Ultramarines Tactical Squad

I started work on this Tac Squad for the annual Relic forum competition. I'm using it as an excuse to try zenithal highlighting with an airbrush and to showcase the helmet crest conversion bits from Secret Weapon Miniatures.

The fourth photo down, of the Tac Marine without his gun, does a decent job of showing the airbrushed highlights. Using an airbrush is an easy way to create smooth transitions for directional lighting. The style isn't for everyone but I'm a fan.

I have also included a shot of the sergeant with his squad to show the combination of the Greek and small Roman style helmet crests in action together.

Competition Mini: Pedro Kantor - FINISHED

That's all she wrote. I haven't had the time here at the end that I would have liked. This means I'm leaving a few things "unfinished" on this guy. I am, however, very happy with the end result.

Final feedback is quite welcome - but I don't know that I'll be able to change anything this late in the game.

Thanks for following along. The competition will be posted next week:

http://forums.relicnews.com/forumdisplay.php?f=110

Competition Mini: Pedro Kantor - Banner Edition!

The front of the banner is finished and the model is one step closer to being ready for the competition. I still need to do a few small things:

1. Touch up the tabard
2. Finish highlighting the storm bolter (which is now metallic blue)
3. Add mud to his feet
4. Paint the back of the banner

I really am happy with how this has come together even if the highlights/blending still miss the mark I was aiming for. There's nothing here for me to complain about and I think it'll make a nice showing in the competition.

Of course the prize support is being provided by Secret Weapon Miniatures... so I'm not sure what happens if I win. I might just need to send myself a gift certificate.

Competition Mini: Pedro Kantor - ONE WEEK LEFT!!!!!

What I've done:

1. Added mud to the cracked earth base
2. Re-applied the mud on the Rhino
3. Re-painted the right shoulder for a smoother blend (12 layers now)
4. Added the base colours for the metal
5. Added a blue wash to all of the white armor
6. Added a blue wash to all of the blue armor


Things I still need to do:

1. Clean up the mud in the gravel on the base
2. Re-paint the script on his leg
3. Finish the storm bolter w/ blue glazes
4. Paint the banner
5. Take your feedback into account


I know that I have more than one shade of blue on this guy - but that's the result of trying to improve my methods from section to section. That's also one of the reasons I re-painted the right shoulder; it looked VERY dark and should be the brightest.

All-in-all I'm quite pleased. It's not a Games Day model but it's certainly my best effort so far. I've spent more time on this model than anything else I've painted. The Titan will be finished in less time than this guy. Thanks to the feedback I've gotten I know what I still need to improve on and look forward to my next attempt.

Competition Mini: Pedro Kantor - The Home Stretch!

I finally feel like this guy is really starting to come together. There are plenty of things I'm not happy with - the dual zenithal lighting effects, for example - but I think it'll be a good showing for the competition.

If nothing else this model has been a real stretch for me. I know that I can create a strong model when I slow down and take my time a bit.

I would, of course, love some feedback. Don't be shy. Nitpick. Please!

Competition Mini: Pedro Kantor - DOUBLE UPDATE EDITION!

It's AMAZING! Two updates in the same weekend and on the same model. I honestly can't remember the last time I've done this.

I'm still really pleased with the lenses on the helmet and I'm beginning to be happy with the blue. At this point I would consider his right side - the power fist side - finished except for the detailing. The blue is a lot brighter than I had intended but the upper left image gives a decent look at how it's turning out. I can't really complain even if I'd planned for it to be much darker.

I still have nearly a month to go before the competition closes. I've already spent more time on this model than I have on any model in the past. I'm really trying to slow down, take my time and go back to correct tiny imperfections. Of course at some point I have to draw the line and decide it's good enough - which I've done a couple of times already.

And now... hell, I actually have more time to paint!

Competition Mini: Pedro Kantor - the Blue Edition

I've finally been able to make some time to start in on the blue. The bottom left image is the only one that does any justice to the transitions - but the top left does a fair job of showing the three layers of blue that I used.

I'm.... reasonably pleased. Barring feedback to improve the blues I would consider his right arm and helmet finished. Of course it's likely that I'll come back and change this entirely when I start work on the rest of the blue and wind up happier with the newer sections. That's the curse of painting in shifts though.

Vostroyan Sniper - Snow Theme Competition

There are a lot of things about this guy I would change if I were going to start over - but given that I'm painting him in quick and dirty strokes I'm fairly pleased. I do need to get some better photos but I wanted to get something up for feedback while I had some free time.

All of the basing was done with the Instant Scenery Kit - Winter from Secret Weapon Miniatures. I'm really pleased with how well the products work and how easy it was to get a detailed base finished in a hurry. I still haven't made a dent in the mock-up box even though I've done this base and covered one of my display bases in snow.

On to the next project for a bit... goodness knows I have enough of them!

Vostroyan Sniper - Snow Theme Competition Mini

This guy is getting into a winter theme competition but I decided to paint this guy army fashion - meaning quick and with little or no mixing - to see if I could develop a decent recipe for my army I'm a little over an hour into this guy and I'm pretty pleased.

I'm not using a Secret Weapon base for this guy (GASP!) because I wanted to see what I could do using just the materials in the new Instant Scenery Kit: Winter -- so this is a stock GW base with materials from that kit.

I'd hoped to finish him in under two hours but I think I'll break that by just a bit while I play with getting the snow and weathering right. I can live with that.

Feedback is very welcome - and I'll try to get some better photos, of course.

