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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Veins would be awesome!
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Post by: finnan
second under-wing done, and some veins added too : ) I have to admit, they look damn good! They're pretty faint, but the shots show them up fairly accurately. Good idea whoever suggested it 
I've given the tops of the wings a thin coat of a 1:1 mix of Tallarn and Charadon, I'll do a darker mix tomorrow and then the usual washes for shadows and then a little highlighting (not forgetting the tail and the tops of his feet as well)
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Veins look awesome...Someone needs to check their blood pressure with such faint veins! LOLZ
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Fan-freaking-tastic! It looks real.
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Post by: finnan
... my veins don't show up that much - does that mean I have low BP? (I'm a teacher, how can I have low BP??!)
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Good Students? .....lol, now that was a good joke : )
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Post by: tipios
The veins are perfect, only just can see then, very realistic. Although having a low BP as a teacher is not so realistic.
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Post by: finnan
... maybe I don't have low BP, and I'm actually ready to explode... that would certainly be more realistic 
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Post by: finnan
tops of the wings done, and they're okay, even if some of the blends are a bit shonky...
I've put in a shot of the underside again, so there's some comparison without too much scrolling.
Left to do: tubing on the wings, flight pods highlighting, weapons highlighting, hair (possibly bright turquoise?), base
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Post by: finnan
latest Scourge done : ) I'm pretty happy with how he's turned out - I even tried a little sourced lighting from the flight pods (which you can kinda see in the photos)
 onwards and upwards
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Post by: Ghilksy
Truly inspiring. As always haha great work!
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Post by: Krellnus
Very nice!
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
What did you use to get that coloring on the obelisk? I am going to e doing some Cryx and would love to use that color for their base?
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Post by: finnan
Charadon Granite basecoat, wash of Badab black, drubrushed it with Shining Gold (then went in and neatened it up again with Charadon), and then a liberal wash of Asurmen Blue : )
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Post by: Newt-Of-Death
Wow. Thats the best painted DE model Ive seen so far.
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Post by: Krellnus
finnan wrote:Charadon Granite basecoat, wash of Badab black, drubrushed it with Shining Gold (then went in and neatened it up again with Charadon), and then a liberal wash of Asurmen Blue : )
A ha! So it was Asurmen blue, I thought it might have been Necron Abyss, but I was wrong, I gotta watch this space more!
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Awesome I will pick up some Charadon Granite, Consider it stolen! : D
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Post by: finnan
next one : )
slightly odd and roundabout process with this one (could probably have left out a couple of steps and gotten exactly the same result!)
2:1 mix of Tin Bitz warf Bronze base, wash of Baal red, then a wash of Gryphs, then a wash of Badab.
Highlighting with Bronze, and then Shining gold.
I have to say that I'm very much enjoying painting these models - I think they're my favourite ever : )
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Post by: lipsdapips
Looking good so far, keep it up!
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
What would you do without Washes lolz!
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Post by: finnan
that's a terrible thought! I'd ahve to wet-blend everything and go even slower! lol
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Lolz...The horror!
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Post by: finnan
a bit of work done on the latest Scourge - trying for a green-toned version of Dark Edar skin, and it's kinda working...
I'll add some veins onto it like I did with the last one tomorrow
Automatically Appended Next Post:
... as ever, once I've taken a shot of it, I can see all the parts I wnt to fix! I can see that some of the shading on the top wing segment is pretty rough and needs smoothing out!
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
I'm loving the green! Those wings are just an awesome sculpt, and your painting makes them look all the more fantastic.
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
I like the green, are you going to shade down most of the wing membrane or leave it really bright?
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Post by: finnan
not sure Cutthroat... the shot makes it look a hell of a lot whiter than it does in the flesh, so I might knock it back with some green...
Green is my Kryptonite - I'm rubbish at it for some reason!
I think what I'll do is go in with a mid to dark green and smooth out those blends, but leave it fairly light.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
... just done the mid-tone - already looking much better! Pics to come later on : )
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Post by: finnan
first wing knocked back, and second wing done - that'll teach me to do them at seperate times and not quite remember the mix of paints I used!
Bit of a mission this one - my weakness to green is showing! lol I can see a few bits that I need to tidy up, but they're looking better than last night : )
tops to do now!
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Post by: finnan
Latest Scourge done, and she's okay... I kind of lost heart with this one again - I just don't seem to be in the mood to sit down and do some serious painting at the moment, so I feel as if I rushed finishing her off, but there you go.
I aged her armour a fair bit, and then finished off the top side of the wings - a colour combo I'm going to have to try and remember as it produces a lovely bottle green. Weapons done, base tidied up, and there you go.
Hopefully I can cheer the hell up and get some good work done now!
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Post by: FearPeteySodes
Those wings are truly fantastic, i especially like the more fleshy colored one.
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Post by: MrTau
I noticed the rune on the guardian wepon platform. It looks sortof loke the Avatar one, or mayby tha prism one.its a geeky remark, wich only a freehand lovin' geek like me would notice, but still. I would realy lik a group shot. Great work *subscribes*
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Post by: finnan
what would you like a group shot of, MrTau?
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Post by: MrTau
Every thing. What wouldent i like a groupshot of is a better qustion. I must see all of your awsomeness united. Ok, primarly your Eldar. Mayby separete shots for your Eldar and WE.
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Post by: finnan
ask and ye shall recieve MrTau:
(apologies for the rubbish shots, but you get the idea)
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Post by: fasterthanlight
Those scourge are absolutly beautiful.
FTL
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Post by: finnan
thank you
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Awesome group shots Finnan! I love your dryads, how they all look different yet mesh well. The eldar look superb, even with the lower quality picture.
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
That is quite the good looking army you have there!
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Post by: Yllithian
HI!
I was looking your last work and after i look all he oldest post:
WAOU! outstanding global work!
i look forward to your futur stuff!... maybe for inspiration
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Post by: Rinkydink
Great stuff here! I really like the blending on the wings. The dappled look is not too clean to appear unrealistic/cartoony and the veins/arteries are great.
You'll have to share the magic recipe!
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Post by: prime12357
Yes! please share that green, it looks fantastic.
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Post by: finnan
as ever, thank you all for the positive comments : )
The Eldar don't look too bad, all things considered, and actually look like a fairly unified force, despite me not making my mind up about my Craftworld until pretty recently! lol
Green wings, here goes:
underside: a (roughly) 1:3 mix of Tallarn Flesh:Rotting Flesh, followed by a wash of Devlan and then Thraka Green. Back in with the original mix to highlight and then I added more Rotting Flesh to the mix and highlighted, then a final highlight with Skull White. As the picture showed, it was pretty stark (although the flash did make it look lighter than it was), so I did a wash/thin coat of 2:1 Dark Angels Green:Catachan Green - that brightened things up considerably. I then tidied up/rehighlighted with 3:1 Rotting:Tallarn, followed by MINIMAL highlighing with white.
tops: based with 1:1 Charadon Granite: Dark Angels, followed by a wash of Thraka then a wash of Badab Black. Then highlights with a 1:1 mix of Dark Angels:Catachan, then the same mix with some Scorpion Green added to brighten it up. A final highlight of 1:1:2(or even 3) Dark Angels:Catachan:Scorpion
hope that makes sense...
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Post by: Krellnus
Great as always!
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Post by: finnan
next Scourge - back to the white for true Ghostplate ; )
The plan is for all-white armour (possibly with some red markings, haven't made up my mind yet), and then really pale wings - like the first set of fleshy wings I did, but paler, almost as if she's an albino.
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Post by: Swordwind
Man that is utterly wraith-like and beautiful.
I won't pester you for the white recipe again. 
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Post by: dantay_xv
What about silver, and pale grey (space wolf grey) to keep the pale ghostle appearance, then maybe ice blue for the eyes/ glowy stuff
You should check beano's SW dread to see what i mean
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Beautiful! he whiter the better! I agree with Dantay that pale ice blue might be better than red.. Either way, amazing progress thus far!
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Post by: finnan
not sure about the greys and blues - it might soften her up a bit - I want her quite hard and sharp, but I'll keep it in mind for the next one!
More work done, but not as much as I'd like... it's a bit hot here and that's making the paint dry a bit too quick for my liking, so I'll wait until later to do a bit more.
Knife: just a bit of a play around. Haven't made my mind up about it yet... I wouldn't mind doing a crystal blade for it...
