'm posting this stage is to demonstrate the steel NMM technique I've been employing lately.  Basically, the idea is to paint up a grayscale highlight progression on any steel areas, and then glaze the areas darker and rusty before finishing up with some metallic feathering on the edges.

The highlighting I'm doing here is really a cheat.  Its basic highlighting rather than the more high-end NMM techniques that try to show reflections, but I ain't got time for that.  I have armies to paint, man!!




The only are parts that have been treated past the basecoat is a light glaze of black on the leather and skin.  I do this mainly because I highlight white and need to bring down the recessed areas and fill in the gaps.  The purple doesn't get the same treatment because its pretty dark already.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

The Start of Something Horrible

I'm taking a dive into Warmachine.

There.  I said it.  So it is written, so let it be done.

And I'm starting my dive with a couple of Satyxis Raiders.   Why?  Cuz I like painting chicks.  Everybody likes painting chicks, don't they?  How 'bout chicks with whips and horns?


Since these particular chicks are supposed to be pirates, I took a little time to make them more 'piratey'.  One now has a hook for a hand, and the other has a nasty knife (for which I added a basket hilt to what is otherwise just a jagged piece of plastic).

I can't wait to start on these babies!

Corsairs and Morannons

Kicking off another LotR army.  This is a commission dip job.

Here's all the infantry


Color scheme has yet to be decided. . .

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Dark Elves Color Test

After staring long and hard at my corsairs for about a month, I think I've finally come 'round to a color scheme I like.  I used the following criteria:


  • Purple has been overdone - This part kills me, because I love the color purple (not the movie, tho), but I don't think using the standard color scheme from the army book does anyone any favors when it comes to Best Painted
  • I'd like to use colors I haven't used before
  • Pale skin looks awesome on Dark Elves
  • No Snow - After my Fornost Veterans, I'm done with snow basing for a while
  • Against my better judgement, but inspired by my Beastman Rehab work, I'm going to try a modified NMM method I've developed
So without further ado:




OK, so there's quite a bit of purple. . .

The rest of the regular colors are:


  • Scaley Green highlighted up to Icy Blue
  • Black highlighted up through Midnight Blue to Icy Blue
  • Elf Flesh/White (50/50) - glazed black and highlighted to white
  • Bleached Bone - glazed black and highlighted up to Bleached Bone/White (50/50)
  • Vallejo Purple, Warlock Purple, Tentacle Pink - the Vallejo Purple is very shiny, so I mixed it with Glaze Medium to make it matte
Steel:

  • Medium gray tone highlighted to a light gray/white in standard NMM approach
  • Vallejo Black Glaze dilluted 50/50 with water
  • Glazed with Flesh Wash mixed with Vallejo Glaze Medium
  • Boltgun Metal highlight along the edges to make them look 'sharp'
Gold:

  • Bubonic Brown, Vomit Brown, Vomit Brown/White to highlight
  • Flesh Wash glaze
  • Re-highlight with Vomit Brown up to White
  • I think this recipe will evolve over the course of the army

Chariot Rescue

Nothing was in quite the shape the chariots were.  Broken weapons, terrible basing, missing riders - it was a mess.

I'm happy to report that this is no longer the case!

All the chariots were:
  • Washed with thinned Vallejo Black Glaze - results here were mixed
  • Golds and Browns and Steel were washed with Flesh Wash mixed with Vallejo Glaze Medium
  • Reds were washed with Red Ink mixed with Vallejo Glaze Medium
  • Highlights were re-applied to the Reds and Golds
  • Steel was picked out with a feathering of Boltgun Metal on the edges
  • Rebasing!!!
The chariot immediately below used to be the ride for my Great Bray Shaman, but I've put a Wargor in there instead.  The thinking was I can now use this as either a Tuskgor Chariot or as a mount for a character.