No special permissions required for this entry on Cybertron! I actually got this one spot on!
This is Bumblebee, from the WizKids Transformers collection.
I
had great vision for Bumblebee when I ordered him. In my mind he was
going to be a glorious yellow with highlights. It was going to be
magnificent.
I realized quite quickly that yellow is an incredibly difficult colour to master. This was further confirmed to me in a Paint and Chat session!
I further complicated my painting situation by deciding to try a little bit of contrast paint in an inconspicuous spot, to see if I could brighten it up. This figure is too heavy. I set it down to open the pot of paint. Bumblebee decided he wanted to transform and toppled over, dumping a brand new pot of Contrast paint all over my desk, onto myself, but most devastatingly onto Bumblebee. Having to incorporate the contrast paint into the rest of the figure brought it too orange. I threw up my hands and said "enough"! (actually I said a lot of bad words ...shhh) I did some highlights and blending to try and help the situation but I’m not sure there was any coming back at this point!
He is not magnificent but he is acceptable. My daughter is a gaming streamer online. She took Bumblebee for decor in her streaming background. She’s very particular, so I take it as a compliment!
From here we are going to take a little zip through the Great Abyssal, into the Inner Ring, landing on Krypton. I just happen to have a superhero at hand!
I am not at all up on any of the Universes. I know the major characters but other than that, I’m clueless. This is the Cannonball Heroclix figure from WizKids. I bought a few of these specifically for the challenge.
I don’t know anything about Cannonball, but he sure looks super fast!
Continuing with our superhero theme, we are going to bounce next door to Gethen. It’s mighty cold here and Emma Frost, another WizKids Heroclix figure, fits right in.
This figure is dreadful. If I were to do it over, I’d forego the clear bits and just prime the whole thing. Actually, if I’m honest, I wouldn’t buy this figure again! The WizKids figures are a convenient option, particularly for someone like me just starting out. Unfortunately, I find that they are hit or miss with detail quality and their pre-priming is iffy.
I’m not sure where we are going next, so we will chill here for a bit!
The points:
1 54 mm figure - 10 points
2 28 mm figures - 10 points
3 planet bonuses - 60 points
Total - 80 points
What a delightful set of minis! Yellow is a very difficult colour to paint, as the pigments are very translucent. I'm not sure if we shared our tips with you on chat, but my top one is to paint a different, more opaque colour (eg, yellow ochre, white, flesh, pink, light brown) underneath first.
Tamsin
Great Post, yellow is nightmare. I use foundry light ochre, only thing that works for me. Luckily it is a rarely used colour
ReplyDeleteThank you Martin! I feel as though yellow will be a seldom used colour for me too!
DeleteGreat work on these superheroes. Having your daughter steal your stuff is a good sign.
ReplyDeleteThank you Peter! I was pretty pumped up that she wanted to take the figure!
DeleteWell done Natasha - yellow is a nightmare, and I add my chorus to the voices in agreement. But there is an extra challenge you undertook - Bumblebee sucks! :-) That makes it extra hard to paint...
ReplyDeleteBumble bee as a Camero is cool though! 😎
DeleteHaha Greg! I was expecting a comment about my point grabbing, didn’t anticipate the Bumblebee disdain! My husband worked for GM in 2007 (?) when they brought out the Bumblebee Camaro. His dealership able to actually get one. My kids thought it was the coolest thing ever! That is my only affinity to Bumblebee!
DeleteLOL, your Cyberton entry (whatever I think of Bumblebee) is totally legit! Much too "on-theme" to truly fit in with that Wednesday lot and their awful Minion!
DeleteWell done on them all, Natasha! Yellow and white are hard colors to paint. They usually become chalky or dirty, but contrast paints make it easier. There are still issues with tone though. Army painter made a nice speed paint line that is better than Games Workshop and is actually designed for glazing purposes as well as thick coverage. The big set comes with a painting medium for them to thin them down...or you could try liquitex artist medium which is very cheap and works with all paints and inks.
ReplyDeleteI recommend the liquitex.
I think B turned out really well. Very good recovery!
Thank you David! I read that the Army Painter Speed Paints reactivate if you paint over them and that they recommend a coat of lacquer between layers. For the amount of corrections I need to do - that wouldn’t be an option for me 🤣I do enjoy Liquitex products.
DeleteNice group of unidentified heroes, Natasha! Yes, yellow is tricky, especially if you want it to be bright and have some shades and so on but this Mr B looks yellow, so good job!
ReplyDeleteThank you Teemu! Everything for this Challenge is learning for me, but everyone’s help and encouragement is invaluable.
DeleteNo matter the difficulty you've ended up producing a really nice end result I think - very well done
ReplyDeleteThank you Kerry!
DeleteThank you Tamsin! I’m not sure if you shared the tip about an undercoat, but I’ve been using your hint to use sticky-tac to secure the paint pot ever since our chat!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear you found that tip helpful! :)
DeleteAn heroic effort ( see what I did there?) on all of these! Excellent work all round but Cybertron really makes it for me. And I think your daughter actually using it for decor is testimony enough. I‘d rather have ripped me a leg off before putting something of my parents where others could have seen it.
ReplyDeleteThank you! You’re quite punny today! My ‘kids’ are adults, so a little more inclined to be willing to display things! My daughter has a couple of my paintings in her apartment, but that is just because she is too cheap to buy real art!
Deletewhatever that nasty mister Greg says: we (both Arthur and myself) have a great fondness of Bee! You have done the yellow up perfectly considering how hard it is to get right.
ReplyDeleteWell done indeed!
Thank you Sander! I mean if Arthur is a fan of the Bee… that’s the decider right there!
DeleteAh yellow... the gift that keeps on giving. If you've not let rip a few choice words over painting yellow you've not experienced everything the hobby has to offer. I've found baby poop brown undercoat is the best starting point with relentless thin coats on top. And unless you really hate yourself never start with black undercoat! Keep up the great work Tash, it's good to see you trying a range of genres, styles, etc.
ReplyDeleteI’m so thankful I didn’t prime this with black. It would’ve gone in the trash! The small pieces I had to fix where I got black on the yellow (shaky hands) was a nightmare! I’m having fun trying all different kinds of things!
DeleteGreat looking trio of supers,I'm doing a fair bit of yellow, it's super tricky!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thank you Iain! Good luck with your yellows!
DeleteThat’s come out rather well
ReplyDeleteThank you Dave!
DeleteHi Natasha:
ReplyDeleteEvery painter has those moments of horror and disaster, those dark nights of the artistic soul, and yet we power through them, as you did. Or did you bumble through them? Well done you. Great figures.
Cheers, MikeP
Haha Mike - I definitely bumbled through them ;)!
ReplyDeleteYellow is such a hard colour, and this has come out clean and vibrant. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteThank you Barks!
Delete