You can't quite see in these shots, but I've decided to give her a black undersuit, as I thought a white one might be over doing it somewhat. That she'll look a little more Stormtooper-ish as a result doesn't hurt either 
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Post by: prime12357
I think the red knife blade looks really cool alongside the (impeccable) white, especially if you add the little red details as you mentioned. While I think that blue would look good too, I think red will be better.
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
The red looks damn good.
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Post by: Dark_Gear
I've been silently watchng for the past few weeks, just in awe of smooth shading skills, and this last model just broke the silence spell. I don't know how many coats it takes, how thin your paints are, or how expensive your brushes are, your talent at painting silky smooth whites just astounds me. The red blade is also very well though you might go for a slightly stronger red highlight to pick out the edges since the specular highlights of fresh blood are very tiny and would thus catch the light quite clearly. To my eyes, the red and white scheme is both a horrid perversion of an Elder Banshee's pristine colours and a brilliant nod to those sexy sculpts.
Keep it up.
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Post by: Dysartes
Great to see the really nice work continuing, finnan.
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Post by: finnan
as ever, thank you very much for the cmmnets, I really appreciate them
@Dark_Gear: I'm glad you've broken your vow of silence! The knife - yeah, when I look at it, I kinda think "Yeah, it's looking good... but what about a blue crystal blade...?". At the moment, it's just got the grey wash from when I washed everything at the start, and then a thing layer of red over the top, just to see what it looks like (I've thought about doing this before - basecoat white, black wash to give shadows, and then thin layers of clours over the top... I wonder if that would be a quick way of unit-painting. Must give it a go sometime). I definitely agree that it needs a few more layers of red - in places - to make it stand out a bit more.
Black, white and red is one of the strongest colour combinations you can have, so I'm leaning away from the crystal blade so I can keep to those colours...
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Absolutely, the red blade looks slick. I've come around to it a lot. I originally was just imaging the paintjob as a more wraith like figure of white, but with the red, it's a lot more scary and powerful. And the red really looks great. I like that it's kinda dark, but I could see it still looking great with more highlights as well.
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Post by: prime12357
NakedBatBoy wrote:Absolutely, the red blade looks slick. I've come around to it a lot. I originally was just imaging the paintjob as a more wraith like figure of white, but with the red, it's a lot more scary and powerful. And the red really looks great. I like that it's kinda dark, but I could see it still looking great with more highlights as well.
What he said. My vote is for red, but in finnan I trust.
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Post by: Hangfire
That group shot of your Eldar makes me feel things I really shouldn't! Amazing, have you used them in a game yet?
Do you ever find where the was pools, that paint won't subsequently stick because it's quite glossy? I get that all the time, there's always a patch that I end up having to stick a blob of paint on.
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Post by: finnan
yeah, I know what you mean about pooling wash - there's a spot of it on her left ankle that I can't really do much about (and I'm thankful that it's hidden and you can't really see it! lol).
I just tend to be extra careful with those spots... the other option (and the dull one) is to do your wash as normal, and then sit there and watch it dry and do a little bit of repair work if you see a potential shiny pool start to form - use a dry brush to suck up the excess... dul as hell though!
Armour almost completed - a wing shoulder pad and a half to do, flight pod brackets and then the spine plating - then onto the wings methinks!
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Post by: Casey's Law
Hey, saw your message on Dark_Gear's blog and ended up here.
Whoa, just whoa! Amazing painting skills, all of your models are absolutely beautiful. Subscribed and exalted.
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Post by: finnan
Armour done : )
(although I can already see some spots where I want to tidy up a bit. I'll have to just go over it bit by bit and probably go in with some black/grey wash)
Flight pods undercoated and washed with Leviathan purple, ready to be highlighted up to a nice bright red. Knife has had another couple of coats of red too, and I think that might have done the trick - the white highlights you can see are from the flash rather than a white highlight I've done : )
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Post by: Krellnus
Looking good, although I think the red on the flight pads is too dark for a base colour, or maybe the highlights on the knife make its base look lighter than it actually, good as always anyway dude!
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Post by: prime12357
It seems to me that the blast pistol arm needs some red on it to balance out the knife in the other hand. With all the red centered and to the model's left, the eye is drawn that direction instead of towards center. Maybe paint the set of bigger "bumps" on the pistol red? Oh, and the white is the image of perfection.
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Post by: dantay_xv
Have you considered asking the warmill guys if they could do a crystalline blade using clear plastics?
Just a thought
Btw red looks nice.
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Post by: finnan
I'm considering putting a couple of red bands/stripes on the gun...
a bit of work done on the wings today, but they aren't a quick job and I want to take my time on them. I'm off onholiday for a couple of weeks tomorrow, so no posting or painting for a little bit - hopefully I'll come back refreshed and eager! lol
btw - got Golden Demon entry form today...
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
finnan wrote:
btw - got Golden Demon entry form today...
Oh Hell Yeah, Let the a** kicking begin!
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Post by: finnan
well... I have to be cautousl optimistic at best...
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
dantay_xv wrote:Have you considered asking the warmill guys if they could do a crystalline blade using clear plastics?
I would really like to see one of their clear blades on a model, but as I'm only modeling orks right now, it wouldn't fit so much for my guys...
---
Have a great vacation Finnan!
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Safe Travels My Friend!
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Post by: Casey's Law
prime12357 wrote:It seems to me that the blast pistol arm needs some red on it to balance out the knife in the other hand. With all the red centered and to the model's left, the eye is drawn that direction instead of towards center. Maybe paint the set of bigger "bumps" on the pistol red? Oh, and the white is the image of perfection.
QFT! That is a fantastically painted miniature but my eyes are drawn to the blade instantly, seems a real shame to me.
Check out Mechanicum Jon's scourges. It's been great to watch yours and his develop together. Different approaches and both finished excellently.
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Post by: finnan
... I even dream about Golden Demon: last night it was that I had enough painted miniatures to enter a bunch of cetegories, but when I got there, I found that all the paint had melted off them! (of course, I later found one that was intact and could've entered, but it was too late). Time for a holiday I think!
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Jeeeeezzz! You certainly need to relax man!
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Post by: taffiarti
Stop eating cheese before bed time, lol!  = no 
You still have plenty of time, so just take some deep breathes and enjoy the experience!
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Post by: Hangfire
Good luck Fin, rooting for ya.
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Post by: finnan
lol
That was quite normal for me (and without the aid of cheese!). Usually I dream about zombies.
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Post by: finnan
back from my hols, and I've been working on the wings of the latest Scourge, even though I haven't really been in the mood. To be honest, I'm not entirely happy with them, but I'm not entirely sure what to do to them... perhaps knock back the darker bits? Darken the wing membranes a bit? Not sure.
Anyway, here are a couple of shots. You might also be able to see that I've also done a couple of stripes on the muzzle of the pistol... agian, not sure about them, and I certainly need to tidy them up a bit...
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Post by: Arakasi
I think there is just a touch too much red in the wings. I'd be tempted to try shading to a blue similar to the veins at the edges of the wing panes and leave only the bone structure red (sorry, correct terms are escaping me at the moment, so I hope that was mostly clear...)
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
I love the shading around the wing joints!
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Post by: Knightley
I agree with Arakasi, there just seems to be a smidgen to much red on the wings, either that or the red is too prominent, You tried to do veins on the wings of a previous model, that effect with red should look much better. Still I'm in awe of your painting skills
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Post by: prime12357
I think that the red looks really good on the wings, though I think it could be knocked back a bit, or maybe darken up the membranes of the wing. I was thinking that the red was a little too strong on the wings, but then again, maybe a higher contrast between the body and the wings would look pretty sweet. In any case, it's going to be a beautiful model.
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Post by: Wolf
These models are absolutely beautiful !
I'm loving the red on the wings and tail, really brings good contrast to the model.
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Originally, with the white body/unpainted wings, the red weapons standed out really nicely, but I think the wings are kinda pulling away attention from the unit now, I feel like either just a hint of red on the mostly white wings as a kind of background to the body might be better? Also, I think the color on the wings looks a bit too purple to me, I think I would personally like it better if it were magenta? Just my humble thoughts though... Either way though, welcome back from vacation! I hope it was a good one!
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Post by: Hangfire
Hope you had a good holiday Fin, sounds like you're not quite in the right mood to paint, perhaps you got the dreaded holiday blues!
