Welcome all to the 83rd round of the Dakka Painting challenge. For the unfamiliar, this is a friendly painting competition open to members of all skill levels and experience, whether your entry is your first or you thousand-and-first time painting miniatures. Each month, finished entries are collected into a thread where the community can vote on their favorite pieces, and those votes go towards an annual overall League that runs for 12 rounds, ending in February next year (just 2 rounds left to get those points on the board!)
This month. the theme is Force of Nature: Elemental magic, dangerous alien beasts or forces as old as time and space are rife throughout the worlds we game in. Your entry should feature models that have some connection to the natural world or its elements.
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 January and will end at midnight GMT on 31st January. After this, I shall compile the finished entries into a new thread, and voting will run for 5 days.
Too lazy to get primer.
Coating big guy in thin layers of paint right on the plastic, and small guys got solid coat of contrast paint over some old paintjob previous owner had.
I originally had Saruman pegged for this base, but decided he didn't really fit and also to save him for a potential playable isengard force, so subbed him out for gandalf instead. As an istari, a maiar created by eru iluvatar at the dawn of time, gandalf is literally part of the nature of middle earth. I'm also going heavily nature inspired on the base. Will even have some fish in there.
Going to try to get one of these two done, either a griffin from Reaper's Bones Black line, or finally starting to reduce my Mierce Miniatures pile by assembling and painting a one of their werewolves, Cnebba:
Progress
Dry brushed blue over green contrast wash and picked out chitin with white for a wash of brown.
For big guy opposite way, washing chitin first, and washing in green and dry-brush blue after.
Do not have larger bases. But have Modpodge, dirt and a quart of sample paint.
Not the best photo I'm afraid, but I'll enter my new Ogre berserker - if he's not force of nature enough as an oversized berserker, he's also just as hungry as all (Warhammer/AoS) Ogres...
To me, evolution is an important force of nature. Y'know, genes and stuff. Also, as a Magic designer, the color green seems really tied to nature to me. So these Ork-Genestealer Hybrids seemed like the perfect entry!
The one on the left is an old Citadel miniature from around 1991. The right one is a more recent release from Uscarl Miniatures. Both were sculpted by Kev Adams.
Pariah Press wrote: To me, evolution is an important force of nature. Y'know, genes and stuff. Also, as a Magic designer, the color green seems really tied to nature to me. So these Ork-Genestealer Hybrids seemed like the perfect entry!
The one on the left is an old Citadel miniature from around 1991. The right one is a more recent release from Uscarl Miniatures. Both were sculpted by Kev Adams.
I salute your Genestealer Hybrid Freebooter. It's one of my white whales that I've yet to find.
Here's a force of nature for you- Canis Wolfborn. Proof:
Given his background (most likely literally raised by wolves on Fenris) and his bestial nature I'd say he fits the theme.
My entry is at that horrible stage of painting where everything looks garbage and I hate my colour choices and my “clever idea” turned out to be pants and I hate wood elves anyway and I just want to sculpt more mice in capes! Not enjoying this much in afraid.
theCrowe wrote: My entry is at that horrible stage of painting where everything looks garbage and I hate my colour choices and my “clever idea” turned out to be pants and I hate wood elves anyway and I just want to sculpt more mice in capes! Not enjoying this much in afraid.
Hang in there. Just a few more layers and it will all come together.
Some of my schemes look like hot garbage right until the very end. Very frustrating. I use a lot of inks and glazes, so until very late, it’s just a lot of finicky detail work, but huge swaths of the model look like they are just bare, or basic blocked in colors. But it all comes together at the end to look good.
Yup, i hate that phase. It's why I paint certain bits to absolute completion early on, so there's something good to look at. Sometimes I even get transfers on before even starting some other part.
theCrowe wrote: My entry is at that horrible stage of painting where everything looks garbage and I hate my colour choices and my “clever idea” turned out to be pants and I hate wood elves anyway and I just want to sculpt more mice in capes! Not enjoying this much in afraid.
That is exactly how I felt about the nids.
Had clever idea of contrast paint over primer, quick brybrush, few detail dabs and done. But color scheme came out wrong, "texture" not how I expected, and GW green contrast paint ruined the look, basing colors also came-out wrong. Tried to fix as much as was needed and called it done.
I would like to encourage you by standing together united in hatred of the wood elves! I my self second your hatred of wood elves, and by extent all elf things. Honored be Throgrim the grudge bearer!
I'd like to get back into painting, and I'll take the opportunity of the new year to get back into the painting challenge.
