Watching Paint Dry - Wanting Comments For My Blog!, random stuff now

Someone started a thread about New Year Resolutions and painting projects. It encouraged people to announce what they wanted to do for the year and try to really make it happen. I posted and said that I had a few projects that I wanted to get done with. So, I figured that maybe a blog would be a good way to help me get stuff done. I had a blog for my chariot racing arena and it really helped motivate me. The positive feedback was always a way to keep me encouraged.

What I actually said in that thread was this:

With this in mind, I have a few projects I want to move ahead with. There is my Pirates of the Caribbean ships that I want to turn into proper Seahammer ships. I am waiting to meet with a guy from the local shop and inspect how he converted his ships to get an idea of how to do it with mine. I also let my kids play with them and I think they might have lost a few masts. So, I might have to order some parts for them. That will happen in time.

My first priority, though, is to finish a Christmas gift to a friend. He surprised me by getting me something for Christmas. So, I had to scramble to get him something. He had started a Doombull Beastmen army and also played a Beastman chariot in the chariot races, so I thought a beastman chariot would be a good gift to get him. I found an old one on ebay for a pretty good price. He left to visit family and I thought I could get it painted for him while he was gone. He's not a painter and it would never be painted if I didn't do it for him. The only problem came in when family took away all my spare holiday time and I didn't finish his chariot yet.

When I started the chariot, I had read Silver's thread on using washes. I figured I could do most of the chariot with washes. The only thing that isn't a wash is the horns, the teeth, metal bits, and the leather straps on the chariot. I was surprised at how easy it was and the great results that I got.









I need to do the Tuskagors next. I've been staring at them for a while now. Every time I try to work on them, something comes up. I figured that I would do a flesh colored wash for the lips and nose and then do a black wash for the fur. I might dry brush the edges of the fur if I am not happy with it. I will paint the horns and teeth normally. I have high hopes for them.

While I had the washes out, I also worked on my Doom Diver at the same time. Why not if I have the brushes and washes already out? So, I followed it exactly like Silver said and I really like the results. I think I found my new favorite way to paint wood.




Before the chariot, I had pulled out my old black orcs. I have rarely used them since I've been doing an All Mounted list for almost every 7th Ed battle. I had painted them with one coat of dark angles green for skin and then chainmail for the armor. I did the weapon shafts beastial brown. They didn't look impressive and I hadn't even gotten around to painting that one coat of skin on all of them. I've been thinking of building an army list like GreenskinPower's Ultimate Tournament List and that means I need to redo a lot of infantry, including my black orcs.

So, I started off on the skin. I did a few layers, but didn't do too many highlights as I wanted them to look darker than regular orcs. I think the lightest I went was a layer of garnoc green on highlights.



I then did a black wash and a brown wash on all the metal bits. I touched up the weapon edges with mithril and I think the weapons look a lot cooler now. The rest of the armor looks good, but I worry that it's too dark. I think I need to go through them all and touch up various bits with mithril or at least chainmail. At least on their faces. I just think it looks too dark.


I am definitely going to redo the leather straps as it's just a single coat of snakebite leather. I think I am going to use some bubonic brown to lighten it up a bit. All the horns and teeth have a really crummy coat of bleached bone that I will redo. I will do it proper and layer it up from scorched brown to bleached bone. Also, I had painted a lot of the little skulls and decorative heads in gold, but I want to tie this unit back into the main army some. I am thinking of painting over it in scab red, which is the unifying color of the rest of my army. I need to redo the main banner, which I had painted gold. It will also look more like my avatar.


Besides that, I was working fast and furiously to get my army up to standards for a local tournament in Oct or so. I had painted enough of my giant to get by and I never did finish him. I wasn't ever fully happy with the skin. It was before I had gotten the washes and I think I will be trying out the washes on the big lug, as well as a few other washes on the rest of him. There are a few bits that are still white, like leather straps on the feet and all. I need to do some more layering on various bits such as dragon jaw bone and the paints.






