Sometimes, I get to work on miniatures for myself! I had a day not so long ago where I did just that. I decided I wanted to work on different coloured layer blending. I’ve done plenty using shades of the same colour but not different colours. I picked on the Gaunt Summoner to give it a go.
I have a long way to go with him yet, but I wanted the colours to be bright as it suits Tzeentch. I’m pleased with the green to yellow, but think the blue purple needs work. It’s a Work in Progress and I’m sure I can smooth it out as I go along.
The other mini I worked on was the Warmaster Titan. I want it to look as mean as the Warlord so I’m back on the freehand. It’s going to take some time…
As mentioned in a recent post, I have been working on the Mephiston diorama. Many of you know I am a bit of a freehand nut when it comes to cloaks (though I have an idea for a tank brewing) and so I wanted to create something a bit special. I have done galaxy’s and other motifs but this had to be something that pushed my skills, else there would be little point to doing it.
I decided to go with a deep red with a brocade pattern over the top. I am not the best at creating regular shapes, but I tried it anyway. This is how phase one turned out:
To achieve this pattern, I used Khorne red as a base coat and then did some very thin black glazes in the recesses to give the red a bit of depth. I then created the pattern – I may do a tutorial on this sometime in case other people want to give it a go. I used Ushabti bone for this. When it was done, I glazed it down with very thin Khorne red until it looked mroe natural. It took several layers but you can see the difference between the two pictures.
Now, I wasn’t about to stop there. When I painted Mephiston for my friend, I placed a flaming winged blood drop motif on the cloak, so I thought I would do something similar on this one. I also added a brown hem at the bottom. I did think about writing his name on the hem, however the creases in the fabric meant that it wouldn’t look right if I did. Here is the end result:
The billows of the cloak make this rather tricky to photograph properly, and I know this is not finished – he has psyker tubes and the lining to work on as well, but so far, so good!
I have been working on some banners for a commission recently and I wanted to share them with you. Non metallic metals are not something I am overly confident with but they are a challenge that I really enjoy. The effect is striking and when done right, very effective. So, when I was asked to paint a couple of banners with chalices on them, I leapt at the chance to do so. Here are the minis:
The hardest part about this was getting the colour blend right. I wanted to create an old gold feel rather than it being super shiny. Chaos Marines grab me as not being the cleanest after all and their gear is thousands of years old. They are not new or shiny and so the gold would be tarnished.
I am pleased with how they turned out, and the owner of them is as well. I shall do a post in the not too distant future explaining the freehand process I go through, but for now, these minis are now on their way to their new owner!
It is a well establiushed fact that I am in love with Titans. It’s the size, the shape, the cool power they represent, it just does it for me in some way. I have recently picked up several of the Adeptus Titanicus miniatures and have been working my way through painting them. One of the coolest things about Titans is the amount of flat space they have on them. For me, this is the perfect opportunity to create cool freehand designs on them.
I wanted to share a couple of the freehand bots I have done over he past couple of days. One is a Thousand Son Sorcerer cloak which has a cool galaxy on. I haven’t done one for a while and it was amazing to do so again. I have always enjoyed creating these and I am pleased with how it turned out.
The galaxy is on fire!
The other is on Shalaxi. I was painting with a friend and asking what would look good on the feathers on its head dress. The words peacock feathers was mentioned and I decided that was a challenge. Here are the results:
The last one I put in there to show the deep purple leg I’ve done. The lighting isn’t amazing but it is a start!
I made the observation the other day that I have got a lot quicker at painting miniatures to a good standard. It may be fairly obvious, I am doing so every day after all, but I have never been that quick to make realisations of this kind. So far this week, I have painted and assembled 9 Warcry miniatures and 34 Kill Team miniatures. I have also painted the Death Jester to a very high standard and another Eldar miniature with freehand on as well. That’s 45 miniatures, which in my eyes are pretty reasonable in quality. I understand that I have to be relatively swift, otherwise I am not going to be able to make much money. I would never have been able to complete them so quickly six months ago. I have started painting by colour for each group, which has speeded things up a great deal.
Here is this week’s worth of work:
The two kill teams I have painted before, so maybe that sped things up a little too. I already knew the details and where they were. However, I think the batch painting by colour has also helped as well. It seems a more efficient way of doing things and that can’t hurt.
If anyone is interested in any of these minatures, they are for sale. They can be found on my ebay site, though you can also contact me here, or on any social media, as well.
I mentioned in a post about a month back that I had made a Kill Team. Today, I managed to finished the first miniature in the Kill Team! The miniatures I managed to acquire for cheap at a warboot – I didn’t want to have to buy new models or spend a fortune on them so I counted myself lucky when I saw some Night Lords lurking about on some stall looking a bit sad and in need of a new home to terrorize.
