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Welcome citizen!

This is the Interactive Access and Information Guide to the Arakasi Project. It has been especially designed to orientate people who come from isolated regions like Ariadna or who have been cryogenically preserved or compiled by computer.

The Arakasi Project is made up of a series of sub projects within the Human Sphere under the supervision of the O-12 with the ambitious goal of preparing for an Infinity level scenario. Officially started 9 May 20:12, the Arakasi Project was first conceived 19 March 20:12 with its founder's introduction to the full implication of an Infinity level of defensive operational alert to the Human Sphere. Unofficial preparations began 5 April 20:12 driven by DakkaDakka Corporation Competitive Incentives. Security access to all materials related to these incentives remains classified for the time being and therefore the Arakasi Project was originally not expected to be unveiled until late May 20:12. However, other sub projects towards Infinity level preparedness not pertaining to these activities have now been declassified, with the result that the Arakasi Project is proud to have been released ahead of schedule.

Currently, 3 main sub projects make up the Arakasi Project: DakkaDakka Corporation Competitive Incentives, Ariadnian Special Intervention Forces (ASIF) and
Codename: Bladerunner.

[Do you want to know more?]

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DakkaDakka Corporation Competitive Incentives

[Public information is available]

[ACCESS-CENSORED_SECURITY LEVEL: ALPHA]

End of Report

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Ariadnian Special Intervention Forces (ASIF)

FROM: Personnel Services, Ariadnian Special Intervention Forces, Ariadna

TO: Psi Unit, Military Intelligence of Aegis Bureau, O-12

ISSUE: Proposed Intervention Forces

CONFIDENTIAL

SECURITY LEVEL-ACCESS: ALPHA PLUS

The initial proposed intervention forces are attached as per your request. Detailed personnel files will follow shortly.

ARIADNA
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 (Regs: 8/Irrs: 0):

TANKHUNTER Lieutenant AP Rifle, Adhesive Launcher, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife (27 | 1)
MOV:4-2 CC:14 BS:12 PH:12 WIP:14 ARM:3 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
CH: Camouflage, Lieutenant

FOXTROT Sniper Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife (26 | 0.5)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:11 PH:13 WIP:13 ARM:0 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
CH: Camouflage, Infiltration

CHASSEUR Rifle, Light Flamethrower, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife (20 | 0.5)
MOV:4-4 CC:14 BS:11 PH:13 WIP:13 ARM:0 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
CH: Camouflage, Infiltration, Sixth Sense L1, Minelayer

WULVER Mk12, Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW (38)
MOV:4-4 CC:18 BS:12 PH:14 WIP:13 ARM:3 BTS:0 W:2
Regular, Frenzy, No Cube
Berserk, Natural Born Warrior, Climbing Plus

112 Light Shotgun / Pistol, CCW (12)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:11 PH:12 WIP:13 ARM:0 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
Doctor, V: Courage

3x LINE KAZAK Rifle / Pistol, Knife (9)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:11 PH:11 WIP:13 ARM:1 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube


150 Points | SWC: 2

ARMY CODE: eNozNlS1UDNVM6wxNFEzBlHmEMpCzQBIGRuAKUN0EgBCDAvF Army Infinity v.3.0.

ARIADNA
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 (Regs: 9/Irrs: 1):

VETERAN KAZAKS Lieutenant AP HMG, Light Flamethrower / Pistol, CCW (61 | 1)
MOV:4-4 CC:15 BS:13 PH:13 WIP:13 ARM:4 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
Shock Immunity, Veteran, CH: Mimetism, Lieutenant

TANKHUNTER Autocannon, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife (40 | 1.5)
MOV:4-2 CC:14 BS:12 PH:12 WIP:14 ARM:3 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
CH: Camouflage

DOG-WARRIOR 2 Chain Rifles, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / AP CCW (28)
MOV:6-4 CC:18 BS:10 PH:16 WIP:13 ARM:3 BTS:0 W:3
Irregular, Impetuous, No Cube
V: Courage, Total Immunity, Super-Jump

Form: DOGFACE
MOV:4-4 CC:15 BS:10 PH:14 WIP:13 ARM:1 BTS:0 W:3
Irregular, Impetuous, Transmutation, No Cube
V: Courage, Total Immunity, Super-Jump

