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The Basilean is excellent. I think some of your best work.

The Tribal warband is really good, I have always struggled to paint dark skin tones without it looking terrible. Are they pygmy or normal size?

 inmygravenimage wrote:
I am still loving your take on Basilieans, it's really got me thinking about Armada colours.

Thanks. I think the black and white reflects Allesio's (sp?) description of the Basileans as religious fanatics-- black/white= right/wrong, with not grey area.

I considered getting into Armada, but I already have a ton of games that I don't play, and I'm not sure I need another one.


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 Fifty wrote:
Those ghosts are really nice. Lovely glow.

Thanks. I still need a lot of practice with lighting effects, but I'm getting there.


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 Archer wrote:
The Basilean is excellent. I think some of your best work.

The Tribal warband is really good, I have always struggled to paint dark skin tones without it looking terrible. Are they pygmy or normal size?

Thanks. I need to work on metallics and/or nmm, though.

The tribals are the same size as all the other Frostgrave and Ghost Arcipelago plastics.

Those tribal warriors look amazing, great idea giving them the wooden masks. And gotta echo the others, the work on the white cloak is outstanding!

Nice job on the Basileans, I like your more gritty take on them.

The tribesmen are looking pretty nifty too!

For this month's Dakka Painting Challenge, I decided to pull out some of my old lead Harlequins. Originally, I had planned to do the standard diamonds/stripes/etc. patterns, but quickly abandoned that idea. The folds in the cloth would have been hard enough, but since these are Jes Goodwin sculpts, every model is festooned with little nubs that would have been impossible (or at least really frustrating) to paint around. Instead, I decided to use these models to practice my NMM.



This High Avatar was inspired by Captain Harlock, with the addition of gold armor here and there. I think I did a better job on the sword guard than any other NMM effects.



The fringe on this Trouper reminded me of this number from Jesus Christ Superstar, thus the white and chrome. I'm not sure about the armor, but the sword turend out nicely.



I had planned on doing the Death Jester in the standard black and white, but for some ungodly reason I decided to paint the armor as for Dia De Los Muertos. Searching for images to use as inspiration, I came across a guy dressed in a red suit , and realized that I would be better off going in that direction. The armor turned out a lot bluer than I had originally planned.



Finally, the Solitaire painted up in dark colors, as appropriate for an infiltrator. I must have painted and repainted his mask ten times before I decided it was ood enough. Not, good, just good enough to stop.

Here are some group shots:




That's pretty much all the hobby stuff I'll be doing until after New Year's. Have a safe and happy holiday, everyone!

The colours of the High Avatar are giving me an inquisitor - or perhaps a Commander Dante - vibe for some reason. Is there a slight droop to the Death Jester's weapon?

I had to view the full pics to have any any real appreciation of your NMM effects. I think the High Avatar is my favourite, I think because the gold NMM was the one you managed best (the Trouper sword being a close second). Did you find any particular NMM colours easier or more difficult? I'm yet to attempt this particular journey.

Wow, these look amazing and I think it was a good call do go your own route with the color scheme. Really love the Solitaire sculpt.

I really like these, and they look suitably piratical and grimdark.

Much nicer than the 'standard' paint schemes. Those were always too busy, IMO.

Have a safe and happy new year too.

Arakasi wrote:The colours of the High Avatar are giving me an inquisitor - or perhaps a Commander Dante - vibe for some reason. Is there a slight droop to the Death Jester's weapon?

I had to view the full pics to have any any real appreciation of your NMM effects. I think the High Avatar is my favourite, I think because the gold NMM was the one you managed best (the Trouper sword being a close second). Did you find any particular NMM colours easier or more difficult? I'm yet to attempt this particular journey.

I find gold NMM to be the easiest so far, mostly because the recipe I've been using is just browns, yellows, and white. I can't seem to get the hang of silver/steel NMM, which is why I'm practicing.

Nice catch on the shuriken cannon. I straightened it out, but being lead, it will likely get bent again in storage.

Viterbi wrote:Wow, these look amazing and I think it was a good call do go your own route with the color scheme. Really love the Solitaire sculpt.

Thanks. I'll probably try some more intricate work if/when I paint more Harlies, but this set turned out well, I think. This Solitaire isn't my favorite, but it was the only unpainted on I had.

inmygravenimage wrote:I really like these, and they look suitably piratical and grimdark.

Thanks. I like the gaudy classic versions, but I'm not skilled enough to pull that look off.

Red Harvest wrote:Much nicer than the 'standard' paint schemes. Those were always too busy, IMO.

Have a safe and happy new year too.

Thanks. I think I'll add a little something to the next set, when I get around to working on them.

Lovely Harlequins Josh, your muted colors are very effective. May have to steal some of your ideas when I finally get to that unopened box that’s been sitting around for 2 years.

Yorkright wrote:
Lovely Harlequins Josh, your muted colors are very effective. May have to steal some of your ideas when I finally get to that unopened box that’s been sitting around for 2 years.

I would consider it the highest praise if you were to copy my half-a$$ed techniques.

Nice job on the old school Harlies!

Thanks, aku-chan!

