Snow and Ice

Yet another episode of Painting Dark Sword is complete!  This had a few interesting twists, starting with the miniature itself.  There is an entire line of Game of Thrones figures withing the Dark Sword stable of sculpts, and this Spearwife is the very first!

I was also trying to show what it is like to match a color scheme that you have never seen before.

Finally, I wanted to present an alternative to my usual Crushed Glass method, because it can be difficult to get those materials outside of the US.  I used a combination of Woodland Scenics snow flock and Vallejo Snow texture.  

I have used this method on my Bolt Action figures, and it is a nice way to get some snow with texture and even tinted with some color!

Here's the finished result.  I think that I will have to try an replicated this on a few of my own Spearwives from the Song of Ice and Fire miniatures game!

There was also a freehand pattern which needed to be matched, which was one more challenge.  I show a quick way to figure out a pattern on a separate piece of sculpey in order to familiarize myself with that design.  It makes it MUCH easier to paint it on the figure itself.

Finally, I wanted to discuss putting some of your own personality or look on the figure, even though you are replicating a scheme done by someone else.  It can be very subtle, or very dramatic.  It is very important to think through something like that before you get too involved in painting the figure.

More Dark Sword videos are under way right now!  The $10 pledge will provide you with all previous episodes, as I try to make these "build" off each other.  You can find that here on the patreon page: www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

The peacock and the skull

Here are a few bases that I created in very little time utilizing some Green Stuff World basing products.  First, we have the Mandala texture roller... here's a link for you: http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/textured-rolling-pins/868-rolling-pin-mandala.html

In combination with a few layers of cork and placing some Sandy Paste in the gaps, this Dark Sword figure is all set for painting!

Cathy will be painting this on her live stream in association with More Than Dice a Podcast.  She streams every Tuesday through Friday from 3pm Central to 5pm.

I think she will be going with a peacock motif, using the wonderful Jade color from the Pro Acryl series!

Cathy will also be painting this Reaper figure, which was based with the help of the Green Stuff World Crunch Times skeleton sheet and some additional skulls.

Once again, in combination with the cork and paste, those could be merged together quite seamlessly!  I have a tutorial video showing how those are used here:  https://youtu.be/ECA4rXwSAjU

Be sure to check out Cathy's live stream, where she will be working on a few different figures during the week.  Be sure to say something in the chat, because she loves the company while she paints!!!

Dark Runes

Dark Sword figures provide an excellent "canvas" for various tutorials, and this one was no exception!  There were a few things I wanted to try out, as I have been doing a lot of NMM on all the Song of Ice and Fire minis.

The home made wet palette made another appearance as well, as the fans keep drying out paints like crazy during the lessons!

Here's an example of what I was trying to replicate... some metal effects done on a Sandor Clegane figure from the Song of Ice and Fire range.

For those who are able to watch the tutorial, they will see how I take the reference images and carry over those effects onto the figure, especially all the reflections.  Once I started using armor cosplayers images as references as opposed to pictures of armor in museums, I began to get a better idea of what armor looks like in an "environment".

The other major goal of the lesson was to demonstrate how to integrate freehand designs more spontaneously, and have them match the basing.

You can see that in this image, where I used the Green Stuff World Celtic theme texture roller to create an ancient stone temple base.  During the video, I show a few simple steps to replicating those patterns on the cloak.  This is Episode 16 of Painting Dark Sword.  

In each video, I try to show a few different elements... sometimes that is a specific color, or a range of colors.  It can also involve a certain technique, or how to combine various techniques.

I even switch up the materials, as some are painted in oils.

All of these are part of the Painting Dark Sword pledge level on the Patreon Page.

The Dark Sword pledge level is $10 per month, and also provides access to other "stand alone" tutorials which are done each month. You can check that out here:  www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Dark Powers

The latest Painting Dark Sword tutorial is now up for viewing on the Patreon Page!  Since I have focused a lot of recent tutorials on painting white, I thought it would be interesting to go in the opposite direction, and discuss painting those very dark colors!

It is not very difficult to get a nice variety of tones in what is perceived as "black", especially if you utilize the Reaper Miniatures Liner paints.  These are very dark colors which also glaze very well.  They make an ideal start to getting those darker tones, and making sure there's more warmth or coolness in a given area.

That is how you can get that added interest, by making some parts more of a warm dark grey, others a cooler blue, or even a blueish green.  At one point I even use purple to create additional accents.

