Bark and Branch: Big and Small

I thought that you might like to see some raw images of bark and branch bases.  It's been a while since I have shown the unpainted versions.

As usual, red oxide paste was used like mortar, helping to hold the layers together by filling in the gaps between the layers which I built up.

I employed a few different textures of bark, which is always a lot of fun!

Placing bits of branches as massive gnarled logs is a great way to get scale and additional texture to a base without too much work.  The piece will usually have to be positioned several times before you find just the right spot, but the extra effort is worth it!

I have a number of posts on this "Bark and Branch" technique in the basing section of the blog.  These show many different sizes and types of bases, and even how they are painted.

Here's a quick construction post:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2014/08/how-west-was-won.html

Two very different size bases.  The one on the left is 30mm, while the massive base next to it has many different layers of bark, held together with the oxide paste, super glue, and even elmer's glue.

The whole set, ready for painting!!

Fear the Forest

Here we have the second Treekin from Raging Heroes, with foliage added!

Each time I see these, I realize how much the foliage adds, even though it is not incredibly elaborate.  I had some model train foliage that would have also looked very nice, but that is very fragile, and actually meant for more static pieces of terrain.

This foliage (which I purchased at Hangar 18 miniatures) is very resilient and tough.  It will move when you touch it, but not break.  Better yet, I can even pull away some individual leaves and glue them to the base as fallen leaves!

I also painted the leaves for the first time on these figures, as I was combining different colors on the same figure.  I wanted to see if I could make them transition more smoothly from one to the next, and that seemed to work quite well!

Stay tuned for the last member of the Treekin family!!

Wings of Angels

This Seraphim is a combination of a traditional GW Sister of Battle with new wings added... taken from an Archangel from the Urban Mammoth line.

Since I had a number of Archangel figures in the army already, I thought this would be a nice tie in to the few original GW versions that I was using!

Once more, it was a chance to play around with lots of subtle color transitions.  There are a number of warmer green/cooler green areas, and the same for the gold/brass.  At one point  I was mixing a very dark Reaper Green Liner paint with a cool off white.

I also have some much more saturated and yellow sections in the metals, but I made sure to try to provide hints of green here and there.

I enjoy these wings because they are a much larger canvas... I can do more freehand, weathering effects and so on with these than the original configuration.

She's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321944799784?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

Deadly Skies

Once again we fly the deadly skies with Asharah's legions.

Placing the additional wings onto these Reaver Jetbikes was a lot of fun, so I was very glad that extra bladevanes came with the original kits!

Since these bladevanes are the primary weapon, it seemed to make a lot of sense to create an extra sense of danger with a few more.  It also created a more sinister feel, and gave me more room for freehand and the blood effects!

Getting them into position to make such an attack without getting them shot to pieces was a much more difficult task than converting and painting them.  

Siren Call

Tonight we have another Siren miniature.  Meet Greir, a dwarf adventurer. 

Coming up with a unique look for dwarves is a major challenge, but as you have seen in previous posts here, Siren worked quite hard to make some very interesting characters.

There is an ever expanding line of wonderful sculpts on their website:

http://sirenminiatures.com/store

I look forward to trying out many more of this incredible line!!  The base is made from baked sculpey clay... even the crystals!  I created an entire video on how to make this style of base.  

They are a lot of fun, as you press real rocks into unbaked sculpey clay.  We have a fairly large collection of rock types now. :-)

He's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/321943663185?

Mad Dogs

Here's another group shot set for you, this time of the recent Oboros hounds.  

There are two of the older metal versions, and two plastic.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I preferred the plastic to the metal versions.  

This is quite the opposite from the larger mauler figures, where I definitely liked the metal versions much better!

The bodies of the hounds were more clearly defined on the plastics, and the faces were also a bit more fun to paint.

I hope that you've enjoyed another Warmahordes journey!!

Preying Mantis

Since I was working some very similar skin colors on the Sukubus Studios figures, I thought I would put some of them on one of my last remaining Raging Heroes Mantis Warriors.

The same changes of hue and saturation were done here.  Some parts are a more blueish purple, and others are more saturated pink.  A few areas were lightened with an elf flesh color, which gave it a warmer hue.

This base was sculpted from Apoxy Sculpt, which is especially handy for creating this kind of striated rock base.

She's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/321942860440?