GingerBat paints some stuff

GingerBat

GingerBat

New member
Hi everyone. I'm going to be painting a variety of different models over the next year in an effort to improve my skills and wanted to make sure that I could be held accountable by my new friends on the internet. I’ll be concentrating on one mini at a time, so this is going to be a slow thread; updates will be sporadic, and occasionally I’ll go from sub-assembly pics to fully painted if I manage to get a good run going and don’t want to stop to take pictures.

It will mostly be space marines, so I'm maintaining a sister plog on the Bolter and Chainsword forum here.

In terms of what will turn up here, I have a long list models waiting for me to get to them:


  • The entire contents of the Indomitus box
  • 3 more Bladeguard, from the new box
  • 10 more Assault Intercessors
  • The Captain, Ancient banner bearer and Inceptors from Know no Fear
  • The Death Guard half of Know no Fear
  • Typhus
  • 4 more T'au Pathfinders (different schemes)
  • 1 Eldar Farseer (planned conversion)
  • Nighthaunt Lord Executioner
  • ​Skink Chieftain
  • Isharann Tidecaster
  • 2 Greenskull Castle goblins from the Kickstarter: Krom and Mobakg

Since Space Marines are the coolest, I’ll be concentrating most of my attention on them. Some of the others might pop in from time to time when I need a palate cleanser, but it’ll mostly be the marines, and I'll be painting them up as members of different chapters.

Here’s my completed Marines (and one T'au) so far:
View attachment 82124

And an actual Work In Progress! A Blood Angel. I wanted to get as close to a super clean style as I could, but now I’m thinking that I might take a different approach and shade the red with a blue and see where that takes me.
View attachment 82125

Let me know what you all think so far, please leave some C&C on the Blood Angel.
 
Dexter0015

Dexter0015

Member
That's a serious program you have here!

Agree with gorb, they all looks pretty good.

I'm looking forward to see more.
 
GingerBat

GingerBat

New member
Thanks guys.
Spent some time with the Blood Angel the other day and got a bit carried away with myself; I've pretty much finished up the red armour now. Also made some decisions about the chainsword and shoulder pad markings. Think I'll finish up the black and metal parts sometime on Monday and then I'm done with him. Took the photo on my phone as I was in a rush so it's not the best representation but it gives the general idea.
View attachment 82151

In other news, I've decided to enter the Miniature Painting Open, the competition sponsored by Cult of Paint. I'll just be entering the single miniature category and I've already made a start on my main entry (you can enter up to 3 pieces):
View attachment 82152
On a side note, really impressed with this mini, needed almost no cleanup at all. Well done Mantic Games!
 
GingerBat

GingerBat

New member
Love the Hellboy! Is he a 3D print?
Click to expand...
He's part of the Hellboy board game made by Mantic Games. I've always loved the character and this felt like the perfect excuse to buy the miniature!

Managed to finish off the Blood Angels Sergeant over the weekend, and I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. The red armour could probably be tidied up but I'm moving on.
View attachment 82208

Also managed to make a decent start on Hellboy's base. There's still a lot of work to be done but I'm happy with the stone elements I think. I'm also considering keeping it somewhat monotone to keep it in line with the comic aesthetic; this would have the added benefit of showing off the miniature itself rather than the base. What do you guys think?
View attachment 82209

Coming up next: Something I can practice leather on. Unsure what that is at the moment though!
 
GingerBat

GingerBat

New member
Decided to use the Judiciar model as I really want to practice the leather. But, I've kitbashed it to be a Lieutenant instead as it's just goofy lookin' (to me, I know some people like it). Sticking with the Sons of Dorn as well, wanted something a bit simpler so I could concentrate on the coat.

Here's a really quick colour test, pretty set on the pose but let me know if you have ideas on the scheme. Undecided on whether to do the traditional Lieutenant stripes or not...
View attachment 82222
 
gorb

gorb

New member
Looking good! I like the texturing that you've done on the Lieutenant's leather cloack.
The Hellboy mini looks like a fun one, the base looks great already! I like the idea of keeping it monotone, limiting the colors used. Makes sense for a Hellboy piece.
 
GingerBat

GingerBat

New member
Thanks gorb! Glad you think it makes sense.

