Toschenko's big & yellow log - Battleworn Imperial Fists

[hallowed_are_the_ori]

Love the base and your painting. LOVE your guardsman, post a tutorial!

[Toschenko]

@ Crube: I found the textured paving at a local hobby store, it is made of a sort of plastic that turns soft when heated up, and tend to break quite easily when you try to cut it. I see your point, but they are hard to work properly and since I only have a few sheets of this stuff, I really can't do experiments (I made the last base out of a broken piece, the sand covered corner was missing entirely). Moreover, I like the steep sloped edges more (well, it's a matter of personal taste here)

@hallowed_are_the_ori (and anyone else interested): here is the recipe I use to paint my vossies (sorry, no WIP pics, I'll take some the next time I paint one):

at first I do the metals:

1) boltgun metal base where needed (not drybrushed, keep your paint quite thin and try to leave a black line where the part you're painting joins another)
2) black ink wash (again it needs to be thin)
3) chainmail on the very edges. usually at this point I give another black ink wash on the rivets, joints and similar

second I do the golds (again, I don't drybrush the base):

1) brazen brass base
2) brown ink wash, insisting on the parts where you want the shadows to be
3) drybrush shining gold
4) restore the shadows where needed with brown ink, only in the recesses

third I do the skin, using the steps I gave in a previous post. The eyes are painted this way: paint carefully a black line on the eye, then paint it white leaving a thin black border. The pupils are made with a 005 soft tip pen: take care to put them in the upper half of the eye, leaving some white beneath (well, if there's enough space on the model)

fourth I do the red:

1) base with dark flesh
2) a coat with red gore, leaving the dark flesh in the recesses
3) blood red highlight (I build the red with many very thin coats, this is the most time consuming step in all the painting)
4) blood red/blazing orange mix highlight on the edges
edit: 5) red ink glaze, insisting more on the shadows

fifth I do the brown clothes (these are very basic, again keep your paint thin to blend all the coats):

1) base with scorched brown
2) coat of dark flesh, leaving the former color in the recesses
3) highlight with bestial brown

the lasrifle is simply scorched brown with thin lines of VERY thinned graveyard earth

the fur hat is entirely drybrushed:

1) scorched brown/ graveyard earth mix
2) graveyard earth
3) graveyard/bleached bone
4) bleached bone

If you're thinking that there are too many steps (for a guard army), well you're right! Though I love too much the vostroyan sculpts to paint them hastily

Hope this helps

[Bluesabre]

Love your stuff Toschenko, I may well pinch the basing idea for a future project.

Can't wait to see more stuff done

[Toschenko]

@Bluesabre: feel free to use all the ideas you may have visiting my log... I'll be pleased of that

Now, to show you guys that I'm currently working on something () I'm glad to introduce you a jump pack chaplain: he will go with my blood ravens:



He is clearly part of the blood ravens chapter, because his shoulderpads are red!



Two notes on painting: the camera and the light washed away the highlights on his armour, but I assure you the armour IS highlighted... Secondarily, I tried to work faster on this miniature to achieve at least a "tabletop quality" appearance (well, compared to my other minis, in which I put a lot more effort)

[Luke]

I believe you


That bronze trim is great, really suits the look of the model, not glaring and in your face but still hard-as-nails. And such subdued reds as well, I really like 'em.


All that bone om the front though, looks a little overwhelming on what is quite a dark model.

[Toschenko]

Actually the grey highlights on the armour help a bit to contrast the darkness of the model, and the garment is a more warm tone than the chest (even if in the picture they seem pretty similar), but I have to agree with you.
I decided to go with the worn white garment because I wanted the chappy to be dark (he is a marine chaplain after all) but with a nice contrast. I couldn't use red because this way I had to change the winged skull colour (one of the feature I'm most satisfied in this mini), and I didn't want to use a fourth colour. The chest and helmet colour is mandatory (well, it's bone after all ) so my choice was pretty much obliged.

Maybe I can go with a bone or red power fist? Any thoughts will be appreciated!

BTW, thank you for pointing that out!

[Crube]

I actually quite like the bone on the front (just to be contrary ) but maybe doing the power fist instead would be more 'inkeeping'

As ever, top stuff, and very inspiring - thanks

[ekxw]

ok here i go, the painting its great but, i see only one problem, and thats that you didnt wash the metals with a mix of black + water,

ry it on one dwarf and you will see the diferrence,

also if you wash the gold metal with scorched brown+water and latter with black +water, it will take a dark aspect that will help you a lot, or so i think,

and if you want to make some details like unions on metal ribets and so try for the gold goblin green and turquoise, it really works

[Bluesabre]

Your "Tabletop" quality is at the high end of that scale to be sure, nice work.