Lastly, I was working on these plastic savage orcs from Inch High Games, which has since closed their doors. I got them last spring, but was finally starting to paint them last fall. I got 20 of the savage orcs, but no command, since I have a few command groups from the GW metal minis. I'm not so sure now, though, b/c the GW ones are so much bigger next to these guys. Oh, well, what can you do? These little blighters were real savages to work with. I had to pin all their hands to their arms on all 20 of them. Well, I was using a guide that someone had posted on Da Warpath for 40k orc skin on a HowTo for an ork burner model. I liked the results and was using these guys as my first attempt. Well, I have 8 models left that I have not done the last coat of highlights on the skin. At least I think it's the last highlight level. I might have to go back and do a little bit of very fine highlighting of a brighter color on these guys, but I have to admit that I only started to take painting my minis seriously this past year. So, I don't know. I've got most of them done, but only the skin. Nothing else on the mini is done at all. I'm pretty happy with the results of the skin tone, though.



Here is one guy that has the last coat and another that doesn't.


Let me know if you think they should get another coat beyond what I have there.

So.....this is the beginning of my blog. It's a long winded blog, I fully admit. I find I have more spare time at work to think about these things then I do have time to paint or even actually play a game of WHFB

I'm open for advice as I would like to get better. Encouragement helps me get motivated. Expect updates to be slow.

This post has been edited by Groznit Goregut on Apr 27 2012, 02:40 PM

What washes and in what order did you apply them for the chariot? It looks great. And what was the base color you used?

-Dave-

I just used the GW Mud Brown wash (that is the new brown wash color, right?) on the chariot that was primed white. It had nothing else on it before I started to paint. I did do a few coats of it. At least 2 coats, but three in some parts. After the 2nd coat, I just touched up where I thought needed it. After that, I painted boltgun on the wheels. I did a coat of bleached bone on the leather straps on the chariot. I did a coat of gryphon sepia on the bindings, but was displeased with the color. I re-did a coat of brown on the wraps. I then kind of dry brushed bleached bone on top of the wrappings again. I say "kind of" as it's hard to really use a dry brush at some of those angles and just did the best I could.

If I had to do it all over again, I would just paint the leather straps right after priming it (well, let it dry first) and then just wash the whole thing in the brown wash. Touch up the straps after you put all the coats on that you are comfortable with.

I do say that Silver said he didn't put more than one coat on his doom diver, but mine really needed it. He said it must have been how he paints it on or something. So, your efforts might be better than mine and not need more than a coat.

Personally, I am extremely pleased with how the chariot and doom diver came out. It was very easy to do and I am lazy.

Impressive, to say the least. Those look really good there, and I really like how your Doom Diver and the Chariot turned out. After getting some encouraging words from WGG yesterday (ahem, some good natured kicking in the pants), I am considering jumping back into Da Dust Devils.

Ok, Groznit, inquiring minds want to know:

Are you replacing dipping with GW washes?

Goomb

@Goomb: I would have to say that I am done with dipping! I liked dipping and I did start that whole thread on it. I kept getting different results, though, when I had to get a 2nd can of dip. Some of it was better and some of it was not as good. Still, though, when I compare dipping to the washes, it's an easy choice. The washes are A LOT easier to do then dipping. I cannot stress that enough (though I sure try with the italics and bold print). With dipping, you have to paint everything first and then you dip it. You have to shake it off and ensure it doesn't pool. Then, it takes a while do dry. The washes? You just prime it white and go! I found out it's better to start with the smaller areas first and then wash the larger ones. Or maybe it's wash the lighter areas first and then the dark ones. Or both if you can. Anyways....you just put a couple of coats of the wash that you want on the mini and it dries in minutes! Well, maybe a couple of hours to settle into the final color.

I cannot take credit for the effort, though. I was only following Silver's experience of him using the washes. He came up with the idea of just using the washes and he figured out what colors to use for the doom diver. I only copied him. Full credit goes to him.

I do have to say that it's pretty cool to actually use my art degree for something, though. I'm talking about getting serious on the skin tones for the orcs. I've been utterly lazy about painting for a few years and my early orcs look like such crap compared to what I know I can do. I like doing a much better job on minis these days. I did spend some $$$ and get a nice set of brushes, the wet pallet, and a wider range of paints, too. I have a good friend that is a good painter and he encourages me to actually use my talents.

