The Tale of Skirmish Game Painters 2011 Month 3 & November WIP

[tancrede]

@Perplexiti :
I don't know of HD game, as I haven't play this game for years. But as far as I remember, it's an excellent skirmish game, essentially based on campaign and objective games...
Those minis are painted for a friend, for the RPG version of HellDorado...

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

Hey folks, busy busy so I'll have to post comments later, but everything for this month looks good so far to me!

@Whitwort Stormbringer: Great stuff, those minis are well painted mate. Crazy little fellas, who makes them?

Thanks! They're made by Zombiesmith Games. Really fun minis to paint and a great background setting.

More info in my original post for this tale:
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showpo...1&postcount=13

[Mr Feral]

@ Mr Feral: I don`t know, dried blood is kind of odd, in my imagination swordfighters tend to hold their blades in high regard and either they have fresh blood on it or they clean it, preferably on the clothes of their victims. Would never have thought they could have dried blood on their blades. Perhaps a fault of my imagination.

No, a fair point! I would usually tend to agree but for this model I deliberatly wanted a dirty and non-maintained vibe (this model is part of a post-apoc game), so I went for the dried blood instead of the clean look. I went with rusty joints, so I though a pristine pair of blades would look out of place.

Just thought I'd get that out there.

[Little Joe]

OK these are a bit better but my camera fu is still not good. Hope you like them, but all comments are welcome, the aim is to learn!

I will do my comments and replies tomorrow.

[basher]

i have got something for this month but at the momment its dark when i go to work and dark when i go home so will get some pics at the weekend

[GomezAddams]

Commenting time!

EC - Again I have to say the same as last month. There's just not enough variety for the models, so they all seem kind of muted. They seem to blend into each other.

NIGHTSEER - Nice proxy for Johan, might have to pinch that idea as the original Johan is a bit pants. Looking forward to your take on Kaeris

DAGabriel - Nice use of the etced brass. Am I right in thinking you used a bit to make the bow string? The only thing I'd say is consider repainting the base lips a darker color. Otherwise lovely work - I didn't catch it, but you may have mentioned it, how are you doing your water effects?

WHITWORT - I'm not so keen on these as I was on last months, but thats purely because I'm not so keen on those figures and has nothing to do with the rather superb paint job. I'm currently pondering whether to do them for the next round (season? cycle?) of TOSP.

ROBSCOTT - Lovely orks I always struggle with painting Orks for some reason. I wouldn't worry about getting lots painted. At that kind of standard its the quality, not the quantity.

EASTERNHERETIC - I like the idea of the dreamer I like the Panda, the lifeless eye looks excellent. Do you have any Tamiya clear red? It'd liven up the blood stains.
I absolutely love the woes. The bases are absolutely superb. I'm not sure where to begin trying something that complex.

PERPLEXITI - Great work all around, although I really like the scales. Looking forward to seeing what you do with Sonnia.

ROTOKILTAXE - Gah I forgot about the rotten harvest! Oh well, maybe next year. Lovely work, especially on the bodice. The flesh tone is particularly well done.

MR FERAL - Glad to see you posting something again, and you don't disappoint. I still can't get my head around how your achieving that look - are you maybe painting with a look towards the lighting on him? The NMM is beautiful. Jammy sod

SEA.MAN - Superb work as ever, I don't think you mentioned it, but are you planning to use these in a gaming system etc?

WARFLAG - Lovely group shot, especially the girl at the front.

LITTLE JOE - I'm still loving that stitch pattern, definately going to be trying that on the marksmen thats on my desk. I like the subtle verdigris on the helmets too, nice touch.

TANCREDE - Again, superb work especially on the metal (come on, cough up, how are you painting metal like that?) but I'll be glad to see some Eden figures again.

And the replies..

DAGABRIEL - No no he's going to be Ramos. I have some steampunk arachnids on the desk to go with him. Morticias still umming and arring (not being a pirate, just being indecisive). I'll keep you posted but thanks for asking

PERPLEXITI - Thanks bud, looking forward to seeing your take on her! I found her quite difficult to start off with (I've stripped her three times...) but.. once you get half way she practically paints herself.

