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Well, painted my first 10 orks last week. Went for an urban camo scheme for my bloodaxes, I've noticed the black on the boots has come away very easily from handling already and that they do need to be properly based.
These are the first thing I've painted in 14 years and I was always terrible, so strangely it feels like I got better without painting anything...?

So, comment, criticism and feedback is sought.












Da Kommisar 'Imself looks on. (and will be painted later as my skills improve)...

Nice. I like the camo pants.

Throw some GW wash on the metals, that will make them look a little more orky.

Hey mate, good stuff here, especially after a 10 year absence!

I'll break this post down into some quick summaries of my thoughts, identifying what I think you've done well, and areas for future improvement as you get back into the painting groove:

Done Well:

- The colours are nice and cleanly applied (within the lines etc) so you've clearly got good brush control which is always key.

- The camo scheme is nice, makes the skin the stand out focus for the mini's which, IMHO is what you want.

- Good, solid colour coverage, especially the metals.

Areas For Future Improvement:

- Skin shading and highlighting: It looks good for a solid TT level at the moment, but down the line you might want to look to keeping more solid overall colour. As it is, the wash you have applied to shade it has pooled in areas you don't want it too and makes some of the shading look a little scrappy up close. In future, might be an idea to apply the mid tone you want (for orks I'd say a kind of goblin or camo green), get nice solid coverage with this and then apply some shading, either with 2-3 thinned washes, focusing more on the recesses with each layer to build up the transition to shade. Then go back over the vast majority of the raised area with 2-3 pretty thin coats of your mid tone (thin to milk like consistency, you want the paint to be quite translucent so that you can blend the colours easier). Be sure to not overload the brush so that the watered down paint runs all over.

You want to maintain control of the paint when you apply it, to do this lightly run the edge of the brush against a cloth or tissue to absorb a lot of the moisture. It takes practice to find the right amount, but once you do, feathering and blending transitions will become much easier!

Following this, highlights can be applied in a similar fashion to the raised areas.

- Metals : They look fine for TT at the moment, but to improve them you might want to try getting some deeper shading in there by using some thinned black paint to really define the recess lines. Adding some edging highlights with mithril silver always helps make metals pop more too.

Hope these comments help a bit. Obviously just take your time with it and don't be afraid to experiment to get techniques down. As I said, your off to a really good start.

Keep up the good work!

Cheers,

Dante

I like the Kommissar is that Zagstrukks head?

Awesome but those bloodaxes need some blood on their axes

I hate you in a loving way about those camo paints. I gave up on attempting camo on my orks I just can't wrap my head around the concept.

Exellent job I really like the camo pants and the yellow to red eyes.

The only tip I can offer is the tongues. The way I do them is a just heavier then water ratio of pink to water. That way I dont risk touching the teeth with the bright color. Less brush strokes the better right?



Doesn't have to be pink. Purple, regal blue etc all work. I just feel green is a after skin paint effect.

Bloodly Good Job on the Bloody Axes

I like the camo but all I need to say is listen to CMdante

Btw what ya gonna do for the bases?

Wow, thanks for the feedback folks!

GMM, I've put another layer of Delvan Mud over the weaponry to darken the metal down. I had to significantly 'lighten' the pictures in photobucket so the metals lightened somewhat with the background.

Llamahead, yep, that's Zagstruk's head on Badruk's body with added chainsword bayonet. I'm going to greenstuff him a cigar and try and work out what to do for a back banner for him, something suitable imperium inspired.

TheGrin, you're entirely right and I was contemplating how to do this whilst painting them... What I'd like to do is make the axes and knives look like they have very old gore on them, flecked, but I don't want to get it on the rest of the model, some tests with old toothbush may be in order. If anyone can offer advice on this, please do.

FP, thanks my friend, but I don't want my orks to have pink tongues or red blood, I'm quite taken with the scaly green for the tongue since it's off the main green spectrum and introduces a bit of blue, this is the 'internal' colour for my orks, keeps them more alien than fantasy orcs. As to the bases, industrial wasteland of some kind, dark n gritty, perhaps some small bits of machinery poking out of the earth here and there, old cogs or wiring etc.

