Treehouse's Tabletop Toys

[Treehouse]

Several Malifaux models on the workbench  but not much time...so in the meanwhile, some other toys.

 

I bought the lot when I was visiting Berlin last year. I had found a store (Battlefield Berlin) which looked awesome judging by the photographs and I wanted to check it out. I love visiting hobby stores, I always feel many years younger - wandering around and looking at the vast amount of products, discover new cool stuff. This store had boxes with discounted and out of production stuff, and that's where I found my Bakunin force for a bargain. Unpainted, even. Yay.

 

With all that shiny metal, I decided to join the monthly painting challenge at the Infinity forums (similar as we got here) to see how far I could get in a month. It worked out, though painitng assembly line just isn't for me. I remembered the frustration of painting the 60th Skink warrior or the 82nd Guardsman. *Brrrrr*

 

The test-mini:

 

 

The rest:

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

   

 

 

The whole lot:

 

 

Joining the cabinet:

 

[Treehouse]

So, finally some progress. I've been painting different models here and there, not finishing either - due to lack of modtivation and/or time. Well. Finally finished my core Ironsides crew, though I rushed a couple of those models and I'm not really too satisfied with them. Some need matte varnished. Would have liked them in NMM, but metal colours were so much quicker.

 

The bases do help to improve the overall look. But I guess I'll never paint Mouse. Don't know, maybe I'll do a mini-diorama some time....but I want to paint those Malifaux models I'm going to play first.

 

First, a better photo of Ironsides herself.

 

 

And the crew:

 

[Treehouse]

Lazarus

 

Had him standing on my desk unfinished for quite a while. Wanted to do a scenic base but then couldn't find the motivation to complete the darn thing. I consider this my first 'real' scenic base, though I have done a number of bases in the past - most recently Ironside's. But those were either on basis of a bought base or quite simple in nature. This time, I made the tree out of wire and putty myself (I need much more skill .... or just take real wood next time), and tried to do a tiny diorama.

Ah, and I changed his pose, now he's a bit more 'dynamic', and I really don't like his out-of-the-box pose. I - well, I - lost a toe in the process, but that counts as battle damage...

 

It is nothing fancy, but I like it. In the future, I want to try water effects and more.

 

For Lazzy himself, he had a much more brownish hue, but then I realized that it wouldn't look good togehter with the base and he somewhat was missing something. I tried a dark red glaze, more intense in the darker parts (you know, because of the complementary contrast to green) and it worked out OK. Though I have been using glazes for quite a while now - see for example Huggy - it's an aspect of painting that just gets more complex the more you look into it, same as mixing colours. So I have a lot of experimenting ahead, but I'm looking forward to it very much.

 

 

 

[Treehouse]

Angelica (WIP)

I didn't like the sculpt very much at first but now that I've started painting it, it has really grown to me. I 'converted' it a tiny bit, namely by swapping the cane with the Gunsmith's saber, and I left the stool and put her foot on a piece of rock, which fittet the base a lot more. Wanted to use the TNT-charger (or whatever that's called) of the Union Miner first, but didn't want to rob him of his fun in the end.

Decided to spend more time painting Angelica. That means paying more attention the the face, more highlights, trying for a smoother paintjob etc.

 

 

Green eyes (the hair is going to be red, I think).

 

     

[Treehouse]

And I just realized what was odd....I painted the one glove too short -_-. must've filed the edge while cleaning the model and didn't notice while painting.

Grml....well, not changing it. It's a new fashion trend.

[Burnin' Coal]

@Treehouse very nice work and the base you have created really lends the figure some atmosphere...swapping the cane for a sword gives her more menace as well

[Treehouse]

Thanks, @Burnin' Coal. Can't wait to finish her. I put her thematicly into my Ironsides' crew (I don't own Collette) and picture them as some sort of rag-tag relic hunters, like in Disney's Atlantis and the like. A sword made more sense and she would be a fun character - moving around all lady-like while swinging her saber :P.

[Burnin' Coal]

@TreehouseI have only just bought the model as I was considering it for next months Painters Challenge...I was pretty sure I wanted to replace the footstool and your base confirms this works well...the sword swap is all yours 

I very much like your subtle variations in skin tone...may I ask how many layers there are ?

Entering the Painters Challenge has really made me look to improve my painting and skin tones are where I have a lot to learn...any pointers would be greatly appreciated ?

