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@Shaso, we saw how well that turned out in the walking dead
@Vik, I think I misspoke, it's a secret project that might not be secret by the end of this page. I will need some of your input specifically though.
@Graven, the secret to surviving the zombie apocalypse is to not let anyone catch up to you.

Okay so this months painting competition is started and the theme is "don't tell me the odds" so I figure what has worse odds than fighting in a zombie apocalypse? But all my survivors are painted and I only have a few zombies left to paint up....,good thing there's the option of overcompensating . So my plan is to have my new zombie killing faction going in and taking care of business.

Enter the Totenkopf.

Not saying all 20 will make it to the scene, but I need to come up with a good idea of colors as I want to stay away from the old German grey or WWII camp schemes.

In the ironcore universe the Germans escape earth which is racked by plague after excessive use of the gate technology. I'm taking liberties and making the plague a zombie apocalypse, and the Totenkopf are sent into a town to deal with an outbreak. Buttery commissar said I could use my zombies more as backdrop/terrain, so that just might be what occurs. If not, then we will have the closing of the apocalypse with all the troopers I make finishing off the last zombie.....for now

What I need are some ideas as to what colors the Totenkopf should be. I'm leaning more towards a bone white to the uniforms with the crosses being black. I see it as both a symbol of purity as these guys will be purifying an infected town, and also as a nod to the color of bone for the "Death's Head". I'm more than willing to listen to any other ideas thrown out there though.

funny you should mention this...i have for the terrain comp made a scout...will show you this soon...he is in camo... in fact it is a bundeswehr camo...the eisenkern troops would probably look quite good in that



while i just read further about your ideas (nrtfm) ...well...white...erm...something to go with their KKK shrouds?...erm....what could work in terms of totenkopf...well...black...like the sturmstaffel...that could be a fitting scheme to the theme...(the NS theme tho), but in terms of zombi infestations... well...any biohazard scheme like orange or yellow could work, because any "reaction" team would wear colours that easily show scratches, wounds and anyy bodily fluids that could be from Z´s...
just my 2c´s here...^^

but the more you pour fluff over me the more ideas i´d be able to come up with^^

also...i am still needing to take those pics... as i have some blisters worth of Men in Black...as a possible Anti Zombie Agency...

Hmm... those Eisenkern guys may look pretty sweet in bone colors. I dig it. Now that people are doing aliens AND zombies.. I may just have to go with MARTIANS instead

Well you know when the Martians invaded we humans were almost wiped out, so we had to unleash our most dangerous weapon EVER! The zombie apocalypse. Basically the Martians will have to kill everything....twice.

Bwahaha, that works too. I suspect zombies are a product of twisted Martian science though. Its just that it backfires eventually and happens as you saw, everything twice.

Zombies: "Ugh! maybe we need to pay off a faction to help us out!"

First test pattern for the Totenkopf. Still got some spots to pull out, I'm thinking of something for the kneepads.


Still open to suggestions.

It had better be a first order logo!

Looks interesting, and proves yet again that the eisenkern troops have lots of stormtrooper potential...
The brown leather tho is not really my favourite choice...black would probably have been better...

Why not add a high visibility color to them? I doubt zombies care about camo, so for this, bright colors can work. That way the teams can easily spot each other in a chaotic urban setting and survivors will be able to spot them as well. An orange or bright red could look good.

That's one impressive Zombie Horde!

As for the totenkopf, the brown boots and gloves combined with the bone armour gives a "desert fighters" vibe to them, since clothing fades bigtime in the desert due to the sun.

I like the brown leather stuff, works for me. Spot color might not hurt, or even some kind of logo somewhere.

@graven, Thanks, but i am trying to distance myself from Nazi Germany AND Star Wars, even though the armor could go either way very easily.
@Vik, I think I'm going to keep the leather brown as going Black will be more overpowering with the soft armor and pipes already dark grey.
@Barzam, I was thinking of doing an All orange figure.....If I have time tomorrow I will test it out, but I think I might just throw some Orange on this guy on the reinforced armor panels.
@Azazelx, Good point on the Browns and fading, I cant remember all the Eisenkern faction info, but I believe the section of space they carved out for themselves is not very hospitable for growing food, so a desert sort of scheme might be common place.
@Grimdork, So spot color might wind up being Orange......either that or maybe Ill come up with my own german flag design that can be done on the shoulder guards, thigh armor and possibly kneecap.

I have never paid too much attention to the Painting blogs as I am not a good painter, but this competition I think is helping me come up with a way to kill off some of my old backlog, and giving me something to do between waiting for kickstarter stuff to arrive. Especially the stuff from that lazy RITides guy who is using the excuse of his wife having a baby as a reason to delay shipping . If you see him lurking around anywhere you might want to wish him well,,,,,,no more sleep for you mister

Bwahaha, what with a newborn myself (and a needy, whiney one this time around...) I feel for him.

Orange might do. Flag would also work.

I like the painting comp as a distraction as well, though, sometimes getting into those quashes my creativity as I'm 'forced' to spend hobby time in a particular direction. It's a tricky balance.

maybe you could get some flame of wars decals?...there probably really small so maybe ideal for the shoulderpads...

and some biohazard signs too...and hazard stripes...???hmmm...^^

What quashes my creativity is seeing everyone else who is better than me. Honestly why I haven't done the terrain competition in a long time. I know it's supposed to get me to stretch my limits, but it hasn't done that for me ...well off to my potty party.

