The House of Black Flames: A Druchii Project

[Il Maestro]

Quick update, just painted the breastplate of that same model, trying to get it finished (at least the armour) so I can see how it looks when all done.






The blending is a bit all over the place, especially on that large flat area of the left breastplate - I was getting a little tired and I had forgotten about it, so I sort of rushed it a little, and it shows I also noticed that the central white 'shine' could probably afford to go a little higher up the breastplate as well... Ah well, live and learn hey?

I also thought I would take a few next to the other model that I did in the first place, and these are the results.







The flash photos seem to give a more realistic look of the mini, so I've decided I might use them a bit more often until I get a proper lightbox set up. Now that the breastplate is done and the model is a little more complete, I am actually starting to like it a lot more - I think the colours changes are not as harsh on the eye, and I'm beginning to realise that full-on edge highlighting (as in the model on the left) is probably not where I want to go with this.

Anyway, I'll try to get the helmet, back and other arm done over the next day or two so i can get this one finally finished. Until then, any comments and criticisms are welcome, let me know which one you prefer!

Cheers

[Lord Dan]

The one on the right looks fantastic.

[Ryanp111]

High elf one looks best in terms of paint - bit too friendly looking in terms of sadistic pleasure (through pain) seeking elves =p

what are you using to prime these models aswell?

[Lord Dan]

Looks like he's using the white-over-black method.

[Il Maestro]

Spot on - though I've since learned (been told...) to use a little bit more of the white primer, so I'll see how the next batch goes

[Il Maestro]

Finished off the back plates and the other arm, only now the helmet to go and then I can start on the skin. Some of the blends are getting a bit rushed, I'm just finding that I really want to get a test model done and this is taking SO long!






Hope you guys are enjoying the (very slow) progress, I'll try and get something a little more than one small piece of armour done per update, but whilst it's still in the trial phase it might be a bit of a slog. Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to speed it up a little soon! All comments and criticisms welcome as usual

[constant_ones]

The sun/reflection line looks great on the guy on the left, really pulls the nmm grieve together, well done!

[Il Maestro]

@constant_ones - thanks a lot! I'm glad that my attempts at NMM are potentially hitting close to the mark - I just find it really tough sometimes looking at the model and trying to 'see' the black armour because I've watched it go through all of the stages as I was painting, and I can see every single misplaced brushstroke. Ah well, I guess practice is the only option but super glad to see it's working!

[Boreas_NL]

That dark armour looks great! The improvement is quite clear is the last couple of updates...

Good luck with painting all your Spearmen

[Ryanp111]

C'mon man I keep checking this and haven't seen anything more give us at least one finished spear dude the armour style is awesome and I want to see how it fits whit a whole mini... Hope I don't sound like I'm nagging too much xD

[Il Maestro]

@Boreas_NL - thanks for the compliments, I'm hoping that I will make progress as a painter over the course of this log, so it's always nice to hear I'm doing so
@Ryanp111 - haha nice to hear someone is interested don't worry about sounding nagging - sometimes it's just what I need to get me off my bum!

Well, hasn't it been a while! Sorry for the lack of updates, uni decided it was going to get really hectic and not give me a spare minute to scratch my nether-regions, let alone paint! I'm trying as much as I can to get back into the swing of things, but before I can it looks like I'll be needing your help, fellow warseerites...

Basically, I'm stuck. I want my minis to have black armour, but I'm not really sure how to do it. I've tried a few different options and found many sources of inspiration, but I'm just undecided myself as to which one I prefer. The one on stage/screen left (AKA ' the hiphopapotamus') is far easier to do and requires a lot less mental focus, however I'm afraid that it just doesn't look 'black' enough. I know there are a lot of fans of the edge-highlighting method, but I just think that with the black armour, the progressive highlighting through the greys and finally to white doesn't have the same effect as it does with other colours - it just looks a little bland to me. The one on stage/screen right (AKA ' the rhymnenoceros') is a lot more difficult to achieve and I think may be better in the long run, but each mini just takes SO LONG whilst I'm still learning. I personally think that this one is the better option, but having stared at it for so long now I just don't know if it looks like black armour either! On top of that, whilst I'm not too fussed about the time that it will take me to do this project - I do want it to be perfect - I am relatively aware that I will not live for thousands of years (unlike the characters in the army) which may be required to finish it at this rate. So, it comes to a vote!

