Troll WIP

[Grumgore]

Hey everyone. I have been working on my troll over the past couple months and I am looking for some advice on painting the troll. I still have a lot of work to do on the base, but I also welcome suggestions on how to improve the basing as well.

The picture doesn\'t really do the miniature justice, but it does depict the basis of what I am working on. I haven\'t attached the victim in the trolls hand yet... I am waiting to complete the troll first before moving on to the victim.

I am not 100% happy with the scales. They seem a bit lack luster. If anyone can suggest some good sources/examples on how to paint scales that would be super. Thanks.

[NOTE: The base is actually mounted on a baby food jar, so if you see that the base looks a bit jagged at the bottom that is more a function of my ability to remove the painting stand from the base]

 

[Recoil889]

try to blend some green/turquoise into those scales. Perhaps some purple might be nice too

 

[Thunderhawker]

Its taken me the longest time to figure out what is a bit off with this one. The painting and base are great, but I don\'t care for the green background. I think it affects how the blue reads. Maybe a grey or straight black background? Just spitballing here.

 

[Grumgore]

Thank you for your comments.

@Thunderhawker: take a look below at the \"raw\" picture. You can see that I didn\'t use enough light when taking it. I am struggling with how to get more light for these pictures. Anyways, this picture better shows the colors I used on a different background.

@Recoil889: Are you suggesting to use both green/turqoise & purple in the scales? Are you suggesting subtle glazes of the color, or something more pronounced?

 

[Thunderhawker]

Well, better too dark than overexposed I say. Try this (five minute PS fix):

As a footnote, I know there are a number of others better with PS than I am, but I hope this helps. One of the things I did was go to the levels of the image and bring the white side up to where the \"white level\" actually ends in the graph. This evens out the image quite a bit.

 

[Grumgore]

Yeah, that is basically what I did originally, using the following forum topic:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=11603

I found it a great article on getting started using PS.

Thanks for the background, Thunderhawker. I like your background better.

 

[Recoil889]

i would do either glazes of the purple OR green/turquoise, but not both.do the glazes from one end of the scale up, to create sort of a gradient effect...try it out on one, see how it comes out

 

[Grumgore]

So you are suggesting using the purple or the green/turquoise on each scale as a glaze, doing one end of each scale?

For instance, the the back I would do the bottom of each scale with the glaze?

 

[Recoil889]

yeah thats what i ment, id try it out and see what the effect does for the model, the nice thing about paint is, if you dont like, it paint over it! escpically with smooth, transparent glazes.

 

[Recoil889]

yeah thats what i ment, id try it out and see what the effect does for the model, the nice thing about paint is, if you dont like, it paint over it! escpically with smooth, transparent glazes.

 

[Grumgore]

Thanks for the suggestion. I did a subtle glaze of tourqouise and I think it looks pretty good. I also increased the brightness of the scale highlights to help them stand out better, also helping to create more drama.

I\'ll post a picture when I get the chance. Tomorrow I get to work on the victim.

By the way, can anyone suggest a good basing idea(s) to mimick? I always struggle with how to \"flock\" the base.

 

[Grumgore]

Here are the updated pictures of the troll, but I am not sure the pictures show the updates. Let me know what you think.

Next is the victim.

 

[Recoil889]

wow those scales look great, such deapth to them. Im totaly impressed. good job!

 

[Grumgore]

Thank you. It is difficult to tell but I did do the tourquoise glazes on the darker parts of each scale.

By the way if anyone has any ideas on how I should \"flock\" the basing please let me know. If you have any examples, that would be great.

 

[Grumgore]

Thunderhawker & Recoil889:

Thank you for all your help & suggestions. My troll just won best large WFB model at Games Day Toronto. I hope to post some pictures soon.

 

[Recoil889]

Congrats man!! glad to help, lets see those pics!:beer:

 

[Bill]

That\'s a bloody nice piece of work. I love his eye. Really cool paintjob on a really cool old mini Make sure the base is as interesting!

 

[Grumgore]

Thanks. I did a lot more work to the miniature before submitting it to the golden demons last weekened, and hope to get the pictures up soon.

IMO, bases are an area of weakness I really need to improve on. Once I get the final miniature posted I am open to suggestions on how to make future models even better.

 

[Grumgore]

I need to work on my photoskills as well, but here goes.

I am open to suggestions for how I could have improved the basing. I will use the suggestions for my future projects (I am already planning for my entries for 2009).

 

[demonherald]

Well I love it the victim looks convincing and the painting of the troll is cool.. the only improvement I wold say could be made is the base... maybe raising it a bit and making some detail cut away so it looks like the troll is dangling it off a cliff or over a swamp or similar.. currently it\'s a little basic looking and doesn\'t really add anything to the mini.. It\'s nicely done but not selling the scene as much as it could.. great troll though...