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Very nice. I can definitiely see the difference between the yellows. Which also means I can see the difference it makes in contrast with the stone / palanquin. While I think I prefer the Slann yellow, it does unfortunately appear to merge into the palanquin. I wonder if darkening him up, perhaps with an orange wash? (You could also darken the palanquin, but I think the palanquin is perfect as is.). It's a fine line though - and not one to be taken lightly this far along...

No problem on the suggestions, it’s one of the advantages of being opinionated! Good job getting the pair of them done. They both look great, but I agree with Arakasi that the bright slaan is my favourite colour wise. That flying stand must be under a fair bit of pressure with all the weight atop it! The extra highlight on the priests feathers were a great addition too

 Arakasi wrote:
Very nice. I can definitiely see the difference between the yellows. Which also means I can see the difference it makes in contrast with the stone / palanquin. While I think I prefer the Slann yellow, it does unfortunately appear to merge into the palanquin. I wonder if darkening him up, perhaps with an orange wash? (You could also darken the palanquin, but I think the palanquin is perfect as is.). It's a fine line though - and not one to be taken lightly this far along...

Cheers, Arakasi, I'm glad that the yellow worked as intended. I see what you mean about the Slann blending with the palanquin tho, which is definitely unintended.

 gobert wrote:
No problem on the suggestions, it’s one of the advantages of being opinionated! Good job getting the pair of them done. They both look great, but I agree with Arakasi that the bright slaan is my favourite colour wise. That flying stand must be under a fair bit of pressure with all the weight atop it! The extra highlight on the priests feathers were a great addition too

Thanks Gobert, I really appreciate that. I hear what you're saying about the flying stand - I'm hoping to replace it with something. Fortunately it will be a while before I actually get a game in so he can rest on the shelf without the base. I feel I probably should have thought about that before getting this far, but apparently (and this surprised me to find out) I'm not above making very last-minute changes to almost-finished models.
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So I actually went to bed thinking about Arakasi's comment and I decided that I don't want to change the stone on the palanquin, and opted to give the Slann an orange wash. I think part of the reason he blended in was because of the big old jaws and his big wraithbone belly that are basically the same palette as the palanquin itself. I mixed Blood Angels Red and Iyanden Yellow contrast paint on my palette and thinned it down quite a lot using the contrast medium. I started with a few dots on the back to see if I liked it, and finding that I did, did the rest of the body. I'm happy with the tone now, although I think it needs another round of edge highlights to help smooth it out.

A few thoughts:

1) The slann doesn't blend into the palanquin but I'm worried he's still too dark, so I'm feeling some really bright edge highlights.
2) Is the palanquin otherwise too busy? I'm thinking of that blue snake right in front of the Slann and the green leaves, I'm starting to think that I need to tone it down so it doesn't distract from the Slann and his bling
3) I think it's safe to paint the skink attendant the same color as the other skinks now that the Slann is no longer yellow.





Thanks for helping me to four pages, all. Plogs are fun.

The contrast is much better now - and big on taking the plunge at this late stage. I think some bright edge highlights would work well - just try to keep it as thin (in width) as possible.

The palanquin is busy by itself, which makes things harder. I think the blue is fine. You could probably go for a lighter brown and green for the vines / leaves. In fact, if that is vines, just a lighter green for both (with a slight variation between leaves and vine) might also work - including the leaves he is sitting on. Just go for something closer in tone to the rest of the palanquin.

I like the orange color on the slann, but I agree highlighting it a bit would look good. Bold choice!

I actually think the palanquin looks just fine as is, I really enjoy all the little pops of color here and there. I may be biased though, as I tend to do that myself on my models!

Cheers guys, thanks for the feedback. I think I'm gonna sit on the palanquin a bit and see how I feel about it once I finish the Slann.

Unfortunately the Starpriest had a bit of an accident - somehow I stepped on him, which means somehow he fell on the floor, and I could not tell you how that happened. Nothing too bad - his staff arm snapped off at the join, he lost a few fingers on his left hand, and some of his feathers are askew. Whoops! A drop or two of glue at the base of the feathers should help to stabilize. I'm trying to figure out what to do about the left hand - might just leave it as is, whose to say a Starpriest can't have a few battle scars?

