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Post by: MajorTom11
Ah it's been a while since posting in here... feels good to be home
So, as some will know, as a by-product of my Space Hulk: Complete project, I have been buying up and occasionally completing models or buying painted models for a BA 40k army.
I have bought a few great models online from various sources, all from painters I have a great admiration for. I definitely enjoyed being able to see their work up close and learn from it. In some cases, a bit of extra work by me went into them. The models include -
Astorath the Grimm by GD winner Pedro Rufo (extra work put in by me, including wings, base, scripting and gems)
Sanguinor by Gignak from Brush Brothers (base repaint, some small work on the wings)
Tycho by NelsonMac
Techmarine by Madfly
and of course, Dantenator designed by myself and Freakforge, painted by me with some small additional conversion work.
Also near complete or at least started
Corbulo
Lemartes
Also bought painted but awaiting a few detail and effects passes to unify
5X Devastators by NelsonMac
5X Sang Guard by WhiteRaven
5X Termies by Sigur done for SH.
Then the scary part, what is half built...
about 40-50 PH armors from FW
3X 10 Tacs
about 50 Assault troops
Command Squad
3X sang priest in PA
1X sang priest termie
jump chaplain
2X librarian
10X LC and THSS termies
1X Sang guard
15X DC
5X honor guard
4 rhinos magnetized for switching to razors or whirlies
2 dedicated razors
2 dedicated Baals
2X Redeemers
2X Crusaders
2X Droppods
1X Lucius Droppod
2X Furiosos
1X Furioso Librarian
1X DC Dread
1X Rifleman Dread (MKIV Ironclad body)
6X Contemptors
and bits enough to build a few more, and also to make stern or vanguard if I feel so inclined.
At least my trusty Storm Raven is done lol.
So, after collecting for 3 years, I have a basement full of stuff, a lot of work to do and less time than ever to do it. Not to mention I have been working on BA since I started into the hobby again in 2010.
So, what to do? Well, learning to airbrush will help get through it a bit faster than it would have been otherwise. But it doesn't really help with the paint red forever syndrome.
So, I decided to alleviate that, I will paint my army as a joint force of BA and their successors. It will be mostly BA, but there will be a few Flesh Tearers, Lamenters, Angels Sanguine and a few of my home-brewed chapter scheme the Sigma Legion. Might even be a few tributes to some inspiring DIY BA themed chapters from the likes of Yggsdrasil and HitstheSpot. This will let me add variety into my work while still keeping a theme, which I am happy to do. With the latest BL novels, it is even fluffy to show such a mixed force.
So, with all that, where to start?
Contemptors of course!
I put these guys together over the Xmas holidays -
And just today, I fixed those magazines on the AC mortis dread (which will be a Lamenter) by clipping them off and putting the drum magazines of an HB on them -
A big improvement in my eyes, if an expensive one!
The guy I spend most of my time converting though, was this one, who is far more just a display piece than anything else -
The second I saw the Contemptor models, I instantly pictured them with a sword and shield. Now the whole Dreadknight sword has been done before, and in a few cases quite well. It begged me though that I had never seen the sword modified or shortened to fit the Contemptor, and it also particularly bugged me to have one DK fist and then one PK fist on the other side. So, starting from there, I modified the sword into more of a Gladius or Broadsword, shortening the blade and handle. Of course, since this guy will be a Gold BA Contemptor, some wings on the sword are a must. A little sculpting was required to give the right hand fingers and a thumb but not too big a deal. The other side, I wanted a proper scale StormShield (could just represent extra armor) so that was made of plasticard, with rivets added from a variety of bits, and an insta-molded FW BA symbol. Since the ranges weapons normally are house in the middle of the powerclaws, they had to be re-positioned somewhere. So the solution was to mount a Stormbolter and Melta underneath the shield arm in a legitimately functional spot.
Other additions, like the rest of the relics, include a nice does of FW brass, Venerable engine housings and rivets galore and a smattering of purity seals.
The other part, and something I am really proud of, is the base. It is my first real try at a display base built completely from scratch. Ben Komets Miniature mentor tutorial was completely awesome and a very obvious inspiration as this base is quite similar to the one he created for his Nurgle Lord.
Anyhoo, I am about to go undercoat a whole bunch of stuff, but I figured I would get the blog started now as it is always a motivating factor for me in getting things done! I will not be able to update all that often, but I'm gonna try to stick to it, cheers guys
Automatically Appended Next Post:
p.s the bit under the left foot is just to hold it up for now, the Dread will be painted separately to the base -
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Post by: TungstenMonkey
Wow! look awesome *implodes*
T-M
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Post by: SilverMK2
Holy cow
Looking forward to seeing this - is it wrong that the Contemptor at the bottom made me think of the yellow brick road from Oz? Sure, this particular tin man may be after someone else's heart, but still...
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Post by: MajorTom11
Lol, I don't know if it is wrong, but it is unexpected lol!
Don't worry, once it is painted up, I don't think that particular association should be as strong
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Post by: Lextheimpaler
Wow my brain just imploded with your sheer awesomeness
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Post by: endtransmission
Seeing so many contemptors together is awe inspiring on it's own... but the one with the sword.. wow. Can't wait to see him painted up!
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Post by: Nrljm
Great start look very promising, defantly subscribing to this
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Post by: vent
By the nines Tom. You don't do things by halves do you... A new thread to sub to...
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Post by: Swordwind
So... many... dreads....
How the heck do you afford this stuff? Armed robbery?
Great sword and board conversion as well. Looks very natural.
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Post by: MajorTom11
lol, quietly buying stuff up for the past 2 years... It wasn't in one pop I assure you! That, and ebay for a lot of the other stuff, including the vehicles and a lot of the non-FW troops.
Ok, so I just went through 3 cans of primer, 3 drop pods, 6 contemptors, 5 dreads and 100+ resin bases for the troops primed. 1 MajorTom11 slightly high.
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Post by: Nrljm
MajorTom11 wrote:. 1 MajorTom11 slightly high.
Winning!
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Post by: RiTides
I hope you weren't priming all that inside
The Contemptors look awesome! You don't have an NIB FW collection, they're all storming across the desk, now
Can't wait to see them painted! So you'll be doing different schemes for them? (You mentioned the autocannon one as a Lamenters... and the drums are a great mod to it, too)
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Post by: MajorTom11
The total force will be about half BA, with Lamenters, Flesh Tearers, Angels Sanguine, and my own Sigma Marines mixed in... (My Sigma scheme was originally a tribute to the old theory that Sigmar was a Primarch, back when it was still obscure and not outright counteracted by the fluff. But, the symbol and scheme would fit with BA so what the hell.)
I also plan to pay tribute to Yggs BA succesor (the white/grey with the 3 blue blood drop symbol) and also possibly HitstheSpots Marines Exemplar too. I will see how the lamenters go though, they may get more than the others, as I love Imperial fists and the look is pretty close.
Sprayed in the basement with the windows open... can't go outside up here in Canuckland. Also wore a respirator so don't worry too much
Automatically Appended Next Post:
So a friend was asking me about priming them, and I figured I would share the answer here, as it is interesting (to me anyways lol) -
Question - my models will be black and red, I primed gray, do you know of a good way to get a decent looking black quickly?
Answer - Personally I find the 2 hardest colors to paint are white and black, and with both, I will prime accordingly. White is a bitch as you usually need to paint on 3 very thin coats if you have any hope of getting a smooth consistent finish. Black likewise usually takes 2 coats to guarantee strong coverage over white or grey, but usually you don't have to worry about being as thin with the layers. Most blacks dry glossy though, which presents it's own issues when you are trying to judge a blend. When you are trying to paint your grey or blue highlights it is super easy to go too bright and boom, you have very very obvious paintstrokes and you lose any kind of convincing effect. Even if you get it right, it is still very hard to judge the blend as the black is shiny and your grey highlight usually isn't, making the reflections confusing.
If you are worried about spraying them again, twice, then you can just prime black and do a 4:6 Shadow grey to black edge highlight... may take a while, but it is a way to do something reasonably good looking without risking the frustration of trying a blend.
For the red, it doesn't really matter. Generally speaking, even with Mechrite, you have to put on multiple coats to get a smooth red (by brush anyways, AB or spraycan works well).
White, Yellow, Red, Orange... these guys all require multiple thin layers. Don't worry too much about the base color for red, but go white for yellow, orange or white.
I almost always go black, the fact that it creates natural shade and is very forgiving if you miss a spot vs white, makes it the winner for me.
If I go white, I prime black first, but then I pulse the white over top. Why? because the spray doesn't get into the recesses very easily, and I get the best of both worlds... when it is done, it is like having a Zenital white pre-washed with black.
Now, you may be looking and saying, bid deal it is just white and it is just shadowed (not paint effect shadows, but real ones). Except look at the light on my fingers. Lit completely differently than the model, once you absorb that and look back at the models, you can see just how effective this is as a way of shading and achieving fantastic results before you even touch it with a brush.
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Post by: Knightley
Brilliant, I do like the Contemptor with the sword and shield, Color me subscribed
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Post by: Casey's Law
Amazing Contemptors, so dynamic!
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Post by: RiTides
Priming looks great (and a nice effect!) can't wait to see the paint job
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Post by: Swordwind
That priming technique looks pretty good. I'd do it, but I'm a cheaparse who only gets one can at a time.
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Post by: CommissarKhaine
Nice to see you back with a blog, and amazing work! Those contemptors are great, they'd almost make me start smurfs
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Post by: Eggroll
About time you got around to painting the massive collection. Will be following your progress closely on this. Now in the mean time, how about a picture of all the primed models so we can all see how much work you'll be doing over the next few months?
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Post by: SilverMK2
Nrljm wrote:MajorTom11 wrote:. 1 MajorTom11 slightly high. Winning! I think it might be the paint fumes Good trick with the priming
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Post by: MajorTom11
Yes, just to be clear, 3 spray cans were the cause, not illicit substances lol.
@Egg, I'll take a pic when they are all built up, I haven't put together a good chunk of infantry still, mostly the FW stuff
I may take a quick moment to paint the face of the ork warboss to show how the black/white zenithal priming lends itself to very easy glazing -
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Post by: Chowderhead
Yo Dawg, I heard you like Dreadnaughts....
Anyway, I want to see how this turns out.
Knowing you, amazing. But I want it to be better than amazing! I want Massive Voodoo to be jealous!
Make me proud, Tommy Boy!
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Post by: lanman
Fantastic conversions.
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Post by: S'jet
This is going to be Epic!
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Post by: Moltar
Indeed! I'm happy I stumbled across this! That display contemptor is insane! Lovin' it, Tom!
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Post by: GiraffeX
Looking forward to seeing your progress.
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Post by: 02Laney
That's a lot of Dreads!
Ace work on the conversions.
Loving it so far. I've tried the white over black priming before and it works brilliantly. Looking forward to how the paintwork turns out (I've got plans for my own BA successor).
Cheers Laney
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Post by: MajorTom11
Thanks very much guys!
Here is a very scattered update, I did not get tons done on the Display base as I got a bit caught up sorting out a few things I forgot about...
