Tyranid Attack - Opinions please

[Jambot13]

Hello all. I\'ve been getting into my painting and converting a lot more recently and would appreciate some feedback on my Tyranid Attack. .

I think its a definite improvement over my previous stuff but would like some thoughts on what could be improved. Also I meant to put my vote as an 8. I know I\'m a way off from 9s yet!

 

[Avelorn]

Very cool! it looks spectacular! For the painting. It\'s all very neat but some more highlighting and shading could have been placed. On the bone for example you can go to pure white on the edges. Again, very cool, and great idea.

 

[supervike]

hmmm...

Sorry, Jambot, but I must disagree with you here. I definately think that is worthy of a 9, and voted and commented as such.

To each there own, I guess...

Hope to see more of your stuff in the future!!

 

[Ritual]

I pretty much agree with Avelorn. It\'s a striking piece, a great idea and it\'s well painted. It is, however, a bit too uniformly highlighted. You should shade and highlight it as if it was lit by an imagined lightsource. Imagine for instance light falling on the mini from above. Where the light would shine you place bright highlights, where the light can\'t reach at all you paint deep shadows. That way you\'ll get a more striking and dynamic looking result. This is still very good, though, and I voted an 8 for it.

 

[vincegamer]

Maybe not a 9, but not far off.

I think the arms have a bit too much shine, possibly too much ink, and I\'m not too keen on the red/white/blue color scheme. I guess I\'d have preferred the blue bits to be more of a crimsony purple - like old raw meat. (but color is subjective and my tastes won\'t affect your score)

I also think the blood is a bit excessive, but I\'d really have to see the other side to be sure.

The bone bits are fantastic as are the falic thingies, and if the human were done to the level of the tyranid it would clearly be a 9.

 

[Brokenblade]

Yes this is a sure 9 from me, great looking little mini diorama, i can\'t really see the guardsmans face too well, but from the picture the face looks a little flat, also is that a mouldline on the backpack, that\'s about all the room for improvement i can find, thanks for this i cant wait to get my hands on some of the new nids, i look forward to seeing more of your work.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Eeeeewwww! But in a good way.

 

[JMcL63v2]

Hello there. That\'s a lovely model Jambot13, but I \'only\' gave it a 7. Why? Well first off, it\'s very nicely painted, but I noticed none of the more advanced techniques that I hold in awe. I figured that if I could maybe\'ve painted that well, well it can\'t be worth a 9.

It was the execution of the warrior that marked the piece down to 7 in the end. The modelling is clean, and the pose of the dying guard looks fairly natural, if a bit static. Pity about the mouldlines on the backpack though. The warrior is a tidy conversion, but it unfortunately doesn\'t quite mesh with the whole. It looks almost as if it could\'ve been a separate piece paintshopped in for the effect. This might sound harsh, but what I mean is that, the trailing claw aside, there is nothing really in the warrior\'s pose suggestive of its action, namely just starting to twist out of a mighty blow delivered in mid-leap. So, like I said, the conception is immediately obvious, but the execution lacks the little touches required to bring the piece to life.

And there you go Jambot13. It\'s a good effort overall, and I\'d certainly be proud to enter something that good in a GD.

 

[Dr Sanch]

Nice idea, well executed. An 8 from me

 

[Jambot13]

Thanks for all the comments folks, some good advice there. All very helpful.

@Avelorn and Ritual - I know what you mean about my highlights, they are pretty uniform and I would have gone brighter on the very edges but I was worried about taking it too far. I\'ll try and develop some more levels and also think more carefully about the placement of light and shadow on my next project.

@Vincegamer - I painted the Nid in quite an oldschool colour scheme. I actually quite like the punchy contrast but realise thats a matter of taste. I\'ve just posted some multiple views here so you can decide if the blood\'s excessive. I guess it is a bit but I kinda like that too!

@Brokenblade - You shame me with your mouldline observation, it won\'t happen again, I promise! It\'s somehow more obvious in the photo than on the model.

