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i really just love your yellow Gits! it looks so rich and lustrous i'm jealous I don't have the balls to try it yet! :-)

Thank you everyone! I am quite pleased with the way it's developing... let's hope that keeps up.

Dr H wrote:For the purity seals, you could make it look like he's ripped most (but not all) of the paper off leaving the seal with a scrap of torn paper still attached. Probably not easy if they are molded on seals tho. Just a thought.

Unfortunately the seals are molded in to a large extent... neat idea but not doable on this sculpt.

Yggdrasil wrote:Hey hey, on its way to be a awesome model !!! Love the white on the helmet, looks crisp & clean !!

The most important critic! Glad you like it Yggs, more spiffyness to come. It probably doesn't show on the pic but the helmet is actually bone blended to white. It's subtle... but I like the slightly off-white base rather than just a pure white. Gives more interest I think.

Moltar wrote:Dee-Zaamn! That dude looks awesome, Gits! I love that helmet too. It works for everything. Yellows look good, as usual. Excited to see him with the Tranquility pattern applied.

Me too. Should be an interesting exercise. (and thanks!)

Cutthroatcure wrote:I love that plasma cannon!

Thanks Ctc... more glowing stuff will be forthcoming.

cormadepanda wrote:very nice models gits. Simply love those plasma cannons.

Thanks!

BLACKHAND wrote:Perhaps as part of your "subtle" Chaosifying you could add barbs to the Tranquility pattern, just a thought , he is looking great so far!

An excellent idea, but Yggs and I have conspired to develop another idea for the camo pattern... one I think you're going to like.

monkeytroll wrote:Looking great at just the yellow stage

I like the idea of defacing the seals somehow - might be tricky to show well though, I thought of crossing it all out or drenching them in blood, but not sure how well that would actually translate on a mini. Maybe blank out the text and add partial chaos stars to the parchment - depending on colour that might work over the top of the script.

At what point did you and I start sharing a brain?? I'll leave my decision over what to do to the seals until the very end... we'll see how the figure looks & what it calls for then.

nerdfest09 wrote:i really just love your yellow Gits! it looks so rich and lustrous i'm jealous I don't have the balls to try it yet! :-)

Not all that complicated... but I've had a lot of practice so I guess it would seem pretty easy by now. My main hint is to just keep in mind that all yellows (save for the "base" colors) are translucent. To be good at painting yellow... figure out how to use this to your advantage rather than trying to fight it. Wet blending is a fantastic way to do yellow & I still think it gives the best results... even though I airbrush most stuff now-a-days. If I were to do a GD entry... I'd wet blend it. It's easy and fairly quick too. There's a yellow tutorial burried somewhere in the blog that shows my wet-blended yellow technique. I think there's a link to it from the OP. Yep... there it is... down below the battle report links.

 Gitsplitta wrote:

Yggdrasil wrote:Hey hey, on its way to be a awesome model !!! Love the white on the helmet, looks crisp & clean !!

The most important critic! Glad you like it Yggs, more spiffyness to come. It probably doesn't show on the pic but the helmet is actually bone blended to white. It's subtle... but I like the slightly off-white base rather than just a pure white. Gives more interest I think.

I had guessed it wasn't just plain white... But it still looks great !!!!

BLACKHAND wrote:Perhaps as part of your "subtle" Chaosifying you could add barbs to the Tranquility pattern, just a thought , he is looking great so far!

An excellent idea, but Yggs and I have conspired to develop another idea for the camo pattern... one I think you're going to like.

Erh... Damn, I thought "our" idea was close to BH's one...

Hmmm.... so maybe my idea is a random thought. The barbs would be one hell of a lot easier than what I had in mind.

Can't wait to see how this guy turns out.

Very dynamic pose. Great action in the figure.

What about changing the script on the purity seals to daemonic symbols or something? The kind of thing that would be overlooked by the casual observer.

Seriously cool mate, amongst your best work.

Oh nice! Every time I look at your blog I become inspired again.

Caught up! All seems on target here BLACKHAND's idea was my first thought too. Looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

Hey guys, thanks for all the positive vibes...