Competition Mini - Power Fist Redo

The longer I stared at the power first the more I realized that while the blending was good the highlighting didn't provide enough contrast. I've added several new highlights and actually did bring it up to GW Blazing Orange - even going so far as to add a touch of white.

The white accents - being the laurels and skulls - still need some work. And I'm likely to add a bit more highlighting to the fingers. The freehand on his shoulder spells "RYNN," the homeworld of the Crimson Fists, but I'm not pleased with how it turned out and will redo it. Hopefully I can come up with something more interesting to freehand there too.

I am much happier with the model at this point. I have now spent more time on this power fist than I do on most of my models. I hope that the effort shows when it gets to the competition.

Competition Mini: Pedro Kantor - Power Fist Edition

At this point I consider the power fist more or less finished. I'd love some feedback though.

I'm going for a darker red on this one so I didn't want to go up to pure orange. The area next to the laurels on the fist is intentionally dark to help balance the colour since the laurel will be white when it's finished.

Competition Mini: Pedro Kantor

And so it begins...

This is the start of my Pedro Kantor for the "Single Mini" category of the quarterly competition over at Relic News. There is a long, long way to go and only the eyes are finished at this stage... and those may change if I get some feedback.

The accents will all be in white. On the armor this will be shaded with grey and on the cloth with brown. The blue on the armor will be shaded by mixing the dark red with the base blue. Likewise the red will be shaded using the blue. This gives me a palette limited to red, black, white, brown and blue.

I have some stiff competition and would love some feedback.

Cadian Rough Rider Conversion 01

I entered a conversion competition on the RelicNews Community Forums - and while I have until October to get this guy finished I decided to jump in and get to work.

The horse and legs are those of an Empire Outrider. The torso was a simple swap. I used the greatcoat sans pistol arm and replaced it with the Sergeant chainsword. The laspistol arm is a simple swap and the head is a WFP Empire Pistolier.

The pants were sculpted with Magic Sculpt because I couldn't find my greenstuff. I like working with Magic Sculpt anyhow so I shan't cry. I decided to do the pants rolled because when I rode Western we never put our pants in our boots - because it's a good way to get stuff in your boot!

I found my greenstuff so I may add the Cadian shirttails. Otherwise there's not much left for this guy except the base and painting.

Tau: Pathfinder Shas'Ui

I got this guy as part of the miniature exchange on the Relic forums and am entering him into the exchange competition.

I decided to weather Shas'Ui only slightly but to really go to town on the shield drone. I figured the shield drone would be old, weathered and pretty damaged from soaking up shots. I didn't repair the gap in his power line only because I'm a lazy git. This was my first Tau and I really enjoyed painting him.

Competition - Imperial Guard Psyker

I've jumped in on another of the Relic painting competitions. This time I think I actually stand a chance.

I am very pleased with the colour and highlighting on the red coat, the glowing effect on the green eyes, and the sallow colour of his skin - especially the shading. I used Chinese hexagramatic icons for the wards on the hem of the coat - with weathering to blend the whole thing together. Other than black and white for highlights and shading this is also the first time I've used only three colours on a model.

The base leaves a bit to be desired but I haven't gotten motivated enough to do anything about it.

I'll post an update when the results are in at the end of the month.

Competition Entry: Warmachine - Skarre

This is the next competition piece for my local gaming store. This is also my first Warmachine model.

I left off the backpack skulls as I thought that they were really, really silly. The only thing I did to set this one apart otherwise was add glue to the base to simulate water.

After reading the card she comes with I really aimed for a sea witch feel. I wanted her to blend in to the ocean - with only hints of the daemonic energies that keep her afloat.

Unfortunately, once again, I have seriously under powered lights. There are six layers on the blue of her coat and no actual black. Boo hoo. I fiddled with levels (you can tell looking at the blue background) in the various shots. Someone suggested that I use the grey background instead of the blue. I'll try that and post new photos if it's an improvement.

If I understand the competition practice correctly I should know about this one in two weeks.

UPDATE: I replaced the image with a grey background version - much improved.

Terminator Librarian - First Place!

I went back today for the monthly painting group at the local store and found out this fella had taken the win on the competition from last month... with all but one vote!

That makes him my first win and the first piece I've had in the display cabinet.

Points on which I'm told he won:

• Flesh and character of his face


• Freehand on the books


• Text "LUX OCCULTA" on the bookmark


• Source lighting on the armour

I got more feedback about how he could have used some OSL from the staff -- and, unfortunately, you can still only see the lighting effect in the first photo. Even in the light box the highlights just look like glare since that's where the light actually falls.

His right knee is still blank since I'll probably send this guy to eBay eventually and add whatever chapter badge by request.

Thanks to everyone that provided feedback.

If anyone still wants additional close-up photos just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

YAY!

After entering in the Relic painting competition I was inspired to try another model -- this one is for a local competition. Everyone has one month to paint this bad boy; he's due the first Sunday in May. I'm probably 75-80% finished already but want some suggestions on the force staff.

I've tried to do source lighting again -- not object source (OSL) -- and highlighted the armour as though the light were slightly forward and on his left side. When I get him in to the photo box this effect should show up better. It is most visible on his pointing arm where it's nearly black except for the light blue on the top.

This is the final image I'm using for the Relic painting competition. Once voting is up I'll get a link to the page -- although I think that it's going to be a very, very tight competition. I am quite pleased with the result and am glad to be able to set this guy aside for awhile. If it weren't for the competition I'm sure I would have cut more corners and settled for less -- as it is this will be a piece I'm glad to see on my shelf for awhile.

I keep saying that this guy is just about done. Of course there never seems to be an end of things I notice once I get to looking at the photos.