Khavor's WIPs

**khavor** · 09-03-2010, 10:42 AM

Thanks gsr. Yep, don't underestimate how much spending a little extra time on the base can help a mini. It always make me sad to see someone do a solid job painting a mini, then just glue some sand to the base and not even paint or wash it. I've tried other stuff besides the real rocks as well, cork and mulch are both definitely easier, but the real rock also adds a bit of stability and weight.

Anyway, no pics of Kara today. I've been working on the metals on her (and cursing her quietly, I shouldn't have picked such a TINY mini to paint after such a long layoff. Some of the details on her are ridiculously small). Instead, I've finished my priest and have pics of him.

Mostly I just added a bunch of junk to his staff; ribbons, chains, a cell phone ... I imagine him sitting in the wastes listening to the white noise. I also gave him a bit of hair on the back of his head because it seemed bare back there since peeling the old off. Anyway, hopefully he'll eventually be cast and available from Troll Forged. Not too late for last minute adjustments though, so feedback's still welcome.

**SkelettetS** · 09-06-2010, 01:32 AM

still impressed of the greenstuff work, used it a bit yesterday and now i remember how much i hate that stuff. anyway, cool guy! and the grenade&cellphone add +1 rating from me

you need to get it casted though, i hate when people spend months on making kickass minis and then dont cast it!

**cheelfy** · 09-06-2010, 12:07 PM

Really good guy, even though I still don't understand why a wizars needs a cellphone and a grenade but it adds him a touch of originality.

**MightyChad** · 09-07-2010, 02:27 PM

I love this guy, that cell phone makes it perfect! You need to bring him by the shop before you mail him out. And much like Heat Gun-girl, I can't wait to seee this guy in metal.

**khavor** · 09-19-2010, 09:45 AM

Cheers guys.
Cheelfy: The idea was to make him a post apocalyptic priest type, so I wanted a couple of things to show he's not in a purely fantasy setting. I tried to make them unobtrusive enough that anyone could still use him as a wizard though if they felt like it. (And the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch certainly has a long and illustrious history).
MightyChad: I brought him by Thurs. and you weren't there! I felt so disappointed.

Darned real life.

Okay, bit of an update here. Although I've been spending quite a bit of time painting over the last couple of weeks I've been all over the place with a bunch of projects and haven't done anything terribly impressive. But, since I'd planned to do Kara in almost a tutorial style I'll go ahead and show my progress. I've picked a heck of a mini to paint though after not painting anything for several months. Some of the details on her are TINY. There are screw heads down inside rivets that are the size of normal rivets on a GW mini. The rivets without screw heads are so small they almost get lost after even a thin coat of paint. I'm all for a high level of detail, but I think sometimes mini companies should leave a little room to have some fun painting and not put quite so much STUFF to have to try and pick out. Just because you can put so much stuff on a model using 3-ups and computer sculpting doesn't mean you should. (Rant over). That being said, she'll look really cool if my eyes can handle it and I can get all those little details painted.

After priming her I started out with the metallics. First because there are a lot of them on her, and second because they are usually messy. I know there's a school of thought that says to do metallics last after dullcoat, so they keep their metallic sheen, but this is going to be a gaming mini and she needs to be dullcoated all over to prevent unsightly chips and blemishes not fit for a lady.

First I gave her a coat of black to be sure and get any spots the spray primer missed. Better to find them now than later. Then I gave all of the metallic areas an overbrushing of tin bits to get me a brownish base color and help show the details. (Kind of like drybrushing but with a bit more paint in the brush and done a bit more carefully. The idea is the same, to get paint on the high points but leave the recesses black, without getting the roughness that you get from drybrushing). You have to be sure to get the tin bitz down into the areas that will be in shadow (like under her left arm) as in those dark spots this will be your base color for the metal. After that the metals are painted up in layers. I did the silvers first, starting with a 50/50 mix of tin bitz and bolt gun, followed by bolt gun, then chain mail. Then the golds started with a shining gold basecoat. After that I did a quick purple wash to help show the detail again, and give me some more shading. Then I went on with burnished gold, and highlighted with a 50/50 mix of Vallejo's old gold and mithril silver. This is the closest approximation I have found to Citadel's old shining gold, which I loved. That's where I've stopped with the metallics for now, although they will get more washes and then more highlights later.

At this stage I stopped and did the rivets, which is a pain but really makes the model pop. I took a thinned down black and painted each rivet, being careful to paint around the rivet and let the black run down into the crease. Then I went back with my old gold highlight mix and put a dot in the center. This leaves the metallic dot with a nice lined ring around it for each rivet. Yes, it is a pain and does take a while, but I think it's worth it for a centerpiece model.

Then, finally, I started with the blue. So far all I've done is a basecoat of dark blue to tidy up a bit. And that's where she's at right now.

I've also gotten side tracked with another project. My work situation is not so good right now as the construction business here has dried up and gone away. So, whether I want to or not, I may be forced to make a bit of money off of my hobbies. I figured I'd start by painting a really cool old mini I've had lying around for a while.

