Welcome all to the 51st round of the Unofficial Painting challenge. For those who haven't seen the challenge before, it is a community-focused friendly competition open to anyone on the site, regardless of your skill level or experience. Every round contributes towards a League table, which ultimately means nothing but is a lot of fun to keep an eye on and jockey for position with Dakka's other painters.
This month, the theme is To The Death. We're looking for the most stalwart warriors, the most selfless defenders, the most tenacious survivors from your collections. Those who will never run from a battle, and die on their feet when the time comes.
How To Enter
- You may enter up to 5 MODELS as a SINGLE ENTRY, and are permitted one entry per member per month. If you enter multiple models, they should ideally be related in some way, such as part of the same squad, unit or scene if you are doing a diorama
- You MUST post a 'proof' picture of your entry in the thread of the state it was in before you started working on it; this must be either unassembled, unpainted, primed or coated a single colour. Entries that do not submit a valid Proof Picture will not be eligible for voting.
- After this, you may post WIP pictures in this thread and your own if you wish, and on completing the entry, you may post up to 6 final pictures IN THIS THREAD that will then be used for voting. Please note that pictures in a montage or collage picture will be considered individual images for this purpose, so while these types of presentation are certainly acceptable, please keep the image limit in mind when compiling them. For example, a collage of 5 images and one separate image would count as your 6 picture allowance.
So What Do I Win?
- Points... and points mean... bragging rights for the next month! Following the vote, points will be awarded to every entrant. This year, the Points you receive will be equal to the Percentage of Votes your entry receives in the final Voting thread; if you get 10%, you get 10 points, if you get 6% you get 6 points, so on and so forth.
These points will be used to form a league table, which will be updated month on month as the results come in.
How Long Do I Have?
This challenge begins 1st of May and will end at midnight UK time on the 31st of May. After this, I shall compile the finished entries into a new thread, and voting will run for 5 days.
I've put basically 0 hobby time in over the last month or so; maybe giving this a go will be a little motivation...
Proof pics from my plog, a couple of weeks old but hopefully that's alright:
Spoiler:
I think terminators are pretty fitting for the 'to the death theme'. Definitely the most indomitable and steadfast of the astartes.
I am excited to paint this guy. Some fun details and I plan to try some OSL, but that may not actually be in the final paintjob depends on how it turns out
Proof pic. All Carnevale miniatures from the Guild faction. Left to right we have Rialto Assassin, Prince of Thieves and a Baroni. Hope to get all three done so wish me luck
And here's the first of probably many WIP pics. I tend to go for an inside out approach with base coating so start with skin then clothes then any accessories this way I can touch up the areas I accidentally catch as I go.
Loads of brown to do next for the leather then pallid Wych flesh for the shirts.
Nice. Are those plastic or resin? I enjoyed the Carnevale minis a lot back when they were in metal, but didn't really follow the rerelease. Those minis are so cool though, might have to give the range another look.
I'm starting abaddon this month regardless of if he is suitable for this or not. Hopefully he is. Forgot to take a proof in my rush this evening. Hopefully this photo is still acceptable.
I hear that if you have this thing called "money", it can be exchanged for goods and/or services!
lol. Interesting, thanks for that mate, what kind of tree / plant does it grow from btw?, or is it like potatoes and you dig it out of the earth.
Storm.
I hear that if you have this thing called "money", it can be exchanged for goods and/or services!
lol. Interesting, thanks for that mate, what kind of tree / plant does it grow from btw?, or is it like potatoes and you dig it out of the earth.
Storm.
I hear there are some deposits of a metallic substance underground that is quite valuable in your neck of the woods.
I hear that if you have this thing called "money", it can be exchanged for goods and/or services!
lol. Interesting, thanks for that mate, what kind of tree / plant does it grow from btw?, or is it like potatoes and you dig it out of the earth.
Storm.
I hear there are some deposits of a metallic substance underground that is quite valuable in your neck of the woods.
Oceans probably have just as much or more with the volcanic vents underwater, but yeah volcanic areas probably have potentional hold large amounts if you can figure out how to get it.
But every country has gold so i duno.
ACtualy - If you swam down a volcano following the lava trail, would you eventaully get to the earths core? Or what about the hot pools, man i wonder....
edit - Just realised i have an fixation on lava and volanoes.
Good Luck everyone.... with the Previous Metals and gems extraction as well as with the painting challenge.
For my entry I knew I had to do this when it came on to this topic
My proof for a a scene with a Savage Orc Boss v a Dwarf Dragon slayer, both will very easily fight to the death and the pose of the models really makes it seem like its going to be a brutal clash. I thought up this idea about 2 1/2 years ago and bought the model about 2 yrs ago just been waiting for a good topic/reason to do it
Paradigm wrote: Nice. Are those plastic or resin? I enjoyed the Carnevale minis a lot back when they were in metal, but didn't really follow the rerelease. Those minis are so cool though, might have to give the range another look.
All resin for the new range. The 2 player starter set is all one piece casts but everything else is multi part and the detail is great all round.
I hear that if you have this thing called "money", it can be exchanged for goods and/or services!
lol. Interesting, thanks for that mate, what kind of tree / plant does it grow from btw?, or is it like potatoes and you dig it out of the earth.
