I am Groot

These Malifaux Dryads were really interesting to paint, and certainly very different from the GW versions!

I was able to do some fun things with the muted tones... working in plenty of greens and even a few purples here and there to create some of that "hidden" contrast.

I think you can see some of that in these views.  To compliment those greens and purples, I also incorporated some of the Secret Weapon rust colors.

By virtue of the types of textures that I was dealing with, I could do a lot of glazing, which is fun.  These didn't just darken colors, but they also tinted them towards one shade or another.  Stay tuned for more!

More Skull and Bones

Last week I experimented with the Green Stuff World texture sheets for the first time, and the results were very good.  Those bases were sightly larger, and I was curious to see if those textures could be used on smaller bases.  

The Boltons and Free Folk Raiders seemed to be the ideal candidates for these tests!

In addittion, I tried out another texture roller sheet for the NCU's.  It is one that I had been saving for just the right miniatures and what better than Song of Ice and Fire!

I have many articles showing how I work with the Sculpey and the rollers, such as this:  https://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/04/rolling-on-to-victory.html

Now to the skull and skeleton textures!  The Roose Bolton had to go on a base like this after I was shown a few scenes from a Game of Thrones episode...

I used a little bit of the oxide pastes to mesh the edges of the texture sheet with the cork and base.

I had to try it on one of the Savage Giants too!  You can see what the other type of basing looked like in a previous tutorial: https://youtu.be/1LvJv3dyjEw

The biggest challenge would be one of the units, since whatever I did with the bases would also have to work on the movement tray.

I discovered that the material could be snapped off in pieces far easier than I first anticipated.  I thought that you had to use a clipper or snip of some kind, but it turns out that there are some natural "break points" where it is thin enough to snap off a small piece without ruining a key texture.

Just as I would with the tree bark, I made several pieces that could go in the gaps on the tray between the figures, trying to maintain the same sort of texture that was placed on the closest figure's base.

A few types of cork also filled out the tray, giving some of the same poses a different look just by changing the height.

Once again, I employed some of the texture paste to blend things together.

Here's the movement tray and miniatures!  Ready for priming!  You can see how I have done the basing of a typical Song of Ice and Fire unit in this video:  https://youtu.be/INPfPLCTZcE

Basing episodes such as these are part of every Army Painting series on the Patreon page.  That pledge level is $15 per month, and brings you 15-20 hours of content!  Not just basing, but plenty of painting as well!

Here's a link to the page... I cover every type of material, technique or combination of those in every single tutorial! www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Live Horses

I know I have talked about this before... but I love the way the Song of Ice and Fire horses are sculpted!  So often I have had to paint "horses" that are more like large dogs cosplaying a horse.  Each of these is very unique, and the action poses truly look like running horses.

The riders are also well integrated, and the overall composition is amazing each time.

I will be working on some Bolton Flayed Men cavalry late tonight in another YouTube live session, so stay tuned for that!  I will be using oil paints once again, specifically the Mig Ammo Oilbrushers.

Here's a link to one of the YouTube Live sessions that I did using the Mig Ammo Oilbrushers: https://youtu.be/HB-nhuTmNbQ

Confronting the Warp

While most of the figures I have been painting lately have been brand new Song of Ice and Fire minis, I still work on figures that have a much longer past.  This was certainly the case on the Confrontation minis!

This set goes back a long way... possibly 15-16 years ago.  What is interesting is the idea that in some ways, this style of sculpting did pave the way eventually to the kind of flowing, dynamic poses and sculpts that we see now.

I recall back in the day that Fimo was used a great deal in the sculpting process to create more intricate details that were not very common at the time.

Digital sculpting these days can allow for much more detail, but sometimes that alone is not enough.  It seems to be easier to get a more static looking figure than when you worked with physical materials.  When the priority is the tiny details, and the main pose is not the focus, a stiffer pose can happen.

Anyway, these guys were interesting, even if they were long in the tooth!

Yellow Alert: Part 2

The latest Painting Dark Sword video is ready for viewing on the Patreon Page!  This episode builds from the principles first discussed in the original Painting Pyramid video called "Yellow Alert!"

You can even see the color swatch that I painted during that first video.  I expand on that here, right down to the basing of the figure.

The goal of the video is to show you how expansive the range of "yellows" can be, and that it encompasses far more tones and shades than you might think.

I brought out the Green Stuff World leaf cutters and flower tufts to show how you can carry that same color principle into your foliage and basing.

I even managed to sneak in some Object Source Lighting, but that was not the central focus of the video.  I added that so it was possible to show how 'yellow' can be the very bright color we automatically picture in our minds.

However, I wanted to demonstrate how there is a vast range of much darker colors that can be made from mixing yellow with something else!

I was primarily using purples and reds mixed with various yellow to create midtones and darks.  Purple and orange mixed together is a favorite of mine, as it gives you a wide range of saturated or unsaturated brown and mahogany colors.

I have a special pledge level for Dark Sword miniatures (Black Heart busts are part of this pledge level too!) on the Patreon Page.  Each episode tries to tackle something different.  A different technique or color theory principle, a new material, etc.

This is available to my Patrons right now, at the $10 Painting Dark Sword level!  As you can see, I am already up to Episode 12... and Episode 13 is on the way!!  Here's a link to the Patreon Page: www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Forest Rangers

Here's a little preview of terrain that will eventually appear in the Song of Ice and Fire battle reports (and some Lord of the Rings reports as well!).  It was originally created for y Bolt Action games.

The mat itself is from TableWar, and one of several fantastic, durable game mats that I am using for all my battle reports.  While I like to use 4 x 6 mats, they do have 4 x 4 versions of each.

Here's a peek at one of several terrain building articles I created for this terrain:

:  https://wappellious.blogspot.com/2017/11/forest-mist.html

I am also working on a few different winter terrain boards, which would be more appropriate for Free Folk vs Night's Watch:

https://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/02/rolling-out-tundra.html

I can't wait to see my own Song of Ice and Fire armies on their movement trays negotiating this type of battlefield.  These were painted as a commission army for someone who is using them for his own system.

It is pretty interesting to see this view with archers instead of an artillery piece or mortar crew!

I have a number of YouTube live tutorials on how these guys were painted:

https://youtu.be/HB-nhuTmNbQ

I was really looking forward to the scene of these wonderfully sculpted horses charging along the bank of the river!

As you know, I really love how the horses are sculpted for this range.  Not only are the muscles and proportions done well, but the movement achieved is amazing!

These horses really do look as if they are running, instead of a merry go round horse stuck to a base.

Imagining these units on this board with the activation banners and other extras that I have planned is definitely inspiring me to work through all the armies that are being worked on at once... the Free Folk, Starks, Lannisters, Boltons and Night's Watch.

My own Night's Watch are in the "official" color scheme, and they are the subject of my Army Painting Series 6.  Here's a look at the basing episode, which is how every series begins:

https://youtu.be/INPfPLCTZcE

I will probably have fewer terrain pieces on the board than I normally do for my Bolt Action games.  That will likely be placed along the edges of the board, but I definitely want to have some slopes, rivers and so on, to create a more realistic setting than tossing out a few cardboard terrain "pieces".  

This central sloping hill is an example.  I think it will be really dramatic to have units heading up to the top of this hill to duke it out in close combat!  In my other games, it tends to be a line of sight blocking piece.  Now it should be the focus of many an objective marker grab.

I have a number of tutorial posts on how the terrain was made, such as this:

https://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-old-made-new-recycling-old-terrain.html

To get a peek at how the terrain looks in a battle report, check out this Bolt Action report:

https://youtu.be/2LgWEoymVQw