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Welcome all to this month's voting thread! In October, the entrants got spooky for the annual Halloween round, bringing the most fearsome and frightening minis to the paint table to give us a veritable hoard of horror!

As always, you can pick as many entries as you like to vote for, for any reason you like. So if it's the paintjob that catches your eye, the quality of the conversion, the effort on show, the choice of miniature or anything else. Likewise, any feedback you'd like to leave for the entrants is always appreciated, as are any gallery votes you want to throw the way of the many images that link through to the Dakka Gallery!

The entrants


Nevelon: Nighthaunt Wraiths


Rybrook: Legion of the Damned


DV8: Black Coach


Captain Brown: Escher Gangers


Bellerophon: Eldar Shadow Spectre


queen_annes_revenge: Messerschmitt car


Theophony: Predators


Argive: Eldar Wraithlord


Maharg: Skeleton Warriors


vejut: Dwarf Wereshark



Jamie Shred: Resident Evil Monsters


Modock: Tegroth, Servile Hellion of Dis


sockwithaticket: Scarecrow


Yorkright: Venom Crawler


Deadshot: Librarius Conclave


Chris56: Crimson Corvus


Jadenim: Ur-Ghuls


DrGiggles: Bloodletter of Khorne



Dukeofbeer: Bone Devil


JustALittleOrkish: Necromunda Terrain


feltmonkey: Dark Angels Chaplain


Midget Gems: Pennywise Grot


Paradigm: Batman

Loving the number of different entries we have this month. Good luck to everyone!

Lots of inspiring work this month, great job everyone.

Man it was tough to pick my fav 3 this month. Not that my pathetic level of talent allows for judgement but for me:

Madock - Knocked it out of the park. That's a beautifully executed mini and you have really done a superb job once again good sir. Nice thematic and also Love seeing painted Mierce Minis.

Felt Monkey - Your chaplain is amazing! The leather crackle is very good! I'm a big fan fo the sculpt. Fits the theme for me, skulls = scary.

Jamie shred - The crocodile/aligator alone is stunning. The way you captured the motion with the blood gore is superb. Really hit the spot in the theme!


DV8 - The base and the coach are absolutely stunningly gorgeous! Id watch a tutorial on how you did the base all day long.
Not that I am in a position to crique, however, I feel like the green on the specters is just too flat and doesn't carry enough depth doesn't feel finished. Im curious why you chose a darker green/seagreen pallete? I think with a slightly brighter highlights at the tips of their "cloaks" it would make them pop a bit more and seem more ghastly.. (Not sure if its the camera angle/lighting though. Its a pretty big piece).

Man everyone really pulled it in! The Pennywise gobbo is hilarious

Thanks Argive, that gator has gone down really well with my gaming group.

My votes go to......

Modock - there is so much awesome in that paint job I don't know where to start. The blend between the two skin tones, rusted metal, leather, it's all incredibly well done.

Chris 56 - love the bright colours and the scene you have created, extra points for a seriously sinister looking bunch too.

Midget Gems - I always love seeing your inventive conversions and this one fits the theme perfectly.

Well done all, there are loads of fantastic entries as always.

You guys make me all very proud to be a part of this competition and the community around it. Well done to you all


