misterfinn

Loving the paint on the base. The color variations and spots of mold are really working. Might be the picture, but the green bits (algae or whatever) look a little forest-y to me given the other greens and browns. Maybe knock it down to more of an olive color? Hard to say. The base itself is one of the Micro Arts Wood bases, right? I'm considering those for an upcoming Gremlin project. I like your palette and the nice contrasts you're building up. I also like your decision to go more smokey than glowy with the wraith thing. The shading washes you've used on the vest and shirt look splotchy in places. I assume you haven't started with the browns (belt, hair, pants) yet so no comments there. Nice work, keep it up!

I am absolutely opposed to removing mulligans, even though I "mulliganed out" last year due to injury. This challenge is about growing my skills as a painter, sure. It's also about discipline. I get my soulstones out every month or I don't get to participate. I want folks in the challenge to be 100% committed. IMO mulligans are there to accommodate things like vacations and injuries. I'm having wrist surgery near the end of this month so I'm going to mulligan February. I've only got one left for the next ten months so I damn well better step up. I thought hard about this before I committed to 2019. So what about badges for the die-hards and not for the tourists as an alternative? That's fine for those who care about badges. They hold zero interest for me. Delivering on my pledge every month is rewarding. Seeing other committed painters grow their skills is rewarding. Developing camaraderie with other committed painters is rewarding. I believe that loosening up the requirements will open the door to less-committed players, diluting the community rather than growing it. That being said, I'd like to work out a way for folks to join later in the year. I couldn't participate in the 2017 challenge because I didn't hear about it until June. On the cost topic, why not let each painter choose which edition they're using until 3e ships? Now that NDAs are lifted, I can tell you that I was part of the closed beta and I pitched all my 2e cards (I have a ruthless anti-clutter policy). It was pure luck that the Engineer's cost didn't change. That's fine for me but I don't expect 2e players to jump on the 3e bandwagon while costs are in flux.

Basing's my least favorite part as well. I've started using pre-made bases and base inserts for exactly that reason. I've been OK with my limited options so far but I suspect that will change once I move into Bayou models. When I've used dried-out sticks for logs and fallen branches in the past, I've always painted them because I think the paint helps tie the stick together with the rest of the model. It looks more in-scale somehow. Give it a shot on a sketch model when you feel experiment-y, see what you think. @bedjy Nice work. Painting white is a pain, and you've made yours look quite natural. I like the skin tones and the red corset as well. Good depth of color there. I see a smudge on the top of the blonde's right boot that you might already have fixed.

@emiba That’s a really solid model! I think your rust, viscera, and mud effects are particularly well-done. I’m glad you went with the purple for the wraps, too. A compositional suggestion: the tree trunk draws my attention away from the model itself because it’s so much lighter than everything else. Consider painting it a much darker grey-brown, perhaps with some patches of moss or something to tie it in more closely with everything else on the base.

Finishing this Engineer (6 SS) for January:

I agree. The more time you spend with brush in hand, the more comfortable you get with the materials and the better your models look. It takes time to show progress. It's frustrating, even for experienced painters like me who are trying to learn new techniques. My NMM looked like trash on the first half dozen models I tried. Like, strip and repaint bad. It's still pretty shaky. You just have to plow through. I can totally relate. I see two issues being conflated here (correct me if I'm wrong): one is "I can't figure out what color scheme I'm doing" and the other is "dang, my technique sucked there so I'm gonna clean it up". I have pretty strong opinions on this stuff so please forgive me if I get a little pedantic. The first issue is easily solved with "sketch" models: crappy things that you got for free at a con or you had an extra one in a boxed set (I'm looking at you, Ronin) or whatever. You know you're never going to paint them. That makes it real easy to try out color schemes or practice/test techniques without getting bogged down. This is the model I used for working out the colors on my Nothing Beast. The metal on his head was from some previous session where I was testing out an armor wash. This is the model I used to quickly demo fire basics for another painter at my FLGS. Once the model's usable space is filled up, you drop it in the Simple Green, reprime it, and use it again. Make sure to write down what paints you're using for your final color scheme so you can reproduce it later. Now the second issue - "correcting" mistakes over and over - well, that way lies madness. The key here in my experience is simply to lower your sights. Build up your techniques in phases. You're a new painter, so start with the basics: flat color, smooth paint, clean edging, and blacklining. No drybrushing, washing, blending, glazing, or using weird technical paints. Practicing these basics is especially important with big models like the Cyclops, where it's easy to lay on paint that's too thick or doesn't cover evenly. A clean, simple paint job always looks better than a messy, complicated one. This phase is all about getting a feel for the materials and establishing reliable brush control. Also it will get finished models on the table in short order. Once you're reliably cranking out models that look neat as a pin, pick a new skill - shading, for example - and start practicing it on your next batch of models. Use a sketch model or three first to get the basics down so you don't obsess over how it's gonna turn out. Once you've got that on lock, move on to the next technique, and so on. At some point (many months in the future, don't push this part) you'll look back on your older models with their flat paint jobs and go, "I'm ready to spruce this up". Then you can take a break, go back, and use the new techniques you've mastered to build on the basic paint job if you want to. This is the first miniature I ever finished: my half-elf magic user for D&D. I was like 16. There was no Internet and I hadn't discovered White Dwarf yet. All I knew about painting was what I'd learned from model airplanes and Gundams and suchlike. Flat color, smooth paint, clean edging (I learned about blacklining later). I think it still looks just fine on the table. Whew! OK. I hope some of this has been useful/inspirational/otherwise worth your time.