I think the wings look amazing, they certainly draw the eye and become the focal point for the entire model, but that may be what you are after.
Are you planning of painting the hand/fingers a different colour? Because if you are I think that could make a big difference to how the whole model works, tying it together.
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Post by: finnan
... tried doing the other wing white like I did the armour... Scourge now officially cocked up : (
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Yeah, I agree with Hangfire. If you're planning to make the hands/feet match the wings with that reddish tone, then maybe that would balance it all out and look great. I was just throwing out my initial thoughts on the paint job up there. I love your work either way!
And if you're not feeling the model/paint job, don't do it right now. Don't risk burning yourself out! Just take a break and/or work on something else. No worries! Welcome back!
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Post by: finnan
... so, after sulking for most of the day, I think I've come up with a plan for the wings.
I still want them white/albino, so they need to have a pinky grey base. I know I can do white (even if it's slow and dull as hell), so here's the plan: (re)basecoat the wings in white all over. Give them a wash of the soft grey I used on the armour, and once that's dry, give them a wash of watered down Baal red. Then, it's a matter of highlighting back up to white again.
I think.
(option B: just give them a single wash of a grey+red mix)
I think what the problem with them at the moment is that I'm starting from too dark a base, and the transition from it to the white becomes too harsh, so, solution = make the base lighter.
I think...
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Post by: Dark_Gear
Welcome back from the hols btw. Jusdging from the painting quality i'd say they say were restful. While I'm quite taken with how the wings look already, if you're going to try and smooth out the transition, don't sweat it too much. I think your base colour is fine. It's got a great richness to it that would probably be lost if you went any lighter. What I suggest instead is going for multple thin white coats, built up gradually until you smooth out the gradient "just right". Think airbrush or thinned out oil paints. Aim for super thin, nearly transparent levels of pigments. Build them up slowly. Highlighting the red on the bony parts of the wings so that it's not so uniform would also further the illusion of blood gorged membranous wings quite nicely.
As for giving a 3rd colour to break up the white and red, have you thought of maybe going for brass/gold on the tips of the feet and the kneepads. You could then further detail the areas by adding a bit of greenish oxidisation.
Whatever you end up doing, I know it'll look great so don't sweat the little stuff.
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Post by: finnan
Scourge well and truely cocked up. An attempt to replace the wings backfired spectacularly, so I now have an officially dead Scourge. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes I suppose, and lessons have been learned, so onwards and upwards. I'd still realy like to enter a Scourge for Golden Demon this year, so another one is being assembled as we speak. Pretty much the same as the last one, but different head and legs, but the same basic premise: Scourge just about to launch. I'm going with the ba twings I used on the others this time, as they're a little less fussy in the detail department, and therefore a little easier to paint.
Still going to go with the white with red accents, so I'll keep you updated with progress. I want to get as much done as I can in the next week as I'm back to work/school on Thursday, so I anticipate my painting motivation to vanish after that!
As ever, thank you all for the positive comments and suggestions, they are still very much appreciated
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
R.I.P Sweet Model
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Post by: finnan
ahh, this is much more like it : )
still works in progress, but this is much more like what I originally had in mind - very pale, albino-like wings. I've still got some tidying up and smoothing out to do, but you can see where I'm headed. The shots are a bit washed out, but fairly accurate. I *may* go in with some watered down red wash to deepen the shadows in the creases, but not too much...
I've taken a tip from Mechanicum Jon's book and not attached the wings, and it's a handy technique - I only hope that they come off the spru without too much trouble.
Also a body shot, as you can see, I've only just started on the armour, so lots of work to do. As ever, the shots show me the bits that I need to go back and redo! I want there to be abit more shadow under the brow of the helm, but that's an easy enough job, and it looks like I need to sort the eyes out too, but early days yet
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Post by: Arakasi
This is more what I had in mind (apologies for the cockup!)
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Post by: finnan
lol why the need to apologise Arakasi? It was my cack-handedness that ballsed up the other one (and still time to cock this one up too! lol)
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Post by: Arakasi
I was the first to suggest changing it - wouldn't want you to hold a grudge
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Post by: finnan
lol not at all! I wasn't particularly happy with the first set myself, so no worries. I'm much happier with the new ones, first one almost done - shots to follow later
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Post by: finnan
wings done apart from the claws, the back done and wings attached. Next job = armour.
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Post by: Swordwind
*cheer* Beaut job on the wings. The purple is especially nice.
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Beautifully Deadly! That's such a nice violet. Looks great so far. Great work, mate.
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Post by: lipsdapips
You're so good at painting, I dont understand!
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Post by: prime12357
I liked it before, but now I think it's better. I truly pity you for having to paint all that white, but the results are always worth it.
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Post by: MajorTom11
The wings are particularly well done, some really subtle stuff you have pulled off there!
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Post by: Mechanicum Jon
The wings are really well done. The veins especially help to sell the paintjob! I also really liked the red accents on your previous attempt. Are you going to keep some of them? The red on white lent a clinically evil character to the miniature.
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Post by: finnan
I seem to have stalled a little bit on it, but I think that's enthusiasm more than anything else!
Yeah, the plan is to have some red accent bits on it again - not sure about the stripes on the gun, they went a little pear-shaped last time, so I might have to come up with a new idea there... still tempted to do a crystal blade, even though the red one did look pretty good...
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Post by: prime12357
I really liked the red blade, and I think that the crystal might add another color to the model and detract from the very simple (and striking) color scheme you have going. Maybe purple would look good, to go with the wings.
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Post by: Ghilksy
Can't wait to see some of these beauty's tomorrow!
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Post by: finnan
apart from being there with my lovely partner, Games Day = unremitting Hell. Avatar damaged in transit, not reparable, not entered for GD :(
Spent one and a half hours in the queue to pay for Forgeworld stuff. :(
Golden Demon entries rubbish, I so would have placed :(
One guy won 4 golds, a bronze and the Slayer Sword - greedy! :(
Multiple slow traffic points, including an accident about 10 miles away from home :(
Thank god I'm off that bus! Oh wait, no I'm not becuase I have Ofsted this week. Huzzah! :( :( :(
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Post by: CallsignNeptune
Really, really nice work! You've got some skills.
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Oh no!!! That  sucks so much! I'm sorry to hear about what seems like a terrible day for you and your beautiful model! What happened to it? 
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Post by: finnan
the hair broke off, but that was a relatively easy fix; the spear totally disintigrated and is now in five bits. I could probably have stuck it back together given a quiet place and some time (not readily available things at Games Day!), but the paint had chipped when it broke so it didn't look great.
Lessons to learn: possibly leave the mini unassembled, but in easy to assemble chuncks until the day (?)
: stronger joints - but the spear is so *thin* I'm not entirely sure how I'd do that.
: better packaging and transport
: more thought generally yinto the logistics.
(doesn't make me feel any less sick at the moment though!)
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Post by: Hangfire
Really sorry to hear about your GD experience. I was looking forward to seeing your Avatar on the front cover of WD!
Chin up old chap...what's next on the horizon? One of your new forgeworld goodies?
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Post by: finnan
live and learn I guess 'fire, but I was really looking forward to the competition as well. I suppose I have no-one to blame but myself for the breakages, but it's still really disppointing (probably moreso).
Still working on my Smart Max Mei Leung - taking a break from GW stuff for a little bit, but the lovely partner and I were discussing Golden Demon tactics on the coach ride up to the NEC - the plan is to start early, enter multiple categories and (for my 'main' piece), think big - were were discussing me doing a Revenant Titan... I think there was only one other titan entered... (the LotR category seemed very thin on the ground, so a good, solid contender there is worth a go)... the plan was to treat myself to a revenant at Games day, but with the GD Breakages Horror, and the sheer trauma of the retail section, it didn't happen. I think I need to think and design before I get it anyway...
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Post by: dantay_xv
Sorry to hear the avatar didnt get entered, I was purposefully looking for it too.
Next year you should pre-order your fw stuff if you know what you are getting. I did and it took a lot of the stress out of things.
Good luck for next year, your Avatar would have done really well
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Post by: Ghilksy
Sorry to read about your avatar, i spent ages in the monstrous creatures section trying to find it, and i guess that's why. Well at least now you have a year to prepare for it
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Post by: finnan
yeah, that's kind of the plan. I'm also planning on multiple entries, so no all-my-eggs-in-one-basket next time around.
