In need of thread bump. The rarely updated Plog.

[TheProcrastinator]

Greetings!

First off sorry for the english. Not my primary language.

I've been thinking for some time now, about starting my own painting service. Nothing too fancy, no big painting studio. Just offering my "skills" for commisions, and an occasional mini on Ebay. Howewer my problem is that I seem to never be able to finish a mini. I always have a whole pile of diffrent projects, and I can't ever finish one, before taking on a next wip. I thought I would start this thread, in order to gain some tips, critique and experience, as well as work on my lack of modelers work ethic, and learn to complete my projects.

Here's the first mini in quite some time, that I've managed to finish. The GW Vampire Counts Cairn Wraith. Great sculpt, simple but effective.

First lesson learned: mini photography. I suck at it. Also I need to buy some of those daylight bulbs, as the one i've used, gave such a strong yellow light, that I had to take some of the photos with flash instead. And that's something You dont want to do apparently. Well next time will be better.
Comments are welcome.

Thats it for now. Ill post some wip photos later.

Let me end with shamelessly advertising that the Wraith is now On Sale.

Cheers!

[Daniel36]

That Wraith is absolutely sick! There is nothing I can criticise. In fact, the ghostly robe thing is very inspirational!

I am sure that, with this quality, your paint service will do well. And don't worry about the "can't finish anything" deal. If you paint something for someone else it usually pushes you to finish. At least, that's what happens for me.

[juicytomatoes]

agree with Daniel here - very smooth blending for the robe. Props to you for that!

[bluewolf74727]

damn another person i now have to try and become better than in painting

good work

[Daniel36]

It's not your fault. He is from Poland. They are the world's best painters, for some reason. Do enlighten us, Procrastinator, why are Polish folk so bloody good at painting?

[Lord_of_end_times]

Amazing is all I can say about that wraith. Defiantly looking forward to seeing more of your work. One Love

[Sinzaren]

Lovely work, looking forwards to seeing some of your other bits. And hopefully picking up a few tips and ideas

[TheProcrastinator]

Thanks for all the kind words.

They are the world's best painters, for some reason. Do enlighten us, Procrastinator, why are Polish folk so bloody good at painting?

Warhammer fantasy was always popular among Poland geek population, and there is a strong tradition of art appreciation in our country, so the modeling side of the hobby was always one of the biggest attraction points, for hobbysts here. Though I am a bit suprised myself about the number of quality painters from Poland, that popped up recently. We always had some strong names like Bohun, Ana or Artur, painters that are among some of the highest rated on CMON, but it was only recently(in the last year or so), that a whole abundance of polish painters blogs, popped up on the net. Don't really know the reasons behind it. Maybe they smelled easy money, in painting services.

Though I would never say, that we are the best in the world. Its an interesing subject really. Personally I believe that the French, are the ones holding the highest contributions to this hobby. The uber-painting level that You can see today, on highest-rated CMON entries, and GD Slayer Sword winners, look the way they do becouse of the French. They revolutionised the way people paint in many ways. Altough You dont see them rocking so much in recent years, the way they used to, some years back. When it comes to recent trends, I believe the Spaniards are doing most of the best work, in the last year or two. Them and Italians. And after that maybe Poles. Thats the way I see it at least. It all comes down to personal taste in the end.

Small update with some more wips.
Space Hulk Genestealer. Its still a heavy work in progress. You can see that I am painting in segments. Finishing highlighting, and shading one limb/armour section, before moving on another. Thats why, whole parts of the figure are still unfinished, or untouched. The photos are once again made using flash, sorry for that. I am gonna look for some daylight bulbs tommorow.







This stealer will be part of a group of display Space Hulk Genestealers, painted in different colour schemes, that I plan to make. The one above is painted in "classic" scheme, which is basically my variation on the 'Eavy Metal classic purple/blue color scheme, shown on GW display figures and old SH artwork. I am gonna paint two of those. Then its onto "Adrian Smith Stealers". These will be 2-3 stealers painted in the black carapace/red flesh scheme, that You can see on the Space Hulk cover artwork by Adrian Smith. Also one of them will be painted in a variation of that scheme, with the flesh painted with white accents, as seen on the Smith cover of the 3rd edition Tyranid Codex(still my favourite Tyranid artwork). After that its onto the "Giger Stealers". Two or three Stealers painted to resemble the original king of the Xenomorphs. A Gigerian bluish/brownish/metalic alien. And finally I am gonna finish the group with two Stealers painted in my take on the Hive Fleet Leviathan scheme. But its all just plans, for now. I still have to complete this guy first.