I said that I was done hobbying for the year, but I find myself with a lot of free time, allowing me to finish this guy:





Here he is with the rest of the Harlies:



I'm pretty happy with how the NMM gold turned out, but I still need a lot of practice.

I like your Harlies Josh. I always enjoy seeing your paint jobs.

I rather love the turquoise punk.

Syro_ wrote:I like your Harlies Josh. I always enjoy seeing your paint jobs.

Thanks!

inmygravenimage wrote:I rather love the turquoise punk.

It's pretty garish, but I think it works.

While my wife and son went to visit her mom (while follwing appropriate precautions), I stayed behind to look after our aging dog. I caught up on a lot of movies, drank a few more beers than I would otherwise have drunk, and started the year off right:


These are the last remaining metal models I got from the Frostgrave Soldiers 2 Nickstarter.



I was going to paint this Apothecary like the Old Woman from Snow White (you know, the evil queen in disguise), but a quick GIS shows that she's essentiall a pool of black with a face floating in the middle. I'm rather proud of the potions, not so much the glasses.



The hood and the tunic on this crossbowwoman are painted using completely different recipes, but ended up almost exactly the same colors.




Still experimenting with NMM, as you can see. The woman-at-arms' sword turned out better than the infantrywoman's axe, but their chainmail worked tolerably well. The battlescarring on the shield needs a heavier black line to work, I think. Also, my brush-on lacquer came out far bubblier than usual. You can't see the bubbles in real life, but boy oh boy to they stand out in the photos.

Finally, this will be my entry for the January Painting Challenge:


It's some sort of iron golem thing from Wargames Foundry. I saw a photo of the model in the Gods of War rulebook, asked the Foundry guys what it was (I couldn't, and still can't, find it on their site), ordered it, and then set it aside for a few years. I'm going to paint it as an exerise in NMM. I may or may not post WIP photos.

I hope that everyone reading this has a happy, healthy, and safe 2021!

Nice clean look on those minis, very classic colors. Excited to see your NMM on the comp mini.

Loving watching your foray into NMM. You are getting some seriously impressive results - do keep sharing!

Thanks for sharing

Frostgrave people look good!

Oddly enough I think its on the Casting Room Miniatures part of their site if that helps.

Viterbi wrote:Nice clean look on those minis, very classic colors. Excited to see your NMM on the comp mini.

Thanks. It's nice to paint something without having to push myself after working on those Harlequins last month. I should have some WIP photos tonight or tomorrow.

IGtR= wrote:Loving watching your foray into NMM. You are getting some seriously impressive results - do keep sharing!

Thanks for sharing

I'm not sure impressive is the right word, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

DJJazzyJeff wrote:Frostgrave people look good!

Thanks. They should be useful if/when I'm able to get in a game.

Llamahead wrote:Oddly enough I think its on the Casting Room Miniatures part of their site if that helps.

Nice find. Thanks!

I have started working on the Golem, but it's slow going. I'm basically teaching myself as I paint, with lots of GIS and YouTube to help. In preparation for the golem, I did a practice run on this guy:



The model is an old Ral Partha figure (Dark Prince's Guard or something like that). I have about 20 of these guys, half of them unpainted and sitting in a box. with little-to-no chance of seeing action any time soon, so they're perfect test models. I think I've got the blending down, but I need to increase the contrast. If anyone has any other advice, I'd appreciate it.

I really like where it's going but I think you need to go even more extreme on highlights. Also, I'd consider a strong, bright colour (red?) for the plume.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
I really like where it's going but I think you need to go even more extreme on highlights. Also, I'd consider a strong, bright colour (red?) for the plume.

Doing this guy taught me that I need both brighter highlights and darker shadows. I think I'm getting there on the golem. Also, you're right about the plume-- I'll have to go back over that.

Make your darks darker and your lights lighter.
The go-to saying for all art teachers everywhere.

Love the old lady!

Your NMM seems to be coming along nicely, it's not a technique I ever had much success with.

It's very definitely getting there, the NMM technique, I salute you for having the patience to persevere

The golem should look ace!

DJJazzyJeff wrote:Make your darks darker and your lights lighter.
The go-to saying for all art teachers everywhere.

Thanks, that's actually great advice.

aku-chan wrote:Love the old lady!

Your NMM seems to be coming along nicely, it's not a technique I ever had much success with.

The technique has required a shift in thinking. It's so very different from what I usually do, and I'm still not used to it.

Slinky wrote:It's very definitely getting there, the NMM technique, I salute you for having the patience to persevere

The golem should look ace!

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Here are some more WIP shots:


I'm working with a black-brown/ice blue/white mix, which gives a warmer sort of grey. This model has a lot of different surfaces, all curving in different directions, and I'm not entirely sure I'm lining the highlights up correctly. ANy thoughts?

Not in a 100 years would I have the patience to attempt NMM. Yours looks already very good, but I'm afraid I'm no help with input how the surfaces would reflect the light. But looking at the pics I don't have the feeling it's reflecting "wrong".

I agree with Viterbi, the reflections and lighter parts look good to me. Nothings stood out looking wrong to me.