I've finished the Space Marine, got in the zone towards the end and just powered through. Messed up the laurel on his shoulder pad a couple of times but I'm ok with it now, I'm not going to get it exactly perfect at my current level so I'm not going to beat myself up about it. There is a very subtle (thirded? trisect?) colour shift behind the design but the camera's washed it out. Also, If you ever find yourself considering doing the Imperial Fists badge freehand, don't!

Put him up in the gallery as well so pop over here if you fancy throwing a vote my way.
View attachment 82282
 
GingerBat

GingerBat

New member
Thanks Dex. Can definitely see I'm getting better with each new shoulder pad!

Made some progress on the Hellboy piece, after a slight hiccup. The top image here is where I was at after an hour and a bit the other day, and I was about ready to throw him in a tub of Biostrip and be done with the whole endeavour. But, I slept on it and decided to just treat it as an initial sketch layer instead. Much happier with where it's at now, which just goes to show you shouldn't get too disheartened after the first go round!
View attachment 82336


Also while I've got your attention, I've been finding that the pictures taken with my fancy camera (left below) are coming out a bit soft when compared to my phones camera for some reason. I've adjusted focus manually, I've changed settings and moved closer and further away and nothing I do can get the crisp focus of the phone. Any ideas out there or shall I just change to using the phone from now on instead?
View attachment 82337
 
ekipage

ekipage

New member
Really nice work on the last two SMs and Hellboy is really great as well. As for the camera, I am assuming it is the same light source for both pictures (if not, that might be part of the issue). Only other thing I can think of is maybe you have the aperture wrong or the camera isn't focusing on a single point. I would try setting the focus to center weight and see if that helps, then probably mess with aperture settings (this is assuming you haven't done that already)
 
gorb

gorb

New member
I agree, Hellboy is looking awesome! That "it looks crap after an hour stage" is something I think every paint job goes through. Glad you kept going, because he is really looking sweet.

I also agree with ekipage about the camera settings. Have you tried playing with the aperture much? You can extend the zone that should be in focus by squeezing down the aperture (ie use a larger aperture number), but don't close it down all the way - there is going to be a sweet spot somewhere.
With a smaller aperture comes (usually) a longer exposure time - so that usually means you'll need a tripod, and a remote trigger (or use the delay timer) so you don't have to touch the camera when taking the picture.
What lens are you using?

Lots of questions :) Just remember that phone cameras are freaking awesome these days, since they have to be - most people take hand held photos in less than ideal lighting conditions, and everyone wants to look fab on the gram - so phone manufacturers are pushing all the stops...
 
GingerBat

GingerBat

New member
ekipage said:
Really nice work on the last two SMs and Hellboy is really great as well. As for the camera, I am assuming it is the same light source for both pictures (if not, that might be part of the issue). Only other thing I can think of is maybe you have the aperture wrong or the camera isn't focusing on a single point. I would try setting the focus to center weight and see if that helps, then probably mess with aperture settings (this is assuming you haven't done that already)
Click to expand...

gorb said:
I agree, Hellboy is looking awesome! That "it looks crap after an hour stage" is something I think every paint job goes through. Glad you kept going, because he is really looking sweet.

I also agree with ekipage about the camera settings. Have you tried playing with the aperture much? You can extend the zone that should be in focus by squeezing down the aperture (ie use a larger aperture number), but don't close it down all the way - there is going to be a sweet spot somewhere.
With a smaller aperture comes (usually) a longer exposure time - so that usually means you'll need a tripod, and a remote trigger (or use the delay timer) so you don't have to touch the camera when taking the picture.
What lens are you using?

Lots of questions :) Just remember that phone cameras are freaking awesome these days, since they have to be - most people take hand held photos in less than ideal lighting conditions, and everyone wants to look fab on the gram - so phone manufacturers are pushing all the stops...
Click to expand...

Seems like messing around with the aperturemight be the way to go. Had a google around as well and I've got some ideas onhow to proceed so I'll be playing around with the camera and my setup in thecoming days to fix it once and for all!

Getting close to done with Hellboy, going to goin and tidy up here and there but I'm pretty pleased with it right now.
View attachment 82385

I'm also exploring the idea of painting up theentire Necron contingent from the Indomitus box in one go, but I'm not sureyet. Do have a scheme sorted though:
View attachment 82386

And I tested it out on some Scarabs:
View attachment 82387
 
GingerBat

GingerBat

New member
It's the resin version that they sell separately along with the other 3 core members. Really good quality too, minimal clean-up compared to some other manufacturers.
 
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