Release the Hounds!

The latest unit painted for Victoria Miniatures complete with the shotguns and their dusters are the Sandor Rad Hounds!  Here they are on the website:  https://victoriaminiatures.com/collections/regiments-of-the-galaxys-finest/products/sandor-rad-hounds-10-man-squad

These coats were very similar to the Bolt Action winter Soviets that I painted for an earlier Army Painter series.  While the overall color is tan, I attempted to work in greens in some areas of darker tones.  This gives a little more depth and interest to those shadow areas.

There was also much more of the copper metals required to match the color scheme I had to work from.  Such is the case when doing commission pieces... you have to stick with "but also reinterpret at times" what is required.

All of the figures you have seen here on the blog and the video tutorials will be on display in the giant display cabinet which Victoria usually sets up at Adpeticon.  Come into the vendor's hall and check that out!!! :-)

I have done a of these squads as Tutorial series, which you can find on my YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glLigbsoHRQ

Tannenburgs!

The Tannenburg Fusiliers series progresses... on to Episode 2, and the next phase in completing the unit.  This involves a lot of intensive work in those middle tones, where most of the interest can be generated for the viewer.

This is more than just making things lighter.  At this point, you are also trying to work in some color twists, where things are tinted slightly different from the "main" color.  As an example, in the dark blue of the coats, some shadow areas might be a little more green, or even a shade of purple.

When the person looks at it from a distance, it will appear as dark blue.  But when they look closer, that is when they might see those extra tones that were included.

It is very surprising how little it takes to tint one color in a different direction along that color wheel!  Blues have a huge range... from nearly green to almost purple.  Most focus is on how light or dark a color is, but that range of warm to cool, saturated to less saturated plays a huge part in how it is perceived.

Even in this example, the coats are not just darker than the pants... there is a lot more green involved, and there is some brown tossed in as well to make it more muted.  In contrast, the pants have a bit more red in them, and the color is much more saturated.

These are all concepts that are discussed in every episode that I film.  I am nearly finished with Series 6 on the Patreon page, which really dives into this notion of saturated vs unsaturated colors, and how warm or cool a color might be.  Here's a link to the page, where you can check it out: https://www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Here's a link to Episode 2, where I tackle that "middle phase" of working in the mid tones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVNM6OImXmA

Feeling Hexed?

I don't do dark color schemes very often, and I paint heavily weathered dark color schemes even less!  This is one of those rare times, and it is for the Hexenheim Stormtroopers  made by Victoria Miniatures.

Here's a link to the store where you can see how the various parts work together:

https://victoriaminiatures.com/collections/regiments-of-the-galaxys-finest/products/hexenheim-storm-troopers-10-man-squad

It can be challenging enough to keep a "compressed" color scheme interesting, but when it is this dark you have to find those variations wherever possible.  That might mean putting a touch of dark green in the shadows of something which seems reddish, or putting some blueish tints in coats that are supposed to be a warm gray.

That can be even more important when you are going to add weathering effects like mud spatter.

On these figures, the mud spatter had to be a warm tan color, so the coats had to be a 'neutral' tone.  Ideally that would be slightly cooler, because the warm mud tones would contrast with that a little more.

Of course, having very bright and saturated elements like the glowing eye pieces and the targeting lights help to make a good place for the eye to focus on.  

Normally I work in much brighter and saturated color ranges.  However, it is possible to get far more color into a so called limited palette.

Here's a link to the Broolian Beastmen video, which also involved a "compressed" color range:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glLigbsoHRQ

The Beast Inside

Yet another Army Painting tutorial series begins!  This time we have the Broolian Beastmen Close Combat Squad from Victoria Miniatures.  Here's a link to the first episode, where the "color test" figure is painted:  https://youtu.be/glLigbsoHRQ

The Color Test figure is always very important, because it is where you can figure out the color scheme of your army, and how long various effects might take on each one!  Keeping track of how long it takes you to paint a certain effect on the mini will let you know if you want to spend that much time executing that effect on every figure in the army, or just save it for special characters.  

This is something that I discuss over and over again in all my Army Painting series on the Patreon Page.  I call it the "Currency of Time", and it is in limited supply for all of us.  While there are nifty things that we would all like to do on our armies, sometimes choices have to be made.

Hopefully these tutorials help you on those decisions, but also give you a LOT of added tools and knowledge to make those less difficult.  After all, if the figures take less time to paint, you have more time for special effects... or even another army! ;-)

The rest of the multi part series will be available to the patrons of the Patreon Page.  Signing up for the $15 Army Paintinng pledge level will provide access to all the previous series (there are 7 already!) since those are designed to build on what has gone before.  That means you will have at least 13-20 hours of video tutorials each month, filled with all kinds of techniques and mediums!  Here's the link: www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

The Blue Bloods

As we head towards Adepticon, I have been working on all of the various Guard squads created by Victoria Miniatures.  In this case, we have the Tanneburg Fusiliers.  Since I am already filming a number of Army Painting series for the Patreon Page, I have turned on the camera to capture the methods I use for tackling whole units such as these.

The Army Painter series is usually 5 episodes long, starting with the basing process and color test figures.  However, with the basing being a simpler rock and gravel, I went straight to the painting of the unit.  A typical series covers about 10-12 hours of total instructional video.

In addition to the Army Painter series, a $15 pledge also gets you the other tutorials created during the month, such as the Dark Sword and Black Heart Models videos.  This means you get around 16-20 hours of brand new videos every month.

Those are available on the Patreon Page now... and keep in mind that I am filming Series 6, 7, and 8 right now!  Don't miss out on a ton of instructional video covering all aspects of painting, basing, etc.  Here's the page: www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Here's a link to the first video, which will show how I set up the process and get things started!!

https://youtu.be/nTHBkXNCDlw

Law of the Jungle

Here we have another interesting squad from Victoria Miniatures!  These are Van Deimen's World Devils.  This is a very typical 10 man squad, with all the normal weapon options you would need for your 40K games.

You can check them out on the website here:  https://victoriaminiatures.com/collections/regiments-of-the-galaxys-finest/products/van-diemens-world-devils-universal-5-man-squad

These figures are done in the good old style of head, torso, arms and legs being individual parts.  This is really important for creating more interesting and unique figures.  Each set is designed to be interchangeable with other sets, which means you can swap out a lot of pieces!

I added a little bit of paper jungle foliage to these guys...

While the color scheme is obviously "compressed" somewhat, I still managed to work in plenty of variations on the skin tones, clothes, packs, etc.

 I used the Vallejo Metal medium again to create the effects on the guns, mixing it with the blue and brown liner paints to create some very dark metals!

I am in the process of filming a tutorial series on another squad of Victoria Miniatures, most of which will be available only to the patrons on the Patreon Page.  It will be very similar to the existing "Army Painter" series 1 through 5, where I take you through the process of your initial shaded basecoat and glazes to the final details!

Those will be posted here very soon:  www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Girl Power

Up next from Victoria Miniatures are the Svargan Shock Soldats!

It was very interesting painting these so soon after painting my Winter Soviets for Bolt Action.  The equipment was similar enough to the actual units to really make me think twice about what I was doing.

These would certainly make an interesting Guard Army.  As always, there are lots of extra bits and options for heads, torsos, arms, weapons, etc.

There are 10 man squads available in male or female options.

The snow technique that I used this time around was a more basic application of Vallejo Snow Texture, sprinkled with Woodland Scenics snow flock before it dried.

Getting a bit of the snow on the figures themselves is very helpful in making them seem like part of the environment.  I know that just walking to the store 2 blocks away during a snowfall can leave my jacket and hat covered in snow/ice!

Here's a link to the website where you can find the Soldats:

https://victoriaminiatures.com/collections/regiments-of-the-galaxys-finest/products/svargan-shock-soldats-10-woman-squad

Girl Power

This unit is from Victoria Miniatures, called the Rausenbergs siege corps.  Some of you might recognize the uniforms, as they are the same ones provided with the large cannon unit from the BONES 4 kickstarter campaign!

One of the most unique features of Victoria's line is that you can field female troops such as these.  You can mix and match them with their male counterparts or just go with an all female Guard army!

Here's a link to the site, and the Rausenbergs:

https://victoriaminiatures.com/collections/rausenburg-siege-corps

It was interesting to use much of the Field Green colors from my early war German forces on the great coats.  That very distinctive greenish gray...

You can mix and match the torsos and arms, like the good old days!  This means that you can use these as tank commanders, rough riders, just about anything you need.

The arms and weapons swap out easily, and there are loads of extra hands, grenades, packs and other gear as well.  I am filming some how to tutorials on the next army, the Svargan Shock Soldats!

That will be posted to the YouTube channel soon... so stay tuned!