Ahhh, no! Tragic. At least you saved most of him! I think I'd scrounge around in the bitz box for a spare skink hand if ya can, I personally hate busted minis.

If you're good with his fingers that way though, a little blood for the blood god goes a long way!

Slann looks marvelous with the orange, don't know if I had been bold enough to try that And I feel you on the starpriest, I once sat down on my space marine reserves which consisted of 5 reivers and my freshly painted vanguard librarian. Luckily they could be mended and I hope your priest will get fixed soon. Some lost fingers might actually work as battle scars, as you said.

Regarding the Slann throne/base, I don't find it too busy (apart from what the designers did with it). The bright orange pulls the eye to the Slann, so no worries there from my point of view.

Thanks MegaDave and Viterbi, I appreciate the sympathy. Glad to know I'm not alone!

Happy to say that I completed the Slann Mage Priest and the Skink Starpriest both! I'm really happy with how they turned out, the Slann especially, and the decisions with which I'm happiest are the ones that were suggested by the Dakka community.





Not sure about names yet. I decided that the baby skink attendant is an acolyte, so I painted his crest blue like I did the Starpriest. Funnily enough, the skinks on the Bastilidon from the Start Collecting box are also about half the size of the battle line skinks - probably to make the Bastilidon look even bigger - but I'll paint those guys as acolytes as well. In an army without chapter badges or squad numbers, it's a fun way to show hierarchy. I also think that I'll paint the Bastilidon the same green as the shields, to show that they get only use the toughest hide for their protection.

accidental double post, can't figure out how to delete - please ignore

Slann is looking good! Even better in the shots with better lighting. Well done

The Slann is solid. I like all the busy detail. Really a solid piece.
The flying stand is the one bit that I don't love. It makes me think of Monkeytroll's servitor floating on the wires.
Wires are all wrong, but I wonder if there is a way to make some vines trailing off the palanquin that would offer support without making it look like support.
Not to throw you back into modeling mode, that figure is gorgeous as is.

Slann looks great, the extra highlights really did it. Starpriest is very cool with the red and yellow.

Great job!

Aw, the poor starpriest, i'm glad you were able to help him recover a bit. I've managed to do similar things.... more than i care to count.

Starpriest obviously had a brief lapse of faith, restored when he was scooped from where he lay by the gods.

Nice job on the Slaan, looks great.

The Slann has turned out great. Bummer about the priest, but it looks like he recovered well enough.

 Arakasi wrote:
Slann is looking good! Even better in the shots with better lighting. Well done

Thanks, Arakasi. Yeah, I've tried different lighting conditions every time I post a photo. Still trying to figure out what looks best! But I appreciate the good vibes.

 DJJazzyJeff wrote:
The Slann is solid. I like all the busy detail. Really a solid piece.
The flying stand is the one bit that I don't love. It makes me think of Monkeytroll's servitor floating on the wires.
Wires are all wrong, but I wonder if there is a way to make some vines trailing off the palanquin that would offer support without making it look like support.
Not to throw you back into modeling mode, that figure is gorgeous as is.

Thanks, Jazzy Jeff, and welcome! Yeah, the flying stand is only there for the photo. His palanquin's resting comfortably on the shelf directly. I like your idea of the trailing vines. I don't have a whole lot of stuff on hand to craft them so I'm going to sit on it for a while. I'm not going to be playing a game anytime soon so I'll figure it out when it becomes a bit more urgent. Any suggestions welcome though!

 MegaDave wrote:
Slann looks great, the extra highlights really did it. Starpriest is very cool with the red and yellow.

Great job!

Hey, thanks MegaDave! Always appreciate your feedback.

 amazingturtles wrote:
Aw, the poor starpriest, i'm glad you were able to help him recover a bit. I've managed to do similar things.... more than i care to count.

Cheers AT, happy to know I'm not alone! He's getting some special hornworms or similar as a treat to help him recover.

 monkeytroll wrote:
Starpriest obviously had a brief lapse of faith, restored when he was scooped from where he lay by the gods.

Nice job on the Slaan, looks great.

Oh yes, it was definitely his fault. Cheers!

 youwashock wrote:
The Slann has turned out great. Bummer about the priest, but it looks like he recovered well enough.

