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Author Topic: George's Empire - banners 13/8  (Read 55385 times)

Offline George

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George's Empire - banners 13/8
« on: April 20, 2013, 08:13:33 AM »
I have decided to redo my 6th ed empire and thought I'd share my progress here.I have plans to add some of the new toys and possibly change the colour scheme and basing.This is what I am starting with:
« Last Edit: August 13, 2015, 08:30:37 AM by George »
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Offline Zjivago

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2013, 08:58:26 AM »
Well, you have a lot of toys to base it on, pretty hard to tell what they look like now from those pictures, but it looks like you can paint  :-D
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Offline Zygmund

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2013, 11:22:21 AM »
Good-looking army you have!

Those Pistoliers and a big block of infantry look like 7th ed. ;)

I can't say much about the painting from the photos. Sure it looks good to have all those figurines properly painted. What alterations to the painting scheme do you have in mind?

Upgrading the basing should be easy, and a good way to make the figures look better. Especially skirmishers and characters. I don't know if there's much point in upgrading the basing for rank and file behind the first rank. Yet that would be exactly what I would do... Wasting my time with detail no-one will see. :)

Which of the new toys do you have in mind?

Happy hours with brush, paint, sand and flock! Keep us informed of the progress. :)

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Offline George

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2013, 02:06:49 AM »
Thanks guys. This was my first army and is painted to a reasonable tabletop standard, but loses a bit up close.

I have been playing a little with the 8th ed book, but without adding anything new.
I have always  wanted a dragon model and I would like a steam tank in my list. So for my first model I'm going to try and convert a  steam dragon! As this will be my centre piece I will likely base my colour scheme around that.
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Offline Hoodling

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2013, 12:30:28 AM »
It's a pretty solid army there. Do you really need to repaint tons of stuff, or can you find a more economical approach to jazzing it up like adding washes,shading, highlighting etc?

Offline Darknight

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #5 on: April 22, 2013, 03:39:01 PM »
Yeah, I'm thinking a few washes here and there and some interesting flock on the bases (the green flock look has been superceeded by so many nice new products) and you are good to go. That army looks awesome just as it is - minor tweaks would punch it up to plus-awesome.
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Offline George

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #6 on: April 22, 2013, 09:43:09 PM »
I am primarily planning to improve from the base I have, so definitely shading and highlights.
I think I will also change up the colour scheme a little....still keep the blue as the main colur, but bring a lot more browns and creams in. I think I am amiming for more of an army of individuals, rather than something uniform....that said I still want it to look cohesive and don't want it to look like a rabble. Something in betweeen free company and a regimental unit.

I am going to spend a fair bit of work on my basing including some unit fillers to get a bit more theme through the army.
Any advice on what is a good size for unit filler? I am thinking 20x100 with 2-5 guys on it for removing ranks, but not sure what size would work well for somethign more scenic, maybe 40x60?
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Offline Hoodling

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #7 on: April 22, 2013, 10:44:47 PM »
Really it just depends on what you want to do with it, and how large the unit is. I've found unit fillers are normally OK so long as they don't interfere with the front or back ranks, so if the unit is going to be 5 ranks deep, the filler could be up to 3. The bigger the filler, the harder it is to adopt new formations though. I would try brainstorming what you want the fillers to look like, and then so long as you can fit the base into your formation without too much trouble, go for it.

Offline George

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #8 on: April 24, 2013, 09:15:37 AM »
This is a test model for the new colour scheme. The guy on the left is new, the guy on the right is the original.
I am going for a more subdued colour scheme.
Thoughts? Advice?

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Offline theorox

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George's Empire
« Reply #9 on: April 24, 2013, 09:33:41 AM »
That's cool, I prefer the new scheme. :) Happy painting!

Theo

Offline wilddragon

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #10 on: April 25, 2013, 08:45:24 PM »
Definitely the new one :-)

Offline Hoodling

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #11 on: April 25, 2013, 10:56:00 PM »
I think the guy on the left cheats by having more shading/highlighting.  :closed-eyes:

I'm going to be the guy that nobody wants to hear and say I would prefer the other colour scheme, although it could also use some highlights etc. I think the 2 blues makes for a more interesting scheme than one with 2 browns - that would be fine for something like free company, but I'd prefer more colour on my state troops.

Offline George

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #12 on: April 27, 2013, 07:55:08 AM »
Thanks for the input guys.
A few more test models including highlights for the original colour scheme so nobody cheats  :blush:



Thoughts now?
If you like the middenhiem colours which of the whites do you prefer?

Edit: I have been trying a lot of combinations this weekend and think I have something I am happy with. I have tried to get something that tries to catch the eye while maintaining the 'dirty' look I am after.

« Last Edit: April 28, 2013, 10:30:58 AM by George »
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Offline Hoodling

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #13 on: April 28, 2013, 11:51:00 PM »
I think your revised scheme is better. You get 2 colours in there in addition to the brown, which ceases to be the dominant colour on the model.

Offline Playonwords

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #14 on: April 29, 2013, 03:34:48 AM »
As long as you dont deviate from your Middenheim army theme, itll look fine however you do it. But blue needs to remain your spot colour with the brown as a complimentary colour only. I love the idea of a steam dragon. Im guessing you mean a dragon-like steam tank rather than a mechanical steam-powered dragon (although that idea does sound cool too - see below). Unfortunately I very much doubt you could stretch the fluff to the point where the single dragon in the Altdorf zoo (ridden only by Karl Franz) is in fact a steam dragon.




Offline Delthos

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #15 on: April 29, 2013, 03:57:10 AM »
If you want a clockwork/steam dragon, here you go. Reaper will have this bad boy on sale in a couple months, just as soon as they get their Bones Kickstarter rewards shipped out. I didn't buy one during the campaign and they only had concept sketches at the time. I've seen a bunch of steam/clockwork dragon paintings since then. I kick myself every time I see one!

http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/previews/latest/77177



Not a great paint job on their sample piece though.

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Offline George

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #16 on: April 29, 2013, 04:46:20 AM »
Cheers guys

@hoodling
thanks for the feedback....it has helped me question what I really wanted....now to get cracking and repaint a heap of models   :happy:

I am certainly looking at making a steam powered dragon to act as my steam tank.
I did see the clockwork dragon model, but it doesn't quite fit the image in my head, and I figured I'd enjoy converting my own version more. I have bought a dragon model already and am just awaiting its arrival so i get get cracking.
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Offline George

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #17 on: May 12, 2013, 04:33:29 AM »
I have made some progress this weekend!

Firstly an idea of the theme/feel I want my army to have...
The army exists in an era that follows the downfall of an age of legend which built itself on steam and clockwork technology.
I plan to have my unit fillers and bases include ruined buildings and massive rusting gears and other obscure ruined steam technology.

My first 10 Halberdiers done


And have started working on my steam dragon (playing as steam tank)
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Offline theorox

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George's Empire
« Reply #18 on: May 12, 2013, 10:48:49 AM »
I quite like how that paint scheme turned out, those halberdiers are good!

Very much looking forward to seeing progress on the Steam Dragon! :D

Theo

Offline Delthos

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #19 on: May 13, 2013, 09:02:02 PM »
I'm gonna need to see that Dragon finished a bit more. Right now it's not really looking very "clockwork".

I was just taking a look through your thread here as I realized I hadn't looked back through it when I posted my suggestion for the Clockwork Dragon. Looking at that last picture of your army, I see what looks like a wizard that I'm not familiar with. It's the white robed one third from the left? What is that miniature and do you have some better pictures of it?
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Offline George

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #20 on: May 13, 2013, 09:26:59 PM »
I'm gonna need to see that Dragon finished a bit more. Right now it's not really looking very "clockwork".

I was just taking a look through your thread here as I realized I hadn't looked back through it when I posted my suggestion for the Clockwork Dragon. Looking at that last picture of your army, I see what looks like a wizard that I'm not familiar with. It's the white robed one third from the left? What is that miniature and do you have some better pictures of it?

Definitely more work going into the dragon, I have now made the basics of the whole thing, next step is adding all the steam stuff.

The model is a reaper model from memory, just something I found while scouring ebay....I can get some better pics when I get home.
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Offline George

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #21 on: May 15, 2013, 01:38:51 PM »
A quick update on the steam dragon. I've put a bit of work into the head to make it more mechanical.


Does anyone have any tips for adding rivets?

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Offline Delthos

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #22 on: May 15, 2013, 05:48:22 PM »
I love the flame effect. You did a great job sculpting it.

Here's the problem, right now the dragon just looks like an armored dragon. Other than the flame thrower pipe in its mouth, there really isn't anything about it that says steam powered/clockwork. I think you should make some of those spines look more like some exhaust pipes.
Right now what I'm assuming are supposed to look like a pin at a joint for an axle, look more like some magnets for you to attach something to. They don't have the look of what I'm guessing you're intending them to be.

I think one of the problems is that as you are using a "real" dragon as the base, the body parts are too organic looking. I think if you can do something to make the wings look more mechanical and less organic, I think the other parts will end up looking less like an armored Dragon.

Nice work on the wizard. I'm not familiar with that sculpt, although I don't study the Reaper catalog! I'm guessing you use him as a Grey Wizard?
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Offline Darknight

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #23 on: May 15, 2013, 05:53:28 PM »
Here's the problem, <SNIP>

I agree with Delthos - it is a great model, but does not look very "steam-powered" / "clockwork".

I am going to send you a PM in a bit, George - it has some pictures of a model I am working on, but which I am not yet ready to show to the world (they are WIP for the Pleasant Surprise); I think there may be some elements you can use or discard at your whim.
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Offline Gankom

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Re: George's Empire
« Reply #24 on: May 15, 2013, 06:54:29 PM »
I think that depending on how you paint it, that should make it look a bit more mechanical. I agree that maybe adding some struts or something to the wing may help to.