I've got a first-draft list of what I want to do, but I think that might change. I've just been having a good look on the LotR forces section of the GW site looking for ideas (even though I pretty much already know what I think I'll be doing for that category)
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Post by: Ghilksy
Please please please do a high elf! I f'kin love those models. Yeah i think the guy who won the slayer sword this year had like 5 entries or something along those lines
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Post by: Matt.Kingsley
*Speechless*
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Post by: finnan
lol is that a good speechless or a bad speechless Matt?
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Post by: Matt.Kingsley
Good!
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Post by: finnan
>phew<
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Post by: finnan
so, here we go again. After the disasters of this year's GD attempt, I'm starting early, and the plan is to enter multiple categories.
Currently waiting on delivery of most of the models I plan to paint, but I had some of them already. Here we have the contender for 40k single miniature: the Farseer. I love this model, I just think it's beautiful. The Plan: golden yellow cloak/coat, sash, faceplate and gems. Wraithbone armoury bits. Dark grey armour, blue crystal blades. Only really made a start on the cloak tonight - a wash of yellow ink, a wash of Baal red and then starting to work back up to a bright, clean yellow. I also pencilled in the detailing on the corners of the cloak, but I don't think you can see that - flowing semi-Celtic knot.
Next up is the first part of Warhammer Squad: Wadancers. Let's face it, Wardancers are just damn cool. To start with, this is the Woven Mist model, but I hacked off the tree stump and stuck him on a flying base. Just general filing/shaping, pinning and greenstuffing so far, but I made a start on the hair as you can see. I want the squad to be a little unusual, so I'm going for muted leathers and black and red tattoos (fluff-wise, I'm thinking these guys are going to be from Pine Crags, so are tougher than your average WElf), so the blood-red hair will fit into that. Haven't decided how many are going to be in the squad yet, just the basic 5 or a couple more. I've got 7 'dancers cleaned up so far.
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Post by: Lorna
I to spent ages trying to find your avatar at games day, very sad to hear it broke.
At least three other people i know thought your avatar would have claimed at least silver.
Hope it goes better next year.
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Post by: lipsdapips
Can't wait to see them done mate!
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Post by: SlaveToDorkness
Just an FYI, the Golden Demon rules usually stipulate that the model needs to be on it's normal game base.
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Post by: Ogryn
These are great models here!
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Post by: finnan
@SlaveToDorkness - yeah, I know about the base issue (not that I get bitter and twisted that previous winners AREN"T on their gaming bases or anything..) - I've got some nice bases on order, and I think I'm going to swap out the clear base for that once they arrive : )
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Post by: Gutsnagga
Wow, I just found this thread, and immediately looked at the most recent 7 pages.. you're great! Some of the stuff you've done I couldn't dream of! I'm very sorry to hear about your avatar, it seems like it would have definitely placed.
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Post by: finnan
thanks Gutsnagga : )
(the stuff I do is definitely achievable by most - all you need is teeny-tiny brushes, lots of patience and a tolerance for greatly repetative tasks! lol)
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Post by: prime12357
Speaking of teeny-tiny brushes, which do you use?
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Post by: finnan
generally a 000 for most work, and for smaller stuff, or linework, a 0000
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Post by: Red Corsair
Awesome stuff!
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Post by: finnan
thank you
a bit more work done on the Farseer tonight - I've taken a couple of shots, but I'll put them on tomorrow. I'm actually fairly pleased with how it's going so far, got a nice bright yellow. Shots to come
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Post by: master of asgard
That cape looks really lovely. Very smooth and bright.
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Post by: finnan
pics, as promised. Just got one side of the front of the cloak to do, and then the detailing on it, and I think that's it done.
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Very nice shading so far. That's a great color.
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Post by: kitch102
Seeing some great colours here, I particularly love the orange cape on the farseer / warlock / whatever he is and the scourges are incredible, especially the wings! How did you get the colours to meld so well? Was it all dry brushed or did you sponge some on too?
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Post by: finnan
I tend to avoid drybrushing as it doesn't come out as smooth as I want. I generally thin the paints down a lot and then apply them in lots of thin layers, building up the colour slowly in a fairly controlled way
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Post by: Fab
That is a very nice colour and blending.
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Post by: prime12357
The cloak is beautiful. The blending and the depth of the colors is superb.
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Post by: finnan
more done on the Farseer, and it's going pretty well I think. The yellow is looking nice and bright (a bit brighter than in the photos I think), and I think I've done all the yellow... although I'll probably spot some glaringly obvious bit I've missed fairly soon!
Also started to block in some of the grey for the robe, and even though it's just the base coat, you can see how much of a difference it makes to the yellow. I'm also planning to do a couple of stripes in the dark grey on the end of the sash, just to break up the yellow a bit
i think I'll probably block in all of the grey before I attempt highlighting the wraithbone, as I'm bound to slip and get some grey on it...
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Post by: Dark_Gear
Looking great thus far. The colour scheme's high contrast should really make him stand out. What other colours are you planning on using?
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Post by: Lorna
Looks fantastic.
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Post by: finnan
not really sure to be honest! A few of the other gems are going to be blue, because I can't do a miniature without putting some blue on it somewhere...
Eyes/lenses I'm thinking red... or maybe green, not sure (probably red. Or turquoise).
Robes and armour = dark grey, but I did wonder today about highlighting it in a bright blue so it looks iridescent (I have a fondness for that! lol) but not sure - I think I want to keep it relatively simple.
Blades, again, I'm torn. Blue crystal blades do look good, but I saw someone's that had green blades, adn that looked funky too...
decisions, decisions! (suggestions gratefully welcomed!)
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Post by: Lorna
I'd say try purple gems, they look good against oranges and reds and are fairly similar to blue.
i'd keep the grey, good contrast, and green blades look awesome do it. Do it naow!
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Post by: silveryfox
That warm golden/orange color is really beautiful!
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Post by: finnan
minimal work done over the weekend, but progress has been made. I've kinda started on some of my other selections - little bits of washes on the LotR models I want to work on, and I've undercoated what I think will be my Warhammer Monster choice - Tiktaq'to. I also basecoated the terradon, but I think I'll leave him alone for now so I can get one model completely done before I move onto another
On the Farseer, I've done the stripes on his sash, so I need to highlight them - fairly pleased with them, so very little cleaning up to do there. I've also started on the hilts of the blades, mostly to get the inside of the sword done so I can I can stick the other arm on.
Onwards and upwards!
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Post by: finnan
a little bit of work done on the Farseer today: I blocked in all of the grey and gave it a wash of black, and then highlighted the skirt of his under-robe. Still got the gems on the sword hilt to do before I stick the other arm on, but I'm getting there! Broke up for half term yesterday, so hopefully I can get a bit of painting done this week before I go away for a few days : )
I went with the red and orange to keep the warm tones rather than highlight in blue... I *think* it's working. I'll do the same with the armour, but possibly try and make the highlights smaller/harder. Then, when I do some cool-tone gems and the blades, they'll (hopefully) stand out more - that's the plan anyway!
As ever, now that I've had a look at the photo, I can see bits that I'll need to go and clean up - there's a couple of bits of cloth that need highlighting, and there's a part of the robe trim that needs cleaning up after I did the wash of black.
Bases arrived for the Wardancers too, so I've stuck them on and undercoated, so maybe I can get going on them too...
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Post by: Matt.Kingsley
again...
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Post by: EirÃkr
-looks at this Warlock
-looks at this Farseer.
-cries
-----
I absolutely love your warm blending here finnan! The colours are absolutely perfect.
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Post by: Foxtale
That red underskirt looks so velvety. It's looking good!
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
You're so amazingly good at shading! I love the warmth of his robes.
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Post by: dakkagrot187
wow
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Post by: finnan
Some more done on the Farseer. Armour highlighted in a similar way to the under-robe, and again, I *think* it's working... lol don't really know why I'm not totally convinced by it.
Sword arm base coated and stuck on, and the blades undercoated and washed. I'm surprised at how quickly he's come together - not too much left to do now, but what's left is fiddly stuff: wraithbone armour to highlight, a couple of gems, the holster and strap, the blades, and the detailing I want to do on the cloak. (and, obviously, the innevitable cleaning up when I go wrong! lol)
oh, and the highlighting on the arms...
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Dont forget the base.. Have you thought about changing the gem on his forehead to blue? Sure i recall reading somewhere that spot colours work best in a triangle. Love the robe blending though, very well executed. How are yo gonna keep him safe and dust-free for 10 months!
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Post by: Nightfall
NICE!!
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Post by: finnan
lol the base is always left until last
i did think about ble for the helm gem, but went for the yellow for something different. I want to do the three gems on the wraithbone armour purple and blue, so I guess there'll be kind of a triangle with them and the blades. I think I'm also going to do the gems on his wrists green, so there'll be a range of shades over him
I think as soon as he's done, he'll go into some foam packaging to keep him safe! Taking no chances this time!
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Post by: finnan
slightly rubbish shots, but you get the idea...
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Post by: Temujin
Absolutely gorgeous. Everything about the cloak and the red tinted armour screams quality. I hope you can maintain the insanely high standard for the rest of the model.
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Post by: finnan
lol so do I!
(thank you)
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Great details! I like the swirly design, and the striped shoulder pads look sweet. I'm still not sure what I think about the blue blades - seem a bit too different from the warmth of his armor to me, but that could be just me, and besides, his armor's not finished yet, so that may work itself out.
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Post by: Nightfall
Love the oranges, was thinking of making my wood elfs that orange.
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Post by: finnan
there'll be a few more cool tones in there once I done the gems, and the wraithbone armour will lighten it as well. The blades will be a lot lighter once I've done the highlighting on them too.
[doesn't make too much to make me doubt myself! lol]
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
Yeah, sorry. I hesitated to mention anything, as I assumed you would likely add to it more to make it work (as I realize it's a WIP). I just decided to share my thoughts, just in case. I think lightening/more details on the blades would for sure help.
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Post by: finnan
any input is gratefull recieved - all too easy to have a one-track mind with projects like these.
Blades at the moment are only base coated and washed, so lots of work to do on them yet
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Post by: Sharkvictim
Wow. I may have to pick up some Eldar just to paint them. That looks outstanding.
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Spectacular!
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Post by: Hangfire
OMG, I've just started painting the same model.
Was going to PM you for advise, but I can just keep an eye on your thread. Awesome work so far.
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
What was the color breakdown steps for both the glyphs on the front of the robe and the red black areas, Sorry to ask but i am very curious please!
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Post by: finnan
The glyphs/wraithbone in those shots is just two washes of Gryph's sepia and then a wash of Devlan in the deeper recesses over a white undercoat (now tidied up a bit with careful highlighting of Bleached Bone and then Skull White on the tips).
The cloth and the armour: Charadon Granite basecoat, followed by a wash of Badab Black. First highlight: Scab red - a fairly generous highlight as it gets knocked right back with the addition of the next [minimal] highlight of Blood Red; then some careful final highlights of Blazing Orange.
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Post by: Brother-Captain Scotti
Will you painting the blades shiny?? As in building up from the blue to an almost pure white in places?
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Post by: finnan
sure will : ) Working on them as we speak - got half the sword done, so hopefully I can get him finished today!
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Post by: finnan
just a few quick shots to show the progress and the blade
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Post by: Ronin
Just had a look through all the images in this thread.
Some truly exceptional work is going on here, purely inspirational. If I wasnt so bogged down with schoolwork, I would start an Eldar army right now because of this.
Keep it up and I will watch with keen interest.
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Ooh, tasty! Although i feel the lower right of the blade (from front on) could do with being a bit darker.
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Post by: finnan
I think I may have already darkened bit that Vitruvian... if not, I will get onto it : ) Automatically Appended Next Post: Ronin - thank you
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Post by: logg_frogg
Wow! I just bumped into this thread randomly today and have to say that I am very impressed!
I will be reading through it later today when I have more time as I am hoping to pick up so me pointers on doing lighter colours, which you seem to excell at!
Thanks for the inspiration!
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Post by: FlammingGaunt
Don't take this the wrong way but I wouldn't want to play against you. I'd probably start crying if the farseer died, absolutely beautiful
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Post by: finnan
Farseer done - yey!
No doubt I'll spot things that I want to tidy up and/or change as soon as I put the shots up, but such is the way of the world!
Fairly pleased with how he came out - if I could criticise him, I'd say that I could do more with the freehand, so I may go back and revisit that. I think that blades might also need a little tweaking.
Onwards and upwards! Either the Wardancers or my LotR entry next I think
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Looks great Finnan. Love the moody armour colour. Im still not sure about the blades though, no offence. In the first pic it looks like the small dagger's white sections do not join to the same degree as on the large blade. Also in the last pic, it almost seems as if the small blade hasnt been painted in the same "crystal" style as the other blade faces.
I hope you dont think im being a douche btw, just saying what i see, the rest of the model is spot on.
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Post by: finnan
lol no, you're not being a douche at all! And you're right about the dagger - the white doesn't join up on one side, but I'm not too bothered about that - to be honest, it joining up on the sword was accidental, I wasn't planning to do it at all! As to the other side of the dagger, I just wanted to try something different, I didn't particularly want the dagger to be symmetrical. I'm not 100% convinced about the blades either really, but I'm hesitant about fiddling around with them too much in case I totally muck them up!
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Hehe! Fair enough, all the blending is amazing though!
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Post by: finnan
don't think I've quite cracked it on the blades, but it gives me something to work on (I think I was letting the pressure of geting him done get to me a bit today! lol)
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Lol, put it down and have a rest, youve got 11 months...
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Post by: Fallen_Veteran
The robes are absolutely inspiring!
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Post by: CalgarsPimpHand
Absolutely fantastic, I'm truly inspired! I need to start working on my blending and NMM after seeing this.
By the way, I know the model is done, but I have to echo the earlier comments about the forehead gem. It looks unfinished as-is. I look at it and it's begging to be painted blue, or any color but orange, given the composition/pose of the figure.
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
CalgarsPimpHand wrote:Absolutely fantastic, I'm truly inspired! I need to start working on my blending and NMM after seeing this.
By the way, I know the model is done, but I have to echo the earlier comments about the forehead gem. It looks unfinished as-is. I look at it and it's begging to be painted blue, or any color but orange, given the composition/pose of the figure.
Explain NMM Painting?
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Post by: finnan
me? er... there's no NMM on him (>shameful admission< mostly because I don't quite get NMM... I mean, I understand how it's done, and I kinda like it when I see it, but unless you had a reference picture in front of you to show the light source and the reflections, I just have this feeling that it'd go horribly wrong. And I like the metallic paints.)
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Post by: Nira
Will your Eldar marry me? Cause they stole my heart  
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Post by: finnan
aww, bless you Nira - yes, they're single!
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Post by: djphranq
You have some great stuff! I like the freehand stuff. The painting in general I love. The progress shots are cool.
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
I think people have started calling the "crystal" sword technique nmm, not sure though.
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Post by: finnan
I guess it's the same technique, just with different colours - it's all about the blending and placement of shadows/highlights I suppose
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Post by: kitch102
I really cant wait to see this scheme on vehicles!
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Post by: KoganStyle
Spent the last 2 days at work looking through every page of this blog. Incredible doesn't even begin to describe it! My Missus' is a teacher too, and I don't know how you manage to cram this standard of painting into the limited spare time teachers get but I'm glad you do!
Thanks for putting all your reciepes/tutorials on here, I now feel a lil more prepared to try out blending over drybrushing and I have a better appreciation of colours. Cheers man and keep up the outstanding work!
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Post by: Empchild
You have a lot of talent and I definatly think by this time next year if you keep at it and push your limits you will be a strong contender for Demons. Here's some advice (from one demon winner too a hopeful), I love the color choices all around and the contrast you are useing. Very important as you want the model too show out above the others, but.. and here's a big one; your armor should be a different color then the cloth as it makes them show up seperately and helps to define the model. Off hand a grey or white would work and then you could change up the chest too match the cloak what not, but you need something too help define it a little more. Otherwise all around amazing work and I look forward too competing against you someday as you have a lot of talent.
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
I like the blades a lot more now that you've finished them. They look great - as does the whole model. Though I feel like his face is lacking a little. Not quite sure what it is, but I think maybe it's that the eyes seem a bit dull to me? I like that orange gem on his forehead though! The gems in general are great. What if his eye was more gem like?
