First mini in a Looonnnggg Time.... WIP

[Swiftblade]

First I better explain:
Four years ago I bought the battle for skull pass set and painted all of the night goblins (the first painting I had done since leaving school some 18 years earlier)! I liked the look of them and painted a couple of night goblin bosses to, what for me was, a reasonable standard.
Since then I've moved from the UK to Australia and am back at school doing a programming course.
The bug remained and I am painting a new mini trying to push myself. I am trying out new techniques like NMM for the first time and though I don't have the hang of blending yet I am getting reasonable, i hope, results from layering, though it does take a long time to do!
I'm not sure how I'm going but I will post some pics and hope that you guys/girls like them. Any comments, tips and constructive criticism would be most welcome.

I have borrowed a camera from a friend and whilst it's not an SLR so some of the focus might be a bit weird it took some reasonable pictures.

Thanks to all

Swift.

View attachment 7632
View attachment 7633
View attachment 7634
View attachment 7635

 

[freakinacage]

nice, love that flame. good to see you are back into the game!

 

[kathrynloch]

Welcome back to the hobby! Looking really nice so far - at least what I can see. Larger pics would be very helpful on these old eyes.

 

[Swiftblade]

Thank you for your kind comments I will post larger pics (though the ones here should all should be at least 500px in width).
Will keep you updated with the progress as I am looking to learn as much as I can. So many good painters here the inspiration is all around!

 

[Tee999]

welcome back. thats some nice work swift! really nice work!

Tee

 

[Swiftblade]

Thank you tee, I'm a bit worried about the colour choice for the sword, my colour theory is, to say the least, basic. I like the blue flames as the rest of the mini is so warm but am wondering if a red sword is the way to go. I do want it to look demonic so, maybe it is... I'm perplexed!!

 

[armornv]

I agree. Everyhing looks really good to me so far. On the color of the sword, While I can't pinpoint at the moment what color I would choose, I think the red might be a little too much red. I don't see a problem having red in the colors used for it, I just feel like as it is, it's too much. Alas, it's yours to paint and be happy with, all else is a distant second

Can't wait to see what else you paint and welcome back!

 

[kathrynloch]

The forum limits width of a pic faster than it limits length. What the exact numbers are, I don't know. Maybe when the new FAQ comes out they will tell us. lol!

I really like the blue flame too so wouldn't mind seeing it on the sword as it brings out the blue you've painted on the mini. If you're worried about too much blue then maybe yellow/orange flame and white.

 

[Swiftblade]

Thank you for your comments!
I want the sword to look demonic so I think it needs a little red in it though maybe much more toned down. My initial thought was doing a red crystal sword but after a few practice attempts on a spare mini I decided my skills were a little lacking (especially after seeing ana's beautiful crystal sword on her be'lakur model)
http://paintingmum.blogspot.com/2011/07/belakor-in-service-of-tzeentch-witcher.html

In the end I thought that a red sword would work but, i agree, it's probably too much red!
I'm going to have to have a long think about this colour.

Swift

 

[Tee999]

Swift. That is exactly what i was going to suggest. if you went with a blue sword it would make the mini flow better since your using blue on the skull.
Or possibly painting the center of the sword dark gold like the khorn symbols on the cloak and have the ends edge of the sword blue like the skull.

either way its some real nice work you got done!

Tee

 

[Swiftblade]

Well I decided to try with a blue/grey sword. I used GW Astronomican Grey as a base and then Shadow Grey as the shadow color, adding skull white to the Astronomican Grey for highlights.
I think it has added some contrast to the mini and I like it. So I may stick with this. As it's a toned down blue it's not too much with the blue flames, at least I think so.

Let me know what you think!
(In the photo it looks a lot more blue than it does for real).
The photo seems to have been cropped smaller too (originally it is 760px wide)

View attachment 7703

All the best Swift

 

[Swiftblade]

Firstly, thank you all for your suggestions and help. As a learner it is really great to bounce ideas of other people and learn from their suggestions and advice. It helps immensely and makes me think much more intently on what I'm doing (as most of the time I have no idea ).