WULVER Mk12, Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW (38)
MOV:4-4 CC:18 BS:12 PH:14 WIP:13 ARM:3 BTS:0 W:2
Regular, Frenzy, No Cube
Berserk, Natural Born Warrior, Climbing Plus

112 Light Shotgun / Pistol, CCW (12)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:11 PH:12 WIP:13 ARM:0 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
Doctor, V: Courage

FOXTROT Sniper Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife (26 | 0.5)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:11 PH:13 WIP:13 ARM:0 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
CH: Camouflage, Infiltration

PARA-COMMANDO HMG / Pistol, Knife (32 | 1)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:12 PH:11 WIP:14 ARM:2 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
CH: Mimetism, AD: Parachutist

CALEDONIAN MORMAER T2 Rifle / Pistol, Knife (38)
MOV:4-2 CC:14 BS:13 PH:13 WIP:13 ARM:5 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
Shock Immunity, V: Dogged, X Visor

VOLUNTEER Chain Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife (6)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:10 PH:11 WIP:12 ARM:1 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
Multiterrain,

CHASSEUR Rifle, Adhesive Launcher, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife (19 | 0.5)
MOV:4-4 CC:14 BS:11 PH:13 WIP:13 ARM:0 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
CH: Camouflage, Infiltration, Sixth Sense L1


300 Points | SWC: 4.5

ARMY CODE: eNoli0EOACAIw17jzoxh5HE+XoTLmjaZuGgI8Ca81gUrMBuysYAKG/zi3Xzk/NcDDIsPFg== Army Infinity v.3.0.

End of Message

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Codename: Bladerunner

FROM: Training Services, Ariadnian Special Intervention Forces, Ariadna

TO: O-12 Senate Higher Representatives, Prima Concilium

ISSUE: City access and blueprint request for training purposes

CONFIDENTIAL

SECURITY LEVEL-ACCESS: ALPHA PLUS

In order to meet the goals of the Arakasi Project, in particular sub project Codename: Bladerunner, ASIF officially requests sanctioned access to various cities and environments as well as detailed blue prints for military training purposes as outlined in the Arakasi agreements.

Requested cities are:
####################
[ACCESS-CENSORED_SECURITY LEVEL: DOUBLE ALPHA PLUS]

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Millions of people unlike you live, eat and sleep peacefully in a society where nothing bad ever seems to happen. They consume information that has been prepared for them, authorised, censored, filtered, complete with commentary to provide your opinion for you. At 404Chan#, we liberate information from its source, behind closed doors, behind firewalls and military encryption, information the public is not meant to have - in its raw form, presented in its entirety for you to make up your own mind.

Today we have a rare recording taken without authorisation or knowledge from behind the closed doors of the Arakasi Project. Enjoy! [Play audio: Y/N]

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Well, hopefully I haven't scared everyone off with the first post, though I think I need to find a way to reduce the wrapper on this somewhat normal post... Of course, it could just be the lack of anything worth commenting on. Hopefully I can fix that - if not today, then over the next few weeks...

So, in case my attempts at "Infinity"-ising my first post went completely over your heads - here's the breakdown:

EndTransmission introduced me one evening in late March to a couple of his friends and Infinity. I tried to resist - my Orks (Da Dark Angelz) still have so much to finish let alone do and I haven't even started my Dark Eldar (unless you count 3 Megaforces starting...) and now here I am considering yet another project? Well, at least the force sizes are smaller...

I hadn't actually made up my mind at that point, but then the DakkaDakka Painting Competition came up and I enjoyed that so much the last time, well, it was the straw that broke my already wavering resolve. After a lot of deliberation (well, it seemed like a lot) I chose Ariadna and purchased the starter set. I had a voucher I'd won in a DCM raffle from TheWarStore which went to a selection of additional minis and got to work on a selection to choose one for the competition.

Trying to actually make some lists involving the minis I liked, and a background to go with, hit the brick wall of not having the rulebooks - at a time where they seem to be in short supply. Still, I have them now and I've consumed the main rulebook and am slowly making my way through the Human Sphere. I hadn't planned to start up this P&M Blog until after the painting competition, as a lot of the ideas I wanted to put forward, discuss and implement (as well as pictures) may have made my entry obvious. However, now, my planned direction has changed a bit - so that should no longer be an issue! I'll probably complete the minis I started in their current uniform while I work out the new one - its still good painting practise - and I haven't painted human skin for as long as I can remember...