It's an old rogue trader era Adeptus Mechanicus. I'm painting him to try and sell. (If anyone's interested PM me). I've done a bit more since taking the pic, but obviously he still has a long way to go too. And, when I get done with that, I've got Nikolya to start! So, busy busy, more updates to come.

**MightyChad** · 09-19-2010, 09:57 AM

I had to miss Thursday, because I had to work on Friday, so I could take my license exam on Saturday. I told you to go ahead and send him off, so I could just see him back in the metal form. Anyway, the robe is looking good on the Adeptus Mechanicus guy. Might I suggest highlighting the edges of the cloth by adding some Ghost Gray to your red, to give a worn/weathered look on the cloth. I've now business giving you pointers, but I've found that gray to be a good highlight for red cloth. Afterwards you may need to do a light red glaze to get rid of the pink look, but it works for fades cloth. And his robe is fairly tattered.

**khavor** · 09-25-2010, 08:23 PM

Alas Chad, too late. I'd already painted the red on up to a pinkish highlight with my usual mix: Gory Red and Bleached Bone, before posting the pic. I have done a bit more on the Mechanicus, but don't have any new pics of him yet. Instead I've got pics of another project I'm working on, a female barbarian based on this sketch:

She won't be wearing too many clothes, as she's a barbarian, so I'm treating this a bit as an anatomy study. It's rough having to look at a bunch of pics of scantily clad women for research, but I'm struggling on.

Here's what I've got so far.

Shins, forearms, and bust area are left a bit sparse on purpose since the next layer there will be clothing, armor, etc. I've been focusing on the areas that won't be covered to get them right first.

**BPI** · 09-26-2010, 04:24 AM

Wow, that's looking a strong start on the Barbarian Khavor, nice one. Are you using a Milliput/Green Stuff mix?

Cheers, B.

**dogfacedboy uk1** · 09-26-2010, 05:03 AM

Great start Khavor, if this is going to be as good as the apocalyptic priest dude you did then I am excited to see this one progress!!! Nice concept sketch to.

dfb

**khavor** · 09-27-2010, 03:10 PM

BPI: Nope, nothing fancy like that for me. Pure green stuff so far. It looks a little odd because I've done quite a bit of sanding on her with a very fine grit of sand paper, then burnished with a tooth brush.
DFB: Thanks. My concept sketches are getting better with some practice. Up until a few months ago I hadn't done much drawing in several years and it really shows.

Got a couple of new pics of the Mechanicus. I'm making pretty good progress on him. He's very bright ATM, needs some weathering and washes.

**khavor** · 11-15-2010, 08:41 PM

Wow, last post on this thread was in Sept? It doesn't seem that long. But, I've not quite fallen off the face of the earth. :P I've finally found some time to paint the last week or so (for all the wrong reasons, nothing to do at work again), and have almost finished my Mechanicus guy. Hopefully I'll get him finished and some better pics later in the week.

And here's the base I made for him, ready to be attached:

Also, GOOD NEWS! Nikolya, the first mini I sculpted has been released by Troll Forged!

http://trollforged.wordpress.com/201...80%93-release/

So, I guess I know what I'll be painting next!

**Torn blue sky** · 11-16-2010, 12:16 AM

Hot DAMN man! You got skills! Love the wizard sculpt, looks totally bad ass, great job!

**delta 408** · 11-16-2010, 12:47 AM

I wish I could sculpt half as good as you... Very inspiring work.

Cheers!

**Phaty** · 11-16-2010, 06:41 AM

Congratz on that Nikolya release mate

Btw. some nice painting stuff up there as well.
Cheers.

**SkelettetS** · 11-16-2010, 08:58 AM

can only fill in, congratz of the release, good shit! i suppose the mage is next in line?

**cheelfy** · 11-16-2010, 11:18 AM

Congrats on the release. Nice painting there too.

**khavor** · 12-05-2010, 05:53 PM

Okay, snowed in today so I've used the time to take some pics. To my great surprise, the pics actually came out fairly good. I faced my backdrop to a window and used only fluorescent light, and my wife's good camera. I think these are some of the best pics I've managed to get indoors.

Fist up is Kara Sloan. I decided to try and finish her before I really get into painting Nikolya. I've done the blues on her since the last update. I just layered up from the base color, which is almost pure Regal Blue with just a little brown added (a Tamiya color, can't remember the name). I've got four different mixes that have progressively more rotting flesh mixed in that I made for my Night Lords, and have been using for my Cygnar army as well. After getting to the highest highlight, I did a quick purple wash on all the blues and the metallics, then re-highlighted the blue.

Next up is the Mechanicus. I had a bit of a setback on him right at the end. I decided AFTER drilling holes in the base that I didn't like his position, so I had to back up and do some repairs. But he's done now, barring any last minute touch-ups or good suggestions to try. I painted him to sell, so if anyone's interested, or knows someone who may be, PM me or let me know.

I also took the chance to take some pics of a Gandalf mini that I painted several years ago. This guy won me a bronze demon in Atlanta. As I've never played LOTR and have no other minis for it, he's also going up for sale to try and pay some bills.