Clawz Paints! (Slowly)

[Clawz]

In hopes this will keep me more on track with actually finishing models, I've decided to start a kind of 'keep me honest' thread.

 

Here's what is on my desk so far:

http://therivetcounter.blogspot.ca/2014/03/painting-log-guilt-edition.html

 

There's the Viktorias:
   
 From March Painting 
 

 

More Viktorias:

   
 From March Painting

 

The rest of their crew:
   
 From March Painting

 

And the last of my Ten Thunders which are totally close to done and not sitting there taunting me...
   
 From March Painting

 

The Ten Thunders are taking a while because it's the final three: Misaki, Yamaziko, and Ototo. A combination of really dynamic/odd poses and knowing they're the leaders of the Ten Thunders has me hesitant to make moves on them, since I want them to be of high quality. As for the Viktorias, it tends to be I mix up a single colour and use it in a bunch of places at once. It helps tie the crew together, and saves me effort thinking up entirely new schemes for each.

 

Hopefully they'll be finished in a week or so. Good thing I didn't just recently go out and buy an Infinity starter set as well... >.>

[zFiend]

They look really really good already! Keep them coming! The purple jacket of the gun Vik is stunning.

[Mako]

I think my favourite bit if sword Vik's face and hair in that top photo. Which I never thought I'd be saying about the jedward viks...

 

Nice work!

 

Also, if your grey mountain isn't growing, you're doing something wrong

[Wings]

That's a really lovely purple you've managed there. I like the freehand on Ototo too.

[Clawz]

Thanks! The purple's Vallejo "Violeta" (960) highlighted with "Pale Sand" (my code's entirely rubbed off). Sadly looking at the photos has made me realize her arm is going to need surgery to not look like it's popping out. I clearly didn't shrink the "male" join enough beforehand.

 

As far as I can tell, the symbol etched into Ototo's head is the symbol for "thunder", verified in a couple different places. Hopefully that's actually true.

 

Also, I think I mentioned this in the actual blog post, but repetition here is, I think, necessary: Ototo freaking sucks to paint already assembled. If at all possible, paint him beforehand!

 

Lastly, in regards to the Viktorias' hairstyle; I hadn't made that connection before to Jedward (thanks for that eternal visual) but in a way it's a great thing: This is an alternate universe where the Jedward pair are both female, and actually useful contributions to the wider world! Sure they're 'around' 100yrs or so earlier, but...

[Clawz]

Well, I promised Slowly, and slowly it is. I have finally got fotos of finished Ten Thunders though, and I shall share those with you folks now!

 

First, it's moody dramatic Yamaziko image:

 
 From Ten Thunders Leaders

 

With more here:

http://therivetcounter.blogspot.ca/2014/03/ten-thunders-yamaziko.html

 

Enjoy, and I shall post more soon again. I've just started putting the base decorations on my Hired Swords (new variants) and will eventually have Infinity stuff up as well. I also just got clear bases for Pandora and crew (the translucent green) so those will be soon underway as well. So much on my desk, so little time!

[zFiend]

I like to deep red color and the freehand flowers. Her hair came out really well also!

[Viruk]

Probably the best paintjob on Yamaziko i've seen so far.

[Lussuria]

Wow the Cherry Blossoms showing from under the robe on Yamaziko look EPIC. Turned out so so well!

[Clawz]

It's time for more painting! In theory I could space these posts out to be one a week, but I've got it done, so why not put it up, eh?

 

http://therivetcounter.blogspot.ca/2014/04/ototo-alongside-shang.html

 

And here's a fun awesome introductory photo to what I've been working on:

   
 From Ten Thunders Leaders

[Clawz]

My mad efforts on the Ten Thunders finally draws to a close with the painting (and photographing) of Misaki. Here she is!


   
 From Ten Thunders Leaders 
 

 

But wait, there's more. Today only you can head over to my blog to see more detailed photos, and some descriptions of why I did what I did:

 

http://therivetcounter.blogspot.ca/2014/04/ten-thunders-one-leader.html

[Moondog]

Freehand flowers are great!

[monkeyboy30672]

I LOVE that's she's standing in a Zen Garden!!!

[Clawz]

Clawz doesn't just paint!

It'll be a bit before I manage to take photos of what I'm up to atm; I'm at that final 5% of a model paint where you're just looking over the model to see if you missed anywhere...

 

In the meantime, some putty stuff I've been up to:

   
 From April 11, 2014 
 

More soon! Once I'm sure I've nailed down the 5%, cleaned up the bases how I want, settled on certain details, and actually managed to take photographs, I'll have the Viktoria crew shown above up for pics!

[Clawz]

More stuff! I promise the Viks are going to be finished and photographed shortly, in the meantime, I have some pictures to tease you with! The longer writeup of 'how' is on Counting Rivets, but here's the steps I went through:

 

 
 From Viktorias Avatar

The plan was for a base where the Viktorias penchant for destruction has taken effect on even the poor helpless lamp posts and abandoned kegs that adorn the streets of Malifaux, done in a kind of manga/anime style of cuts so fast they slice cleanly through the object.

 

 
 From Viktorias Avatar
1: Math! (Even if I did it wrong at first here) and plans!

   
 From Viktorias Avatar

2: Cut and score carefully along the lines, and plan the circles for the end caps. What's he making?

   
 From Viktorias Avatar

3: Begin gluing! The central rod helps keep the end caps in place while the rest of the keg takes shape around it. I love this type of ruler, btw. It has intervals for anything you could want, and works to keep conversion projects from rolling around!