Storm.
From what I hear, it's some sort of shrub called Labour, to which you nourish with your sweat, blood and tears. The fruits it bears should yield in some approximation either directly money, or be suitable to trade for money.
I'm needing to get some Ravenwing stuff painted, so why not throw in some of my Black Knights for this month? They are grizzled veterans who fight to the death to bring the Fallen to justice.
About 20 years ago I had an idea for a diorama. It’s going to happen this month!!! The figures have been in a little plastic drawer in the garage waiting for me to get my act together.
And I get to paint another avatar!
A chess match to the death, between two mortal enemies!
I've made quite a bit of headroom this evening. Some WIP shots of my highly inefficient - but more instantly gratifying - way of painting; one bit at a time. I have no idea why I left so many sub-assemblies. I probably just forgot to glue to torso to the legs before priming...
I also did a little last minute greenstuff work; wasn't happy with the way it was looking without a little extra detail:
My problem is, when I decide to paint something...I prime it and paint it, often within a day...so I never ever plan ahead for this thread. If it happens to be up when I'm priming something I'll remember. If not - it's hopeless.
Thanks Chirs, Yeah both models have a good pose showing lots of forward movement and with a very limited conversion I'm hoping I can try a focus on the painting
Looking forward to seeing a 20 year diorama in the making Tikay Fortooun, this challenge does push you to do those sort of things
That weathering looks really good so far shmvo
Always nice to see any entry form you Elbows
That looks like its going to be an epic scene Slave, hope you do get it finished
Last month was my first entry, largely due to having just bought the right models at the right time to fit the theme - I'll have to ponder whether I want to enter something in this one.
For one thing, I'm partway through building three Wraithknights, but I don't know whether I want to rush to get one finished for the sake of posting here. I'll have a think...
Got most of the base coats down today, just metallics left then onto washes. Changed my mind on prince of thieves and baronis cloaks, they are going to be black inside red outside in contrast to the Rialto's black outside red inside.
I'm going to say that the traitor guard of the Abyss, beholden to Mallex, would fight to the death on the basis that the alternative would be so much worse...
jeez...I seem to have kinda completely forgotten about last month ...I think I just spent most of my hobby time last month catching up on building a bunch of models I had sitting around on sprue...loads of poxwalkers, some plague marines, couple of boxes of blightlord terminators, 20 tactical marines, 5 pyroclasts and 5 firedrakes...I started working on a 30k Salamanders army about 2 years ago (some of you may remember my Primarch Vulkan and Bray'arth Ashmantle dreadnought that I entered in this back then)...but that's all been pretty thoroughly benched for about 2 years now, and I've recently decided to get back into it...now, I would love a convenient theme that would let me paint my shiny new Sicaran Arcus tank, but, aside from bombing the enemies "to the death" with inordinate amounts of missiles...I feel it's a bit of a stretch ...however, I did just peel away the 2 year layer of dust off this chap...he's already effectively fought to the death once, and now he's back to do it again
(annoyingly, it appears I gave him a bit of a spritz with some green ages ago...I mean, I'll most likely wind up painting over all of it anyway by the time it's done...and actually, we're a good 4 days into this round anyway, so who cares? )
Got a fair bit done today, pretty much just highlights left to do now so I should be ok for time . Feedback is very much welcome if anyone has any suggestions on where to improve.
Going for a Howling Banshee Exarch, as some Eldar who tread the Path of the Warrior can never shed their mask of war and become Exarchs, trapped in their way of war until death releases them into the infinity circuit.
I've managed to.get most of the colours blocked in. Mostly boots and metallics left to go, but also skin and some twiddly straps.and stuff. Hopefully I won't treat this month like previous ones where there is a rush of good early progress, I sit on the things for 2.weeks then a bit of a rush at the end
Not sure what I'll do for this one, I'm getting a start collecting chaos box so I could do a hellbrute, but there's already a bunch of dreads. Might do nothing, as the rest of the month is taken up with uni exams and I haven't started revising, so if I want to pass I'm not going to have much time.
Some WIP shots of Abby. I've been putting in late ones hoping he'd be ready for fest this weekend, but the fates have conspired and its not to be, so Mortarion is taking his place for my 40k single entry. I'm hoping to get him finished for this month though
So, not a great idea to be following on from queen_annes_revenge, but I've finished my entry; Commissar Annaka Sage, ready to ensure my Tallarn fight to the death!
queen_annes_revenge wrote: Some WIP shots of Abby. I've been putting in late ones hoping he'd be ready for fest this weekend, but the fates have conspired and its not to be, so Mortarion is taking his place for my 40k single entry. I'm hoping to get him finished for this month though
I know my painting isn't up to the standard of much I've seen posted on the site, but I'm really proud of this and count it as a personal best so thought I'd enter it into the competition for fun!
I've been posting my progress in my P&M Blogs thread, so hopefully that's ok for proof. I didn't take any photos prior to assembly though. The Redemptor was straight out the box, and the Tyranid Warrior was an old one that I'd built years ago, but had never painted, only primed, hope this still qualifies.
queen_annes_revenge wrote: Some WIP shots of Abby. I've been putting in late ones hoping he'd be ready for fest this weekend, but the fates have conspired and its not to be, so Mortarion is taking his place for my 40k single entry. I'm hoping to get him finished for this month though
The lettering on that cape is legit!