Nevelon - Yaya I alwas look forward to your Undead entries, the blue ghostly trail from the edge of the axe looks very cool.
Rybrook- Nicely Painted, I like you have gone with a light base to make the the very dark model stnad out and some good detail in there, really classic models
DV8 - Such smooth colours, The wood is particularly effective and I really like the bright base with its leaves to contrast the model.
Captain Brown - Good bright hair for these scary ladies
Bellerophon- Really like the bases on those models
queen_annes_revenge- Fantastic weathering and detail
Theophony - I always really like the Predators, they look like very small detailed models from the photos.
Argive- Great Yellow and pattern on the head.
Maharg- You have managed to get some really nice detail and painting on these models.
vejut- I mean who doesn't like a Dwarf Wereshark ?
Jamie Shred - Wow some pretty freaky models right there, the blood around the alligators mouth is particular cool.
Modock - OMG Modock this is amazing, I could right a whole para just complimenting different parts of it. Might be your best entry so far....
sockwithaticket - Yay Welcome Back sock, very well painted cloth, it looks like their are teeth in its ass which is just terrifying .
Yorkright - A look to get painted in a month, looks damn scary to me.
Deadshot - Very well painted cloth on your guys and the all match so make a great group
Chris56 - Lovely colour transition on the wings and beautiful skin tone, the pillar is also very well done with a nice choice of colours
Jadenim - The purple skin on the heads give them a bit of life and I like the way you have painted the bases.
DrGiggles - A good old Bloodletter, the red edging to the sword give it a very nice effect.
Dukeofbeer - The wet red of the remaining flesh gives it a good effect.
JustALittleOrkish - A very inventive entry, the small posters are cool. A shame some of the pics are upside down.
feltmonkey - I love your leather!
Midget Gems - Should have painted the face white!
Paradigm - A good moody entry for a batman model

A lot of good entries from everyone! Here are my top 3:

Modock - Tegroth

What can I say, clean piece and I love the patterning on the skin. I think the cross looks really good, but at the same time it draws a lot of attention and from some angles I think draws attention away from where I think the focus should be (upper torso/chest/head).


queen_annes_revenge - Messerschmitt car

Cool little conversion and I love the weathering on this!


Chris65 - Crimson Corvus

I love this little diorama, and the colors (especially that pillar) are nice, although I wish the skin wasn't so red in tone.


I had two other entries that almost made my top 3, but little bits of them I felt held them back.

feltmonkey - Dark Angels Chaplain

I love what you've done with the cloak, but I wish the rest of the piece was a little more polished, especially on the backpack.

sockwithaticket - Scarecrow

This was a pretty good entry and almost made my top 3, but I think the overall contrast of the piece is pretty flat. I think pushing the highlights even further, especially on the upper torso and head, would really increase the dynamics of this piece.

Thanks for the comments, Argive, Midget, and DV8, you're all very kind. DV8 - you're right. More on that later...

Nevelon - Back where you belong - at the top of the list of entries! I always like your Nighthaunt stuff. That's a nice shade of blue you use.

Rybrook - Legion of the Damned are a really cool "chapter" of marines. Yours are great, You've put a lot of work into the details such as the areas of bone. Nice work on the melta barrel too.

DV8 - I really like the simple yet stunning to look at colour scheme you've used. Excellent use of colour and contrast, with the cold and warm tones. The ghostly blue-green against the autumnal leaves on the base is very effective. Where did you get that leaf scatter? Did you make it yourself?

Captain Brown - I always think Necromunda gangs should be bright and colourful, and have a retro feel. Yours certainly fit this description.

Bellerophon - Well done for painting a whole squad of these super-detailed, fiddly models! I like the colour scheme, and the gems are very nice. I feel that maybe the armour could do with a few small very bright spot highlights to make them pop a little bit more, but overall they're great.

queen_annes_revenge - I like the contrast between the mad vehicle and the serious look on the pilot's face. Great work on the weathering in particular. It's a small detail, but those tyres look amazingly realistic.

Theophony - Pretty cool predators. The on;y issue is that the choice of colours lacks a bit of contrast so the skin and armour kind of blends together to the eye.

Argive - Nice clean work. I like the base and the honeycomb pattern on his head.

Maharg - Good simple but really clean paintjob. The rust on the weapons looks great.

vejut - That's a fantastic miniature! It deserves to be based properly though. The painting is decent although perhaps the blue of the skin and the coat are a bit too similar.

Jamie Shred - The most legitimately "horror" entry of the month, probably. Grusome stuff. The alligator is my favorite of the bunch.

Modock - Favorite entry of the month, and one of my favorites of the year, in fact. I mean it's just stunning, amazing. Well done mate. It's difficult to pick out any area for particular praise as it's all superb, but my eyes keep coming back to the skin. Has anyone alerted Mierce to the fact that your versions of their models are better than the ones they put on their website? They should be paying you to paint for them.

sockwithaticket - A cool little miniature, and a nice smooth and super-neat paintjob. Good stuff.

