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Author Topic: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety  (Read 18642 times)

Offline Gankom

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Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« on: January 11, 2016, 12:54:06 AM »
Woot so I went on a bit of a painting binge today and actually got some work done on the latest recruits to the 1st Canadiana regiment. Thanks to Christmas I got the old Cadian battleforce and a set of paints and brushes. Stuff far better then I was using before. I started off today mostly just base coating things and testing the paints, but actually ended up getting some work done!

Seeing as I went through all the work figuring out photobucket I decided now was a good time to start a painting blog while I’m at it. I don’t know how often it’ll get updated, mostly because I don’t do a great deal of painting and when I do I don’t really take pictures let alone upload them.

This first round is 40kish but I’ll quickly post up more fantasy stuff. I’m a fluff player in particular so this gives me a chance to work on a bit of fluff as well and post it together with pictures.

This is far from the finished project. A fair bit of it is still experimental. I was particularly curious how the armor on the guards would turn out. I’m not actually that fond of everyone having the same uniform, so I thought I’d try something different. The plan is for each platoon to have a different armor color. The 1st Platoon is red, the second platoon will be white. I’m thinking I’ll use roman numerals to mark the platoon number on the right shoulder. Sadly I’m not very neat even with the smallest brush so that could be a bit hit or miss. I'm still deciding between adding camo splotches or not. I might put off deciding till I get more of the details done and clean up paint lines a bit more.

C&C is always welcome, let it rip and let me know what you think.

Here’s a portion of what I was able to do today. I base coated several dozen but figured they didn’t need a picture yet.

Commisar Alfred Pyke is front and center. I’m planning on a lot more detail, but I think a commissar would look better with black clothing and black great coat.


Lieutenant Uhtred of the 1st Platoon and a rocket loader. Picture turned out pretty blurry compared to the rest. Stormcast photobombing in the background.


 Lieutenant Alexander Mackenzie of the 2nd platoon. I like the storm trooper look he has going, but I can’t decide if I want to add camo splotches on the cloth.


A trooper in the second platoon fleeing from some chaos marauders!

Edit: Due to photobuckets shannanigans, the first few posts are all missing pictures. Jump towards the bottom of the page for (hopefully) working ones.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2017, 07:03:34 PM by Gankom »

Offline Zak

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2016, 02:03:16 AM »
dude you have a great base coat on the mini's, now work with maybe a wash then work towards highlighting the raised areas. Sense I have not seen you before welcome to one of the coolest forms I know of :)
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Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2016, 02:28:54 AM »
Lol I've been here awhile but this is the first blog and some of the first pictures I've put up. I'm planning to try a few washes and dry brushing as well. When I started I was really just experimenting with colors to see what would look decent, wasn't expecting to actually work on stuff.

In regards to washes is it worth it to buy separate actual washes or can you get decent results just watering down the paint?

Offline LarsRock

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2016, 03:11:12 PM »
Washes are great, and makes sure that you always get the same result. However, I water down paints to use as washes, and it works great for me. :happy:

Cool colour scheme btw. :icon_wink:
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Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2016, 08:37:24 PM »
Does anyone have any tips on painting camouflage? Especially modern military uniform kinds. I've been experimenting with a few different methods but they end up looking like I just missed with the brush a lot. Not exactly what I'm looking for.

Offline Doc J

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2016, 03:52:20 AM »
Ive had alot of luck with variations of the US 6-color Desest aka " Chocolate Chip", Ive done Mars, ocean, urban and jungle variations of it on my Guardsmen as well as the original desert. I can take some pics tomorrow and post them if you want?
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Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #6 on: February 02, 2016, 04:42:55 AM »
Sounds great! I've been trying a few different versions but just can't seem to get something I like. The blotches either look to planned, or just ugly.

Offline Doc J

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2016, 04:50:55 AM »
here are some pics of my camo its not the best but I hope its helps

Guardsman urban camo

Base: Codex Grey
Blotches: Spacewolves grey or Green? ( Im not sure which color I used)
Outer Dot: Chaos Black
Inner Dot: Bleached Bone





Blood Pact Jungle, ocean, Red, Urban variation with darker grey base
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Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2016, 06:49:31 PM »
Thanks that helps a fair bit. It's good to see I'm not the only one naming the troops and painting the names on the bases.

Offline Doc J

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2016, 10:35:45 PM »
I used to name them to help me with my fluff stories, so I could figure out who was killed in certain battles and which ones killed tough enemies. The Lt Vincent name used to be on a regular guardsmen after 2 years of playing the name moved up the ranks   :-).
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Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #10 on: February 20, 2016, 08:48:42 PM »
I've started on a great painting experiment, or at least great for me. After watching several painting tutorials on youtube and just being amazed at the results, I've started experimenting with washes. I picked up a pot of Nuln Oil from the local store and have just been trying it on some of my older models to see what happens. I'll try and get pictures up a bit later. My photobucket was glitching out and didn't have time to fix it.

I have to say that the difference in a wash can be just amazing. I'm still working out and experimenting with a few things, like how much to put on, where to put it, etc, but for the most part it's a really interesting change.

I'm not happy with a couple of things but I think that's just my newness to it. I don't like how the wash turned out on a few places like flesh colored, and I'm leaving to many streaks.

Anyone got any tips for using washes?

Offline DariusZero

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #11 on: February 20, 2016, 10:57:41 PM »
Start first with thining it with water or some other more professional medium. In this way the contrast will be less obvious and mistakes less visible. If you have large quantities you can also mix them. Maybe take some notes as well so later you know what you were doing.

Also switch to flickr, much better than PB.
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Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #12 on: February 21, 2016, 06:40:03 PM »
Thanks, I'll have to have a look at flickr. Photobucket has been such an incredible pain the past couple of times I've gone to use it. Half the time it glitches up and the other half it's so slow I could paint half my army in the time it takes.

I've been taking a few notes as I try the wash. I've really discovered to be careful where I put it on the model. It looks great over stuff with lots of detail or folds, less great over wide flat areas. I'm still just amazed at the difference it does when it works well.

Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #13 on: February 22, 2016, 06:58:40 PM »

Black/Nuln Oil washes are good for some colors, but not others. Black washes can also potentially "dirty" many colors. Generally, you wash with a similar color if you want to shade it without changing the nature of the color. So for flesh, it's better to use Sepia or Flesh. But that's not always true, either. I like black washes on olive green or dark red, for example, if I really want a toned down color. I tend to highlight those colors (and flesh) back up again, though, and have never been as comfortable with washes as much as I have been with simple layering & blending up highlights.

The link below is to an old/quick step-by-step that shows a few different washes in use at different points on a quick-painting project. Not that it is the only/best way, by any means. I thought I had a better example, but can't find it. At any rate, that project used a lot of simple base coat + wash painting, since the figures were well suited to it, and that blog was an exercise in trying to find a good balance between speed, simplicity, and decent looking gaming figures for me.

http://paintmachine.blogspot.com/2009/12/pm02-swiss-landsknechts.html

(And to be honest, I'm recently trying to learn to make better use of washes myself. :wink: )


Thanks, I'll have to have a look at flickr. Photobucket has been such an incredible pain the past couple of times I've gone to use it. Half the time it glitches up and the other half it's so slow I could paint half my army in the time it takes.

Since I installed Adblock Plus on my computer, the Photobucket site works much better/faster.

Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #14 on: September 18, 2016, 10:15:04 PM »
Rise from the dead oh thread I kinda forgot about.

So despite the age it's been since I last posted, I have indeed been painting plenty. I'm just to lazy to take decent pictures, upload to a bucket, then change sizes on all the pictures that somehow end up weird.

BUT

I finally did the work for a few. I'm going to contain myself to posting mostly fantasy figures here, and sci fi in my thread on the 40k section.

I really can't believe the differences washes have made, and it turns out it's way easier then I had thought it would be. It still takes a bit of experimentation, but I'm really impressed with what they do.

So first off we have a meeting between a witch and a rune priestess. Both of whom could probably use a bit more work, especially on the rather blank faces.

Then a shot of the Priestess backpack. She's an adventuring sort.

Then the witch is a bit more detail.

I doubt I'll be winning a golden demon just yet, but their tabletop quality and it takes the smallest bite out of my massive, massive backlog so I'm happy.

Feel free to critique it as much as you'd like. I'm always open to suggestions and comments.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2017, 07:04:09 PM by Gankom »

Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #15 on: September 18, 2016, 10:15:54 PM »
Note to self; Put a bigger priority on a good light box for taking pictures.