Ok, so first, as promised, the ork face painted in after the zenithal priming. Nothing but glazing on everything but the teeth... took about 20 minutes to accomplish this. Kinda nice when everything is pre-shaded! Even the roughness of the spraypaint (speckly) actually lends itself to tiny variations that actually make the skin look less cartoonish despite being green -
Next up, finally finished my StormRaven base, which had been languishing on the table half done for months... StormRaven, at long last, 100% done! Rough shots with my 4S, will eventually take proper photos next time I set up the camera and lights -
Proof that the last 2 space hulk models, including the Dantenator are not forgotten -
5 Assault Terms, 5 Death co and 5 Sang Guard primed and assembled (mostly)
100+ secret weapon bases, a mix of desert, rubble and urban, all zenithally primed -
The done or nearly done BA's... Top shelf 100% done, bottom shelves between 70 and 90% done -
Finally, 2 layers of paint washes done on the display base. Next up with be a patchy brown and or black ink wash. Then a drybrushing, then a purple/devlan wash. Then on to the yellow brick rode and fence
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Post by: Kanluwen
So that is why you wanted to know when the Contemptor Autocannons were coming!
That is a lot of Contemptor. And the cannons really do look better with the drum mags rather than the sickle.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Guilty
The twin las cannon option wasn't cutting it for me
Been thinking about it, and I think I will just make this my whatever I am working on Blog, as finishing that Ork Warboss up is mighty tempting too... too many projects! Hoping I can keep my interest up by mixing things up -
Display Contemptor will still have priority though -
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Post by: Dysartes
MajorTom11 wrote:Proof that the last 2 space hulk models, including the Dantenator are not forgotten
"Whoever shall pull this sword from this blob of blu-tack shall be the one true Master of our Chapter..."
Finally, 2 layers of paint washes done on the display base. Next up with be a patchy brown and or black ink wash. Then a drybrushing, then a purple/devlan wash. Then on to the yellow brick rode and fence
If that brick road doesn't end up being yellow, Major, I imagine I'm not the only one who'll feel somewhat disappointed
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Post by: Eggroll
That ork on the bottom shelf looks mighty lonely. Also you should invest in a new camera...get a Canon Rebel T3i, which will let you take high quality photons and you'll be able to shoot 1080p video too which will be much higher quality than the average vid camera. Come on Tom, with the quality of the stuff you're doing these days, you deserve it
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Post by: Emperors_Champion
I like the way your first post sounds like you'll be 100% dedicated to your massive work load of BAs, then a little further on its like "oh yeah, and i'll throw in a bit of orky/chaos madness as well!"
Well I for one will be checking back EVERY day to check progress (steal ideas)!
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Post by: Moltar
Orky skin looks great, Tom, and I'm loving the look of your storm raven. I like those headlights. Excited to see more work get done on all of these things!
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Post by: M0rdain
I love the idea of the Zenith Highlighting. The Ork’s face looks amazing. If that is anything to go by everything else will be Fan-funky-tastik
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
How did you sneak this one past me! Two days late is not good enough for me!
As usual tommy boy, im glued to this thread, and it already looks like you're pulling out all the stops. I am so copying sword and shield contemptor. Id be tempted to increase its invul by one for a few points with that shield though
I am so hyped for this.
Now get painting!!
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Post by: SilverMK2
MajorTom11 wrote:Then on to the yellow brick rode and fence
I KNEW IT!!!!
Have to say the zenthil undercoating has made me think of a better way of doing my own marines without having to put loads of masks everywhere, so thank you
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Post by: MajorTom11
Thanks boys, I love the technique and learned it from Massive Voodoo and a few Miniature Mentor tutorials... seems like it is the masters choice, and after trying it on that ork face, I have to say I probably won't be going back.
@eggroll - I have a Canon D3, I was just lazy for these shots and took them by hand with my 4S, don't worry, the final shots will be properly done
Off to the basement to drybrush and ink that display base...
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Post by: ghostmaker
All I can say is Mother of God... great work
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Post by: Dysartes
So we have the Tin Man from the gang - what we need now is a Cowardly Lion (a Dark Angel?), a Strawman (not sure how Tom will paint an internet argument), Dorothy (SoB or female Inquisitor) and Toto (Fenrisian Wolf).
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Post by: endtransmission
Oh, now that's such a great idea for an inquisitorial retinue!
Witchhunter Dorothy...
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Post by: MajorTom11
Progress, no yellow brick road, but I am desperately tempted to put witches feet sticking out from the Contemptors foot... maybe a little dog too...
Water effects at the bottom aren't dry yet, that's why the bottom looks a bit milky. This is pretty near done, will just add a weathering powder pass, and maybe another round of inking as I find the earth needs to look wetter near the bottom and in the recesses...
Let me know what you think, this is the first time I have tried a complicated base so hopefully I didn't completely muck it up lol. Trying to keep the colors to the autumn and russets, with a dash of bright greens and reds to play off what will be a predominantly gold contemptor.
The ork may or may not have had the rest of his skin done too while I waited for the base to dry a few times. Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, and sorry about the pick quality, again just quicky shots with my iPhone.
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Post by: SilverMK2
It does look pretty damn awesome. One minor point is the blue on the fence pillars - it is hard to decide if it is blue paint that has flecked off, or corrosion of whatever metal made up the pillar... I don't know whether it would be easy to clarify this one way or the other with a little bit more work on them? It sticks out to me because as far as I can see there is no blue on any of the rest of the fence...
But otherwise - awesome. Love the leaves piled up in the "gutter" at the side nearest the fence.
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Post by: endtransmission
I don't think you need to worry about having messed it up! I do have to agree with Silver though. I can't decide if the blue pillar is supposed to be corrosion or paint? There's something... off about them.
I love the leaves and flowers too. It's a nice touch
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Post by: MajorTom11
Hmmm IRL the posts are dominantly metallic, but the camera seems to have really emphasized the blue.. will work on re-metalling and weathering with other colors to solve it. The fence part is black rod-iron, but the posts are meant to be metal and copper.
Good advice thanks guys!
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Post by: Emperors_Champion
Base looks awesome! Never seen flowers in 40k but it works!
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Post by: Eggroll
Very nice basework going on there Tom! One comment I do have is that it seems a bit too vibrant for the subject which I'm assuming will be the contemptor. I think it might be a bit too colourful and distracting when you have everything completed. Maybe have a bit more of a muted palette for basework though it's hard to tell until the the final model has been mounted. Anyhow, keep up the hobby progress.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Contemptor pretty vibrant
You may be right, it may end up that the base doesn't go super well with the contemptor, but if they don't, i'll make a more deserty wreckage base for him like the others and re-use the display on something else... I am curious to see how it turns out as well!
I have a feeling though, that one I take proper pics, fears may be assuaged...
In the meantime lol, more crappy pics -
Base is pretty much done now, may go over later and do a shadow pass with the airbrush, but that will be at the very end. Toned down the verdigris and put more orange rust and metallics, darkened the bricks a touch, put some browns into the greenest vegetation, and washed all the leaves to cut their saturation too. Fence got it's orange rust weathering as well, and several 'wet spots' were put in with ink and varnish to add variety and depth to the dirt/mud.
And with the Contemptor, who has received it's Zenithal Airbrushing for Gold -
It doesn't show up well at all in these pics, there are three metals, tin, to gold to gold/silver, followed by a chestnut ink airbrush pass and then a yellow ink airbrush pass... but due to the fact the actual lighting is the same as the 'fake lighting', it pretty much just looks like it is brush painted gold lol... IRL, a lot more nuance. Again, once I set up the diffusers and re-orient the lights, the paintwork should be way more apparent for what it is.
and some friends -
And, ye ol Ork Warboss, skin pretty much done -
That's it for now! The brushwork begins...
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Post by: Swordwind
Shiny. Warboss looks good too, and I love the detail on the Contemptor's base, especially the pipes.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Cheers! I hope you will enjoy the final shots, I will make sure to zoom in on areas of interest like that once everything is all put together.
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Ah that is a beautiful base Tom, I weep for its majesty...
The gold looks smooth too, although as you say, pretty damn hard to see the zenithal!
Thanks for the priming technique too, just about to start my paint comp entry and def using it. That skin looks divine on the boss.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Ya, def need better pics of the gold on the contemptors... What comp entry would this be btw ??
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Post by: Soul of Iron
I need to take some basing lessons from you sir! I am SO very bad at basing.
Subbin' this.
Shawn G. (SoI)
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Post by: MajorTom11
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Post by: whalemusic360
Really? A color pun? For shame.
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Post by: Alfndrate
MT11,
When you said glazing, are you talking about using Oil paints with a medium? The only reason why I'm asking is because I'm in a painting class, and our professor was talking about that with his higher level students who were using oils.
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Post by: MajorTom11
whalemusic360 wrote:Really? A color pun? For shame.
Actually no lol, there is no gold in it, just basing
Alfndrate wrote:MT11,
When you said glazing, are you talking about using Oil paints with a medium? The only reason why I'm asking is because I'm in a painting class, and our professor was talking about that with his higher level students who were using oils.
Glazing is a general term in painting referring to rendering a paint to a semi-transparent state and then using it to modify another color. Oil glazing and Acrylic glazing are similar in function but not in application due to their different properties. Think of a glaze as a very, very controlled version of a wash, except the goal is not to flood or pool in recesses, but to apply to surface areas in order to modify the colors... It is pretty advanced, but only in terms of understanding how it works, applying it requires the same skills as painting -
I tend to use oils for pin-washes, and large area glazing, but for small surfaces, or ones where I am after a more powdery matte look, I glaze with acrylics and/or GW washes.
Check out the link to my about paints tutorial in my sig for more in depth examples!
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Post by: sparkywtf
That contemptor looks amazing.
I am jealous.
subbed for sure!
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Post by: Capitansolstice
sparkywtf wrote:That contemptor looks amazing.
I am jealous.
subbed for sure!
and exalted!
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
MajorTom11 wrote:Ya, def need better pics of the gold on the contemptors... What comp entry would this be btw ??
That would be the Dakka Painting Competition, i would hope that as a mod, you would be aware of this
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Post by: SilverMK2
Goldmember lives!
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Post by: MajorTom11
Vitruvian XVII wrote:MajorTom11 wrote:Ya, def need better pics of the gold on the contemptors... What comp entry would this be btw ??
That would be the Dakka Painting Competition, i would hope that as a mod, you would be aware of this
Lol oh THAT painting competition
I don't think I qualify...
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Haha iirc, you're free to enter, just unable to win anything....
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Post by: Dysartes
But...
but...
but...
...it isn't a yellow brick road :(
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Post by: MajorTom11
Dysartes is dissapoint? :(
@Vit, I must crush my enemies and hear the lamentations of their women. Via tiny toy soldier painting. Therefore the competition is meaningless to me unless I can make your woman lament and junk
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
I see Tom, in which case, you will be sorely disappointed, for my woman hath no soul...
Seriously though, get a good camera out!
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Post by: Eggroll
Vitruvian XVII wrote:
Seriously though, get a good camera out!
This!!!
Also, I blame Dysartes for my critique on your base for being too colourful. After he made the wizard of oz reference, I can't help but think about rainbows and ponies on that base now.
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Post by: MajorTom11
A little bit of grainy progress, I prefer to keep it fuzzy intentionally at this point, for a bit more oomph on final reveal, as I am considering bringing this along to Adepticon... so consider it just a little teaser of progress -
and, as a pm request, GiraffeX asked for a size comparison of a Contemptor Cyclone Launcher vs a standard Termi launcher.
That's it for now, just a quickie!