What I thought we had agreed on was that some of the "plants" in the camo pattern would actually be emerging from the model as if they were coming alive... forming menacing tendrils and such. Apparently I was mistaken as nearly everyone, including Yggs... things BLACKHAND's idea is the way to go. Though I admit I'm a bit fuzzy about what constitutes spines.

Now... Yggs has (privately) cast doubt on the fact that I can do the sculpting... effectively throwing his gauge at my feet. Not that he isn't supportive of my efforts mind you, he is... but I get a sense of lingering doubt. So... do I go with the common sense approach and do the painting that everyone wants and I know I can do successfully, or do I pick up the gauntlet and risk *-ing the whole figure up by trying the sculpting? (And just so you know, leaving this bit of sculpting for the last was on purpose... I thought it would interfere too much with the rest of the paint job to attempt first.) Keep in mind my GS-fu is weak.

Discuss.


OH, and for those of you who think this blog is a monster... I just noticed that one of dstein's blogs is at 420 pages.... 420!

...OK, you completely had me at hello...ermm...I mean sculpting the cammo pattern. That would be truely amazing if you could pull it off. Creating some vines with thorns shouldn't be too tough. The vines would be twisted ropes of green stuff and you could probably find some plastic toyrs or something plastic to cut up and make thorns out off. If you went with more of a leaf pattern, I believe that Insaniak has some good tutorials on making leaves. Of course most people do the sculpting first.

I think you have the skills to pull it off.

I like the idea of the camo pattern coming to life and going 3D.

Could you not do the sculpting separate from the mini? If it works, stick it on. If it don't, no loss, do the painting.

Oh, that is an amazing idea That would be very cool!

Try on a spare pair of legs first - if it feels right and looks good go for it on the actual mini. I'm assuming you're thinking of very small tendrils coming out - no larger than the actual camo patterns themselves? I think you can handle that, just need a practice first to convince yourslef mate

@wyfox: The sculpted camo pattern won't be spiney... that's tempting fate in my opinion. BUT, I appreciate the support.

@DrH & mt: I just KNEW that someone would suggest practicing. Where's the adrenaline rush in that??!! Heck... if I KNOW I can do it then it just becomes another technical exercise. I'm talkin' about living on the edge man... risking dozens of hours of work on a half-baked idea that I have no real grasp on how to accomplish. "Go big or go home!" That kind of macho BS stuff...

Oh my...I can litterally hear your voice in my head....seriously getting freaked out right now.

Which is the way I'd often go Gits - if it were a mini I wasn't planning to give to someone else I just hide those in the dark depths of my table till everyone's forgotten about them

Ok, now you said it you have to do it!

If you are really not that sure on GS ( and I personally think you can pull it off) maybe using some Bloodletter horns will do the trick

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WARHAMMER-40K-BIN-BITS-CHAOS-DAEMONS-BLOODLETTERS-11x-HEADS-/320822293731?pt=Games_US&hash=item4ab27fb4e3

Again just a thought.


And you know we have to push your plog to 450 pages now as well, talk about expectations.

Actually I do have a plan... and I think it's entirely doable, but we'll see. While I won't practice... I may do a bit of "experimentation".

I'm just glad people are still interested & hope I can continue to generate quality content. The problem with a blog this size it that it can put people off. You don't get "casual" readers because there's no way they can get up to speed without a major investment in time. The links in the OP are designed to help with that... but I suspect some folks are rightfully discouraged by the page count. Still... she's my baby.

"emerging from the model as if they were coming alive... forming menacing tendrils and such" is just as cool, if not more so. I may have suggested using thin (1/2mm) plasticard cutouts and gluing and curling on the base mini, but who am I to deprive you of some GS-fu practice (especially as you think you need it )

I'll be interested to see how the "model on later and paint" work out too - I always have difficulties with painting hard to reach spots I've modelled over...

As for page count, quality over quantity! Yours may no longer be the longest, but the per post quality given the length is incredible. There are a few of the longer blogs I gave up on long ago due to the excessive chattiness of the followers - good for them, less so for me, and I suspect more off putting that sheer page count...

Anyway - you have a dozen or so shorter blogs too - so I think your bases are covered

Good to see your back on mantis warriors again. Love the glowing plasma.

Paper soaked in PVA huh? I will pinch that one day.

