Salamander Sgt

[Sigmar3]

Working on a Salamander Sergeant, and although I'm quite far through I thought it would be good to get a little feed back on it so far. This is my first WIP, but don't go easy on me ha.

This is my first time painting a Salamander colour scheme, and also I'm trying to get better at painting NMM (gold and silver). I'm happyish with how it's coming out so far. Also having a go at freehand flames on the right shoulder.

All comments welcome.

 

[AndyG]

Very clean paint job the gold nmm is looking just right IMHO. The freehand flames are good and the green is a nice tone.

Bit of feed back push the contrast and go from black to white in many smooth thin thin thin layers also especially on the steel nmm you want to apply glints of pure white these should be close to the darkest region of the metal.....think gems.

pimp your base as well

 

[Sigmar3]

Thanks very much do for the feed back. I agree with the contrast comment, I'm always feel I don't go far enough with my highlighting and shadowing as I'm worried I'll over do things.

Also I'm relatively new to nmm, so I definitely need to work on that. I really like the effect when it's done well, and there's a lot of great examples around this site to be inspired by.

I'm not totally convinced by the colour of the stone statue, might change that. And as you say, pump it a little. I'll take that advice on in future projects.

 

[Zab]

That's a damn solid start. Just bring some of the dirt colors up into the stone to tie in the base more and make it seem more natural. Also a few small rocks or pieces of slate and a patch or 2 of static grass or flock. The NMM gold is super, BTW.

 

[KruleBear]

Yeah, what they said. Lol. . Looks nice and i will need to try nmm someday.

Just a touch more contrast and a more elaborate base and you will be kicking serious butt.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Got to echo the previous comments, nice WIP start, good overall look to the figure.
Doing a bit more on the base will pick it up and as for NMM pretty good start there too.

 

[Sigmar3]

Thanks for the feed back guys. I usually only do the bare minimum on the base until I've more or less finished the base, so I will definitely add stuff to that. I'm still unsure of the colour of the statue though...

 

[Canny]

Thats looking great! First thing I noticed is contrast and Im sure that IRL its quite visible but for the camera it needs to be extreame.

Your work is very smooth and the NMM is great especially the gold, to take it to the next level for the steel (not that Im any good at NMM) I think a few pure white highlights or small dots to show the shene.

I found this to be quite helpful thats for chrome but part 2 is aplicable for highlighting any metal, the Pencil highlighting is whats is in my mind to get a bright highlight but could be done with a brush, the airbrush could be a bit tricky. Tom Fleming is a comic book artist but his youtube clips are awesome. It was shown on someone elses WIP and I saved to my helpful mini tab.

 

[ten ball]

very tidy paining, +1 on the freehand.

 

[Sigmar3]

Thank you for the feedbacks guys. I have to admit I actually started this quite a while ago (at least a year) and due to work and other stuff I haven't been able to get back into the swing of things for a while. It's terrible to leave things unfinished! But also it's daunting to jump back in now ha. I have another model I was working on before I started my 'break', which I would love to get some feedback on too. I'll try and put some pics up later this evening. Might try and use this thread as a push to get me actively painting again.

 

[Zab]

Well, if there's one thing we're not lacking in here - it's opinions o_o

 

[Sigmar3]

Gotta say, there is another thread on this forum that is causing a bit of a stir. Someones opinion doesn't seem to be in accord with a lot of others shall we say... Anyway I'm going to put up a few photos in a min if I can. I'll start a new thread, but this time make it more about various models rather than just the Salamander Sergent

 

[KruleBear]

I found a wip an effective way to get constructive feedback and keep me motivated to keep my painting rate up...er relatively speeking......and before the KruleBear cub came around...lol

 

[Zab]

Agreed. It's been helpful. I have a blog, but having a WIP here is far faster and more diverse than the blog for feedback. Also, since there are a ton of artists here who are way more skilled than me, I have been able to push myself a bit and benefit from their experience and advice.

 

[Canny]

As above
I realy have to set some time aside to do some more painting. This forum has helped keep me motivated and with out it I would have had no idea of the detail and contrast that was managable in a mini, thanks to the guys here for pushing it and pushing me. Sigmar3 I understand what you have mentioned there, you only take on what you want to hear!

 

[moetle]

Can't really say anything that hasn't been said. So, I'll just say that is one fine looking salamander! The freehand flames are well done(no pun intended). The only thing i do not like has nothing to do with the paint job. The position of the scope bugs the piss out of me Looking forward to more.

 

[dogfacedboy uk1]

Looks real nice to me!! Keep on painting and practicing and I am sure you will master NMM. I havent even started it on a mini yet. Done a little in my watercolours.

dfb

 

[Sigmar3]

Right I've progressed (so to speak), put the backpack on and done that. I'm happy with the nmm on the front and although I'm not 100% happy with the back, I'm satisfied with at least the progress I'm making at nmm in general. Same with the green armour, if I could go back and restart it I'd do things differently. As I said I started this about a year and half ago, so this is where I've jumped back into painting really. I'd really try to get the shading deeper and the highlights brighter (which I could still could maybe...)

So for me this is almost done, just a few minor things to finish, add some little bits to the base. This was almost a practice model for me when I started it, for nmm and using a lot of green, and I'm pretty happy with most of the stuff I've learned.

(ps, I know the photos aren't the best either)

 

[Zab]

Actually the photos are solid. You'd need another light source if it were a display pic, but for a WIP they are very clear and well lit. That is a very good paint job too and the nmm looks great with the additional contrast you added.

 

[Sigmar3]

Right I'm finished with this now. If anyone would like to go give it a rating I'll put the link below and thank you in advance. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out even though there's things I would do differently now. I'm very bad at finishing a model so instead of messing around trying to do this or that, I'll take what I've learned and move on ha.

I think I'm improving at nmm, slowly. And really need to keep working on my highlight and contrast. Thanks for all the advice guys

http://www.coolminiornot.com/340196