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Post by: Eggroll
Nice...did you have to scrap that BA icon on the shield off the forgeworld doors? Looks very nice so far though a bit grainy
My OCD compels me to note that the scroll with the name on the shield is upsidedown. The side folds should flow up like the one on the chest. Anyway, be sure to post finished pics soon for those of us not going to Adepticon.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Not scrape so much as insta mold lol... I would buy if they had icons like that available, but spending 20 bucks to attempt to cut it off with no guarantee of success is too rich for my blood.
For the record, the shield scroll is the right way up, spells indominus or something like that, my OCD wouldn't let me put it on upside down
I promise, you will get full lighting, non grainy photos when it is done! Still quite a bit to do though, not everyone is a productivity beast like you Eggsie!
Your blog is always a kick in the pants to get moving lol
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Post by: prime12357
While the photo quality make the red and gold hard to tell on the contemptor, the eyes shine through marvelously. Combined with the posing and all, they're really quite mesmerizing.
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Post by: endtransmission
He's looking really menacing. As Prime mentioned, the grainyness is actually making the glowing eyes stand out even more.
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Post by: whalemusic360
MajorTom11 wrote:
and, as a pm request, GiraffeX asked for a size comparison of a Contemptor Cyclone Launcher vs a standard Termi launcher.
That's it for now, just a quickie!
Yo Dawg, I heard you like Shoulder Mounted Missile Launchers...
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Post by: endtransmission
Dude, that was uncalled for :p
I'm actually surprised the launchers aren't bigger though
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Post by: MajorTom11
I thought it was perfectly appropriate, although Gits, I would have been extra impressed if you photoshopped X in there
Ya they are, to all intents and purposes, termi sized...
Will try to take proper pics with an actual camera tonight, I would like some feedback on the scheme to far, and it's a shame to waste all that effort that went into blending with grainy pics lol
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Post by: Lint
I just love lurking your threads MT, but just had to chime in and agree with you about the massive voodoo website. Those guys are all awesome, and the priming technique is one of the easiest - yet greatly impactful technique out there. Keep it up, I will watch this as I watched your SH thread with great interest and enthusiasm.
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Post by: GiraffeX
Cheers for the pic
They look like a perfect fit, looks like I'll be picking some up for my Wolf Guard.
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Post by: whalemusic360
I don't even get credit for my xibit reference?
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Post by: GiraffeX
I must admit you did make me laugh when I read your comment, no idea what xibit is though.
Although Google has just enlightened me, although I'm still none the wiser
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Post by: MajorTom11
Sorry Paul for some reason I thought Gitsplitta wrote it lol! Full yo dawg points to you sir!
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Post by: whalemusic360
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Post by: MajorTom11
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Post by: Swordwind
It's... so... beautiful...
The OSL is amazing, the colour scheme is great, the base is magnificent.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Whoa... thanks man!
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Post by: Radiation
That's amazing. On a variety of levels. Its got a mythic quality to it.
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Post by: DA's Forever
That OSL... just.... wow. Speechless.
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Post by: thenoobbomb
Awsome.
Epic.
What more to say?
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Post by: MajorTom11
So I guess I'll chalk this one up in the win column.... Really kind guys thanks very much!
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Post by: Alpharius
MajorTom11's already incredible and well-deserved reputation now climbs even higher!
I always look forward to whatever you're working on next - you never disappoint, and always impress!
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Post by: SagesStone
Your OSL is always the same; quite nice to look at. Your assault troops from a while ago are probably one of the things that made me get so interested in trying out the technique.
So more or less another echo about how good it is.
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Post by: gorgon
Great work as always!
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Post by: Eggroll
Nice job MajorTom! Paintjob ain't bad either
Gold looks good to me, at least on the left side, plenty of depth. I think the right side where the OSL is hitting looks a bit muted, though that's probably because the matte paint has taken the shine from the gold surface. Have you considered hitting those gold areas that get hit with the OSL with some satin varnish? I've never tried it myself so proceed at your own caution but realistically, metallic areas that are hit with light should still retain its shiny properties.
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Post by: MajorTom11
As good a critique as I expected my friend!
I agree and disagree to a point – The metal represented by traditional metallic is flake metal, so not inherently as reflective as chrome metal. I think the glow is relatively appropriate since it is flat metal, however, were it NMM, I’d be up the creek. As the gold paint itself has no specular reflectivity, only shine, I think in terms of realism I am still ok from that point of view. I do think though that I created a problem for myself in that the glow looks really good if you take it in context of the environment being kind of dark. The effect works particularly well when lit from that side.
The main issue in going balls-out with the OSL, is that the rest of the lighting should be zenithally sourced from the sword too, and right now the rest of it is zenithal from the top… so barring naturally occurring shadows from real lights, the effect is a little off…
My choice now would be to go in and artificially introduce shadows via a very delicate airbrushing session, or to just leave well enough alone and hold on to the lesson for next time lol.
On my first OSL attempt with the Greyknight, I learned that the glow had to be significantly darker and lighter in tone than the source, so I think I accomplished that this time around, the sword does look like it could like the surrondings in that way. But now, I have to learn that the overall lighting in non-osl painting also needs to be sourced in that direction as well.
Still, a pretty fun learning process!
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Post by: Chowderhead
Tom! Looking good!
But, I did see a few things that looked off to me.
The lettering seemed wrong. It feels like you mixed and matched fonts, and to me, that looks weird. It's mainly the A's that bug me.
The gold armor seems a bit grainy to me. I think it might just be the camera, but it looks rough. If it is rough, was it an error or a planned paintjob, to make it look gritty?
The bricks should be a bit smashed up behind the Dread. Yes, it's a minor gripe, but while I'm at it...
Anyway, it looks amazing as always. I just wish I could paint as well as you.
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Post by: Lake
That contemptor is cream worthy
Where did the shield come from!
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Post by: Hits_the_spot
Bloody lovely mate. The sword really gives the whole mini a great feel. Brilliant centre piece, well done!
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Post by: endtransmission
He looks absolutely stunning.
But I'm going to be really really picky and agree with Eggroll about the osl looking a bit off on the gold. While it may not be as shiny as actual gold, it's still going to reflect light differently. If you look at a gold car, for example, it is probably about the same level of reflectiveness (is that even a word?) as your dread would be. You can see light reflecting and refracting in different ways across the bodywork; not just a solid glow.
Having said that, I really don't expect you to go back and redo it as you've already pointed out the two different virtual light sources throwing things off a bit too. We're only pushing to make you even better (even if it does make me cry inside a bit each time I see one of your models )
One other picky-picky osl thing. You've got the eyes glowing and providing a bit of light around them on the helmet. The left eye should also be putting a bit of a glow inside/around the edge of the armoured hood-thingy (see my brain be in gear tonight... not!). Currently it looks pitch black in there...
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Post by: GiraffeX
Truly a piece of art, very very nice work indeed.
Will you be adding a touch of gloss to the blood drop on the shield?
In regards to the OSL one thing I noticed (although I'm nowhere near a good enough painter as you so shouldn't really comment) is the hilt of the sword looks like it has OSL but I don't think the light from the sword would go back that far due to his hand being in the way.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Lake wrote:That contemptor is cream worthy
Where did the shield come from!
Chowderhead wrote:Tom! Looking good!
But, I did see a few things that looked off to me.
The lettering seemed wrong. It feels like you mixed and matched fonts, and to me, that looks weird. It's mainly the A's that bug me.
The gold armor seems a bit grainy to me. I think it might just be the camera, but it looks rough. If it is rough, was it an error or a planned paintjob, to make it look gritty?
The bricks should be a bit smashed up behind the Dread. Yes, it's a minor gripe, but while I'm at it...
Anyway, it looks amazing as always. I just wish I could paint as well as you.
Thanks Mat!
Will answer your points in order -
The letters follow the same typographic DNA - Serifs, double thick primary ascender, sweeping flourish on the top corner, squarish... I think maybe I'm just not that great at lettering lol!
Gold is a bit grainy, it is kind of par for the course with metalics and AB, particularly on Resin... partly due to high dispersion rates at the lower parts (spread out flakes) and partly because metallic coat so smooth and thin that the shine ends up really accentuating flaws you never saw when prepping the model. That being said, the effect is exasperated by the giant photos, this stuff is pretty much invisible to the naked eye. The gold does not photograph well, trust me when I say it looks much better IRL. Hopefully, some peeps can attest after seeing it themselves at Adepticon!
Bricks are smashed under his foot, I was intending to smash up some more, but given the fact he is running pretty hard, measuring reasonable footfall length there wasn't enough distance to put another one on the base. But, the edge where the footfall would have been is pretty smashed up
endtransmission wrote:He looks absolutely stunning.
But I'm going to be really really picky and agree with Eggroll about the osl looking a bit off on the gold. While it may not be as shiny as actual gold, it's still going to reflect light differently. If you look at a gold car, for example, it is probably about the same level of reflectiveness (is that even a word?) as your dread would be. You can see light reflecting and refracting in different ways across the bodywork; not just a solid glow.
Having said that, I really don't expect you to go back and redo it as you've already pointed out the two different virtual light sources throwing things off a bit too. We're only pushing to make you even better (even if it does make me cry inside a bit each time I see one of your models )
One other picky-picky osl thing. You've got the eyes glowing and providing a bit of light around them on the helmet. The left eye should also be putting a bit of a glow inside/around the edge of the armoured hood-thingy (see my brain be in gear tonight... not!). Currently it looks pitch black in there...
I agree, I am not here just to try and get my bum kissed, good advice is good advice. That pic convinced me, I will add some subtle specular hightlights in white to the fore-facing bits, as I did with the GK. For the eye, believe it or not, there is a blue glow in the hooded area and on the inside of the chest piece, the shadows and longer camera exposure obscured them a bit, but I think you can see it on the earlier crappier iphone pics. Still there I promise lol!
GiraffeX wrote:Truly a piece of art, very very nice work indeed.
Will you be adding a touch of gloss to the blood drop on the shield?
In regards to the OSL one thing I noticed (although I'm nowhere near a good enough painter as you so shouldn't really comment) is the hilt of the sword looks like it has OSL but I don't think the light from the sword would go back that far due to his hand being in the way.
Definitely gloss on the jewel -
I did not notice I had oversprayed the back hilt you are absolutely right!
Good critiques guys thank you!
Going back in, I will be doing some cleanups and additional work, mostly going to attempt to add some shading, put the highlights on the glow, and just go back and do a general tightening up and additional coat of grunge and weathering... so still a ways to go, but for all intents and purposes, it reached the 'you get the idea' stage lol
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Post by: Commander Cain
Amazing work as always Tom! The newest contemptor is truly stunning, a real work of art.
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Post by: Chowderhead
The Kerning is perfect, however. Better than I've seen in a good while! This is a Proof of Concept that puts GD winners to shame!
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Post by: MajorTom11
@ CC - thanks my friend, you are overly kind as always
@Chow-d'air - Lol points to Felzie for using 'kerning'! First, apologies for my ipaderificly spelled previous response, I am surprised you could even make sense of it lol... note to self, proof read before answering -
I don't know about GD, I'm being dead serious here btw, my lettering is not good enough to win anything. There are plenty of other things too of course, but my lettering really sucks. I should really practice on paper until I can get it reasonably right before hitting the models up lol! Freehand (at least thin steady freehand) is one of my big weaknesses, and lettering is under that category.
Thanks for looking bud -
p.s - how was the leading though??