Also, if you're going for requests on what's next... I really loved your wardancers. So more of that would be super fun. But I've done my share of LotR models and I would love to see your take on those as well!
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Post by: finnan
bugger. See,now I don't know what to do. I deliberately didn't highlight the armour with greys and white because I thought that would be too obvious, and wouldn't be too different, but now the [more experienced] advice is to do just that. If I want to be a serious contender, I feel as if I have to take that advice on board and change the 'seer. But the thing is, I don't want to... which makes me sound petulant at best, arrogant and unwilling to learn at worst : (
(I also was reluctant to highlight with whites as I'm a little over the GW highlight-with-white-so-the-model-looks-too-pastely technique...)
I'm away from home this week, so I think I'll take some time to think, and have a look at the 'seer with fresher eyes when I get back.
I agree about the eyes though, and I wondered about changing them before I took the final shots - an easy fix to make that one. Green would certainly stand out, but so would a nice, bright blue...
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Green all the way!
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
I think blue eyes could look quite cool. Green too really.
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Post by: MakeH
I think the soft orange is just beautiful. Seeing pieces like this really tell me I need to level up my blending skills
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Post by: finnan
spent a little bit of time tonight doing some painting work - amid the fireworks, so I'm not convinced I was concentrating all that well! lol
Eyes redone on the Farseer, and I was working on the robes of Cirdan. I wasn't terribly happy with the shots of Cirdan, so I'm going to have a look at him tomorrow in natural light - the blending just wasn't working in the shots, so I want to check them. With such a simple miniature, everything is going to have to be flawless on him.
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
if I painted as good as your worst, I would be pretty damn proud of myself honestly! LOLZ
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Post by: finnan
lol thanks Cutthroat ; )
I redid Cirdan's robe this morning - I was trying to resist doing my usual wash and highlight technique as I seem to be going over the wash these days anyway, but I sucumbed. Base of Necron Abyss (boy, am I pretty much over Necrons already! Bring on the new Craftword Eldar stuff! lol [yes, I know it's probably going to be a while, but a boy can dream]), then a wash of Asurman blue. Then a 1:1 mix of Necron and Hawks as the first highlight, then pure Hawks, then a 1:1 mix of Hawks and Scorpion Green.
The LotR models are kinda tricky - the creases in their robes are so deep and sharp, it's hard to do smooth blends. Also, Cirdan is a to photograph! After many tries, I got a doable shot - a bit shiny for my liking, but you get the idea. Skin, eyes and hair just blocked in at the moment.
Automatically Appended Next Post: btw - I would quite like to go a bit lighter on his robe, but that's where I went wrong last time. Perhaps a MINIMAL highlight...
also, I want his clothing to reflect the fact he's Terleri and to be based on the sea. I based his robes on my favourite beach in Cornwall, the sea is an amazing turqouise there - google Perranporth adn you'll see what I mean : )
I'm thinking of doing his cloak a deep blue/grey...
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Post by: EirÃkr
Just a heads up;
CÃrdan is one of the few recorded Elves to have a beard. It is an important part of his figure, IMHO, given that it most likely stems from his absolutely infinite age within Tolkien's writings.
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Post by: finnan
yeah, I know about the beard... sadly, Cirdan was beardless in the films (although I think he only actually appears onscreen once... could be wrong), and that's what the mini is based on. Maybe I could paint on a 5 o'clock shadow? : )
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Well it is no shave November!
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Post by: Hangfire
Hello Finnan,
I spent a small fortune in GW at the weekend with the release of more Finecast Eldar. Noticeably Harlequins.... are you tempted at all? I imagine you'd do those models proud.
With regards to your farseer, I don't know why but my eye is constantly drawn to the pouch, which I think is purple. There's something not quite right about it, IMHO. I wouldn't normally say anything but you're after perfection. As always, that could just be me.
Regards
Hang.
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Post by: InventionThirteen
Fantastic work on the farseer! Very inspirational.
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Post by: LunaHound
I think if his blades are red instead of blue, it'll be way better :<
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Post by: Ovion
I thnk if they were red they'd get lost in the rest of the model
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Post by: AndyMcmahon
Some very well painted minis like all of them 2 thumbs up mate
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Ovion wrote:I thnk if they were red they'd get lost in the rest of the model
I 100% agree, the Blue shimmer makes them really pop.
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Post by: finnan
I got some of the Harlequins a loonnnnnnngggggg time ago 'fire, adn they've kinda been sitting, staring at me ever since. I only did the shadowseer... my excuse being that I wanted to wait until I could do them justice. I think you're right, I could certainly give them a better go now than when I got them, although I'm not all that confident of my ability to do straight lines for the patterning! lol
The puch is purple on the 'seer, but tbh, it shows up a lot more on the shot than it does in the flesh - I dodn't really want it to stand out too much...
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Post by: InventionThirteen
finnan wrote:I got some of the Harlequins a loonnnnnnngggggg time ago 'fire, adn they've kinda been sitting, staring at me ever since. I only did the shadowseer... my excuse being that I wanted to wait until I could do them justice. I think you're right, I could certainly give them a better go now than when I got them, although I'm not all that confident of my ability to do straight lines for the patterning! lol
The puch is purple on the 'seer, but tbh, it shows up a lot more on the shot than it does in the flesh - I dodn't really want it to stand out too much...
Amen. My harlequins hate me I'm sure! Found out they were to be in the dark eldar codex, grab two sets of them. Can't actually bring myself to paint them (send in the clowns) and they just stare at me in all their metal glory while I get around to painting fifty or so hellions.
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Hey man wanted you to know I threw you a shout out on my P&M for all the techniques I have -Cough Cough- borrowed from you! Thanks!
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Post by: finnan
: ) you're always welcome Cutthroat
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Post by: Capitansolstice
Holy cow, some amazing work here!
I love that avatar!, can we see it on its plinth?
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Post by: finnan
sadly the Avatar is still in pieces... I will repair him at some point, but I'm still smarting from Games Day when he disintegrated!
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
I really like the Farseer even more with those blue eyes. I think that works well. Cool work on the LotR elf too.
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Post by: kitch102
One more time, can't wait to see this scheme on vehicles! *hint hint*...
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Post by: finnan
lol vehicle is the one category that I haven't actually decided what I want to do - *obviously* it's going to be Eldar, 'cos I loves me some Eldar, but which one? I quite like the Fire Prism, the Hornet is just cute and cool, and the Shadow Hunter rocks... dunno. But yes, I agree, the grey, red and yellow would look quite good. I'm also thinking of using that colour scheme on my Wraithseer and maybe my Revenant...
... no posts for a little while as I haven't done much painting of late - got my copy of Skyrim and that's taking my attention away from painting! lol
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
So what you are telling me is that you are now dead to us! We lost a good painter on this day!
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Post by: Dark_Gear
What you said about Skyrim is exactly why I'm not getting it until the Tournament on November 26th has come and gone. Otherwise I know I'll have even less of chance to meet my painting goals. Can't wait...
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Post by: finnan
it's brilliant! Loving it. (a little buggy in places, but I can deal with it. Killing my first dragon solo was an utter blast).
Never fear, I'm not totally lost to you!
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Post by: kitch102
My vote goes on the fire prism, or something with a big chassis in the least. feth it, get one of each and have 'em completed on my desk by 9am tomorrow morning
I'm the same, had planned to finish a few bits off last night with my DE but nooooo, Skyrim caught me again  but it's so gooooood
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Post by: finnan
Yes, Skyrim is UTTERLY brilliant, but I've managed to tear myself away to do some hobby work - this Golden Demon won't win itself! No painting done, but a but of converting and building:
Wardancer standard bearer done. It's okay, the spear might be a bit long, but I'm going to have to live with that.
Banner started for my Grey Knights - it's a Rhino door from Forgeworld, and I've just taken the rest of the door off, and I'll shove it on a pole or something. Still got some cleaning up to do, but it's getting there.
Wraithseer - still very much a work in progress, but you can see the basic idea. Arms not stuck on yet, just blu-takked so I could get the hand positions. Head also just takked on. Holo-fins and D-cannon to come, plus plates and various ribbons. I've ordered a sweet Necron-type base for him to be on, and I'm going to put some dismembered 'crons littered around him. As my beloved said "This is how Eldar do robots!"
Now, back to Skyrim...
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
I love that halbred!