Thanks! I'm pretty happy how it came out. I love old English blackletter, and this is an improvement on my last attempt on Lokens cloak. It took me about an hour to finish the banner part with lettering.
@Aash - The posing on the finished piece is way better than the starting point. Nicely tweaked. Nice paint job too. Nice and clean. Welcome to the monthly grind
I'm not sure if I'll end up having time, but if I do then I'll be giving the new Éowyn and Merry model a go. Might do the foot versions too, but for now here's a proof of the mounted variant.
Given they shout "Death!" before charging to their likely deaths on the Pelennor Fields, and they are the only combatants to stand up to the Witch-King in battle it seems fitting.
Jamie Shred wrote: Any suggestions for what to do with the back of this guy's cloak? I have never worked on such a flat cloak, there are no creases at all to work with.
If you do weathering, a little dirt on the hem could help break it up.
If you don’t do weathering, a line of trim/embroidery near the edge would help define it.
If you like freehand, or have a suitable decal, a crest or emblem in the center would be very appropriate. Here the big flat nature would make it a lot easier, then say getting a decal to set right or to freehand amidst the creases.
Thanks for the ideas Nevelon I'm pretty confident I could free hand a trim and the guild symbol did cross my mind as I've just picked up some micron pens. There are quite a few parts to the logo so it will be tricky but I suppose I can just paint red over it if it doesn't come out well.
I got hopelessly and hilariously sidetracked this month. I don’t think I have a hope in hell of finishing one in time.
My first plan was a diorama if a mark 1 Avatar (the standard eldar sized figure) playing a Keeper if Secrets at Chess. It had bees in bits in my “to do” drawer for 20 odd years, but I didn’t like the head on the KoS- rotting bull’s head, which frankly looks better as a Nurgley thing, so I pulled the head off half way through the paint and started a scratch built GS head based on the Creature Cast Claw Beast.
The claw Beast pic here comes from eBay, someone commissioned it and is selling it there. It’s stunning, but very definitely not mine!
Then things went really badly wrong. I got 3 more avatar models through the post. Stripped them, and got carried away remodelling them into Phoenix Lords. I had so much fun re-posing that dude last month, I couldn’t help myself.
First draft of my entry for the month, I may change a few things but I'm pretty happy with how it's come together. Continuing my theme of trying to push the boat out a bit and try some new things, a more colourful entry than usual, building on some of the stuff I learned doing Theoden last month. I've always liked the Empire/Freeguild look but never really managed to pull it off convincingly, but I think with this one I've just about managed it. A fun one to paint, I might have to track down some more of the old WFB clampack characters (this one was tucked away at the back of a paint stand of all places, behind 2 basing kits and a template set... A lucky find! )
Paradigm wrote: First draft of my entry for the month, I may change a few things but I'm pretty happy with how it's come together. Continuing my theme of trying to push the boat out a bit and try some new things, a more colourful entry than usual, building on some of the stuff I learned doing Theoden last month. I've always liked the Empire/Freeguild look but never really managed to pull it off convincingly, but I think with this one I've just about managed it. A fun one to paint, I might have to track down some more of the old WFB clampack characters (this one was tucked away at the back of a paint stand of all places, behind 2 basing kits and a template set... A lucky find! )
As always, any thoughts welcome!
I love the cloak!! What paints/ technique did you use? I’m still trying to figure out how to paint cloaks.
I love the cloak!! What paints/ technique did you use? I’m still trying to figure out how to paint cloaks.
The cloak was done with various mixes of navy blue and very bright green, largely applied as washes over a white basecoat then highlighted up with increasing amounts of off-white and glazed to a blend for the sake of smoothness. Easily took as long as the rest of the mini put together, and nearly went horribly wrong at one point, but definitely worthwhile as it's come out really nicely, I think.
@Jamie: those look excellent! All I'd suggest is taking the red highlights a bit further, and seeing if you can do anything about the handful of areas on the cloaks that wash has pooled.
I love the cloak!! What paints/ technique did you use? I’m still trying to figure out how to paint cloaks.
The cloak was done with various mixes of navy blue and very bright green, largely applied as washes over a white basecoat then highlighted up with increasing amounts of off-white and glazed to a blend for the sake of smoothness. Easily took as long as the rest of the mini put together, and nearly went horribly wrong at one point, but definitely worthwhile as it's come out really nicely, I think.
@Jamie: those look excellent! All I'd suggest is taking the red highlights a bit further, and seeing if you can do anything about the handful of areas on the cloaks that wash has pooled.
Thanks Paradigm, l’ll try something like that next time I’m painting a cloak!!
queen_annes_revenge wrote: Some WIP shots of Abby. I've been putting in late ones hoping he'd be ready for fest this weekend, but the fates have conspired and its not to be, so Mortarion is taking his place for my 40k single entry. I'm hoping to get him finished for this month though
queen_annes_revenge wrote: Some WIP shots of Abby. I've been putting in late ones hoping he'd be ready for fest this weekend, but the fates have conspired and its not to be, so Mortarion is taking his place for my 40k single entry. I'm hoping to get him finished for this month though
Very nice, is that a decal on the back of cape?