[Treehouse]

@Burnin' Coal: When I saw your performers, I thought that the faces were very well done and with a lot of character. So I'm not if I have any tips to give. What I try to do is to have some very light parts (but not white) and some quite dark shades on each miniature, because I think with that kind of contrast, the figures appear more lively. Then, (in case I'm spending even more time on a miniature) I add glazes of magenta / blue.

 

      

 

I can't really tell how many layers there are on Angelica because I often did some touch ups here and there, added a layer later on etc. But it were several. I started with the darkest tone (P3 Midlung Flesh + old GW skin wash) and then added sunny skintone (vallejo) and later pure midlund + sunny, the lighter parts were done with basic skintone and a bit of sunny skintone, later  + white. I used a mix of putting on different layers with only a slight colour variation (so, just added a bit of a lighter colour for the next layer) and setting higher contrasts next to each other and trying to blend the area where those two colour meet with a midtone-glaze. (So that the blend from darker to lighter is not over bigger area but rather aprupt)  ---- that is very badly explained, I added links to videos/tutorials I found useful and that explain better what I'm trying to say.

http://www.wampforum.com/VB4/content.php?r=3623-Painting-Skin-Tones

 

 

 

[Burnin' Coal]

@Treehouse thanks for both the links and kind words....description of your process however was most helpful ? - using magenta/blue for shading is something I hadn't considered but will now definitely be trying out as I have just picked up some Vallejo glaze medium - keep up the good work 

[Treehouse]

Some progress. Angelica is still WIP, but I'm getting there.

     

 

Then there are some models I've been painting inbetween, an Oathpourer from Darkage and a Wolfen from Confrontation (please let Confrontation Resurrection happen!).

 

 

 

 

Then, here are some Neverborn, some of which I finished a while ago, some are still WIP (really should have filled-in those gaps on Chompy). I'm still working on the bases - my old nemesis. I got soooo bored painting copplestone.

 

 

  

 

      

 

 

 

 

And a groupshot of my current Arcanists collection painted. Rest is still on the workbench, but I'm closing in on having all of them painted. (Until the new batch arrives ;P) The Large Arachnids and Soulstone Miners are very quick paintjobs, mostly just slopping on metal colours and some washes. I tried out oil washes, works like a charm.

 

[Burnin' Coal]

Very nice painting indeed ...it is really enjoyable following your progress...I particularly like your take on the insidious madness

[Treehouse]

Well, it has been a while. Did some painting, but haven't taken decent pictures yet.

But I recently bought the Mysterious Emissary and finally was able to do what I was planning for a long time - make extra alternative Changlings for my games.

 

To tell the truth, I am not really exhilerated with the model. Its main drawback is that it is visually too tightly connected to specific masters (Zoraida and Titania). It just doesn't look as it belongs in a Collodi or Pandora crew in my view. It also feels uninspired. I mean, Neverborn have a such a vast lore to draw inspiration of. There could have been much more creative solutions – instead we got a walking tree. While the quality is really goot – even the vines got texture – it just isn't the model it could have been for me.

The base however is pretty cool. I like the idea of the Changelings 'hatching' from the plants. It is well executed and a very fluffy realization of the abilities on the Emissary's card.

The only problem is that parts of one of them is included in the base, which means you have to cut through the sculpted base. That base is much harder to cut than I expected, so you need a sharp knife and nee to very cautious not to cut yourself. One of the hands is awfully close to the Emissaries foot and therefore suffered during the cutting process. But it's so tiny and once the model is based it is hardly noticable that the fingers are missing.

The bottom of the base-bit needs to be filed to evenly fit onto a base. The rest is really easy, glue the parts together, fit them on spare 30mm bases, ad sand, flock or whatever to integrate the sculpted base-bit into the base itself. Done.

 

I like the idea that when you spawn (well, summon) the Changelings with the Emissary, they are still visually connected to him/it.

 

[Treehouse]

Finally gotten around to taking some (too bright) photos. Angelica is still WIP. Couldn't concentrate on painting fine details when I got some sparse painting time at night.

 

Here's the finished Dreamer Crew (except Chompies loin-chains). The rest of the Nightmare models is either in Lynch's or Pandora's crew. Though they share the same bases, so nothing is fixed.