And CMDante, mate, thank you so much for your comments, this is great. I'm glad you like the camo, feedback seems to indicate it went ok. I've set myself a 'rule' with this army, that I won't use Red (Evil Suns), Blue (Deff Skulls), Yellow (Bad Moons), Chequered (Goffs) or Top Knots (Snakebites) to bring home the Blood Axe feel (I may use those primary colours for wiring and other details but no large areas of them). With regards the points you raised for future improvement, with the metals I've added a layer of delvan mud for the time being and would like to add very old gore splatter to 'break up' the large areas of single colour provided by the axe heads and knives. If you look at the Nob, I did try out a fine edge of mithril silver and you're entirely right, it adds a sharpness to the look.
The skin tone troubles me though, I undercoated these fellas in white and painted the skin DA green, which almost shades its self, then a wash of thraka and then a highlight on raised muscle and bone of Snot Green, on the Nob I took this one stage further and applied goblin green to the brow ridges and ear tips to bring the face up from the shadow of the massive 'ironjaw'. With your advice, did you mean that it's too dark in places where light is naturally hitting the model? I have also never thinned down the paints I use, should I just top it up with water into the pot? I'm currently just using 'as is' from the pot, do I put it onto a tile or something and add the water there?

Good point about the space v fantasy orks...Never thought about it that way too much D & D / Fantasy books embedded in my head. Yeah these orks are more plantlike....guess I need to find a color cross between snot green and a light blue aqua for the tongue.

It doesn't show on the orks I have up yet. But I have used as a final highlight goblin green 2:1 Bleached bone works pretty well.

BtW I request to see a vehicle of yours

Da Kommisar 'Imself looks resin O.o
Isnt it just badrukk?

Mental! I'm going through almost the exact same thing!
Just getting back into painting after a 12 year gap - and painting Bloodaxes! I also totally know what you mean about the 'improving without painting' thing - I'm better than I remember.... weird.
I've gone for an imperium-looking grey/black kinda look - not confident enough to have a crack at camo yet! Yours is excellent MGS, by the way. I might put some on my looteds, I reckon....
I'd be more than happy to show some WIP's... if only I could figure out how to put pics in my posts!

These Orks look brilliant. I really 'dig' the camo pattern too. Arent there straps/cloth all over the boots rear and sides though? Or are you leaving them black? In either case I'll go back to what I said first, really nice looking models after such a long painting break.

Quick answers before I head up the wooden hill. Thank you folks for your kind words.

FP, you certainly don't have to go with the random coloured tongue, it was just something I wanted to do since I've never liked GWs take on 'green on the outside, red on the inside', just personal choice. As to vehicles, I've got a standard issue Battle Wagon and a 'skwodrun' of 7 deffkoptas lurking about that will be getting some painting love soon, not sure with the wagon what I'll do though, I'd been thinking about sprays n such but I doubt I'll end up forking out for a gun.

Buttler, yep, it's Badrukk with Zagstruk's head and a chainsword bayonet and powerklaw.

Albatross, nice to know there's someone else out there going back to it, I am wondering if it's patience we've acquired over time but I am certainly much improved on what I was painting back then. My boyz were due to just be grey all over but it felt too flat for me and so I put a few splotches on them and they came out ok. I wanted to do the tigerstrip leg pattern from the old 'necromundan spiders' imperial guard of my youth, but that pattern would look damned weird with the squat positioning of the ork legs. I'd love to see your 'Axes on a blog here? Might be useful to compare notes.

Oshunai, thank you for your kind words, you are correct about the ork boyz boots to a certain extent, some have 'wrappings' around the tops. I wanted to give them a sense of uniform when viewed together and the codex grey uniform basis, with the all black boots is somewhat iconic so I opted to paint the entire boot black, including the metal plates on the front, to stop them being too busy and to aid in binding the unit together when viewed.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Wow, thanks for the feedback folks!

