Friday, July 12, 2013

Painting with Powders... it can be done!


OK!  As mentioned yesterday... a miniature painted entirely with 'weathering' powders!

Yes indeed.  No kidding.  Even the base.  In fact, I am really enjoying painting the bases with the powders.  It might even get more interesting when I try out the other Secret Weapon products that make snow and mud.

There was a great deal for me to learn to make those powders work as a painting material.  It is not easy, and you really have to think and plan ahead.

The reason I thought it might gel with what I am doing is that planning ahead is a big part of it.  Starting lighter, knowing that eventually I will be tinting and shading everything darker.

Even with this technique, starting lighter and working darker is a great approach.  You can create de-facto 'glazes' using the fixer product.


For the time being, bright colors are not something that would be possible using the powders, which is why this is more of an "earth tone" piece.  There is a logical explanation for this paradigm.  The vast majority of powders are made for weathering or related techniques, so they are naturally more muted.

If you want to lighten the colors, you can apply them as a 'powder', without any liquids or mediums.  This will give you a very nice smooth look, although you will have to spray it later with dullcoate to seal it.

The original intent for this video was for painting large creatures, but I really wanted to push the limits to see what is possible.  You will find that working on a large miniature after doing this little lady will make it seem a lot easier!  Working with much bigger brushes on the large surfaces should be very nice!


Spiders everywhere!


OK, after another very long night of work, we conclude with some group shots of the Spider Horde.  This really puts the Arachnid in "Arachnids of Evil"!


This represents the spider element of the new army.  They are accompanied by Morghul knight cavalry, and the Shadow Lord on Fell Beast.  My concept is, as I mentioned before, speed and hard hitting multi-wound units.  


With the protection of the Shadow Lord from shooting (as well as terrain for the spiders), I am hoping to be able to deliver some serious punches to the opponent.  The Shadow Lord is supposed to help neutralize banners and captains, either by shooting them down, compelling them, or picking them up and tossing them aside.

The Spider Queen s also supposed to provide a sudden advantage at the point of attack by spawning the broods.  She can also knock down cavalry units, and provide a high strength fight skill 6 set of attacks on pesky leaders.


I am also counting on the multiple attacks and poison of the giant spiders.  They also have a high fight skill, and multiple attacks.  In conjunction with cavalry charges, I think they can be quite deadly.

For those who may not have seen the original posts of those giant spiders, here are a few.


I used WFB spider mounts for goblins.  There is a post that shows how I used green stuff to convert them into giant spiders...


Now it is time to finish off that Shadow Lord on Fell beast!!