Big Bad Orc from Raging Heroes

Here is something I have been working on for a little while, tweaking and adjusting.  This is the figure for the all important "Shaded Basecoat" video.  I have actually filmed it twice, since it is so important to include all the information I want on that instruction set.

I chose this guy (minus the boss pole on the back) because it has so many different types of surfaces.  Flat, round, clothes and skin, etc.  Also, the surfaces are somewhat broader, given its size.  That helps to demonstrate the principle of the shaded basecoat more easily.

I did not include the boss pole for time considerations.  There is a tiny window to do so, but I don't want to have to 'jump ahead' or anything of that sort.

I am also creating a sci-fi base that does not have any GW bits on it, just to stay safe.

This guy works very well with the filbert brushes, and shows up very nicely on camera. :-)  There is a Fantasy version of this figure that I have also used as a practice run.   

Many thanks to Raging Heroes!!!!  Their Kickstarter is imminent, and I have been working on the Kurgonova Sisters in my new army color scheme.  Once their countdown begins, I will start posting the images!

The view from within...

Now we need a few pictures from the inside of the Basilica Canus!

I had to put a few pieces of metal sheeting to make sure the raider would not fall off the board!

I tried to make sure I had chunks of destroyed vehicles that matched what I used for the base, which were also placed on the board...

The bikes racing around the bend!

Circus Maximus, indeed :-)

The Cronos resided on the upper level, along with a few of the Grotesques.

I think I could squeeze in a second Venom on this level!

I was very pleased that there was plenty of room for transport and passengers alike on the tops of the towers.

I bet you thought I forgot... :-)

No, I have not forgotten to snap some images of the Dark Eldar on the Basilica Canus!  Here is the first batch, mostly long shots and exterior views.

There is a surprising amount of room on here for additional units and minis, which is good.  That's because more are on the way!!

I was glad that there were a lot of good sight lines to all the various squads.

This will definitely be a very fun terrain piece for battles!  I can see all sorts of bloody action going on in here :-)

At first I was not sure if the upper levels would be adequate to hold the Venoms, the Raider and the Razorwing, but my fears were quickly dispelled.

More exterior views...

There were more touches that I wanted to add... more cracks in the walls, some freehand stuff inside the windows, etc.  I will do that later on just for fun.

Next up, some of the interior views and close ups!!!  Stay tuned!

Playing around with colors again

Now that we have a handful of the spiders, the color variations are more apparent.

On this spider, the main set of opposing colors was tan/yellow and purple.  The purple was used as the shading color so that it would 'grey down' the brighter yellowish tone enough to keep it in the same limited color set as the previous spiders.

This one is a little more 'visible' than the others, but not excessively so.  The colors are cool enough next to the lava so that the reflected light is still much brighter, creating the glow effect.  Using the fluorescent paints in the lava also helps to generate this circumstance.

The purple was a warmer shade, with much more red in it.  This kept the mixes from potentially turning green, or being too dull.

The next few spiders have the hard carapice, like the one on the right.  I will continue to vary the colors on this type as well.  All this color theory exercise is very helpful to dream up more helpful hints on the videos that emphasize expanding the range of one color... such as reds, or blues, or greens...

Itsy bitsy spider...

Time for some more spiders!  Trying out more of the Badger paints this time.  They definitely combine OK with standard paints.

It's interesting to try and get slightly different color feel on each spider, but keep them to as limited a palette as possible.  I am trying to keep all of the minis in this army to the same limitations... even the Morgul Knights.

I am looking forward to painting the Knights with the OSL of the lava reflections.

Here are some of the additional bases for the next couple of spiders.

Practice and experimentation

Last night was a bit of everything.  I was practicing the lava painting to see if I could learn some new tricks to put in the lava video.  I was trying to use less of the flourescent orange, emphasizing the mixing of magenta with standard yellow.  

Also, it was the first time I used the Badger paints for more than a brush stroke on a palette.  I was testing the ghost tints in particular, so see if they would make good glazing colors.

Using the Badger paints with a brush was great, since they are already thinned down!  I didn't have to use flow improver at all, which was cool.

I only used the very dark ghost tint on this spider.  I will be trying out some of the other ones as this moves along.  It seemed as if there was a bit of shininess... but I need to test out more colors.

I chose this type of base for the lava painting, since it is the easiest base for a newcomer to base construction.  It is also a little easier to replicate over the course of a whole army, as I am doing with this spider/Morgul Knight LOTR force!  Stay tuned for more!

Having some fun on the hardwood

Wow.  Some amazing effort by the IncrediBulls. :-)  Every time they play, you wonder how they even manage to get 5 players on the court.  Toughness personified!

Speaking of tough, these tree warriors from Raging Heroes needed to get those woodland bases I mentioned the other day.  So, I brought out the cork to position them on the base, and then some Apoxy sculpt to create some extra tree stuff for us to glaze!

These figures are slated for the glazing video.  We will be using some minimal initial layers of lighter colors, and doing the rest with all sorts of glazes and washes, including the bases!

Once the Apoxy sculpt set, I put down the sand and gravel.

I used the brown craft paint to prime the bases, since that does so well with absorbent surfaces such as cork and gravel, which regular primer has trouble covering...

Here are a few more views of the tree warriors.

After many weeks of prepping, I am getting much closer to having a full suite of minis for the various videos.  As I mentioned, there are a few of the videos that will have more than one miniature, so that you can get the most information on a given technique as possible!

This was quite the stunner.  It was so intense, all I could do at the time was slap primer and magnets on minis.

Cathy's Mom added another monkey to the family while they were here!

Stay tuned for more, including the Manticore from Raging Heroes...