 

   
 From Viktorias Avatar

4: Once I'm about half way, I use a craft knife to carefully extract the central peg, so when the barrel's cut in half there won't be a weird plastic peg down the centre.

 

 
 From Viktorias Avatar

5: Then a jeweler's saw is used to cut the barrel in half, tinfoil bands are attached around it, everything is glued in place, and sprayed.

 

 
 From Viktorias Avatar

6: Paint! To keep cobblestones from looking boring, and to make them look more natural, I subtly wash a few stones with various colours. To be honest when doing this, do whatever your palette still has wet. On this one there's green, red, purple, brown, darker grey... As long as it's subtle enough, it'll work. Stone is naturally all kinds of colours. I remember on a trip in Ireland being stunned on one beach by just HOW green or purple the stones were!

 

 
 From Viktorias Avatar

7: Finally, adding water. In my case this is self-leveling gloss gel, meant for paintings. It's fairly viscous so you don't need to worry about it going everywhere, and ends up pretty shiny. It's also very forgiving on brushes, so I am not panicking about cleaning them the instant a stroke's finished.

 

And that's how the Viktorias get their base! Soon I will have finished pics, I'm just doing the photographing and editing now. I've actually managed to finish the whole crew! Then it's on to one of the other 3 crews I have and need to paint. I'm working on Pandora at the moment, trying to make her subtly creepy in her skin-tone.

[Wings]

Ooo, exciting looking base! Thanks for the step by step.

[zFiend]

Can't wait to see the finished model!

[Clawz]

Finished model is ready! As always, I have a writeup about some of the work put into it at my blog, but here's the pretty photos:

 

   
 From Viktorias Crew

 

   
 From Viktorias Crew

   
 From Viktorias Crew

 

And finally, a focus-shot of the giant blade wielded by Viktoria of Ashes (Who I suspect is Viktoria Prime)

   
 From Viktorias Crew

[Clawz]

But wait, there's more! I finally managed to upload the rest of the crew to Counting Rivets, and while the full crew will be there, if you're curious, here's a few highlights:

 

First, the dynamic duo:
   
 From Viktorias Crew

 

Taelor, in this iteration a lowly Desperate Mercenary (until pTaelor is painted)

   
 From Viktorias Crew

 

And of course, Little Sister Vanessa, ready to aid their endeavours and make a name for herself:
 
 From Viktorias Crew

 

Next up is a Pandora crew! Candy's approaching done, Pandora's skin is done, and Kade is currently brown. I also picked up the new plastic Teddy, and man is it a nice update to the older model. I'm not a fan of the Cyrus Tongue, but I rarely am. He's more dynamic, more 3d, and still creepily large and fanged!

[Clawz]

And more photos! As I begin work on the Pandora crew, I have some pics of what I've managed to get finished:

 

First, it's Pandora's skin, and my first successful attempt at giving someone makeup!
 
 From Pandora Crew 

 

And next, Candy! Skin and Dress are mostly finished in this shot, save for a few smaller items that need to be cleaned up and touched on:
 

   
 From Pandora Crew

 

More pics, as always, at Counting Rivets.

[zFiend]

Looking good! I think that the alternative Vikkies are the best one's out there.

[pixelante]

Great looking miniatures, but try blending the metals a little for a smoother finish. Kepp up the good work.

[Clawz]

Oddly enough, the metals are more blended than that; it seems my silver (when pure) is almost a retroreflector. I'll have to blend it down even more, knowing that!

[Clawz]

Quick update before my next big one: I finally remembered to photograph  my Nomad test-model. I'm not entirely a fan of the Corregidor red, so I've been sampling a more classic Ghost in the Shell style paintscheme of off-white.

 

 
 From Nomad Colours

 

For the more aggressive units, I'll keep more red elements (and brighter red elements) but certainly on the camo dudes, something more neutral I think is better. I've set him aside for the most part until I get my Malifaux stuff finished up: I have more potential opponents for Malifaux than Infinity atm. but I am hoping his scheme will work well enough for me that when I try it on other models, I still like the look.

[Clawz]

It's update time! I have been working at getting my Pandora crew finished off, and to that end managed to spray the Teddy today. As always, full writeups and thoughts are on Counting Rivets, but here's the shiny pics!

 

 From Pandora Crew

 

First up is Pandora, newly painted with slick red hair. I am impressed by how much the Citadel Bloodletter glaze brings out the red! I'll have to find other applications for it in the near future.

 

 
 From Pandora Crew

 

Next is Kade: It's eerily easy to paint him. Because he's basically just skin and diaper, it seems like I haven't done 'enough', even when smooth-blending his skin takes so long. I may go back and give him weird creepy subtle veins, we'll see.

 

 From Pandora Crew

 

And finally finished, it's Candy! The colour scheme is loosely based off a website that shows common Victorian-era colour match-ups, but accentuated to be nice and creepy. The strawberry blonde hair is because I felt her with black hair was a bit too obviously Wednesday Addams style.

 

 From Pandora Crew

 

I like the acid green as a spot colour: it makes for a split compliment when her dress, hair, and bow are all taken into consideration. I love the new model, and how perfectly 'adorable innocent girl' it looks, which perfectly fits her rules and fluff. I will of course be leaving her eyes a blank white, just like Kade's (though those are recessed enough to not show his eyes, alas.)

 

Next up it's finishing Pandora, painting the Teddy, and then deciding between Infinity, FoW, or more Malifaux models for my next (non-commissioned) project!