Of Swampfiends and Men

[Phinn]

Chapter 6 - "Burn them. BURN THEM ALL!"

I probably spent more time doing research than painting the miniature. I had to learn how to paint a face and actually a human skin as such as well (which is a reason why I painted Iggy before Zoraida), how to paint flames and how OSL is done.
For a very long time I also wasn't sure what colours I want to use, becuase I wanted him to look like a poor boy from an orphanage he is, but was affraid that he would end up looking boring. That's why I decided to add something extra - magma hands
I also tried to paint his eyes as if they were scorching - that is why they are orange and why the skin is brighter towards them.

I learnt a lot by painting Iggy. The most valuable lesson of them all... Do not be so reckless with varnish Well, live and learn

[Stark]

That's one of the best Iggy I've ever seen)) Great job, the magma hands is stunning!
But actually I don't see OSL - it's not important while the mini looks great, but since you wanted to try OSL I can give you some advice, if you want to c:

P.S. I'm very like your smooth stile! 

[Phinn]

Thank you, @Stark, I very much appreciate your kind words And yes, I would definitely welcome an advice on OSL.

I tried to paint his cloths lighter towards the flames, make sharper shadows and tint the parts that are close to the flames yellow - shoulders, sleeves, the flailing part of the shirt on his right side...
The thing is that I was scared that I would overdo the effect. I have seen a lot of miniatures ruined by too much blood effects for example and I kept that in mind. Also I think that it would be much more visible and more simple to do if only one of his hands was ablaze or I used differently coloured flames. Originaly I wanted to do one of the flames as a normal one and the second one blue or green but in the end I felt like that normal flames and magma hands that are getting cooler towards the burnt sleeves make the most sense.

[Stark]

@Phinn 
You doing well, but you have the same fear which I have, when in first time tried OSL on death marshals) I was looking trough a lot of works with OSL before starting. The most difficult thing is to understand where is light on the model and take it into account when painting mini as usual. After that you'll take the mid-color of your future source of light and cover with translucent layers illuminated parts. The farther away from the light source - the more translucent, and vice versa, the closer to the light source - the more solid color. And on the closest spots you can use the bright color. It's depends on how bright the light source you want) For example, in my death marshals flames I used light blue, blue-green and white colors, so the mid-color I used for reflects is blue-green and light blue for the highlights.

Here's I quickly marked OSL on your model, as it can be approximately.) It's far from perfect, but I ho[e it'll helpful) And sorry for my english, I hope I was able to explain the main idea))

 

[Phinn]

Looking at the photo you altered I really should have been more bold with the OSL. Thank you, @Stark, for taking your time to explain and show me as well how to improve Very useful.

If I were to paint him now I would change one more thing - the flames. I would use less yellow and more orange. And, as I said before, would definitely use less varnish.

[Stark]

@Phinn You're welcome)) I think yellow is OK, your flame is very good) 

Perhaps I would add more white in the center of the flame, but it's me)) I like your flame in the way you did it))

[Phinn]

Originally the center of the flame was indeed white (with a little bit of yellow, that is) but I couldn't shake the feeling that it looks unfinished. I think that this is because I use white primer. For this reason I never use an actual white paint but Citadel Screaming Skull instead.

I am currently painting a Waldgeist and would like to utilize what you said about OSL and paint its eyes glowing. Not sure about it though yet. We will see.

Once again, thank you for your advice, @Stark

[Viruk]

Very nice paintjob, I really like the way you painted his arms to make it look as if they're burned

[Phinn]

Thank you, @Viruk

These days I allways try to add some personal touch to the miniautre I am painting. Be it Iggy's magmatic hands or Bad Juju's base or his Soulstones which I completely forgot to mention when I posted his photos.

There are ten Soulstones painted on his miniature - 8 for Bad Juju himself and 2 for Eternal Fiend Upgrade, without which he never leaves home.
Four of those can be seen on the following photo.

