He is a huge model and I decided to paint him as all real metallic paint in various shades (gun metal, natural steel, oily steel, and silver) of vallejo metallic and then apply washes and then re-highlight it. I was not going to even attempt to do NMM on something this big, I may be insane, but not that insane! I think the real metallic look good on him and turned out well, so its all good. Once the metallic was done I went back with some vallejo rust colours (brown, orange, red rust) that were very thinned down (like 1 part paint, 10 parts water) and just slopped some into recessed around panel seams where rust would accumulate. This is my normal rust method and I think it works well enough.
With that all done, it was onto the glow areas. I look at the model and see a glowing furnace grate at the front and several exhaust ports and vents around the model. I wanted to show the heat on him and have it escaping these areas. I tried several ways and had to repaint the metal around these areas a few times as I tried different methods. In the end I used an airbrush to get the glow in with a soft fade. However, after 3 different attempts with the airbrush this was the best I could get, and while I am still not happy with the glow, it as as good as I can make it right now. I guess I have to do some more reading and learning on how to go about it to make it look like I want. I have the right colours, but to me it still just doesn't look right. If anyone has any tips, I am more than happy to listen!
Oh and one more shot with the rest of the Chinese Rail Crew so far, just so you can see how big he is!
Secondly, is a figure I started way back on week one which then got shoved aside, the Butcher from Kingdom Death.
The story of the Butcher is that he is a lone warrior that wanders the horror lands that are Kingdom Death. A place with no sun and no light, other than what the lanterns give off. He hunts down the various survivors in the land to slaughter and eat. He then takes souvenirs from them to attach to his great cloak, as well as their lanterns for light so he can find more victims. Yeah, it's a pleasant kinda place where this is one of the less evil monsters that exist...
Being that there is no external light, I kept everything very dark on him, with lots of shadow and very little highlighting. While maybe too limited a palette, I figured that once I added the light from the lanterns it would work ok.
This model was another I wanted some OSL lighting on, like the golem above. Here I tried a completely different method as the light was from much smaller areas. I used wet dotting to try and get the effect. While it has some of the OSL look I am trying to get, I am not really happy with it either, to me it looks to impressionist in appearance, and while I know that some people may like impressionist art, I have always felt it was just a way for artists that couldn't really paint to still sell paintings by giving it a fancy label (kind of like Modern """art""" (three quotes because even three times removed from the word art, it may still not be removed enough to associate it with art).
Either way you feel about the impressionist look, it kinda' works with the figure, but still looking for a better way, it was just a trial at another painting method. Again, open to ideas, but he may just stay like this as I have a second I can try different things on.
Oh, and don't get me wrong on either model. I like my painting on them for the base colours, I am not saying they are crap or bad or anything, I know they look OK. It's just that the lighting effects didn't turn out how I pictured them in my mind and that frustrates me. I am sure everyone runs into that with certain things.
______________________________
Oh wow, do I ever like that Rail Golem! I especially admire the rust and heat blooms on his body/carapace along with his wooden barrel 'feet'. I also see that your brick base motif ties them all together as a unit - very nice. I'm not really familiar with the game, how many figures does a typical force in Malifaux require Byron? I have the impression it's not that many as it's a skirmish game. Anyway, this force looks very impressive.
I definitely don't agree with your assessment of Impressionism. I think for anyone upon seeing a Monet, Degas or Renoir up close would put aside any idea that these men could not paint. But this is nether here nor there, I do like how you've done your Butcher figure, especially the warm light from the lanterns highlighting his cloak and his armour.
As these are both very large models I'm going to give 17 points for the pair. Great work Byron!
Wowser! Great work on these two Byron :)
ReplyDeleteGreat use of palette and some really striking effects there Byron - very cool!
ReplyDeleteReally neat entries Byron. That rail golem is something!
ReplyDeleteGreat work on these, whatever way you look at them!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks everyone for the compliments.
ReplyDeleteCurt, yes Malifaux is a small skirmish game. So far this is almost a full crew. Painted so far is almost a full starter box plus the rail golem. I still have the leaders familiar to do, and 3 lesser minions for a real playable crew. Games average between about 6 and 12 figures. It is a very good game for anyone that has not tried it yet. They have lots of cool figures and it seems like pretty much everything is balanced, so you can pick whatever you like the looks of to play.
Wow a couple of huge figures painted in a huge style! Well done Byron.
ReplyDeleteWow Byron these guys turned out great, love the lanterns on the butcher.
ReplyDeleteI have found oak with red tough, as the orange get dull over the red. I found you have to start with orange and go lighter, the add the red last.
Cracking stuff! I really like the golem, the menace just oozes out of his shiny metal and glowing self and that butcher looks proper nasty.
ReplyDeleteI can't choose they're all great! The light effects really make them pop!
ReplyDeleteJust when I thought I knew all of the golems out there...
ReplyDeleteAnd I encourage a visit to Paris to correct your views on impressionism...
I have been, several times. I know some people like impressionism, but for me I look at painters like Michelangelo, Bottecelli, Rembrant, Raphael and see works or art and beauty, then I look at Monet, Pissaro, and even Van Gogh (yeah I know hes post impressionist) and see unfinished blurry pictures. As I said, I know some people like it, it just isn't for me...
DeleteVery fine work on them both, Byron! The osl on the warrior looks good to me, I like how the rest of him is dark!
ReplyDeleteI quite like that rail golem too, I think he turned out well. I am working on a forgefiend that has glowing spots. I splash the darker color into the recess and work up to white which gives a nice effect, thinned ink over white might do it too. Some of those vents seem to be a bit small though so it may not be a good method. The vents I'm painting on my model can easily swallow a 1/0 brush!;)
Does it even have a weak point?!
ReplyDeleteThanks Barks, yeah to me the glows don't work, either one that I tried. I am glad that others think they do, and maybe they are ok, they just didn't come out like I thought they would, they don't sell the heat or light concept in my own mind.
Delete