Battle For Skull Pass

[Sophet Drahas]

I hear ya, it's only Tuesday and I've already hit 40 hours for the week. That Stella looks about right, right now.

I still need to get a dedicated desk, having to do setup/tear down whenever I want to work on anything makes it a whole lot easier to just relax on the couch and find a hockey game.

I did manage to find a copy of Battle for Skull Pass so I'll be getting that queued up soon.

[armos]

Awesome mate, make sure you post pics

[armos]

Last two Miners Finished



and the regiment as a whole



and a very quick and clumsy shot of the dwarfs as a whole

[armos]

Welcome to the Beard Parade ...





Note: guy in the middle of the first piece is my original tester for the dwarf colour scheme, have made the slight alteration of having his hand exposed rather than gloved.. it just seems to make more sense and also brings a little more 'humanity' (or should that be 'Dwarfism') to the model

This actually represents my first use of the new GW paints, well a few of them anyway.

Official verdict is generally positive, there's a very nice selection of colours here, I'm especially encouraged by the fact that there's an increase in the number of neutral colours here. The base colours are pretty nice, cover well and are slightly smoother than the old foundation paints, you don't feel quite so mch like you should be painting with a trowel. I only used one dark shade, but found it quite nice, it's definitley a shade in that it doesn't discolour the original base in quite the way the old washes used to, I'm quite looking forward to experimenting with these (I'm curious to see how green shade would work on some red base) but I suspect they won't be quite as handy for weathering techniques as the old washes were (or indeed the even older inks). I do feel the shade is a little thin though, I'd prefer something thicker I could then water down myself but I guess GW is focussing getting the consistancy right for the largest number of painters as possible and not everyone is quite the control freak I am
The layer paints are ok but a little thin. I thinkthey have a someone 'oily' feel to them and pool wery slightly so it feels kinda hard to get a sharp edge, wich for highlighting is no bad thing but may cuse problems for anyone who wishes to use these colours for free-hand, which is a shame as this is the part of the range with the most vibrant and exciting colours which is kinda what you want for your free-hand designs (don't see many brown banners these days)
anyways, all in all quite encouraging, I'm looking forward to using them on my next project (have already chosen the colour scheme for these guys and stocked up on the old paints in advance)

[armos]

Newest update, had hoped to get the warriors finished tonight but was distracted by PS3 and wotsits..

anyways the messy parts of the command group are finished, not much to say except those are some serious bags under the champions eyes! may have to go back and make them a little less stark, also I experimented with giving the musician a red glaze on the cheeks to make him a little flushed flow blowing his trumpet, works ok for me though perhaps not worth the effort for the amount of extra highlights I had to put on and he's only a rank and file... anyways here's the command as they stand at the moment. Day off work tomorrow so I'm considering using the spare time to just plough through these guys

[Casablanca Cat]

Considering that these are some of the worst models GW have ever produced you have done a spectacularly good job. I say this as someone who can paint to a reasonably good standard and couldn't find it in me to complete the set I had. Your work is so good it makes me want to get another set for my dwarf army.

[sigur]

Very good work and I like how you're using a slightly different colour scheme than you see mostly on these models. Keep it up!

[armos]

Considering that these are some of the worst models GW have ever produced you have done a spectacularly good job. I say this as someone who can paint to a reasonably good standard and couldn't find it in me to complete the set I had. Your work is so good it makes me want to get another set for my dwarf army.

Thanks man, it's funny how many people point to this as a set of bad models though to be honest I'm having a blast painting them.. I think it's because I've had to alter my painting style to tackle them. I think the models suit a slightly 'cartooninsh' style of painting with big blocks of colour and minimal sahding and highlighting, definitely going for stark over realism. After painting other models like this guy...

which concentrated on blending, and weathering techniques it's nice to paint something bright, clean and simple. I also do think there a few gems in this set, I really like the cannon crew, the goblin big-boss and also the champion of the miners would make it into any up to date dwarf or goblin army I reckon

Very good work and I like how you're using a slightly different colour scheme than you see mostly on these models. Keep it up!