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Post by: whalemusic360
The Dread is really amazing looking, but that base. Oh that base. Super sexy. Still really like the idea of a "Wizard of Oz" Inquisitor and retune (Dread tin man, the FW Show model dog a toto, etc).
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Post by: endtransmission
How about Toto the Wulfen?
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Post by: whalemusic360
Or a skin wolf (round base obviously)? I kinda like the cyber mastiff from the LE show model though. I'm thinkin the FW Huron model for the lion. Scarecrow, any ideas?
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Post by: Commander Cain
How about a skinny daemonhost? Preferably without a straw hat!
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Post by: spyguyyoda
Epic Contemptor.
That will be all.
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Post by: prime12357
The scarecrow could be some sort of daemon host, perhaps?
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Post by: endtransmission
whalemusic360 wrote:Or a skin wolf (round base obviously)? I kinda like the cyber mastiff from the LE show model though. I'm thinkin the FW Huron model for the lion. Scarecrow, any ideas?
Oh god. Now I can't get the image of an inquisitor in gingham colour/patterned armour stepping out of a droppod that has landed on top of a rogue inquisitor. DAMN YOU WHALE! I so didn't need another project.
The scarecrow would probably be pretty good as a ragged ganger who has been drafted into her retinue, a bit like Scabbs or a Ratskin.
You could also have one of those old squats in exo armour as TikTok from Return to Oz
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Post by: whalemusic360
Make it so ET, make it so.
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Post by: endtransmission
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Post by: MajorTom11
Woo, looks like you guys have been brainstorming in my absence lol! I'm sure you could do a solid job on the concept EndTransmission, I may give it a crack myself someday
So, taking a great deal of advice from the previous, I have finished the Contemptor... lots of small things, but the biggest changes are specular highlights on the arm and lit areas, and the addition of deep shadows on the opposite side of the light, on the ground as well as the model... The entire effect IRL is all the more convincing now and I am quite happy with the result. Unfortunately I think I messed up my exposure setting, and the the image is brighter than I want it to be to show the effect maybe, and also on both models there is a ton of tiny scratches and weathering that isn't completely visible... Oh well, you get the idea!
I also whipped together this guy today, I realized I might need it to complete something... The dread is fullt magnetized, feet to base, hips, and a magnet on top for the magna grapple... and something else... older readers will recall
Especially on this model, there is a lot of weathering and chipping not really visible in the shots though :(
That's it for a bit, off to Adepticon this week for my first real life view of wargaming and wargamers... this should be interesting lol!
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Post by: Rogue Wolves
these are marvelous tom! i especialy enjoy your dread on the nice brick base with the glowing powersword! i'm fully subscribed as i cant waite to see what comes out of these (especialy seeing how inspirational your 4th gen genestealers where on all of my modeling, im sure i'll see something that is great here as well)
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Post by: Alfndrate
Is this so he can ride in the MajorTom Pattern Stormraven?
I've been watching your threads for a while now, and that's the only thing I can think of...
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Post by: endtransmission
Both are looking great. There are just two things left; one each
1) The Contemptor. The lighting on the gold looks much better now, nice job. I am, however now paying more attention to the red areas, and wondering if the lighting is actually right for them. If you were to shine a blue light onto a red object, it turns purple, rather than having a nice consistent blue playing over it. I think this is my one issue with OSL in general, that it tends to get painted as "Here's a coloured light, it will make everything around it that colour"... in actuality, it won't. Which is why I can't quite get to grips with OSL as I can't let go of real life
Here's a snippet I found on coloured lighting that might be of use:
Red and blue are at opposite ends of the visible light spectrum, red being of low frequency, and blue being of high frequency. Sunlight contains frequencies across the whole frequency range, which appears white. An object that appears white reflects all frequencies.
A red object appears red because it reflects red (low frequency) light, and absorbs all other colours. Blue light contains only high frequencies. If you are in a darkened room, lit only by blue light, white objects will appear blue because they are reflecting the blue light, and no other frequency is available.
But a red object absorbs high-frequency (blue) light, and since this is the only light in the room, it does not reflect any light. Objects that do not reflect any light appear black. Some objects appear black even in sunlight, because they absorb all frequencies and do not reflect any.
So to answer the question, when you have a red object that is lit only by blue light, it will appear black.
With a useful image from elsewhere
Figure: Variously illuminated space achieved using a color illumination device
(a) Color diagram on control screen; (b)°V(f) Color of the object under illumination of white light, green light, electric bulb light, blue light, and red light; (g) Inside the equipment in white color illumination; and (h) Inside the equipment illuminated by an electric bulb
Something to think on next time you're doing OSL
2) The Furioso. He's looking great, but it looks like you missed the visor? In the photos it looks plain white
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Post by: MrMerlin
WOW! Just wow! That sword-and-shield contemptor is incredibly awesome, I love it! And the warboss also looks really nice!
Subd and exalted!
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Post by: Alpharius
You going for the Crystal Brush with that Contemptor?
You really should!
Also, the Furioso probably looks weedly compared to the Contemptor proving without a doubt that once you go Contemptor, you never go back (to 'regular' Dreads)!
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Post by: Imperial Monkey
Wow. The contemptor is absolutely stunning!
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Post by: logg_frogg
That's a pretty wild swing of colour saturation front to back.
It really makes it look like the only hting lighting the model is the sword.
I always draw inspiration out of stuff like this as I work towards doing more painting with my air brush
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Post by: MajorTom11
Thanks very much guys, I am glad I managed to pull things off properly -
EndTransmission -
Your theory is somewhat flawed to a degree. It doesn't account for light source intensity or material behavior. In order for the red to turn outright purple, the red areas would have to be strongly diffuse (absorb light, not reflect). In addition to diffuse, subsurface characteristics would also come into play. Taking that into account, the light, as in your example would need to be primarily ambient and soft.
As the red of the armor would assumedly be laquered enamel, it would have a strong specular characteristic, in other words, a propensity to reflect light as opposed to absorb. This, in combination with an assumed degree of low reflectivity would mean the armor, despite it's color, would contribute a fairly low degree of red wavelength against a strong lightsource, the end effect would be to desaturate the red as opposed to presenting an equal chroma tone of purple.
On the model, the areas are toned down to a burgundy type color, and the blue does indeed sit over it, but being semi-translucent, there is some minor (and appropriate) purpling happening believe it or not.
But overall light will not have the same effect as mixing colors on a pallete, it is more about the balancing of diffuse, specular, reflectivity and light source intensity which is really more of a positive/negative contribution model as opposed to a purely additive one.
Sorry to get so specific, I deal with light behaviour every day in 3D animations etc at my studio, it is a pretty exhaustive field and quite counter intuitive in some areas.
Hope that makes sense!
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Post by: endtransmission
Makes perfect sense to me, thanks for explaining
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Post by: MajorTom11
No problem! Glad it made sense, it took me a while to make heads or tails of it lol...
So, now all that is left to do is figure out how to pack this stuff.... lol
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Post by: Norn King
That gold on the contemptor is so full of detail.
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Post by: 40kFSU
I dont know anything about OSL but I know that Contemptor is freakin sweet!
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Post by: endtransmission
I hear on the grapevine that there might have been an award for you at Adepticon? The Vehicles winners page on CMoN is broken, so I can't tell for sure, but your Contemptor was certainly the nicest in that category
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
He won 2nd in the vehicle category.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Yup, 2nd nicest, but I'll take it!
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Post by: inmygravenimage
That contemptor is a beast; bloody lovely. I like the dread too - can't wait to see it hanging off the back of an SR - but 2 things jump out at me: the osl on the green lights on the left shoulder looks a little overdone IMO, and that transfer really grates against the sheer beauty of the rest of the fig. But, hey, it's still on a whole other planet to anything I could pull off
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Post by: MajorTom11
IMGI, dreadie was done in a day, so not up to the usual
Could use some chipping on the badge to break it up though you are right it is a bit harsh...
Thanks!
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Post by: Alfndrate
MajorTom11 wrote:IMGI, dreadie was done in a day, so not up to the usual
Could use some chipping on the badge to break it up though you are right it is a bit harsh...
Thanks!
Dread was done in a day?! You suck... I paint for a day and I get more on me than on the model :(
But serious, congrats Tom, you definitely earned the award you won, if not the award just out of reach. You know this means next year you have to do better
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Post by: MajorTom11
After meeting Mat Fontaine, Chris Borer and Dave Taylor, not to mention seeing the Eurostars' work...ya... I am proud of my level of work thus far but to really compete at that level I need to spend a great deal more time and effort on my stuff. These guys don't tolerate any imperfections in their work, even if it means scrapping and starting over.
Seeing Chris's work irl was nuts, his precision is beyond reproach, I will forever more refer to him as Chris '1200 dpi' Borer. Mat's work... His color depth and lighting are stunning... He is by far the bet north American painter IMHO. The Europeans were superhuman.
Also got to meet our very own Navarro too, who won gold for sculpting...awesome guy, and I always thought he was a great sculptor, but I only saw his nids. Turns out he was holding out on us, his new stuff, professionally and personally, is literally world class pro.
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Post by: Capitansolstice
MajorTom11 wrote:After meeting Mat Fontaine, Chris Borer and Dave Taylor, not to mention seeing the Eurostars' work...ya... I am proud of my level of work thus far but to really compete at that level I need to spend a great deal more time and effort on my stuff. These guys don't tolerate any imperfections in their work, even if it means scrapping and starting over.
Seeing Chris's work irl was nuts, his precision is beyond reproach, I will forever more refer to him as Chris '1200 dpi' Borer. Mat's work... His color depth and lighting are stunning... He is by far the bet north American painter IMHO. The Europeans were superhuman.
Also got to meet our very own Navarro too, who won gold for sculpting...awesome guy, and I always thought he was a great sculptor, but I only saw his nids. Turns out he was holding out on us, his new stuff, professionally and personally, is literally world class pro.
that sounds really cool. I wish I could see some if their work in person
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Post by: Rogue Wolves
^ Wow tom, sounds like you had a great time, hopefully i can get to some nice conventions this time around
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Post by: Eggroll
Congrats Tom. Got pics of you getting your nerd on?
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Post by: Alpharius
MajorTom11 wrote:After meeting Mat Fontaine, Chris Borer and Dave Taylor, not to mention seeing the Eurostars' work...ya... I am proud of my level of work thus far but to really compete at that level I need to spend a great deal more time and effort on my stuff. These guys don't tolerate any imperfections in their work, even if it means scrapping and starting over.
Seeing Chris's work irl was nuts, his precision is beyond reproach, I will forever more refer to him as Chris '1200 dpi' Borer. Mat's work... His color depth and lighting are stunning... He is by far the bet north American painter IMHO. The Europeans were superhuman.
Also got to meet our very own Navarro too, who won gold for sculpting...awesome guy, and I always thought he was a great sculptor, but I only saw his nids. Turns out he was holding out on us, his new stuff, professionally and personally, is literally world class pro.
I can't speak to much of what Tom wrote, other than to say that his work is even better in person!
However, I am 100% in agreement with his comments on Navarro's work - it is unbelievably incredible to behold!
And since he hasn't mentioned who else he works for, I suppose I won't either - but it is for a company you'd recognize, and it is quite awesome!
It was nice to meet a bunch of people from Dakka in Real Life at Adepticon, and one of the highlights was meeting Major Tom - he really is a nice guy, believe it or not!