Totally get where you're coming from! I also paint Malifaux models to play - I have plenty of models from other manufacturers to paint for display. Some day I'll actually start my Confrontation goblin pirate ship... My plan for 2019 is to knock out a few stragglers from the two Masters I play: a Freikorps Engineer, Big Jake, and alt Taelor. I already have a regular Taelor and Big Jake is more for completion than play right now, so it's really just killing a couple of months. By that time I should have Mah Tucket's box assembled. I like the sculpts so I'm OK with it if Wyrd changes something around. Alt sculpts != better sculpts. Given the rate at which I paint that should take me up to May or June. After that, who knows? 3e should theoretically be out so I'll have the lay of the landscape. Maybe I'll want other models that go with Mah, maybe I'll want to start a new crew, maybe there will be more Von Schill or Vik models out that I want to add. Consider painting some of your backlog using @Caedrus's Deck of Painting Achievements from this thread. He's got a ton of cool ideas in there that have already got me thinking. 2, for example, is a big motivator to paint my alt Taelor. 12 is an inspiration to put some tattoos on Big Jake. That might bump your enthusiasm level for long enough to see what 3e brings you. What crew(s) are you waiting to paint?

I'm back! Will probably have to mulligan February for wrist surgery but should be smooth sailing after that. Sign me up at Minion level, please. Thank you @Franchute for all the work you did this year, and @Caedrus for picking up the torch. Love the achievement list.

Prefer trades but $$ works as well. Have One Leveticus "Salvage & Logistics" crew box, still in the shrinkwrap Midnight Stalker NIB, no shrink Alt Firestarter on sprue Want (on sprue) Brewmaster "Closing Time" crew box Rooster Riders Big Brain Brin

Alas, I really do have to leave the challenge. My tendons are in bad shape and I might be looking at wrist surgery. No brushwork for me for a while. Hopefully everything will be resolved before the end of the year so I can come back for the 2019 challenge. Cheers all!

@Franchute @prof_bycid I did a quick example on one of my scrap/test models. Hope it helps.

@Franchute We’ll see. 😉 I can only paint for 20 minutes or so per day, and not every day. I’ll have to shelve the Talos but maybe I can manage some smaller models. @prof_bycid Aside from the lips, what don’t you like about the face? You’ve got properly placed highlights across the cheekbones, and shadows in the eye sockets and under the cheekbones. Both of her eyes are pointing in the same direction and the pupils are an appropriate size. I like the blue color you chose. With regard to the lips, I think a little contrast would help. Try painting the lips first with a dark blue, like navy blue. Then just highlight the bottom lip with your bright blue. The lips should still read as blue but they won’t blur into the skin.

@Franchute that’s adorable! Great job on the gems and the metalwork too. @Caedrus your airbrush work looks fantastic. Drapery is one of the hardest things to paint with a brush IMO. When I can get back to painting I’m definitely giving this a shot. Right now though, I am sadly dropping out of the challenge. I continue to have RSI issues with my wrists and hands so I’m just not able to put in the time. It’s been fun! Keep up the great work, everyone.

@bedjy Great eye + solid brushwork = impressive models. I like your style of layering - the placement and color choices for your shadows look smooth and natural at scale without the need for time-consuming blending. The guy with the staff is an exception. He looks rushed. Also the style of the little demon guys is a departure from your other models. Blends are smoother and the finish is shinier. Did you use some kind of a dip for those?

Pledging the Talos I didn't build or paint last month.

Better pictures of Bishop, as promised: and some updated shots of my TTB model from last month (with improved pants):

@Phinn Your freehand slays me. I don't have the eyesight to paint a tentacle duck in that tiny space at all, much less highlight and shade it. 😲 Well done, can't wait to see pictures of the completed model! Bummer that we won't get to see more of your work in this year's challenge though.