Benihana's Long-winded WIP (Skaven and Random)

[kathrynloch]

Overall I'm a little frustrated and disappointed. I feel like the results I spent hours on could be done with a little basecoat, wash, and drybushing. I try to avoid edge highlighting and black shadows, but sometimes they seem unavoidable to get decent results. I also went a little too light on some of the skin, so I'm gonna have to fix that (especially the hands).

I think they look good! Remember too you've been washing and drybrushing a lot, so you've got those techniques down. This is new and you always go backward when you try something new. Give it a little time and a little more practice, then you'll start seeing improvement in the basic techniques. After that you'll start seeing improvement over the drybrushing and washing.

Also, speaking of horses (wait... what?), while I have your attention: My niece loves painting, and she wants to "paint my soldiers with me," but I was thinking... she loves horses and recently pegasuses, and perhaps I could find her one to paint, that was a bit larger. They play with toy horses (probably collector's items, but they're beat all to hell), so I'm thinking worst case I'll just sand and prime one of those, though they seem a bit big. I've looked around, but no one makes a cheap snap-together horse or pegasus, which would be ideal. The lady at a game store today recommended a 1:32 horse (I think?), but I decided to hold out. She also mentioned a 9 inch high horse, but it's rearing and looks very fragile.

Any suggestions?

They're probably Breyer's and I played with mine too! Breyer Stablemates are the 1:32 size and are relatively inexpensive. You don't have to do anything to them to paint them - just knock down some of the seams.

Your best bet is to hit ebay looking for body lots. Bodies are scuffed and/or broken models that are only good for repainting. Today and tomorrow I'm going to be posting some body lots for $.99 no reserve (don't mean to plug my own auctions but hey, they'd be perfect for your niece). I'll send you a link when I get them posted. The 9 inch horses are 1:9 scale traditional Breyers most likely. They're plastic and while you can break legs and ears, they're pretty tough. But those can get pricey depending on the model. Those you'll probably want to save as collectors (if you want to know what's a collectors piece and what isn't, just PM and I'll take a look - you don't want to shell out a ton of cash for something that will be painted or played with).

 

[marjedi]

Looks good so far Benni. This takes time to learn you just have to stick with it and one day you get that Eureka moment. I dont think you can find a single painter out there that thinks he has nothing left to learn.

 

[Benihana]

Thanks for the encouragement Marjedi, I'll just keep at it! I think I may have added too much paint already on these guys, but it seemed "worn" or "faded" rather than looking like a highlight.

Thanks for the recommendation Kathryn, feel free to post or PM me your auctions; I don't think I came across them in my searches. I did find http://www.ebay.com/itm/170697342835 which I may snatch up if it stays cheap. I actually came across a bag of My Little Ponies and 2 small-ish horses (maybe 4 or 5 inches?) while thrifting for a dollar, so I think I will start her with those (sand and prime), worst case they don't turn out and I'm out less than a dollar.

I was browsing just now, and I had http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/c...dex=2&aId=14900001&multiPageMode=true&start=3 open, but at the bottom of the page, and she did her typical, "those guys are too scary," but I scrolled up and she was quite ecstatic about the Empire General on Griffon. Of course, I'm not ready to pick up a $45 mini for her to start with... but perhaps I will come across some appropriate scaled wings for some Breyer Stablemates in the future. :}

 

[kathrynloch]

Thanks for the recommendation Kathryn, feel free to post or PM me your auctions; I don't think I came across them in my searches. I did find http://www.ebay.com/itm/170697342835 which I may snatch up if it stays cheap. I actually came across a bag of My Little Ponies and 2 small-ish horses (maybe 4 or 5 inches?) while thrifting for a dollar, so I think I will start her with those (sand and prime), worst case they don't turn out and I'm out less than a dollar.

Yeah, ran into a little hitch in the giddyup, so it slowed me down getting them photographed and posted.

The one you listed are the stablemate size I was talking about. I'm not sure if you want to tackle broken legs yet tho. Breyers are made out of cellulose acetate. That makes them a pain to glue. Basically you'll need to pin the leg, use the old baking soda and super glue trick, and when that's dry cover the break with something like apoxie sculpt and sand down. Even if it sits on the shelf, if you don't go to all of the trouble, I've had them fall apart just sitting there staring at me...no one touches them and one day - plop. Over they go because I didn't do the repair right.

I do know the seller however and she's great people! Just a real nice lady and a talented artist. She paints decorators. If you look at her other items, she has one horse for $20 opening bid that has BF in the title. That stands for BreyerFest - sorta Breyer's version of Games Day. It could become collectable (on that particular one, I doubt it) but if you see anything with BreyerFest or BF in the description, don't use it for a body unless it's completely thrashed.

I was browsing just now, and I had http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/c...dex=2&aId=14900001&multiPageMode=true&start=3 open, but at the bottom of the page, and she did her typical, "those guys are too scary," but I scrolled up and she was quite ecstatic about the Empire General on Griffon. Of course, I'm not ready to pick up a $45 mini for her to start with... but perhaps I will come across some appropriate scaled wings for some Breyer Stablemates in the future. :}

Almost forgot - there is a seller out there who makes resin wings scaled for stablemates - unicorn horns too. I'll have to see if I still have the link.

And another edit - FOUND it! http://abbeyincstudios.com/catalog.htm

 

[dogfacedboy uk1]

some nice conversion work, maybe im too old getting but i cant figure out how you lot sculpt and paint stuff that size Lol.

Its simple cassar, switch the polarity of that "GIgantifier Ray" you use and voila jobs a good 'un or as the Cornish say "Propppaar job boy. arrr."

dfb

 

[Benihana]

I'm not sure if you want to tackle broken legs yet tho.

You make it sound so easy, I'll just have them ship it to you to fix and you can ship it to me when you're done, okay?

Almost forgot - there is a seller out there who makes resin wings scaled for stablemates - unicorn horns too. I'll have to see if I still have the link.

OH WOW. 1000 karma points to you, and you have made my day. They are very reasonable as well! I think I will fix one of these up for her birthday, which is coming up in October. I'll make sure and take photos!

I'm off for a last-chance-before-school camping trip. Probably do a bit of painting to decompress when I get back, so until then!

 

[kathrynloch]

Well, if I catch ya before you leave - have a great time!!!

You make it sound so easy, I'll just have them ship it to you to fix and you can ship it to me when you're done, okay?

Sure! I charge $15 to repair a broken leg on a Stablemate sized horse. For $35, I'll even prep it for you and get it ready for painting. You think I'm kidding? Professional preppers and repair artists are in high demand in the model horse hobby. With me, it's part of the commission routine because so few commission artists do that sort of stuff any more.

OH WOW. 1000 karma points to you, and you have made my day. They are very reasonable as well! I think I will fix one of these up for her birthday, which is coming up in October. I'll make sure and take photos!

Cool! I can use all the karma help I can get right now. lol!

 

[Benihana]

A quick update, since I haven't had time for too much progress. I've honestly spent far too much time on these guys already, so I'm ready to finish up and move on.

I'm realizing I need a really good base layer for the darker colors if I'm going to blend. I'm having a very difficult time getting the black dark enough (it looks dark gray to me). I wanted the armor to look black (black thigh guards, black leather armor, black boots, and black cloth hat). I've also given up hope on the shield guy's face (I can't find edges that make sense for a human, and his goatee just blends into his chin).

I haven't finished:
NMM. This is an experiment, and so far it's fun, but questionable how well it will turn out. I may add some chips and dings to exaggerate the effect, though my original intent was that the army was well maintained.
The boots. Needs more black! Maybe blue for highlights? Spot highlights, since they're supposed to be leather?
Gold NMM. Hopefully that's obvious. Just a quick brown and yellow so far.
Leather straps.
Bows. I think they'll end up purple?
Feather. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. Maybe change gears and do peacock colors or something.
Halberd shaft. Only a rough coat so far.
Redhead's hair needs to shadows (and the chin strap needs paint).
Redhead's pupils. I'm scared...
Oh, and there are a few spots I have to clean up (like a hand) that got dabbed with paint while working on other parts.


IMG_0086 by benihana, on Flickr


IMG_0085 by benihana, on Flickr


IMG_0084 by benihana, on Flickr

I am VERY much looking for criticism, or anything that might save me in the future. I definitely intend to add more hue in the future (like reds and blues to my purples, and blues from sky reflections on weapons, etc), but I wanted to get the simple stuff worked out first.

 

[marjedi]

Hmmm the minis look very "messy" for a lack of a better word. The halberd haft and the nmm in particular. I would clean those up, give the feather a wash to deepen the details. And while the color scheme looks good, the blue and the black cloth is hard to seperate....as for the boots, black with a thin darkbrown highlight i have found gives a nice polished dark leather effect.

 

[Benihana]

Hmmm the minis look very "messy" for a lack of a better word.

Hopefully that's due to them not being finished! I like freehanding wood texture, and I think I'm going to go for something like: http://www.nativeworkshop.com/images/SpatulateBladeSpikeAx.jpg

I'm not sure what to do about the contrast, because I definitely see what you're talking about. Any ideas? Other than simply edge highlighting? I may have just made a poor color choice...

Thanks for the boot tip, I'll try it out!

 

[Benihana]

So you all don't think I died or something:

School has been killer, so I haven't had time to do much (well, plus social events, Halloween!). During breaks and stupid answers (to stupid questions) I've been able to work on my laptop, so not all is lost. I was somewhat inspired by both Meph's Stormraven, and a random (non-40k) drawing from the internet. Whether I actually ever build this, well... judging how my other projects have been going :/

Anyway, it's done in Maya 2011. I used an occlusion rendering (checks for ambient light) because I can't be bothered to texture it all, and I think the white renderings look purdy. It's not symmetric, with the intention of showing certain details. The idea is that it is a heavy lifter, and can carry 2 or 3 IG tanks and 50 or so troops on the upper level with room to move around. If the tanks are removed, additionally seats would bring the transport capability to 150+. It also carries supplies along the centerline upper level in crates. The engines were modeled from Valkyrie, but I believe they are way oversized and would either need to be scratchbuilt, or replaced with sets of 2 on either side. I was experimenting with "vectored thrust" but couldn't find a design I liked. The cockpit has room for 3 comfortably, probably a pilot, copilot, and command chair. There is a corridor from the cargo bay upper level to the cockpit which would house flight control electronics and perhaps a command station. I currently have it armed with dual lasguns on the front, and a dual multigun (?) covering the rear hatch. The cargo bay is drive-in drive-out, reducing load/unload time (though it still would probably not be intended for combat unloading).

I am "done with it," even though it is not done. In other words, it's not complete, but I don't think I'll work on it anymore. The image size was significantly reduced when I uploaded it to flickr, so in case anyone wants bigger or more (wireframe) images, let me know.


40kComp by benihana, on Flickr

 

[Benihana]

For kicks I added two wireframe pics, so you can see some of the detail better. The second pic hopefully gives you an idea of how it all fits together (the IG troops would be cast and duplicated for sure, and perhaps the top of the craft would be removable?).


Screen shot 2011-11-02 at 3.40.25 AM by benihana, on Flickr


Screen shot 2011-11-02 at 3.37.38 AM by benihana, on Flickr

 

[marjedi]

Ehhhm how does it fly..... Its a box with two engines?

 

[Benihana]

Directed thrust from the nozzles in the rear section. Same as all the other 40k craft presumably. All those "wings" on 40k craft don't actually develop lift, unless they are meant to and the designers failed physics.

Edit: Err, for clarification, I mean that the wing cross sections on all the 40k craft I can find is rectangular, flat on top and bottom, and so generates no lift by conventional means. On the other hand, a missile generates enough thrust that a little upward angle can keep it aloft. I think this "heavy lifter" would generally not be flying around, and simply ferry troops to and from spacecraft, in which case it could use the ground effect to improve landing capabilities.

 

[marjedi]

All valid points, but would it not lack control surfaces? You really need those in atmosohere unless it has some anti gravitic stuff in it

 

[Bloodhowl]

Ehhhm how does it fly..... Its a box with two engines?

Anti-gravitic repulsors with vector thrusters for maneuver. The big engines are for faster than light travel. It's a spaceship for science fiction, how do any of them fly?

Nice design. I don't really like the GW Thunderhawk flying rectangle look, but still a nice design!

 

[marjedi]

Now now Bloodhowl, nothing bad was meant i was just curious.

And regarding the design, i am sorry to say that i dont like it

 

[Bloodhowl]

Now now Bloodhowl, nothing bad was meant i was just curious.

And regarding the design, i am sorry to say that i dont like it

I'm sorry Mar. I ddin't mean to be so abrupt. It hasn't been a very good week for me so far, and I'm afraid I took out some of my frustration on your post.