I just want my Starpriest to be happy. That's all I want. If a new hand will make him happy, then that's what I gotta do.

------

I've hit a good hobby wind this week. I hope to finish off a couple of things over the weekend, and we'll post shots when they're done! Right now, the list of ongoing projects (let's call it a painting queue) on this blog is (in no particular order):

1. All of Blackstone Fortress
2. The Corvus Cabal Warcry Gang
3. The Realmgate Engine
4. The rest of the Skinks
5. The rest of the Saurus
6. Cold One Riders
7. Oldblood
8. Chameleon Skinks

I'll try and keep this list below 10, and then slowly rotate in items from my shelf of shame into the current painting queue. Seems like a system, maybe! Moving forward I'll probably post fewer WIP shots ~ I think the remaining battleline troops won't warrant that much time experimenting.

Secret Weapons miniatures has some vellum vines that could hide a wire support or two. Or anything else like that to cover or make the wire disappear. Probably floral wire wouldn't be strong enough. You'd need jewelry wire or something else a little sturdier, especially with the girth of that figure. Several somethings, probably. The ivy alone wouldn't hold the weight, but could hide whatever does.

Meticulously cutting out some vines would be just as effective, but paying for someone else to do it is easier.

http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=170

This might not blend exactly with your existing foliage, so maybe something else is better, Something like it, but different.

Oh, those look great! Yeah, that sort of thing would do well. I was also thinking about making a homebrew Balewind Vortex due to not being able to find them online for any price, and living vine tornado might be a fun thing to use as a replacement!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Okay, the winds of hobby have blown and I am doing my best to stay afloat with all this raw hobby energy. Here are the chameleon skinks:



They're not as bright in person. I am content with them. Not a blue ribbon job but to my standard of battlefield ready.

Next up is the Oldblood.



I'm really happy with this one, it was the most drastic repositioning of a model I've ever done and it's instilled lots of confidence in terms of hobby. Another model that was forged by input from the community.

For his shield I tried to do a wooden effect. I was looking at it for a long time and couldn't figure out what material it could be made of that would reasonably fit the theme, and still be carved like that. A solid jade shield being too tacky (and heavy!), I thought I'd stretched a bit and try to do a carved wooden look using very thin parallel lines with different browns. Then I splattered some thinned-down Contrast paints to show the Oldblood's creative side; I like to think he paints in his spare time as well.



Lastly, a better photo of the Starpriest.



So the painting queue has been whittled down to:

1. All of Blackstone Fortress
2. The Corvus Cabal Warcry Gang
3. The Realmgate Engine
4. The rest of the Skinks
5. The rest of the Saurus
6. Cold One Riders

I made some good progress on two of those other fronts today, but I'll wait to post finished pictures. Thanks for reading, all.

Been some time I scrolled through this blog. Looking good, the starpriest looks especially good on his base. Keep the raw hobby energy coming!

Good job on the wood there.

Thanks, Honingtomaten and monkeytroll! I've got another quick update incoming; all* the skinks are done! These guys have been sitting built but unpainted for about eight or more years, so that's some kind of closure.



Still on the queue:

1. All of Blackstone Fortress
2. The Corvus Cabal Warcry Gang
3. The Realmgate Engine
4. The rest of the Saurus
5. Cold One Riders

Fiddling around with the Cold One Riders, but I'll try and get the Saurus done next!

Based and primed all my Saurus, and started working through the unit. Started with just one to get the scheme down, and I'm happy with it - less time than I want to spend on it but it's what I need to stick to to get twenty sauruses painted up in a reasonable amount of time.

Also started working on the Bastilidon from the Start Collecting! box. It's a very cool model. For the armor plating I'm thinking of making a sandy scheme, as if it is camouflage. What dread beast would prey on a bastilodon? Best not to think about it, but the camouflage is likely no protection...

Gone with the crystal laser because the Ark of Sotek has a much less inspiring profile. Plus, all those extra snakes will be perfect for my Splintered Fang.

It always feels so good to finish something that's been waiting a while. And i love those skinks, and just skinks in general, so i say well done once again.