All of them had been converted out of various bits and thrown together. They had also been undercoated but were in need of a bit of mould line removed and cleaning up as well. This was done easily enough, and since the Night Lords are where I go when I want to show off, or try new things, it has taken me a while to finish the miniature.
Shraivok Tar is the boss of the Team. I’ve not really worked out a back story for any of the miniatures, other than names as yet, except one guy (who is a bit of a gimmick but we won’t hold that against him.). I do plan to do so when there is a thirteenth hour in the day and I have some time to do so.
For now, enjoy this glorious murderer and hope that plenty of glory will come his way, when I eventually get around to playing Kill Team…
There is a lot of freehand on these miniatures, none of the symbols are done with decals, as I am not a fan of using them. I’m pleased with how they turned out. I am also pleased with the heads he is holding. They look suitably horrid. The miniature has a purity seal on it, which I didn’t want to remove. I put some Nostramon runes on it instead.
The non-metallic brass needs some work I think, the dark looks alright, the bright looks alright but I think it needs some more mid tones. Something to work on with the next guy!
So, building on what I wrote about painting bone, I thought I would share how I paint freehand skulls next. This is just my thoughts on the subject, and I am sure there are countless others out there. This is what works for me.
First off, you’re going to need the following:
As well as a wet pallette, brushes, paint thinner and clean water. You will also need a picture to follow. I used the Legio Mortis one I used the other day for the freehand on the top of the Reaver, but there are plenty of good pictures out there on Google too.
Step 1:
Use the pencil to sketch the outline of the image on the panel you’re going to be painting on:
The shape does not have to be perfect, so long as it is a guide.
Step 3: Shade the skull shape in with thinned Rakarth flesh
Don’t worry about the thinner parts, they will be covered up as we layer the paint!
Step 4: Mix Ushabti bone with Rakarth flesh 50/50 and start picking out the bits that are going to be highlighted.
Step 5: Add extra highlights to the lighter spaces with Ushabti Bone – wet blending comes in handy here.
Step 6: Mix Ushabti bone and Screaming Skull 50/50 and continue to add lighter patches, they should be getting smaller each time. You might want to add some white in as well, depending on how light you want the skull to be. I only added a tiny bit to this stage, but neglected to take a picture.
Step 7: Mix 75/25 Rakarth flesh and XV-88 and start shading down the darker parts of the skull.
Some of the blends here look a little harsh, that will be fixed next stage.
Step 8: Add a little more XV-88 to the mix and keep shading down those key areas in the design – refer to the picture as a guide as well, it is what it is there for after all.
Step 9: The final stage is to use black to define the eye sockets, the nose and to tidy up around the edges as well, seeing how this is on a near black backing.
My main points when doing freehand would be: don’t rush it, thin layers are always better, and have a picture to refer to as well!
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The title is a lie, I spent most of this week looking at freehand work. I wanted to share them all in one place however and ‘show off’ what I have done. Freehand was not something I had ever really considered before, however I was prompted to try things other than another galaxy cape. I have a full sized Chaos Reaver Titan here and I want to do the (not so) miniature justice. I want to have amazing looking frescoes painted on it as it stomps its way over the battle field. In order to achieve this, I need to get good at freehand work.
Here are the results from this week’s painting:
Ahriman’s cloak of stars is always a good starting point!
Legio Mortis on the mini reaver
The Eye of Horus
Ave Dominus Nox.
There are plenty of ares for improvement with these pieces of freehand. Blending could be a bit mroe subtle in places, the skull shape needs working on, but for first attempts on something a little less forgiving than a galaxy, I can say I am proud of what I have done so far.
The only thing I have freehanded in the last couple of years is the galaxy cloaks a lot of people know me for. I wanted to try my hand at it and seeing how I decided to put the flat panels on the Adeptus Titanicus Reaver, I thought I would give it a go.
Now, the Legio that Twitter voted on was Legio Mortis, so I had a look at the heraldry, cursed at the complexity of it and rolled up my sleeves.
I started by sketching the image out on the panel with a pencil very lighty. At this point, the princeps of the Reaver was asking, ‘Why can I see graphite.’
I then took a deep breath and got stuck in. I started off by filling in the black for the eyes and nose, as this seemed a good base. Next came the skull. I have been asked about painting bone and so shall be doing a tutorial on that next week. It is a combination of five colours and a lot of wet blending to make sure there are no glaring blend lines.
Next came the bars around the skull. I used Eshin grey as the base and then added black or white depending on which tone I was after. I then blended them together to create shadows and light and this is the result.
So, what do I think.
The cranium of the skull is a little too big, I think the teeth on the skull are a bit too stark and I know some of the grey rods are wonky.
Otherwise, I think I did alright in the end. Not bad for a first attempt in a couple of years. I will be doing similar again in the near future, got to keep practicing!
Heretic Deb! 