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Author Topic: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (update: out)  (Read 296523 times)

Offline Shadespyre

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #600 on: April 05, 2016, 12:15:31 PM »
OMG! Please tell me you made that by molding real broccoli?  :eusa_clap:

Offline Doc J

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #601 on: April 06, 2016, 02:13:53 AM »
Does the broccoli hint to a possible Jolly Green Giant?
In the words of the late great Nicki Minaj - Ya done son

Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #602 on: April 07, 2016, 05:48:14 AM »
OMG! Please tell me you made that by molding real broccoli?  :eusa_clap:

Hahaha. No.


Does the broccoli hint to a possible Jolly Green Giant?

Hahaha. Also no.




I went with the easy one first. The Big Bone. Maybe it's for the sense of accomplishment -- first giant done by the end of the first week. Mostly done. I still might make a few touch-ups. The Marauder Giant is next!





Offline GamesPoet

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #603 on: April 07, 2016, 01:31:21 PM »
Awesome. :icon_biggrin: :icon_cool: :eusa_clap: :::cheers:::
"Not all who wander are lost ... " Tolkien

"... my old suggestion is forget it, take two aspirins and go paint" steveb

"The beauty of curiosity and creativity is so much more useful than the passion of fear." me

"Until death it is all life." Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Offline steveb

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #604 on: April 07, 2016, 04:45:48 PM »
nicely done sir.   steveb

Offline Shadespyre

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #605 on: April 07, 2016, 05:30:40 PM »
Wow, only now do I appreciate how big that guy is!

(Shame about the broccoli tho)

Offline Victor

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #606 on: April 07, 2016, 05:34:18 PM »
Very well painted! A fine addition to your undead force! Some critique, if I may (:wink:): Personally, I think your undead would benefit from a slightly different base design - more dark, scorched and dead, instead of lush grass. I could imagine that the foul magic that keeps the undead marching forward lets small plants wither in seconds. But that really depends on the story behind your army.

Offline steveb

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #607 on: April 07, 2016, 10:53:14 PM »
I like the green, skeletons have an affinity for green grass, having rested under it, and nourished it with their no longer needed flesh.  Plus the juxtaposition of opposites reinforces/emphasises the deadness, withered grass is merely homogenous.   but that is just my humble opinion.  steveb 

Offline GamesPoet

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #608 on: April 11, 2016, 02:31:20 PM »
I like the green, because it seems to match the terrain he has going.
"Not all who wander are lost ... " Tolkien

"... my old suggestion is forget it, take two aspirins and go paint" steveb

"The beauty of curiosity and creativity is so much more useful than the passion of fear." me

"Until death it is all life." Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #609 on: April 12, 2016, 03:38:21 AM »
The colossal skeleton did get more green/grass than I had planned, and I had initially planned on trying to do something about that after the glue dried. But it grew on me (haha, corpse joke?) and I ended up liking that it created a visual contrast to the dull colors of the big skeleton while still being an "earthy" color.

On some other advice, I did do a darker wash and some shadows on the club, to differentiate it from the skeleton himself. No new photo, but I will be doing a group photo of giants at the end of the month.

Speaking of skeletons, on my quest to find some more figure that match up with the two Skeletal Ogres from Ral Partha Europe, I got some 40mm skeletons from Spartan Games "Heroes of Myth and Legend" range. (Discontinued?) They're well sculpted, and about the right height. But the proportions are much leaner -- in fact, they're at least as delicate as human sized 28mm figures. The poses are a little stiff, but being unadorned skeletons, they should be easy to re-position a bit.

I think these might make great skeletal giants for 10mm & 15mm armies.



When I get back to painting skeletons, what I think I will do is paint up the two ogres on their bases, and use them in units with other "non human" skeletons, like the others I painted. As for the 40mm skinnies, I will mix those in on multi-bases with other non-humans.


But for now... Back to painting more giants!

« Last Edit: April 12, 2016, 03:51:21 AM by ZeroTwentythree »

Offline Zygmund

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #610 on: April 12, 2016, 10:00:30 AM »
The skin of that giant is superb!

-Z
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Offline Shadespyre

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #611 on: April 12, 2016, 11:50:11 AM »
Yeah, I especially like the ruddiness you've worked into his nose and face, great work  :eusa_clap:

Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #612 on: April 18, 2016, 06:28:15 AM »
It was a busy weekend, but the weather was beautiful and our family spent a bit of time outside doing some "Spring cleaning." I also did a bit of overdue sanding and spraying outdoors before bringing in one of my mid-life-crisis projects back indoors for the evening to dry completely.




