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I can see again! I can paint again! I can... Go on complete tangets again! Yep, something completely different today!

It was five years ago this month I got into Warhammer and 40k (it was all LotR before then), and by Christmas that year I had about 3000 points of tragically painted, terribly organised High Elves. Half a year after that, they were boxed up and put away, as getting my friends into 40k ended up far easier than getting them into WFB, and my own interest in building 200-mini armies waned. The Elves had one moment of glory, blasting 96 Skaven with a single spell in the Island of Blood participation game, before they were retired. Since then, all they've done is provide conversion parts...


Until now! While I shan't be rebuilding the army into anything playable (except possibly and eventually for KoW), I am now going to be painting up a few of my favourites from the collection to the best of my ability, just to have some nice display pieces to commemorate 5 years of proper hobbying, and hopefully show how far I've come in that time (look out for some pics of my first painted ones soon if I remember).

First off, as a test for some techniques I intended to use on the others, a White Lion of Chrace, my first try at proper NMM in years. Eventually, he'll be part of a diorama fighting alongside a Swordmaster of Hoeth. Looking at these pics he still needs a bit of work on the face and chainmail, but other than that I'm pretty happy with it.







Any thoughts welcome, of course, especially on the NMM. Next up are a Swordmaster and a mounted Prince, both of which have a fair bit more armour, so if there's any fault in the technique then please do point it out!

Thanks for looking, more soon!

It looks good, it's not something I have ever tried so I can't really give you any professional tips but I think personally you might need a stark edge highlight in places?

You may be right.

When I started that I wasn't quite sure what direction I wanted to go in (NMM simulating normal metallics or the more common over a exaggerated NMM that looks like it's painted NMM). In the end, and after doing a couple more, I've decided on the former, so it is a lot more subdued than the NMM you normally see, the idea being that, on first impression at least, it should look like metallics rather than painted NMM. I think the later ones are a tad more successful, at least in achieving the look I was going for.

Looks like metal from here.

Think you have done a fine job. Looks pretty convincing.

It does have a more muted look to it. More like armour and weapons that have seen a lot of use and started to get a patina of age rather than nicely polished and shiny.

Yeah, it looks good to me. If you hadn't told us it was NMM, I'd have assumed it was a steel-metallic paint.

I can never be bothered with NMM myself- too much hassle. But you've made a good job from the look of things

Thanks guys! Here's some more, and better pics of the Lion. The bases on the WL/SMoH are temporary, both will be on a mini-diorama base eventually.

Swordmaster of Hoeth




White Lion of Chrace updated:



And the Prince, the mini that got me into WFB and finally sporting a paintjob I think I can be proud of (pics are a bit dark, I'll get some better ones tomorrow)




[url=http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/712951-Elves%2C%20High%20Elves%2C%20Non-Metallic%20Metal%2C%20Warhammer%20Fantasy%2C%20Wfb%2C%20White%20Lion.html]


[/url]

Funny enough, in still not sure how I feel about NMM. I am pleased that I can finally (hopefully) pull it off convincingly, and on these minis (where I'm trying to emulate the art/imagery rather than something for the tabletop) it fits, but I don't know if it's something I'll pursue further in my 'normal' painting. I'd never do it on LotR or 40k where realism is the goal, and in Infinity I like to keep it very subtle if I do it. I guess it might become a handy tool for more generic fantasy stuff, but I'm not quite convinced it's worth the hassle over just metallics and washes...

Thanks for looking! Any feedback is of course welcome!

Though I've never reached the point where I can do it convincingly (nor tried tooo much), I think I agree about the NMM. It has a place, but I'm not sure its a tool I would be too interested in either, even if I did get it down as well as you.

I do really like it on the elves though, they're quite fancy.

I'm not sure I'd say I do it well, just passably!

Finished up the diorama before the light went, so here it is! Need a few more touches now it's all together, but I'm pretty pleased with the outcome and overall composition. I was a tad worried about the Reaver (archer) conversion, but painted it fits fine, I think.


Defenders of Ulthuan








Cheers again for looking! Any thoughts welcome!

The diorama compositions good. Small and tells a story just in their posture and direction.

Do you mind if I suggest trying this as a background (with 1-2 lamps):

These are taken from an article on 40kforums.com which you can read here.

Your minis are superb and this may help you show them off to their full potential.

Cool, might give that a shot. I tend to use daylight simply as I don't have the space/lamps for a more permanent setup, but I'll certainly try some coloured backgrounds at some point.

Nice looking Elves, Para.
I cant comment on the nmm... But before I realised you had tried it, it registered as gold to my mind. It lacks the shine and polish metals have, but it fits really well with your style, which is dark, muted and gritty.

That White Lion makes the piece for me. He looks legitimately pissed.

 Zambro wrote:
Nice looking Elves, Para.
I cant comment on the nmm... But before I realised you had tried it, it registered as gold to my mind. It lacks the shine and polish metals have, but it fits really well with your style, which is dark, muted and gritty.

Cheers! I wanted something in between my normal muted metallics and NMM, so if you can't tell the difference at first glance then it seems to have worked!

That White Lion makes the piece for me. He looks legitimately pissed.

Could have something to do with the fact some git took clippers to his chariot for use in another diorama!

Dude I like the elves in your gritty style. I never thought those shiny helmets and white uniforms would stay that way for long in a battle.

So took TP's advice on the blue background for pics, and lo and behold, I think it's worked! Here are the newer pics!

The Prince:




The Defenders of Ulthuan:





And some WIPs of Prince Althran, who will be my entry into the challenge this month. The feathered areas and NMM gold are mostly done, the rest still needs quite a bit of work. Hope to get him finshed for tomorrow, though.





Any feedback welcome!

Wow! I'm amazed about the difference myself! I'll have to sort myself out with a background!

Really nice stuff, that change in background really makes them pop!

Where did you get the background? or what did you use?

Cheers! The background was just a sheet of 'funky foam' you can get in most craft shops. I figured it was less likely to fold/would bend more uniformly than paper (and it was just the closest suitable material to hand )

Ahh right, I always wonder how people get that nice fade effect on the background.

Check out the article TP posted above, it explains how you can get that look from just one colour background (which is what I did here).

Ahh right in front of my eyes! I'll give it a read.

Here he is! Prince Althran, astride the Griffon Sableclaw, sowing chaos amidst the Skaven ranks:

Spoilered simply as there a huge amount of pics; I got a bit trigger happy with the camera!

Spoiler:

For my first large-scale attempt at proper NMM, I think I'm calling this one a success! Very pleased with the overall results, I think it was certainly worth the extra work when I look at this compared to what it looked like in its original scheme (which I kind of wish I'd photographed! ).

Cheers for reading, and as ever, any thoughts are welcome! Next up, mini 300 of 2015...

That is definitely awesome

Awwweeessome!!!! U are so taking this month's comp

Prince althran looks awesome, I like the color in the griffin and the scenic base is cool. Great job!

Cheers guys!

That is one sexy bird!
[pause for groans]
You've done an incredible job on that. Not seeing the other entries yet, I can't see how you couldn't win.

That looks fantastic para !

I really love the gold armour and the muted tones.

I'm no where near finishing my entry, there's time yet.

The elves look great!!!

Adding that blue paper behind the minis makes a huge difference in your photos!

Great work!