And congratulations on the daemon awards.
No, freehand. Took me an hour just to do the scroll.
queen_annes_revenge wrote: Some WIP shots of Abby. I've been putting in late ones hoping he'd be ready for fest this weekend, but the fates have conspired and its not to be, so Mortarion is taking his place for my 40k single entry. I'm hoping to get him finished for this month though
Very nice, is that a decal on the back of cape?
And congratulations on the daemon awards.
No, freehand. Took me an hour just to do the scroll.
Thanks! It's a shame I've lost all motivation to finish the. Rest of him. Got really painting fatique after hammering out 4 demon entries since December. Going to have to force myself to finish him.
Right, so, half the month done and I've built some Wraithknights. I think it's pretty self-explanatory how they fit the theme, now I've given myself the best part of 3 weeks to get one painted up. Probably the chap in the middle with the suncannon. Even though it's a terrible choice in the current ruleset, I just think it looks really cool, and it's also the one of the three that I've most made my mind up about exactly how I'm going to paint it. Wish me luck...
queen_annes_revenge wrote: Thanks! It's a shame I've lost all motivation to finish the. Rest of him. Got really painting fatique after hammering out 4 demon entries since December. Going to have to force myself to finish him.
But but but, that's why you join the monthly compy isn't it? Come on QAR... get back in that saddle and put us all to shame
Haha, I'm just so sick of painting right now, so I spend a bunch of time procrastinating, kitbashing and staring at my bits box. Tonight I made a base for a duel entry, so next year I'll have the advantage of having had a whole year to prepare.. If I tried hard I could enter every category if I tried hard enough
Abby will be finished, theres only a few more bits need finishing now, and then I'll probably touch him up before entering him in next years contest.
Very cool idea Tikay Fortooun, hope you can get it done in time
Great work Para, nice to see you branching out, I remember the Eshers you did with some vivid colours on got lots of votes as well
Thats a lot of Wraithknights Bellerophon, you have positioned them is some very good dynamic poses.
Hope you get him done Queen Anne, I've been enjoying your entries the last few months
Small update form me
Mostly done the base and got the skin to where I'm happy with it on the dwarf, then realised that the beard covers most of the body anyway (no were near as good as queen annes flesh)
Very cool idea Tikay Fortooun, hope you can get it done in time
Great work Para, nice to see you branching out, I remember the Eshers you did with some vivid colours on got lots of votes as well
Thats a lot of Wraithknights Bellerophon, you have positioned them is some very good dynamic poses.
Hope you get him done Queen Anne, I've been enjoying your entries the last few months
Small update form me
Mostly done the base and got the skin to where I'm happy with it on the dwarf, then realised that the beard covers most of the body anyway (no were near as good as queen annes flesh)
Great looking base!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
queen_annes_revenge wrote: Haha, I'm just so sick of painting right now, so I spend a bunch of time procrastinating, kitbashing and staring at my bits box. Tonight I made a base for a duel entry, so next year I'll have the advantage of having had a whole year to prepare.. If I tried hard I could enter every category if I tried hard enough
Abby will be finished, theres only a few more bits need finishing now, and then I'll probably touch him up before entering him in next years contest.
You deserve a break, sit back for a while and admire all your hard and amazing work you have done!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Paradigm wrote: First draft of my entry for the month, I may change a few things but I'm pretty happy with how it's come together. Continuing my theme of trying to push the boat out a bit and try some new things, a more colourful entry than usual, building on some of the stuff I learned doing Theoden last month. I've always liked the Empire/Freeguild look but never really managed to pull it off convincingly, but I think with this one I've just about managed it. A fun one to paint, I might have to track down some more of the old WFB clampack characters (this one was tucked away at the back of a paint stand of all places, behind 2 basing kits and a template set... A lucky find! )
As always, any thoughts welcome!
Wow nice, no criticisms because he looks fantastic!!!
Jamie Shred wrote: Nice start Flinty, very neat work. What greens are you using there? Green is one of the colours I don't have many shades of.
Forgot to reply!
The lighter green is P3 Traitor Green, the darker green is GW Caliban Green. I have lots of greens. Not as many as I have blues, but definitely a few.
Thanks for the kind words. I've managed to finish off blocking the colours out but forgot to take pics. On to the washes, starting with boots and rust with the wondrous Armour Wash from days of yore
This will be my entry, a converted orc.
Still needs some gap filling and sanding here and there.
I'd love to hear your ideas about the colour scheme! With all that metal going on I don't want to make him look like one chunk of silver.
Another thing: how would you call this? I'm not that familiar with the lore and orc/orruck ranks, so is it a Black Orc warboss, champion, warlord, brute ......?
Abaddon is done. He's not upto demon standard, but I've run out of time as I'm moving house next week and need all my modelling stuff packed up, so I've got him to an acceptable finished point, with plans to touch up later... I've got a whole year before the next WHF so I should be alright ha. Photos tomorrow.
Photos of Abby. Tried to push the contrast more on things like the talon, his armour and the trophy helmet, and work a little subtle OSL into the composition. I thought the dead primaris base furniture was a bit lame so I built my own base.
Eesh, silly me following a great looking QAR wip.
But here is my completed entry. Painted using only washes, glazes, inks and shades.