Yorkright - More good stuff, good clean work on all that gold armour lining.

Deadshot - Good clean, nicely-highlighted work. A few brighter spot colours could have added a bit of visual interest.

Chris56 - Another favorite this month, a brilliant little diorama. The colour choices are fantastic. The variations of tone on the pillar are very nice, the skintone is excellent, and the wings in particular are beautiful. Top tier stuff all round.

Jadenim - Nice Ur-Ghuls. A simple but effective paintjob. I like the little purple spots on the skin.

DrGiggles - Good clean painting, and I like the barbed wire on the base. It looks a little dark, but that might be the photos.

Dukeofbeer - Eyecatchingly gruesome. A nice paintjob, and a characterful piece overall.

JustALittleOrkish - I'm always impressed by anything scratch-built, and making it out of Halloween decorations is a pretty funny idea. The posters are a lovely touch and bring it to life. Super-confusing upside down and from all kinds of angles photographs though.

feltmonkey - I'm ambivalent. The leather came out well, but I sort of feel like that happens on it's own without much real input from me! In short, it's a fluke. Everything else is a curates egg. I'm pleased with the scrolls, and have been trying to learn how to do detailed freehand and script this year. The bones and armour are a mess in some areas - the ribs, the shoulders, the backpack. But then the face is alright and the right leg came out pretty good. For some reason I really concentrated on that leg, to the detriment of other areas. There's a lesson - don't just paint one leg well. Basic box-art paintjob as well. Boo!

Midget Gems - Really funny idea, and for me the second best version of Pennywise, after Tim Curry but better than Bill Skarsgard. I like the gloss finish on the balloons. Why yes, I would like a balloon.

Paradigm - A really cool, moody Batman. The cloak looks particularly great.

Excellent work everyone. I really need to decide what to paint for next month. I have too many potential choices, to be honest.

 feltmonkey wrote:

DrGiggles - Good clean painting, and I like the barbed wire on the base. It looks a little dark, but that might be the photos.

Thanks feltmonkey. It is a little dark but that's 50% due to the scheme and 50% due to poor lighting. Really need to get a daylight bulb and better backdrop to help the photos be a little clearer.

Edit: As always if anyone has any constructive criticism/advice I'm all ears. I think I need to do more gradual highlights to really show off the detail but I'm not sure how to get there.

feltmonkey wrote:DV8 - I really like the simple yet stunning to look at colour scheme you've used. Excellent use of colour and contrast, with the cold and warm tones. The ghostly blue-green against the autumnal leaves on the base is very effective. Where did you get that leaf scatter? Did you make it yourself?

Cheers! The leaf scatter is actually just Chili Pepper flakes! Look at various spices for a cheap way to add some foliage to bases. Oregano is great for spring/summer fall, Chili Pepper for autumn, Thyme makes great scatter/dead fall, and I'm sure you can mix and match others in combinations for really cool, cheap, delicious textures.

Midget Gems wrote:DV8 - Such smooth colours, The wood is particularly effective and I really like the bright base with its leaves to contrast the model.

Thank you sir!

Argive wrote:DV8 - The base and the coach are absolutely stunningly gorgeous! Id watch a tutorial on how you did the base all day long.
Not that I am in a position to crique, however, I feel like the green on the specters is just too flat and doesn't carry enough depth doesn't feel finished. Im curious why you chose a darker green/seagreen pallete? I think with a slightly brighter highlights at the tips of their "cloaks" it would make them pop a bit more and seem more ghastly.. (Not sure if its the camera angle/lighting though. Its a pretty big piece).

I wanted a warm palette for my army, and I'm a huge fan of seafoam color. I also hate how GW does the reverse bright at the tops to dark body for ghosts (but they're inconsistent, because some models are in reverse). The main body of the specter should be the brightest point, and the tails fade to transparency/nothing. Hence why the brightest points of my ghosts are around their heads, bodies, and arms, and the tips go to darkness. I avoided going too bright with the highlights on the seafoam because their skin (which uses the same base tones to carry through consistency of material) I wanted to be the brighest points (goes up to white) with some delineation from the cloaks, and I made the deliberate choice to not go too dark with my shadows so that the ghosts wouldn't look too heavy.