And thats everything. As always I like to show what I'm working on for this months tale and as I said, it would be something of a surprise so.. Here he is on his painting rig, with my dreamer for scale



Three corks taped together, with pins running through the lot, and then inch long pins running into the base. I can hold him upside down and he doesn't move! Need to get him finished fairly soon as I'm off on a jolly fairly shortly.

[tancrede]

@GomezAddams :
For the metal, I use a fast and simple, but effective, method :
- black undercoat
- metal parts in boltgun metal
- heavy wash of badab black
- once dried, make a first highlight in boltgun metal, a second one if you want to spend some time on the mini with a 50/50 mix of boltgun and mithril silver
- final highlight is pure mithril on the edges and the most exposed parts of the mini.

It's not very clean when you look close, but for tabletop it works well...

[Little Joe]

Comment time!

@ Emperor Norton: Great skin tones and very nice distinguishable and characterful models. Nice and dark, I like them a lot.

@NightseeR: A very good paint job on a nice model. Personally I am not a fan of all this “show the contents of the T-shirt we didn’t sculpt” kind of models but a girl with is OK with me. I especially like the base, great detail there, home made?

@GomezAddams: Some nice down toned painting here with excellent basing.

@DAGabriel: I have a soft spot for funny green models and these look ace. I did however decide not to get them for Malifaux for now as I have a lot of green models to paint and I think I finally can get started on them again, so hard after a two hundred plus (not even halfway through). I got a Rasputina starter set for now and will paint it in the next tale or even before (depends mainly on the workload at work).

@Whitwort Stormbringer: LOVE THEM, great colourful models. I will get a command box shipped over here in about two months any advice, I definitely want a squirrel phone system.

@robscott5598: I would like to know hoe the choppas are done, those are some fancy orcs.

@easternheretic: That is one sick model, even more so with the child option, I like it WNF cuddly bear coming for revenge! Some nice alps as well, a fresh choice of colours.

@perplexiti: Great painting, an oppressive guild man eh?

@Rotokultaxe: Just one model but so sweet, sometimes we (I) forget that these are just small miniatures and we are looking at three or more up pictures. And they still look good, that dress is so great and those teeth would be how big in real life…

@Mr Fral: Nice, something I have never seen before. What is the story with the jump legs and this to me historical Asian model? Superb painting by the way.

@sea.man: And something else that looks just so good, that will be a really nice unit.

@warflag: Again sick but nice, those bases are in such contrast but make them pop You have some nice painted models in that army.

@tancrede: Nice gunners, nice bases, nice…Ok from all Hell Dorado fractions I like the look of these the most, but I wonder why I never see them wearing papist colours on the web. Still some damned fine painting and those bases do look nice.

Some replies:

@perplexiti: Thanks, as soon as I saw this model range I just went and got them, that does not happen often with me. Well not right away at least.

@GomezAddams: Yeah but you just use them as basing material to be slaughtered, I saw the pictures.

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

Okey dokey - comments, commence!

@emperornorton: great selection of minis and nice cohesion achieved in your color scheme. The masked assassin on the left and the, erm, for lack of a better term "skeksis-reaper" on the right stand out as my favorites. Both are very intimidating-looking characters.

@NightseeR: Nice Rosie the Riveter! And the base is excellent, as with all of your minis so far. I'm looking forward to a group shot at the end of the Tale, I think the bases will tie everyone in together very nicely.

@GomezAddams: Both nice minis and, as LittleJoe pointed out, I like the realistic, toned-down color palette on both. I'm more a fan of the monk than Perdita in terms of the models themselves, though. He has very much the look of an unlikely hero.

@DAGabriel: Great to see the same mini drastically altered! Funny what a big difference a fishing pole vs. a violin makes. I like the little bayou trio you've got going their, they could use a banjo and washboard player though!

@robscott5598: Great looking mob you've got in the works. Hate to be completely unoriginal, but nice checks on the choppas! The squig is a nice addition, I didn't realize just how big those new squigs are. "New" is relative since I only have the old-school models, I guess these have actually been out for a good while now...

