Tolvcat 3,529 Posted March 17, 2022 Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 This will be an occasional scattergun thread as I get round to painting some of the vast pile of figures I've accumulated over the last 25 or so years. I started collecting and painting a Warhammer Empire Army with the intention of joining a local group and getting out of the house a bit. That never happened of course and shiny thing syndrome means I now have started units for about 17 armies over half a dozen game systems with nothing finished. Figured (ha, see what I did there?) I might as well share them here and then it hasn't been totally in vain. First up are a couple of Blood Bowl elves from the Atherlorn Avengers. Only another 10 to paint to complete the team. The green man is a turn/re-roll marker apparently. The round thing is a token for... something. I have no idea what as I just bought a random box of cool looking models rather than the entire game. 1p coins for scale. These are nominally 28mm figures but Games Workshop have been making them bigger and chunkier almost as long as they've been making them so I have no ideaon the real scale these days. More later. Please don't hold your breath - blue really isn't your colour Andy 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gorby 17,213 Posted March 17, 2022 Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 Considering they are painted so well, if you hadn't shown the coin I would have thought they were much bigger than they are. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tolvcat 3,529 Posted March 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 3 minutes ago, Gorby said: Considering they are painted so well, if you hadn't shown the coin I would have thought they were much bigger than they are. You sweet talker GW figures are a curious mix of really nicely detailed models with really soft edges so you ALWAYS have to fudge something when you paint them. Their literature and website are notorious for featuring finished models that are impossible to recreate with the recommended GW paints (time was photos in their own magazine weren't well cropped and you could see other company's products in the background, they're a bit better these days. A bit ). Fortunately they're fantasy/sci fi figures so close enough is definitely good enough. Andy 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Steve 20,611 Posted March 17, 2022 Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 ooooooooooh nice one Andy. I still have a couple of armies tucked away in the cupboard for a rainy day, (Tomb King, Tau, Grey Knights and Wood Elves) but I'm just not in the mood yet and I have buy new paints for them (and GW stuff is expensive here). I used to love painting the miniatures and did the same as you, build an army and join a group but it ended up that I basically just sat painting figures (and painted other peoples too) Yeah, I was really sad I shall be following with intrest 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gorby 17,213 Posted March 17, 2022 Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 23 minutes ago, Tolvcat said: You sweet talker Well, I know you're rich, flaunting your pennies around like that. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hutch6390 2,153 Posted March 17, 2022 Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 They are very well painted, Andy - nice . The thing on the left, though, I'm sure I've got one in the garden. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dixieflyer 4,388 Posted March 17, 2022 Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 Nice figures Andy. You can't hide money, so don't even try. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tolvcat 3,529 Posted March 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 9 minutes ago, dixieflyer said: Nice figures Andy. You can't hide money, so don't even try. I'm rich. Rich I tells ya!! At least I have two brass ha'pennies to rub together Andy 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grunhertz 17,460 Posted March 18, 2022 Report Share Posted March 18, 2022 Nice work andy 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tolvcat 3,529 Posted March 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2022 (edited) The next man on the team is a catcher, useful or else that thrower up there is just tossing balls about for fun. It's the usual 4 part figure, although there is an optional head with separate hair. I decided that I'd leave the loin cloth bit off until everything was painted. This made it much easier to paint but came back to bite me as it won't actually fit in place with the bent leg already attached. This caused some words to be said, some wrangling to happen and quite a bit of touching up/repainting. Lesson learned Took ages and some support to get the figure to stick to the base. A pin would have helped but I was being a brave little soldier and carried on regardless. First paint. Light green for the main strip and dark for the boots and gloves. First shading colour is on both, green ink for the body and black green for the rest. Body is dry brushed with a mix of base colour and yellow. Dark green is bry brushed with light grey to bring out the detail and define the edges. Looks a bit of a mess at this point, but it's planned Missed a couple of steps because if you want a How To... there are a million on Youtube all done by people a world better at this than me. Basically, another ink wash blends the colours, then details are painted, washed and highlighted until you get to here - this is after I'd dismantled him, clagged everything back together then fixed the vast expanses of broken paint. Few details to finish, then decals and onto the base. Should be done tonight/tomorrow. Andy Edited March 21, 2022 by Tolvcat 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Steve 20,611 Posted March 21, 2022 Report Share Posted March 21, 2022 Very nice sir 😬👍 I see you are an old schooler like me, paint, ink, drybrush... 😬 Citadel made their paints just too complicated for me 😬 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tolvcat 3,529 Posted March 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2022 26 minutes ago, Mad Steve said: Very nice sir 😬👍 I see you are an old schooler like me, paint, ink, drybrush... 😬 Citadel made their paints just too complicated for me 😬 Thank you. It's a technique that works on everything except aircraft. Got to paint them proper Citadel paints are a nightmare these days. I've just got a basic palette and I fill in with Vallejo, Tamiya or whatever does the job. I'm a paint tart but even I have limits. Andy 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grunhertz 17,460 Posted March 21, 2022 Report Share Posted March 21, 2022 looks great 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dixieflyer 4,388 Posted March 21, 2022 Report Share Posted March 21, 2022 2 hours ago, Mad Steve said: Citadel made their paints just too complicated for me 😬 How so? Not doubting you, but I have shopped for Citadel paints in over 15 years, so I'm out of the loop. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Steve 20,611 Posted March 21, 2022 Report Share Posted March 21, 2022 The old system of the basic paints, and the washes (inks) was replaced a good couple years ago with base coats, shading... actually Dixie its better if you have a look on the GW website to see the whole idea. Im sure the change was a move towards the future... I just think it sucked* 😬 * still have friends that are slaves to the Workshop and messed around with their new paints... but the old way is still better in my opinion Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tolvcat 3,529 Posted March 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2022 16 minutes ago, dixieflyer said: How so? Not doubting you, but I have shopped for Citadel paints in over 15 years, so I'm out of the loop. 9 minutes ago, Mad Steve said: The old system of the basic paints, and the washes (inks) was replaced a good couple years ago with base coats, shading... actually Dixie its better if you have a look on the GW website to see the whole idea. Im sure the change was a move towards the future... I just think it sucked* 😬 * still have friends that are slaves to the Workshop and messed around with their new paints... but the old way is still better in my opinion To expand on what Steve said and save you messing around with GW because their site is horrible, they now have four basic ranges plus some specials. You have Base colours which are proper paints that you're supposed to use the other's over, then Layer which are a bit thinner and meant for building up subtle shades and changes of tone. Then there's Contrast which is a fairly new addition. They're thinner again but not quite inks, and I have only bought one and can't think what the point of it is. Finally there is Shade, which is basically the old inks under a new name. Just for fun, all their myriad colours are unique to a range - I used Caliban Green for the dark green above which is a Base and so dark you really have to work to get any sort of shading on it, then Elysian Green and Troll Slayer Orange which are both Layers even though I wasn't using them over anything and need several coats and some inks to make them look good.The whole lot is a mess. And the pots have stupid flip lids that snap shut when you're in the middle of painting then don't close properly when you're finished so you end up with three quarters of a pot of crimson ink splashed over you, your work bench and your pale grey carpet. Bah Humbug!! Andy 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dixieflyer 4,388 Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 Thanks Andy, got it. I must say, when they went to the flip lids, I was kind of put off. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Steve 20,611 Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 The paints always seemed to last longer in the screw top bottles. 😬 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tolvcat 3,529 Posted March 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 The grey I used for drybrushing over the dark green is a Vallejo paint that's coming up 17 years old. Can't imagine any of the GW ones lasting like that 😔 Andy 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dixieflyer 4,388 Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 4 hours ago, Tolvcat said: The grey I used for drybrushing over the dark green is a Vallejo paint that's coming up 17 years old. Can't imagine any of the GW ones lasting like that 😔 Andy Truth, they don't last long. I recently culled my hobby paints, and found a few pots of GW I'd never opened from 10+ years ago all dried up. No thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skwonk 8,176 Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 Nice work. I use Citadel paints quite often and recently tried Vallejo skin tones but I prefer mixing Citadels as I find them easier to blend and Nunny (Nuln) is one of my must haves. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tolvcat 3,529 Posted March 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 2 hours ago, skwonk said: Nice work. I use Citadel paints quite often and recently tried Vallejo skin tones but I prefer mixing Citadels as I find them easier to blend and Nunny (Nuln) is one of my must haves. Thank you. For the kind of figures you do then blending is a must but for mine I can be a bit more Impressionist. In my teens I read an article in Military Modelling about painting faces using enamels and got reasonably good at it by following the instructions (apart from eyes, I've never been able to do them) and keeping the paint wet long enough to blend seems to be key. I'm assuming Citadel must be OK for that, but Vallejo definitely isn't, dries way too quickly. I'm with you on Nunny - much more versatile than pure black, and less stark when it dries. Andy 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tolvcat 3,529 Posted April 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 Came to a temporary stop while management did a test on my workbench ergonomics. They were found to be good, so I was allowed to get back to the job in hand. I've been putting this one off. There are two in the team, they're naked to the waist and I HATE painting skin. I painted the bottom half and then had to repair it three times as I splashed paint around with gay abandon trying to get an effect on the top half I could live with. Just about there - I think the big difference is not having a vision of what I wanted before I started which makes everything an experiment in vague. Couple of quick and dirty pictures. He'll be finished... eventually. The inside of his right arm looks like it could do with some touching up there but as the pic is several times life size it probably won't happen as it's much less obvious at normal viewing ranges/angles in real life. Andy 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grunhertz 17,460 Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 Far better than I could do 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tolvcat 3,529 Posted April 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 Calling him done. I could spend the rest of eternity tidying up edges, overpainting splashes &c, but I checked and it turns out I don't care and that's OK Pics: Front Back And the legendary penny shot for scale. The Tree Man is the only unique figure left in the team and then I am into repeats and filling out the ranks. Andy 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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