Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Here we go!!! Kick ass man!

Do you have a backview of the figure as well, I'm curious how you painted the backpack.

wow! the mask looks perfectly sculpted and the painting is awesome too! Just some plain old admiration here. Nothing to really add.

Reverts to English Teenager Mode:

Whoa! Bloody 'ell mate thats 'mazing!
(English accent)

Sorry had to pick fun at that!

Any way good job. Your level of sculpting is phenominal, how many years have to been sculpting? Have you had any formal training? School, work?

Have been painting since 1990 (what I would consider quite badly for a long time of that though!) but only really started sculpting anything more than just gap filling in the past 2 years. No training whatsoever, just alot of study on the internet of sculpting threads, tutorials and guides etc and looking at mini's and trying to break down in my head how they were sculpted. It really is all about making a number of key shapes and then adding detail from there.

The core work (pose, proportions and basic shapes, i.e. shape of head, musculature etc) are key, the details aren't quite as important but I think they really make a good sculpt into a great one. I think I'm some way off that level yet but I keep practicing in the hope that one day I will be!

Practice makes perfect afterall!

Cheers,

Dante

Hey, glad to see some proper pics of the first guy. He looks really good, I really like the slightly rusted shoulderpads.
Giving rust a go myself these days, so I guess that sort of stuff just jumps out at me...

Glad to see that the model looks even better painted, than he did when you were sculpting him.

Two thumbs up from me!

Wow! Looks really good CMD! Glad to hear you have a camera that cooperates lol.

cant wait to see more!

updates plzz

Arise thread, arise!

Well, it's been a long time but I thought I should get back to these guys since I've had a few sitting in various stages of development on my desk for a while now....

Some of you may remember this chap:


Well I figured it was about time he got some paint. After working on him for a couple of hours, he currently looks like this:




At the moment the only areas I have really worked on are the fatigues and the face. The face is pretty much there but the fatigues will get another highlight or two and some weathering.

Pretty pleased with the face, it has that sort of depraved maniac look to it I think. The scar eye is supposed to be a dead eye, bit yellowed to try and convey this. Basically I decided to do this because after starting painting I realised it would end up looking a bit bigger than the other eye so putting pupils in both would make them look a bit weird. It makes sense anyway given the size of the gash through the eye so its all good.

Anyway, hope to get more done on this guy in the next few days so will keep you posted.

Thoughts and comments appreciated.

Cheers,

Dante

Looks great! I'm glad to see more progress in this thread as it was one of the reasons I joined Dakka in the first place! The Deadeye looks great, and I'd be interested to know what you have planned next for this warband.

Man, I love this plog. It's great to see this project back up and running after such a long hiatus. The subtlety of your green-stuff work and how well you blend from plastic to putty is exceptional.

I especially like the skintone you've achieved and the semi-translucent look of it. If you don't mind my asking, what colors do you use for your main and shade-tones? And are you using more wet-blending or glazing techniques to get that translucent effect?

Thanks for the inspiration!

Great work, just read through the blog this afternoon too. The Chainaxe lad is just great, very good sense of motion

The paint up is just brilliant, really like the subtle shades in the face and wounds

~ Tael.

Great work. This is a real inspiration. My own renegades are based on these conversions. I'm currently working on a version of the soldier with the chain axe. Thanks for the ideas.

Wow. Your skin tones are great CMD. You are very patient my friend if you sculpted the chain on his neck. I like this model, lots of character in the face. But I think we would all make that face if you had a severed hand hanging from your neck so long it has begun to turn green. ><

CMD: been wanting to ask you, when you do cloth sculpt, what principles do you use to figure where the folds will be. Cloth is my nemesis and allies with cloak sculpts. grrr

I'm trying my hand at sculpting too after talking to you, but I hate GS because of the work time. I'm going the way of Super Sculpey but its really soft. Think I'll try the FIRM version next. You use clay much?

@ VonStreusel - Cheers mate, glad to have motivated you to join the community here, it's one of the best around IMHO and its good to have you aboard. Next for the warband is a grenadier or storm trooper, need to see what takes my fancy as so far it has been done as the whim takes me and both mini's have developed in terms of pose and equipment as I've put them together.

@ GitSmack - Ta mate, glad to be going with it again to be honest, can't believe I've taken so long to get around to painting this guy. I blame Mig's for leading my imagination astray with his =I=munda logs!

For the skintones, I was asked a similar question on Warseer so here is a copy of what I said there:

Hmm, wasn't so much of a recipe as a "I'll do this and see what happens" so it's quite complicated.

Basically the whole head was painted dheneb stone, then washed with 2 thin washes of baal red:devlan mud:griphone sepia. The skin was then highlighted with "juices" of dheneb stone. The areas round the eyes and mouth were then shaded with thin washes of hormagaunt purple mixed with a little charadon granite and tiny amount of dheneb. A final highlight of P3 menoth white/dheneb stone mix was then added.