@easternheretic: The panda is a nice twist on the evil bear, but I have to say the following trio of demonic djinn thingies takes the cake for me. Love the freehand on their bases and the fading green-to-purple looks good.

@perplexiti: Nice to see another take on Lady Justice and the Death Marshals. Forgive my ignorance, not a Malifaux player here, but why the one marshal with a white duster?

@Rotokultaxe: Very cool mini, never seen her before! You did a great job, if I can offer any criticism at all (and it's not about technique, just personal taste) I'd have given her skin a more pallid tone and maybe dirtied her up a bit. Still, very well painted!

@Mr Feral: such a cool model, interesting pose and really well painted! I know I've asked this before but I forgot - what system will she be used in? You definitely did a good job of dirtying her up and achieving that post-apocalyptic look, which I think is especially cool given the anachronistically high-tech look to some of her gear. (I like the use of the Dreadfleet seascape as a backdrop, too!)

@sea.man: That is a hilarious band of ogres and like your last effort, this guy turned out great. Just noticed that Ganesha-looking fellow on the right, will he be making it into this tale?

@warflag: Never seen those minis before, but I guess being a Nurgle follower I was bound to like them, very gruesome!

@LittleJoe: Big fan of the Britanan, I hadn't noticed the ridiculousness of the dragoons before, though! Great oxidization on their metal bits, the helmet plumes stand out too. Looking forward to the snipers!

@tancrede: gorgeous work as always, not sure what else to say! I'll have to try your recipe for metal sometime soon, it comes out very nicely.

and responses:

@Whitwort Stormbringer: LOVE THEM, great colourful models. I will get a command box shipped over here in about two months any advice, I definitely want a squirrel phone system.

Nice! Crusader or Royalist? I haven't picked up a Royalist command section yet, but overall I like the models. Not quite as characterful as the Crusader command team IMO, but still good. As far as the squirrel messenger goes, those squirrels are tiny! I based three together on a single 25mm round base, although I've seen other people base them individually on smaller bases or, in some cases, the messenger and all 3 squirrels together on a 40mm round base. In-game, at least for the skirmish game, you'd want the messenger on his own 25mm base though. The squirrel miniatures themselves aren't really essential for gameplay, except in one scenario, but you can use them to track the number of messages your messenger has sent. For assembly you'll definitely want a pin vice and a large-ish drill bit. The bodies have a hole where the head should fit in, but it's not quite large enough and drilling it out a bit also gives you a little more freedom when positioning the heads.

I'm currently pondering whether to do them for the next round (season? cycle?) of TOSP.

You should!

There are too many cool-looking skirmish games out there that I want to get involved in, but I think Relics and World of Twilight are at the top of my list. Maybe I'll have some in time for the next tale!

[Mr Feral]

@Mr Feral: Wow, that mini is pretty out there. What's it for?

EDEN. It's a french post-apocalypse skirmish game. It's about two years old now so there is quite a few models available for it.

MR FERAL - Glad to see you posting something again, and you don't disappoint. I still can't get my head around how your achieving that look - are you maybe painting with a look towards the lighting on him? The NMM is beautiful. Jammy sod

Much obliged. The zenithal lighting effect is what gives it that look. That and the NMM is something I've incorporated into my painting techniques a couple of months back and I too am rather pleased with it.

@Mr Feral: Nice, something I have never seen before. What is the story with the jump legs and this to me historical Asian model? Superb painting by the way.

Thanks. The legs, not sure on them but the feudal Japan aesthetic is part of the faction's character.

@Mr Feral: such a cool model, interesting pose and really well painted! I know I've asked this before but I forgot - what system will she be used in? You definitely did a good job of dirtying her up and achieving that post-apocalyptic look, which I think is especially cool given the anachronistically high-tech look to some of her gear. (I like the use of the Dreadfleet seascape as a backdrop, too!)

As said above, EDEN. Thank, I like rusting up "metallics" since it mainly is selective use of Dark Flesh. Glad you noticed the mat, I have started using it because I like the colour.

Comments on other peeps tomorrow!

