Biiirrrrdman!

Quick photo update taken with the camera on my phone. As you can see, the Tethru guy is done. Not a fancy paint job, but I was going for a catalog grade paintjob and color scheme and not competition grade. Still, he was a fantastic warm up model...shading the white flesh alone was a great exercise...trust me it is there.

I don't know which model to paint next at this point...strongly thinking about putting the finishing touches on the Empire Cannon Crewman I started in October.

Got some more time to work on the Tethru dude. For this update, I've painted the trim on his robe as well as added some additional shading to his robe. The black area on the front needs some highlighting and then it will get a few Egyptian hieroglyphs added. I've basecoated the black marble atop the staff and basecoated the staff with a dark brown....although I'm contemplating using the purple for the staff...still don't know what I'll do yet.

The model has been mounted on a round slottabase rather than a square one. I'm kinda burned out on the whole square base thing on fantasy minis....I'm not painting it for play but for show (maybe for D&D as well)...so ranking up is not a concern. I used Locktite gel to mount the model....kinda tired of using the 2 part epoxy approach.

The next steps will be to finish up the hands and feet, finish up the details, add the freehand, paint the black marble, and a little flock....

Hoping to be done and have a "glamour shots" version up by Tuesday. I don't know if I'll bother posting this one on CMoN....my last couple of efforts have not exactly been high scorers.

Back to Basics....

Lately, I've noticed that I've fallen into a rut....and that is never a good thing. Someone once told me a rut is just a grave with the ends kicked out. So, in order to get out of the rut, I've decided to shake things up a bit...rethink my approach and try something new.

So, in the "spirit" of going back to basics I have opted to revisit a model from an earlier point in my painting career....the Tethru Master of Words from Crocodile Games. It's the perfect model for what I'm looking to achieve...the perfect balance of detail and clean surfaces. Chris Fitzpatrick truly out did himself on this one (and the Sebeki...but that's for another time).

The back to basics approach means I'm focusing on a simpler color scheme and pushing the basic techniques. Thus far, I've been focusing on my blending and shading along with extreme highlighting (mainly on his beak). Nothing fancy, just good old fundamentals. 

Thus far, I've gotten the upper torso done along with the head and arms. Next up will be the robes which I have basecoated with Hormagaunt Purple...I have no idea what the new GW color is. 

I'm really happy with how he's turned out so far...

Personal Time'd

Taking a day off from my usual art and design stuff to work on a personal project. While I'd love to say this is something I picked up for playing Pathfinder or D&D (have the books for both), I'll probably end up using it for Fantasy Heroes from Two Hour Wargames.

It has a premise similar to Advanced Heroquest in that you "recruit" party members and set off on quests....sort of an RPG meets a miniature game. Sort of a win win for me...don't get me wrong I love miniatures and all, but playing wargames is time consuming and more or less focused on winning as opposed to immersion. Same can be said for RPGs as they tend to move slow and not really accomplish much (I played in a D&D game where someone spent a giant amount of time reading deer shit and communing with nature...in the middle of a dungeon).

I went with this miniature as my first adventurer...every group needs a wizard. Plus, I just really like this model...kinda Gandalfy...but not too Gandalfy...

Now time to kick it in high gear as I'm back to working on Pimp card art on Sunday.

Probably the last post of 2012....

This is an in progress shot of the "prototype" paint scheme for the zombie horde. 

The fleshtone is Reaper Moldy skin washed with a mixture of Reaper Ghoul Flesh and a small amount of Ceramcoat Dark Burnt Umber. 

The eyes are Warzone Venusian Green and they were highlighted by adding small amounts of white. I also used a glaze of Venusian Green to do the glow effect around the eye sockets.

The shredded clothing has been base coated with a mixture of Ceramcoat Golden Brown and Charcoal Gray. I'm going for a generic color scheme on clothing so I can use them for fantasy, modern, & sci fi gaming.

The edge of the base has been painted with a mixture of Ceramcoat Black and a small amount of Future Floor Polish. I'll actually hit it once more with that mixture to get a nice matte finish that won't chip. The trick is to use only a small amount of Future in the mix. If you get it right, you'll get a nice smooth finish that will be scratch and chip resistant.

I'll be posting a new photos sometime during the day on New Years which I hope I'll have him finished.

Workbench Update 12-15-2012

Once again, it's time for a workbench update.

First up...Imperial Assassin.

Her armor was basecoated with Nepharite Red (Warzone Colors) and then layered up by mixing in Ceramcoat Bright Red and a small amount of Blazing Orange (the coat d' arms mixture...not the current Citadel versions). In case you are wondering, I wanted to shake things up a bit so I dug into my stockpile of paint and pulled out colors I haven't used in quite a while.

Her flesh was basecoated with Graveton Tan (again Warzone Color) and then washed with Ceramcoat Dark Burnt Umber. The flesh was then layered back up using Graveton Tan and then highlighted by adding in small amounts of Legionnaire Flesh (Warzone Color). I did a final highlight of watered down Legionnaire flesh on the highest points of the face.

The black was done using my usual method as was the parchment strips.

The blade on the power sword was basecoated with Ceramcoat North Sea blue mixed with Ceramcoat Charcoal Gray. I then layered it up by adding small amounts of white to the base color...nothing fancy.

The base is a Armorcast resin base. I had to remove the 20mm round base portion to mount it on the lipped base. I am planning to do a painting instructional for painting a similar Armorcast base soon....so stay tuned and you can learn the techiniques I used.

Next up are some personal projects....

These two fellas I've been working on since the end of September...mainly when I had a spare minute or two. 

These two have been painted in a layered style similar to the style Kevin Dallimore and Steve Dean paint in. I have found that style looks really good on historicals and old GW Empire models. 

That style is actually my default style...I just add in some blending rather than layering on the higher end models...I guess that style is closer to Mike Anderson's style (also a major inspiration for my painting).

And finally, this little fella. The first model I've primered with white in a long, long time. I have been wanting to do a seasonal type model...I figure this one was the way to go. I'm hoping to have him and his helper done before Xmas.

Workbench 12-5 Edition

Nothing much to show. I've actually gone back in and pretty much redone all the red and black areas on this model. I have to admit...this model is going to wind up in my "Never Again" list as it just isn't that great of a model. I'm sure a lot of people think it's a great sculpt...but I just don't like it.