I'd thus like to enter this Gal Vorbak for this month's challenge. He's been in touch with 40k's nature and picked up a deamon to tag along, and in the process has become a force at least to be reckoned with...
Finaly got my motivation/mojo back - throwing myself at the shadow specters. Hit a creative wall with these guys but think I have a plan now with lil help from local WH store guy who offered some good advice.
Probably will just be the baseline dudes as they are my "trial" guys Trying to follow FW recipie but not a lot to go on.
Couple of WIP photos of my gandalf piece. Just a little more painting on the other side to do, plus add more foliage on the trees, a little powder on the ground and tidy up the plinth. Might do some adjustments to the faces too as pippins looks a bit flat here.
Nice start KidCthulu. The weapons on the base really say “pfff, it’ll take more than that to take me on buddy.”
When I put any paint on mine she just looks at me with that “are you sure that’s the colour you want?” expression. It’s nearly done now though, for better or worse.
Couple of WIP photos of my gandalf piece. Just a little more painting on the other side to do, plus add more foliage on the trees, a little powder on the ground and tidy up the plinth. Might do some adjustments to the faces too as pippins looks a bit flat here.
theCrowe wrote: Nice start KidCthulu. The weapons on the base really say “pfff, it’ll take more than that to take me on buddy.”
Thanks! Although, that is more out of necessity. I wasn't sure if such a heavy model would balance well on one foot. That curled up foot is just resting on the shield.
theCrowe wrote: When I put any paint on mine she just looks at me with that “are you sure that’s the colour you want?” expression. It’s nearly done now though, for better or worse.
Keep at it; you'd be surprised how often a model will pull together at the last minute!
Gandalf and pippin are now done barring a small correction I need to make to the back of the piece, however, I won't be able to do that until next week as I dont have the product I need at the moment. Here are a few pics for the interim. Will hopefully get better ones for the final as I find these somewhat sub par. It's a difficult scene to photograph with the light conditions I have at the minute.
queen_annes_revenge wrote: Couple of WIP photos of my gandalf piece. Just a little more painting on the other side to do, plus add more foliage on the trees, a little powder on the ground and tidy up the plinth. Might do some adjustments to the faces too as pippins looks a bit flat here.
Well here she is, one upside down, silvan olympic pole vaulting Wardancer Champion.
There’s only 2 ways to look at this mini, front and back, so 2 pics is it. Not loving it to be honest but if half the point of these competitions is to encourage us to paint things we’ve been procrastinating on for over a decade then mission successful, (though the rest of her unit may have to wait another decade.) I can at least be happy with that.
Come on buddy. What might help is some headphones, some inspirational music and a couple of hours to just step by step that badboy. Or if like me you have kids who like to read at bedtime just bring your paints to bedtime and paint on the floor while they read another ripping volume of Bunny Vs Monkey. That got mine done but then seeing The final result I’d say that’s maybe dubious advice.
Worst case, you could just enter the cold one. I’m struggling with motivation myself, but painted something I could do quickly and finished early. Not helping with the rest of my paintbench though.
Lot of nice work this month, and still plenty of time. Looking forward to what people are getting done.
KidCthulhu wrote: Okay, so I've just finished painting my entry but the lighting was not on my side tonight
Spoiler:
Man, look how washed out his base looks
Hopefully I can take some proper photos tomorrow.
MalusDarkblade book got me into war-hammer and by extension into the hobby, when I read it I was like (Wow how is a mere fantasy book so well written and has a really cool world).
Since then I have a special likeness towards Cold-ones! Glad to see it finished And yes take better pictures please! The Druki honor demands it!
Nevelon wrote: More thoughts on topics are always welcome.
How about:
"No way back", for something which has changed significantly since the beginning (or is lost, or any form of time travel, or a new version of something you've entered in the past if that's not too meta)? Might need a better description or definition though.
"Age before beauty", for either very old models, or models of the very old.
"Hobby butterfly", for finishing the building/modelling work on something you'd got no more than half way on and then abandoned over a year ago.
Nevelon wrote: More thoughts on topics are always welcome.
How about:
"No way back", for something which has changed significantly since the beginning (or is lost, or any form of time travel, or a new version of something you've entered in the past if that's not too meta)? Might need a better description or definition though.
"Age before beauty", for either very old models, or models of the very old.
"Hobby butterfly", for finishing the building/modelling work on something you'd got no more than half way on and then abandoned over a year ago.
I can get behind any of those. I'd like to add "Strength in Numbers," and increase the maximum number of models to 10+, for hobbyists thinking about adding/finishing units.