[perplexiti]

@perplexiti: Nice to see another take on Lady Justice and the Death Marshals. Forgive my ignorance, not a Malifaux player here, but why the one marshal with a white duster?

He's a unique character, called the Judge. I just wanted him to stand out a bit.

EDEN. It's a french post-apocalypse skirmish game. It's about two years old now so there is quite a few models available for it.

Cheers man, I'll have to have a wee peep at this range I think.

@perplexiti: Great painting, an oppressive guild man eh?

Well it is for your own good you know

[easternheretic]

Comments!

@EmperorNorton: Nice paint job on the skin of the lady with the dagger holding the mask. I still can't get my mini's skin to look this smooth. The other minis are good too. I must get the one with the bone mask and scythe. Looks to be a good Black Blood Shaman proxy.

@NightseeR: Nice job, in particular the base!

@GomezAddams: Did you specifically go for a pale skin for the models? Looks good, but I always assumed Perdita would be more tanned due to the outdoors nature of a job. Still, it's very nice.

@DAGabriel: Can I assume these have minor conversions on them as well? Love the musical instruments. Seems you got a nice Blues band going in the bayou over there. Very characterful.

@Whitwort Stormbringer: More of these fellows. Nice! I particularly like the one in mid stomp. Can we assume we'd see more? Good stuff.

@robscott5598: Nice orks. I like the paint job on the choppas in particular. Plus my favorite squig model!

@perplexiti: Nice guild crew you have there. The peacekeeper looks menacing in red.

@Rotokultaxe: The white eyes on that Rotten Belle really makes it look creepy. I hope you don't mind, but I'll be nicking that idea.

@Mr Feral: What range is this model from? Nice job on the rusty looking legs. Nice ieda for the back drop, I'll be using my dread fleet map for photos in the future!

@sea.man: The skin on this guy looks good. Nice paint job. Lots of details and cleanly painted.

@warflag: I like your choice of colours. I was going to paint my undead with a bluish hue to the skin, but seeing how you've painted these minis have me changing my mind to paint them with a greenish hue instead. Very nice. What's the name of the female model in the center on your last picture. I might use it to proxy a Hollow Waif in Malifaux.

@Little Joe: The photos look fine. Nicely painted minis is what I see. Keep up the good work.

@tancrede: Beautiful. Looks like I need to work a lot harder at painting to paint as nicely as that. Long way to go.

And some replies.

Nice work here, guys !
I especially like the psychopathic panda of Easternheretic and the overall look of Warflag's Cryx minis.

That made my day. When a chap who paints as well as you do likes something I painted, I must be doing something right then.

@ easternheretic: you tempt me to advance the painting of my Teddy, nicely done. Think I will try the panda scheme, too. Concerning the sorrows, hmm … you almost make me like the models.

Go for it! I'm painting all my Malifaux bears as Pandas. Next months contribution will include Baby Kade with a Panda naturally! Cheers on the Sorrows.

@easternheretic: That's a big teddy all right, looks great. The purple scheme you've done the sorrows in is nice too.

Thanks, I'm going for a purple and green theme for the Pandora crew. Hope it works out.

EASTERNHERETIC - I like the idea of the dreamer I like the Panda, the lifeless eye looks excellent. Do you have any Tamiya clear red? It'd liven up the blood stains.
I absolutely love the woes. The bases are absolutely superb. I'm not sure where to begin trying something that complex.

I'll see if I can get my hands on some here. Shouldn't be difficult. Gundams are big here in Singapore, and most Gundams modellers that I know use Tamiya for some odd reason. For the not soe impressive attempt at marble, I just randomly applied various shades of watered down gray over a white base, followed by random squiggles in dark gray and black. Making sure to paint using only the tips to get a thin line.

For the free hand, start by fighting the urge to paint the lines the way you would draw them with a pen or pencil. Painting patterns using a brush does not work the same way. Try to paint shortish lines and connect them to form complex shapes. Example, the small "S" like pattern was achieved painting the to curves first, the connecting them with a straight line. I'll take photos of a WIP to show you how I did it. I need to make a few more for the Doppelganger and Insidious Madness I just bought.