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Post by: Ogryn
Simply amazing models. Not sure there is much to do for you to be ready for Golden Demon.
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Post by: finnan
except paint them and then get them there without them falling apart! lol
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Post by: finnan
clearly, being the professional that I am, I didn't totally ignore my class yesterday and work out colour schemes for my Wraithseer... no, I didn't. Not at all. No siree.
Well, maybe a little.
I'm thinking yellow and dark grey to fit in with the Farseer and the rest of my Eldar, and I'm also thinking that the grey would be highlighted with red like on the Farseer. I'm liking the top version at the moment, it just seems to have more impact.
I've loaned Skyrim to a friend for the weekend, so I may actualy get some work done on some models!
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Loaning is the first step, I am proud of you! Also I am having a hard time visualizing the color scheme but have no doubt it will look awesome, but will it match the rest of your Eldar?
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Post by: A Kvlt Ghost
That farseer is stunning. What's your red recipe? It looks really rich.
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Post by: finnan
(i've discovered that if you click on the image, you get a bigger version, it's a bit clearer then)
... but yes, it'll match the rest of my Eldar. On the sketch, the dark areas will be grey with red highlights on the seer, and everything else will be yellow (apart from the chest where there's some wraithbone type runes, kind of like on the Farseer)
The Rich Red: basecoat with Charadon Granite, and wash with Badab Black. Then, only onteh higher points (so leaving some black and greay), highlight with Scab Red, then Blood Red (but fairly minimally) and the a final tiny hint of Blazing Orange.
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Post by: finnan
so, Skyrim being absent from my life really does increase my productivity - I've gotten the majority of the Necrobase done (god, I love the sound of that - it sounds like a toy from the 80s: "Transform the Necrobase!" "Yes, Lord Megatron!"), although I have to put some flock in strategic places right at the end. Also, introducing Stumpy the Necron! This poor critter has had his hands and legs chopped off by my nasty Wraithseer, and will be crawling around on the base at his feet... the plan is to have his wrists and pelvis glowing white-hot where the blade has cut him. We'll see how it goes.
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
"Dude where are my legs?"
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Post by: finnan
sweet!
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Post by: bunnygurl
That base is stunning.
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Post by: medabee
^^What she said.
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Post by: prime12357
Aww, Poor 'cron....
The base looks really good, though I think that the transition between the greens in the cracks in the floor could use a little bit more blending together.
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Post by: finnan
I agree Prime - I wanted the base done on Sunday, so I rushed it a little, and the light was a little rubbish (... actually, no, it wasn't, I just have too much crap on my desk to get to the light - note to self: tidy up!). I know it's said all the time, and by me as well, but it's amazing how a photo can show up mistakes/unfinished bits when our eyes tell us it's all done!
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Post by: prime12357
I always hate photographing my models because of that, though seeing one's mistakes is the first step on the path to fixing them 
How are you going to approach the details on our poor legless friend? Will they be green to match the base?
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Post by: finnan
I'm thinking green, yes - can't go too far wrong with classic Necron colour schemes, although I do like the shot on the box where his eye's orange. I'll probably stick to Green because it'll contrast with the colour scheme for the Wraithseer - if I went for orange, it might be a bit similar.
I'm also wondering about using some water effects to have some spinal fluid leaking out of poor old Stumpy...
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Post by: prime12357
Though a green scheme might blend in a little too well with the base, though I guess that's the point, no? I love the idea of "blood" for Stumpy, I think that it'll help blend him into the base more, as well as impart more life into him.
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Post by: finnan
I was thinking that I'd mix some nice bright green in with the water effect, so it stands out.
He's mostly going to be metallic, with glowing hot bits, so he should stand out... but yeah, I don't really want him to be the main focus
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
I think the idea of maybe some part of stumpy having molten melting metal dripping off may had a very special touch to the model.
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Post by: NakedBatBoy
I love necrons and love the progress you've done so far. Excited for more!
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Post by: finnan
progress has been made, I just haven't gotten around to taking any shots yet... excuses: it's end of term and it's mayhem (excusometer = pitiful); I'm kind of entering hibernation mode and go to bed as soon as is humanly possible (excusometer = that's just laziness).
Stumpy is done and on the base - I'm kinda happy with him; the hot bits look okay, and he's got some fluid dripping out of his spine... it's okay - to be honest, I want the main attention to be on the Wraithseer, not on him! I've made a vague start on the W'seer and basecoated the bits that will be yellow in orange - I'm going to try and avoid the wash technique as it's a bit blotchy.
Shots will be taken tomorrow or Sunday, and I'll post them
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
I know exactly what you mean, 23 credit hours this last semester and finals were to say the least!
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Post by: finnan
here's Stumpy : )
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Post by: A Kvlt Ghost
Never would have thought of using charadon granite as a basecoat for red.... I'll have to try it, cheers for the tip!
That base is looking amazing, love the sliced up 'cron. He looks really annoyed.
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Post by: prime12357
Stumpy looks really cool, although I think that the glowing metal could be a bit brighter, it looks a little dull now. The ichor leaking out of his spine tubes is perfect.
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Post by: Capitansolstice
prime12357 wrote:Stumpy looks really cool, although I think that the glowing metal could be a bit brighter, it looks a little dull now. The ichor leaking out of his spine tubes is perfect.[/quote
and If you are an OSL kind of person, that would look neat too
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Post by: mekbadzappa
I love the glow effect on the base, its amazing and I like the leaking green ooz from the necrons looks sick.
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Post by: finnan
as ever, thanks for the positive comments : )
I'll probably go in an retouch his stumps (sounds very wrong...) when everything else is done - I agree that the hot bits could be hotter. What I didn't really anticipate was that his hand stimps are TINY, and it was pretty tricky doing a blend in that amount of space. Of course, the one I thought I did best on you now can't really see because he's leaning on it! lol
I'd also quite like to go back and redo his eye again...
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Post by: finnan
so, after a trip up to Edinburgh to see The Beloved for Christmas, back home and some work done on the Wraithseer:
- holofins: just the yellow and the stripes, although I can see that there are a couple of bits where I need to smooth out the blending. Grey just blocked in so far, so it's looking pretty rough.
- head: only the faceplate done, so a lot of work to do. This is actually the second attempt - I did the basecoat too dark on the first try and the yellow wasn't standing out enough, so here we go.
- body and legs: torso plate, kneepads and shins done. Again, what grey there is is just blocked in so it needs a few more layers on it before it's ready for highlighting.
What I've done: I wanted to avoid blotchiness, so I'm avoiding washes as much as I can, so a basecoat of blazing orange and then highlighted up to golden yellow in my usual technique of many, many thin layers. The only wash I've used is on the various gems where I want a deeper colour.
A long way to go, but it's going fairly well! The plan is to do the chestrune in a bone colour to match the Farseer, but I'm kinda tempted to do it yellow now... not sure... enjoy : )
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(those are both holofins btw, not the different sides of just one... )
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Post by: S'jet
Your blending is awesome. And such clean colour.
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Post by: finnan
progress on the legs - both thighs done, and one hip plate done and stuck on. Also some of the gems done, but not all of them. Grey blocked in, the next step there will to give it a wash of black, then start highlighting with the red. It's all going fairly well so far
(I'll obviously see something I need to tidy up as soon as I post these... lol)
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Post by: lipsdapips
Wow that looks great! Your orange blends never fail to impress (:
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Post by: nerdfest09
Amazingly patient you must be! but it's well worth the wait to see quality such as that painstaking blending done! i'm getting a strong anime vibe at the moment from him but i'm sure once the red goes on with the black shading it'll change yet again into more beauty! I really do enjoy seeing your progress with your models it's always something draw droppingly good!
NF09
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Loving the Color!
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Post by: finnan
progress on the Wraithseer - actually this has been done for a few days, I just haven't taken any shots of it. Ive been SHATTERED after work, so I haven't done much in the evenings this week.
The legs are pretty much done, but I'll probably go in and do a little bit more work on the gems, probably a final highlight. I've also put in the first highlight of red over the grey, but it doesn't come out too strongly in the shots - it's much more noticeable in the flesh. Also got the grey blocked in on the head, and a red highlight on the holofins. I can see where I need to tidy up on the head, and the fin is a classic example of the washes drying with a noticable tide-line, so I'll have to go over that with some more Charadon Granite.