I may (in the future) go back in to add some tonal variety in the shadows (some subtle crimsons and purples, maybe) similar to what I did with my Nagash, but truthfully that's unlikely to happen any time soon. I've done nothing but paint Ghosts (with occasional other pieces, but this was my primary army project for 2019) so I'd like to take a break from working on them for a while.

Midget – thanks a lot. Iit’s been a while, nice to come back. My hobby has taken a bit of a hit in the last 18 months foir various reasons, not the least of which is time. The challenge might be a way to get it back on track, one model a month is do-able right...?

DV8 – thanks, high praise and contstructive criticism. For certain models, like this one, I do deliberately keep things a bit more muted and naturalisitc, but I can certainly see areas where highlights don’t seem to have been as bright/distinct as I thought they were mini in hand (the crow, inner left sleeve).

Feltmonkey – cheers.



Did voting yesterday, took advantage of a quiet 10 minutes at work to write up. My votes are always a synthesis of what I consider to be best painted and most them appropriate. Trick or Treat = Halloween = Monsters/Undead to me and so:

Nevelon – Nighthaunt stuff is pretty thematic and I like the bright turquoise for the ethereal parts

DV8 – a really interesting, unusual and well realised scheme for your equally thematically appropriate submission. The basing really does take it to another level.

Modock – a monster in both senses of the word; high level paint jobs on big pieces always impress me. Can stare at the details for ages.

Chris56 – a very different, vibrant take on the Corvus Cabal, but no less sinister for that.

MidgetGems - orkifying a horror icon and pulling it off well.

It's always great to see such a variety of models and this month brings lot's of and also It's very interesting how do people tackle spooky october themes.

Wow, thanks a lot guys, Argive, Jamie Shred, Midget Gems, DV8, feltmonkey, sockwithaticket, for extensive comments and praises.

DV8 wrote:
What can I say, clean piece and I love the patterning on the skin. I think the cross looks really good, but at the same time it draws a lot of attention and from some angles I think draws attention away from where I think the focus should be (upper torso/chest/head).

Thanks and yeah I've had that feeling that the cross might be a tad too light but if you look at the mini from the front you can't see the cross..

feltmonkey wrote:
Modock - Favorite entry of the month, and one of my favorites of the year, in fact. I mean it's just stunning, amazing. Well done mate. It's difficult to pick out any area for particular praise as it's all superb, but my eyes keep coming back to the skin. Has anyone alerted Mierce to the fact that your versions of their models are better than the ones they put on their website? They should be paying you to paint for them.

Cheers Feltmonkey, you're too generous with praises. I'm sure you know that the paint jobs done for Mierce are from high end painter(artists) like Ben Komets and such. Thanks but I'm
nowhere near them, maybe in some other parallel dimension could happen.

Argive wrote:
Madock - Knocked it out of the park. That's a beautifully executed mini and you have really done a superb job once again good sir. Nice thematic and also Love seeing painted Mierce Minis.

Thanks, Mierce has some of the best looking minis on the market, I really like their demons, giants and trolls.

Jamie Shred wrote:

Modock - there is so much awesome in that paint job I don't know where to start. The blend between the two skin tones, rusted metal, leather, it's all incredibly well done.

Thank you, I think the two skins turned out quite well, actually the skin took the biggest chunk of total time.

Midget Gems wrote:

Modock - OMG Modock this is amazing, I could right a whole para just complimenting different parts of it. Might be your best entry so far....

Big thanks MG, I believe so too.

sockwithaticket wrote:
Modock – a monster in both senses of the word; high level paint jobs on big pieces always impress me. Can stare at the details for ages.

Thank you, very kind. He's huge, my biggest mini to date. An airbrush would be very handy in situation like this.


