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Your orange cloth came out too red, I'd say. I'd start from Macharius Solar and highlight up by starting with Blazing Orange and adding Sunburst Yellow as you go. Don't work it up to white, as it will make it look washed out.

The shield looks fantastic, well done.

@ Some_Call_Me_Tim? : Thanks!! Good luck on your Earth Caste Taus, I'm following them with eagerness!

@ kadeton : Thanks for the advice on the orange cloth... Maybe I'll try tonight, I should have a small painting session after the 1st "Bones" episode!

I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it in time, as I can only paint at night... Seems like I'll have to negotiate this weekend...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So, I managed to get a bit of work on my elf... from 11pm to 1.45am... Tomorrow will be more of "toiling" than "working"

@ kadeton : I didn't try and get the orange band better, I guess I'll do it IF I manage to finish all the rest before saturday... Then, once the mini is almost finished, I'll try and correct according to your advice!

Anyway, here's the progress so far:



I followed Jin's advice in painting the gems in blue, they aren't finished yet but I think the colour's nice... So thanks!

Worked on the green robe & helmet highlights, finished the waves on the armour bottom, added waves too on the quiver, and highlighted the hanging bandana with camo green & rotting flesh...

Here are some closer pics...


Back view - details on quiver & waves


Close-up on the "scarf" & quiver... I'm happy I set on a slightly different colour for highlighting the scarf, compared to the robe (Camo Green & Rotting Flesh, compared to Scorpion Green)


Another close view

The pics are far from perfect, but it's 2am right now so there's no natural light at the moment...

Tomorrow, I'll begin the NMM in the two colours : silver & gold... As it's quite new for me, would anyone have a few advices / links / avoidable mistakes / etc... to give me?!?

Thanks in advance,

As promised, I went on with trying NMM... I don't think I pulled it off that good, but at least it yields a nice effect, if not metallic...

Here are the pics :


Front view - a bit dark - finished the gems & gold NMM


I just finished the shield... Any ideas as to how improve the flames?


My best attempt at NMM - how can I improve it further?!?

I eventually began his right arm, here it is so far :


Done with Gems & gold NMM

I have two concerns :

- Is blue a good choice for the "supposed" algae?!? It's not very algae-esque, but I think blue balances the model more than a green one... I'm thinking of highlighting it towards Hawk Turquoise, but I'm concerned it might add yet another colour to the palette, so my mind is not made up yet...

- I want the shaft to remain white... Is it a good idea?!? The only two white parts on the models will be the shield background & the spear shaft... What do you think?

Only 6 days left to finish it, and I cannot seem to see the end!!! Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some time... If I manage to resist the urge to open my Halo:Reach container!!!

Wish me luck,

go darker towards the bottom of the greens and push the polor opposites on the NMM's as you want them to truely show.

Could you explain a bit more, Empchild?!? I don't really get it...

Here's today's update... Finished most of the armour mail, bow, and the last NMM golden shells...


Back view



Front view

Some more efforts to make :

- NMM helm & spear blade: these are going to be tough...
- Algae : still debating on Hawk Turquoise or Ice blue highlights...
- right sleeve..
- face
- base.

I think I'll have to take a day off next week if I am to finish it by Friday...

Great work, Yggdrasil. Your painting skills are superb, and that GSed termi of Nurgle is awesome. I love all the details you put on him. I can't wait to see Zobi painted.

Wow, you master alot of painting skillz, keep it up!

Hey

On page 1 you've got a flagelant head in the awesome conversion nurgle termie...

How did you get the head in/on...I am trying to do the same...did you just raise it up, or trim things? Advice would be great...

M

Damn, Yggdrisil where have you been hiding those painting skills?!?!

The Good Green wrote:Great work, Yggdrasil. Your painting skills are superb, and that GSed termi of Nurgle is awesome. I love all the details you put on him. I can't wait to see Zobi painted.

That is the story of "Zobi the Fly"... Nice song, but lyrics in French... And thanks!

Rose_Mountainz wrote:Wow, you master alot of painting skillz, keep it up!

Thanks !! I've tried some new techniques on this mini, mostly NMM, and I'm not really convinced, but it's nice to hear people like it...

manoknok wrote:Hey

On page 1 you've got a flagelant head in the awesome conversion nurgle termie...

How did you get the head in/on...I am trying to do the same...did you just raise it up, or trim things? Advice would be great...

M

IIRC, I had to fit in a chopped, regular SM head inside the hole, somewhere halfway around the jaw cables & mouth vent, then strap the head on top! We can see it a bit on that pic (bottom left of the head) :

Hope it helps!

BLACKHAND wrote:Damn, Yggdrisil where have you been hiding those painting skills?!?!

What should I understand, BH?!? Were all the previous minis really THAT BAD?!?