I wanted to try a new technique so am happy enough. Don't think I will repeat the experiment though.
Was certainly very quick.
I think you’re underselling yourself there Justalittleorkish, they look pretty damn good to me, particularly the bodies and the clothes. The coloured weapons and the slime on the bases are very extreme; wouldn’t be my first choice, but they do work in a Ghostbusters spectral goop kind of way.
queen_annes_revenge wrote: Photos of Abby. Tried to push the contrast more on things like the talon, his armour and the trophy helmet, and work a little subtle OSL into the composition. I thought the dead primaris base furniture was a bit lame so I built my own base.
OOOOOOOSSSSHHHHH! That's done impressive work right there! Base is much better than the contrived Primaris one.
Made a start on the freehand today lining the logo out with a micron pen. What do you think of the proportions?
Edit: blocked it in and tidied up the sickle a bit.
Looks good. Are you going to do anything else like highlight the black? Black over red is quite a jarring contrast so the black would definitely benefit from some sort of embellishment, maybe put a highlight on the top of the tool handles, and get some grey gradients into the hammer head and the sickle blade.
I'd maybe red line between the tools and the pole aswell to show a bit of differentiation too, as atm it's a little blocky.
Cheers QAR agree it does need a highlight. I think the hammer head is a little too big too so will try shrink it a bit.
The logo is usually red on white so it appears white lined. Do you think white would work to outline the weapons and pole?
I wouldn't outline the design with white. That would be too jarring I think, to have the colour extremes so close with red. You could whiteline the High points (so a dot on the pole top, and lines down the upper edges of the tools etc) if you get my meaning.
Here's my proof pic for this month. It's always difficult for me to pick something that refers to how a model behaves in-game, because I generally have no idea of the rules of anything I paint! This guy is no exception. He's from a now defunct game called Anima Tactics. When the game was declared dead, my FLGS had a load of their minis for sale dirt cheap, and I bought about thirty of them because they're just cool. They're all inspired by Final Fantasy and JRPGs like that. I don't know who this guy is or what he's supposed to do, but he looks the type to fight To The Death, don't you think?
I took the photo a week ago, and have made a start painting him. The armour is a nightmare, and whatever I do it just looks like paint paint paint. I'm just seeing the mistakes at the moment. Looking forward to painting the sword though.
Thanks CREEEEEEEEED, I've just got to add some other little details before I start painting (but I'd best get a move on as I've only got 10 days left!).
Nice. Is that from 9-gate? I've wanted to do a bust for a while, and I've got a really nice one of Manfred von Richthofen in the mail from alexandros miniatures. Check them out for some nice busts.
Yea I picked up this one for a commission and a couple of the Queen Elizabeth ones. I've never done anything proper historical before so I wanted to have a bit of fun.
I'll definitely add it to my list of vendors to check out (but my backlog is huge enough already that I want to do my best to not buy new for the next half year or so).
So, I could have sworn I took a proof pic of this and two other models, but I'm completely failing to find the thing. Almost done with it, and only have a slightly earlier pic. Not sure if counting, or if I should try to rip something else through quickly. In the meantime, almost done angry wereboar:
Feeling a little...samey or something...but not sure how to break it up. Obviously, gonna put a little patchy flock on the base, but already you can see where the glaze went wrong in spots, so a little worried about doing much more.
Feeling a little...samey or something...but not sure how to break it up. Obviously, gonna put a little patchy flock on the base, but already you can see where the glaze went wrong in spots, so a little worried about doing much more.
Getting some other color on the base will help. If he’s some barbarian/primitive/berserker kinda guy, how about some woad or tribal tattoos? Or in a more humorous bent, a tat of miss piggy, either on a bicep or across his back.
Amazing Churchill bust. Steady progress from Rybrook, stolid and heroic guardsmen there Captain Brown, and that is an angry looking piggy.
The traitorous scum of the Servants of the Abyss are nearing completion as well. Just a few details left on a couple.of the guys, and then basing needs to get done. Should get sorted in the next couple of days.
First time doing non-white.skin tones. Taking it easy just with hands and a partially obscured face, but I plan to do a few more open faces guys in the next squad as I think this looks pretty good.
Calling these guys done. To the death? Dueling dreadnoughts! One actually dead and returned, the other as close as you can get, being a weaponized life support system.
Little bit of custom work on both of these guys. DW dread has a scratch-built ML arm. WL had a knee job to get a lunging/running pose. Also a plume and a tabard swap, but those are minor. Paint jobs are pretty standard for me, don’t think I pushed too many envelopes there. Just the fun of edging black.
This brings my total for dreads entered into this competition to an even half dozen. 3 wraithlords, 2 ven dreads, and a contemptor. Giving them a 2-1 advantage over non-competition dreads I’ve painted (old metal, 3rd ed plastic, ironclad). Wait, forgot my old RTBA dread. But as he’s not in an active army, he gets left out a lot.
Month is winding down, nice to see all the entries coming along nicely!
I think I'll be changing my entry for this month (last minute I know). I didn't get much luck with hobby time this month, but I'm hoping that changes in the last week or so. Thus, my plan is, instead of entering the one finished mini of my 5 man entry, I'll restart my entry for the month with just one (albeit more classy) mini - an Ultramarines honour guard - the ultimate wound-soak!