I bought myself a colour wheel, very useful little gadget, and as I've got blue and red was thinking of where to put some yellow for a triad of colours. I was thinking maybe doing a gem skull (well you have to set yourself challenges don't you)! Maybe the one that is on a chain on his left side, OR the two on his horns but I thought they might look a little weird.
Good idea or bad????

 

[dogfacedboy uk1]

Looks good mate, this is a nice sculpt to wok on to. The sword looks alot better now, I saw the crystal sword of Ana's which was amazing work!

dfb

 

[Swiftblade]

OH NO!!

Mini fell a couple of centimeters out of my hand and sword handle came off!! Managed to glue it back on pretty well but it is now very weak.

Trying to do the skulls on his cloak but my blending is not very good so not really liking the results so far. May have to start over and try again.

 

[Willdorling]

OH NO!!

Mini fell a couple of centimeters out of my hand and sword handle came off!! Managed to glue it back on pretty well but it is now very weak.

Trying to do the skulls on his cloak but my blending is not very good so not really liking the results so far. May have to start over and try again.

You've picked a good mini to practice your skulls on LoL! There's a WIP on here by Stew......lots of skulls on that too.

Good Luck - don't worry about starting over if you think you can improve. Better to be happy at the end of the mini than have nagging doubts. That said I do sometimes try to finish and learn from what I would like to improve then implement on a new mini to save me going over and over certain parts too often and then getting bored.

Cheers
Will

 

[Swiftblade]

You've picked a good mini to practice your skulls on LoL!

LOL, yeah I counted 60 Skulls on the cloak, under the feet and in his horns! I'm not counting the Bronze Skulls I did in his armor and on his head!!
By the end of this mini I should have skulls down to a fine art!!

 

[Swiftblade]

So have been working and studying so not much time to paint. Am going to try to get some more done this week.
I have made a base for it (more skulls)!!

Here is the base, I primed it with krylon grey but then decided it needed more surface area on the top so have created a slate effect with green stuff (first go at sculpting so don't expect too much)!

View attachment 7797
View attachment 7798
View attachment 7800

Tomorrow I'm going to start on the skulls again and also, hopefully, start painting the base.

 

[Swiftblade]

Disaster!

Somehow I managed to get superglue on the cloak just by his foot. I didn't realize until a couple of days later and now it has set. I have managed to get it off but ruined the paintjob in the process so am now desparately trying to salvage it.

Also, the sword handle, which was severly weakened has come off, so I am trying to sculpt one (I am a rubbish sculptor so i'm not expecting it to be very good).

Oh well, will post pics when I get back from class.

 

[kathrynloch]

For the sword handle, carefully clean off any superglue that's on there (acetone and a pointed cotton swab). Get out the super glue and baking soda. Glue the part back on and quickly, while you're holding it in place, sprinkle baking soda over the join and watch it cure instantly. It will be just like cement so make sure you have the part where you want it the first time. After it cures, you can take a file or sanding stick and sand off any (now rock hard) excess glue/baking soda mix.

We use this to repair broken model horses, especially ear tips. You can actually carve and sculpt the glue/baking soda combination so we end up resculpting eartips out of it. I've got some pictures because I just used this technique last night on something. So I'm going to post 'em up in a bit.

 

[Swiftblade]

Thank you for the advice Kathryn, I'll keep it in mind.
I've already drilled a hole in his hand in preparation for the sculpted... thing that I'm making At the end of the day this is all a learning process for me and so I figure I may as well get stuck in. I'm having a good time doing it and learning heaps in the process so all is good!
I made a handle (shown in the picture below) not the best job but, after much cursing and many tries, I was reasonably happy with it. I was going for the heavy square nail look (as it's easier for a beginner like me).

View attachment 7878

The only slight problem was that the brass rod I did it on is too large for my drilled hole.. D'oh!!!
So I'm doing another one on a paper clip (which I know fits).