@easternheretic: That is one sick model, even more so with the child option, I like it WNF cuddly bear coming for revenge! Some nice alps as well, a fresh choice of colours.

Have to agree with you there. The first time I saw the model, I was truly disturbed by it. Then I had to get it because it was so freaky. Cheers on the alps/sorrows. I hope the colour scheme works well for the other models in the crew.

@easternheretic: The panda is a nice twist on the evil bear, but I have to say the following trio of demonic djinn thingies takes the cake for me. Love the freehand on their bases and the fading green-to-purple looks good.

Let see if it can start a twisted paint the Malifaux Teddys as Pandas movement. I know, I'm going to paint the regular Teddy as a Panda as well. That would surely be worth a few chuckles! Cheers about the sorrows, I'm happy with how they turned out, the green to purple was a bit more difficult to paint then I initially thought they would be. A big thumbs up to Vallejo Matt medium for the assist and win!

I'll be posting some WIPs once I get around to uploading them online. Distracted by THQ/Relics Space Marine.

Cheers!

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

@Whitwort Stormbringer: More of these fellows. Nice! I particularly like the one in mid stomp. Can we assume we'd see more? Good stuff.

Most definitely! It's going to be Coftyran royalists next month (the main opposition to the Crusaders I painted for the first month), assuming my work-load lightens up a bit and I don't have to use my joker.

[Niibl]

I really need a better time management.
Well, better late than never:
1) my second Imperial Marine I failed to post last month
2) my first Arquebusier
I'm still not sure about the bases but most likely the rims will get painted in plain black.

[Rotokultaxe]

Comments time!

@Emperor Norton: great minis! I love the color scheme, and the red is really well done (it's a hard color to work with). Skin on the lady is amazing.

@Nightseer: again, the base really makes your mini amazing. And a girl with a giant pipewrench, what's not to love ?

@Gomez: the muted colors on both models are excellent. Great color scheme and great execution.

@DAGabriel: that fiddler is hilarious. The bases are excellent, but they would need a little clean up though (I know, I know, the Bayou is quite dirty. Zoraida never takes time to do some clean up...)

@Whitwort: love the 2 running guys. Full of character.

@Robscott: Great stuff. As always, their hand weapons are amazing: checkered pattern+battle damage= win!

@Easternheretic: Panda Teddy! excellent idea. And I love the freehand you did on the sorrows' bases.

@Perplexiti: Love the Peacekeeper. I would have liked better pics, though.

@Mr Feral: excellent muted colors ! blending on the metals is amazing.

@Sea.man: awesome, clean paint job. The skin looks real good.

@Warflag: Excellent stuff. Your metal looks amazing and the bile thralls' skin is suitably gruesome.

@Little joe: nice color scheme. Keep it up!

@Tancrede: amazing paint job! Clean and realistic. And the bases add so much character.

@Niibl: love the yellow and red pattern. And the bases look really good too.

[sea.man]

I also would like to give you some feedback. I will try to make it consrtuctive
EmperorNorton
M favourite gang from FB. Great minis. As for your painting, I like that the minis are mously black and that is why red attracts. As advice, try to highlight the black a bit more at some focal points.

NightseeR
Cool mini. For you my advice would be - trymaking deeper shadows. It will make the details pop out.

GomezAddams
I like the skin on the first one! Perdita is also nice, but her trousers look unfinished. did you put higlights?

DAGabriel
Nice goblins, I know how small these are! great work on the bases

Whitwort Stormbringer
Great minis from not so popular range - t"s always good to know other manufacturers

robscott5598
Very good standard of painting!

easternheretic
Teddy is super! As for djins (?) I like the transition between green and violet. I think you should highlight he violets a bit more.

perplexiti
Interesting band. More highlights!

Rotokultaxe
I think it"s my favourite mini for this tale this month!

Mr Feral
the metallic look so cool! I could only wish, the photo wasn"t so blurry. Maybe try making photos with timer?

warflag
So high paintjob standad! Very imopressive and the bases als vary so much. great

Little Joe
Great minis. Did you cover them with gloss varnish? Or is it camera's fault? OK now I saw your next photo They must be hard to paint - so many details...

tancrede
They've got great Hell Dorado feeling! Bases are super cool!