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Post by: MajorTom11
Been a while boys
I have not had a ton of time for hobbying lately, most of the time has been spent building marines for the BA... focusing on PH builds atm.
I also had a private lesson with my now friend Matt Fontaine, a great guy, great painter and most importantly great teacher... We worked on a model I have since been picking at when I can, something out of the ordinary for me in many ways, something that will hopefully be finished up soon! It has to pass Matt's 'Does it and therefore you suck' test first though lol.
So, I have decided to cut back the BA project quite a bit. I just went absolutely bonkers buying stuff and really, it gets to the point where it is more discouraging to look at the pile. As such, I will be making an effort to cut down a great deal of the army I collected to leave myself a solid selection of models in game terms (prob around 3-4k worth of stuff to let me have options for list building) and not keeping 5 land raiders and 15 other tanks and 11 dreads... just not necessary LOL.
The plan is to finish building everything I will keep, and then go on a heavy airbrushing spree and get most of the basecoats and as much progress on the foundations done on everything. From there, I will pick at one squad at a time, 5 - 10 models. Need to get myself into manageable blocks... will still be doing a higher end job on these, but I am not going to kill myself trying for max skill on everything.
When everything is build, expect a ridiculous amount of stuff on swapshop or ebay after that lol!
This brings me to the second part of my 'announcement', I have decided to start a Necron army too, I will be designing a very quick, good looking but simple paint scheme for them and will be looking to belt through them pretty quick. Yakface finally gave me my first game of 40k and I like the idea of building something I could maybe bring to adepticon next year or actually play with anytime soon. In the end, I will have 2 armies, Necrons and BA, bro-fists all over the place . Same deal here, I will build several units and then start conveyor belting them.
So I will jump back and forth in between BA and Necrons, working on a unit each for the foreseeable future... I wish I could say I was confident progress would be quick lol!
Of course, in between all these things, I will occasionally work on show-piece models as well, stuff dedicated to just being a display model, like the contemptor was... plinths, diorama etc type stuff.
So, not to just come in here and blab on, I also decided to get the airbrushes out as it has been a while and do some practicing... here is the results of 4 hours, priming to sealing ( GS's the screw holes and eye lenses etc was done previously, took about 40 mins) I quite like the result given the time!
Cheers boys!
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Post by: inmygravenimage
Like it, and very different take to Gitsplitta's - more skull, less servo. The eyepiece is particularly groovy.
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Post by: prime12357
Hey! It's nice to have you back. The servoskull is cool, and the promise of necrons is cooler.
I'll be around
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Post by: whalemusic360
Great to see you back Tom. I'm sure I'll be jumping at some of the stuff you end up selling. Any idea on scheme for the crons? I will check out the skull when I get home, remote desktop is not flattering to paint jobs.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Not decided yet, a bit torn between the classic scheme or doing something different with blues/turquoise and golds and tin... or ceramic look... really not sure. Will have a look around the net for inspiration and also have to make an assessment on what will be a simple, effective scheme.
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Post by: Rogue Wolves
Nice job MajorTom, I am definatly excited to see some more of your BA, and your new Necrons!
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Post by: Eggroll
Hmm well look who crawled out from under the rock... I see a US flag next to your post...what happened???
Skull looks good, I had a similar idea when I saw it but never went to the hobby shop on release day so didn't get one. My OCD says you should have spend more time getting rid of that mold line down the centre...but a very nice paintjob regardless. I see some oil work in there? Any plans to use that thing when you actually play the game?
Also, do take some pics of your current plastic army, I want to see the plastic you've amassed to gauge if I need to add to my stockpile
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Good to see you still about Tom, its been too long!
Getting chummy with matt fontaine, we are moving up in the world! Pretty soon you'll be scooping demons by the handful too.
Very excited to see more from you.
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Post by: AnUnearthlyChilde
So very subbed ^_^
awesome work and I shall look forward to seeing what else is in the pipeline too!!!
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Post by: Soul of Iron
That...is impressive!
I've never been a fan of that tape, but it never occurred to me to paint it. Brilliant idea!
Inspiring as always Tom.
Shawn G.
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Post by: GiraffeX
Oh wow that looks really great, I'd be worried about using it being painted so well.
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Post by: AnUnearthlyChilde
GiraffeX wrote:Oh wow that looks really great, I'd be worried about using it being painted so well.
If it's varnished well enough it shouldn't be a problem, unless he launches it across the room that is
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Post by: Kroothawk
Excellent paint job on the skull, now where is the painted tape
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Post by: Soul of Iron
Kroothawk wrote:Excellent paint job on the skull, now where is the painted tape
Now that's just evil Kroothawk. Evil aside, he does pose a fair question Tom...
Shawn
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Post by: MajorTom11
@Egg lol, sanded it as best I could, putty filling not gonna happen on a tape measure lol - Think of it as the seam for where the techpriests cut it in half to put in the gps and 8-track lol
@Vit, no no, no demons for me, I would have to go to GamesDay and also, you know, small issue of actually being good enough win one could be a problem too lol
@Childe and Giraffe, It is varnished up enough, plus airbrushing is hard to chip (in my experience anyways)... Not too worried though, it was just practice and any chip would be a mark of actually being used to play with... which is unlikely lol!
@Kroot - that's just savage... c'mon man!
Thanks guys -
Stay tuned, likely sometime today, what I have been working on will go up, it's pretty much done!
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Post by: MajorTom11
Alright, time to get serious -
This is what I have been working on on and off since May, and it was the subject of my lesson with Mat Fontaine. My mission was to push myself on 2 things that have always been hard for me to pull off -
Skin
Contrast
Matt selected this model as a good candidate and spent the day giving me a few pointers and showing me some of his blending techniques. As you can see, this is quite a bit different than my usual stuff (mega contrast) and if I may say, quite a bit better than anything I have done to date. Thanks Matt! If you guys ever get a chance to take one of his classes, I highly recommend!
So, here it is -
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Post by: Rogue Wolves
It looks great major tom! I love the blending on the skin, and the coloration on the axe! and this scenic base is really well done!
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Post by: inmygravenimage
A fantastic piece of work, and the level of detail is stunning. As you say the contrast is high and very effective. Although your work is always stunning this one absolutely yells Gold Daemon. Great job.
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Post by: GiraffeX
Yeah thats truley outstanding. The skin is excellent the brusing looks just right along side the puss bits and the way you weathered the armour is very nice I'm going to have to try something along those lines.
The base is lovely as well I really like the snow and the little icicles its all the small parts that make it stand out like the leaves on the tree.
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Post by: whalemusic360
Yeah, your nuts if you don't think this standard is gd level.
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Right on the money whale, this is mind boggling.
That skin is breathtaking, so bruised and angry.
Im speechless tom, you were awesome before, but this is just next level.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Wow thanks very much guys, with this one, I was sure hoping it would get a good reaction after all that work lol!
@Giraffe, the icicles are made from stretched hot-glue dragged across some plasticard. Then after it dries, I cut out sections that look icicle-y.
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Post by: Eggroll
Very nice MajorTom! Reminds me a lot of Jarhead's work with the basing and overall mood. I can see your blending and painting skills have definitely come a long way. Freehand work on the display base also looks very nice, papa nurgle would be proud!
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Post by: PDH
MajorTom that is a stunning Nurglii Lord. I really like the metallics....especially on the axe.
The tape measure is a lot of fun and of course very nicely painted.
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Post by: Soul of Iron
MT, That is amazing.
Nurgle has always been my Everest. I've just recently been able to understand the organized chaos (no pun intended) needed to paint in that style.
Well done Sir!
Shawn G.
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Post by: alexneufeld
Sweet! Loving the high contrast look, works really nicely on the metallics. Definitely objective achieved. And if it looks that good with those quality photos i imagine it's flipping awesome in real life.
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Post by: Mr.Malevolent
Truly some very inspiring work you've done here MajorTom11! I'm always astounded by your work every time I see it. Thank you for sharing it with all of us.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Thanks very much guys!
My huge Necron build continues apace, I am almost done though, a few night scythes and crypteks to go and I will be done and ready to get started!
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Post by: Soul of Iron
'Crons? Sweet! Can't wait to see what scheme you come up with.
Shawn G.
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Post by: inmygravenimage
They'd better be glowy. Just so you know
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Post by: MajorTom11
I can confirm multi colored glowie
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Are they gonna be in this thread Tom?
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Post by: MajorTom11
Yes, I will have a lot to show soon, for now, just on a mega building spree... it will be a while longer but I know the scheme and plan... it's coming!
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Post by: Pyriel-
How on earth could I have missed this thread.
Stunning, MajorTom.
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Post by: Yggdrasil
OMG, I didn't know Papa Nurgle had swayed your loyalty !
Awesome work, Tom ! This is epic !
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Post by: Gitsplitta
Man, how did I miss that! Wow Tom... that's just fantastic. I love the way the entire object (figure, plinth, extra bits) all combine to increase the visual impact of the figure and tell a cohesive story. Very nice.
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Post by: eldartau1987
Well done! I am very impressed with the visuals of this. I like how you have balanced the seasonal feeling of the base with the active Nurgle feeling. They contrast very well.
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Post by: Skalk Bloodaxe
Followed a link from Ygg's threat... absolutely stunning work! I can't say anything better than what has been said. Subbed and I'm checking out your gallery. Amazing work MT. Wow.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Thanks very much guys!
So, my building spree is pretty much done, got 12 magnets to glue and I'm all done my massive Necron build...
So the final tally is -
Every character
Overlord
5 lords
1 Destroyer Lord
7 Crypteks, modelled to reflect their specialty
60 warriors with ghost ark flayer rods
20 Immortals with Tesla
10 Immortals with Gauss
10 Deathmarks
5 Praetorians
5 lychguard
1 Ghost Ark
1 Doomsday ark
2 Triarch Stalkers w/heatray
3 Spiders, 2 gloom 1 fabricator
24 scarab bases
4 barges (can swap to either kind)
9 wraiths
7 Scythes (can swap to either kind)
All built, based and primed, some of them are from a painted army I bought, about 25% of the army. The scheme was incredibly close to my intended scheme so with a few extra touches, they will be 100% -
So, an update with bad pictures is better than nothing right lol?
Intended final scheme (all tesla blue glow, all gauss and generic green, heat orange, synatptic red)
The painted portion -
Some WIPs
and picked up a ROB board too... amazing what you can accomplish with a few cans of Krylon...
Gonna be a slowish process, as I plan on Conveyor belting the painting of everything, 1 color at a time with the AB until I am forced to brush work to finalize... It's gonna be a while!
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Yay progress! Love those scarab bases, so much more dynamic and interesting than you would normally see.
Hopefully i managed to inspire some action If not then good anyway, but get to painting!
*Cracks whip*
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Post by: KingCracker
You know the paintjob is a good one, when the tubes actually look like they are glowing.
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Post by: inmygravenimage
The eerie, patchy lighting on your RoB is outstanding mate, great effect.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Time for another update, with my first finished Necron models (mostly anyways)
Immortals - only thing left to do is paint the rims black on the bases again. Note: the idea is that most power sources will be green, but that tesla weapons will have blue coils. Gauss will be green though, Synapse will be red I think, and heat ray... looks hot, so orangy/molten-
Triarch Stalker - 95% done, just need to highlight the dark green/grey and weather the tips of the feet and a few other areas-
A group shot of what I have done so far, 20 tesla immortals, the stalker and a scythe -
And finally my progress with my Realm of battle board and basing scheme... still wip, need to kick up the contrast, the sand is too dark and also need to introduce more orangie tones...
