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congratulations to your 100 pages of mad science!!!




your tank is developing into greatness...

I was a bit behind with my backlist and expected to see a vast amount of story pages of your mad scientist storyline to read through only to see I just missed out on three parts?... well I enjoyed that immensely from the beginning... it definitely needs a read again in due time... I only felt you slightly rushed the end and over used the dune reference a bit... a bit more subtlety on that reference would have been nice^^... but I am totally still a fan of your work!!!! and now a regular follower^^


as for the giger tank art... I am marvelling where you want to put this... ok...you showed that already where... but how it will react (clash?) with the camo?...hmmm the babies I actually found the best... the "lick" I think is a giger reference to the stones I have to ask?...

monkeytroll wrote:That's not bad....colours are a pretty good approximation too considering the size and number of layers you're using as compared to the orignal

Ta. I've done a few more (with varying results) and have started trying to scale it down to about 2/3rds the size of that one. I'm going to have to play about with what details to keep and which to leave off, as I just can't paint that tiny. Practice is continuing.

The colour is reasonably easy to replicate. I've found that a dilute brown over the black and white and then blending that into the black shadows and re-highlighting with the white/brown, then white, works quite well. It really is just a hint of colour in most of his pictures.

inmygravenimage wrote:That's really impressive mate. I'm sure the scientist would approve!

Thanks Graven. This is where I really push the boundaries of my painting to match the building of the tank.

Viktor von Domm wrote:congratulations to your 100 pages of mad science!!!

Thanks. Much more Science to come... not so much bra-wearing on heads though.

I was a bit behind with my backlist and expected to see a vast amount of story pages of your mad scientist storyline to read through only to see I just missed out on three parts?... well I enjoyed that immensely from the beginning... it definitely needs a read again in due time... I only felt you slightly rushed the end and over used the dune reference a bit... a bit more subtlety on that reference would have been nice^^... but I am totally still a fan of your work!!!! and now a regular follower^^

Yeah, I felt that it was getting a bit long and people may have got bored if it kept expanding. Ha, yeah I had run out of subtlety by that point. The whole point of that piece was to lead up to The Scientist having discovered Arrakis and then finding another Norma Cenva to become his first navigator. It then gives me the freedom to take The Army to any point in the universe. Which then allows The Scientist to discover all the other references I have in the other pieces of fluff I have (and will have) written. Glad you enjoyed it though. Thanks for the feedback.

as for the giger tank art... I am marvelling where you want to put this... ok...you showed that already where... but how it will react (clash?) with the camo?...hmmm the babies I actually found the best... the "lick" I think is a giger reference to the stones I have to ask?...

I'm assuming you are worrying about it covering up that corner of the blue lines. Well I did expect this to happen and I'm not entirely happy with the sharpness of that particular corner anyway, so covering it up is no loss for me. As for the colour, I don't think any clashing will happen as it's only a subtle brown hue.

The actual piece of artwork done by Giger is entitled "ELP XII" and is one of a series of pictures he did for Emerson, Lake and Palmer. They chose one of the other 11 (or more) for their album "Then and Now". I can't see any mention of the stones, so can't say about that.

I like your choice for the tank art - that and the babies factory were the two I liked best for this - and your take at it is coming out great.

I admit I find the concept of art in the Second Law's Army intriguing, will look up what's been discussed earlier about that and come back to it.

 Littletower wrote:
I like your choice for the tank art - that and the babies factory were the two I liked best for this - and your take at it is coming out great.

Thanks. The babies would have been tricky to get looking right (and by that I mean looking as wrong as Giger gets them looking). However, probably not any more difficult than what I am attempting... will need a good rest after this "little" bit of freehand... Who's idea was this anyway.

It's not that bad really, I'm getting into it... slowly.

I admit I find the concept of art in the Second Law's Army intriguing, will look up what's been discussed earlier about that and come back to it.

Art and Entropy has proven to be quite interesting to study. Although I would have found it easier to follow if I had studied art beyond GCSEs.
Report back if you find anything else relevant on your travels of the internet.

That does look good! you did a great job approximating that image!

 shasolenzabi wrote:
That does look good! you did a great job approximating that image!

Thanks. I now have to build up the confidence to attempt this on the tank...

Anyway, enough practice. I'm not getting any better. So I will attack the tank in a bit.
Pin-ups were mentioned at one point and I said I would give one a go. I found a suitable picture from Giger himself, I won't show it here as it makes my effort look a bit rubbish. You can judge my piece by itself.
Could that even be the artist pictured with his latest work... ?

I did her on a piece of card so that once I've re-visited it (Still needs some work) I can put it in a frame, a la Camkierhi, and add it to a future piece of terrain.

I will start on the tank shortly...

