Strain Revenant - flesh done!

Blimey.... February already??

Flesh is done! Made a bit of a faux pas with the trouser colour, but that can be changed... I am thinking of making it blue and yellow like the first revenant I painted. The grey here seems too desaturated for the rest of the model throwing it out of balance. It almost makes it look like I just haven't painted the trousers at all...

The second Revenant - much better so far!

After the previous attempt, I decided to try something a little different... in fact the reverse of what I did last time. Colour first and then shade!

Toosh reminded me of a really lovely Nurgle Demon painted by Bohun where he really went to town on the colour (he was determined to move away from the stereotypical green Great Unclean One). Using that as inspiration I have gone for oranges and purples for the wounds over a yellow ochre base. So far I am still on the 'colour' stage, but it is already looking much more interesting (to me at least). What do you think?

Learning Curve... a steep one! (AKA the first Revenant)

Well, sometimes in the pursuit of that next technique/style you have seen on t'interweb you sometimes leave casualties in the field... That was me this weekend...

I had got myself into a position where I wanted to really go to town on painting models for my small vignette this weekend, so I spent one of my few remaining annual leave days on a day off on friday. The intent was to get to a point by the end of the day where the Strain Revenant that I had prepped was painted. This, however did not really go according to plan...

As I wanted quite a lot of lividity to all the wounds on the revenant, I decided that it would be best to paint in almost a greyscale and then add all the colour afterwards. This may have been a mistake as the glazes I used didnt really sit well over the top of the shading and I didnt get the effect I was looking for. It ended up rather 'muddy' and not as neat as I had hoped.

I will start at the end for anyone who just wants to see where I finished.... after the break I will go into more detail about what I did. This is the revenant NOW:

Looking at the previous post

Its funny... looking at the photos in the previous post has made me realise that I need to do more to the ceiling/walkway section. It looks far too thin and flimsy... I will put in another layer to the roof below the pipes (thanks Toosh for the idea!) and see how that goes...!

In other news, I started slapping paint on one of the models last night - the Strain Revenant 2 has a flesh tone! And a second Revenant arrived in the post this morning after a super-speedy service from Studio McVey once again!

Photos later

Another weekends work

So, another weekend has passed, and I think I have just about finished building by Studio McVey diorama... It is now sprayed black with all of the major points of interest in place. Still more surface detail to go such as trailing cables/chain, toxic waste canisters, fuel drums etc. and a little more tidying up of the edges to make them flat and square, but I am happy with it as it is for now...

 Looking forward to starting the painting!

Nearly finished building it...!

very nearly there now - some gaps to fill and some more small details to add, but other than that, the build is pretty much done. I should have pics of it primed by the end of the weekend. If I really get myself into gear, I am hoping to have a good few coats of paint on Sharro to show you as well...

SF vignette after the weekends work

Here it is after the work over the weekend...
There are a couple of big changes as you can see - the top and the wall/door. It looks a bit of a mess atm due to the mix of primed and unprimed areas (which I hope to remedy this week), but I am pleased with the general composition. After a comment on Platoon Britannica I was a little concerned as to the amount of space in the piece, but now that the door is in, it doesnt seem too large (to my eye at least - what do YOU think?)

I still have more to do in terms of details, but I am really getting to the point where I just need to paint something, so I may well start on the figures very soon! I bloody love the Studio McVey stuff...!

The Studio McVey vignette WIP as it stands this morning

So, most of the build of the base has been done now, certainly the most difficult sections, and it is now down to the fine details (the fun bit!). I am thinking of putting a room in it, but can't decide whether that will be a positive addition to the scene or whether it will make it too enclosed. The plan would be to have the roof match the floor, but have car body mesh rather than the slip plate to allow some light through.

Anyway, pictures:

And a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

A Belated Merry Christmas! :)

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and that the new year is a good one for you.

Been busy here, but have managed to get some modelling done. First is a lick of paint on my Hasslefree Hustle. I feel like I have stalled somewhat on this, but can't quite put my finger on why. I am still pleased with the composition, but maybe its the similarity between the rusty metal and the orange coveralls that the Grymn are wearing... I have to decide whether the rust changes or the coveralls...

In the meantime (whilst I procrastinate, and possibly run out of time..!), I have started on what I hope to be my main Crystal Brush entry - a small vignette/duel between a Sedition Wars 'Strain' Revenant  (space zombie type thing) and one of the Studion McVey ltd edition resin girls, Sharro.

I have a few other pieces that I also want to get done, including another Barbarian, some new techniques I want to try (dayglow paints that I got for Christmas - thanks Toosh!), and a new camera (thanks Mum & Dad!) so I may post some new images of older models just to try it out... maybe a retrospective of what I have done in 2011. Although it will be quite short!

A quick update on last month's charity moustache growing - my team at work managed to raise just over £600 for some great causes! Thank you to all who were able to make a donation in these difficult times, it was most appreciated.