Our fifth wedding anniversary was this past Autumn. I had been talking -- like any 40-something in his right mind -- about a skateboard, and the traditional fifth anniversary gift is wood, so.... my wife got me a gift card for the local skate shop. I picked up the deck & hardware I wanted, but had planned on stripping & repainting the deck. I had been planning on painting something interesting on it, but figured that would drag the process out for another year, so instead I dug out some cans of metallic black I've had sitting around for years and started laying down some primer & finish coats and will keep it simple. It'll just get scraped up anyway. Mind you, I haven't been on a skateboard in over twenty years. But I did ride & kick around a bit before the weather turned cold for Winter, and I survived without injury. So the hardware goes back on tomorrow and we'll see if I can avoid breaking anything. Bones, I mean. I have far more confidence in my ability to put a skateboard back together.


I am up late tonight, trying to catch up a bit of the Marauder giant, and he's finally coming together. I did take a few shortcuts. I would guess about 90% of the painting is done. Refining a number of areas, details, etc. and then on to the base.




I had started writing up some background for him, but didn't like the way it sounded. So I will get back to that at some point.

Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #613 on: April 19, 2016, 05:14:17 AM »

I finished up the painting on the Marauder giant, but can't decide what to do for the base. While I give that a bit of thought, I've started on the next giant -- the Ultraforge giant.

He's the largest giant I've got. Pretty well sculpted, though not as nicely cast as the Marauder or Warploque giants. He required the most clean-up of the four I'm attempting to paint this month, and there are still some visible mold lines/slips. The resin is lightweight, which is a nice change from awkwardly handling the lead Marauder giant while painting.

The big guy is mostly flesh surfaces, so I'm trying to keep that interesting. I put a bit of work into that tonight, but still have more refinement & clean-up. His face still looks a bit like raw meat. (Not that that's entirely a bad thing...) The colors aren't quite coming through in the pics, but I hope they give a good idea where it's going.




Offline Zygmund

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #614 on: April 19, 2016, 06:41:42 AM »
You paint flesh superbly!

The sculpt of that newest giant may not be the best, put your painting really adds character and smooth details.

Just to recap, what are your techniques? Thinned down paint or washes/shades? Or simply "real" painting of layer after layer?

-Z
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Offline Warhammer-Weib

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #615 on: April 19, 2016, 07:51:48 AM »
Seconded! I'd also like to get more information on your approach to paint skin.

Offline Shadespyre

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #616 on: April 19, 2016, 11:40:09 PM »
The Marauder giant looks great, love the bright colours and those skin tones. Progress on the Big Fella is impressive, but also really puts me off buying one. I think this is where your experienced. with vinyl toys is a big benefit :)

Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #617 on: April 20, 2016, 04:41:05 AM »

Thanks!

I'm not sure I can give a good formula on my painting process for this guy. It was a lot of experimenting and "whatever feels right at the moment." I think Shadespyre might be right, I did work on it similar to some of vinyl toys I've done. Also similar to some of the 2d acrylic & watercolor painting that I've done before as well.

It started with a several thin coats of flesh to get a nice even base, and then a wash of Riekland Flesh to f' that all up and turn the whole thing splotchy. So some thinned out highlighting and "selective damp brushing" (I don't know what else to call it... lightly brushing only certain areas with a brush with just a little bit of damp, thinned out paint) and glazes of the Riekland Flesh helped even it out a bit, while also building some highlights & shadows. Then I started with some selective thin washes and glazes using Asurman Blue, various brown colored GW washes, and some red wash from the first set of washes put out (the ones that came out after the inks in the dropper bottles.) I played around with the washes/glazes a bit... feathering the edges, mixing on the figure while still wet, even smearing it around a bit with my thumb or a tissue. Every once in a while I would go back in some areas with some thinned out flesh paint -- sometimes on or adjacent to some still wet wash/glaze, pushing paint around, mixing, etc. I mixed a little white into that process in a few places.

I should try doing a video* next time I do something like this, so I can show everyone just how little I "know" what I'm doing and how much it's experimenting and improvising. I mean, I have some degree of understanding & experience with various techniques, but there's not real plan laid out in advance, so I see how things go and change what I'm doing from moment to moment. I painted rapidly, but spent a lot of time on doing so. That's not meant to sound contradictory.



*Never done one -- how does that work? I don't have a GoPro or an dedicated video recorder, so it would just be my phone. Just duct tape that to my head or some other convenient location and start recording?