Thanks mate, still fondly recall you finishing your bfsp set the day before the deadline, glad I haven't got that kind of pressure. I am something of a contrarist in that I will ultimately opt for a colour scheme on the basis I haven't seen it before.. it makes painting Ultramarines something of a nightmare


anyway very quick update.. for some reason I decided to throw out my production line plan in favour of just focussing on the standard bearer last night.. I think I was just tired and wanted to have something to show so here he is



I kinda wanted the small hanging runes to look as if they're made from various coloured stone when not of metal but I'm not sure that is apparent, however I think it adds a tiny bit of much-needed colour and ultimately is just for a bit of fun

[Boreas_NL]

Nice job! You make the BfSP Dwafs look good! I painted a fair few of those myself (few years ago) to mix them with my regular plastic Dwarfs, especially the Miners are pretty nice models.

The different colours on the runic stones is a nice touch! The standard bearer is the nicest model from the set (hands down) and you certainly did him justice...

[armos]

Thanks Boreas_NL, I had never really taken a close look at the banner bearer before painting him but I'll agree it's a real beaut.. I think my favourite model of the dwarfs is the miner champion though and my fave model overall is always going to be this fella



Carrying my policy of very incremental updates, the command group for the warriors is now finished, the rest of the warriors are about 75% done so hopefully there'll be an update on them tomorrow.



I also went back and had a closer look at the thane, I was never quite happy with his beard and I've had a bit more practice now so I decided to go back and give him a makeover.. quite pleased with the result I think the eyes are more drawn to the mask now than previously and fits in with the style of the army more. I will point out this isn't a great photo IMHO and the highlights are slightly more pronounced in real life



Will admit I'm becoming increasingly pleased with how unified this force is looking, I think emphasising stark blocks of colour rather than going over the top with shading or blending has brought brought out the inherent charm of these models.. I know they get a bit of a bad rap from some modellers but I'm having real fun with them and they're surprisingly detailed.

Having said that the 'blender' in me is getting a bit frustrated and I thought I'd tackle something as a side project to be getting on with while inevitably waiting for hordes of goblins to dry or those evenings when the sight of another beard will just make me want to scream (we all have them).. so here's a sneak peak of what'll be happening alongside.



I never thought much of this model initially when I first saw it but it's grown on me significantly in recent weeks and much more so now I've atarted work on it, plus I haven't painted a large monster since my giant a few years back. My plan is to have a bit of fun and experiment with some ideas for what to do with the different skin textures, I'll also consider this practice for tackling the Island of Blood Griffon once this is finished (hint at my next project there)
With hindsight I may have gone for a manticore instead as it's a similarly composed model and the addition of a rider meant I could play around with some armour and human skin techniques but then again there's always tomorrow

enjoy, comments and above all critisisms extremely welcome.. I won't get better unless I know where I'm going wrong

[Demoulius]

I actually love the dwarf warriors with their monotome pose!

All raise your axes to the roof! "whoop whoop!"

[Sophet Drahas]

Armos, everything has looked great so far. Any chance we can get a couple pics of the whole set on the table (or even just displayed) soon? I'd love to see it all together.

[armos]

Wow! has it really only been seven months since I picked up a paintbrush!!!!?


well.. no time like the present to ressurect an old project for the umpteenth time.. so here's a WIP of the pony




Warriors are also finished, will publish some photos of them when I have time to take them


UPDATE!!!!

Bedtime now but here is a shot of the finished Warriors and a pic of the regiment








And an update on how my little pony is coming on... I bizarrly seem to be spending more time painting this fellow than any other model in the set so far

[StormCrow]

Really like your progress with the Chimera so far, I'm interested to see what it looks like with a more muted natural palette of colours. The dwarfs are looking great too, though I think the white of the horns might be a bit starkly bright in comparison to the rest of your painting

[Schmacker]

Very very nice. Looking forward to seeing more of these fellas.

[armos]

Quick update before bed

Made a start on the Thunderers and WIP shot of the pony






Thanks for the comments guys... I have been toying with what to do about the bright horns.. I may go back and have a re-think once the thunderers are done

[D6damage]

I'm really enjoying this plog. Lovely work. It actually makes me feel nostalgic about these minis (even though they're not that old). Nice clean painting style and I'm loving the earthy colours + high contrast scheme - it's working really well. Usually I'm not a fan of cartoony painting styles, but you're right - it really suits these models.

[armos]

Continuing along at my usual glacial pace skin (sans picking out the eyes) and the brass on the musician's trumpet completed



Thanks for the comments everyone

[fluffy05]

Keep up the great work!

I just started painting my Dwarves from the same set. Hope I can match your miners. They look excellent!!!

[Catalip]

wow ur painting is so clean and very detailed, amazing job man, i will follow ur updates for sure