It takes Two to Tango...

As promised, the pair of Fiends!  It was very easy to match all the colors (mentioned in the previous post), since it was such a limited palette.  Keeping those initial colors so basic made matching them a snap.  Here I am adding the gold/brass to the second fiend on the right...

The plate has most of the colors that were used.  As usual, I as using a large, flat brush to put down this stage.

These pictures show most of the pieces with all of the lighter colors applied.

So, the next step will be glazing and shading these guys darker!  Lots of fun coming up!  Stay tuned...

This Shaded Basecoat technique, as well as the glazing stuff coming up, are covered in various videos as part of the painting video kickstarter!

Here's the link:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/891905985/discover-the-painting-pyramid-with-james-wappel

Painting the Fiends: some Shaded Basecoat in action...

OK folks!  Here are those images I promised.  

These show that good old Shaded Basecoat technique under way.  As those familiar with this concept already know, the principle behind this technique is to get color on every surface as quickly as possible.

This is very helpful, because it gives you a visual reference to compare and contrast each color against the other.  One color that you think is pretty dark can end up looking very light once you put a very dark color next to it.

The idea is to put colors in place from the beginning.

You will also notice that they tend to be lighter.  The darker shades and colors will be created by glazing in a controlled fashion.

For instance, the gold / brass can now have the shadows added via those glazes, which means I can tint them different shades, creating more interest.  If I shade it darker with purple in one area, and a greenish black in another, that will make the overall color more interesting.

Transparent layers take less time to paint than opaque layers, so you also save time!

There are also far fewer color mixes to remember.  So far, I believe I have only used 5 colors total on these guys.  This means that if you can't get back to a certain project for a while, you won't struggle to recall what you used... no 'formulas' to remember!!

If you are painting an entire army, that helps a lot. :-)

Later today I will be posting images of this guy's buddy.  That will illustrate just how helpful this Shaded Basecoat can be for matching future paint jobs!

That is why this topic is the very first video of the Painting Pyramid!  It is the cornerstone technique of the entire structure.

You can find out more about that here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/891905985/discover-the-painting-pyramid-with-james-wappel

Magnetizing your Forge Fiend...

The latest crop of GW figures have definitely gone the way of ball and socket joints lately.  This has been causing me some consternation as I try to figure out ways to magnetize them,  Gone are the days of the dreadnought arms, where that one miracle magnet takes care of everything!

For a while, I was trying to drill into the 'ball' part of the joint to sink the magnet in there.  This took a long time, and it lead to a less than strong joint.  Also, polarity issues could be even more tragic if you got them wrong, etc.

Some of you may have seen my newer method of magnet to metal.  It has spared me the polarity craziness, and saved on magnets!

Somehow the idea struck me that if I were to change the joint itself, all those waiting magnets might work again.

Out came the razor saw, and I started slicing away...

Now I had created a space for the big hefty magnet to go!

And cut some magnetized sheet metal for the weapon.  This is important!  Not all sheet metal is the same.  If you get #5545 vs #5544 or whatever, your magnets will be useless!  We test them out in the store after finding out the hard way.

Here is our waiting joint...

"Click!"  Yea!

Here's the rest of the weapon arms for the two Fiends.

I also did the same thing for the heads!

Next up:  Painting the Fiends.  This will be a classic case of "Shaded Basecoat!"

Yes, a link to the Kickstarter... I wish I could do a "Magnetizing your Minis" how to video...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/891905985/discover-the-painting-pyramid-with-james-wappel

Dredge Blackwater, Highwayman

Here is another offering from Stonehaven Miniatures!  He is Dredge Blackwater, a dwarf highwayman.

Dredge utilizes his talents in the most direct way possible.  He is not one to spend much time thinking out a plan, but only because he creates excellent plans so quickly.

He does not always communicate his intentions.  Dredge jumps immediately into action and explains himself afterward!

This was another one of those 'limited palette' exercises.

Every color that I used on this was greyed down, and I used the same greenish off-white for the highlights on all the colors.  This was to give him a bit more shadowy appearance.

This set of views gives you a better look at the base.  The base itself is from DragonForge...

While I added some leaves from Woodland Scenics.  You can see that I took some of the maple leaves (a thin tissue-like substance), and glued them onto the base.  Once they set up, I painted them in a fall scheme.  Semi dried out leaves...

A few more shots of the leaves.  These things can really add to a base, that's for sure!!!

There are lots of basing technique videos on the Painting kickstarter here, and more are being added!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/891905985/discover-the-painting-pyramid-with-james-wappel

The rest of the crazy Gobbos from Gamezone!

These guys just kept getting funnier.  Cathy painted the fanatics, and some pesky Gobbos that had a different sort of 'moon' in mind...

Gotta love the Target Goblin!

And this guy hauling garbage...

This shaman was fun as well with the warpstone.

The various bases were done in a few ways... either carving a chunk of baked sculpey, or by sculpting some rocks with apoxy sculpt.

Look out!  Incoming!

The Painting Pyramid kickstarter is almost at the next stretch goal...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/891905985/discover-the-painting-pyramid-with-james-wappel

Get on your high horse... some goblins from Gamezone

If you were looking for some fun goblins that are different from the usual fare, check out these guys from Gamezone.  The 'hobby horse' goblin is one of my favorites :-)

There are a few more of these goblins that are even more hilarious, so I will post those later!

Who's afraid of those little gobbos?  You should be...

Some more WIP images of the Imperial Fists terminators

Here are some shots from a few days ago of the Imperial Fists terminators!  As those of you who saw the first post know, I have been working my way towards the point where I could do some weathering.

This would make them match the previous figures, and also help with some of the casting and sculpting 'anomalies' on these guys :-)

In this set of images, I am working my way up through the yellow, getting lighter as I go...

A little lighter...

Just about ready for some battle damage and rust!  I have not done my lightest colors yet, as I want to see where my weathering effects take me first.

Mixed some black and brown together, and began placing chipped paint areas on each of the figures.  My primary targets were areas that would most logically be chipped, such as corners or other more exposed surfaces.  These initial patterns were more broad and rough.  

Later on I will add some very tiny dots with a fine brush.  That happens after my final highlights on the yellow.

Once the paint chip patterns had been created, it was time for some rust.  Loyal Wappellians know that I typically start out with GW Calthan Brown, and old foundation paint.

When you water it down, the pigment begins to separate, which is what I want!  This becomes a very interesting opaque glaze as a result!

Using one of my "distressed" liner brushes, I start creating rust streaks, or allow the 'glaze' to sink down into crevices like the joints, etc.  Where some of the casting was less than spectacular, that is where I will do lots of battle damage and rust.  As it was, I had to do some significant re-sculpting on parts of these guys... 

You can get a better idea of what I am talking about by checking out this picture.  You can see the streaks, and some of the paint chips.  In my next stage, I did some highlighting on those same chips to give them a bit of dimension.

Weathering is one of the new painting videos I want to add to the kickstarter.  That is listed as part of my next stretch goal!!!

Here's the link:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/891905985/discover-the-painting-pyramid-with-james-wappel