2019 Monthly Painting Challenge - December

[lusciousmccabe]

Probably shouldn't up my pledge with my building only half complete, but since it's December I just couldn't help from starting on this.

[Sol_Sorrowsong]

I'm sadly feeling burnt out on my gigants right now.  I also have an Alt. Barbaros I'd like to finish up or maybe Rasputina who I just got recently.  Either way, I hope to get back to the big boys but need to put them aside for a moment and regain enthusiasm.

[Shock & Awe]

Hello all, it's been a long time since I posted in here and it's really great to see that, nearly a year and a half removed, so many of the names in this challenge are still familiar.

I had a turbulent time there for a bit, but am finally back into Faux mode, so I will be jumping back into the challenge in January. 

That said, I hope you all don't mind me squatting for the month to get the gears back running (I know it only actually counts for me, but the camaraderie and inspiration are the best parts of this challenge for me.) 

So, I will be pledging three terracotta warriors (easy enough job for a first one back....) and we'll see how it goes.

Super stoked to be painting again! 

 

[khilin]

@Caedrus my last entry for 2019!

Thank you all! I started painting less than 3 years ago and this was by far the most miniatures I have ever painted!

Thanks to this event I am playing an event (a growing league) with all my minis painted and all of them by me! So happy!

 

 

 

[Purple Mist]

On 12/9/2019 at 1:37 PM, PetitDalek said:

@lusciousmccabe Those MDF houses are THIRSTY. What works for me is a base coat of paint mixed with a bit of water and cheap wood glue. However, I use only brushes and I don't think it'd work with an airbrush.

I suppose your mix of basecoting paint and wood glue works as a commercial sealer, beeing cheaper. Great suggestion. Many Thanks

[Nikodemus]

On 12/11/2019 at 5:34 AM, khilin said:

Thanks to this event I am playing an event (a growing league) with all my minis painted and all of them by me! So happy!

That's the best👍 Digging Toni's skintone.

___

@Caedrus Barbaros for 9ss

My first OC Leader in this brave new edition. Not that he'll be used as such, I don't think. He turned out nice enough that I might try fitting him into an OC Crossroads crew at some point though.

Interesting aside, when I was preparing for this paintjob and looking up other people's paintjobs, I didn't find a single one painted pink. What gives. I think it suits him

[iCreed]

@Nikodemus I have been following this paint job as I wasn't sure on pink look myself, but that looks amazing and really suits the model.

If you get time and wouldn't mind at some point I would really appreciate a step by step (with colours) for how you did the sword. I'm always to scared to try NMM but really want to push myself when my Malifaux models arrive as the sculpts are beautiful.

[Nikodemus]

58 minutes ago, iCreed said:

If you get time and wouldn't mind at some point I would really appreciate a step by step (with colours) for how you did the sword. I'm always to scared to try NMM but really want to push myself when my Malifaux models arrive as the sculpts are beautiful.

I'm very much a novice with NMM so even my default "let's just slap some paint on and see what sticks" approach looks structured. You will find better tutorials to follow elsewhere, but I'll share some thoughts. Since you asked Some preamble first, if I may:

Main mantra I'm going by is that NMM doesn't have to be fancy competition level tryhard stuff (mindblown yeah, but it's something I've struggled to 'get' in the past, not with painting in general, just NMM specifically). I'm allowed to just slap some paint on and have fun with it. This doesn't mean that I do zero blending or anything, but it means I'm not stressing over accurate highlight placement or smoothness beyond what I can easily manage. Those can come later, if I'm so inclined. Below a video I found particularly helpful:

Extremely helpful video on NMM highlight placement from Kujo Painting. Just about the most useful 10 minutes on the subject you can find. Give some good guidelines to go by - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zux0HAS8pAw

____

Onto the step by step (it's really a back'n forth process, bit more shadow there, bit more light there, bit smoother in between, a hash here, a dot there, and then again):

 

Paints used: 

• VMC Black (only for extreme shadows at the flat of the blade)
• VMC Dark Sea Blue (it's a dark turquoise, 'main colour' of the sword basically, could use any colour here, I like DSB for the slightly blue-ish hue. Also used it on the loincloth, which amusingly looks a lot greener in comparison)
• Daler-Rowney White Ink
• Daler-Rowney Titanium White heavy body acrylic (fancy tube paint from an art store)

I will be referring to Dark Sea Blue + White Ink mixes. Can't really give ratios. I mixed lighter or darker by eye as required.

Word about my whites. You could replace them with any minibrand white if you like. I like the ink because it's very runny (as inks are), great for edge highlights, goes on super smooth, a dream to work with. Titanium White is just white dialed to 11, far as opacity and brightness is concerned, I like it but it's nowhere near as 'essential' for my painting as the ink is. There's nothing special about DR brand specifically (Or Vallejo for that matter), it's simply what my local art store stocks.

Flat of the blade:

Basecoated Dark Sea Blue.  Figured out the parts I wanted lighter and darker, helped myself by sketching some DSB+White mix on a few parts to help me visualise. Realised I want it to be dark near the sharp bits, because I want the sharp bits to be really bright. Proceeded to blend a small gradient going from white at the backedge to DSB  to black near the white sharp bits. We all have our own preferred methods for achieving something like that. Since it's a big area I decided to practice a bit of loaded brush on it for a laugh. On top of that I applied some very thin coats of DSB+White Ink mix to in-between areas to help with the transition. Then I glazed some DSB towards the shadows to smooth things out a bit. Then I glazed a bit of black at the very darkest parts. Did a few edge highlights, first with DSB+White mix then with pure white in a few parts. Tried to do a sort of dotted, broken line. Looks a bit more interesting than a clean unbroken line. Plus the slight spillage it cause gives it a neat effect.