I'd like to join this month! I am trying to resurrect some of my old Empire minis, and I have a bunch of flagellants, who definitely fight To the Death!
Proof pic:
Looking good everybody, and welcome aboard dukeofbeer! I only joined in for the first time last month, and it's a lot of fun.
I suppose I should have shared WIP photos of my Wraithknight as it was coming along, but at this point it's so close to being finished that I may as well wait until the final photos. Should be up in the next couple of days.
Looking good, Nev!
I was tempted to do a wraithlord myself this month as I'm still trying to follow your lead and get an army finished this year.
I really love the pose you've used for him; the reverse-grip sword looks very cool.
Really like the kitbash you've used for your honour guard, lips - I'm sure he will look even more awesome once you've finished painting him!
Great colours also, Flinty - your work this month is looking fantastic.
Also looking forward to the Churchill bust DV8, it's bound to look amazing.
I have about a thousand ideas for this month, so still not ready to post proof pics - I want to dry fit a couple of bits before deciding.
Will post soon!
Nice choice with the Churchhill bust DV8, one of his more famous quotes fits the theme perfectly.
Good progress so far Rybrook, CB, Vejut, Flinty
Well done for getting 2 big models finished Nev
That looks like it will be a very cool model LDP, love the pose
My WIP at the start of the weekend, hoping to get a fair bit done as its a bank holiday in the UK. I think I'm going to try some new painting techniques I've not done before, will see how they turn out.
Hey everyone, some great pics coming in. Lipsdapips those highlights look awesome, really clean.
I have done some more work on the Baroni's cloak. I think it looks much better with the red lining and highlights but still not sure I'm going to keep it. What do you think?
The cloak looks much better with the embellishments to the design, I will say that you should be wary of your light source though, you have a highlight on the bottom of the hammer head, and with those on the pole suggesting a low left light source, but then you have a random highlight on the upper shaft of the hammer, suggesting an upper right light source. Generally graphic designs like those as insignia or signs etc should have one light source, usually upper left or upper right.
Thanks QAR for all the tips. I'm really pleased with how it's come out for my first proper attempt at freehanding but will keep your pointers in mind next time I try something similar.
Nice work Jamie. The cloak definitely benefits from the additional freehand to add some interest to the flat area. I think perhaps the highlight could be a little bit finer - maybe if you went back over with the base colour to make the lines finer? They're very cool models and a great paintjob.
lipsandpips - I like that marine, even if he is a smurf!
Midget Gems - oh that's looking exciting. I enjoy a good 1-on-1 diorama. Looking forward to seeing more progress.
DanceOfSlaanesh - wow, going for full on nmm in just a few days? Good luck, I'm rooting for you.
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I've finished! I decided to do a Wraithknight this time round. Eldar Wraith units are very fitting for this theme, and I see at least a couple of others doing them. I'd painted Wraithguard and Wraithlords recently, but no knights so that was my entry decided fairly easily. I'd built 3 wraithknights for my Biel-Tan army, one of each loadout, and when I posted my proof I hadn't quite decided which one I wanted to paint first.This was my proof:
Eventually I decided on the Suncannon. I know it's a terrible game choice in 8th, but I think the suncannon itself looks really cool, it was the one of the three that I was most decided on exactly how I wanted to paint it. It's posed standing on top of a wrecked sentinel that I 3d printed, and I also wanted to see how that looked once I got some paint on it - it's the first thing that's come off my 3d printer that has actually been on the receiving end of a brush.
On the whole I'm really pleased with how the paintjob came out, aside from a sputtering spray can of varnish that has left the surface a little bit grainy in places. I really need to get that airbrush and switch to airbrushing varnish - it's tough when you've spent ages painting a model and a spray varnish detracts from the model. It's not too bad though, and I think anything I try to do to 'fix' it would probably make things worse and I think I've managed to leave it in a way that it's not too noticeable.
It's generally painted in my standard Biel-Tan style for vehicles, which is a dark green base highlighted up through several different layers up to the panel edges. You can tell from the photos that I'm firmly on the side of not overdoing the gems on eldar - I prefer the idea that most of the bumps are things like sensor pods and it's only the ones in the settings that are actually gems. The Biel-Tan rune is actually one of the standard decals with freehand on top of it. Even though I knew I wanted to do the more colourful version of the rune I figured I could use the decal like a guide to make sure that I got the rune nicely proportioned. I threw in some Biel-Tan thorn designs on the white plates around the waist, this time in green. Those are totally freehand.
nice one Bellerophon, well done completing such a big model in under a month. Looks good too, really clean crisp white and nice subtle lighting effect on the weapons and freehand work.
A much smaller entry from me this month:
Bellerophon mate, that is fantastic! Beautiful green tones, and fantastic freehand on those vines. Something about Biel-tan is so graceful! You're going to be a strong contender this month, there's no question.
Some incredible entries here but alas, I don't think I'll get mine even close to finished as the part for my airbrush hasn't turned up and the deadline is Friday
I'm going to call these done. Favourite bits are the cloaks and the heat stress on the flamer nozzle. New thing tried is non-white skin tone. And even finished a few days early.