[Phinn]

I started to pay more attention to bases and thus decided to redo Iggy's one. I felt that the old one was due to green grass tufts a bit distracting and clashing and I wanted to create a base that tells a story, one that demonstrates the heat that surrounds him.
My first idea was burnt dirt but it wouldn't make sense because his shoes are, unlike his sleeves, unburnt.
At first I was hesitant about the snow because my other models all have autumn themed swamp bases but I thought that the snow melting around his feet would nicely demonastrate the heat and that it would be nice to try something new

Next model will be Will o' the Wisp - the very first model of my Monthly Painting Challenge adventure

[Phinn]

Here is the photo of how I took the pictures above

#poor-man's-lightbox #gheto-setup

I want to learn how to do infinite black background and how to adjust colours, but for now I settled just with resizing the photos in MS Paint

[sockwithaticket]

That's outstanding work on the base, it really augments the model.

[Phinn]

Chapter 7 - Lights in the Swamps

First of the Will o' the Wisps is finally finished
It has been siting on my desk half painted for more than nine months Monthly Painting Challenge 2018 finally motivated me to finish it

When I was assembling the mode I immediately broke the antenna. I saw few pictures on the internet of people just puting a ball of green stuff on the stump, but I really liked the original one so decided to repair it if able.
I glued the antenna back using a plastic cemment and then took a single ply of toilette paper, cut a small rectangle from it, soaked it in PVA glue and used it as a bandage. Then I used dampen brush to tighten it and smooth it out.
It is barely visible and I even dropped the model right on the repaired antenna and it just bounced off

Some of the gaps are, unfortuantely, still a little bit visible, but I already purchased silicon sculpting/smoothing tools (from China for like 2 dollars) and it just magically turned the aspect of modelling that I found the most tedious and frustrating into something that I quite enjoy and find satisfying

For a long time I wasn't sure what to do with the wings (and colours as such). I tried so many colour combinations. @Joachim's idea to paint them as those of a Monarch butterfly, that you can see here, was brilliant so I asked him if I could use it as well and he agreed Unfortunately on my model it didn't work quite as well - the model was too colourful and clashing.
By the way, almost a year ago I promised you, @Joachim, that I would post pictures of my Will o' the Wisp when I finish it so here it is

I also tried to do some OSL around the eyes with them being the most bright part of the model but in the end it felt more logical to paint the antenna like that.

[Joachim]

@Phinn it looks great!

[lusciousmccabe]

Cool take on that fairy yoke. Like how downplayed the lighting is with nice matte colours I wasn't expecting to see on it. 

[Phinn]

Chapter 8 - Mysterious Effigy

[Phinn]

Chapter 9 - Of Swampfiends and Men... and Nightmares

I wanted the Stitched Together to look like it is made of various discarded materials:

• Old burlap sacks in which coffee beans from Earth are imported to Malifaux - the stamp on the belly.
• Tartan fabric.
• And even human skin. The tattoo is of an anchor, which symbolizes home, and it reads Hradec, because I come from the city called Hradec Králové, which is commonly refered to simply as Hradec

[lusciousmccabe]

Nice colour choice on the effigy. Interesting reversal of the usual purple scheme and the flesh coloured masks are a nice touch. 

Stitched together just looks great. Patchwork effect was a great idea for making the model a bit more interesting and it's executed beautifully.  

[Ludvig]

Th effigy looks great and I absolutely love the stitched!

[Phinn]

Chapter 10 - Apostle of Blight I

[Nikodemus]

Yup, it's a ratNice texture on the tentacle. Sculpted on?

[Phinn]

Thank you, @Nikodemus 
I am sorry, but I am not sure that I understand the question. The base is a Wyrdscapes - Sewers (30 mm) and the tentacle is smooth.

[Nikodemus]

There's a pattern on the tentacle. Those little "plates" with thin black lines around them. Very nice looking.

[Butch]

Awesome detail on the rat!