Anyway, so initially I have three main "parts" or sub projects that I want to move forward with:

1) The DakkaDakka Painting Competition mini and additional minis - this will at least get some models and WIP up in the reasonably near future, though it makes it difficult to touch on the issues I had with that direction until then too. This is the very short term project. (Possibly completed before I return to Oz end of June)

2) My Ariadnian force. Particularly lists, background and personality (fluff) leading to paint schemes/uniforms and eventual painting. Part of this is also the basing, which leads into part 3 below. This is a short to medium term project.

3) A table to play on. With my Orks, I have been concentrating on the army, with all thoughts of scenery and tables far far in the back of my mind. With Infinity, at least as I see it so far, there is a lot more room to be creative with bases. scenery and tables than the minis themselves. This is a much longer term project - I won't even think about beginning anything physically until after my return to Oz. However, because this has a direct impact on my force - how it is based and how it is painted, I have to at least outline my plans in order to move ahead with part 2 above.

When Dark Eldar were going to be my next project, I had planned to build the bulk of the army all at once - with all kits present and accounted for for maximum mix and match variety and overall consistency. Now these grandiose and ambitious plans have moved to Infinity...

So, at the highest level of 2 & 3, I am looking to build a dark futuristic city table - think Bladerunner - dark buildings, less than clean, lots of neon/billboards/electronics (so not the clean white you see in the Infinity terrain...) with a bright coloured populace/Infinity force - think The Fifth Element or pretty much any of the Infinity artwork.

Now for the really ambitious part - I want to build that city table so that the main playing level - ground level as it were - is the first level up. Oh, and modular

I don't know how much success I am going to have attempting to describe this in words, but here goes nothing....

"Normal" terrain pieces have a flat bottom and can pretty much be of any height. "Subterranean" terrain pieces have a flat *top* and have a *set* height (actually, a set depth might be a better description - they don't necessarily need to use all of the depth available to them, but they have to be raised by whatever depth they don't use). What I'm envisioning (and hopefully can make work) is a situation where you place the subterranean pieces first, then build a "ground" level on top, on which the normal surface pieces are placed. Subterranean pieces could include underground car parks, subways, tunnels, sewers, mall basements, subterranean construction etc etc. Normal terrain pieces pretty much cover everything we know and love - commercial and residential buildings, night clubs, roads and rail, raised roads and rail (both with moveable cars/carriages), malls, warehouses, cafes, restaurants, billboards, signs, walkways etc etc I'm expecting the subterranean pieces may be open to the edges of the table to facilitate use. Oh, and the subterranean level doesn't need to be fully covered - where the gaps in above ground terrain denote open space, the gaps in below ground terrain would denote solid earth.

Maybe later I can think about airports, dockyards and elevators to space stations - but that is much much later...

But for the time being, I just need to have a reasonable picture in my mind of the end terrain in order to make sure my force fits.

Well, I've waffled on for quite a bit, what's a bit more?

So my first thoughts for my force fluff is some sort of special forces (Ariadnian Special Intervention Force?), made up of a collection of hand picked veterans with different, but hopefully complimentary, skills. Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer's special force in Predator is I guess my first point of inspiration, but with the additional variety that Ariadna provides. The 300pt force in the first post is probably a lot closer to what I was aiming for than the 150pt force, but you have to start somewhere... I really wanted to get both a Dog Soldier and a Wulver in the same list - I can imagine a bit of "friendly" competition between the two. I also wanted a variety of weapons and gear, leaning towards more elite units. Of course, I'm yet to play with more than 5 models, so everything is up for revision at the moment... The group is meant to be larger than a 300pt force, based on the idea that specific team members would be picked for different missions (probably don't want the Wulver or Dog Face on a stealthy extraction mission...)

In terms of the larger scheme of things, they would be primarily an off world (well, off Dawn...) Ariadnian force... possibly sanctioned by the O-12 as a relatively "neutral" strike force, but being doubly used by the Ariadnians as an almost perfect offworld espionage and operational cover...

I should really get to some pics soon....

Catchya!

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Sounds like an awesome plan to me. I love the table idea and can't wait to see it come together. You can have underground nightclubs as well btw.

Looks like a lot of fun chief, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing pictures of whatever it is you're secretly working on.

I'm hoping we have a lot more comp entries this time around than when they had the 'Duel' comp.

