Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: Idle Doodler on August 26, 2017, 10:55:17 AM
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My collection of fantasy miniatures, accumulated over many years of aimless impulse buying, are for the most part unpainted. In fact, they are all - barring a very small Warhammer Dogs of War army - incomplete in one way or another. Some are primed, others have a base coat or two, but I've rarely taken them the full journey to based and varnished completion. With so little to show for a good fifteen years (oh boy!) dipping in and out of the hobby, I feel I ought make a concerted effort to produce something which might actually appeal to a visitor - I need to source some gaming buddies somehow!
So, I need to start small. I'm a very slow painter - owing more to a short attention span than anything else - so enough for small skirmishes will suffice to begin with. A couple of villagers interspersed with a few more colourful characters should allow for some low stakes-based games.
These are my efforts up 'til now:
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/1d1a9cf3783a7482611b6247c984a95e/tumblr_ov9mfq5TG71wz3e6jo6_1280.jpg)(https://68.media.tumblr.com/610c4d23f9f784cce50fd2faccf88467/tumblr_ov9mfq5TG71wz3e6jo1_1280.jpg)
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/a2760d4ade30e6f3800814afd424f9ba/tumblr_ov9mfq5TG71wz3e6jo5_1280.jpg)(https://68.media.tumblr.com/6a127db5ed044eb27b2268b631e53c9f/tumblr_ov9mfq5TG71wz3e6jo7_1280.jpg)
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/74a70f5228b2d3ca1d9e16193fd05605/tumblr_ov9mfq5TG71wz3e6jo4_1280.jpg)(https://68.media.tumblr.com/63b30961288e6cefec69ec3d7dd318b0/tumblr_ov9mfq5TG71wz3e6jo10_1280.jpg)
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/8f45bc6298de4f9f28bb9ba765c223a7/tumblr_ov9mfq5TG71wz3e6jo9_1280.jpg)(https://68.media.tumblr.com/4ae595db29e7c3902d061e0caf6855b1/tumblr_ov9mfq5TG71wz3e6jo8_1280.jpg)
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/46670f969da7d00de5cf32da13639f91/tumblr_ov9mfq5TG71wz3e6jo3_1280.jpg)(https://68.media.tumblr.com/f0f0caa9e505c85ad9bcbb9251edb274/tumblr_ov9mfq5TG71wz3e6jo2_1280.jpg)
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Great stuff! I particularly like the shields and the expression on the duellist. The transparent bases are a nice touch.
Have you experimented with any speed-painting techniques (pre-shading, etc.)? That might be one way to kickstart your collection.
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I second the kudos for the fine work on the duelist. I like his expression almost as much as his scabbard. The other figures are good too. Don't worry about slow painting progress. It is what it is. But you've got a fine start here.
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Thank you both! The Antediluvian Miniatures 'Pirate' set which the duellist comes from has a wonderful range of expressions. They're just cartoony enough that the googly eyes I can just about manage works on them. The rest of the models...not so much. They to make do with low-hanging eyebrows.
I've not tried pre-shading - our flat is wonderful for providing enough room for a hobby desk, but we don't have any outdoor space (or indoor space, for that matter) for sprays. I have tried drybrushing white onto black, but struggled to make the end product look decent. I do, however, have some Army Painter Quickshade for the hordes of critters besetting these village folk, which has produced passable results for me in the past.
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I've not tried pre-shading - our flat is wonderful for providing enough room for a hobby desk, but we don't have any outdoor space (or indoor space, for that matter) for sprays. I have tried drybrushing white onto black, but struggled to make the end product look decent.
A method that I've found useful is white undercoat (just paint, not spray) and then a wash of GW's Agrax Earthshade. And then a white drybrush on top of that. After that, you can just 'tint' the various colours with heavily thinned paint and 'seal' them with a wash of ink or GW washes (or whatever) if need be. I did a bit of a step-by-step here (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=77384.msg1278760#msg1278760); this approach avoids the harshness of the white-on-black approach. I have played around with white on black (a few pages earlier in that thread), but I used an intermediate shade of grey and still had to paint flesh tones from scratch on top. The white/Agrax/white method gives a much softer preshading and is really, really quick: most of the work is done for you in those initial stages.
Quickshade probably does the job just as well, though. I look forward to seeing the critters!
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They're looking very nice!
I empathise entirely - I paint very slowly and buy rather rapidly, so I'm glad to see someone breaking the 'curse' and in style too.