Finally decided upon my idea yesterday and have started but here are the proof pics...the second one is a witch elf if you can't tell...
...the idea is that she is literally bringing it to 'the' death...
Thanks for the lovely comments on the wraithknight guys. I'm really pleased with it.
Some more good entries coming in, would be great to see a bunch more in the last few days.
Flinty - I love those traitor guardsmen models, and your scheme suits them nicely.
lipsdapips - Beautiful as always. I continue to be impressed by your crisp highlights and brilliantly detailed faces. That one's going to gather a lot of votes I reckon.
Chris56 - cutting it close on the time there, not long to go. You can do it!
Airbrush part finally arrived today so I got cracking with the paint (though you can't actually tell that I've used an airbrush due to the awful lighting and shocking photography):
@feltmonkey - wow. That looks great. Trousers and skirt and eyes, oh my!
Captain. Looking good. Good camo scheme, nice plasma glow, and I think I am liking the holsters and scabbards and things more than I should. Works nicely.
Did some painting, but I´d like some advice on the metals.
Going for the "Orc-that-uses-looted-armour"-look, so different kinds of metallic paint here:
- Tin Bitz
- Screaming Bell
- Leadbelcher
- Vallejo MC Alluminum
I really don't know what kind of end result I'm going for who has some helpfull suggestions on the armour?
1. Wash it all with Nuln Oil?
2. Different washes on the different metals? (I've got most of the other GW washes as well)
3. Glazes anywhere? (perhaps combined with washes and highlights)
4. What kind of colour would be suitable for the handles?
Normally I'd say brown for the handles, going for a wood effect. However they might merge with the gauntlets too much. Simple black? The old.armour wash is good.for.chain mail, and then nuln oil for the rest? Maybe a brown or.chestnut for the tin bits?
On the handles, consider a pale wood, possibly with minor painted decorations? The paler wood wouldn't clash with the already-brown gloves, and a few colour icons or painted tattoo-work on the shaft of the weapon might help it stand out.
@tim it looks like the axe has a wrap on the handle so you could go for any wood colour you like for that one and get some contrast by painting the wrap a different colour. I think black would work well on the flail and definitely use different washes, it's a really easy way to get subtle variations in colour from the same base.
Down to the wire! School projects and wrapping up my AoS army ate up far more time than I would have preferred, and I'm barely squeaking this guy in on time.
You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs—Victory in spite of all terror—Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.
Not as flashy as Nagash, unfortunately (wait for my entry next month! ), but it was very fun relaxing piece to work on.
The model I painted has been done for a while, but I entered it to a local competition and am not supposed to post pictures of it publicaly until it's over. So good luck to everyone else!
So I finished mounted Eowyn with Merry, and I'd like to add the foot versions of them to my entry. I have the entire night and tomorrow free and plan on doing them both. I'll post complete images of the models once these two are done.
Here is my 'To the Death' entry - the witch elf is trying to assassinate the Wight King, though I don't know how you assassinate something that is already dead!
Tried to go a bit more subtle on the colours this time around. Normally, I like to use really vibrant colours but it didn't really suit this scene, so I tried to go for some freehand and weathering instead. Don't think the camera quite captures it but I am still pretty happy.
See everyone in 'Mad Science'! I don't think I've been so excited about a theme for quite a while!
I'm out of time for touch ups so here is my final entry. Karanak is a great looking model but painting the heads is a huge pain since they are all up on each other. Loved painting the normal flesh hounds though, I might pick up another 5 just to paint them again.
It’s an abject failure to launch from me this month. I got distracted from the diorama by another Avatar conversion (into Maugan Ra) which I didn’t finish before getting distracted again by realising I had enough models down from the loft for a battleforged Space Wolf army. Even my backup “to the death”avatar only ended up with a coat of primer.
I’m hoping for First Steps next month so I can put in a squad of blood claws before I get distracted again!
So this was a big project for me as I've never done a diorama before, I was working with a pretty haggard brush and I have a low budget to replace my existing, dying paints. Plus, house-hunting, a dissertation and an exam all came in the middle of this month so I was particularly under time pressure. I've also never painted Imperial Guard or Orks before so I just have to ask... how in the hell do Guard players paint those iddy-biddy models?!
Without further delay, I proudly present "Only in Death." The scene depicts an Ork Nob of the Goff Clan bearing down on a ragged Command Squad from the 28th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Company known as "The Drifters." The squad, with broken arms and a newly severed leg between them, fight to the last to defend the Exterminatus device that will allow them to claim moral victory over the Greenskin scourge.
This Guardsman has been bowled over by an Ork, and even through he is already dead, he refused to release the mortar shell, throwing up his bandaged arm to shield himself from the axe-blow.
The Nob removes the brave Veteran standard bearer's leg with his ferocious axe. He carries the remains of an Ultramarine Deathwatch veteran, the elite Xeno-hunter's armour proudly displayed as a trophy of war.
Despite his gruesome injury, the standard bearer will not allow his banner to fall.
The Company Commander seeks salvation below the Aquila, untouched by the destruction around them. The Emperor protects.
Covered in the blood of his brothers, with only one arm and the last of his strength, the commander prepares to sell his life dearly.
The once verdant grass has been reduced to sucking, stinking mud by weeks of rain, blood and boots of war.