[TheProcrastinator]

Yet another wip. Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors:





Still a lot to paint, before these guys are finished, not the mention the rest of the squad. The sculpts are great, one of the best looking plastic squads out there, and the minis are a joy to paint. However its taking a lot longer to finish these guys, than I tought. Quite a lot of diffrent materials, and multiple highlights on all those armour segments. Their red shoulder pads, are gonna get some wash, and glaze treatment, to make them less-pink, more gore-red, and visually tie them with the purple of the armour. I am not sure about the flayed loin-cloths. On their own, they look really good I think, better then the photos show, becouse the flash kinda ruind the highlights. However I think they dont fit the color composition of the models. They turned out too bright and warm. I forgot that they were suppose to represent dead, flayed flesh, and I painted them the way I do normal skin. I am gonna have to weather, and darken them somehow. Perhaps some heavy glazing? With grays, and greens? Suggestions, are welcome.

Post any questions, comments or critique.

[Tzarinchilla]

That is one superb model. The whole model just looks superb with great aging on the weapon and a very eerie look to the model. I cant wait to see what else you come out with!

[TheProcrastinator]

This time a bit of fantasy. Again, all heavy work in progress, with whole segments of the minis unfinished, or untouched.

Start of a Swordmasters regiment:



Currently on hold, as I am out of Mithril Silver. I am happy with the way, transitions from blue shadows, to pure MS came out on the helmet, Shoulder Pads, and vambraces. The face also turned out nice, for a single rank-and-file, regiment figure. Not happy with the reflections on the sword. Gotta repaint that later, and aim for smoother transitions. The gold parts are to be repainted as well. I was using a very, very old GW gold paint pot, with the pigment inside separated form the binder. I tried to paint with it, and it resulted in a really ugly, grainy texture(cant see it on the pics). Plus I used to much inks, and shadows making the gold look more like brass. Other than that its all wip. Almost everything below his waist is yet to be properly painted. Many of the upper body parts, are also lacking definition(gauntlets and fingers have no shadows, for example).

Start of a Skaven Warriors regiment:





Happy with the subtle fur effect, I managed to get on little bugger arms. Though the red armour needs some stronger highlights I think. Also gotta start thinking about batch-painting these guys, if i am to ever finish a 20 man regiment.

Okey, no more new wips. Now I have to work on finishing, what I've allready shown. Back to those genestealers I guess...

As always any comments, criticism and questions are welcome.

[bluewolf74727]

good work looking forward to seeing your genestealers all lined up

[juicytomatoes]

holy guacamole! The Dark Eldar are superb.

Ah... so you are a Pole... then you have no excuse for lousy paintjobs!

More please!

[Tzarinchilla]

Arghh apparently in the time it took me to post a reply, you posted loads of pics. :S

Superb work though with some really gorgeous looking models. Looking forward to the progress on them all, especially the skaven

[biginbelgium]

Awesome painting on the wraith.

cheers
Tim

[basher]

dude i love your stuff really like the swordmasters armour

[TheProcrastinator]

Greetings

Sorry for the lack of updates. Got buried in work. This was supposed to be a slow progress thread, but there are limits. Though I did managed to do some painting in this time too.

I've managed to finish this Chaos Champion in several days. Found the 6th edition Chaos hero miniature, forgotten in my bits box. Dusted it off, cleaned it, slapped on a new plastic head, and strapped a shield to his back.







I was aiming for a toned-down, oldschool, 'Eavy Metal style with this guy. Unfortunately my photos still suck. They guy looks a bit better in person. Diffrent for sure. I've tried tinkering a bit with the color balance, in a photo editing program, but the final result is still noticably off from the figure in hand. I guess I will have to invest in, a better photo setup. Or maybe ask one of the many hipster, pseudo-photographers that are strolling around college grounds in such vast numbers, if any of them has any experience in shooting static, miniature models.

The photos were taken before any varnish was applied(other than a bit of gloss, on the blood stains). However I've just bought my first ever can of "Purity Seal", and plan to give the mini a protective coat tommorow. Though to be honest, I am dreading doing that, since that will be the first time, Ill be using a spray on, matt varnish, and I've heard some horror stories allready man. I am gonna shake the shi%^ out of that can, before each pass, and try to keep the coats light, however there is always risk, that tommorow the model will end up "winter themed".

I still want to do a small, wooden display stand for the model. Perhaps with a sculpted star of the pantheon? However I couldn't find anything in my house, that would fit for a stand. Gotta look for a carpenter nearby, and ask for scraps.

Edit: I've also updated the photos of the Wraith, in the first post, since the original photos got deleted.

[TheProcrastinator]

I've also managed to finish, that first "classic" Genestealer. Overall I am happy with the way he turned out, but there are some areas that feel a bit rushed. Especially the base and the claws. Well, gotta pay more attention to it next time. A second "classic" Stealer is in the work.

[TheProcrastinator]

And some more pics of the Genestealer. This time with flash.






Btw: who can tell me, what little detail was forgotten by the sculptor, in this particular Genestealer sculpt? There are internet cookies to win.

[leonmallett]

Missing? Second right arm?

Love the Wraith and the Dark Eldar especially. Kudos.