@McL63v2 - I was going to have a go at nmm on this but chickened out at the last minute. I don\'t think what you said about the Tyranid is harsh, I asked for opinions and thats what I got. It\'s all good because its constructive. I did attemt to add more movement by converting the legs of the Nid but perhaps twisting the head a little more and making the lean of him even more obvious would have helped.

I\'d love to have had a crack at the duel cattegory with it in UK GD but unfortunately (well, fortunately really) I work for the evil empire that is Games Workshop so I can\'t.

@Supervike - My Tzeentch Exalted Daemon is almost finished and will be up soon

 

[AngryGangsta]

HOW THE HELL!!

I have never modled in my life.
Never touched Green stuff.
Never Touched any modelling tools(exept glue and files)

I LOVE THIS

HOW IN HELL did you do it im very impressed even the painting is tops.

I gave it a TEN!

Good on you!!

 

[vincegamer]

I take my hat off to Jambot13 for having a thick skin.

I get so tired of people putting stuff up and asking for opinions then whining because people suggested changes and didn\'t just oooh and aww.

Toast to Jambot13 for knowing how to take criticizm in the spirit it was intended.

Okay, so thanks for the multiple shots. I take back what I said about the blood, and while I\'m not keen on the blue, it was excellently executed, particularly on the back of the hand scales.
However, now that I\'ve seen it from other angles I have more critiques.
I think the \"blade\" thing would be sharp on the other side. Basically it looks like it\'s slashing the soldeir with the blunt backend of its claw. That\'s just from thinking how animal claws work. This being an alien I suppose it could go any way.
The only other thing is the soldier. I don\'t know how much freedom you had, but I think he\'d look a lot better if one of his feet was off the ground, kind of flailing out.
Lastly, the bottoms of the hoovs are just flat. I can\'t see the front to tell if they are split, but if they are not then you ought to carve a frog into the bottom. (honestly, frog is what it\'s called on a horse. I always carve them into exposed horse hooves)

 

[solaria2k]

Very nice conversion work, it wouldnt take much to do those few alterations Vince suggested, so I see you well on your way to making fantastic compositions.

The painting probably looks better in person, I very soon discovered the difference between the photo and the real thing, just like models, you sometimes need to \'accentuate with a little makeup\' to really bring out the highlights for photography.

Not that I can really comment anyway, I think you have surpassed what I can do right now.

 

[Jambot13]

Originally posted by vincegamer
I can\'t see the front to tell if they are split, but if they are not then you ought to carve a frog into the bottom. (honestly, frog is what it\'s called on a horse. I always carve them into exposed horse hooves)

Frogs, you\'re having me on!

Checks Google for \'frogs hooves\'
Sees \"Contracted hooves are oval rather than round and have very narrow frogs\"

Bloody hell, and there was me doubting you. OK then, frogs all the way in the future!

I was waiting for someone to mention the blades once I put up that multiple view shot. I\'m currently justifying the flat edge by saying he stabbed the Guard in the head then jumped up and away, causing the blood to jet out, but I don\'t really believe that myself! I think I have to chalk that one up to lack of foreword planning.

I did consider having a leg spasming out a bit more and did try it with another Guard, but I couldn\'t get it to look quite right so went with them a bit more static.

@solaria2k - you can most certainly comment, you seem extremely talented considering how long you’ve been painting. From what I can see in your gallery you\'re well on the way to mastering techniques that I haven\'t even felt confident enough to try yet and I’ve been painting minis (albeit rather intermittently) for 14 or so years.

 

[solaria2k]

Thanks Jambot!

I think I have an advantage in being such a new painter - I havent settled into any style or technique, everything is new to me. But I wouldnt say I\'ve mastered any... Until I can paint that way without having to read an article first.

Though I\'ve not tried any mods on the scale you have done here. (I made a greenstuff starfish, thats about it lol) I\'m still trying to master effective pinning. *shame*