EDIT: Shameless plug is Shameless!
I started an instagram for my models to keep me motivated even more! Just the one post now but will but uploading everything I can
Well done to everyone that has finished this month
Its midnight now so the paintbrush has gone done, photos will be up tomorrow.
I tried t push myself and go for NMM but it was honestly a disaster so made the decision to use metallic paints at the end. I really wasn't happy with even showing it as an attempt. It has made be really want to learn how to do it and I think that will come with some more practise, something for another entry I think.
Not quite midnight here in the central USA, so here are the final photos of my Ravenwing Black Knights:
Kind of rushed them at the end, but I'm happy with how they turned out. Looking forward to the voting, as there were a lot of pretty great entries this time around.
Here my Final Pics for my Savage Orc big Boss V Dwarf Troll Slayer, tired a new new painting techniques with this entry unfortunately the NMM part really didn't go well, made the call last night to quickly cover it up.
I like the Black Orcs, but I hate the small legs on them. That's why I converted the body using a Black Orc with Orruck Brute waist + legs.
Conversion work done:
- Head: added horns + chainmail
- Arms: repositioned at the elbows, added chains, made custom weapons
- Body: made from classic Black Orc (upper part) + Orruck Brute (waist and legs). Added chain.
bugger!...so, my salamanders contemptor dread is finished(?)...buuut...I totally spaced out about doing his base...and it'll take me more time than would be reasonable to get that done...so...oh well!
@Tim: Your final pics aren't showing up for me. Can you double check them?
@feltmonkey: Don't worry, you'll be on there!
In the interests of time, I tend to do a couple of big updates to the OP a month these days rather than every time a new entry pops up, so in general folks who enter in the second half of the month (ie. after my first update big update, usually on around the 15-17th-ish) won't get added in until the end, when I close the round and do the final update up to the end of the thread. So in the immortal words of Douglas Adams, Don't Panic!
Thanks Jadenim, yeah those models have a lot of movement in them
ZoBo wrote: bugger!...so, my salamanders contemptor dread is finished(?)...buuut...I totally spaced out about doing his base...and it'll take me more time than would be reasonable to get that done...so...oh well!
Awww, tbh you can probably get away without a base for the dread or put it on a random one and ask people not to including that part for any voting consideration.
Wheeeeee last second photography. Turns out black is a lot harder to get a clear picture of than I thought, IMO the model looks a lot better in person.
With Para's permission, I submit my finished entry - Eowyn and Merry, both mounted and on foot, as depicted during the charge of the Rohirrim at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
I always like it when people post about their process while painting for these challenges, but it occurs to me that I never really do that myself, except sometimes in the post mortem of the voting thread. I don't know if anyone is interested, but here's some of the thought processes I went through for this month.
With the theme this month, I wanted to give the miniature the atmosphere of a last stand. That's why the base looks like a destroyed landscape, and I tried to give his face a look of grim determination, mixed with resignation that this could be the end for him. The fact that he ended up looking weirdly like Tom Cruise was an accident. I started by painting the armour, because that struck me as the most difficult bit, so if I messed that up I'd still have time to pick something else to paint instead. I did mess it up a bit, but I liked it enough to keep going. I mixed VMC Deep Sea Blue with Leadbelcher for the base, VMA Chrome mixed with Celestra Grey for the highlight, blended together on the miniature to create the gradients, with black and white added to either end for deepest shadows and brightest lights. I used these matte colours mixed in to give the armour a cold look, to add to the narrative and atmosphere. I kind of wish I hadn't painted the trousers with a blue highlight - black and grey would have worked better, and I think the blue detracts from the blue in the armour. The sword I wanted to look more of a demonic flamey sword than a flamey sword of justice. The miniature is inspired by JRPG games, and in these kind of games the hero's sword is represented as an albatross, something they wish they didn't have to use anymore. He's using the evil sword to fight evil. Again, the bright oranges are there to hopefully create contrast with the cold armour. The cogs in the base are there to look cool. They seemed like the kind of thing you might see in a Final Fantasy game.
The painting isn't as clean and precise as I would have liked, and my eye is constantly drawn to the scruffier areas and mistakes. Also, I tried to use a quasi-nmm technique on the armour, but I don't really know how to paint nmm. I'll leave the final judgement to the jury of the voting thread.
Abs came out very nice, very reflective chrome, shins less "shiney" but still effective matte metal. I think the only real problem is the chest came out kinda flat. Still a very nice effect and better than what I manage!
depends on how it turns out
...I think I just spent most of my hobby time last month catching up on building a bunch of models I had sitting around on sprue...loads of poxwalkers, some plague marines, couple of boxes of blightlord terminators, 20 tactical marines, 5 pyroclasts and 5 firedrakes...I started working on a 30k Salamanders army about 2 years ago (some of you may remember my Primarch Vulkan and Bray'arth Ashmantle dreadnought that I entered in this back then)...but that's all been pretty thoroughly benched for about 2 years now, and I've recently decided to get back into it...now, I would love a convenient theme that would let me paint my shiny new Sicaran Arcus tank, but, aside from bombing the enemies "to the death" with inordinate amounts of missiles...I feel it's a bit of a stretch 
Im happy with it.