And CMDante, mate, thank you so much for your comments, this is great. I'm glad you like the camo, feedback seems to indicate it went ok. I've set myself a 'rule' with this army, that I won't use Red (Evil Suns), Blue (Deff Skulls), Yellow (Bad Moons), Chequered (Goffs) or Top Knots (Snakebites) to bring home the Blood Axe feel (I may use those primary colours for wiring and other details but no large areas of them). With regards the points you raised for future improvement, with the metals I've added a layer of delvan mud for the time being and would like to add very old gore splatter to 'break up' the large areas of single colour provided by the axe heads and knives. If you look at the Nob, I did try out a fine edge of mithril silver and you're entirely right, it adds a sharpness to the look.
The skin tone troubles me though, I undercoated these fellas in white and painted the skin DA green, which almost shades its self, then a wash of thraka and then a highlight on raised muscle and bone of Snot Green, on the Nob I took this one stage further and applied goblin green to the brow ridges and ear tips to bring the face up from the shadow of the massive 'ironjaw'. With your advice, did you mean that it's too dark in places where light is naturally hitting the model? I have also never thinned down the paints I use, should I just top it up with water into the pot? I'm currently just using 'as is' from the pot, do I put it onto a tile or something and add the water there?

No worries mate.

For thinning, I just do it as I paint, dipping my brush into my water pot (always clean water, helps to have 2 pots, one for cleaning, one for thinning) and then mixing with my paint on my wet pallett or cutting mat until I get the consistency I'm after. I wouldn't recommend adding water to the pots (unless the paint is drying out), theres a danger you might over thin the whole lot. In general, I never use paint straight from the pot without thinning, it tends to lead to streaky coverage or thick, clogged areas - general much less control over the paint, which isn't what you want.

As for the skin, yeah, I think there are areas that could be darker and some that could be lighter. I'll work on some examples to show what I mean tomorrow (in the middle of an NFL marathon at the moment!).

Cheers,

Dante

A fantastic start you've got there MGS. I really do think Dante has hit on a lot of the major points to get you off and running.

For your skin I would consider a slight change in your method to help you along some. You mention washing Thraka over a DA Green basecoat and then highlighting. I suggest highlighting BEFORE you wash and then retouching only raised areas with the highlight color then do a final 'extremely raised' areas highlight. This will get you a bit more midtone from the washing, making a much more subtle change between the dark recessed areas and the light high spots. This is pretty much how I've gone about it with my own orks, but using different colors:



You also mention wanting to do some gore flecks, why not use a small piece of ripped foam? Apply it in a similar fashion as in my sponge battle damage tip. For it to look old I'd consider a dark deep red. Splatters might be done by pressing the foam to the model and pulling it slightly to streak it. Try using this on some paper to test out the look first of course! In fact, I'd consider doing a straight 'test' ork to see how any of the multiple ideas you've had thrown out from this thread so far work for you.

Hope to see some more in the near future!

Gents, thank you both so much for your advice, I'm trimming the edges and drilling the guns on another 20 AoBR orks tonight and if there's still time, spraying them with undercoat, I'll hopefully do a test subject ork and put his pic up asap so you can see the difference and let me know how it's shaping up.

Very cool looking orks - I like the camo - it really works well.

My only comment - not enough RED for orks - maybe give them red berets or red helmets, or even red weapons.

otherwise top class.

Well, it's been a while... Haven't had the want to paint for a long time but got inspired this weekend following a couple of good weekends of improved gaming, several things on the table atm, lootas, nobs n a deffkopta.

Completed for now: My Iron Warriors Cybork Nob - Blood Axes often liking to steal ideas from other armies, this lumbering rust and metal brute took a likin to dem yella an black stripey bitz on dem spikey chaos-boyz! This fella and the rest of Da Kommissar's bodyguard have been smashing up terminators recently and he deserved the first paint job. I have been trying to improve the skin tones as per the excellent advice I've been given but still 'getting there'.

