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These Biel Tan Eldar Wave Serpents and Firestorm are painted to a level 2 standard, with some freehand vines painted on in the traditional Biel Tan style. These vehicles have a very nice, clean look, and the weapons options are magnetized so as to be able to swap to any configuration. Please note, the white on the vehicles was left straight white per the client’s request.

Check us out for any of your painting projects! We have very competitive prices and we're always taking commissions: http://www.frontlinegaming.org/custom-terrain/paint-service/

Brace yourself, this is labeled as a commission and since I am assuming someone paid for this, I will be very honest in my critique.
That being said, I am not feeling the cockpit windows. The color transition is too stark and it looks like blue stripes. As they stand now, the guns look unfinished. They just look primed white and have no details picked out or shadows. The green of the hull has no depth outside of the line highlights (which are too thick in my opinion). Also there is no basing on the either. I know they are hovering vehicles, but if the model comes with a base it should something done to it. At the very least some sand/gravel and some static grass.
They are not "bad" models in the least bit, I just feel they are a little lacking.

EDIT: I just reread your post and caught the note about the weapons. I understand that it was done at the customers request, however, my feelings on still stand. You can disregard it, though.

Hey no worries, honest criticism is never going to be taken badly. When people are being rude (or I just perceive them to be rude, sometimes they don't mean to come across that way) I can get defensive. When someone is offering constructive feedback though, it's all good as it helps us get better.

I agree, the white does feel a bit flat to me as well, but this is specifically what the client asked us to do. So we did =)

As for the bases, these were meant to be left clear as well. I paint and base the bases of my own skimmers, but the majority of folks we do work for like the clean, clear look of untouched bases. We do what we are asked to do.

As for the green lacking depth? Perhaps. In real life these look great. Also please bear in mind that this is a level 2 paint job, it is not meant to be display quality, this is table top standard, however our table top standard is miles ahead of our competition at this price point. If you compare our price to our competition for the same level of quality, we are less expensive with better quality.

I think people often read commission and assume Golden Daemon or some such, the vast majority of our work is at an affordable price point with well above average quality for table top. We are more than capable of blowing the doors off with a really nice, display level paint job, we just aren't paid to do it very often. Folks go for what they can afford, and we often paint entire armies, so a level 3 paint job is more often than not, cost prohibitive.

Had this been a level 3 (our highest level, currently) I would totally agree that the model should have had more highlighting to give it greater depth.


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And I am actually quite partial to the cockpits, myself! Haha, but different strokes for different folks.

I think it's done very well for the level it's at and I would pay for this standard, I have to agree with ScootyPuffJunior about the windows, the blending could do with a little more done to it. I'd also like to add that the gems could also be painted to break the model up a little, Unless of course the client has asked for the gems to be left alone.

Overall, I think it's very nice.

In your words, as a 'lvl 2 paintjob,' the quality looks about right. Its painted in entirety, there are no glaring mistakes and little detail. This is simply a paint job to get the model on the board. Its nice work if you judge it for what its worth...lvl 2 commish, lvl 2 work....seems fitting to me

I suppose the client's going to pick out the details on his own. Otherwise I'd raise an issue about the lack of detailing.

As a level 2 "tabletop" models they looks good.

Of course better than the endless list of just-primed models that we're almost all used to see fielded in our local games stores no?

Of course I would had asked/added some more work on them but it's me.

Thanks for the feedback!

I should probably post in these threads what a Level 1,2,3 paint job means for us, as that I think would alleviate a lot of the confusion. Just because in my mind I know what a level 2 is, doesn't mean anyone else does. I could see how someone would easily miss that without context.

But yes, this is means to be an above average Table Top quality paint job, which as you all noted, it is. It is a great value and if a client wants to go the extra mile and paint on a ton of detail, then this is a great way to get a model to that point.

Actually, now that you guys pointed that out, I do agree that the gems should be picked out, I actually missed that when the artist finished with it. I will have to go in an hit those myself, I think it will really make the vehicle pop a bit more.

Thanks!

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
Brace yourself, this is labeled as a commission and since I am assuming someone paid for this, I will be very honest in my critique.

Why reserve honest critique only for commissions? It's not just you, almost everyone that posts here in P&M Showcase praises poor paintjobs, even if there are fundamental problems with the model(s) such as mold lines, thick paint blotches, etc. that are easily fixable if informed. I'm not saying people should be jerks but if everyone says "great job! looks amazing." to a poor paint job, that person wont have the same drive to improve (or maybe even realize there is something to improve upon). Even good paint jobs can be improved, and I'd want to know if I posted something on here.

As for the skimmer, I'd say that it looks to be what is expected except for the (as mentioned) cockpit window looking a little lazy with the blending.

The cockpit wasn't meant to be blended, actually. I understand that critique completely, but we only use blending in Level 3 paint jobs, this was layered as appropriate to the level of painting via our definition of it.

And yes, honest criticism is a good thing, but how you deliver it is also very important. So often people just get rude on the net when it really isn't necessary (not saying that applies to you at all, just speaking in general terms here).

My rule of thumb is to converse with people online as I would in real life. I find that that eliminates 99% of the problems.

This is Barksdale approved. You may continue.