No wet blending, I use a technique called "juicing", I think it started with the French. Basically you thin the paint to just thinner than milk consistency, almost a wash, get some on your brush, dab it against a tissue or cloth to remove the moisture and then apply. It takes a few layers to build up the colour but it gives a lot more control and the translucent effect. It works equally well for both highlighting and shading too. I'll try and knock together a few pics to show what I mean.

@ Shas'El Tael - Thanks man, as I said before, it was your own scythes website that got me back into GW again so I have a lot to thank you for!

@ The Lost Hobbit - I saw these over at CoolMini today at work and was going to comment there, didn't realise you were a member here too! Those renegades look great, the uniforms are particularly nicely done. For the chainaxe head, if your having trouble with it I found chainblades (chaos terminator ones) and marine chainswords have good parts to cannibalise.

@LBursley - Thanks mate, yep the chain was sculpted, first effort at chain, there are areas that could be better but pleased with it for a first go. Lol, the hand is no longer so yellow but needs a bit of a tidy up.

For sculpting cloth, I don't really think about it too much, just go with what you think looks natural and look at existing GW mini's for inspiration. I know what you mean though, it really can be tough to get to grips with. I think your right on going with super sculpey, never tried it myself but know that a lot of great sculptors use it so it must be pretty good. I use GS purely because I'm used to it and the curing times don't bother me too much since I sculpt it short bursts.

Might have to give clay and sculpey a try though, let me know how you get on with it and what you think its merrits are?

Cheers,

Dante

typhus wrote:i insist on long hair on at least one

I insist that you leave the guy alone, seriously. He already said he didn't want to do it, just because you have a long hair fetish doesn't mean everyone else has to sculpt long hair on THEIR models for you.

These guys look awesome, love the conversions.

Does this mean you will continue to expand your Blood Pact gang or are you still "distracted" by other projects\?

It means I'm going to add a few more to hopefully create a rounded out squad, but I will still be working on some other projects too. (What a caveat! )

Cheers,

Dante

So, basically, you reserve the right to do whatever you want to do? Very sensible...

They're amazing!
And thanks for sharing the skin recipe. I'm looking forward to that "juicing" info, if you have the time.

They're Great!

Fantastic detail in those. Are they slightly bigger than a normal trooper?

@ Modhail - No worries mate, will get something worked up soon.

@ covenant84 - Slightly due to the lengthening of the legs in order to get more realistic proportions. Will get a scale comparison later tonight.

Cheers,

Dante

Progress:

Might look minor but consider I started on Sunday and aim to finish by this Sunday, I'm making good time! Especially when you consider the fact it is me painting here!





Quite pleased with the war-knife, doesn't look much but I think it adds a nice detail and characterful touch. Kept the writing quite faded to suggest age and weathering.

The boots and armour will be getting some proper weathering at a later stage using some pigments.

Arms are up next.

Cheers,

Dante

Man, that gak is fething cool.

Fantastic. That face is painted impeccably. I really like how you've kept the torso's colors mute to highlight his face better.

Tanith?!? What an amazing touch! Might be cool to do a trophy on one of a tattooed head or arm/hand from a Tanith trooper?

Absolutely perfect I say. The small touch on the knife, the face, the subtle scheme - that's Blood Pact. Period.

Now I want some even crazier feth next and then an army of these guys!

That is amazing painty (and photography!). Will you be entering them into Golden Demon? I think you'd stand a chance, definatly in the squad category!

It's brilliant to see you working on these again. That is one of the best painted faces I have seen, and the pose is so fluid and captured. Excellent stuff, can't wait to see him finished. :]

Thanks guys.

@Chrispy - Thanks for the kind words. With the area around the head, I always try to do this since the face is the main focal point for almost all mini's and therefore it helps to make it stand out as much as possible.

@ VonStreusel - Good idea, this one will defo be getting used at some point!

@ Migs - soon enough my friend, soon enough!

@ covenant84 - Ta mate, it's only relatively recently that I've gotten used to my camera and worked out how to make it work right (it had a wily machine spirit that needed taming!). I plan to enter GDUK this year with at least one entry. My first time entering so it will be good experience, plus its always nice to see all the entries up close and get to chat with other painters. GD Glasgow has a good reputation for success in the squad category (Matt Kennedy won gold 2 years ago and silver last year with his orks) so it would be good to win one of my own but I'm keeping my expectations realistic and just looking forward to the experience and a nice day out.

@ Bottle - Thanks mate, glad to see Dakka alive with new and inspiring logs and comments again, your own =I=munda log has definitely got my attention.

Arms are up for painting tonight so hopefully have something worthwhile showing later plus the scale comparison shot I promised yesterday.

Cheers,

Dante

VonStreusel wrote:Tanith?!? What an amazing touch! Might be cool to do a trophy on one of a tattooed head or arm/hand from a Tanith trooper?

QFT!
Thats the first thing I noticed as well. Nicely done Dante, nicely done

Beautiful work, Dante!

The way you painted the flesh is especially super-realistic and impressive.