Comment and constructive criticism is most welcome.

1. High shot to show chevrons on Iron Warriors trophy helm(wif da mushy bitz still inside)


2. Extreme close-up!11


3. Detail of the back, showing the stolen ImpG radio unit now serving as a power cell and funky banner pole, note the clash of the imperial camo vs the Blood Axe urban camo:


4. Side shot of PowerKlaw chevrons:





More to follow as and when.

MGS - what can I say. Awesome would be a good start. I find painting hazard stripes a right swear-job, but you got it nailed.

I heartily approve of the Iron Warriors Nob. More caution stripes is always a good thing! Rest of the army looks alright so far, but Black Reach boyz lack a lot of personality for me. Convert some militaristic Orks up to match your awesome Badrukk conversion!

Brother SRM wrote:...but Black Reach boyz lack a lot of personality for me. Convert some militaristic Orks up to match your awesome Badrukk conversion!

All in good time for now, I'm going to have lot's of cheap AoBR boyz in camo gear for the rank n file but in the far flung future, I'm going to be creating a couple of squads using MicroArt Studios 'WW2' orks.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
On looking at those extreme close-ups, I'm still not convinced I got the skin right. The difference between the different types of green (DA, then Snot, then Goblin, with successive washes of thraka then another highlight of goblin) are still feeling marked and unnatural.

I think you're fighting with the wash some. You really should only need one layer to really get the depth you're looking for.

Try skipping DA green all together and go with Snot > Gobbo > 1 Wash of Thraka > Gobbo > 50/50 Gobbo Bleached Bone for one of your boyz.

A bit of brush control with the highlights will clean up the look a bit too, this in reference to the back shot where you can really see the arm highlights that have a bit of a 'sketchy' appearance.

In short, skip a step, don't fight the colors and washes and let them do their work, brush control ^_-.

Hope that helps a bit.

Love the Nob

grey_death wrote:I think you're fighting with the wash some. You really should only need one layer to really get the depth you're looking for.

Try skipping DA green all together and go with Snot > Gobbo > 1 Wash of Thraka > Gobbo > 50/50 Gobbo Bleached Bone for one of your boyz.

A bit of brush control with the highlights will clean up the look a bit too, this in reference to the back shot where you can really see the arm highlights that have a bit of a 'sketchy' appearance.

In short, skip a step, don't fight the colors and washes and let them do their work, brush control ^_-.

Hope that helps a bit.

Well, i use a white undercoat, then a black wash to bring out detail then use the DA green to bring that skin tone right back to dark to work back up from. I'm going to try another black undercoat ork batch, but the ones I tried before weren't taking the colour well and it was still looking like black after 3 coats.

Love the feel of the army with the camo.

The Kommissar is just awesome and I'm looking forward to paint.
(One free bucket of pure envy is in the epost)

As mentioned by others I would also like to see your take on da wheelz.

With that nob with the yellow and black danger line you might not want to just pile up the sunburst yellow (or as I think) onto it to make a line. Because then the consistency of the paint get's too thick and is a bugger when it dries. So I know sunburst yellow (or what ever yellow it is) can be a real bugger sometimes but layer it thinly then It doesn't turn out so yellow'e green. Remember just layer it don't pile it. Thats all on the cyborg nob for you. If you haven't made this *mistake* then your fine but the yellow look's veeery thick to me.

It's 4 layers of thinned yellow over the white undercoat. There is some 'greening' faintly along the yellow/black meeting point where there's been some back and forth with trying to tie down the straight line. i'll be continuing to work on fixing the lines and colour for a while and can see myself going back to tinker with it over time.


And thanks Vash, i'm only going to paint Kommissar Stompa when I've mastered the ork skin painting, I want to do that characterful face justice.

Nice camo on the guys at the very top. I want to paint like that.

Very nice paint job for someone who hasn't painted in 10 years. I would love to say that your models need more depth with some washes but truth be told...they look great together as a unit. I'm sure they really stand out on the table too. Keep it up.