There are a few little twists in the video, such as the Object Source Lighting, but the home made wet palette is quite the surprise!  It was all very accidental, which I explain in the video.  I took just a few household items and put that together in a matter of minutes!

While it was not essential by any means, an earlier marathon painting session (working on 2 dozen figures at once!) showed that it could be useful.  Those figures all had different color schemes, so it was nice to have the wet palette on hand to work with all those different tones.

With each episode of Painting Dark Sword, I try to take on a few different techniques, or discuss a certain principle.  Several of the Dark Sword videos have gone into great detail on a specific color, such as yellows, reds, greens, blues, and so on.

There are other videos that show how to combine multiple techniques on one figure, and others that show how to deal with multiple light sources for an OSL effect.  I also have a few that dive into Non Metallic Metals, as well as a few videos that show how to use oil paints!  In fact, the next episode will be an oil painting tutorial.

You can see how the use of the cooler, more muted dark grays can be used to intensify the "fire" effect.  I talk about this every time I do an OSL tutorial, as it is so important.  

There is even a quick little demo on how I made that wet palette, which was essentially free!

That Dark Sword pledge is $10 per month, and will also provide access to other "one off" tutorials produced which focus on specific techniques, such as blood spatter, weathering, etc.  You can find that here on the Patreon Page: www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Warrior Sons

The most complicated and challenging Army Painting tutorial series is now complete!  I am uploading the 5th and final episode of a 13.5 hour epic.

It all began with basing, of course, with a technique very similar to what was used on the Pyromancer bases: https://wappellious.blogspot.com/2019/05/world-in-flames.html

Balancing the rainbow cloak effects with the shimmering armor and swords meant "building" each effect evenly, since so much of it was reflected on many surfaces!

Managing that over 12 figures all at once can seem like a daunting task, but if you step back in think things through, it can be broken down into more easily managed chunks.

I also kept the amount of paint colors used to an absolute minimum, even though we really do have every color of the rainbow.

Seeing units like this on the battlefield is a real joy, and the satisfaction of knowing how many effects that I put into creating it will surely come through on the upcoming battle reports.  yes, that's right... battle reports!

Here you can see how the basing works hand in hand with the miniatures.  In some cases, you can see a bit of color on the worn, broken stones.  Not just areas of red and yellow paint, but even some cut leaves in a similar color as well.

Using the Reaper Miniatures Pearl White allowed me to get an extra bit of texture on the robes, in effect resembling the semi shiny fabric such as silk.  I had never tried anything like this before, so it was certainly interesting.

While the Army Painting series are the most unique part of the patreon offerings, I have dozens of other tutorials, such as the Dark Sword miniature series, Creature Caster, Big Child Creatives and countless "one off" videos like this:  https://youtu.be/1mMsq-Ktru0

I am working my way through all of the various Song of Ice and fire armies... Lannister in this case, but also Free Folk, Starks, Night's Watch and Boltons.  Here's another video focused on Ghost, which is an example of the "one off" tutorials: https://youtu.be/dB4qtag5r9g

Be sure to check out the Patreon Page, where you can get in on the Army Painting pledge level.  Keep in mind that when you sign up, all the previous series (plus the other videos beyond the Army Painting tutorials) are yours to access!!  Here's a link: www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

The Brain Trust

As much as I love painting the rank and file miniatures from Song of Ice and Fire, I really enjoy painting the Non Combat units, or NCU's.  These are not only very characterful miniatures, they also do a lot in the game itself.

This is probably my favorite aspect of the game and how it plays.  Changing out the NCU's (as well as the unit attachments) can completely transform your army without having to alter your normal combat units at all!

I realize that most people only use 2 of these non combat characters, but I like to have 3.  This lets me cause even more trouble each turn (the NCU's can't be killed), but can even deny the opponent that one space they really need for whatever combo they have in mind.

I can 'waste' an NCU on an area that I don't want, but certainly keep the opponent from jumping on it.  Should they also have 3 of these NCU's, they must now make a very hard choice... do the big combat move on the battlefield, or potentially have a character be left off the political track completely!

I will be doing a lot of tutorials on the various characters that I am painting.  Several of these have already been posted to the Patreon page, but you can also see some other YouTube live sessions here that showcase NCU's:   https://youtu.be/DAU3njr2Qc8