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OK, this is my Red Scorpion Captain that I'm planning to enter in a painting contest at (one of) my local GW.

A few things:
1) I HATE the yellow! Just can't seem to find one I like. If you have Yellow tips please share!
2) The Shield on his chest? Well, that did have a brass-etch on, but after primer & build-up coats of white, it just turned into a smudge, so off it came.
I've smoothed what I could without damaging the rest of the paint job.
3) Still on the 'To Do' list is - lenses, final armour highlight (Codex Grey), Purity Seal text, brass bullets in magazine & Satin varnish spray.
4) Got some decals to add, using the GW Sisters sheet, the haloed skull for the shield, and the various text parts for the parchment on his cloak and the 'box' on the top of the armour.

Last off, the contest is tomorrow (12th Sept 2009) so basically I have as much paiting time left as can be crammed into tonight.
I was hoping to add the two Servo Skulls from the Devastator box to the base, sort of hovering above him on some clear acrylic rod I have, do you think it's worth the effort to add this, or will it feel too "look at us! Look at us! ignore the flaws on him!" ?

Enough blathering, here he is








This model has been great for me! I've had motivation to paint after hearing about the compo, and I've really enjoyed doing it!
Here's hoping I'll get off my butt and get some of my (terrifyingly numerous) rank and file painted up!

That front shield as a blank space is a worry, it needs something there.

Out line the red scorpion on shoulder with black.
Eye balls
Put some decal on the chest / knee armor

yeah as you said finish of the to do list then you should write something on his legs(trust me a steady hand, white paint and a fine brush and it'll look awesome)and maybe a red scorpions logo on the breast plate...and the yellow looks awesome!!

Thanks for the fast feedback guys!

@ MeanGreenStompa
Yeah, the decal I'm planning on using is just about the right size and solid black, so should take some of the edge off the blank space.

@ LunaHound
I'm very wary of spoiling the white, maybe some watered-down Badab Black and a tiny brush?
Lysanders eyes have a very 'constipated' look, very scrunched up and small. is it THAT noticeable/bad? I'm rater proud of the skin tone, and retouching is going to be difficult...
For the knee, I'm thinking maybe his Company Number numeral? Ties in with the Forge World stuff, Red Scorps seem very understated on armour decoration...

@ the_emperors_renegade
Black would be more 'in scheme', as I said above maybe his Company Number?
Thanks for the confidence boost on the yellow!


Would an unpainted brass etch Scorpion logo look too out of place on the shield?
Maybe give it a shading wash?

The purity seals on his shoulder and the scroll hanging at the back of the model should have something on them, a suggestion of writing on them. It looks weird that he's got a blank page adorning his armour.

Otherwise, it looks really nice.

scorpion logo: baal red, 1:1 BAAL RED,blood red highlight, 3:1 blood red , skull white highlight imo

@ john q.
Yup, that's on my to do list.
I'm thinking of using Delvan Mud to give it something of a hand written quality.

@ the_emperors_renegade
Blood Red + Skull White = pink! Tried that for a highlight for the pommell (?) on the bottom of the hammers shaft...
needless to say it was re-done!

you do not need to use paint if you have a very fine liner pen...a 001 or so will work just fine to outline your shoulderpad...I will use that when I am not confident i will not have to do massive correction work to get outlines....conversely, the chaos black/badab black mix will work for outlining.

Culial wrote:@ LunaHound
I'm very wary of spoiling the white, maybe some watered-down Badab Black and a tiny brush?

I'd use Devlan Mud. Any messiness can be fixed by adding new white overtop.

Re: painting yellow

Look into the P3 paint line, very high pigment paints, I love them. I base with Heartfire, and build up with Cygnus Yellow. Gryphonne Sepia wash if you're feeling frisky before final highlights. Got the hint from JHall, and he was bang on the money for painting amazing yellows.

The scorpion on the shoulder pad needs improvement, if you want to win. the whote goes all the way up the sides of it, and the red only covers the top. the entire scorpion should be red & highlighted accordingly.

...and, yes... the eyes ARE that noticeable. Well, they WILL be in a competition.

Eric

It lacks a focal point to draw the eye meaning it looks a bit bland and unfinished which is a shame because it looks well painted in every other respect from the photos you have put up. The shield on the front needs to stand out and the face needs some eyes. It'll have the impact it needs then.

@ Teek
Thanks for the tip!
I can get Heartfire, Cygnus & Sulphur yellow + yellow ink from a (relatively) local source, will come in handy for the rest of the army, especially the ink!
Had to use my precious, precious GW Yellow Ink for this guy

OK, so with MagickalMemories & Howard A Treesong adding to LunaHound thats three votes for eyes.
Guess I'll give it a go!

I've got the final highlights & bullets done, looking at the shoulder pad next.
Then Purity Seals & lenses, finishing with the decals & satin varnish spray.

Anyone have tips for using MicroSol, or is it a 'slap it all over' kinda deal?

I've not had the opportunity to use P3 or Vallejo , but I've heard their whites and yellows are superior to Citadel's.

My method for yellow is to basecoat with Deneb Stone, then use Bleached Bone in two thin layers, followed by Sunburst Yellow, watered down Sepia wash and highlights with Sunburst.

Yellow's a downright pain in the tuckus...

Yeah, so my babysitter crapped-out on me and since the other-half is working today I didn't get to go to the Contest.
What? You try keeping a 4-year-old girl happy in a GW store for half a day!

Anyway, foul mood aside, I did get the model finished last night, and tried to the best of my ability to take all the advice everyone was kind enough to offer.

So here is the final product:









I can take a little solace in the fact the the money I saved on car parks & eating out today will pay for the P3 paints Teek recommended twice over, so I'll get an order in later on!

Thanks again for all the feedback and advice everyone!
I've really enjoyed this little project, any critique on the final version is welcome, after all I still have a boat-load of marines left to paint and very little experience to guide me!

Oh, one last thing;
MicroSol is awesome! Costs very little, you just slap it on and it works like a charm! No way the knee-pad-number or the parchment-text would have taken without it.
I highly recommend it.

Outstanding job. The finished product is really awesome. It's a shame that you couldn't go to the contest.

There was a huge change between the two pictures, and I've gotta say, great job on the finished model.

Why thank you!
I think it's maybe the tenth one I've painted, the first I've really finished.
The others have pretty much been colour scheme tests, slap-it-on-and-see-how-it looks kinda deals, so I'm pretty proud of him!

Very nice!

The red scorpion/circle on the shoulder really needs to be separated from the yellow/gold of the shoulderpad. You really need a very dark brown at the join where the circle meets the yellow part of the shouderpad. I'd also go with black where the scorpion meets the white. Seriously, you really need to do something here. I understand your concern about the white but you did say you were entering a painting comp.

Great job on applying the advice you were seeking, the finished product looks great and is a big improvement on the first pictures.

I agree, that is a very nice mini. Im not a huge fan of eye balls on SM, they normally looks really weird. But yours doesnt seem as bad for some reason. Sucks you couldnt make it, I too have children, and my oldest is that age. Its hard enough keeping him quite when Im there just to buy something and run lol

It really is a shame you couldn't make it to the painting competition, you've got a winner on your hands. Great work!