Niibl
So more sexy looking minis from Werner Kloce is always good to see I don't know how much of WIPs are those, but try giving them more deeper shadows!

[basher]

well after much messing about and not been able to find a camera that i'm aloud to touch i'm going to have to joker this month till i find a camera

ps my wife's a photogrpher and dosn't like me touching her stuff just in case you were wondering

[sea.man]

why not simply ask your wife to make a photo for you?

[Rotokultaxe]

Little WIP to show. Don't know if its going to be finished for next month, but I've been working on Avatar Seamus lately. And I made him a base so he would look bigger and more dreadful:

[EmperorNorton]

Geez, where has this month gone? Three weeks over and I have done nothing. At least that's what it feels like.

@ NightseeR: Very nice choice of model and a paintjob to match. I like her overalls and her hair colour.

@ DAGabriel: The Gremlin with the fiddle seems to enjoy himself tremendously, whereas the other two look a bit aloof, like Blues musicians who consider themselves too cool for their audience.

@ Whitwort Stormbringer: It’s difficult to say since I have no idea what these are supposed to look like, but I find the great variety in skin colours a bit strange.

@ robscott5598: The skin colour is very nice, especially on the face of the first orc. His hand weapon is fantastic, too, the way the colour on the checked pattern seems to be fading.

@ easternheretic: The Nightmare Teddy looks awesome as a panda and I can’t wait to see your fat kid/Dreamer conversion.

@ perplexiti: I like your Scales of Justice, one can almost feel his pain.

@ Rotokultaxe: Great dress, great skin colour, great hair…great overall! If this was not your first choice to enter into the competition, I can’t wait to see what was!
(Could you please take a picture of Avatar Seamus with another mini to compare the sizes?)

@ Mr Feral: Very cool mini I have never seen before. Great work with the yellow.

@ sea.man: Good job, especially the metal parts as well as the red on the drum.

@ warflag: That looks more than promising and I can’t wait to see more.

@ Little Joe: Wow, these are creepy. Nice weathering on the helmets.

@ tancrede: Fantastic, but then I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.

@ Niibl: The Arquebusier looks great, the checked pattern is a nice touch. I hope we can have a fully painted rematch at some point.



And in reply to others' comments:

@Emperor Norton: Great stuff man, I follow your plog as well so I get to see your stuff lots!

Thanks! Always nice to hear my stuff is interesting enough for others to follow.

@ Emperor Norton: Great skin tones and very nice distinguishable and characterful models. Nice and dark, I like them a lot.

Thank you. I think the minis are the biggest draw for Freebooter’s Fate, but the game is fun, too.

@emperornorton: great selection of minis and nice cohesion achieved in your color scheme. The masked assassin on the left and the, erm, for lack of a better term "skeksis-reaper" on the right stand out as my favorites. Both are very intimidating-looking characters.

Good to know the cohesion I was going for is apparent.

@EmperorNorton: Nice paint job on the skin of the lady with the dagger holding the mask. I still can't get my mini's skin to look this smooth. The other minis are good too. I must get the one with the bone mask and scythe. Looks to be a good Black Blood Shaman proxy.

The “secret” to my minis’ skin is Vallejo’s Heavy Skintone. My favourite paint for skin, because it has a silky smooth look.
The one with the bone mask is called Miedo a Morir, a pretty fantastic and unique mini.

@Emperor Norton: great minis! I love the color scheme, and the red is really well done (it's a hard color to work with). Skin on the lady is amazing.

Thank you. I’ve never had much of a problem painting red. The skin benefits from the picture, though, I have to admit. I don’t think it’s all that amazing in person.

EmperorNorton
M favourite gang from FB. Great minis. As for your painting, I like that the minis are mously black and that is why red attracts. As advice, try to highlight the black a bit more at some focal points.

Thanks. Considering the Brotherhood is a band of mysterious assassins I found the colour scheme fitting. I know what you mean about the highlights, but extreme highlighting is something I always shy away from.