Steampunk Figure Paint-Along

[Bailey03]

I've been wanting to do a steampunk project for a while now. I recently picked up one of the Scale75 SteamWars figures (Jessica Thunderhawk) at Adepticon and I'm really excited to get started on it. Turns out several other forum members have either recently received or ordered the same figure and MAXXxxx brought up the idea of doing a paint-along with her. So, here we are!

To make this a little more inclusive, this paint-along is open to ANY steampunk project you'd like to do. If you happen to have the Jessica Thunderhawk figure, great! But, if not, just find something that fits the genre and join in anyway.

If everyone is okay with it, let's have this paint-along run through April and May. At the end of May we can put up a poll of all our projects (finished or not) and people can vote on their favorite. The winner will receive that warm feeling inside that comes along with knowing just how awesome he or she really is. Of course, if enough people join the paint along, then maybe we can find a tangible prize too.

If you're interested in the paint-along, reply below. If you know what figure you'd like to do, let us know that too. Ideally it would be either a new figure or one that is just barely started. But, this is all pretty informal, so just about anything goes. I know a bunch of us won't be able to start for at least two weeks, so there's plenty of time to find a figure if you need to.

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I'm in (obviously) and I'll be doing the Jessica Thunderhawk figure from Scale75. The design of the figure is based on the comic book character, Lady Mechanika, so I plan to use that as my primary inspiration for the color scheme and scene.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Molte Bueno!

regretfully I won't be joining in as Salute is less than a month away, and I have a lot to do.

 

[MAXXxxx]

As mentioned in your wip thread: joining with Jessica.

I didn't know that the figure is based on the lady mechanika. And as I see some others are partially based on it too (like Kitty's pose is veeery similar to one of the cover art)

 

[Bailey03]

Welcome aboard! Yeah, I only learned about that the other day. I was searching some CG forums for inspiration and came across this picture
http://karambola.cgsociety.org/art/lady-mechanika-comicon-challenge-2014-steampunk-2d-1186209
which is clearly the what the sculpt is based on, which then tipped me off to Lady Mechanika. And I agree, their Kitty Reimer has to be based on that cover art too. I mean, there are some key differences (one non-mechanical arm, the hat, and the umbrella replacing the fan), but the pose and clothing is such a close match it can't be a coincidence. I'm getting that figure too... now that I know I'm tempted to convert her back to the cover art. Although I did have previous plans for that piece so I may stick with my original idea.

Sorry you'll be missing this one, DR. Although you can always hop in after Salute. =)

 

[MAXXxxx]

this is what I found: https://whipstitchsewing.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/lady-mechanika-4.jpg
pose is about right, exchange fan to umbrella, forget the large dress part (like milosh did ) and it's there. Even the watch onthe hand is correct.

based on google-search there are a few good looking designs, so I hope scale75 will use them.

ohh and for 'fun' I wanted to get rid of the mouldline. Base, body, arms are really good, but the hawk/eagle's feathers.... helluva lot to cut away.

as for colors... I have a big problem. I don't want to use that from the pic and the official scheme is too monochromatic (too much after the monochrome competition), so I'd like to have something with much stronger colors. But the figure has a lot of leather --> no real idea atm on how to avoid that much brown.

 

[Sionid]

I'm in! I'll be painting Jessica as well.

 

[moonmin82]

I may join in once Salute is out of the way. I have a few Infamy Kickstarter miniatures which are crying out for a lick of paint!

 

[Bailey03]

Yay, glad you're both joining in, Sionid and moonmin82! As I said, I don't expect to start on mine until at least halfway through April and it will probably take all of May to finish (if not longer). So there's plenty of time after Salute.

MAXXxxx, I know, I'm not sure what colors I want to go with either. I'd like to deviate from the box art but probably not too far. A google image search of Lady Mechanika comes up with a number of more colorful versions of the character. You can also check out some of these prints from her creator for ideas
http://www.joebenitez.com/?product_cat=prints-lady-mechanika-color
The belts strapping the guns under her arms, belt around her waist, and the straps on her legs probably make the most sense as leather, but the cloth and corset top as well as her pants could be anything. So I think there's still lots of room for variation and brighter color schemes. Same with the bird, just do a image search for hawk, falcon, or eagle and you'll see lots of different patterns.

I'd like to come up with my basing idea before I start painting the mini... so I'm hoping when I know the whole scene I'll have a better idea for what colors would look best on the figure.

 

[moetle]

I'll join once she arrives, probably mid/late April.

 

[KruleBear]

That is a cool mini. Cannot wait to see what everyone does with it.

 

[moonmin82]

I desperately need to get my painting chops up to speed in time for Kingdom Death. I've been trying to paint some of my own stuff this last week with shocking results!

 

[MAXXxxx]

distractions, distractions, distractions. This time: "Yamashita's Original 2"
luckily it's a figure that can be painted to a very good standard in 2-3 days (mostly AB and pigment work)

so right now: preparing it together with the Steampunk figure.

 

[TrystanGST]

Well I will try and get my hands on Jessica. If it fails (and it likely will - $50 for a mini isn't really in the cards in the short term), I have Tallulah to fall back on.

 

[moetle]

distractions, distractions, distractions. This time: "Yamashita's Original 2"
luckily it's a figure that can be painted to a very good standard in 2-3 days (mostly AB and pigment work)

so right now: preparing it together with the Steampunk figure.

She is a beautiful kit. Are you going to use the transfers or go with something different?

 

[Demihuman]

Wow! Can't wait to see how this one turns out. I will not be joining but look forward to spectating

 

[oistene]

I'm throwing in my interest - I got loads of Malifaux minis to paint, but even if Malifaux is steampunk, none of the ones I own are particularly steampunky. Also, I have other things I want to paint first. But I'm watching with great interest, steampunk is a favorite of mine and I see many great artists are joining here.

 

[infelix]

I'm going to try to join in as well, not 100% sure with what miniature yet.

 

[KruleBear]

I think i have some WWX minis that would fit the bill on this. If i can free up some time, i might get in on this as well.

 

[MAXXxxx]

off:

She is a beautiful kit. Are you going to use the transfers or go with something different?

I'm going with the transfers. To be honest 3 things got me buy the kit:
- the pose
- the face (especially the eyes)
- the transfers as an idea for clothing.

you can see an extra mini on the pic. It's planned for this weekend / next week while I'm on 'holiday'. The hard part is, that I want to paint the whole in SENMM.

and to be on topic:
-preparation + undercoating the mini is done.
View attachment 36945

I have a question though to others who paint larger figures: how do you prepare the mini ? Is there anything extra compared to what I've done? That is:
- scraped most of the mouldline with a scalpel off
- filed most of the remaining ones and tried to smooth the scrapemarks
- pinned it (I know it's not really needed on scale75 figures as they have the needed tabs, but I feel more secure this way)
- assembled as far as I could without making parts unaccessible
- gapfilling with milliput
- sandpaper 400grit, then 800 grit (both milliput and mouldlines)
- polished up + smoothed away the marks left with the other tools with steel wool

- undercoat with black then white to see if I missed anything. (and also I see where highlights should go)

One warning with assembly. The eagle's wing rests on the head. Which is good as it gives another point for glueing , but have to be careful with final assemly as it might scrape the paint off the hair.

 

[Demihuman]

That eagle is big! I have no ideas on the prep for you though, sorry.