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I did a bit of a step-by-step here (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=77384.msg1278760#msg1278760); this approach avoids the harshness of the white-on-black approach.
I have to confess I hadn't read through that thread, but I'm making up for lost time now! I'll certainly give that style of pre-shading ago, and it just so happens I've some of those Caesar Miniatures ratmen to practice on. Watch this space for end results!
They're looking very nice!
I empathise entirely - I paint very slowly and buy rather rapidly, so I'm glad to see someone breaking the 'curse' and in style too.
Thanks! We've recently moved flat, and it was a bit (and really ought to have been far more) embarrassing when the boxes of my hobby goodies were stacked up next to the boxes of basically everything else in our lives, and were in no way overshadowed...
And I've just received another box set...
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Great minis, I like specially the swashbuckler. Which company is it?
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Great minis, I like specially the swashbuckler. Which company is it?
It's from the fantasy range of Antediluvian Miniatures (https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwim-uOF-_7VAhWmAMAKHXGrB7gQFggoMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.antediluvianminiatures.com%2F&usg=AFQjCNEQPenx6JW6VhXzT76apKNdwefVgg), which has some quite excellent sculpts.
Speaking of which, I've just finished another from the same company:
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/0f16e0dd8365d19ba5af46b8d6f59b93/tumblr_ovhm58CdgP1wz3e6jo3_1280.jpg)
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The Princess Bride! :-*
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Inconceivably so!
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Still struggling for consistency in the photographs...
Here's an unarmed travelling companion / bachelor-in-distress.
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/f3459ae652146db4e16046ba855ef6bc/tumblr_ovhm58CdgP1wz3e6jo2_1280.jpg)(https://68.media.tumblr.com/0b5aded2f5688e561975ee4ad04b21a0/tumblr_ovhm58CdgP1wz3e6jo4_r1_1280.jpg)
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Next villager added, a slightly modified version of Hasslefree's Alicia, rescued after a transport incident left her with a large gash across her face and torso...
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/3a232324c6cfa8cd25c7ca1e408fff6b/tumblr_ovhm58CdgP1wz3e6jo1_1280.jpg)
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Marvellous work on the face - really characterful.
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Thanks!
Next up a more battle-hardened villager, a Warlord Games celt with her left arm - holding aloft a dismembered head - swapped out for an old Wargames Factory Saxon arm and shield.
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/44b73a6669bef37afaf53e5a2e977180/tumblr_ow84wyter91wz3e6jo1_1280.jpg)
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Very nice
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Nice conversion - and again really impressive work on the face.
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Thank you! I feel they're let down by the hair framing them - I essentially just highlight it as I do the clothes, and am not particularly keen on the effect. An area to work on.
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A well-packed journeying halfling.
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/549b9cd90660316a0f400c8fa2ec6fd2/tumblr_ow84wyter91wz3e6jo2_540.jpg)
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SPLENDID! You have some WONDERFUL creations, rich in personality. Your work with the brush & eye for colors are OUTSTANDING. VERY WELL DONE one & all!
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I thin you've had a great improvement in very few model. Keep on grabbing your brush, you're on theright way!
If I can give you an hint: try to darken the shadows between different areas (clothes and skin, forma exemple): this gonna make the color pop a lot more.
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You have a nice bunch o'figures there, and they do seem to be expanding. Thanks for sharing!
-Michael
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Nice minis!
May I ask where the "travelling companion / bachelor-in-distress" is from? I don't recognise him.
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Thank you all!
randycarter - That I shall try doing.
Duke Donald - It's Jojen from Dark Sword Miniatures (http://www.darkswordminiatures.com/shop/index.php/miniatures/george-r-r-martin-masterworks/jojen.html), grabbed from the North Star store during a sale. Most of that line are too tall for most of my collection, but Jojen scales well with 28mm.
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nice work on the Halfling!
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Back after a pause caused by overcommitting our evenings to various social events, here's a lonely wizard from Games Workshop:
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/ffe3212b16a5424b469a3fdfc24246da/tumblr_ox6yg1w7Rx1wz3e6jo1_1280.jpg)
That's a thick coating of light dust on the base of his cloak, and definitely not an overenthusiastic coating of superglue...
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Another Games Workshop miniature - when they abstain from throwing a lot of detail on their miniatures, GW's products can be really good fun to paint. I enjoyed the cloaks on these last two miniatures in particular.