And finally a zenithally primed warrior (so you can see the detail) with the modern gauss tube from a ghost ark -
That's it for now, comments welcome, as well as suggestions for getting a good finish on the terrain -
Thanks!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh and note, the Necrons above were from an army I bought from Jarret Lee, a great painter - I upgraded them with more weathering, added colors (gold, dark grey/green) and weapon glows, and a new basing scheme and washes. The bone color is mostly his though. My scheme will be the same as above for everything though obviously. Just giving credit where credit is due.
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Post by: Darth Bob
WOW! What an update. I love the scheme you're going for. It's very gritty and there's something sinister about it. The OSL is also spot on. We're in for a treat with this army, no mistake. The only thing I don't like is the orange on the Triarch Stalker. It just doesn't seem to fit. I think a blue like the Immortal above would look much better.
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Beautiful, love that orange 'flower' type weapon with the open petals.
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Post by: SilverMK2
Absolutely love the colours and weathering on the Necrons. The board is coming along too - looks fantastic
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Post by: KingCracker
Yea, those Crons are incredible.
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Post by: eldartau1987
Your Necrons are great!
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Post by: MajorTom11
Wow thanks a bunch guys!
Hopefully I can power through these... despite a few tricks, they are pretty quick to get through... brush work is pretty minimal so far...
The diff weapon glows could be an issue, but the army will still be overwhelmingly green in the end, the Orange of the heat ray will be one of the few exceptions other than the tesla blue and gauss green. I am hoping it all comes together coherently in the end...
Any suggestions on the board guys? I am a bit iffy on it... need good plans to either brighten it back up to a nice, orangie, ochre and menoth base type sand, or, alternately to grey up the board a lot more in patches...
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Post by: eldartau1987
Maybe drybrush a 2:1 brown and orange mix on the board? That might work. My experience with these things is pretty limited.
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Post by: KingCracker
My only critique would be the glowing orange on that cool gun. If its supposed to be glowing from heat, you actually reverse the highlights, so the lows are the brightest and the highs are darker Heres a few examples to show what Im talking about
I think if you swap the colors on that gun it will look WAY better.
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Post by: MajorTom11
That's a good point KC - looks like I will have to break out some yellow lol -
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Post by: KingCracker
It was only fresh in my head because Im going to paint the thrusters on my scratchbuilt DAKKAjet the same way
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Post by: MajorTom11
Those images are solid reference too, link me when you get that Dakkajet going!
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Post by: Yggdrasil
Awesome work on the OSL, Tom...
I cannot seem to get it right with my airbrush...
But you're doing great, as usual !!
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Post by: MajorTom11
What is the problem you are having Yggsy?
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Post by: eldartau1987
I can see the fiery frustration with that...
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Post by: weetyskemian44
Superb. I was just searching for a great painter to hopefully inspire me. Thanks major tom.
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Post by: nerdfest09
Major Tom! Major brilliance! Major awesome heat ray glow! Major jaw droppingly good stuff! I majorly love the bone Necrons! and your airbrush glow is majorly good!
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Post by: weetyskemian44
I think his work is Generally brilliant.
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Post by: KingCracker
OK guys, we are generally getting off topic here
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Post by: DijnsK
hey tom, noticed i didnt subscribe to this thread yet, an error that is now rectified!
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Post by: Styrofoam04
Incredible work as usual!
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Post by: MajorTom11
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Post by: Gitsplitta
That's pretty spectacular Tom. Can I say with all sincerity that "I hate you". ?? couple of questions... Where did the scribed rods for the gauss guns and the little green crystals come from? I like your approach to the OSL on the rods... I'm fretting over doing the OSL on a couple of plasma cannons and was wondering if you might give a pointer or two. I'm not looking for a tutorial... just one or two hints that might reduce my anxiety level. Thx - Gits
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Post by: MajorTom11
Thanks Gits... I think lol -
Green Crystals are called Anarchy Crystals, highly recommend, very nice, just pull em out and stick em straight on, lots in a bag -
OSL is pretty simple as long as you remember one thing... the glow from the light source should only be a tiny fraction as bright as the source itself.... the better you pull this off, the more convincing it looks... I am pretty impressed with these, they genuinely look like they are glowing irl... I had actually stopped at scorpion green and thought it was good enough, and it didn't look bad, but then I said fek it push yourself, and went with a near white mix and it really changed everything. Look at the Immortals tesla to see what pushing the source that bright can do, the tesla immortals I thought looked good before, but looking now they look downright dull next to the warriors...
The pics are much bigger, click on em to go to my gallery to have a look at where I put the glows to get a better idea -
Forgot to put up the pretty much finished ROB board -
And some awesome tealight wrecked vehicle markers, they are done now but only had the pre-grey and black coats... these are super easy to make and look fantastic, I will put up some picks of the finished ones soon -
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Post by: Gitsplitta
Great advice Tom, thank you. I see what you mean... now I'm looking forward to giving it a shot on my own models.
Beautiful job on that board... be a real pleasure to play on that one!
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Post by: MajorTom11
Feel free to ask if you have any questions... just keep your ab at 15 or so psi and go gently... don't thin your paints much either, and be ready to clean the needle with tissue often...
After this I will be 'upgrading' the other crons I bought to my scheme and with new osl etc...
Then the slog begins in earnest as I batch everything else 1 color at a time across a very large remaining army...
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Fething hell Tom. Those are just......jesus....
Gorgeous.....
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Post by: MajorTom11
Lol thanks vits!
@Gits, forgot, the rods are ghost ark gauss blasters, cut up with the front part and blade from the ghost ark glued to the back end of the normal gauss blaster.... the rod, and everything after the hand is ghost ark.
I heard you can do it with immortal gauss rods too, but when I looked they were a touch too short, making it easier imo to go with the ghost ark ones.
Btw, DO NOT order the shapeways ones... in fact don't order anything from shapeways at all... the rough and powdery that at this scale it is useless -
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Post by: Gitsplitta
MajorTom11 wrote:Lol thanks vits!
@Gits, forgot, the rods are ghost ark gauss blasters, cut up with the front part and blade from the ghost ark glued to the back end of the normal gauss blaster.... the rod, and everything after the hand is ghost ark.
I heard you can do it with immortal gauss rods too, but when I looked they were a touch too short, making it easier imo to go with the ghost ark ones.
Btw, DO NOT order the shapeways ones... in fact don't order anything from shapeways at all... the rough and powdery that at this scale it is useless -
Very cool effect! I assume you're using your ghost ark as a doom ark (or whatever the heck they call that version?), otherwise you'd be missing some guns on it.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Ebay is your friend bud... I needed 50+ new style rods... one box wouldn't cut it! And on top of it... the ghost and doomsday ark both use the bits, they are never spare
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Post by: migsula
Nice work sir!
That realm of Battle Board is a real treat from GW and you've done it great justice.
I still have mine packed from the move, but at about 50% completion. Can't wait to get back to it.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Oh man I can't wait to see what you do with iti!
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Post by: whalemusic360
Did you do the entire board with krylon cans? Regardless, looks ballin. Any plans for the new FW tiles, or the zone mortalis?
Crons looking tight too. Wanna see the big toys too!
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Post by: MajorTom11
They're coming!
I love the cityfight boards... but unfortunately they don't fit with the GW ROB board look... I suppose you could flock the crap out of 2 sides of one of the cityfight boards to 'transition' from the desert to the urban... but I would prefer another wilderness section with some kind of machinery like the bunker section... I do need another section to make an 8ft board though lol...
I did the whole thing in krylon initially, but truth be told I ended up redoing a lot of it... only because there was a missing tone of ochre in the colors I used... so from the krylon step, I made a few custom washes with rust and ochre colors, washed the entire board, then drybrushed with unbleached titanium from the artstore. That ended up being too contrasty and then I washed the whole thing again with a bone/ochre mix, very watered to knock back the recess colors and even out the highlights and lowlights... then it was back for one more bone pass and THEN it was done, not counting come pigment work and washes on the rocky areas.
I do believe however the whole thing could be done with Krylon, or at least 90% of the work, it was only a matter of the right colors, not a problem with the technique or result in terms of look and finish if you see what I mean?
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Post by: whalemusic360
That sounds pretty awful, lol. I've been considering upgrading to an rob from a home made board, but I only use it like 4 times a year as it stands, and that sounds like a boatload of time I don't wanna spend. Woulda love to play on it though, someday.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Honestly wasn't that bad, just my own inexperience... if I had the right color mix in the middle can, then the whole board would have taken like 3 hours...
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Post by: Yggdrasil
Impressive stuff as always, Tom !
Your 'Crons are just amazingly OSL'ed, and the RoB (inc. FW part) look so great, I now want to buy some for myself !
So, I guess I could say I hate you now
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Post by: MajorTom11
Lol sorry Yggs! And tank you!
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Post by: DijnsK
great to finally see your crons
im also working on my necron force (you can check them out on my facebook, link in my sig)
im kind of jealous of you that you got a hold of that many new style gaus rods... may i ask how much you had to spend to acquire them?
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Post by: MajorTom11
Just pecking at ebay whenever I saw them... probably had to spend about 30-40 bucks for sixty rods, although I note that the prices seem to be going up...
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Post by: Yggdrasil
Oh, before I forget : the missus hates you too
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Post by: DijnsK
Hey Tom, i got my shapeways order today and its actually not half bad... the modern gaus rods 3d prints are porous but after priming, sanding and then priming again their actually really good... ill update with pictures tomorrow
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Post by: MajorTom11
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Post by: Gitsplitta
"I love the smell of Tom's blog in the morning.... (inhale)... smells like... awesomeness!"
Really fantastic job on those necrons Tom. Great color scheme and your OSL is as impeccable as always. ROB board is beautiful. Your studio makes me look at the squalor that I do my work in and weep.
Good to here from you again!
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Post by: Citizen Luka
Beautiful, beautiful necrons!
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Post by: Yellowbeard
Beautiful work! The OSL is fantastic, and I love the weathering you've done on these guys.
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Post by: Snrub
Some really fantastic stuff here MT. Big fan of the Necron head ruins. What are they made off?
Also "the office" is pretty damn killer. Its a real nice setup you got going.
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Post by: inmygravenimage
SO very glowy! Very cool. I have to say from my perspective the most impressive thing is the RoB, oddly - I know what an overwhelming beast that is to tackle (and am avoiding mine!)
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Post by: Commander Cain
You may not update often Tom but when you do it is most certainly worth skipping my psychology class for! Gorgeous crons and those marines are bursting with potential! I just pray that you don't get round to painting the sedition wars stuff before me as otherwise I will never be happy with my own ones that I paint.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Thanks very much boys, it is much harder to update progress regularly on 100 models rather than 1 lol, even then, just a close up of one each will do!
Surprised no comments on the hot pink death marks lol, not a common color to glow, how do you guys find the effect?
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Post by: Alfndrate
They don't look pink to me, just light red . Awesome as always. And it makes me cry as per usual... so jealous lol. Love the office man such a nice place to work.
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Post by: MajorTom11
OK good! Wanted a reddish magenta glow, very difficult to achieve without going pink... good stuff thanks Alf!