Arakasi wrote:"emerging from the model as if they were coming alive... forming menacing tendrils and such" is just as cool, if not more so. I may have suggested using thin (1/2mm) plasticard cutouts and gluing and curling on the base mini, but who am I to deprive you of some GS-fu practice (especially as you think you need it )

That's a good suggestion Arakasi, and one I have considered. Not all of the leaves would be coming alive at the same rate or to the same extent... and the plasticard would have the same 2-D look as the original paint job, which may be more appealing. I'll run some tests and see where we are once I have some examples.

Arakasi wrote:I'll be interested to see how the "model on later and paint" work out too - I always have difficulties with painting hard to reach spots I've modeled over...

Yeah... it's kind of a risk, but I spent some time mulling this over back when I was doing the building and something at that time made me feel this was the better course. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

As for page count, quality over quantity! Yours may no longer be the longest, but the per post quality given the length is incredible. There are a few of the longer blogs I gave up on long ago due to the excessive chattiness of the followers - good for them, less so for me, and I suspect more off putting that sheer page count...

Anyway - you have a dozen or so shorter blogs too - so I think your bases are covered

Well, this blog has wandered into chattiness from time-to-time as well, but I try to keep it true to it's P&M status. Having readers who add their own quality content is a big advantage.

weetyskemian44 wrote:Good to see your back on mantis warriors again. Love the glowing plasma.

Paper soaked in PVA huh? I will pinch that one day.

Hey weets! Glad you stopped by! Yes.... "not dead yet" I guess. The paper trick seems to be holding up pretty well, though it'll never be as tough as plasticard. Someone else mentioned that you could also soak it in super-glue (the proper name for that glue escapes me at the moment) and get the same effect.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

On a side note... deer hunting season starts tomorrow here in Wisconsin... so updates might be fewer while I go cool my jets in a tree. Don't worry... "no deer will be harmed during this exercise", I pretty much suck at deer hunting. I do like to be out in the woods though. Very peaceful and cathartic. - Cheers!

Well its like my grandpa used to say- A bad day hunting is better than a day at work! Haha Send me a steak, eh Gits?

Loving the chaos mantis so far, and have to say Im very very interested in the "plants coming alive" idea.
Were it me, Id probably go the plasticard route, but I super suck with GS so its not much of a surprise. I can sort of picture what youre going for, but a great deal of it is still a mystery to me. Ill be watching with interest...

Awww i missed the big idea reveal...

Off my self-pitying route: Think thats a great idea! GS/Bitz/partially sculpted will all look excellent IMO, it just depends if you can find a technique that you like/ can do well, i have no doubt that this could be any of them, but its what you feel comfortable doing....also, machismo aside, practicing is a good idea...

also, if you want to put spines/spikes/some sort of thorn or leaf maybe (but evil) into or ontot the GS, then do you not have a stockpile of Chainswords or axes that you can snip blades off? Like you already do for the bladed arms/legs for the Mantis Warriors....And now i have to propose having one of those areas coming alive, as if something is growing beneath the blades and pushing them out to become more tendrils...

Not sure if any of that makes sense....

EDITS: Terrible spelling...

Hmmmm.... food for thought guys. The spines thing wasn't on my radar to be honest. Yes, I do have a ton of chainswords specifically for conversions. I'll keep my mind open to the possibilities. If my "scheme" doesn't work out, I'll need a good fall-back plan.

Gitsplitta wrote: "Go big or go home!"

This !!!

Also, I wasn't really taunting you with you GS skills (which aren't worse than mine), just saying it was odd to keep it for last...

I know you can do it !!

[edit : Well... At least I hope so ]

[edit 2 : corrected "worst" to "worse" ]

See? SEE?!! Negative vibes!! (I feel like Donald Sutherland's character in "Kelly's Heroes".)

 Gitsplitta wrote:
See? SEE?!! Negative vibes!! (I feel like Donald Sutherland's character in "Kelly's Heroes".)

I haven't seen that movie, but at least you made me laugh

You MUST see it. You would appreciate it. Clint Eastwood, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalis & Don Rickles. WWII misfits movie at it's best.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065938/

Any movie with mr potato head is a win.