The way things are looking, I bet we'll both be working on Ariadna at the same time! Race you to 300 points

I really want to get working on a board too. You'll have to post a breakdown of whatever materials you're using. Someone else posted the idea of using modular storage tubs and just spraypainting them, and that actually looked quick and fun.

Stay motivated chief!

Sweet stuff, can't wait to see you work man! Not long now.

^ im glad to see your doing Ariadna since my group is just starting infinity and this is the army im choosing

endtransmission wrote:You can have underground nightclubs as well btw.

Noted... though the complexity of a nightclub may make making it underground a bit difficult to play through... but then, that could be said about anything... Hopefully one of the things I've learnt (well, still learning) from my Orks is the balance between cool, representative, paintability, photograph-ability and ease of use. It's no use making awesome 3D terrain if it is too much hassle to use. I do like the idea of being able to take away the sides of things though for photography (rather than limiting stuff to top down) - and that may solve more than just subterranean issues. What I really like is where some of these comments take my thinking - even if it is completely unrelated

Chemical Cutthroat wrote:I'm hoping we have a lot more comp entries this time around than when they had the 'Duel' comp.

Well, at this point we are already 50-100% ahead of the Duel comp, and 50% of the entries in the Duel comp were submitted in the last 24hours (so about 300% ahead of the Duel comp at a similar point in time) - I think you'll get your hope.

Chemical Cutthroat wrote:Race you to 300 points

Ummm... you aren't familiar with my Orks are you?

Chemical Cutthroat wrote:You'll have to post a breakdown of whatever materials you're using. Someone else posted the idea of using modular storage tubs and just spraypainting them, and that actually looked quick and fun.

Ah - yes - you aren't familiar with my Orks at all - what is the meaning of this word "quick"? I don't think spray painted modular storage tubs are going to do it for me... I think I'll be resurrecting some of my planned modelling education from my Orks - 3D modelling, printing and casting - mainly for smaller details. I think I will need to investigate laser cutting - all of the MDF work about is very inspiring - and probably the best way to make the structures I'm envisioning. I may finally get that airbrush and learn to use it too. And a liberal amount of plasticard, brass, magnets, green stuff etc etc

@Von Skyfury, Casey's Law, Rogue Wolves, everyone: Thanks for dropping by. Conveniently, I'm away on holiday this week while the Painting Competition goes through voting, so at least pics won't be further delayed by that. I do think it may be a bit anti-climatical though... I guess we'll all have to wait and see.

Been to many nightclubs recently? They tend to be large open areas with a bar stuck in the corner... or are those just the ones I frequent?

Can't get much simpler to make for a basement area

Well... no... I guess I never think of them with "large open areas" because, well, the ones I've been to were full of people...

Maybe I just need "citizens", or I was actually thinking of a bar (cantina?)

My wife wants me to drop night clubs and warehouses in favour of a hospital with a morgue.... and zombies....

So, I just posted this as part of a massive commentary over on the painting competition thread:


9th - Entrant #3. Ariadna Line Kazak. By Arakasi 3% [ 57 ]


How did I get here? There have been some remarkable entries - and my entry isn't without it's own drawbacks - but thank you to everyone for putting me in the top 10!

Presentation:
Of course, presentation was the last step, but I've presented it first to match my other commentary

1. Lighting The photos were taken in a poor home made light box with not enough lights - after I couldn't find enough daylight without shadows - and with the Tungsten setting - which achieved the best result by far - but still no where near where I want to be - room for improvement there!

2. Layout My chosen miniature is very 2 dimensional - the front and back weren't adding much, except shadows - so a large left and right was chosen. I then had some space for the closeups - which allowed me to take some of the best of my other images and clip them to focus on particular aspects whilst ignoring (for the most part) shadows and unfocussed areas.

Rudimentary graphic skills (I'm a programmer, not a graphic artist!) were then applied to compose the images into the final result, adding a bit of futuristic border because it seemed like a good idea at the time. (Originally I was going to add the title and Ariadna symbol - but given the competition rules stated no text or logos - I thought better of it) I played around with some hologram designs too, but they just tended to get in the way - or at least, with my mediocre skills they did - and anyway, the focus should be on the miniature, not my mediocre graphic art skills…

3. Magnification I knew I wanted a large clear picture of my model, perhaps surrounded with some choice highlights, but it soon became apparent that, at full image size, my poor model was blown up at least by a magnitude of four, and, well, *every* defect was blatantly apparent. On the other hand, scaling it down to 4 images started hiding the detail of the paint job that I wanted to display.