It'll look good hanging in the Scientist's HQ

She's fabulously Giger-esque.

monkeytroll wrote:It'll look good hanging in the Scientist's HQ

That it will. Ta.

inmygravenimage wrote:She's fabulously Giger-esque.

Thanks. Glad you think so.

And it's done. All went smoothly, no major issues, turned out well. I am pleased that I can now breath again...
Here's the final method:


And a couple of shots to show how it fits with the rest of the tank:

You can also see a few of the other details I have added (as well as little white dots on the lenses...).

With that done, I've got one more addition and then it's weathering.
I'll do a photo-shoot before the weathering, so you can see all the details. That'll have to be tomorrow as it's beer night tonight.

Yeah, that works Turned out great!

Kill markings and insignia look good. Is that a decal on the hydraulics, or freehand?

Wow, that looks great! I'm really impressed with that Giger tank art. The translation is flawless.

Beer for the beer god! Cans for the throne of ale!

Nicely done art. Subdued and suitably unsettling.. Tongue coming out or something going in? It's Giger, so...

What are some good English ales anyway? (Don't you dare say Tetley's Ale or Bass.)

From your fair island, my favorite has been Samuel Smith's Oatmeal stout, but that is not an ale.

Newcastle Brown Ale is the daddy. Unfortunately hard to come by around here (and Irish) so probably not what you are asking, but Caffrey's is the best beer EVER.

That shoukl start a arguement!!

Tank is looking amazing as we expected, Giger art is outstanding.

^ Yikes, where to.begin.


So DrH, how was your night?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Really? Caffrey's?! *Sigh*
Actually, as cheap student beer, those 2 were what I lived on.

LOL knew you'd enjoy that!!

First things first, Beer:

Beer dealt with for now...

monkeytroll wrote:Yeah, that works Turned out great!

Kill markings and insignia look good. Is that a decal on the hydraulics, or freehand?

Thanks MT.
I tried to make one of the tank kills look like a Falcon (from the side), just looks like I didn't get that one right next to the other two.
It is a decal on the piston. I've got a few of those handy arrow-like ones. They're all in German though. These say "Ziehen", which is not entirely wrong for a piston. But as you need a magnifying glass to read it, I think it's fine to use.
I also have quite a few Russian transfers that are great for little notices, and completely unreadable.

Warboss_Waaazag wrote:Wow, that looks great! I'm really impressed with that Giger tank art. The translation is flawless.

I wouldn't go so far as to say "flawless" myself. But thank you, that's high praise considering the difficulty of the subject.

Red Harvest wrote:Nicely done art. Subdued and suitably unsettling.. Tongue coming out or something going in? It's Giger, so...

Thanks Red.
I believe it is a tongue looking at some of the others in the series, especially the one chosen by ELP.

Camkierhi wrote:Tank is looking amazing as we expected, Giger art is outstanding.

Thanks Cam.

As far as I can tell, all the details are now done. Only weathering remains...
So, here is T-01 (tank number 1, not to be confused with the Wave Serpent Tr-01; Transport number 1):

Things to draw your attention to:
The kill markings I have drawn up to 12, and therefore the next is the tricky number 13. Technically, the way the army is run, with equipment (and bodies) being repaired and recycled back into use, the tank could have hundreds of kills, so we will consider this the count since the last time it was re-built.

In addition to the (German) markings on the pistons, there is a (Russian) notice on the storage box and another notice for the rear hatch (just some yellow squiggles, but it is a transfer). There's also some in red on the back of the dozer blade.

I've also added the nod to Rik Mayall on the turret. For those of you that have missed out on the Young Ones, this is from where they were on University Challenge and someone (Vyvyan probably) had written a "P" in front of Rick's name. I changed the "Rick" into a R1CK, so it looks more like it should be on a tank and then painted the "P" to look like it was quickly added by some joker (complete with paint runs).

I will now have to have a think about where the paint chips, scorch marks, dirt, dust, mud and blood will be placed. Not going to go mental with it, but will make it look like it does tend to run through/over things and get stuck in to the fight.

Nice YO reference

Could tell the third pic wasn't a tank, missed it was a falcon though...I thought it might be a buggy

These shots show the lenses look better with the added white dot.

Can't comment on the ale as I can barely remember what beer tastes like.......

Love the Rik tribute! I'm hankering for the weathering though. That plough is going to get really messed up I'll wager? Also, I other matters, this evening's beers were Dead Pony club and St Mungo's. Because beer is never dealt with.

Looking fantastic, almost a shame to mess it up!

Nice result on the tank.

monkeytroll wrote:Nice YO reference

Could tell the third pic wasn't a tank, missed it was a falcon though...I thought it might be a buggy

These shots show the lenses look better with the added white dot.

