Scott vs The MaxMini Dwarf Hero

[ScottRadom]

Okay so I saw a post on the CMoN boards for a new fig from a small company out of Poland Called MaxMini. The fig looked awesome, and I had to have it. I felt obliged to act fast because as many have pointed out the fig bears an INCREDIBLE likeness to some GW artwork. I am not getting into any copyright debates or even accusing the company of knowingly sculpting it so similarily... I just felt that I wanted the mini badly enough that I may as well stay one step ahead of GW legal, just in case.

I ordered two of these mini\'s and after shipping they came to my door in about one weeks time for the price of 33 bucks and change CDN. So far so good. I easily felt they were worth the price. BONUS.... I may have misread the add in my haste to buy this model I don\'t know that I read that it came with an option for two weapons or one weapon and shield. Cool. I opted for the shield option. This model is resin, and the detail is sharp. It cleaned up well with a little filing, and just needed a shot of super glue on the shield to fill a SLIGHT deficiency in the mold. Not enough resin in one of the two shields.

The model is in two pieces and the shield hand doesn\'t fit that well. It looks like they had to make a small sacrifice in the fit of the shield hand to better accomadate the two hand weapon. No biggy as someone of my sculpting skills can easily overcome the obstacle (Translation: Nobody see\'s the wrist join when the shield fits over top). I just used a little two part 5 min epoxy -\'cause pinnin\' is for sucka\'s!- and away we go.

So this is what it looks like after the basics. I made a small mound of green stuff, coated it in white glue and my base mix of 1:1 coarse/fine sand. Primer is Armory Black Primer and the base is painted Vallejo SS Cam Black-Brown, then drybrushed Foundation Adeptus Battlegrey followed by Khemri Brown. Then it\'s heavily washed with good \'ole Devlan mud. So far I think the my work is on par with getting a 9/10 on CMoN or higher! Now on to step 2: Screwing it up!

So after that I basecoated the model with three thin coats of the old Matt Sterbentz 1:1 Black/Boltgun Metal creation CHAOS METAL! I followed his advice and mixed a jar of it up, and haven\'t looked back. Check out his metalic link article http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/744 if you haven\'t already!

So far, so good. I think Now I am on par for that 7/10 I have been hoping for! So now I am off to try and beat my son into sleep mode. Then I am off to pray to the God of \"More Contrast\" and hit this baby with both barrels in the morning before work. You take care internet, I\'ll see you in the morning....

 

[Monkeysplitters]

that is a cool little dwarf, and Im saying this as someone who really isnt a fan of dwarves.

Its hard to tell from the picture exactly how much contrast the metallics do have. Plus there isnt alot to go off of here. I dont know if you already planned this but I would add some bronze/gold to the armor as well so its not to monotonous.

I do like the base for certian, I think the pebbles give it a nice touch. I would add some static grass (s small amount) just to throw some color in it. maybe not grass but moss or something greenish.

 

[ScottRadom]

Yep, it\'ll have plenty o\' brass and gold. When finished the base gets a mix of glue and snowflake. looks like this...

It\'s just real early in the process, and the snow is the last thing I do.

 

[Bigdennis52]

thats a neat little mini.

 

[ScottRadom]

Okay so I tried working the metals up. First with a boltgun metal, pretty much everywhere except the deepest recesses. Followed by Chainmail/boltgun 1:1 in a slightly more selective application. Then staright chainmail getting even more selective and mithril silver even more selective yet. All steps were done in about 3 layers of thin paint. So... I figure this looks OK, but I am going to stab it with a couple thin layers of the GW Badab Black wash, then work just the extreme highlights with chainmail and mithril silver. How\'s it coming? Just because I am pleased doesn\'t mean you need to be. Let me know!

 

[Bigdennis52]

the side view looks like you have a lot more blue on it than the front view does.

I was trying to figure out what the fuzzy part is... I guess that is his axe head on

It is looking good, how do you achieve the snow texture? is that the GW stuff or another method

 

[ScottRadom]

No blue on the model yet.

The snow is snow flake (GW or woodland scenics will work) mixe about 1:1 with white glue and smeared on. Carson - a buddy of mine- prefers to dip this mix once applied in some more snow flake for the freshly fallen snow look. Mine looks a little more melty.

 

[GreenOne]

Well, if you\'re having trouble with metallics, this one is quite a challange
It would need some shading to enhance the contrast, like a wash of very dark tones, or something like that. everything thats not in direct light should be darker.
Looks a lot smoother this time tough, keep it up^^

 

[ScottRadom]

TY amigo!

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by ScottRadom

I\'d seriously suggest stopping painting the squared sections on the shoulder armour with plain uncoloured metallics, as it will look better with Brass/Gold trim.
If you keep painting it \"silver\" you\'re just giving yourself extra work. In fact if it were me painting it I\'d be knocking back that paint with either some Wet & Dry paper or a Q-Tip and Acetone, carefully wiping the paint off.

 

[starchaser1]

i would agree with mike i would go with either a brass or copper looking trim and maybe working it into his helmet to.

 

[ScottRadom]

There\'ll be plenty of trim painted in the brass/copper and gold style.

I wanted to paint up the shoulders in steel themed just to try and practice. Not sure where the armor color scheme will wind up.

Thanks for the comments guys.

 

[ScottRadom]

Alright, so I washed down the mini, twice with black and once with thinned blue. Ta-daaaa

So far it looks okay. Now to contrast it up. The area I picked to highlight I gave about 2 thin coats of chainmail and about the same of mithril silver. Then I black washed down the shaded areas to try for that contrast thingy....

So that\'s where I am at. I might leave it for a day or so to pool and ideas/advice then tackle the alternate colors of brass/gold for the sections of the armor to be done that way. Or I might steamroller through and hop efor the best. Thanks to everyone so far.

 

[starchaser1]

try this recipe out on a spare plastic spru or anything.
black basecoat
chainmail - water 1-3 ---------1 coat
shining gold - mithril silver 1 -1 --------1 coat
black ink - chestnut ink- water 1 -2 -2 ---------- 2-3 coats
mithril silver highlite\'s

 

[ScottRadom]

Originally posted by starchaser1
try this recipe out on a spare plastic spru or anything.
black basecoat
chainmail - water 1-3 ---------1 coat
shining gold - mithril silver 1 -1 --------1 coat
black ink - chestnut ink- water 1 -2 -2 ---------- 2-3 coats
mithril silver highlite\'s

Will do!

 

[starchaser1]

the ink washes give a nice tint if you keep each wash very thin. i personaly can spend alot of time in the ink and wash phaze it pays of alot in the finnished mini

 

[ScottRadom]

I can\'t get any of the chestnut ink. Is one of the new GW washes equivalent? Maybe seppia?

 

[Bigdennis52]

I really like to to use the black wash on silver or brass colors and the chestnut on gold / brighter colors

thats what works best for what I want
I think the washes on your mini did wonders. Good stuff

 

[ScottRadom]

Okay so I tried to work the highlights on the steel areas a little more. I think they\'re a step forwad. I also did the goldish trim. After looking at the pics I thought they were still pretty flat so i went over a few places with some gold/mithril silver to try and enhance ye olde contrast. Don\'t think it worked that well.

So this rough pic is the fig sans the last highlight area of gold/silver mix I did. Next one\'ll be better, but I am going to move forward on this fig.
I finished of the shield. It\'s the same blue as the rest of the army.

Now I gotta get the cloak, beard, and small details started.

 

[GreenOne]

Looking good! The gold trimming is very nice I think, but silver shading could\'ve gone darker still. There\'s a finished version of this one that just popped into the voting pages, could give you some idea.