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I posted a new basic tutorial for using GIMP to aid in airbrushing decisions.
http://sites.google.com/site/thirdfatecreations/tutorials-1
Titled Photo Manipulation for Airbrushing

Its meant to be for those who have never touched GIMP or photoshop or other such programs before and want to use it to help made decisions on that big project they are planning.

masterful airbrush work sir...
i might have missed the answer if asked already, but how did you get the pattern on the hammerhead?

krusty wrote:... how did you get the pattern on the hammerhead?

Lots of careful masking with hexed nylon.

And for my latest. I have several projects nearing completion but I believe I will call this one completed.

Its a "strike star" from Iron wind metals made for tabletop space battles.
as usual, its over 95% airbrushed and my first attempt at making a "boring" spaceship armor paintjob. Most people do a high silver or silver white on such ships so I wanted to try a darker theme to the armor panels.

Tiger Class Strikestar

And Now I just finished a Shard Strider from Iron wind Minis.
They have some interesting stuff to paint so I will probably be doing a few more of IWM's miniatures in the near future as a break from GW.

As usual, its 100% airbrushed I was practicing a few different techniques I haven't tried before.

You do know I hate you right?!

Joke, Love your work, it brightens up my day!

Omg dude thats so cool. The first time i saw thew aracnid trhings i thought they were megatived of a picture =)

really sweet, U could paint some techno marines, they'd look pretty good with it, more so than tau probably...

It looks incredible, I'm amazed by the blue effect you achieve on the engines. incredible stuff!

Wow.

You have achieved a really unique style and technique, it's great to see something fresh!

I am not into the nebulae and other fluorescent models, not because I think they are bad in any way shape or form, just personal taste. What I absolutely love is the subtle grid/carbon fiber you achieved on the Tau Hammerhead... amazing, and adds so much to the feel of the model. Something totally unattainable with normal methods, kudos! The Battlestar also looks amazing...

Crazy awesome.

Another Iron wind miniature,
This time the Interstellar Radar array. It stands a about 3" tall with a dish diameter of 2.6".
The Dish is supposed to be made up of hexagonal reflectors on which I painted a Dusk SENMM reflection.
The back of the dish shows a similar landscape with some reflections of the base near the bottom.

The panels around the base are supposed to be square gratings through which you see the high energy components of the array underneath. The central tower is being lit up by flood lights which bleach out the colors to mainly the blue white of the flood lights. Most other "metalic" surfaces reflect the ambiet sky.

Not the best NMM but I like how it turned out. And the inside of the dish shows an upside down image because the view point is beyond the focal length (1/2 radius curvature) of the dish thus the image is inverted.

And of course, its 100% airbrushed because im crazzy.

The strikestar is amazing! Its basically a model of the battlestar galactica though isnt it? Absolutely love your models.

Oshunai wrote:The strikestar is amazing! Its basically a model of the battlestar galactica though isnt it

I believe so yes. It is one of several sold by Iron wind miniatures under their Sci-fi section. I believe it is designed by Wolf shipyards.


And for more practice at crystals, Ive painted another shard mini. this time going for a more "classic miniature painted" crystal look rather than the higher depth, angle dependent crystal technique I was playing with on the stalker.

I will probably be painting a few more BSG like models and a few more shards. They are good practice for techniques I need work on.

Dude what the hell that tiger class strike star is unreal.

You really need to tell me how you've done it ! Would really help me paint up mine to a similar standard.

Amazing work !

Wolf wrote:Dude what the hell that tiger class strike star is unreal.

You really need to tell me how you've done it ! Would really help me paint up mine to a similar standard.

Amazing work !

Im curious, what game are these pieces typically used for?

Anyway, to paint it...
Base silver
thin layers of grey.
thin layers of darker grey.
thick layer of red to make sure it is opaque.
wash black for the lining.
thin layer of grey with a touch of silver as the black just pushed everything darker.
then spray white for lighting, touch with color then touch center of light sources with white again.

I'm not sure but I use them for BFG count as I'm a BSG nutjob so I thoroughly enjoy using those ships. Oddly enough Galactica has come out practically unscathed every game.

Thanks for the tips atropos.

I do love how your models have a sort of translucent look, as if they aren't entirely solid or real. The black background contributes a bit to that I think.

Simply mind-blowing as always.

It's interesting to see you adapting your very detailed work down to BFG scale. Looking forward to more.

Savnock wrote:It's interesting to see you adapting your very detailed work down to BFG scale. Looking forward to more.

Its interesting doing it. Ive lined up a few projects for myself pushing my boundaries on several fronts. Going for a couple more BSG/BFG scale "realistic" armor plating. Going for some flesh and metal, and one nearly done going for super psychadelic eldar. The main purpose is to attract commissions on those models I don't want to buy or own, but would love to paint once and make it look killer.

I have an eldar wraithlord nearly finish that I think is about the best ive ever done. Hopefully others will agree. if not =P~ and on to paint more!

I was hoping it would quite raining so I could get a better picture.
But for now here is my wraithlord. Probably about 98% finished, but temporarily abandoned

Its so glossy its hard to photograph details unless I have sunlight. But the details look, I believe, awesome with the glossy so Im not matting it anytime soon.