Off to commenting:

DV8 - what a marvelous piece. The coach is beautiful, the woodgrain is believable and the curtains fit extremely well. The Green shade is pleasant to the eyes and the smoothness makes
it quite realistic. The autumn leaves add hugely to the atmosphere. I don't think I can add much maybe some dirt or dust at the bottom of the piece but that's it.

Bellerophon - cool looking unit. Very crisp and clean and I fancy the color scheme. Nice job, mate..

queen_annes_revenge - this is stunning entry as well. I'm surprised it didn't get more votes. The weathering is exceptional and very realistic.

Jamie Shred - what a brutal entry, very appropriate for the theme. The croc with the bloody mouth is my favourite.

sockwithaticket - brilliant little entry! Very thematic and characterful mini. The paint job is nothing to sneeze at and I'm fond of the flat finish you've achieved.

Chris56 - you did it again, another great entry. Everything is so smooth and clean, the blending is seemless especially on the red wings. Nice sublte weathering on the statue. Cool stuff Chris.

feltmonkey - like others have already said and I concur that the leather came out perfectly, this is nicely seen on the hood. Your freehands are getting better and better and this time no exception.
I like that the blends are a bit rough on marines, it makes them more gritty and grim. I think that perfectly smooth paint job on marines doesn't fit that well.

Midget Gems - this is sheer genius, you got my vote!

Paradigm - gloomy and dark, perfect for the theme, not that you have a problem with gritty painting style...



That's it from me ...oh yeah one more thing, huge thanks to Para and MG for all the work. Let the legacy continue.

Thanks! Not sure why my entries the last couple of months haven't seemed to have cut it. I can't blame it on them being scale either as my scale bulldozer last year fared pretty well, and my sanguinius last month failed to take off! Hopefully get back on track this month.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
Thanks! Not sure why my entries the last couple of months haven't seemed to have cut it. I can't blame it on them being scale either as my scale bulldozer last year fared pretty well, and my sanguinius last month failed to take off! Hopefully get back on track this month.

I would wager that perhaps your issue this month is that it doesnt fit the theme as well as some people would like. You can clearly see tjis month in particular that those pieces that hit the traditional halloween vibes are rated much higher than pieces of an equivilent skill level. And while you've got a beautiful conversion and paintjob there, I and I'm sure many of the anonymous voters out there are still confused on how it relates to halloween and I definitely think that hindered your votes.

Still exquisite work and you should be proud!

@folks who commented, thanks for the kind words and suggestions! I will try to get my comments up later today!

Yeah I didn't have anything else with me to work on so I had to fit the theme as loosely as I could.

Great month, everyone.
Thanks to everyone who said nice things (or voted!) for my Corvus guys. I really enjoyed painting them - I've made the my rule this year, only painting the things I actually want to paint right now and somehow fitting them to the theme. With these guys, I wanted to try different colours and I'm mostly happy with how they turned out.

This month I voted for:

Modock - this model is incredible. It is a world-class paintjob on a very cool model - I wish it was affordable to get Mierce stuff in Australia!

DV8 - another great model with a cool contrast to the colours. Perhaps a little more colour-fade on the ghosts would really take this to the next level. That said, the wood and metals are fantastic.

feltmonkey - I know you downplay parts of this model but that leather is genuinely the best I have ever seen - I'm very jealous.

QAR - this sort of weathering really shines (...well, you know what I mean..) and really looks fantastic.

jadenim - I love these ur-ghuls. They are an awesome model and you have done a perfect paint job on them.

Midgetgems - as always, your conversions have a great sense of humour to them...I imagined a severed arm on the base!


Thanks to all again, especially Para and MG for keeping this going for all the rest of us.

.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
Thanks! Not sure why my entries the last couple of months haven't seemed to have cut it. I can't blame it on them being scale either as my scale bulldozer last year fared pretty well, and my sanguinius last month failed to take off! Hopefully get back on track this month.

Yeah It was the theme for me with your piece for what its worth.

 JBSchroeds wrote:
I usually vote, but rarely comment. Just wanted to say that I LOVE the leather on feltmonkey's entry.

These words read like they were pulled from my mind... Really lovely work on feltmonkey's Chaplain.