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/929c1f232108a4745958df593ac54341/tumblr_ox6yg1w7Rx1wz3e6jo3_1280.jpg)
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Another wizard! Took longer to finish this one. Having pretty much completed him, I dropped him head-first onto the paint palette, and he contrived to get flesh paint on both sides of him, covering the entirety of his face and beard and a good portion of his shoulders, rendering his feathered and furred cloak skin-coloured. I lost the heart to do it all again so soon, so put him aside.
He is, however, now done!
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/3ff3775a9141b6a3c0e8d0af22447044/tumblr_ox6yg1w7Rx1wz3e6jo2_1280.jpg)
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Risks of the painter job! ;)
I think you are keeping improving. I like the hair and beards details!
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Thanks!
Dropping things onto palettes has become something of a habit, and normally an event I can shrug off. It was just the dual-sided nature of this one - the nerve of an inanimate object bouncing just perfectly upon a fairly small surface area to cover the parts of the model with the most different colours to replace!
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They all look great, ID. Couldn't agree more on how nice it is to paint figures that aren't over-detailed. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks! Yeah, I've realised that I have a limited attention span when it comes to painting a miniature - if it takes longer than a couple of sessions over a fortnight, then I start to lose interest and the figure might be left half-finished for ages. This happens with mounted miniatures and with overly-detailed miniatures. I'm a millennial - I can't deal with long projects and commitments*!
* Marriage excepted - he says, looking at his wedding ring...
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Another of my favourite GW LotR minis - the plastic Fellowship version of Boromir. I love the movement in the miniature's stance - far preferable to the original pose, which I always felt looked like a chap holding things he didn't know what to do with. This one doesn't have the satisfying weight of his metal counterpart, but he stuck a lot more comfortably to the base than my other minis so far.
I've recoloured him to fill in as a generic warrior in my Pulp Alley / Battle Company games.
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/c7db5a18a221ec14ef33ecd552069c67/tumblr_oxxopaAZIz1wz3e6jo1_1280.jpg)(https://78.media.tumblr.com/439b050c3dabd50dff0ab1a32aee2f4e/tumblr_oxxopaAZIz1wz3e6jo2_1280.jpg)
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After a bit of a break, here are some orc members of the Cult of the Beetle (for more on that, see the AAR (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=106525.0)).
These guys took me a little while to get done, but the most sluggish point was the beginning as I tried to work out the best way to represent the participants in the Pulp Alley campaign. Having decided to try and avoid buying new miniatures for a few months, I set about trawling through my backlog of sprues and partially assembled / unpainted models to put a force together.
Now, I was determined not to get bogged down too long on any one model, so they needed to be easy to convert and easy to paint. I had discovered a skin tone I liked by using Vallejo Sepia Wash over a basecoat of Vallejo Tan Earth, so aimed to do most of the fodder troops using nothing but basecoats and washes.
First up we have Fierce Cultists and Militant Cultists, the most basic of Orkwyrd's minions which ironically required the most work. They're Wargames Factory orc heads on Warlord Games celt bodies, both elements needing chopping and filing down so as to join neatly together. Painting-wise they were all done using three different browns for basecoats, one silver, one bronze, one off-white and one black, which were all finished with either a plain brown wash or a strongtone shader.
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/fa6e5178bc29b84d8f763783047c7495/tumblr_p2fw0uhe2d1wz3e6jo2_540.jpg)
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/eae1faef9003a7d0006b087fd18d6438/tumblr_p2fw0uhe2d1wz3e6jo4_540.jpg)
The Faceless Ones, the specialised warriors, were by far the easiest. Plain LotR Berserkers with the same paint scheme as the cultist minions.
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/efd920f238d204160a072111cf85e52d/tumblr_p2fw0uhe2d1wz3e6jo5_540.jpg)
The Beetle Priest, one of the living cult leaders, was a Gripping Beast Arab archer body and arms with a Warlord Games orc head filed down to suit. A minimal amount of highlighting involved on this one.
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/0e8559ac0e74aa43ddf7f81aaf2a2baa/tumblr_p2fw0uhe2d1wz3e6jo1_400.jpg)
And finally the Risen Priest, a LotR Ringwraith with hands painted as bone rather than armour. Very quick and basic highlighting again.
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/b098d06214ae9b01a5c0b0d9ee4c056f/tumblr_p2fw0uhe2d1wz3e6jo3_400.jpg)
Altogether, these models should be enough for me to play the first chapter of the Tomb of the Beetle (Serpent), though I need to source a decent miniature from my collection to represent Orkwyrd's physical avatar. I shall keep searching.