I'm always impressed by people who have a specific army list in mind and build/paint their minis for it. I think I am going to go that route. I've got hordes of greenskins, but just painting up a unit of regular orcs or goblins that I am not even sure if I am going to use the minis in an army seems too boring. I like the idea of people who spend the extra effort to modify a number of rank and file troopers, just to make a unit more interesting. It always seemed too big a scope for a horde army, but we don't have to be a horde army any more and I feel more inspired to spend a bit of extra effort to make a unit I am going to use stand out more. Does that make sense? I like to build towards what I am actually going to use.

<sputter, cough, cough>

No dipping?

I just swallowed my water wrong, by the way. Yikes! There must be something to this wash thing!

I understand where you are coming from about converted armies and whatnot. I am constantly blown away by the creativity and skills displayed by people on Da Warpath and other forums. It is just amazing what some people can do with some green gluey gunk, some plastic bits and paint!

Well, Groznit, I might have to break down and try this....My Dust Devils are needing some love, so this might be a pretty good method.

Goomb

That wood work looks really awesome, I must find that recipe. I will use it for my warmachines I think.

@goomb, get started on those dust devils.

Greetz
G

I'm diggin' the chariot and doom diver.
That's it, I'm gonna have to visit the local shop and get wome washes.
Good looking stuff.
Keep up the good work and keep us updated.

Awesome stuff mate.

I think everyone has said what I think about the wood. Really nice.

Also like your black orc skin too....

Glad to see you have moved away from the dipping scene. I've never really liked that. Although as dipping goes your stuff was always some of the best out there.

Bidiot.

PS. Better go dig you out one of those blog badges.

Thanks for the comments, guys! I really appreciate it, especially from you big 'uns.

I've got the boars almost done. I used the black wash on the skin, but had to do a few coats. I'm still not 100% it's enough. I might want to dry brush the tips of the fur as they are still showing a bit white. I will post here when I get a chance.

I did the sepia wash on the teeth, hooves, and horns. I did the flesh wash (for the first time) on the nose and face. Those came out great! I just need to paint the eyes and paint the metal cap on the horn.

I will show my friend what I've done tonight. It was a Christmas present for him, so I really want to finish it. I'm not sure what to do for a base, though. I've got one last chariot base that I've been saving, but I kind of want to save it for myself. He doesn't really care how his minis look. I've found these cheap balsa wood sheets that are a little bit bigger than chariot size. I don't have the power tools to cut it down to size and hand tools are just too rough (I've tried). I do want to make a proper base for him, though, and base it up. He would probably be happy with just the base on the boars, though.

I need power tools...

@Bidiot: Thanks for the comments on the black orc skin. I was really trying to do the layering affect. I didn't want to go too light, as they are black orcs. My friend, who is a better painter, was telling me he likes to blend his layers a bit better. I'm thinking that I kind of like it a bit more noticeable on these guys. It looks better at a distance and makes the muscles "pop" out more.

The dipping was great, but I had problems when I lost my first can of dip and started to use a different one that I had laying around. It also took too much effort. Using the washes is a lot easier then even dipping! So, you can say I am simultaneously moving to doing stuff easier and more complicated.

Well, I haven't been to get my camera or access to my pc at home. Yesterday, though, my boss let me out with a 1/2 day, so I went home to work on minis. A friend of mine suggested that I get all my minis out and take a picture of them. So, I did.

The reason for this, though, is that there is suppose to be a MEGA battle at the local store on Feb 21st. Three guys have 18k pts of Dogs of War and are going to take on all comers. We have been told that pictures we take will make it into a future White Dwarf. So.....we can only bring painted minis. I hope to bring my best ones, at that. Of course, when you see my army, you will see 1/2 of them unpainted. So, I am trying to see what I can get painted and bring in before the 21st.

I don't want to bring my giant, wyvern lord, or my All Mounted list. I can only bring 2k of troops and if I am all mounted, then I will show up too soon and get blasted piecemeal. So, I am trying to see what infantry I have. I'm not sure on fanatics, though, as they will either work great, or really bad and go through our entire lines.

So, I tried to get my black orcs to a good point. I wouldn't say that they are fully done. I would like to work on the horns some more and maybe touch up various parts of the armor with a lighter metal. Still, though, I think they are done. I tried to make their banner look like my avatar, but wasn't super successful.