Something up my sleeve... the Hasslefree Hustle

Something big going on over at Platoon Britannica at the moment. We have just launched the first in a themed set of competitions which we are calling the 'Best of British'. What we are hoping to do is spotlight a different independent British mini company over a series of competitions and events with the shameless yet selfless intent to encourage their support in this time of economic downturn.

Our official statement of intent can be found here!

The first event is called Hasslefree Hustle and as you can imagine, supports Hasslefree Miniatures. Full details can be found here. It is a painting competition with pretty simple rules - paint a model or group of models which fit on (up to) a 50mm x 50mm base and you can use models from other UK-based companies as long as Hasslefree pieces remain in the majority. Closing date: 15th January 2012

I have knocked up a quick concept of what I am hoping to enter into the 'staff' part of the comp - a group of Grymn pressing forward into no-man's-land... The intent will be to cram as much detail onto the small 40mm base as humanly possible... but it leaves me with some questions

1. Camo or coloured armour
2. Weapon glow or muted matte armaments
3. NMM or metallics

Gaaaaaah!

What are you going to do?

Quick Orc update

Got a bit more done on the orc this week... he is getting close to completion now, but he needs some kind of fine detail. I am thinking of tattoos or warpaint, but I cant decide which!

On to the pics:

Aargh! Clash of the Titans - Salute Vs Adepticon

Why, oh why, did they have to be the same weekend...!

After my fortunes at Salute 2011, I won tickets to go over to Adepticon in 2012 to compete in the CoolMiniOrNot Crystal Brush painting competition. 'Fantastic' I hear you say - yes indeed, and I am still mega-chuffed about it. The cloud to the silver lining is that I will be missing my favourite show of the year - Salute! So no defending my title next year, but a chance to compete with some of the best painters in the world...

The only other thing which might prove a downer is that there were a lot of the Platoon Britannica guys and gals who religiously attend Salute talking about heading over to Adepticon next year... I wonder who will win that battle - Salute or Adepticon.

Salute - 21st April 2012, Excel Centre, London Docklands, ENGLAND
Adepticon - 19th-22nd April 2012, Westin Lombard Yorktown Center, Chicago, USA

With the flights paid for, its a bit of a no-brainer for me - Chicago here I come!!

The WAMP Orc

As I mentioned in my previous post, I did some work on the Orc I am hoping to enter into the WAMP competition. He's looking a little rough atm, but he's getting there slowly...

I had a bit of a crisis once I started painting the metallics. His flesh was too light for the dark, worn metals I had gone for (a blackened steel and bronze) so I have tried to deepen the tone of the flesh, but keeping it fairly desaturated and not loose the brightness of the highlights.

Took a lot of faffing, but here are some pics:

Zenithal priming?

I dont know if this will come across so well in these photos, but here are pics of my orc after the zenithal priming.

You can just about see the transitions from grey to white where I have blasted white down from an angle

Straight on to the next project...

Well, I have been thinking about the model I want to do for the WAMP Hasslefree competition, and I have come to the conclusion that what I really want to do is something fantasy (after my recent sci-fi endeavour). With it being HF, you're pretty well spoilt for choice but I have had my eye on one of their earlier models for quite some time. It is Vadim the orc

He is now prepped, attached to the base and primed. I have gone for a 'zenithal priming' technique for the first time where I have primed grey and then primed white from about a 60 degree angle all round the model. This should give me a good idea for positioning of shadows and highlights but also allow the high spots to be naturally brighter as they have a white undercoat.

I am thinking 'real metallics', lots of leather and dark, oily metals... but only time will tell!

Amazing Duel

I love a good Duel entry at Golden Demons - its probably my favourite category. I love it even more when people think outside the box... and I don't mean cramming the largest rock possible on top of the 50mm base and slapping a huge monster on there. 

Here is an example of something which really floats my boat - a TINY duel by Morbäck:

Everything you need in a tight little diorama - action, movement, direct interaction and great composition all on a base the size of a Euro coin. The painting speaks for itself!

 

 

Interesting Competition over on WAMP

WAMP is one of those wonderful communities where something is ALWAYS going on, and this month its a painting competition sponsored by Hasslefree Miniatures. Its no secret that I love Kev White's stuff, and that I have probably painted more Hasslefree Miniatures over the last 5 years than any other mini company. This, combined with the fact I have been meaning to take part in one of the WAMP competitions for ages kinda makes this a 'must enter' moment.

Details of the WAMP competition

I think I know what I want to do, and I have the model already - something gothic-scifi. A 'Privateer' or 'Rogue Trader' if you will. Proper WIP pics to come!

Embarrassing photos, glorious moment

Well, Salute 2011 was a pretty amazing day for me, which resulted in me having to pop up on stage in front of everyone and receive some prizes. Unfortunately as embarassing as that is, its the photos that really make me cringe.

here goes....

Best Fantasy Award

Best in Show

I was pretty shocked...!

Maybe more importantly, here is a pic of my entry taken by the South London Warlords on the day:

Hasslefree Miniatures 'Wolf the Barbarian'