Cortez!

[EArkham]

Hi all,

Well, I was pretty happy with this one until I decided to look at Cyril\'s marines and the weathering he\'d done. As a result, I almost called this submission \"Cortez, Crapmaster\" but felt the mods may not fancy that.

Cyril\'s armour is very smooth and clean with weathering consisting of just scratches and strategically placed rust and paint wear. In mine, I made the mistake of weathering everything with washes and dust marks, and really overdoing the placement of the stains. In retrospect, I should have focused more on getting the armour perfectly smooth and limited my stain placement. So... next marine on my desk will get the \"smooth with carefully place stains\" attempt rather than the \"ZOMG fell n mud puddle LOL NEWB\" look.

Anyway. At least I\'m quite pleased with the power fist and most of the chips.

This second one is probably a better picture, despite the closeup (maybe I should have submitted this one):

Thoughts on which image is better (and why it\'s better) much appreciated. Comments and nitpicks also much appreciated as I think I really need some second opinions on my work lately.

And... http://www.coolminiornot.com/107778 for those voters amoung you.

Kep

 

[Ogrebane]

I think its a great paint job but the poor guy looks like he went thru an acid bath. Maybe a little over the top but hey thats what doing stuff like this is for. You learn stuff. I still voted an 8 cause I think the paint job overall is that good maybe just cut back a bit next time.

 

[EArkham]

Thanks, Ogrebane. An eight is fine by me (actually, once the auction is over, it can be sniped to oblivion for all I care).

However, I think Cortez is clearly better work than this Dark Angel I did, so I think this might be a good opportunity for some chatter on comparison. Cortez\'s face is stronger, the weathering (while overly abundant) is generally painted better/more realistically, the colour choice on Cortez is more bold. Agree, disagree? If so, why?

Now, we all know the voting system here is a joke, but let\'s stick with a rating scale for ease of discussion. What would I have had to do differently on Cortez to rate 8.1 (IE, higher than the Dark Angel)? What would it take for him to hit 9.0? Or 10.0?

Lately, I\'ve felt my work has been improving significantly, but the response has actually been noticeably less positive than my older work. I really want to understand why; a rating actually doesn\'t tell me anything. In fact, in comparison to other work, it just confuses me.

I need to know if my perception is skewed, if my photography is getting worse, if my presentation is bad, if my colour choice/style is no good... am I not kissing enough ass on the boards? <snicker> Actually, if that\'s last one I\'m out of luck cause I\'m not kissing anyone\'s ass for a score nobody I know takes seriously.

But of the things I can improve/control like technique and photography, what do I need to do?

Kep

 

[bayrodney]

I Agree. Your painting methods with Cortez are more higher advanced then your ones on your DA captain. Great Mini By the way

Voted

 

[Galante]

I agree that your methods have improved, but I like the older marine better
I think there\'s too much going on on the first one and it confuses the mind.
Just my opinion.

 

[EArkham]

At least it\'s not just me. Thanks for the feedback.

For future reference, if anyone ever wants to put red circles or marks on an image with little comments like, \"You screwed this part up\" or whatever, I certainly wouldn\'t be opposed. <chuckles!>

Kep

 

[stef686]

I like it, I would agree that this one is better than the previous. I think the damage adds character to the figure, which also goes with the style of the base too. And i love the effect on the bolt pistol!

 

[philologus]

They are both much better than mine. I agree with Galante though about Cortez being too busy. The great thing about SM\'s is that you can\'t go wrong choosing paint schemes/styles. If you like weathered they look like hardened veterans or \"deep in the action\". If you paint them all shiny and swoopy it reinforces their \"AJ-squared-away- jarhead\" personas.