The bastiliadon is a really fun model, and very very solid looking, which i like. That and the fact that it's a bit turtle like, of course.

Good start on the big dinosaur, you'll have a lovely Seraphon force very soon.

Agreed, amazingturtles, and thanks for your kind words. I personally think the Bastilidon is a great kit, it was really fun to build and it has large areas of color that are sufficiently textured for the use of shades and drybrushing. It definitely is very turtle-lookin but it's the first time I'm painting something for this force without using a real-world reference, so I'm waiting to see if the colors I chose will work well together.

Thanks Viterbi, I'm feeling really confident about getting it all together!

Just for fun I've included a couple of reference photos that I'm using for the Saurus warriors (for the other herp hobbyists, I know aspen chips aren't the first choice of bedding but they make it easy to spot clean the terrarium and I'm planning on setting her up with a bioactive enclosure next month). I think it's really neat how the scales contain layers of color stacked on top of each other, almost through reverse highlighting, with the darkest tones appearing at the edges and tips. I feel like I am able to recreate this effect through dryburshing, but rather than showing it on individual scutes, because the 28 mm scale is too small, I'll try and show it across the body of the Saurus in general. This is the first army I've tried to recreate a specific color scheme and it's good fun.

EDIT for spelling

I think the Basildon looks more of a war-terrapin than turtle! That could be a fun scheme to try to recreate.

Quite the mass of skinks you’ve amassed now Don, looking resplendent in their fabulous yellows. The Saurus (big chap next to the terrapin, right?) looks really good, very realistic replica of a real reptilian imho. Looking forward to seeing a big horde of them.

Great looking lizardmen. The slann is absolutely inspired. I've never seen this take on it. Really dig your take on the skin.

 gobert wrote:
I think the Basildon looks more of a war-terrapin than turtle! That could be a fun scheme to try to recreate.

Quite the mass of skinks you’ve amassed now Don, looking resplendent in their fabulous yellows. The Saurus (big chap next to the terrapin, right?) looks really good, very realistic replica of a real reptilian imho. Looking forward to seeing a big horde of them.

Thanks Gobert! I ended up looking at a couple different terrapins online and was surprised to learn that it is a paraphyletic group - that is, not meaningful in terms of evolutionary history (e.g., like how referring to birds as dinosaurs refers to their evolutionary history), but is so enmeshed in biology that people keep it around cuz its easier than inventing a whole new word (like how "fish" technically refers to all vertebrates but if you call your friend a fish they'll probably be upset and nobody knows what you're talking about anyway). Principle of least effort applies to scientific nomenclature as much as anything!


Also, I really appreciate the compliment. I really like the challenge of adapting schemes from nature, which don't always work on heroic-scale(y) miniatures. I am experimenting on a cold one rider trying to make something that looks like a gila monster but it's pretty tricky to try and adapt the beaded pattern on their bodies.

 howie wrote:
Great looking lizardmen. The slann is absolutely inspired. I've never seen this take on it. Really dig your take on the skin.

Cheers, Howie! Appreciate it. I don't have any names settled for my characters yet but my lore is that they've all been stuck on Aqshy for way too long and are starting to embody the fiery character of the real, and the Slann especially has become violently obsessed with defeating the Great Enemy, taking to wearing trophies and such.

----

Just got a quick update here with some WIP photos of the bastilidon and base (note bent speartip and javelin!). I said earlier that this was a really fun kit to put together and that is still true, although the Solar Engine (the big crystal on his back) was actually pretty tricky to put together. I'd recommend painting before assembly - I had the skinks on his back separate from the solar engine and it was just a little frustrating to get them to line up with it. Not a big deal, just an fyi if'n you want to make one yourselves!




Still have a few pieces to fix (esp. details on eyes, crests, and the crystal) but very happy with it so far! Thanks for reading, all.

Thanks for the zoology lesson! I figured they were a sub-branch of turtles, with me thinking Red-eared or Yellow-bellied terrapins. I also had to look up what paraphyletic... it seems everyday is a school day, even when I’m not the (short tempered and grumpy) teacher.

Anyway, the Bastilidon looks really cool, the sandy colour of his shell is well done. Neat touch on the stripes on his skin too. I love all of the skinks hanging on for grim death.