In the unlikely event I can squeeze in more photo time, I'll make a new post.
Good luck, fellow painters!
Nice work getting the rider up on top with paint on. Hope you’re basking in that feeling of having got it done and now you can just chill painting whatever you like. It’s like a work/life balance thing but actually more like self imposed and hobby related punishment/hobby related pleasure balance. We’re all mad here.
Hey there’s a topic idea, We’re all Mad here. Minis to do with madness or altered mental states. Should be possible and varied.
Or just on a purely self serving note. The cute and the cuddly! Minis that try to look tough but they’re actually just adorable.
I’d vote for the Age before Beauty topic too. That sounds like an excuse to dig out some vintage metal to me.
I'd like to add "Naked Truth/The Emperor's New Clothes" - paint a miniature that is in some way naked or mostly naked. Example models include animals, alien monsters, GW Demon Prince (he's only wearing a loin cloth), Slaanesh babes I mean deamonettes, and barbarians.
Ork-Genestealer Hybrids are done. Getting the skin right was a challenge! I also had a varnishing mishap, but I was able to mostly compensate with the application of some brown ink.
Managed to get something done in between terrain projects after all.
Nothing fancy, just a couple of Wizkids druid miniatures that I quickly brushed over for a D&D game.
Not very scary themselves, but they unleash the power of nature to anyone who makes jokes about their height!
"We got him cornered, that'll be an easy 50.000 credits from the Grandmaster!"
"I am Groot!"
"I don't care if he won over a hundred fights, those are rigged anyway."
"I am Groot."
"You're just a pessimist and of course he looks angry, because we'll have him bagged in 5 minutes, mark my words!"
Not much of a hhhobbying month, just managed to get a single Underworlds aelf done :|
This one is Ahnslaine, Tree-Revenant ('Unslain'? Sigh, GW naming dept.)
Wasn't quite sure what I would get done this month that fit the theme; I had a couple pieces in mind that fit the bill, and ultimately it was choosing the one I was most happy with (out of the bunch) to submit for this.
As Beast himself would no doubt say, 'Oh my stars and garters!' That's excellent (as is the Logan in the proof pic).
I was actually going to go for some X-men myself this month, but the painting didn't quite go how I wanted so I'll be back later with something a little more... angry...
Funnily enough, the Wolverine in the proof pic came painted from the client (poorly, esp the yellow) and the client wanted a repaint.
It looks good from far away, but the moment you get within 1-2 feet, you can tell a lot of it was really sloppy contrast over a zenithal with some bright highlights thrown on.
DV8 wrote: Funnily enough, the Wolverine in the proof pic came painted from the client (poorly, esp the yellow) and the client wanted a repaint.
It looks good from far away, but the moment you get within 1-2 feet, you can tell a lot of it was really sloppy contrast over a zenithal with some bright highlights thrown on.
Ah, apologies then!
Speaking of only looking good from a distance, my entry for this month! Looks like Viterbi has beated me to the Gamma-irradiated punch, but I'm sure two Hulks can get on just fine! Hulk is one of my favourite characters (when done right, so the Ragnarok and Endgame versions can get in the bin if you ask me!), and I really wanted to lean into the tortured, Jekyll and Hyde feeling for this mini, hence the bruised and reddish skin in places, the rough texture all over, the general darker tone than a more traditional comic book look. Not thrilled with the pictures, but they;ll do. I'd hoped to get his favourite smashing buddy Thor done up as well, but time ran out, so solo Hulk it is!
I'll leave this round open until tomorrow afternoon UK time at least, but give me a shout if you need a brief extension to get photos in or whatever.
Well can imagine him being described as a force of Nature when he's up to speed, but stretching the limits of the topic a bit here.... (he does have a tree on his back as part of the shrine type things ;-) )
This month has not gone to plan unfortunately. PC and HDDs completely died so I lost a lot of stuff (do have some back ups) so have been trying to recover what I can and build a new PC (Graphics cards seem particularly hard to find). My time has been spent on that mostly and work which means I still haven't updated the league table (Shame!) due to losing my working copy I have to start it again.
I was able to paint this guy which I view as an quite an achievement, I spent a lot of time on the squig itself as my back up was just to enter that if I didn't finish any of the other bits, the rider and base are a bit rushed.
Sorry to hear about your computer going kaput, Midget Gems. Your model looks really good though. The rider looks a little rushed on the skin, but still good. That squig though, oh boy. That is a thing of beauty.
)