 

 

Here's the Bandersnatch. I tried for kind of an OSL effect, but it came out pretty ragged. Something I want to improve in the future.

 

 

I really enjoyed painting the Waldgeists. First, they were pretty easy and quick to paint and then they were something else form and colour-wise. I got to try out brown-mixtures. They are part of my Lilith crew (and possible Zoraida/Titania should I ever expand into them).

 

 

I've redone the bases on my Lilith crew just so that the forest bases of the Waldgeist would fit :P. Still wanted the minis to fit to my other Neverborn, so I decided for a mix between cobblestone and forest. Here's an example:

 

Then to finish my Mei Feng crew, here is a Miner and a Gunsmith.

 

And an Ice Dancer. Experimented with a different skin tone and I like the result. It doesn't really show in the bright photo, I'll have to take another one.

 

 

[Treehouse]

Some updates at last.

Went to my first tournament - and lost. Not always by as much as I would have thought, though. Painted the Emissary for said tournament, but never actually used it in the end.

 

 

Then, some better fotos of the Ice Dancer. Nothing fancy.

   

 

Finally bought the M&SU box. Ramos' sculpt is a little bit boring so I put Howard's tentacle-thingies on him. The backpack is a 40k spare bit (binoculars Imperial Guard). The conversion has already been done by others, so curtsey to whoever got the idea first. Ads much more character. I placed the bottom tentacles in a way that they mimic Ramos arm movements, as if he was controlling them.

   

 

Howard got another 40k spare bit (flame thrower tank). Need to attach the cables.

 

And here's some random miniatures form the ever-growing 'I'm going to finish that'-collection:

 

  

 

And some random shot from the cabinet. Warmachine.

 

 

[Treehouse]

I have been reading alot of articles lately, both on miniature painting as well as painting in generall because I want to improve my work. I've mostly tried to paint my Malifaux miniatures as quickly as possibly, but while it is great having fully painted crews, it has become a bit dull, also.

So I am more and more texperimenting and trying out new methods.

For this Ice Dancer, I tried to focus on atmosphere while still maintaining a reasonable painting speed. I've tried out different colour combinations, so it has taken longer than anticipated, maybe around 3 hours. I was going for nighttime and bright moonlight, so the pallette is mostly cold colours. The most difficult was to make the different colours fit together and mixing the highlights. The skintonewas the most challenging, not doubt.

To enhance the effect, I will have to applyt to the base, of course. I'll postthat later, too.

There is still a lot to improve – I will have to focus on mixing colours, especially.

   

 

 

Ah, and the Toolkit. For my Ramos crew I want a deeper, darker orange.

 

[Butch]

3 hours ago, Treehouse said:

The most difficult was to make the different colours fit together and mixing the highlights.

Had you chosen an atmosphere color and mixed a drop of it in every (!) color you used?

I always avoid this fearing it might be too much work. But after I tried it once, I will never go back! It's amzing!

[Treehouse]

Thanks, yeah, I used Deepsea Blue by Vallejo, a very dark, greenish blue, but for some colours, it didn't look right. Another problem are the highlights, where I used Duckling Yellow in the mixes, but not to my complete satisfaction. 

 

Do you have any specific colours that work for you?

[Butch]

For night scenes I take VMC Sky Blue.

It's just the tip of a brush sometimes.

As I'm learning this at them moment myself: maybe it's better if the color isn't too dark or too bright?

[Treehouse]

Thanks Butch. :-) I'll try it out. I am planning to make some colour charts with different variations, which will hopefully be helpful. 

[Butch]

Maybe you want to post them too in the Bemalforum? It's always nice to welcome new members.

[Argentbadger]

Nice painting work.  I think my favourite is the 'Doctor Octopus' Ramos though; it's remarkable that I've not seen such a conversion before (though you do mention that it's a well-used route).  I look forward to seeing it with paint.

[Treehouse]

@Butch Sounds like a good idea, I might do that :-).

 

@Argentbadger Thanks :-)! Well, I had the idea of attaching the tentacles, which was probably.influenced by the avatar model and said Spiderman antagonist. I later googled for 'Ramos conversion' and saw that it had alredy been done before. 

[Butch]

Aren't you from Marburg?

We have a very nice private Meeting twice a year there.

[Treehouse]

I'm living near Duisburg/Oberhausen, Marburg is a bit far off, unfortunately.