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Post by: Alfndrate
I definitely get the glowing red and yeah it could easily go pink and while it doesn't look pink you did miss my red vs blue reference
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Post by: whalemusic360
Awesome, all around. Looking forward to the FW hq models, BAd up.
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Post by: Bacms
Awesome the amount of OSL you have on those necrons makes me jealous. I really need to try and do it at some point, just too worried I will ruin my fully painted models
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Post by: MajorTom11
Just practice on a pencil or a piece of card or an old toy... once you have it down it is pretty hard to mess up, more about knowing what color to put where than anything else! Oh, and understanding how to keep your airbrush working properly.
The airbrush is a very forgiving tool in application if working correctly, it is very strict in maintenance and paint mixing though...
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Simply amazing Tom, wow.
That is an amazing effect on the Stalker's gun, so cool.
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Post by: Bacms
MajorTom11 wrote:Just practice on a pencil or a piece of card or an old toy... once you have it down it is pretty hard to mess up, more about knowing what color to put where than anything else! Oh, and understanding how to keep your airbrush working properly.
The airbrush is a very forgiving tool in application if working correctly, it is very strict in maintenance and paint mixing though...
Yep it is just a question of being afraid of overdoing it and put it on the wrong place. I have been doing power swords and thunder hammers with it and it has been fine, just hadn't the courage to add the light emanating from them yet
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Post by: MajorTom11
Believe it or not, the glow is the easy part! Just make sure you are very gentle and start your spray off the model to ensure a light, steady flow, and then swing on and boom you are good. You just have to make sure your actual lightsource is far brighter than the color you spray as it's glow. Example, white lightbulb casts orangey glow. neon baby blue powersword casts pretty ultramine glow.
Oh, and tape up the sword before glowing the rest of the model lol
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Post by: Bacms
MajorTom11 wrote:Believe it or not, the glow is the easy part! Just make sure you are very gentle and start your spray off the model to ensure a light, steady flow, and then swing on and boom you are good. You just have to make sure your actual lightsource is far brighter than the color you spray as it's glow. Example, white lightbulb casts orangey glow. neon baby blue powersword casts pretty ultramine glow.
Oh, and tape up the sword before glowing the rest of the model lol
Thanks for the advice. I will refer to your grey knight tutorial since I used the same white/turquoise/black strategy for the sword. But from my experience trying to OSL on my jump pack with Ice blue it is hard to not get paint speckles everywhere when using colours so close to white. True it was done with my 0.5 patriot 105, so I might get better results now that I own a Krome
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Post by: MajorTom11
Krome will definitely help...
And although the GK tutorial is still fairly legit in a lot of places, to be honest the glow color I used vs the brightness of the blade was off, it was the same light blue on both. If you look at the necron warrior or tesla coils above as an example, pay careful attention to the green and blue cast glows, they are both quite dark vs nearly white sources, that is the reason those glows look so much better than the GK one. The GK one is not horrible, but it's not right either if you compare?
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Post by: whalemusic360
Dude, you can't just give us a hit like that again and then expect us not to go into withdrawal.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Lol I think next, after the build fest (which is not nearly done) and all the table-top necron painting, I will take a little treat and put some love on the BA GD 2nd ed box captain... No promises on when that will be done though, although it would be nice to start sometime this weekend
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Post by: whalemusic360
Yeah, managed to score two of that dude. Looking forward to seeing your version for sure.
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Post by: MajorTom11
I am also waiting to see a green or bone white big shield on something soon too btw
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Post by: RiTides
Just saw the update from a few days ago- love it, love it, love it!
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Post by: whalemusic360
Gotta wait for a bit, snow is not idea priming weather.
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Post by: KingCracker
MAn, those Crons look awesomely nice.
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Post by: MajorTom11
So, another change in gears on ye-ole MT hobby thread -
I have fallen in love with X-wing. LOVE this game. It is really the first and only miniatures game I have genuinely gotten into, ever. At least in terms of actually playing it more than 1 or 2 times. I won't go into a hard sell on it here, but sufficed to say, I highly recommend giving it a whirl!
Down to business, this ships themselves, for the most part, are pretty damned good in their pre-painted states, honestly. There will be minor defects here are there and some splotchy paint (especially on the y-wings from what I have seen!) but overall, really great out of the box.
I, of course, having ocd and a severe desire to fiddle with everything, had to start messing about a bit, largely inspired by this awesome blog - http://buckaroo13.blogspot.ca/
So I too had to make my 5 x-wings prop accurate to the movie models for red 1-5 (though, for red 1, I did add some new paint details as compared to the others it was pretty plain).
So, without further ado, will take a look at where I am at -
The fleets so far, missing 1 Firespray, 2 A-wings and 3 Tie Advance to be totally done with wave 1 and 2 -
And the whole point here, the x-wings - almost done but not quite, need to add grey panelling details, oil washes and some soot around the engines and maybe a few other spots, but they are far enough along to show -
Red 1 and Red 2 (Wedge)
Wedge (Red 2)
Red 3 and 4
Red 5 Luke
Other angles -
One thing I realize I forgot to take a shot of was the engines, lit with fluorescent magenta/orange... looks awesome, and makes a biiiiiiiig difference... I haven't seen anyone else do it and it is definitely easy and worth it imo, so I will update that later on.
In the meantime, hope you liked!
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Post by: whalemusic360
So they are prepainted models? Obviously not yours at this point, but would be curious to see one done start to finish. Always looking for gateway drugs to get friends into tabletop games.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Paul, play it dude, seriously a very easy to pick up, very very very easy to pick up game... but there is tons of depth to be had as well... plays fast, very simple straightforward rules... strong, strong recommend. I have 2 friends who have never had anything to do with miniatures or boardgames in their lives totally in love with this game now...
As to the original paintjobs, they are very nice, usually 2-4 flat colors (not counting) black windows and a wash. Decent decaling/detailing and overall quite good. The washes they use can be hit or miss though, sometimes beautifully glowing into the crevices like an oil wash, sometimes looking somewhere between a heavy watered paint wash and dry-brushing. It can be a touch heavy and splotch on some models, but when it works, it works great. Even a bad wash model still looks pretty good though tbh.
A typical model looks like this out of the box, a bit patch in spots but nice!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Seriously, go look up the reviews for this game, and realize it's been sold out for months online for everything but the core sets and the falcon and slave 1... this game is popular as all hell!
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Post by: whalemusic360
I'll have to keep an eye out then, maybe I can get someone to play a non GW game for once at my store.
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Post by: CommissarKhaine
Looking good! I've seen the game in my store as well, but have resisted temptation so far. Let's see if I can keep it up
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Post by: Gitsplitta
The boys and I play Wings of Valor which is a WW I game based on the same rule system. It's very fun and easy to pick up. Guys at our FLGS just love it, and you don't need a ton of figures either.
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Post by: Dysartes
Tom, did you strip the paint first or just go over what was there already?
Jay Adan did a good couple of videos on stripping an A-Wing and painting it to fit with the Rookie Pilot artwork - I can link 'em here if you're interested.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Hey D,
I just painted over these, though I am aware of the vids you are talking about, I in fact posted them in the burgeoning x-wing community over in the Misc Games section!
I was tempted to, but in the end the stuff that was already there was, more or less, a pretty good base to start off of, barring areas too heavily washed. Since I would just be blending up and detailing, I just started from there. It worked out just fine tbh!
However, were I going to be doing a fairly substantial repaint, doing pretty big changes to colors overall, then I would strip it as per the video shown for sure... I have a big bottle of windsor newton brush cleaner sitting next to me for just that purpose
The Ywings are all universally splotchy and crazy heavily washed, so they, the interceptors, and at least 1 slave and falcon are likely victims for a strip and page one re-write... obviously I must have my blue a-wing prototypes too so 2 a-wings will be going in the bath too.
So I finished up the x-wings and gave a supplementary wash to the ties in oils to start them off, though very little will be done to them. Same for one of the Slaves and the falcons.
Will take pics soon of the finished xwings! Automatically Appended Next Post: Update, additional detailing and oil washes done... last thing will be some carbon scoring with pigments or brushes and then I'm gonna call these done -
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Post by: muwhe
That is a pretty good collection Tom...
Glad you like the game ...
Want me to recommend anymore? : )
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Post by: MajorTom11
Nah I'm good for now Hank! Fontaine is trying to get me into FoW while we are at it lol!
Btw, there are a few threads down in misc Boardgames that are about x-wing, including tactics and YMDC, it would be great to have you participate if you are inclined!
Upcoming updates -
Ties repainted/mult-step touch-ups
Interceptor re-color to standard Imp grey
Advanced conversion to Avenger
Y-wing strip and re-paint
Falcon conversion and repaints
Slave repaints
Awing strip and repaint...
Damn I don't know why I do this to myself lol...
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Post by: Medium of Death
X-wing seems like a really fun game and the ships look great out of the box.
I really love the attention to detail that's gone into your X-wings. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what you do with the Ties & Slave 1's.
Fantastic Necrons too Tom, not really sure how I managed to miss them. Jealousy level rising...
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Post by: Enigma Crisis
What paints did you use? I'm half tempted to do this for my X-wings and Interceptors. I wish they would have also came out with a picture of Wedge's X-wing that he used when Rouge Squadron broke away from the the New Republic during the Bacta War.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Vallejo Model Khaki and Vallejo Model Deck Tan at an even mix will net you the x-wing color -
As a note, vallejo Game stonewall grey is a match for the tie fighter hulls btw -
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Post by: RiTides
I had a ton of plastic star wars ships when I was in high school, and they look like almost exactly the same scale from what I can tell. Would've been handy if I'd kept them
Your paint jobs look fantastic, Tom! Love the variation on each. I'm guessing there's a website where you're looking at what each looked like in the movie?
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Post by: Kanluwen
So that is why I cannot find too many Y-Wings for sale.
*shakes fist at Tom*
My hat off to you. I could not sit down and do all the finnicky details on these models. I thought about doing it, and just stopped myself before I went any further.
Can't wait to see you get your hands on a B-Wing!
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Post by: MajorTom11
RiTides wrote:I had a ton of plastic star wars ships when I was in high school, and they look like almost exactly the same scale from what I can tell. Would've been handy if I'd kept them
Your paint jobs look fantastic, Tom! Love the variation on each. I'm guessing there's a website where you're looking at what each looked like in the movie?
Just Googled Red 1 etc to get the specific scheme. Got the idea itself from this blog - http://buckaroo13.blogspot.ca/
It was very inspiring... once I started, couldn't stop! It's been good fun, as I know I will actually play with these regularly it feels more worth it than doing just display pieces..
Kanluwen wrote:So that is why I cannot find too many Y-Wings for sale.
*shakes fist at Tom*
My hat off to you. I could not sit down and do all the finnicky details on these models. I thought about doing it, and just stopped myself before I went any further.
Can't wait to see you get your hands on a B-Wing!
He he he, when the oppurtunity arose (thanks to some very kind and generous Dakka-ites and a few randomly stocked Barnes and Nobles) I was happy to take em... One can never have too many Y-wings... well you can but you know. I am looking forward to the b-wing too, although I like the stock paintjob on all the wave 3 stuff except the hwk.
