Would you like a mini with that base?

As promised, here are some step by step shots of Elinda Hammerforge from Stonehaven miniatures.  This was one of numerous dwarf role playing style figures they created for their recent kickstarter!

You have already seen the base, so now it is time to check out the miniature.

Using the normal shaded basecoat technique, I went to my lightest shades as quickly as possible.

In this image, you see all the lightest shades set up , waiting for those glazes!!

Some quick glazes in place.  As I shade areas darker, I try to tint them various colors. For instance, I use a blue/black on the metal surfaces, a yellow brown on the clothes. and then some reddish washes and glazes elsewhere.

Those glazes were enhanced by mixing in brown liner and other regular paints with those later glazes

After working back into my middle tones, I did some reflected lights from the forge onto the metal surfaces.  It will all make sense when you see her on the finished base!  Stay tuned :-)

Hammering out the rest of the Blacksmith forge base

Back to the base!  After establishing all the lighter colors, I had one last thing to do before the darks were added.  That is, a bit of yellow white mixed with the fluorescent yellow for the base of the hot coals.

I used the fluorescent orange as a transparent glaze over that light color.

I mixed in a bit of red with that orange, and did more glazes.  Then I used a reddish brown to re-work the coals, and tighten up the reflected light on the anvil.

Now some black is mixed in with the red/brown, and the coals are darkened further.

Time to start glazing the whole thing!  Darks are spread around everywhere, but the forge is the most important, in order to set up the big time contrast...

This shows some of the washes and glazes on the rest of the base.

To me, the best way to show soot and ash was to break out the weathering powders!  I did a light grey ash color on the base and on the anvil, but a tan mix on the light part of the bricks.

I saved the black soot for last, and tried to be smart with it.  Too much would ruin everything I had tried to set up until that point.

I tried to make a bit of a 'path' from the forge to the anvil with the black soot.

Then it was time to finish off the miniature!  Stay tuned for a step by step on that!

Hammer and Anvil: Creating a Blacksmith's forge

This is the first of the Stonehaven kickstarter miniatures that I will be working on.  She is Elinda Hammerforge.  

Since these dwarf figures are supposed to be more character than random miniatures, I want to make bases that really fit the theme or story behind them.

So, it was off to the internet to see some images of blacksmith's forges.  The challenge would be to find something that would not only fit on the base, but not overwhelm the figure!

I decided on a simple brick forge... one that might also let me get some glowing light on the miniature.

I started by cutting a scrap of baked sculpey into rectangles...

The rectangles were weathered, and then put in place.

I glued in some rocks and gravel to create the coals...

Time to start painting!!

My first layers were designed to establish those warm and cool areas that you hear me mention so often!

As I work lighter, I introduce some new colors.  For instance, some tan was placed onto the bricks.  I did this in order to set up the very dark soot that would be added much later.

Cooler greys are used to lighten a majority of the surfaces.

I continue to lighten all areas, knowing that later I will be adding lots of soot and ash.

The conclusion of the Forge base will be posted tomorrow!  Stay tuned!

Winter's coming... work in progress Chaos Dwarfs

This was  project for a small blood bowl league that never quite got off the ground.

I had made the stadium many years ago.  There is a previous post with a few pictures of the Glacier Dome, and all the mischevious penguin fans inside.

This is more about the new miniatures I had been painting for the team.  The original Juneau Icebergs were a chaos dwarf team.  They were the very first minis I ever tried to paint back in 1995.

I was very interested in trying to reprise that old team, knowing what I know now!

The colors of the team are very similar, but I had learned so much since that first try!  Just the flesh tones alone were so different, as I did each figure with a different shade.

Also, the bases were a good deal fancier, using some baked sculpey to simulate the ice.

When I get a chance to continue working on this set of figures, I will be sure to make another blog post!

The bases themselves will be getting a heavy dose of gloss coat, similar to what I did on the Impact Hockey players a while back.

I also have a coach figure riding on a polar bear that is hilarious!  You're going to like that one. :-)

Here's the team out on the field.

As always, I love making logos, and this was very fun!

It's too bad the league did not take off, since these lads were off to a great start...

First step on the road to Adepticon! The color test finished.

Here she is!  It was a bit of a relief to finally have paint on an Adepticon miniature! :-)

I have been assembling, basing and generally prepping the whole army for well over a year.  It felt good to have something that was not grey or white or black or some shade of unfinishedness...

At this point, I think I will work on one or two more figures from this unit before I move on to the vehicles or even the jetbikes.

I hope that you will enjoy seeing this army progress the same way the Tomb Kings did!  Eventually there will even be a display board!  Looking forward to that!

The next figure in line is another Raging Heroes sci-fi Vestal, this time with a shardnet and impaler.  That proved really handy in that test game that Rich and I did.  It helped the tiny squad survive long enough for the Incubi to join in!

Finishing the color test figure for the Dark Eldar

Here we have the conclusion of the first Raging Heroes Sci-Fi Vestal.  It is also my first color test miniature for my Adepticon tournament army!

When I last left you, I had everything just about set up for the glazing and tinting stage.  My first step was to take some Druichii violet and Drakenhoff Nightshade and do a series of glazes on the hair and the whip.  The idea was to use the colors I had already painted as a 'backdrop', so that this new transparent layer would tint  colors that were extremely blue towards a purple shade.  This would make it clash less with the red armor.

The whip also got the same treatment, for the same reason.  That is the whole point behind starting out with brighter than needed colors.  

Also at this time, I mixed some sepia with the violet glaze and hit the armor.  The flesh tone was shaded darker by using flow improver to thin down a pinkish/grey mix.  I put that color into the recesses. 

I did a second and third round of glazes to establish the darkest darks.  Once that was done, it was time to work back into the middle tones.  The darkest shades had also been completed on the flesh...

The flesh tones are lightened in the same way as the fantasy Vestal from earlier in the week, using a Vallejo pale green.  I mixed a warm red color to work into the armor.  The hair got some lighter colors as well, with the idea that some parts of the highlights would be more purple/pink, and others more sky blue.

The flesh tone gets more highlights, and I start to work on the agonizer.  I thought it would be fun to have various colors of lighter dots which would be a contrasting color towards the end of the whip.

Here's an image that shows the pinkish highlights on the hair next to the sky blue highlights.

Final highlights are done on the flesh, hair, pistol and armor.

Color test pieces like this are very challenging.  I ended up switching colors mid stream several times, which is why I could not be more exact in my description of what colors I was using!  As I was painting this, I had to keep in mind how the Venom was going to be painted, and what colors I would use.

Add to that the notion of painting figures you had not painted before, and it makes things pretty interesting :-)

I will post shots of the finished figure tomorrow!

The Road to Adepticon begins NOW! Work in progress on a color test mini

You have seen a few examples of the Raging Heroes fantasy Vestals, so it is high time that you get to see the sci-fi versions!

This figure is a color test for my Dark Eldar army for Adepticon 2013.  Each squad is going to be a different set of colors.  The basing will be the same for all squads, and here is an example of a painted base.

Starting with the figure, I try to establish the same flesh tone that you saw in the fantasy Dark Elf tone earlier this week.

The hair color is put in place to give me a guide as to how light the flesh tone needs to be.  I mixed a dark blue green with a bit of deep purple, and then used a sky blue to lighten it.

The hair is lightened further, by mixing in some very pale flesh color with the sky blue.

Time to establish the armor color, as well as the agonizer.

The next post will illustrate some of the glazing and tinting which took place.  Stay tuned!

Had to make something quick to chow down on while watching the SEC Championship game!!