Arcane Basing

The very first Army Painting series was an interesting phase in my journey of creating miniature painting tutorials.  This is the moment where I had to decide what sort of format I would use, and just how I would demonstrate my approach to painting units.  Ultimately I chose to do them in five 2 hour episodes.

As many of you already know, I really love basing, so I figured that it would be a good idea to begin with basing!  Here's an example of one of those episodes:  https://youtu.be/fj2dJEQ3x_c

With the basing complete, I shift to the color test figure.  This is where I decide what kind of effects I want to do on the figures.  I discuss the "Currency of Time", where I keep track of how much time a given effect takes, and how that might effect the overall time of the project.

For example, the champion figure needed a lot of decisions.  Should the "familiar" be glowing... and if it is, should it be a different color.  Ultimately I decided to make it the same color as the magical runes on the bases, since that seemed to make the most sense.

Even choosing which figure goes on which base can have a large impact on your choices.  Since the snake parts of the figure didn't see as detailed or interesting, I definitely wanted to have the glowing effects.  That gave me some options for creating more dimension in areas that did not quite have the cleanest textures.

Where the figure should be placed on the base was also discussed.  These views show you how much of the fantastic design can appear if you place the figure in the right spot.

There was some Non Metallic metals included in the series too.  This is another aspect of the videos, and that is to include as many different techniques as possible.  However, I try to make these less "scary", and treat them like any other effect, like snow bases, freehand, etc.

Pulling together all these different techniques in a cohesive manner is what makes the difference between a nicely painted unit and a pretty amazing one.  I try to tie in all these individual techniques into other stand alone episodes also available on the Patreon Page.  That includes the Dark Sword series, which is now on Episode 13!  These take things like OSL, color theory, etc, and focus them onto just one miniature.

All of those additional tutorials can be seen if you sign up for the $15 Army Painter monthly pledge.  This includes an average of 13-20 hours of tutorials each month!

The Army Painting pledge level is available on the Patreon Page, and Series 8 is well under way!  You can check that out here: www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Let the Army Painting begin!!

I have been very excited about the new pledge levels on the Patreon page... especially the "Army Painting" series of instructional videos.

This course takes you through the process of planning out the painting of units and therefore armies, starting with the bases, moving on to the color scheme, followed by the best way to approach that color scheme. 

These are usually 3-5 episodes, and cover all the aspects of army painting that I have developed over the years.  The idea is to get the most out of the appearance of the figures, but in a reasonable amount of time.

The first series has now been created for the backers of this new pledge level, and many topics came up during the process... fluorescent paints, object source lighting, non metallic metals, and so on.  My goal is to tackle different genres with each set, and different materials.

For instance, I want to show how to use oils, do weathering techniques, etc. on future units.  I'll be covering 40k, Bolt Action, more fantasy units, steampunk, etc.

As some of you who are already familiar with the Painting Pyramid know, I start out with the Shaded Basecoat, which was initially developed as I painted my armies.

Here's a blast from the past!!

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/p/using-shaded-basecoat-technique-to.html

Back in 2013-14, I did a kickstarter campaign in which I created 53 different videos, each one about 100 minutes long.  Many topics were covered, including 12 videos on basing techniques and 5 on terrain!

I have been adding to that collection with all new videos, which are available to the patrons.  The new Painting Pyramid videos are designed to incorporate my newest techniques and materials with the methods that I developed in previous years.

Since the original Pyramid days, I have gotten a host of new materials, and they have made life much easier, and opened up so many new options!

There are a lot of things planned for the army painting pledges!  I even have an option to get "hard copy" versions of the videos on a USB drive.  These are higher resolution versions, and you can watch them anytime you want.

Here's a link to the page"

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

The Ancient Past

Here's another one of those very old GW minis, long out of print.  It was a practice piece that I used as a spot demo, and then finished off later.  The idea was to show how the shaded basecoat and glazing technique could still be utilized on something even as ancient as this!

Of course, these 20-25 year old pieces don't have the kind of smooth, well defined lines of toady's minis, so it is very challenging.  Also, there is an additional challenge of attempting to break up these blockier shapes.  This means some fancy color work to try an add extra depth and dimension to the sculpt by making some interesting patterns in the mid tones and darker tones.

He's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/222593499218?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

Come over here...

I forgot how much fun these classic Dark Elf figures are to paint!  It's been at least 8 or 9 years sinceI last painted one.

Most of the metal figures I have like this were converted into Hekatrix Blood Brides, but I still have a few in "original condition" ;-)

She's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/321843071967?

Spilling Blood

I've been waiting for quite a while to put a figure on top of one of the Secret Weapon skull bases!  Finally I had my chance.

The idea was to fill in the 'open' base areas with pools of blood, as they were inset.

I gathered a few of the usual suspects, including the Realistic water, red liner, and Ruby wash.

The colors don't have to be that exact set... it only has to be close.

Most important is to have something dark and transparent to mix in with the Realistic Water.

The Clear Red was added to make a lighter version of the blood color, which could be smeared or spread along the sword blade.

This view sort of gives you that sense of transparency.

A few layers of this mix filled in those depressions around the skulls.

The finished result!

It really was the prefect miniature, as both the sword and severed head would be the perfect "source" for that pool of blood!

I created an entire 100 minute long video as part of my kickstarter series called Bloody Mess.

She's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/321840198043?

Dark Elf Dreadlord

Here's something that was hiding in the archives!

Not quite sure when this one was painted, but it had to be years ago.  Probably when I was painting those assassins...

Here's a link to those guys:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2012/02/something-bit-different-dark-elves.html

Back to work!

Dark Elf Hydra on sculpted bases

While it was not so much fun assembling the old style hydra and all its metal parts, I really enjoyed painting this piece.  The marble base was done during the height of my "Marble Phase". 

Something a bit different- Dark Elves!

I had a bunch of Dark Elf minis around the house, and I was pretty anxious to try them out.  It was a nice break from all the Lizards! :-)

A sorceress:


And a few Shades/Assassins


It was a lot of fun to do a slightly different color set, and paint some marble!

Here are a few Gameszone cold ones that I had to paint for Coolminiornot.  I think I did 5 or 6 of them: