BloodFather's Axis of Chaos

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Ahh good call my friend. Really what sticks out the most on him is probably the baby blue seen on the entirety of his armor. This is why I chose a blue gray to highlight the rock. But as you say, a wash of these colors may be very helpful. His cloak is actually a mix of incubi darkness and sotek green, so perhaps I use the incubi for dark washes.

One thing I am kind of curious about though. I'm about to pile my sand/dirt mix onto the base. I got these from a nearby river about 2 weeks ago. The soil was dug up about 30 meters from shore, and it is rather soil-ey. Once it dries onto the glue, can I just paint it like normal? Do I have to prime it? Any secrets to painting dirt, basically is my question.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Update: Just walked by a storm drain and discovered a mix of pebble-ey sediment. Should be the perfect additive to my fine sand+slightly thicker soil. I also plan on cutting up shards of cork-not the kind seen on the base but the kind used on wine bottles-and enter this into the mix. This is going to be fun!

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Think I'm on the right track. Now to finish painting everything, add the shrubs, broken spear and shield, then finally add the snow. I think the challenge will be to properly cover the ground with snow drifts while still exposing sections of frozen earth. Finally add the icicles with my scene-a-rama ice effects.

 

[Demihuman]

Looks good! i am excited to see your guy on it! You might want to do one more pass with the dirt and glue. I would try and fill in the lines on the big rock on top. You can't go wrong with more everywhere else too.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Thx Demi, I blue tacced him earlier to it, and I have to admit that the base is a bit too big. It's 2.5"x2.5", and it seems that if I wanted to get the whole base AND him in one shot, I won't be able to get the close up of him that I'd like (I would have to cut off the cut away portion of the base for a decent macro shot). Consider it a lesson learned.

I was thinking if doing another pass of glue and my dirt mix. I've sorta learned that when basing, just cram a bunch of earthy material onto a base. The more you pile on the better, it seems. Also I could sprinkle dirt on the cracks and ledges of the rock, but I'm not sure how that will look. I was advised to paint the mix brown/tan, so wouldn't I have to paint that dirt brown too? And I'm afraid that would diminish the look of the main rock too much. But I'm still not sure how this painting dirt thing is going to go. Won't the dirt just absorb the paint and cause it to clump up?

anyhow, thx for the guidance!

 

[Demihuman]

painting dirt? Primer is the answer! Preferably from a Duplicolor can but Rustoleum will work in a pinch. If you put dirt on the rock and paint it rock color it will look like rocks and ruble that have come from the rock.

2.5 x 2.5 is a little big, maybe you could add some sort of feature like an obelisk or ruins or a lamp post? An EVIL lamp post! Don't even get me started on photography...

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

I use P3 primers cuz I think they're awesome. Unfortunately, I already primed this bad boy once and am too lazy/uncaring to do it again considering the dirt mix took the paint and subsequent wash fairly well. So the dirt will get drybrushed a lighter brown, and thinking of applying a green wash to everything too. The rocks received a sepia wash, and the dirt received a darker brown wash of agrax earth shade. I put white highlights on the rocks, though the brown toned it down significantly. Not sure if I like what the wash did. While it does tie the ground to the rocks much better, it toned down the sparkly fantasy feel I was after.

Still to to apply the shrubbery and snow of course. And rusted out weaponry. As far as the size of the base, it's not too bad, but I'll let you guys tell me what you think. Forgive the washed out pic of the hastily blue tacked mini. My intent here is just to show the size of the mini on the base:

 

[KruleBear]

Looking much better and if you are still going with snow, you should be able to position the snow and icicles to force the focus to the mini. Also perhaps a couple bushes to the sides and just under the big rock. Could probably get by with the foam type bushes as they should blen in with the snow added.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Hey thank you Krule!!! AndyG and others squared me away-again!!! Regarding bushes, I was considering doing the very thing you mention as I have some bushes that would look decent, especially with a sprinkling of snow on top. I'm just not so sure at this point how heavy the snow is going to go on. I'd like to somewhat keep it thin so the rocks and undergrowth can still be seen. Maybe drift it up in other places. I did put down some tufts of dried grass after this pic, and Ill probably put quite a few of these down as they look very natural on the rocky base. Finally, a broken spear jutting out of the ground on the left side should also help to frame the mini. I also will have a broken and rusty pick axe, was wondering if I should plant this in a rock, though this would probably draw unwanted attention.

 

[Demihuman]

He looks great on there! I thought he would be smaller...

Snow time!

 

[Humanitarian]

It looks great. Take care with adding brushes and snow to try to increase the randomness of the scene as well -- right now it looks a bit symmetrical to my eye (in the placement of the rocks.)

 

[Khonner]

I like the overall look of the piece so far. Can't wait until I see some snow on it.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Hey thanks for the kind works Demi-also thanks for all the advise you offered. It's helped me get it to where it is now. Can't wait to finish this and see it lookin Purdy.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

It looks great. Take care with adding brushes and snow to try to increase the randomness of the scene as well -- right now it looks a bit symmetrical to my eye (in the placement of the rocks.)

Thanks. I hear ya on the symmetry. This will change when I throw this spear shaft jutting up from the ground on one side, and build up snow drifts, etc. Good eye though!

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Does anyone know of a good SBS for making arrows? Perhaps a few of these sticking into the rocks or maybe even his shield would look good. In fact, if an arrow penetrated his shield, it would immediately freeze over and icicles would be hanging from it.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Posting these minor changes to the base to serve as an SBS. I am an inexperienced baser, so I am trying to show that anyone can do it. But I'm also posting each minor addition because your feedback is helpful to me. So, that said, I added some shrubbery. Also crammed in some dark foam bushes under the rock, which may be hard to see. These will get a light dusting to completely covered, depending what happens when it snows. Norscan winters can be harsh...

 

[Digganob]

That base us coming out great. Still think you need to blend that top rock together. But dam it looks good.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

You are a sweetheart Diggy. What do you mean by blend the top rock? If you're talking about the white flare that's the sunlight over exposure on it. Or do you mean something else?

 

[Stewsayer]

I think Jarhead has an arrow tutorial at Massive Voodoo Linky - http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/tutorial-creating-realistic-arrows.html. And I think Digganob means you need to use some GS, Milliputt or the like to blend together the layers of cork that make up your top section of rock. The horizontal seam lines between them are throwing off what is otherwise a great job of basing and it will draw the eye away from the mini.

 

[Digganob]

Wow, if only I could get my wife to call me sweetheart....oh well...I will take it where I can get it Also exactly what Stew said.