Anyway so in the order were the following models:
Yes, this model was one I was waiting on. One of my miniature painting enthusiast colleagues had also purchased a copy of this model, and I was able to borrow his to paint up for Crystal Dragon until mine finally arrived. I was very happy to hand it over to him!
I purchased a subscription to the Miniature Mentor painting videos a little while back, and one of the most exciting and interesting ones was with Mirko Cavalloni, where he painted a Minotaur, recreating a scene called the Dark Forest. This is an armoured version of the same guy, and although I loved the other model, I decided on this one as I had a cool vision for it.
The final model was this one, a sculpt by my latest man crush, Lucas Pina. His sculpting is just off the chain, with his 3 Witches and Baba Yaga some of the most insane models I've ever seen. This is another of his works, and it comes with a plethora of add ons and doodads. I was really excited to paint this model, so much so that the moment it arrived I started assembling it!
Recently I've not been enjoying a lot of aspects of my models. I start off with visions in my head, and then for various reasons they do not follow along the path I expect. I tried to isolate what it was and I think I have it figured out. I am not strong at basing. I try to tell a story and usually have interesting ideas, but either the base overpowers the models, or I do not nail the painting, or it is poorly constructed.
So with this model, I laid out a concrete plan in my head, and also set myself a goal, ensuring that the base itself would be simple, elegant, tie in with the colours of the model, be harmonious but not overpowering and just look like a base that belongs to a showpiece model.
Here is the first stages.
I've used a rolling pin from Green Stuff World to put a celtic tree pattern onto a tile, added some round rocks (a great tip from Massive Voodoo, when you have mixed too much putty, roll it up, smoosh it flat and just add a few little textures, and leave it to dry) that I had accumulated, some smaller rocks, and made a tree out of wire.
I added a skull, a twig, some more rocks, and covered the tree branches with Vallejo Plastic Putty, making it look a lot less like wire.
Once that all dried, I went over the base with some sandy paste, and a bit more sand textures. I added some of the doodads from the model onto the tree, and I sculpted the roots of the tree running down the side of the base. Everything continuing exactly according to the plan so far!
The next stage was an interesting one. I had tried texturing the tree I did on the Enchanted Pool by rolling a twig over it, adding real life texture to it, but I didn't really think it looked natural. This is also a dead tree, so I tried a different technique;
I gave the tree another layer of plastic putty, and then hit it with the GW technical paint that cracks on the surface. It came out like that, which I was very happy with overall. At this stage I decided it was time to paint!
I undercoated both the model and the base, and then whipped out the airbrush for a few layers.
The skin is made up of an armour brown basecoat, then beige red primed zenithally. This was supposed to be one opaque colour but I figured a bit of extra depth wouldn't hurt.
I went to town on the base, using the same armour brown, and then painted to sandy colours. I highlighted the rocks, the ground got pigments, the tile got highlighted, the tree got airbrushed with grey and then washed to bring out the crackling, I added flock, some more green pigments and some mossy stuff.
And that is where I left it at last night. The base is nice and desaturated and also quite neutral, but I do think I want to just put a tiny bit more pigment on it to push it even further. The tree I started highlighting, but it needs more and I also have to figure out how I will do the foliage (only part of the plan I didn't work out before I did the base).
Really excited for this guy, shaping up to be my best work yet. Might get it finished for Crystal Dragon, might not. Fingers crossed!
Cheers
Trent
No comments:
Post a Comment