Rat Bastard!

Got some more done on the Half Orc (not as much as I'd have liked to) and I also painted a Giant Rat from Reaper's Bones line.

First up, the Half Orc. As you can see he now has his weapon attached and the painting has begun on that new edition. I'm also going in and doing up all the details on his trousers and boots now. As this is a Tre Manor model, there are tons of details. I'm hoping the holidays will give me some time to wrap him up.

Now the rat. Okay, this is one of those models where the problems with all the Bones stuff really show up. Normally, when the detail on one of these is lacking, I'll paint it in myself like the fur on the big ass orc I painted earlier in the year. However, when the model you are painting is covered in fur... that lack of detail can become problematic. On this one, I basecoated dark and then drybrushed the shit out of it. Once I'd finished that, I glazed it with some Agrax Earthshade to cut down on the dusty effect drybrushing creates. At that point, I decided to pick out the details and roll with it. The tail is Rakarth Flesh that was washed with Army Painter Strong Shade as I needed a vivid divider between the tail and the floor. I did add some Nurgle's Rot to the base and paws to give it a little more character. I guess the important thing to remember about the rats is they are a group or horde and not a single model. In that context, it looks pretty good I think.

Time to wrap things up... my mom will be here in two hours for Thanksgiving extravaganza.

Half Orc Half WayDone... I think

He's gettin' there. Probably would have had more progress had Warlords of Draenor not released last week. The upper body is almost done, just need to paint the feathers on the arrow and add some dark blue to the tattoos.

The next step on this guy will be the loin cloth thing and the gear around his waist. All the ornate stuff I'm treating as "loot" from one of his many adventures as he's obviously not someone who'd normally be carrying such fancy and ornate weaponry and artifacts.

After that come the legs and boots...probably the fastest and easiest part as they are mostly bornw. I'm using Rakarth Flesh on the cuffs of his boots...basically going for a bare hide or the underside of a hide there. With so many different browns being used for leathers, Rakarth Flesh is a nice way to break up all that brown.

Once all that is done, I still have his wierd axe staff thing to do, but I doubt it will take very long.

On the painting table this week...

I haven't done this style of post in a long time but I figure what better way to come back from a month of blog silence.

The models I have going at the moment (from left to right):

• Old Glory Pirate Captain - Why am I painting Old Glory again? I think it was mainly the model had been sitting in my "to do" pile for the last 12-13 years and I figured what the hell. For those who may wonder, his main colors have been Gretchin Green (coat), Codex Gray (shirt and cuffs), and Gnarloc Green (pants). I didn't start out trying to use as much GW paint on him intentionally but I have been trying to use more of my vast paint stash (trust me...it's massive and takes up just as much space as my miniatures). I'm painting him using my historicals layering style (although I use it for a lot of other stuff as well).
  
• Viktor Pendrake - I am painting two of these for a friend. The first one I am revisiting the Trigun styled version of Viktor I did in 2011. To the far right you can see all the paints I have gathered for this fella. His cloak will be base coated with Ceramcoat Barn Red (or maybe Apple Barrel Barn Red...whichever looks nicer). His armor will be done as a black laquered armor (maybe some battle damage chipping) and his trousers possibly striped using Ceramcoat Charcoal as a base.
  
• Half Orc Barbarian Dude - Another model for a friend. For this one, I'm going in a different direction on the orc fleshtone...pulling from World of Warcraft rather than Warhammer. I'm going with a reddish brown tone similar to that of Garrosh Hellscream's. I think if I use regular flesh tone to create the highlights, it should give me a really cool look. If not, then it's time for the Pinesol. I also intend to add a couple of tribal tattoos to the left arm and possible the face. For these, Ceramcoat Charcoal mixed with Apple Barrel Black as a base (might add some flow improver to give me a little more precision). His clothing will be done in all earthtones as he is clad in furs and leather.  If this works, I think all my RPG orcs are going this route as there is only so much green flesh I can handle.

Tune in next time when I'll have in progress shots....and hopefully not take a month between posts next time.

Orktober...getting kind of tired of painting green...

Headline says it all. Getting burned out on Orks, Goblins, and whatever. I think part of the problem is 2014 Mike painting models 2000 Mike prepped. I keep running into some really horrible mold lines and painting fully assembled models doesn't really lend itself to my style of painting. 

Strongly thinking about killing the theme thing early and just setting a goal of a certain amount painted per month or something. Nothing wrong with theme months... but doing what I do for a living with dealing with multiple projects with multiple themes on multiple deadlines... need a little break from that. Maybe I'll give it another whirl when things settle down.