Offline Naitsabes

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #16 on: September 18, 2016, 11:29:19 PM »
pretty eclectic miniatures. I like the witch. I think the next step now that you've mastered the wash is to highlight the raised parts in the washed area with the original color, e.g. the folds in the witches coat.
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Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #17 on: September 19, 2016, 03:22:44 PM »
Yeah I'm looking forward to experimenting a bit with highlights. My first few attempts where a bit to heavy, and ended up getting it to deep in the cracks and folds.

Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #18 on: April 14, 2017, 11:04:00 PM »
Okay got some painting done! These are for a painting contest that’s part of the Wartale’s Campaign happening. I’m part of the glorious Dwarf army attempting to retake Ekrund, and these are suppose to represent some of my forces.

First, some pictures of them built but not yet painted.



I have a couple of dawi going, so let’s introduce them as they get painted. This is actually some of the first fantasy I’ve painted this year, so if you’ve got a sensitive stomach for bad painting, avert your eyes!

Here is a slightly blurry group image.



To start off our individual pictures we have the big man himself. Lord Freyr Fairhair and his newly forged hammer Reclamation. To a dwarf, history and his ancestors are everything, but Freyr is determined to forge a name age and a new empire.



Then we have his trusted advisor Brokkr. Brokkr is a close friend of Freyr and leads his hammerers in battle.



« Last Edit: April 14, 2017, 11:12:03 PM by Gankom »

Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #19 on: April 14, 2017, 11:08:05 PM »
bases were a bit of an experiment. I was trying to use one of the new GW texture paints. I like it for the most part, but I need to make the edges a bit more unified.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2017, 11:25:02 PM by Gankom »

Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #20 on: April 14, 2017, 11:11:22 PM »
Below is Morden Goodmountain, a slightly psychotic dragon slayer. As word of what’s happening in Ekrund spreads, more and more slayers are flocking to Freyrs banner.



Finally we have a few of Lord Freyrs Hammerers, resolute bodyguards. Lord Freyr dislikes big flashy banners, so to mark this campaign he had a special series of runes forged. They are oaths and promises to take Ekrund in the name of the dwarves.



And that is my entry to the painting contest. Alas I’ve never been a great painter so things are a bit rough around the edges. The crappy phone cam doesn’t help either. I had a good time experimenting with washes and actually used a few different kinds. In real life the hair on the slayer actually looks pretty good. Using Reikland fleshshade made the hair looks better then straight orange.


Offline GamesPoet

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #21 on: April 15, 2017, 12:01:28 AM »
I like the use of the green tunics! :icon_cool: :::cheers:::
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Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #22 on: July 14, 2017, 07:00:56 PM »
Like in the other threads right around now, I'm in the midst of dealing with photobuckets picture hostage crisis. Since I'm replacing my photo's everywhere else, I figured I'd spend a bit of time fixing this plog here as well.

Please excuse the horrible pictures, and equally amateur painting. Many of the pictures are what I've salvaged off my computer, so there's some strange angles.

So let's start up with some Age of Sigmar Stormcast!





Here's a Stormcast Retributors.





Then we have a dwarf slayer. Known as Morden Goodmountain, he was originally painted for the Wartales campaign.





His liege lord from the same campaign. Freyr Fairhair. This doughty lord would help lead the reclamation of Ekrund, and drive the greenskins from the mountain.



Here we have some half finished Khorne marauders. I'm just waiting to get some different paints to finish them off.



I like the models a lot. They have a good feeling of motion to them and look suitably barbaric.

Feel free to critic, I'm always happy to here what I can be doing better. These pictures are older, and I've since learned how to use washes. Washes are amazing, and make a huge difference. Hopefully I'll get some more recent pictures up soon.

Offline Doc J

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #23 on: July 14, 2017, 08:45:25 PM »
Just wash then pick out the metallic's and the marauders would look great
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Offline Gankom

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Re: Gankom's Painting Blog of Random Variety
« Reply #24 on: July 16, 2017, 03:26:00 PM »
Thanks! I've only recently started using washes and I have to admit it blows me away the difference it makes. I have to spend more time just being patient when it comes to painting. After an hour or two it goes from careful brush strokes to just slapping the paint on.