I also like the freehanding and weathering on queen_annes_revenge's Messerschmitt car, and the colours and general execution of DV8's black coach are beautiful.

DV8 wrote:

The leaf scatter is actually just Chili Pepper flakes! Look at various spices for a cheap way to add some foliage to bases. Oregano is great for spring/summer fall, Chili Pepper for autumn, Thyme makes great scatter/dead fall, and I'm sure you can mix and match others in combinations for really cool, cheap, delicious textures.

Thanks for this! I have just this afternoon bought a tub of chili flakes to add some interest to the bases on my Sylvaneth army. To think that I spent ages googling autumn leaf scatter without finding anything that was quite what I needed, or not prohibitively expensive.

queen_annes_revenge wrote:Thanks! Not sure why my entries the last couple of months haven't seemed to have cut it. I can't blame it on them being scale either as my scale bulldozer last year fared pretty well, and my sanguinius last month failed to take off! Hopefully get back on track this month.

For what it's worth, I voted for you. I thought it was great.

Thanks Modock, Chris, JBSchroeds, and Shmvo for the compliments.

Here's another explanation of how to do the leather. It's actually pretty easy.

How you do it is you get a decent basecoat, the darkest it really works with is doombull brown, which I used here. Lighter colours work better, I can't get it to work with darker colours yet.

Then you give it a drybrush with a much lighter tone (not white or anything, but maybe Tau Light Ochre. I honestly can't remember which colours I used here.) This needs to be a very light, but sort of very persistent drybrush. So you really have hardly any paint on the brush at all, but you go at it, over the whole area, and from a variety of angles - this is key. You might start to see the beginning of the effect.

Do another drybrush with an even lighter tone, even lighter strokes, starting to create the gradient, so mainly hitting the parts you would normally highlight such as the raised ridges in the cloak.

Next you give it a wash. I always use a paint called Smokey Ink from the Vallejo Game Colour range. It's a magic paint. I think you might be able get the effect without the smokey ink but it seems to be much better with it. Basically, this paint has a slightly gritty texture. Not as much as something like Typhus Corrosion, it's much more subtle. Drybrushing over this is the main thing that creates that cracked leather effect. I think the paint is catching the edges of the grittiness, but this might be nonsense. Try to make sure this wash doesn't pool and stain the mini, as this method makes it very difficult to sort that out if it happens.

Once the wash is dry, go back to drybrushing with a highlight colour, but choose a different colour. It can be something similar, but varying it is key to creating the interest. drybrush on another brightest highlight, again choosing a slightly different colour to the last brightest highlight.

Wash again in a different tone.

Then finally drybrush back up in a couple of stages, with yet more varied tones. Than you should be done, although you can keep going back and forth between washing and drybrushing, it seems the more you do the better it looks. There's really no skill involved. One tip though - do this bit first and paint around it, or paint in sub-assemblies. You're going to hit everything around it as you can't do a targeted, dainty drybrush.

It would be cool if suddenly everyone on the forum was producing nice-looking cracked leather.

Whoops, thought I'd announced the winners already, but apparently not. So without further ado, here's October's triumphant terrors!

Sharing third, feltmonkey's imposing Dark Angels Chaplain














and Chris56 with the Crimson Corvus:







Taking second, DV8's Black Coach:







And claiming another win, Modock with Tegroth, Servile Hellion of Dis


Congratulations all!

Congratulations to all the winners and to all those who painted something for the month.

Thanks to Paradigm for putting this together each month and Midget Gems for doing a tracker.

Sincerely,

CB

Yay... , thanks guys for all the support also congrats to other winners and to all who managed to finish their entry.

Congratulations to all the winners and entrants. Big thanks to the organisers for keeping this going too.

Congrats Modock, DV8, Felt, Chris 56 and also to everyone that entered

Thank you for sharing your leather recipe with us Felt it always gets loads of good comments. You probably too modest with it since I'm sure If I followed your instructions it would look nothing like that

Will try to get the League table updated today and do it quickly (for once)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Table updated now

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/732117.page#9481149

Congratulations to the winners, some beautiful work there.