Enough of me whining, let's move onto the painting stuff.

I finished the first Night Goblin. While I'm not 100% thrilled with the end result, I still think he looks pretty badass for a rank and file model. Opted to go with an old mid 90s shield as they are bigger, but not nearly as thick as the 2000s shields. It's a personal preference and I will eventually mix and match the shields as Goblins are supposed to be sort of ramshackle in appearance.

Again, not 100% satisified...but I'm at about 90%. Not what I'd want for a command or personality model, but fantastic for rank and file.

There is a zombie beside him. Nothing new...I just rebased her on a metal washer base.

Now I'm off to ponder what to paint next as my enthusiasm for painting green flesh has gone kaput. Maybe a barbarian or something like that.

Orktober... it keeps on keeping on.

Continuing the fine tradition of painting greenskins this week with a quick update. Still looks like I can hit my 4 models for the month goal, although work has been kicking my ass lately.

Night Goblin is coming along nicely. His tunic is almost done...just needs another two passes for highlights. Once that's done, shoes and skin will be quick. Debating on what to do wht the spear now... mainly as it's a little bent. I'm thinking of doing woodgrain to give the impression the spears are made from tree limbs and saplings...so a degree of "bending" would occur naturally. Still, really having fun with that model (and very happy with how the nose and lips turned out).

Space Ork...I think he's about where he was last update. I did a little more work on his jerkin and blacklined around his leather straps and the jerkin. Well, I don't call it black lining, but I do use very dilute black paint to create a shadow. Years ago, I did the full on black line... but after reading through the Rackham painting guide a few years back, this seemed like a logical progresssion. 

I've also started thinking about what to paint for November as a theme. The obvious choices are something like Norsevember or Nobvember... but don't think I want to paint vikings or orks as I've spent the last couple of months on those. Thinking now about No Plastics November...or Nudevember... 

Could just go with no theme at all for November... I dunno.

Orktoberfest continueth!

The Orktoberfest celebrations continue (and by celebrations, I mean me sitting in my little hobby room painting little plastic army men).

The bulk of the work on Saturday and today has been on the Space Ork's torso (although by bulk, I mean a couple of hours). Instead of painting yesterday, I put in about three or four hours working on some books and between that and errands, time kinda got a way from me.

Thus far I'm happy with the overall color scheme as I wanted to go Goffs but still work in some the earth tones that were used with Grimskull's Waagh in the Space Marine video game. I opted to shuffle some things around to get it more "Goffy". I used the reddish brown on his trousers rather than his jerkin. I also swapped out the leather colors and used brown for leather and black for his jerkin and the base for his armor plates. His shoulder pad will get the standard Goff check pattern (with a lot of rust and chipping) and I may opt for a Goff glyph on his back plate.

I took a big shortcut on his jerkin. I basecoated it with Ceramcoat Charcoal and then washed it with Nuln Oil. I built up the gray by adding small amounts of Vallejo Gray to the Charcoal. I'd then glaze between each highlight to blend the previous layer. I don't think extreme highlighting would work with Ork clothing as that seems to suggest a pristine surface (and Orks don't do pristine).

The fellow beside the Ork is a Night Goblin from the early 2000s box set. I think I have two or three of these. I've not really done anything with the since skull pass came out as the size difference between the models is very noticeable (like hobgoblins vs goblins). Thus far, I have only basecoated him and did the first wash. The green I'm using is basically Ceramcoat Kelly Green mixed with a bit of Ceramcoat Antique Gold. It's similar to Gnarloc Green but has a little more yellow to it. I had to do my own color as I hate the bluish green all the GW orks seem to have these days.

Now, I'm off to a pet halloween thing in Suwanee. Bella is wearing her mummy sweater and tutu... no idea what costume that is, but that's what she's wearing.

Orktoberfest continues!

Finished the goblin finally. Got sidetracked by mysterious leg pains and sinus attacks (been a rough week thus far). 

While he isn't the greatest model GW ever produced (as there is no detail on his left hand or foot), he was still a lot of fun to paint. Did a lot of blending and glazing on him, especially around his face.

The Space Ork head next to him is also done. Photo doesn't really show it, but I opted for the baleful yellow eyes rather than the cartoonier red ones. Did a little bit of texturing on the teeth... but I didn't go too far as it just wasn't showing up as well.

I'll be tackling the body next and then I'll tackle a fantasy Orc or a Night Goblin.