Edge of the blade:

I knew I wanted it lighter so I basecoated it with a DSB+White mix.  I sketched in some dark and light spots with white and DSB. Once I was happy with general light placement, I did some rough layering, going from DSB to pure white. Was maybe 4-6 layers to reach pure white. Glazed a bit of DSB towards the dark spots where I felt I needed to smooth things out. Did some thin perpendicular white hashes throughout the edge to give a bit of texture to the thing.

Tiny spikes/"teeth":

Super simple. 3-4 step rough layering going from pure DSB to pure white at the tips.

Did some dotting and edgehighlghts along most edges.

___

While flat->edge->spikes was the order in which I finished things, I sketched in the edge and spikes while I was still working on the flat just to help me 'see' the whole thing. Helped me make better decisions, gave me hope the whole thing wasn't crashing & burning

[iCreed]

That was super useful!, not sure how much metal I will get with the Marcus 3e box, but will hopefully try some NMM myself in the coming months, really appreciate such a detailed reply!

[emiba]

@Caedrus

Final check in for the year, Reva at 15 stones.

And finally, the entire crew box painted.

This crew has taught me a lot about skin tones and NMM, even if I haven't mastered either yet.

[muraki]

Slowly working through my painted models for the month as I give them out (a lot are already done, but can't show em).

So here's the first batch:

So Serena (8) + a Yokai (6)  + Flame (2) + Sonnia (15), so I'm at 31 so far.  There'll be a lot more after Xmas.

[Purple Mist]

@emiba Congrats, superb minis!

[Purple Mist]

WIP of Warcry Ruins set: working the wooden flors. BTW, also included in the pic the scenic I completed past month.

[Boomstick]

Oof, that holiday schedule, am I right?

Going to pledge alt Ototo, Katanaka Sniper and Thunder Archer. Realistically thinking I can finish one of them, the month being what it is.

Everyone else, looking great so far!

[Gloomy]

Need some advice on varnish. Whats a good and reliable matt spray? ( I don't have an airbrush)

I've only really ever used GW purity seal and i want to try something different

[lusciousmccabe]

5 hours ago, Wintergloom said:

Need some advice on varnish. Whats a good and reliable matt spray? ( I don't have an airbrush)

I've only really ever used GW purity seal and i want to try something different

I've had all sorts of problems with spray on varnish so now only paint it on or airbrush.

I got a big bottle of Windsor and Newton matte varnish at an art store years ago. If you use a massive brush it's practically as fast as a spray can. Initially I had problems with it being glossy when applied like normal paint, but slawming it on with a make-up brush seems to solve that.

Otherwise I hear autobody varnish is good spraycan-wise but still not totally reliable.

[Purple Mist]

Aging the bell......

It's till WIP: I'm using GSW washes to age the bronze of the bell. The bell looks glossy because I just added some more black wash.

As a last step I wanna add some oxide blue effect. Till thinking about possible techniques to employ: dry pigments against AGW NIHILAKH OXIDE.

[Purple Mist]

On 12/18/2019 at 7:47 AM, lusciousmccabe said:

I've had all sorts of problems with spray on varnish so now only paint it on or airbrush.

I got a big bottle of Windsor and Newton matte varnish at an art store years ago. If you use a massive brush it's practically as fast as a spray can. Initially I had problems with it being glossy when applied like normal paint, but slawming it on with a make-up brush seems to solve that.

Otherwise I hear autobody varnish is good spraycan-wise but still not totally reliable.

In my expirience the effect of spray varnish is highly influenced by temperature, the time you dedicate to shake the bottle and..... luck(?). I got more constant and reproducible results with airbrush, although I admit it's expensive. But, if you are looking to use it constantly it make reasonable to think abouth buying all you need, included dedicated paints.

[Franchute]

@Caedrus I apologize, I initially posted in the November thread.

A Moon shanobi for 6, putting me at 9ss:

 

 

[Rathnard]

Might be time for a progress update!

I attended a Tournament last week (3 wins and second place... yay!), so i had some motivation to finish out my Wizz-bang Keyword. So here's what I've painted this month;

Festive Wong. Not part of my initial pledge, but i needed a Christmas- themed model for the Christmas themed tournament!

Gautraeux Bokor. Just two more of these guys to go...

2x Flying Piglets. These used to be Night Terrors for my Dreamer crew (back in 1st ed  when he could take them). But with a bit more converting they're back in the Bayou.

The First Mate. Nothing more to say really - I'm just glad i finally finished him!

My Bayou Smuggler - Pigsey. Another conversion because i couldn't buy the proper models at my LGS. It was a late night, mad scientist-like project, but i think he turned out well!

Some fog banks for my Malifaux table. I don't know if i should even count these toward the challenge - it feels like cheating!

I've just got three more models I'm hoping to finish before the end of the year - the Lucky Emissary and two more Bokor. Then it's on to 2010!

[Caedrus]

2 minutes ago, Rathnard said:

Then it's on to 2010!

Or even after that!

[Caedrus]

Caedrus, checking in!

Well, as Christmas approaches, and I am unsure just how much painting I am going to get done, I finished off at least one mini!

Behold, Lord Chompy Bits!

I shall check back in soon with an end-of-month wrap-up, but until then, have a great festive period!

Caedrus.

[muraki]

Nice metal chompy @Caedrus... But don't you think a stouter more corpulent chompy would be nice... If only wyrd made one

[GlowingFruit]

I'm late to the party since I didn't knew about this thread.

Just like to say that I'll be in for next year and want to show what I did for my brother as a gift.

[Nikodemus]

@GlowingFruit

Welcome aboard. Nice Emissary you got for your brother. Be sure to sound off in the proper sign-up thread as well: