AMotW: Bretteur Helldorado By Darkeden

Lately miniature companies have been popping up all over the place, one of my personal favourites being "Helldorado". Helldorado's unique take on the often ubiquitous fantasy setting is bolstered by high quality 28mm sculpting and magnificent studio paint jobs. This week's feature, is, surprise! A Helldorado figure, painted by Darkeden.

Darkeden took a simple colour scheme, red and white, and created a paintjob that's out of this world. The colours have a realistic bend, meaning that they're in between being irritatingly bright and dull as can be. It's important to find a happy medium between those two extremes to paint realistically, and Darkeden has found just that.

Metallics are a fickle part of miniature painting, and are practically unavoidable unless NMM is brought into play. Either way, proper application (i.e. reflection) is integral to getting an authentic sheen. The figure's sword is a prime example of this.. see how the edges have been highlighted as bright as (possibly even brighter) than where the blade is darkest. This is pretty simple, as the blade points out toward the bottom, and is inwards near to the top, so the light will be reflected most prominently at the bottom. Of course, this goes for anywhere that light hits, but remember the results should usually be more dramatic for objects that are meant to be shiny (i.e. metallics or silk).

As for the metallic work, Darkeden pulled it off very well, with smooth blending on the sword and the hilt, but the highlighting is choppy on the bracer of the hand holding the sword and on the buckles below the miniature's neck. The other bracer looks perfect, but the above issues are probably just a product of the photo or possibly rushing.

The clothing has been rendered extremely well, most notably the white sleeves and jerkin. I get the impression of real clothing, which is exactly what every painter aspires to achieve when painting authentically. The large brown pouch is far too simple in comparison to the other details and could use a significant amount of shading, while the thick part of the boot closest to the sword is in need of better blending for the grey-brown section near the bottom.

Then there is skin-tone, which I find inconsistent. The sword hand is almost fully a light skin colour that seems lacking in definition while the face/head is unbelievable. There is light in those eyes, and life in that skin! Meanwhile, the hand holding the pistol (which is a fine part of this miniature as well!) looks full and alive, so why the sword hand wasn't painted to this standard is something I'm unsure of. Back to the face: Try putting your thumb up against the screen so it covers the head, and look at the model. It still looks great, but the face is what will make or break it. Imagine a poorly painted face, then think about how you would paint if to the highest standard that you could, and finally look at how Darkeden painted it. This is miniature painting genius, and I'm more than ecstatic to feature it this week. Thanks for showing CMON this miniature Darkeden, and don't stop now!

AMotW: Bretteur Helldorado By Darkeden receives 9/10.

Ainu
http://www.coolminiornot.com/163464