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Post by: rowenamosgallant
If I could have one wish it would be to either:
A) Put an end to cancer
B) Be able to blend like you
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Post by: finnan
I don't know if I'd waste your wish on my painting ; )
blending: have a good, solid base colour that's a contrast to your highlight colour (doesn't even have to be a high contrast - the higher the contrast the harder the work will be). Thin your highlight colour down. A lot. I generally water it down 1:3, 1:4 paint:water. Basically, you're thinning out the pigment, and with more water it spreads more evenly and evaporates quicker. LOTS of layers. Time consuming and a bit dull, yes, but that's what playlists and dvds are for : )
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Post by: lipsdapips
SMOOTHEST THING I'VE SEEN IN MY LIFE (except for maybe Knightleys works ;P)
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Post by: funkyh
I can't wait to start my Eldar. I will be referencing this thread more and more. AMAZING work finnan!
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Post by: Matt.Kingsley
that looks great!
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Post by: D.Smith
Just amazing.... I'd be tempted to compete with you by starting to paint my wraithseer i dont htink id match you though
This was part of the inspiration behind starting my Pheonix lord and going for the best paint job i can produce.
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Post by: finnan
thank you so much for the positive comments guys, they're very much appreciated, even if I'm not convinced that I deserve them! (on the shots, I just see the stuff that I need to correct and tidy up!)
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Post by: funkyh
finnan wrote:thank you so much for the positive comments guys, they're very much appreciated, even if I'm not convinced that I deserve them! (on the shots, I just see the stuff that I need to correct and tidy up!)
As an artist, the best advice I can give is to just step back appreciate it.
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
I think all will agree we would not have stayed here for 29 pages if you were not super talented!
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Post by: Lorna
As always your orange is flawless.
I have the same problem with my painting, it's not the same quality as yours, but if you step away and do something else and come back to it afterwards, you can see it better.
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Post by: Valkyrie
Wonderful work, can't wait to see more!
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Post by: finnan
well, I have nothing planned for the weekend really, so I wnt to get on with some painting - got the various bits of tidying up to do, and then onwards with the red highlighting. At the moment I'm debating whether to do an additional highlight with Blood Red (like I did on the Farseer), or whether to leave it quite subtle and knocked back - I like the contrast between the yellow and the dark grey and wouldn't want to loose too much of it by bringing out too much of the red...
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
I really like it as is~
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Post by: Tortured-Robot
The Wraithseer is starting to look fantastic!
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Post by: finnan
so the Wraithseer is getting there - legs and body done, and the holo fins stuck on. Not looking too bad, and as you know, I rarely give myself too much credit!
next: arms and spear; once they're done and attached, I can get the shoulder pads done and then it's just the d-cannon left : )
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(oh, and, of course, got all the gems on the body to do... I do love Eldar minis, but all those bloody gems!!)
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Post by: Tortured-Robot
Coming on great, whats the thought behind the odd stance? for some reason it looks very female.
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Post by: weetyskemian44
Maybe its the heaving bosoms. It's got that hourglass figure!
It's also damn well painted.
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Post by: Tortured-Robot
Haha, you maybe right, confused by Robot Eldar boobs... the shame.
I echo the damny wellyness of the painting.
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Post by: finnan
I used this image as a reference, so I guess feminine is a compliment! I looked for quite a long time for staff/spear fighing stances to use, and decided on this as it was elegant, but very strong at the same time. Couldn't replicate it as well as I would like, as I couldn't get the spear totally vertical, and could only swing the left foot/leg around so much. I should be able to push it a little closer to a right angle when I glue it onto the final base... you get the idea. One of the problems with a lot fo the images I found was that the stance had the fighter's feet really quite wide apart, which wouldn't let me fit it on a standard base.
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Post by: Tortured-Robot
Yea, this actually makes sense keep at it, it'll look great!
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
I like where you are going with the stance and battle position!
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Post by: MajorTom11
Well painted is obvious, but just as importantly, very creative and well designed! Very nice scheme and original scheme and layout, you made a lot of really good decisions if you ask me!
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Post by: Casey's Law
Not sure if i have ever checked in before but i've been watching your blog for a long time and i love it. I thought you'd want to know . I mean, you've got loads of supporters but one more can't hurt.
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Post by: finnan
as ever, thank you very mcuh for the positive comments, they shall see me through today as I've been struck down with Man Flu!
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Man FLU, more tough then your regular flu!
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Post by: Knightley
You know why they call it man flu?
Because only a Man could survive it.
Cancer can get man flu that's how potent it is..
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Post by: Lorna
Man flu i like a cancerous leprosy of the posterior. It also has some ebola mixed in for good measure.
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Post by: finnan
it's almost as bad as when you cut yourself shaving.
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Post by: Capitansolstice
finnan wrote:it's almost as bed as when you cut yourself shaving.
Smooth!
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Post by: finnan
progress: most of the arms done, but a few bits of cleaning up and tidying to do. I also want to do some further highlighting on the shield runes. But the arms are now stuck on, as is the head, so the shoulder pads can go on now, and then it's just the weapons to go : )
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Post by: Capitansolstice
That is sweet fin
I love the pose
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Post by: J-paint
Looking through this i'm just in awe of the orange you manage to achieve, its absolutely perfect, the pose too, subscribed. =]
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Post by: rowenamosgallant
Just amazing! The only problem is that when I see it, I have this overwhelming urge to swat it with a rolled up news-paper.
I just hate wasps...
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Post by: gilljoy
your work is absolutely fantastic. Love the colour of your eldar seriously considering stealing that scheme.
I'm guessing your using glazing to get the blends so smooth? I wish I could paint that way its fantastic
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Post by: Swordwind
As usual mate, your orange is top notch.
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Post by: Krellnus
Sweet pose, fantastic orange, great as always
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Post by: Thatguy91
Absolutely Superb work! Makes me want to start an Eldar army of my own! great stuff! +1
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
You make Orange look easy, and I know it's not lolz
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Post by: Norn King
That orange is insane! Subbed!
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Post by: finnan
So I've been off for the last week on half term, but I lived up to the teacher urban myth that as soon as I have some time off I get a hideous cold. So what with the sneezing and feeling generally rubbish, not too much painting has been done, but a little bit of progress done on the 'seer. Everything stuck on, so it's just the weapons and finishing touches to go : )
I think I'm still liking it... lol I think i've got a little bit of project-fatigue... and I think I just want to do something else, but still, not much left to do now - enjoy!
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Post by: logg_frogg
Your orange is incredibly smooth, Very impressive!
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Post by: finnan
So, it's been a while since my last post - term time is never really a great time for painting as I'm generally wiped out after work and can't summon up enough concentration of enthusiasm to paint. I also kinda lost my mojo for a while as well and lost interest a bit, but now I'm back!
It's the holidays, so I can get some painting done. After spending a week with the Beloved and getting enthused again - and throwing my back out in the process - I've done a little work in the last few days. I'm leaving the Wraithseer alone for the moment, even though I've only got the blade and touch-ups left to do - I want to warm up a bit first.
First up: Bonesinger. As you can see, I stripped him and started again. Now that I've discovered my Craftworld colours, I thought it'd be good to do him in those. Most of the the robe done, and the under-robe too, although I think I'd like to go a bit lighter on it, and there's a bit of tidying up to do as well. I blocked in the armour too, just to show the contrast with the colours - he'll work pretty well with my Farseer, but has his own style too. I have no idea what colour to do his sash... my initial thoughts are blue, but I almost want to stay away from that as it'll be a bit too bright, so perhaps red to reinforce the overall scheme... thoughts? (I plan on entering him for the GW store painting competition...)
Second: (also for the store competition) The Changeling... basically so I can show off my blending and go to town with blues, turquoises and greens. Only really made a start on the top bit of the robes, and I was getting tired, so the blending was getting a bit scruffy - I'll go over that tomorrow.
Last, just for a laugh: Incubi - I wanted to have a play around with metallic armour, and this is what happened - not too bad for a quick muck around. Not finished yet - have his helm to highlight up to white, the weapon, fabric and trophies to do yet.
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Post by: Lorna
Looking good man. The changling should also be really sweet, your style will work particularly well on it's cloak. Metallic armour looks pretty nice as well.
Bonesinger, looks sweet in orange, mind you everything you do in orange looks sweeeeeeet.
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Post by: Cutthroatcure
Can't wait to see some more work!
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