Can't comment on the ale as I can barely remember what beer tastes like.......

I'll accept a buggy.
Thanks.

inmygravenimage wrote:Love the Rik tribute! I'm hankering for the weathering though. That plough is going to get really messed up I'll wager? Also, I other matters, this evening's beers were Dead Pony club and St Mungo's. Because beer is never dealt with.

Weathering has started. I've gone for paint chips first and will work towards dirt as I see the majority of dirt being newer than the paint chips.
The plough should be taking the worst of the damage, however it is also built to deal with that... will have to see how it all turns out. Weathering is one of those things where you just have to let it develop organically.

Not had either of those. Any good?
Also, on the subject of good ales there was a thing recently for the best beer in Britain... Here it is:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-28769152
Timothy Taylor's Boltmaker is (apparently. I haven't tried it myself) the best beer in the country. So keep your eyes out for that one.

Camkierhi wrote:Looking fantastic, almost a shame to mess it up!

Thanks. It is in a way, but it should add to the model (and also helps to hide any sins ).

pfibp wrote:Nice result on the tank.

Thanks Pfibp.

Dead Pony Club is Brewdog's California Pale Ale (another lager/ipa hybrid). Pretty good, very strong; St Mungo's is made by WEST, the German craft brewery in the old Carpet Factory in Glasgow (yes, that's a crazy as it sounds).

I think the Scientist should have the rest of the Young Ones, possibly as servitors. Neil should of course have long hair and 6 pairs of arms (like a lexmechanik or something), Mike should be a servo skull with shades, and Vyv should aggresively use his face in some way.

Thanks for the beer list. We hear quite a bit about Belgian and German brews, for good reason, but very little about British beers.

Now Doc, I like the ambiguity of tongue out, or tentacle(?) in. And the final product, art and tank. You managed to 'disappear' entirely the mediocre inherent to the model. Quite a feat. I salute and applaud you. Now, weathering next? Can't wait to see.

inmygravenimage wrote:Dead Pony Club is Brewdog's California Pale Ale (another lager/ipa hybrid). Pretty good, very strong; St Mungo's is made by WEST, the German craft brewery in the old Carpet Factory in Glasgow (yes, that's a crazy as it sounds).

I think the Scientist should have the rest of the Young Ones, possibly as servitors. Neil should of course have long hair and 6 pairs of arms (like a lexmechanik or something), Mike should be a servo skull with shades, and Vyv should aggresively use his face in some way.

Sounds interesting, I'll give them a go if I see them.

good ideas for the Young Ones. I'll add it to the list.

Red Harvest wrote:Thanks for the beer list. We hear quite a bit about Belgian and German brews, for good reason, but very little about British beers.

Now Doc, I like the ambiguity of tongue out, or tentacle(?) in.

Yay for tentacles! Everything is better with tentacles.

And the final product, art and tank. You managed to 'disappear' entirely the mediocre inherent to the model. Quite a feat. I salute and applaud you. Now, weathering next? Can't wait to see.

Thanks Red. For a model that I picked up because I had a coupon in hobbycraft and wasn't very excited by (but added a tick to the collection), it turned into quite a fun build, and I think we all learned something along the way. Wins all round.

Chipping is on to the second stage. That is "visible" undercoat and now, base metal colour.

Nice touches on the tank, just had to catch up some. Love the black/orange/yellow lights on he side turret. Also nice giger recreations. Glad to see this beast finally getting through the finish line. Also nice Ork glyph on the dozer

 Theophony wrote:
Nice touches on the tank, just had to catch up some. Love the black/orange/yellow lights on he side turret. Also nice giger recreations. Glad to see this beast finally getting through the finish line. Also nice Ork glyph on the dozer

Thanks Theo. Getting ever closer.

And just to show the extent of the chipping...

Bare in mind, the whole tank does not look like this. I've focussed on these upper corners and the outside edges of the sponsons.
As the army has a regular maintenance routine, I'm not going to have much rust. Although I may add a few little specks of fresh rust on some of the larger areas.
The chipped areas were started with sponge addition of my lightest grey (to represent the undercoat), then areas were filled in with dark metal (gunmetal with black) and then those were highlighted with silver.
Other edges have had a dry-brush of silver to represent worn areas through general wear and tear and not from impacts.

I'm now working on adding a few scratches. Then I'll move on the dirt/dust build-up, before mud splatter. Then blackening from soot and the planned blood splatter last. Got to chip the underside first.

Nice chipping doc

I have always felt so hesitant in weathering, in case i arse it up. But trying it out on one of the recent league competitions gave me more confidence. And seeing bullet holes like this fills me with inspiration.

This has gone from a work of art, to a Masterpiece!