ste022 WIPs

[ste022]

Nazgob - Orc Shaman - Games Workshop

I feel like this must be some sort of record, I've been working on this figure for twelve years now. It was meant to be my Golden Demon - Fantasy single figure entry at Games Day UK 2009, I didn't finish it in time and entered my Exalted Hero of Chaos instead which earned me a finalist pin (I then stripped it and started again the day after games day). Anyway the figure itself is mostly finished now. I just need to spend some time boosting the contrast, mostly on the green cloth and I need to tweak the tones here and there. With the base all I've done so far is block in with the airbrush and wash dark sea blue over everything.

 

[Graishak]

Wow... so this amazing piece was sitting for one decade almost finished on shelf. The only thing I'd recommend to do to the mini is to give its jewelery the same kind of used look, like you did to the sword (which is looking really good).
Then you can focus on the base. Should not take you long to get it to the "finished" mode, will it? ;-)

 

[ste022]

Thanks, I think I probably have more unfinished than finished projects if I'm honest with myself. When a project is going well I get a kind of writers block where I'm scared of progressing in case I ruin it. You're right about the jewellery, I painted them the same way as the sword: Scale color Black metal, Thrash metal, Heavy metal and then Speed metal so I'll have a think of how to weather them being silver not steel, as for the base I just need to think over which colours to use as I want to preserve the overall cold scheme, I want it to look like a dank damp cave.

 

[Graishak]

Dank damp cave sounds awesome. I already see some gloss varnish giving a watery touch, moss attached to some stones... and hey - what about mushrooms? Maybe in the same kind of "glow in the dark" colour as his weapon?
I can already see it Go ahead...

 

[ste022]

I'm currently looking into getting hold of some owl pellets. I have Jeremie Bonamants book, one of his miniatures has a sort of shaman casting spells over a bone pile and he used small bones from an owl pellet to achieve it. I used to finds see these lying around when we lived in the countryside I'm surprised by how much they are to buy.

 

[CyAniDe]

Looks great so far. Contrast would be main point of criticism but you already mentioned it yourself
The metallics look great. Nice contrast there and smooth. Your blends are really smooth too, really good job there. I wouldn't dare taking such big pictures xD

 

[ste022]

Thanks. I've spent some time since the photo glazing in shadows and blacklining the cloth areas, I need to increase the highlights but I'm being very timid with it as I'm frightened of spoiling things at this late stage.

 

[gorb]

This looks fantastic, so smooth!

 

[ste022]

Almost there!

As I mentioned before I started this project the day after Games Day UK 2009 with the intention of entering it in 2010, so better late than never I guess! It's nearly there now, matching the colours has been the biggest pain as it's painted using the French Bolter shell GW paints which were discontinued in 2010.

 

[gorb]

Absolutely gorgeous! The glowy bits are really eye-catching, and every texture is spot on. I love the way you painted the orkish skin, the way it blends into the lips. The sword contrasts so well with the leather satchel too.

 

[ste022]

Thank you. The base has been tough, as I didn't have any kind of plan other than it being a cave and just stuck stuff together hoping for the best. The glowing effect was added to the skulls at the last minute on a whim as I thought it would tie the base and figure together I'm hoping it looks as though he's summoning them back from their grave. I just need to add some moss and wet effects but I'm at the point where I'm scared to work on it in case I ruin it.

 

[gorb]

I reckon go for it, add the moss and water effects! At the least you'll (re?)learn some skills, at the most it'll look even more awesome!
The glow really does tie everything together.

 

[CyAniDe]

I'm at the point where I'm scared to work on it in case I ruin it.

Know that feeling. Have a 15 year old death corps commissar that is in WIP because I was afraid back then to ruin things so I stopped working on it and wanted to "get better" before I continued ...
Now I got a bit better over the last 15 years and should I ever paint it, I'ld probably restart it xD
A good tip to loose that fear is to get faster. The faster you are, the more minis you can paint and the less you care if something goes wrong. Although I haven't encountered a situation yet where I "ruined" a mini in a way I couldn't fix it.
You could also think of it this way: The mini will probably be "ruined" if you'll never finish it.
When you put it away for a couple of years to get better/more confident in your skills, chances are high that if you really get a lot better, you probably don't like the paintjob you were so proud of back then anymore and want to start over anyway.
So just do it.
If it goes terribly wrong beyond fixing regard it as a lesson learned. If it goes well you've got a finished mini you can be proud of, painted to the best of your ability at this moment. And it is much more fun to look at a finished project from the past and compare it to your current stuff then looking at countless old WIPs
-> I know that because I have plenty of old WIPs that will most likely never be finished ^^

 

[Dexter0015]

Nice paint. The glow effect is indeed a well think addition.

I do think adding some wet effect and moss could improve the base.

 

[Graishak]

The mini is stunning. The base is somehow not yet finalized, right?
I'd do something with the stones (maybe a bit moss, some dirt?)

 

[ste022]

The mini is stunning. The base is somehow not yet finalized, right?
I'd do something with the stones (maybe a bit moss, some dirt?)

Yeah the plan is to add moss and make the surfaces look shiny/damp, I've spent time since the post a few months back darkening the shadows and adding blacklinning and I now just need to increase the highlights a bit and I want to make the jewellery look more worn as per your previous comment.

 

[ste022]

Know that feeling. Have a 15 year old death corps commissar that is in WIP because I was afraid back then to ruin things so I stopped working on it and wanted to "get better" before I continued ...
Now I got a bit better over the last 15 years and should I ever paint it, I'ld probably restart it xD
A good tip to loose that fear is to get faster. The faster you are, the more minis you can paint and the less you care if something goes wrong. Although I haven't encountered a situation yet where I "ruined" a mini in a way I couldn't fix it.
You could also think of it this way: The mini will probably be "ruined" if you'll never finish it.
When you put it away for a couple of years to get better/more confident in your skills, chances are high that if you really get a lot better, you probably don't like the paintjob you were so proud of back then anymore and want to start over anyway.
So just do it.
If it goes terribly wrong beyond fixing regard it as a lesson learned. If it goes well you've got a finished mini you can be proud of, painted to the best of your ability at this moment. And it is much more fun to look at a finished project from the past and compare it to your current stuff then looking at countless old WIPs
-> I know that because I have plenty of old WIPs that will most likely never be finished ^^

Thank you for your advice, the fear simply stems from my having precious little hobby time maybe 2-3hrs per week. I usually only get 1-2 minis done per year so having it go horribly wrong is heart breaking.

 

[ste022]

Sergeant Castus #2

Having painted on of these for my local gaming store, I've painted a second for myself. This was a labour of love taking almost 4 months and at least double the hours that I put into the original. I'll have some proper photos of this and the orc done over the next few days.

 

[ste022]

Skink Starpriest WIP

Started this yesterday, made very quick progress so far (for me anyway). So far the skin has been blocked in with the airbrush and I've painted the scales along his back.

 

[gorb]

I can't see the attached images! You are attaching them using the CMON image attachment process? I hope CMON isn't on another image purge spree...