Ok, so a bit of progress to tease! 1 Falcon stripped and modified into what I'll call a YT-1900... hooray for symetry! It has the AB'ing done on it, but still needs brush detailing and oil washes to really get finished up. Pretty happy so far though! Along with that, all Y-wings were stripped, of all the models, theirs was the only really shoddy paintjob... just too splotchy and fiddly, washes too heavy. So I stripped and re-painted all 6, 3 in the beige standard scheme that will be gold squadron ships, and 3 into a more grey scheme, 2 of which will be grey squadron and one with a red scheme to rep a character pilot. And of course, the A-wings, had to make 2 of the prototype style paint jobs! Like the YT-1900, all ships need detailing (windows, markings, a few panels etc) and an oil wash.
On the other side of the Fence, all my TIEs are not down, upgraded with highlighting and blending, a new oil wash, and edging. 2 interceptors and 2 TIEs got the red striping to call out characters. The Interceptors are noteworthy for being completely repainted to a standard tie grey, in line with the others. Advanced were almost complete repaints as well though less obvious, just to tighten up and clean all the washes. These guys are done except a matte sealing.
Left for the Imperials are the 3 slaves, 1 will go to a Jango scheme, and the last will go to Boba Fett Armor colors. I have one advanced waiting to be converted to a TIE Avenger, and 2 more interceptors incoming that will need painting.
For the rebel side, finishing up the YT's, A-wings and Y-wings, plus a 5th A-wing incoming that will Get a custom Green scheme. Not to mention, a Corellian Corvette...
My obsession is almost sated... though I am tempted to get one more core box... I feel 10 ties is a nice number, but I need a 6th X-wing... Red Squadron is not complete without Porkins!
Anyhoo - teaser pics -
Hope to finish up the rebels this weekend! Maybe the Slaves too
Thanks for looking -
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Post by: Dysartes
Looking good, Tom.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Thanks D!
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Post by: Gitsplitta
Good Heavens man... are there any spaceships left in the sky??
And when are you going to start scratch-building that death star out in the garage?
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Post by: MajorTom11
I think the Death Star would still be 2km wide even at this scale, so no worries on that front lol!
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Post by: Alfndrate
MajorTom11 wrote:I think the Death Star would still be 2km wide even at this scale, so no worries on that front lol!
Are there rules for the sizes of moons and what not in this game? Though I guess that wouldn't help because that's no moon .
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Post by: jah-joshua
i really like the alt. red scheme on the Falcon...
what's the story with that one???
blood stripes look cool on the Tie Fighters...
it definitely makes them look unique...
looks like you are having fun...
lots of pew-pew laser and screaming Tie engine noises going down at your painting table, i would imagine ...
keep up the good work...
cheers
jah
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Post by: MajorTom11
Alfndrate wrote: MajorTom11 wrote:I think the Death Star would still be 2km wide even at this scale, so no worries on that front lol!
Are there rules for the sizes of moons and what not in this game? Though I guess that wouldn't help because that's no moon .
No rules for things of that scale, most games are played on 3X3 though this is by no means a limit. There are rules for obstacles and how to handle them however they are more geared to asteroids and things of that relative size on table. Could always figure something out for them though, I think they are not accounted for generally as they break the relatively consistent scale (a-wings not withstanding)
jah-joshua wrote:i really like the alt. red scheme on the Falcon...
what's the story with that one???
blood stripes look cool on the Tie Fighters...
it definitely makes them look unique...
looks like you are having fun...
lots of pew-pew laser and screaming Tie engine noises going down at your painting table, i would imagine ...
keep up the good work...
cheers
jah
Sleeping babies, no ties noises, but yes very fun to work on! I pin washed right before leaving for work so things are lookin pretty darn good... totally worth it to strip the ywings especially! A night of brushwork left and these things should be tied up!
Thanks Jah!
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Post by: Malika2
Wow...now do some big ships as well!
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Post by: MajorTom11
Proper scale Corellian Corvette is incoming, don't worry!
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Post by: Malika2
Proper scale? Does this mean you're going to build one yourself? :O
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Post by: MajorTom11
No no no! lol, even I am not that crazy
Google - Star Wars Electronic Blockade Runner Collector Fleet
It is only about an inch off scale for 270, this is what everyone is using as proxie. It will of course receive a patch and paint and some additional detailing though
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Post by: Briancj
I am very mixed on X-Wing. It suffers, badly, from herohammer. But the base rules are solid, and I <3 me some hot hot Y-Wing action.
In the end, however, the game is going to suffer from "only two side itis". Yes, they're moving into the EU and whatever else, but you start having power creep issues and Naboo fighters flying against E-Wings.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm going to live vicariously through MajorTom.
--B.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Everygame is in danger of that, but 2 factions yes def an issue... although, you could see the Yuuzhan vong veing introduced as a drastically different 3rd faction, smugglers and unaligned... it is possible.
Thing is though the hero-hammer stuff and net-lists are stuff that mostly hardcore people engage in... x-wing is a game I am playing with a much more casual crowd, we are not going out of our way math-hammering stuff etc, just casual and fun, learning at our own pace. You can always house rule limitations to keep things tactically interesting down the line too, or handicap a player or ship. The rules are so simple that modifying them a bit is pretty quick and easy even to someone not ultra familiar.
That's one of the reasons I like it so much, whereas with 40k or whatever you need to keep track of a phone book of rules, this one is so straightforward and cause and effect that it makes the whole platform very customizable I find.
Of course, YMMV, but the dice and the activation sequence really make any list viable if you play it right. The lists are not quite as decisive as with 40k I think in the outcome...
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Post by: MajorTom11
Another update, Y-wing and Falcon Conversions done! The A-wing prototypes are almost there but I will be brightening them up a little touch, will take a tiny bit more with an ab and a gloss then oil then matte wash -
Overall quite happy! I added another core box, cuz at this point why not lol...
so left to do, 2 interceptors, an Advanced, 3 slaves, 1 falcon with another alt scheme, 1 porkins and then I am well and truly done with the FFG purchases and repaints, at least until next wave..
so, the update -
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Post by: Dysartes
Nice engine glow on that YT-1300, Tom.
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Post by: whalemusic360
That is a lot of ships. Other than the big one you have coming, any other plans outside of future expansions?
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Post by: MajorTom11
Definitely not! That is more than enough lol... even for me -
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Post by: MajorTom11
Still picking at the progress, but the end is in sight!
Firespray trio is pretty much done barring a little chipping - I've got a repainted classic slave 1, a Jango slave 1 and a custom scheme based on Boba Fetts armor colors which ended up looking kinda hawt if I do say so myself -
Then we have the A-wings (1 missing, but just standard scheme) 2 prototype paintjobs and 1 green squadron to stand in for character pilots -
The the third Falcon is also done, this time as the prequel trilogy 'Stellar Envoy' with some modifications -
So..... almost there! 2 Interceptors and Porkins' x-wing are all that is left for the repaints and then my wave 1-2 collection is 100% (or maybe 400%) complete...
That is, til I tackle the Corellian Corvette in the back there
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Post by: jimbolina25
Ahaa someone else who found the corvette to scale
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Post by: MajorTom11
It's 16", it should be 18, I call it close enough though
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Post by: manrogue
Wow, really like the custom paint schemes and Corvette!
Never really thought about painting up my X-wing models, am really tempted now!
How did you get that engine glow effect on the YT-1300 and the A-wing if you don't mind me asking?
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Post by: Reaper Man 2020
Very cool work on the X-Wing models, i really want to give this game a go, just finances holding me back now. Great work MajorTom11!
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Post by: inmygravenimage
Wow, nice corvette, where on t'internet is that?
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Post by: MajorTom11
manrogue wrote:Wow, really like the custom paint schemes and Corvette!
Never really thought about painting up my X-wing models, am really tempted now!
How did you get that engine glow effect on the YT-1300 and the A-wing if you don't mind me asking?
Thanks very much
The engine glow on the YT is done with an airbrush and some minimal tape masking, 3 colors, ultramine, cyan and white in that order from outside towards the middle. The A-wings, x-wings and y-wings are all just brush work, white first to ensure vibrancy, then a watered mix of the glow color you want that is thick enough to cover but thin enough to leave a bit of gradation with it pools and dries.
Reaper Man 2020 wrote:Very cool work on the X-Wing models, i really want to give this game a go, just finances holding me back now. Great work MajorTom11!
It's a pretty cheap game to get going with, a little online price hunting and you will have a great set of minis for 100 or less... 2 cores and 2 expansions should run you about that much, shipping potentially even included if you strike at the right time!
inmygravenimage wrote:Wow, nice corvette, where on t'internet is that?
STAR WARS REBEL BLOCKADE RUNNER COLLECTOR FLEET is what you are looking for, they can be had for anywhere from 40 bucks up to 140 bucks now... people are clueing in that there is a demand for them specifically based on X-wing now -
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Post by: ExiledMiniatures
Hey Tom, I've never actually commented in your log, although I realize now that I've had it bookmarked since you started it!
The X-wing stuff looks amazing, but I'd really like to see more Blood Angels, since that's the army I've been collecting
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Post by: MajorTom11
My 40k love is at a bit of an Ebb right now, I pick at the stuff I have now and then assembling and converting the ridiculous amount of stuff I have both for pre-heresy BA and Necrons, but a lack of passion for the game and company are definitely hurting my motivation... Tau is the only 6th ed release that impressed me somewhat, otherwise everything has become so predictable and toy-ish that I don't look forward to the news and leaks like I did. Lack of Horus Heresy novels hurting the momentum too. Fear not, I will get back to it sooner or later though!
But, the worst thing to happen to my 40k hobby is X-wing!
Guess who got his custom designed mat in and managed to finish his hammer and forge asteroid sets?
All FFG models are done, asteroids are done... just the Corvette to go now! Finish line is in sight!
For now I just wanna show off a little, this may be bad form to say but I do believe I have the finest X-wing set around now
Which I have honoured with crappy iPhone pics but I wanted to share
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Post by: Alfndrate
Tom you really need to get on that Corvette, it's pre-painted plasticness is eye achingly bad against everything else
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Post by: MajorTom11
I thought I was doing good repainting 40 ships in a month... Ok... Corvette... I can do this !
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Post by: Alfndrate
I mean you can take your sweet time, as we'll all be waiting here with bated breath as we usually do, but It just looks so out of place next to the other ships .
And man does that look awesome. You need to go to AdeptiCon next year with this setup and run a massive game
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Post by: MajorTom11
I'll be there, prob with the ships in tow
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Post by: Alfndrate
Good, because I've never played this game and the durned thing is freaking sold out everywhere.
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Post by: MajorTom11
I think Amazon is actually currently re-stocked, might wanna have a quick look-see!
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Post by: Medium of Death
Scratchbuild a Star Destroyer...
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Post by: MajorTom11
That would be 22 feet long, so... no... lol!
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Post by: Medium of Death
Ah c'mon!
Very nice looking fleets... squadrons...(?) you've got there.
I take it FFG are just doing post republic ships? So we aren't likely to see ships from the Clones Wars? The movies aren't great, but the ship designs are pretty sweet.
I'd love to see you do some of the Clone Trooper freehand seen on their ships.
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Post by: MajorTom11
No idea, but they are dipping into the expanded universe with the HWK 290, so I would imagine they will start mining more, lots of oppurtunities... I would love to see a tie defender or Ewings for example -
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Post by: Medium of Death
Sith Infiltrator & ARC starfighter are top on my list.
If I had to pick a ship i'd want to see from post Republic it'd be the Viper starfighter from Shadows of the Empire.
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