4. Orientation I had already decided from the last Dakka Paint Competition that portrait was the way to go if at all possible!

Painting:

1. Palette I had an idea for my Ariadna that they would be an off world (off Dawn) team operating in the technological cities of the Human Sphere. Therefore I wanted a futuristic urban camouflage scheme, with futuristic city bases. I looked up camouflage and decided a digital camouflage pattern in blue/greys would be neat. Special forces appeared to use the camouflage for their clothing, with accoutrements, straps, guns etc in black - so that is what I went for. I constructed my bases, the models, undercoated and began the painting!

3. Highlighting & Shading
I've learnt to paint inside out, so the skin was up first - which I was particularly worried about as I haven't done human skin in a long time. What I *should* have done first was the eyes… However, I am very happy with how the skin turned out and consider it the best feature of my entry.

When it came to doing the camouflage, I figured a criss cross of the colours would build up to the digital pattern I was looking for. It looked good on my first model (not the female Line Kazak) and so I applied it to the rest. Knowing the black straps, armour, boots and sidearms would cover any mess/obvious brushstrokes (apparently not 100% successful )

Once I got to the black, I started to see a problem… Black is hard. Lots of black is hard and boring. And my blue NDD (not digital digital) camouflage was too dark. Had I had the Infinity books then, I would have made the base camouflage lighter, and added the lighter and darker blue/greys in similar patterns to the artwork - which would have allowed me to highlight them. Instead, not only was the model darker than what I wanted *personally*, it was having trouble "popping" too. Oh, and the thing about good camouflage (as opposed to stylistic camouflage) - its aim is to break up edges and obscure things. Excellent - I had broken up and obscured my detailed Infinity model

Not one to back out, I continued as planned - but even at this early stage I realised two things - which would apply to any future scheme I devised, but also to painting competitions:

1) Real life is boring and hard to make "pop".
2) Infinity miniatures are not meant to be painted to obscure their details.

I thought the red hair turned out well, even if I had to touch it up after dropping it I was happy with my black, but it doesn't photo well.

I couldn't for the life of me get the light grey/blue of her shirt smooth.

4. Detail I ended up painting the Kazak and Ariadna symbols on her shirt, hat and backpack for some extra details.

5. Base
The border of the broken grate on the base was originally in the same light blue/grey colour, but I felt there was too much blue, too boring and changed it at the last minute to the hazards stripes. The fact there are three pipes including the burst one under that grate, each painted, is wasted on anyone who can't hold the miniature...

Conclusion
Although I had bought the Ariadna Starter Pack with the idea of painting all six up and submitting the best, I think I had already subconsciously picked the female Line Kazak and she currently remains my only completed Infinity miniature - though the other 5 are in various states of painting - mainly to the skin and camouflage stage. My focus was still on "finishing" (being notoriously slow/without much hobby time) - hence a basic trooper. I also didn't want any delays choosing a model and having to acquire it. I don't think my choice of model severely impacted my end placing either way, but I do think that next time I will be choosing something for the competition first and myself second, rather than the other way around. Where this really comes to the fore though, is in the painting - and more specifically, the colour scheme.

So, while I will continue my current Starter Pack in the same style, they will be the last. I will be creating a new style for my future Ariadnian forces - I think I will go for "undercover" clothing - bright, futuristic colours - meant to camouflage in the crowd, not the infrastructure, using a more stylised and lighter camouflage for just the weapons perhaps. For future competitions, I will not be looking to use my entry in an existing army or faction, but will paint something specifically chosen for the competition, in colours specifically chosen for the competition. Heartserenade watch out! If it is a different model line, I may need to paint a non entry one first to get a feel for the differences...

I submitted my entry with a week to spare. As it would turn out, I read the closing date wrong and actually submitted it with two weeks to spare - which need up a good thing because work and holiday preparation in that last week would have written off further work anyway.

I still need to finish the other five...

I'm happy to have achieved 9th. I felt I was doing better earlier on, but as time passed my entry continued to slowly move down the ladder - hence why, given another day or two, I think I would have fallen to tenth. I obviously still have a long way to go - but I think I have now proven to myself that I can spend more time and patience on my entry without concerning myself so much with the deadline (in addition to everything else in this post!) The size of this competition gives an entrant a much better perspective of where they are at - and where they need to be - than smaller ones - I'm especially glad to have participated.