Also forgot I have a bunch of Shadowkesh Ferals and handlers, so it might not be zombies these guys are hunting after all.

 Theophony wrote:
What quashes my creativity is seeing everyone else who is better than me.

Bad Theo You shouldn't compare yourself to others and think "what's the point of trying". If everyone thought like that we wouldn't get anywhere; why do the chaps at the back of the grid in every racing formula bother to turn up, or the "nobodies" in lane 1 and 8 of the 100m sprint...
Mr Bolt will win the race and get the headlines (and potentially get run over by a camera man), but Mr lane 8 may set a personal best; he wouldn't do that if he stayed at home and watched Bolt on tv.

If you are going to compare yourself to someone, compare yourself to yourself last year, and see how far you have come. Then push yourself to do better tomorrow... and the day after...

Do the best you can at the present time and that's all anyone can ask of you. Don't try too hard to be the best or the most creative, you will always fall short of what you set yourself.

Try new things, not because someone else does it, but to better yourself.
You only have to glance though this thread to see how creative you can be, you may even find that that is where you find your own inspiration and creativity again.

Less of them "negative waves" man...

Shadowkesh???
Also : tools can be made, crafts can be mastered after time, but for my humble opinion creativity is a virtue you get born with...I made a couple of peeps over the years that were very behind the door when creativity was handed out...(and I know there are creativity finding methods around, but I don't believe in these...) So either you have that spark or not...and you sir certainly proved that part every time you started something! So I have spoken...

Oh, and I agree that your trooper chap needs some more colour. But not just Orange, it needs something to contrast with the brown/tan/orange. Some blue would be nice in a spot here and there, not a lot, just a spot.

I think the fact that you have a 160 odd page painting blog, and all the associated posters that feel motivated to comment and converse about your work, is testament that you are doing something right.

There are plenty of painters out there better than us, but that should not stop us from painting and creating the armies that we want to.

I hope the competitions continue to help motivate you through your backlog, best of luck.

I think there was a team on that Naruto show who's personal creed/mantra was something like: Better than yesterday!

Honestly I'm ok not being the best at this, it's just for fun and I get by. It is a little bummering when I see something cool and can't replicate it, but meh.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

...

OKAY OKAY OKAY I'LL GET BACK IN THE BOX!!!

You all are right, I need to judge myself on my own growth not on others. As I said I was having a pity party at the time, so I feel better. Especially looking at the figure again today, which is how I need to work with my models. Build/ paint and then judge the next day to make sure it wasn't just a fleeting inspiration.

The competition continues, and so does the color quest. I tried the oranges I have to see what a full on orange guy looks like that's ugly, so maybe as an army badge or something, but probably not. I'm getting the urge to paint them all up to use as counts as guard....from a planet of really tall proportionately accurate humanoids. I tried a couple spot colors, let me know what you think.



Mainly just the red, white and Black of the WWI German flag. There's some lime green on one of their backpacks, but not sure about it.

the fatherland now has the option to get a kneecap in the groin of zombism...

i think the "reichskriegsflagge" on the shoulder pad you would get away with, the knee or the thigh looks awkward...


and also...:congratz on changing the title of your thread, you accepted you´re fully in it again!!!!

Thanks Vik

Any suggestions on the leg armor panels (arms too I guess), should I do the same grey/black as the gun?

Also just realized that the green on the backpack is hidden behind the troopers head . I'll have to get a better shot tomorrow as I'm at work now.

well...the grey/back mix on knees AND elbows...that would look suitable SWAT-like... i also would be hesitant to paint the collar piece that way you did... you have to try if a white-ish version looks good or not...

also... just thinking aloud here...: since these troopers fight against an unfeeling and undead opponent, i guess they themselves will get sooner than later unfeeling towards killing their enemy...so kill marks on helmets etc probably will happen...
by this you could add character to the individual models... i am thinking also about the special markings on clone troopers... for special battles or campaigns...

i wish you an easy shift

A lighter gray. Same color suggests made of the same material. Also, you're an American. We spell it gray, unless we are typing with a fake English accent. Or using it as a proper noun, like Earl Grey tea. </spelling pedant> ( and sense of humor test)

 Theophony wrote:
What quashes my creativity is seeing everyone else who is better than me.

Forgive another correction, but, well, "better than you..." no, not the way to say it. Try "whose work is better than your work currently is"-- in your opinion. Ah that's it. Personally, I love finding work better than mine. I can learn from it. It makes me happy to know that there are other people who have honed their skills to such a point. It gives me hope --by showing me-- that such skill is possible, and a goal-- that I too can someday attain such skill. The only problem I have is if said person is a D-Cannon about answering questions or offering advice. Fortunately there are very few D-Cannons in our little creative community. ( Unlike say the 'gamer' community as a whole...)

^

LOL

Theo. You are awesome. Now stop it. Don't make me come over there young man

Theo you are sooooo silly.

You are an inspiration to so many of us. I personally miss your input to the LoER comps. We all feed off each other. I see your recent work and am amazed at the output and how great it looks.

As to the troops I love them. Definate vib about them.