Thanks anyway, I've been putting more time than I had first expected for this mini... So I hope it shows!!

But your praise just make me want to paint it some more! Today I asked my boss about taking my Thursday off so that I could be sure to finish it before Friday... He said he'd think about it...

Hi yes...will give that a go!

Chars!

You're welcome... Glad I could help!!

I took my day off today, so I have made some progress...

I have finished the helm... Though I tried to make it silver with NMM, it doesn't show as well as with gold... But looks nice anyway, IMO!



I guess I got something wrong on the way for steel NMM, so if anyone could point that out to me, I'd be grateful!







At that point, I'm considering the body as "done"... I'm a bit annoyed with the face & boots, but I tried a few things and they don't seem to work... So unless someone can save the day, I'll leave them as is!


So, here at last, work has begun on the algae & right arm... I'm pretty happy with the algae colours, I'm still in the process of highlighting it... The green sleeve & glove are over... And I'm afraid to begin the spear blade, as I hope I won't mess it as much as the helm!!!



Thanks for reading!

The NMM is looking great!

Excellent work! Keep it up.

@ Some_call_me_tim? : Thanks! I quite believe you're right for the golden parts, but I think the steel ones totally suck...

They do look good though, so I'm not too sad about them...

@ Reecius : Thanks!! Also went through your Army list article, you've got a nice & down-to-earth (ie. efficient) way of making up an army!
I personally prefer the more fluffy & inefficient ones, but I'm no tourney player so this gives some good insight should I ever want to optimize my dudes!
I especially felt aimed at as "those guys that give their squads all the non-useful upgrades", but that's the way I like it!


Eventually, time for a break... I want to think the whole mini's over, glued and ready to be put on a base... Which I still have to design...

No pics, sorry, it's night & they'll be too dark (yes, I already thought of turning the lights ON ) ...

Tomorrow, if all goes well!!

Thanks for the support,

Edit: by the way, I just stumbled onto a post by a painter who is forsaking NMM for his own reasons... Some won't agree with him, but this can still make us think about what we like in OUR Hobby...

http://sonsoftaurus.blogspot.com/2010/04/end-of-nmm-affair.html

(I hope I won't be mod-chastised for this link, but since so many people have outer links in their sig...)

Cheers,

Well, it seems pictureless post aren't that popular...

So here are the pictures of the finished Sea Guard (sorry, bad lighting, I'll try & redo them tomorrow)









I definitely suck at steel NMM... But he looks nice anyway, doesn't he?!?

I consider him finished, but I still have tomorrow afternoon for corrections & re-painting, so feel free to tell about anything you think was badly executed / could have been better!

Mmmm! tasty!

I hope the model you swap for it is as well painted, that elf is gorgeous.

that elf is really well done! great work!

The very bright highlights contrast very well with the very dark shadows. I am impressed!

_Tim?

Looks pretty damn good!

Thank you guys!!!!

@ BlackHand : I won't swap it again, that was a swap of unpainted minis!! Though my friend is quite unhappy with his Skaven, so he might be giving it back to me!

So on Saturday, we went on to our 100km-away GW store, to submit our mini...

I took some pics, but forgot my camera at my sister's house, so I won't be able to show them before next weekend!!!

There were a dozen minis; some rather simple, on the same basis as we did (single trooper mini from the infantry regiments), some more complicated & converted.

Those especially worthy of note were :

- An IoB Rat Ogre on a pile of shattered stone pillars, restrained from below with a leash by the 3 plague monks from the Plague Furnace kit : full of dynamism, nicely converted, but the owner clearly lacked time to finish it, as some areas (on the back, mostly) were only basecoated! A shame, for it was clearly the best entry IMHO.

- A heavily converted HE lord on Griffin : actually, it was an Elf Lord on Lion! The owner masterfully converted the rear half of the IoB griffin, adding to it some parts of Chrace Lions from the HE chariot kits!
An very original idea, most probably painstaking, but neatly executed...
He seemed to use a forward leg from each of the chariot kit lions, re-sculpted the maw in a more open way, and fitted all of this to the griffin in a leaping motion, very dynamic as well...
Not to mention the snowy base, shimmering with ice crystals & leaf branches made from the WHFB basing kit... Really, really efficient...

As for the result, I should get it tomorrow... The store manager told me that it would probably be between my sea guard elf & the "leaping lion w/ lord", so I'm eager to know...

I think my painting might be a bit more thorough, but the movement, conversion effort & awesome base should win the day over my plain base & mini "simpleness"...

The award would be a High Elf news of the winner's choice... Not really interesting as I won't - ever - play Elves!

I'll let you know as soon as I know...

Thanks for those who supported me!

As of this weekend, I went back on my Plague Monks... Almost finished, I still have to finish the verdigris on their metal parts, & spend some more efforts on the command party...
Some pics when I get my camera back!