Rules are simple - judge each mini based on which you think looks more like black armour and which one you prefer. Any help would be great, whether you want to leave comments and ideas or just the votes themselves. Thanks as always for your help, and I hope to hear from you guys soon!

Oh yeah, the pictures...






ps. thanks to Flight of the Concords for the great names

[Il Maestro]

As a side note, I'll be editing the first post with a picture from each new update as I complete them

[Lord Dan]

I like the one on the right, as the highlights are much thinner. If I can make a recommendation, don't edge highlight the whole side of the armor with your brightest color, as it looks like you're outlining the model more than highlighting. Here's an old group of models from when I painted my black-armored DE: Did I mention these were old?

You have a much neater paint stroke than I did, so try to ignore the blobs of greys seeping over the sides of the armor. If you take the basic concept from it, however, you can see that the brightest points on the armor are only where the sun would be causing a sort of reflection off of the surface.

[Ryanp111]

definatley the one on the right!!

of course the one that is more difficult and time consuming =p

have you thought about using darker greys as highlights - maybe make the contrast less stark and more black - much the same as Lord Dans armour above =D

my Blood Ravens Chaplain wears traditional power armour, and whilst it is very much a butchery in terms of neat painting i think the effect of black armour it gives isnt bad?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanp11...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanp11...n/photostream/

hope some of this might actually be useful to you =D

[Confessor_Atol]

I voted Rhymnenoceros, because it can rhyme. Nice attempt at the NMM darkies. Can't wait to see some flesh on them.

[Lord Dan]

I voted Rhymnenoceros, because it can rhyme.

What about the Hip-hopotamus? His lyrics are bottomless.

[Id'git Thwompa]

Great posing on the warriors a simple idea that ads so much dynamic movement to the unit. Also loving the look of the two warriors... I shall be closely watching this blog. ^^

[Il Maestro]

@Lord Dan - thanks for the advice, I see what you mean about not highlighting every edge and I'll definitely try to give it a shot with the next one and thanks for being 'more constructive with your feedback'

@Ryanp111 - haha glad to hear that the work-intense model is looking better! I see what you mean with the darker highlights, the only thing I'm a little afraid of is that with the rest of the model done (if it ever gets there), it may be a little 'too' dark. Having said that, I really need to get the skin and other little bits done first before I can make that call, so I guess I should get back to the paint station huh

@Confessor_Atol - thanks! Let's hope that I can get that flesh done soon!

@Id'git Thwompa - thanks for the praise, I'm really happy that people are enjoying the posing of the unit - now all I have to do is decide on a colour scheme and paint them

[Il Maestro]

First of all, thanks to everyone who voted on the minis, it's always nice to know that other people are enjoying your hobbying projects enough to give advice So, after tallying up the votes from this site and a few others (come on, you didn't really think you were the only one, did you?), the winner is...

The Rhymenoceros!

Having finally decided on which way I wanted to do the armour, I thought that a little bit of extra motivation was in order, so I signed up the the Tale of Fantasy Painters 2012-2013! Of course, I might have only signed up to the boys category, but hey, small steps right?

So, with the whip lashing away at my heels, I decided to finally finish off the helmet on the test model (oh yes, we are still well and truly in the 'test' phase).






As I'm sure you're used to hearing by now, I'm not happy with how it came out, though I've come to the stark realisation that with another 35 of these to go, I'm sure I will get it to a point that I'm happy with eventually

I also thought I would include some of my inspiration for this army, starting with the colour scheme that I am trying to follow. The picture came from the GW website under the 'Colours of the Kabal' (NOTE TO MODS: I'm not quite sure if I am allowed to put the image up here, so if there are any problems please don't hesitate to let me know or just take it down )



As for the armour, the idea came when I saw these absolutely fantastic minis over at CMON

http://www.coolminiornot.com/310250
http://www.coolminiornot.com/294500?browseid=2394041

Of course, I would die a very happy man if I am every able to produce a mini of even half of Flameon's standard, but I might as well have high hopes huh?

Thanks as always for looking, and all comments and criticisms are encouraged as usual

[Toshiro]

I like it, looking forward to seeing some finished models!

Now get crackin', that tale doesn't finish itself!