And how could anyone doubt his chapter od origin with that red...

[Toschenko]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Well, let's get into this:

@Crube: */Homer voice mode ON*/ d'oh! Do you (and everyone who's willing to help) think I can do only a part of the fist (say, the most part of the glove, leaving fingers black)?

@ekxw: the metals are actually inked with brown as the final step, but I admit that the pictures are not the best. I'm having some issues with light in taking pictures, so the metals may look more shiny than they really are. BTW, I might have a try with the black wash

@Bluesabre: people asked me to what chapter he belongs, and I fear they'll continue unless I field him with his painted fellows!

edit: ehm, I realized that I said all the above with Homer's voice... better to turn it OFF

re-edit: done some work on the cannon frame. Actually it's still missing some highlights on the brownish red but I think it's coming up well (light and glossy ink really don't go well together, the lower part of the weels are as detailed as the upper one):

EDIT: WIP pics removed, the finished job is at page 3

One question though: should I go with a bronze metallic tone on the frame, or with a steel one? I'm asking since I don't know yet how to paint the gun itself. So the choice is:

1. bronze on frame and steel on gun
2. steel on frame and bronze on gun
3. bronze or steel on both frame and gun
4. anything else I'm not considering

As ever, every comment is much appreciated

[Toschenko]

Sooo... no comments?
(sorry for double posting , but I have nearly finished the red on the cannon and I need some advice... will post pics as I complete the highlight)

[Arhalien]

Beautiful painting, lovely and smooth
The flesh on the dwarves looks to me a tad flat, but otherwise, very nicely done

[Toschenko]

@Arhalien: yes, with the notable exception of the lord and the runesmith the other dwarves have less shading and colour depth. Quite some time ago I decided to try to finish at least an army , and my choice were the dwarves, so the rank&file troops are less detailed to reduce painting time (I'm not going this way with the vostroyans, as I'm painting them individually )

Sorry, only a pic of the finished red on the cannon frame, as photobucket seems to dislike the others. As you can see I started also repainting the black:



As usual the highlights are a bit washed away, tomorrow I'll try to take some pics with natural light

[Crube]

My personal thought would be for steel on the carriage and the barrel...but that's just my personal preference.

Oh., and I think the bone on the last model was great, very nicely painted - no criticism was intended

[Toschenko]

Thanks Crube! I tried the all steel way, but after completing half of the carriage I realized that I didn't like it too much ... so I've decided to go with a more or less subtle verdigris effect on bronze, either for frame and gun (I know that dwarves are supposed to be cleaning maniacs with their war machines but hey, I want to paint some verdigris )

Pics to follow, maybe in the evening (more realistically tomorrow )

[Toschenko]

A little update: yesterday we had 38°C with humidity at 95%, so I had to stay away from any heat source... such as my desk lamp (next year I'm going to spend my holidays in hell, just to get some fresh air...)

Today I worked a little on the cannon, I nearly finished the gun barrel:





Still some work to do on that big screw which lifts up the gun, and some fixes here and there (mostly the rune in the center, which was a failed attempt).

What do you think?

[Arhalien]

Me likey
The corrosion on the bronze is excellent; very realistic

Lovely work.

[Light of the Emperor]

I really like your painting style. I'm amazed at how well you can paint eyes! That skill has always eluded me.

I really like the bases but agree with what Crube said. A bevelled edge will work wonders.

[Toschenko]

@Arhalien: thank you, but it was really a five minutes work... base with brazen brass (a coat, not drybrushed), wash with diluted scaly green and drybrush all over again with brazen brass. Then you may touch up shadows with the scaly green wash, or you may want to add some vertical streaks. Not difficult at all

@Light of the Emperor: you should really give a try at the 005 soft tip pen trick... obtaining good pupils with a brush is really difficult. And, looking at that base again, I have to agree with you (and Crube, of course!) that it could be improved. I'll try to sort out something... oh, and I really loved your vostroyans BTW, yours was one of the threads I followed with more interest, I'm glad to have you here

Then, no updates until monday 27 as the warseer server should be shut down (if I can remember correctly), hopefully I'll be back online with the finished cannon and some work on the third crew member... stay tuned

[Bluesabre]

The fine point art pens are always handy for doing eyes, I agree with this one totally =D