Offline GamesPoet

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #618 on: April 20, 2016, 11:08:34 AM »
Suspect folks could learn a good bit from what ever is produced on such a project.
"Not all who wander are lost ... " Tolkien

"... my old suggestion is forget it, take two aspirins and go paint" steveb

"The beauty of curiosity and creativity is so much more useful than the passion of fear." me

"Until death it is all life." Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Offline BadgersinHills

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #619 on: April 20, 2016, 11:48:51 AM »
The giants look awesome! I love the skin tones.

Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #620 on: April 23, 2016, 02:34:56 AM »

Thanks!

As much as I want to keep working on the giants, I'm having some motivational trouble with them. It's been a busy and stressful week, and I don't think I'm up for any painting that requires much focus -- mini or giant sized. So, time for another side-quest!

We had some nice weather this week, so I went outside to cut up a piece of hardboard I've had waiting around for years.



I have separate bases with reeds & other greenery -- and will need to make some more -- that will go on top of these. Similar concept to having woods with separate, movable trees to accommodate troops moving through the terrain.

I would also like to make some more river sections. I've been dying to make decent river terrain for... decades. These turned out pretty good. But I ran out of hardboard. The new problem I am facing is that none of the hardware stores carries it in the same thickness anymore! I could only find 1/8" and this appears to be 1/4" (maybe nominal 3/16"?)


Maybe I can get some better photos when it's daylight.

Offline Warlord

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #621 on: April 23, 2016, 03:31:18 AM »
Any closeups of the river?
I made a river a few years ago, and am pretty happy, but also pretty unhappy with it.
I love it, its just too high...
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Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #622 on: April 26, 2016, 06:32:58 PM »
I will see if I can get some better pics of the river, or at least one section.



Still having trouble getting the focus & energy to sit down & do any real painting at night, so I've been continuing with other stuff. I went ahead and put together some movement trays, as I previously posted about.

I also touched up & rebased some more Moor Hounds (Citadel dire wolves.) As with the last batch, I just repainted the red eyes, highlighted the teeth & tongue, and touched up any chipped paint. Then I put them onto new bases to fit the rest of my figures.




I also received Stuff! In the Mail! "Morrighu," a resin cast of a sculpt from Ross Whitehorn of the Fimir Facebook group. I cleaned her up, took a comparison pic and primed her and... it's a bit of the dreaded "fuzzy primer." Figures it would be on a unique figure like this. I'm going to clean her up & see if I can recover from that. I don't want to strip the figure because I'm not really sure what type of resin this is, nor how various strippers might affect the material. The resin is interesting -- it's slightly soft & flexible, but nothing near Reaper's bones or other "soft plastic" figures. It cleaned up super easy with just a blade, and drilling for pinning the pieces together was also easy. Both the sculpting and the casting on this figure are great. Nice and crisp, very little cleanup. My only (minor) criticism is that I'm not fond of the way the eye appears to be sculpted.

At any rate, here is a pic next to one of my converted Reaper figures, and an oldschool Citadel Fimir Dirach, for scale. Pretty good!


Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #623 on: April 30, 2016, 05:36:53 AM »
Illness, back problems, and other distractions have kept me from even my reduced goal for the month. But I'm OK with that. I got motivated enough to paint up some giant-- the skeleton is entirely done, the Marauder giant is completely painted and just needs the base finished, the Ultraforge giant is over halfway done, and the Warploque giant... well, maybe I will get those last two finished in May.




And, as promised, here's a pic with my other, previously painted giants.





I also had requests for better shots of the water terrain. (Unfortunately, this goes the other direction and is a bit too much sunlight.)




Speaking of... I took a little bit of time earlier in the week before the weather got rainy to cut some more terrain. I could't find any hardboard to match what I was using. So I got some 1/4" MDF (a little thicker) for more rivers and some 1/8" hardboard to see how that works out for other terrain -- starting with some dirt/mud roads.




« Last Edit: April 30, 2016, 05:43:41 AM by ZeroTwentythree »

Offline Shadespyre

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Re: Pandemonium Multi-PLog (open for critique)
« Reply #624 on: April 30, 2016, 01:05:14 PM »
Also struggling with my back recently - my hobby posture doesn't help, I often find myself bent double over something I'm concentrating on!

That's a lovely clan of giant-kin you've got now - is the furry one a GW yhettee or what? Looks particularly interesting.

Your terrain collection is increasingly impressive - one advantage of making it all yourself is a consistency of finish and style which you don't get by buying bits here and there. (Also, that's so expensive!)