Saturday, August 18, 2012

Forgeworld Zhuphor

Photobucket

I have painted this figure at least 3 times, but I believe this was the first one...

Photobucket

You can see that I liked demon faces on cloaks back then as well. :-)

 Photobucket

Photobucket

Look out, more Grey Knights...

Photobucket

Well, Slate Knights, perhaps. :-)

Here is a color of Grey Knights which I have not painted for years.  It is the original scheme that I did for my own Demonhunters back in the day.  Of course, all the available paint colors today are very different from the ones that I used in 2007!

Photobucket

There have been a few questions lately about how the whole "Shaded basecoat" deal works on Space Marines.  I thought some images here might give an idea of how that works.  There is an even more controlled 'drybrushing' that is used.  It is really more like wet drybrushing, if that does not sound too crazy.

Photobucket

These guys are just about ready for all the glazing and tinting.  The darks will become darker, and the midtones will be darkened and cooled down on the golds and reds.

Photobucket

I will post some images after all the glazing!

Friday, August 17, 2012

A little more on the Horseman movement tray...

Photobucket

Here are some pictures of the "extras", such as the sphinx and the bone piles.

Photobucket

These views from above give a nice look at how the additional bone plies help balance out the pile underneath the Death Mage, and repeat some of the colors found on the edge of the tray.

Photobucket

I wanted to have enough of the designs repeated on the bases, since so much of it will be covered up by the horsemen!

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

These images show the freehand on the sphinx.  I had thought about making it black or onyx, but I wanted it to look like a more pristine version than the ones you see on the upper level of the Tomb complex, not weathered.

Photobucket

It's always a good time to smush the Ugly Dolls!  They love it:-)  t makes them feel wanted.
Photobucket

A Dread like that needs a sweet ride...

Photobucket

Well, this was one of my most favorite "combo" paint schemes.  The deep reds and blue/black were a blast to paint!

Photobucket

Photobucket

Some images of the two together...

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

200K !!!! (You'll go blind if you keep doing that...)

Photobucket

Wow!  I just noticed that the blog has now exceeded 200,000 page views!  It seems like only yesterday it was at 100K.  Stop to blink for a second, and see what happens? ;-)

The blog only celebrated its 6th month anniversary less than 2 weeks ago.  My goodness.  Many thanks to anyone and everyone who has taken a part of their day and spent it browsing through this painting asylum!

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Hopefully you will still be just as entertained six months from now!

Photobucket

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Secrets of the Silver Pharaoh revealed...

Photobucket

So, moving on with the painting of the movement tray for the horsemen.  I occurred to me that I never did a step by step set of images on how I paint the hieroglyphs on the perimeter of the tray.  So, here it is!

I begin by painting the tan color around the perimeter, doing some cursory shading along certain parts so that it is not too boring, and also lets me have the highlighting show up much more.

Photobucket

If the highlights were placed against only the lighter tan, there would not be much effect!

Now for the translation.  I spent several hours doing the translations using a few websites and transferring that into a scaled down version that would fit along the outside of the tray.

Photobucket

I place this guide right next to the tray, and paint the designs:

Photobucket

The text is carried throughout the length of the tray, featuring the Cartouche of the Silver Pharaoh.
Photobucket

Once all the glyphs are in place, it is time to paint in some cracks...
Photobucket

Then it is time to highlight the edges of the cracks and the glyphs so that they look like they have been carved.

Photobucket

Now all the highlighting has been completed:

Photobucket

You can see how this really sets off the darker and cooler colors of the marble quite nicely!
Photobucket

So, you wanna be a miniature painter?  You also have to be a good dishwasher!  This is just a handful of the stuff that has been washed down this week. :-)  Fingers like prunes...

Photobucket

The Grand Experiment Begins: Painting the horsemen movement tray

Photobucket

OK, boys and girls, aliens, etc., it is time to see if my idea of using foam core as bases will work!

The whole idea behind this system is to see if I can get a more close fitting and level surface on which to paint my usual Tomb Kings base designs.  The previous system of baked sculpey sheets attached to regular GW bases gets really tough when you get beyond chariot and monster sized bases.  Lining up all those little 20mm pieces is almost impossible!

In case you have not see the original photo of the foam core, here it is:

Photobucket

I was able to get everything cut and magnetized, with nice precise edges.  Looking good!  However, I had to worry about warping all the pieces of foam core with acrylic paint, so I chose to use the same magnetic primer that worked so well on the army board.  It is oil based, and the meant no warping!

Photobucket

Here are the basic horses placed on the bases to set the pin holes in the bases...
Photobucket

Now it's time to start painting!

Photobucket

You can already see the all too familiar shapes start to emerge from the darkness...

Photobucket

I continue to bring out the demon faces and the skulls...

Photobucket

Working more light colors into the shapes, trying to make sure that at least some of this will be visible when all the miniatures are placed on the bases :-)

Photobucket

At this point, I am already trying to get some of the skulls to be quite faded, while others are allowed to be more prominent.
Photobucket

Continuing to lighten colors.  Also, I am leaving the skeletal remains, the rim of the tray, and the sphinx statue for later..
Photobucket

Now I go back into the designs with very dark paint, and cut out more precise shapes...
Photobucket

Starting to place the eyes with the fluorescent paint:
Photobucket

Defining the eyes even more, and highlighting the brightest skulls:
Photobucket

This phase of the painting is nearly done.  I will go back into that once I have some color reference next to the skeletal remains and outer edge...
Photobucket

Stay Tuned!!