Comments

MrMerlin wrote:Good job, lovely base. The skin is well done, but the pattern on the clotes looks too much like brushstrokes…

EndTransmission wrote:Awesome details with the tiny logos, but unlike MrMerlin, I like the patterning on the clothing as I've seen rain coats like it in London.

LeoPelo wrote:Good piece and base! But... push the lights more. Maybe some more lights (especially on rifle) could improve overall result! I like pattern on cloth.

Thanks for your comments guys. I didn't think the base would attract so much attention. I didn't want to over do the black, but I can see that was probably a mistake.

Nice write up my good man, i enjoyed reading about your process. The thing that stuck out for me is that i really liked the camouflage but i didn't realise that's what it was meant to be. I assumed that it was a lightly suggested texture or fine pattern on the material and it blew me away. Now that you say its camo i can see it but i was oblivious when it got one of my votes. If i had realised at the time i'm certain it would still have gotten my vote because it is very well painted. My one criticism echoes what you have already said, black, while realistic, is a little dull.

Can't wait to see more Infinity mini's from you!

You did a really good job on your entry and I'd like to see you do some more soon! Her face turned out really nice and I also like the gun because it's realistic looking. Real guns in good working order, especially military assault rifles, have that flat black, kind of powdery finish, not big chips torn out of them with shiny metal underneath.

I have a hard time getting out of that mentality with my space marines and their weapons. Drybrush silver. But why? Because that's the way I always have!

nice job on her arak!

Thanks for the comments guys. You will be sure to see more from me, just perhaps not as fast as all of us would like... I have some pictures I need to put up from during the process - including the other 5 models from the starter pack and some interesting photos as I go on a quest for flamer attachments... but I'm afraid my hobby will be taking a back seat for the next 3 months as I prepare to move back to Oz and then wait for my hobby supplies to arrive!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Where it all began...



Automatically Appended Next Post:
My first cleaned up and assembled Infinity miniatures:

Well, hardly assembled. I'm actually appreciating the lack of need to customise like my Orks...

But - I have to customise *something* - so - bases! Starting out:


Putting my 40K basing set to good use:

Yeah - I didn't realise until later those were Aquilas

Cleaning up and adding detail:


Whoops! Was missing one. Almost there...


Done!

Well, not quite - you will notice my competition entry base doesn't have the hazard stripes bits on it. I'm leaving those off until last... I'll paint the base, then fix the grate and edges, and then paint those as well.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So, the Veteran Kazak and Chasseur are supposed to have light flamers, and because I like WYSIWYG, and my modelling/converting requirements hadn't been completely satisfied by the bases, I went in search of solutions.

First up, I tried making my own combi flamer attachments:

Yeah, this isn't as easy as it looks! Those Infinity miniatures are *tiny*.

So I went in search of alternatives/inspiration:

Yeah, 40K is just too big. Those little attachments are from the Forge World Servo Skulls and looked my best bet...

A bit of pinning and jobs a good one!


Starter pack ready to go, WIP pics taken for the Dakka Infinity Paint Competition:

Leaving us already!? I'm bitterly disappointed by that news. The miniatures are a great distraction though! Are you looking forward to getting back?

Great solution on the flamers, i might have to steal that one eventually.

Well, I have been in Scotland 3 years, the United Kingdom 6 years... I'm looking forward to the move being over!

As per usual, work begins with a black undercoat and touch up - I figured those photos are probably not all that interesting though.

Start on base hidden details:


Start on skin:

I've started taking photos of the paints used, as otherwise I forget them this far in the future! So this was obviously a 1:1 Tallarn Flesh/Dwarf Flesh base coat. I'm following the flesh paint scheme I practised at the 'Eavy Metal Masterclass - got to get some non Ork value out of that!

Wash with 1:1:1 Dark Flesh/Devlan Mud/Water:



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Layer with Dwarf Flesh:

Apparently I cleaned up my over painting mess too...



Something about the Chasseur's face seems to be coming out better than the rest...

Nice start! I like the tech bases, they're hard to pull off well IMO but yours look varied and detailed, like they're in a hangar bay on a spaceship or something.

And yet, not what I was going after (supposed to be futuristic city), and now after actually having the rulebooks to peruse through, definitely not. Oh well, they will look good for these six though

Camo started:

Looks like I didn't take any "in progress" pictures, and this is complete with black clean up. Necron Abyss base, then regal blue, then a heavy criss cross pattern of Shadow Grey, then a lighter criss cross of Space Wolves Grey.




Possibly I did a better job on the previous two Line Kazaks...


Highlander has less, so any issues are minimised further.


And even less again for the Veteran Kazak.

Great dissection of your competition entry. The way to improvement is to study the current results and see what one can do better.

Now just get the rest of the starter set finished for us to enjoy.

Thanks - I agree completely! I do this more for myself than anyone else, but if it helps someone else too, so much the better.

Hmmm... I'm not seeing much difference in these - I think the skin has been finished, but I haven't photoed any paints, so I expect I just followed my 'Eavy Metal Masterclass notes...

There was meant to be a touch up after that wash with the base colour before we moved on to Dwarf Flesh previously.

Following on - 1:1 Dwarf Flesh/Bleached Bone highlights, pure Bleached Bone highlights, then Leviathan Purple in the eyes, around the nose and any deep crevices. 1:1 Bleached Bone/Skull White for the final highlight.

To the pics!





And the Chasseur, who wasn't in the last batch of photos. With all this work on the skin, you might see now why I think I should have done the eyes first... (doing them later meant having to touch up the skin, which was painful...) Does his front leg look wrong/broken at this angle?




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So, at this stage I was getting a little concerned at how dark the models were, and wanted to get some light colours on for contrast and get a better feel for what the final model would look like.

Female Line Kazak gets her armour, shirt and inside of jacket done - base coats:


Highlander gets his robe base coated in Mechrite Red:


Female Line Kazak lighter colours shaded and highlighted:


Meanwhile, the great expanse of camo on the Chasseur was not working for me, so I decided to pick out his vest - though still in a muted blue/grey (I will be adding a lighter trim later):


At this point, the Chasseur and Female Line Kazak are competing for my favourite model...

I think I'm starting to lose track... here I think the hair is done and the black tidied up again:

The red follows my usual recipe from a certain White Dwarf - if anyone is interested I'll go look it up, but it will be somewhere in my Orks too...

And trying to bring out some detail on the Chasseur - the lighter border to the jacket:


I must have gone full bore ahead from there, as here is the mostly completed female Line Kazak:

The black is from the 'Eavy Metal Masterclass book - Skulltaker's cloak from memory - same as I used on the Grot Oiler in the Duel... again, I can look it up and reproduce it if anyone is interested.

And now with final details, because it was looking a bit plain and I need to practise smaller details too:


Stay connected!

Pretty cool WIP's

Fantastic bases! Got a lot of ideas from this thread.

Arakasi, I would have never guessed that that figure was yours... such a departure from your orks. Well done man! *applause*

@SilverMK2: Thanks! Still waiting for your close ups

Here is the final, almost complete images - failing multiple times to get good lighting. You will notice that the grate border is not the final colour though, but the original light blue/grey I originally envisioned:


@Hindenburg: Glad to help! They look even better painted Here you can see the female Line Kazak base complete (except for the hazard stripes, that change of mind came later) - but also the Highlander base painted as well:


And, my last bit of effort on the rest of the Starter Pack - the start of the black on one of the other two Line Kazaks:


I have to go fish out the photos I took for the actual painting competition entry next... oh, and then do some more painting - though that is probably postponed until I get back to Oz and my paints arrive 6+ weeks behind me...

@Gitsplitta: Thanks! A change is as good as a holiday? It was certainly very different. I haven't painted human skin for a long time, but the Infinity models are tiny compared to Dark Eldar let alone Orks! A whole new challenge/experience.

Arakasi wrote:@SilverMK2: Thanks! Still waiting for your close ups

They are up in my thread, just auto appended to my last post for some reason

Yup - I'm refusing to add more pics in my threads until either 24 hours has passed, or someone comments, annoying appendicitis...

Right - and finally, for your viewing pleasure, the final pics that made up my entry - in all there bad lighted and unfocused goodness:












Stay connected!

Wow! this looks so good! Btw did vote for yours...Could I have a size comparisan please too? Did the girl have a hoilster bird on her top? Or is that somthing else?

The shading on her body and her shirt are phenomenal Arakasi... some of your best work. I suspect ulterior motivations/inspirations is at work.