So, after all, here is the result :

I ended up 2nd, and my friend 3rd!!!!

Here are the finished pics of our two miniatures (I the Elf, he the Skaven) "Beware, overload of pics incoming":

High Elf Lothern Sea Guard, "Before the Storm"...



















I know, I should have made a base, but I ran out of time...

Skaven Clan Rat with Spear (my friend's mini, ranked 3rd)

And the winner, an awesome conversion & sculpting :





I'm really impressed with the base, it's really neat and exhales a sense of quietness & purity... As for the mini in itself, it's really complicated, with the rear of the IoB griffin, and the front of a Chrace Lion with paws from 2 Lions... A great idea, perfectly executed in terms of sculpting...
As for the painting, honestly it's not that neat actually... The highlights & blendings are a bit rougher, but I admit the overall feeling of the mini is far better than mine!

Next is my favourite mini in the competition, very dynamic (and I cannot resist that Plague Furnace Crew)!!!



The Plague Monks seem to be having a really hard time, trying to harness the Rat Ogre's fury!!! I love it!!!

Lastly, some other minis in the comp :







Pretty nice as well!!!

I really had a nice time painting this mini, and it's undoubtedly the best I have ever painted!!!

I made some experiments & learnt a lot, whether in techniques or colour schemes, but I also made sure I have terrible weaknesses : I'm bad at faces & eyes, I didn't get the steel NMM, and I'm desperately slow...

I'll have to work on that, especially the faces & eyes... It'll be far more useful than the time-consuming NMM!!!!

Thanks for those of you out there who supported me, it helped me a lot in keeping me motivated to get it through!

_Tim?, kadeton, Empchild, The Good Green, Rose_Mountainz, BLACKHAND, Reecius, Sageheart, kastellan : even the smallest kind words were truly welcome!!!

Also, finished my Plague Monks this weekend... Some pics next time!

Thanks for looking,

I honestly dunno if I'm a fan of the leaping lion. I myself made a conversion of a Prince on a Lion, and it was a simple conversion yet I believe it looks a bit better. But thats only imho, I may be wrong lol.

"J'aime beaucoup ce que vous faites".

Such a shame I haven't been reading this blog until now I already liked your traitor guards, but your WHFB models are great too! I wish I had half of your painting skills.

Are you going to prepare something for the Games Day?

I am really not that into the lion...its pose looks very stiff, like a statue. And the painting is not that great, I really do not see why the one with the Plague Monks and the Rat Ogre didn't win 1st place, there is so much character in it!

_Tim?

Everything about the lion's pose reminds me of Aslan from the original lion witch and the wardrobe movie.
This is not a good thing.

Trilobite wrote:Everything about the lion's pose reminds me of Aslan from the original lion witch and the wardrobe movie.
This is not a good thing.

Ouch, don't take about that movie.. I vividly remember the little drawn and then pasted minions of the white witch. And the buck toothed Lucy Pevensie...

_Tim?

Nice to see that you came at second place yggdrasil! It really is a great looking model. And you deserve to get feedback since you update regulary and you deliver great minis

kastellan wrote:I honestly dunno if I'm a fan of the leaping lion. I myself made a conversion of a Prince on a Lion, and it was a simple conversion yet I believe it looks a bit better. But thats only imho, I may be wrong lol.

You may post pics if you have them, I'd be interested in seeing it!!!

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:I am really not that into the lion...its pose looks very stiff, like a statue. And the painting is not that great, I really do not see why the one with the Plague Monks and the Rat Ogre didn't win 1st place, there is so much character in it!

_Tim?

It seems both of you agree on the lion... Maybe it looks better IRL? Still, I assure you it was quite awesome to see...

Hyenajoe wrote:"J'aime beaucoup ce que vous faites".

Such a shame I haven't been reading this blog until now I already liked your traitor guards, but your WHFB models are great too! I wish I had half of your painting skills.

Are you going to prepare something for the Games Day?

Merci!

Usually my minis aren't that well painted, and I've never been good at arts in school... I guess if you spend a lot, a lot & a lot of time, and then again some more, painting a single mini, everyone can achieve the same result!!! Think that I spent something like 40 hours getting around with it, and I still see some details I could work on!

As for Games Day, I guess not... (see reasons above : not enough skill & imagination) But the GW store manager challenged me to paint the mini I scratchbuilt during last year's Scrap Demon & bring it to the 2011 Games Day, so maybe I'll take the bait...

Rose_Mountainz wrote:Nice to see that you came at second place yggdrasil! It really is a great looking model. And you deserve to get feedback since you update regulary and you deliver great minis

Thanks for the kind words... They're highly appreciated!



On a side note, I'll maybe have a surprise on Friday... A few hours to wait until that time...