These models are amasing, they remind me of the fish that live at the bottom of the see that have all the pretty colours.

Pretty psychedelic all right...I do feel the sword could use some more lightening up, but that's just nitpicking. Love your work!

Ok, for some reason it looks like the giant smurfs from avatar with all the light on him (hes just pinker than normal)

wow that wraithlord is incredibly impressive. You have some serious talent! whats next on the docket?

CommissarKhaine wrote:...I do feel the sword could use some more lightening up, but that's just nitpicking.

I agree it seems the sword could use lightning or lighting but I tried and all three attempts didnt mesh well with the rest, so I went with a simpler and I hoped more elegant look on the sword. However, the sword actually looks a lot cooler than came out in the photograph, (ok a lot of this thing does) but since Im using layered reflecting and refraction effects its flippin hard to get a decent picture of it with standard photographic techniques. I took some more under different lighting conditions and we shall see if the tradeoff of surface glare vs effect capture pays off. This thing had to be gloss coated too for the effects to work well. I initially dullcoated it but it wasnt nearly as nice.

Imperial Monkey wrote:Ok, for some reason it looks like the giant smurfs from avatar with all the light on him (hes just pinker than normal)

I made a smurf =) not sure what to think of that one. =P

DictatorGames wrote:whats next on the docket?

ugh.. depends on how I feel.
I have a SM drop pod primed but still havent decided exactly what Im doing with it.
I have a Chaos pred about 40-70% done depending...
I have a tinny dragon(cold drake) that Im starting to think was a mistake to try to airbrush, but we have to always challenge our limits. He is about 70% done/abandoned.
I have a Cinder large dragon that I think will airbrush much more nicely though he will still be pushing some of the airbrush scale limits with what I envision for him. He is primed.
Several 40k leaders are primed and waiting (shadowsun, vespid, as well as a nid guard and eldar avatar(I dont want to do the cliche fire avatar so am still thinking of composition)
An Infinity Lizard primed and half assembled.
Quite a few reaper mini's that Ive started playing with but 100% airbrushing a 28mm mini borders on stupidity/insanity
A few mechs and tanks (questionable regarding the scale limit again)

And I have an order coming in from IWM consisting of
a couple dropships, BSG models, and Shard models to experiment with

Ah and I have a wooden sword that is about 40% done, to be used as a 40k prop or larp weapon.

Though ultimately I dont know if any will compare to the wraithlord as he was very inspired(or so thinks I)
But inspiration hits rather randomly and then Im compelled to follow it.

Sorry you asked?



Ah yes, and there is also my scratch built fighter that is waiting for the right inspiration to hit and I have another scratch build I may finish building and then paint. But I dont think im good enough to paint these to do them justice so Im holding off while practicing some relevant techniques.

I have some pretty fair painting skills, and I have always wondered to my self why any one would pay hundreds of $s for a single model, but when I saw your wraith lord I felt like I might finally understand. I have to go now. I need to get a second job so that I can afford to commission some work from you.

Commissions are extremely rare but that's the way I like them... for a few reasons.

1. I typically spend 10-20 hrs on a model, but on things like the wraithlord, Tech-head, Tigershark, Monolith. I typically spend 20-40hrs painting carefully and possibly another 10-30 practicing to pull off whatever effect I want and simply planning it out. Thus time is money and one has to ask, If I don't get to keep what I just poured this much effort and soul into, what is the minimum I would charge to give it up.

2. I was "told" that If my prices were about 1/2 to 1/3 of what they are I would have more commissions than I knew what to do with. Well for that amount of planning and time, no way... Thus I priced myself somewhere between the average paint shop and those who have won GD's.

3. If I take a commission that Im not thrilled about but am interested in the money is a motivator to keep at it when I would normally put it on the shelf for a few weeks then get back to it.

4. Airbrush equipment and paints are expensive.

5. Not many do what I do

But ultimately it comes down to Im perfectly happy with 1-2 per year and I would rather wait for those who want something I/we feel is truely artful than just color modulation or a single layer of flames and a bit of detail. Plus I want to paint a couple titans and for the kind of planning and work I would put into it.... I would be happy if by some crazy miracle FW let me select a model I wanted to paint, and sent it to me free to paint where we both share rights to post the image for our own ends.. Stupid fantasy but Oh I would go crazy on the right model.

I realize only Eldar players are likely interested in my "style" which is why ive been practicing on the shards/ BSG's etc to start expanding my portfolio. I know there is a lot I can do yet have not demonstrated, but no one is going to fork over money unless they have seen you do something like it.

If anyone has any thoughts on any of this please share.

Ok, I decided to give up on the cold drake.
While ive painted models smaller than this, the detail of these scales do not lend themselves well to an airbrush when the body curves back on itself like this.

Oh well Here is a mini dragon to ridicule.

That dragon came out really well! The only critique would be the blue/reflective base. It melds a bit into the model and distorts his figure in a way that is distracting. other than that quality work.

I too know what it's like to be afflicted with having so many projects to complete! I feel your pain! Also I think your philosophy toward commissions is a smart one giver you distinct style and specialization. Well thought out.

~DG

Ok I finally took some better pictures of that wraithlord and had fun playing with a method of presentation.
critiques and suggestions welcome.

Click to zoom in on detail, its pretty big.