Now, I went and got almost everything I could find on short notice. I didn't dig through everything. I know I have a bunch of wolves and boars somewhere. I have a number of things on sprues. I also have a few things in boxes that aren't open. Here is what I have put together (that I could find) in one shot:



Some pictures of my heroes are:







I know that these are kind of crummy shots. I had to watch the kids in the backyard as I took them and I didn't have the sun. Also, I needed to hurry up before I took my wife out for dinner, so I didn't have time to mess with the settings to get the best shots. I barely had enough time to get them all out, photo them, and then put them away.

Here is the left side of the table. I tried to keep it to goblins.







What I have are the old 6th Ed gobbos. I have 2 x 20 night gobbo spearmen that aren't painted. I have 20 NG archers. 2 x 25 common goblins that have all been converted to have hand weapons. I've had all of these units for years and never got around to painting them. You can see my love for goblins.

I've also got 10 arrer boyz painted and about 22 more unpainted behind them:



I've got 4 spear chukkas. One is still in blister and the other is an old orc bolt thrower that I haven't put together. There is a finished rock lobba and 1/2 finished doom diver.

Two snotling pump wagons:



Two giants and my wyvern lord. The Albion giant needs his arm repaired somehow:





Two x 5 spider riders with 4 stone trolls behind them. I know I have at least 10 more spider riders scattered around that I couldn't find or on sprues:

The right side of the table. I've got 4 x 5 wolf riders creeping up the flank:





25 6th Ed starter orcs with banner (that is probably tilted too much)



This unit started off as 25 spear orcs, but when 7th Ed came, I made some more choppa + shield orcs to turn 51% of this unit into that type. So, I have a total of 35 orcs with a mix of spears and choppas.



The back half of the table:



I've got a dozen or so of the metal savage orcs, including two command groups. I also have 20 Inch High Game "wild orcs" and I was planning on using the metal command group to work with these guys, but I am not sure if they will work together. The real ones are really big.





I've got two units of 11 boar boyz. I figure one day I will strip the paint on them and try them again, but for now, they are some of the minis that are actually done. Not the best paint job, but they are actually painted!





I had also forgotten about another whole unit of the 6th Ed starter orcs that I had in some side box. I got some of them pre-painted, but need to start them again. I figure that I will try to convert a lot of these guys into unique models and switch out the arms.....one day.



I found an older edition command group that I had gotten that I couldn't find before. I figure that they will be the command group of the unit that I eventually convert up and figure they might be Big 'Uns.



I have a total of 5 boar chariots. One is still on sprue. Only one is fully painted. The other two are here and I used them in my chariot games as other race chariots.



I did get my hands on two boxes of the Battle for Skull Pass. Here are the archers from them:



I can't find my BfSP spearmen beyond these. Well, some are on sprues, but I know I have taken a bunch off. I figure I will find them one day, but it's not like I actually need them or anything.




OK....One last look at the whole table.



These are the sprues that I have yet to deal with:







Also, I didn't get to take pictures of these:

- Grom the Paunch in his chariot (still in box)
- Wolf Chariot (still in box)
- box of common goblins (still in box)
- enough snotlings to make somewhere between 5-7 units of them. Some of them are lose. Some are on bases, but 1/2 of them are on the wrong size bases.

You can tell that most of my minis were gotten as cheap as possible as people sold off the 6th Ed boxed sets. It's cheaper to get the bitz and convert them. I've got a lot of work to do if I ever want to finish them all. I also know I've got some minis stuff in corners somewhere that I've forgotten.

Now, the trick is to figure out what I can quickly get looking good by Feb 21st?

great pics mate,

You call that an army, It looks puny mate . Just kidding. It looks awesome to see so many greenskins arrayed on a table. Altough it would be much cooler if the where arrayed for a battle. I really like those old school pumpwagons. Still much painting work left I see.

Greetz
G

Haha! Well, some of us don't have 10,000+ pts! I'm just happy to have as much painted as I do now!

The last post to get the 2nd half of my army also pushed me up to 3,000 posts! Boar chariot is all mine!

I did a short army list for what to bring for the 21st and I just have to do some touch-ups! I've spent the morning gluing sand on a large number of bases. Not much time left!