What did I do wrong with Ulrik

austinio

austinio

New member
Hi,

First post here - I've been uploading old GW minis (2nd edition) that I have repainted over the last few months just for fun, and felt my technique was improving with each one, but my latest submission has scored quite a bit lower - I wonder what it was that turned people off this one as for me it is one of my favourites :

http://www.coolminiornot.com/358612 - now updated with new base and improvements described below

Any thoughts/criticisms welcome - I've already submitted a re-based version with a reasonable effort at a glacier effect, but I wonder if there are improvements to the painting that I could make.

Cheers
 
Last edited:
MAXXxxx

MAXXxxx

Well-known member
What it could be:
- actually it's only about 1 point under your highest rated SM, and that much variance is completely normal. This time more people voted on the mini who don't like it or your style than those who did
- the photo from the front. It makes the mini too busy without any real focus point and the yellowish bone mixing with the yellow wolf colors, the yellowbrown fur and the gold(also yellowish color) trims. AND there are people who look at the top pic and vote without going through the whole image
- A few highlights/shades are missing, like on the red of the plasma pistol or on most of the metals.
- I would say the basing could also bring the score down, but... all your minis are based like that, so that's probably not it.

and don't forget the subjective part:
- people don't like that mini. Quite often the scoring is biased to companies and painters.
- mood. Sometimes people vote worse than normally
- some don't like the old-school look. Or the 'EavyMetal style edge highlighing.
and also negative people.
- seriously I have a feeling that there are people who go through the galleries voting 1 on everything for the 'fun' of it. Luckily it seems, that those unrealistic votes are discarded from time to time. (or at least I saw some of my minis loose votes, but go back to higher scores)

As for the painting:
for me the 5.8 is realistic, even a bit high considering the 'unreadability' of the mini (too many small detail in too similar colors). Depending on my mood I'd either vote 5 or 6 on it.
For your blood claw I'd rate it a point higher (which funnily *is* about 1pt higher) because it's a cleaner paintjob with better definition.
I find the lightening of the black good, and I really like the way the cloak is done on the photo of the backside.
How could you paint one that's rated higher? Frankly, no idea. The basing would surely help, but it's not an option if you want it to be part of the group already painted.
 
austinio

austinio

New member
Thanks for that thorough review - I wondered if the busyness and similarity of the gold/yellow/bone might be the main issue. I did put about 3 levels of highlighting on the red plasma pistol, but I guess it has to be a bit bolder to work. Perhaps I'll try highlighting the gold a bit more to de-yellow it and see if that helps reduce the busyness, or perhaps I'll just move on to the next one keeping in mind the importance of contrast.

Cheers
 
chaos spawn

chaos spawn

Member
I would say its head and its mace (is it a mace in its left hand?) look a bit "unclean". The restof the mini looks quite good, but not outstanding. I would say its a 6.0. Not outstanding enough for a 7, but a lot better than a 5.

There is always some variation in the voting. My last submission was better than the one I submitted before but received a lower rating. I myself gave it an 8 and after one vote it went down to 5.5 which means someone must have given it a 3! Now its on 6.9 which is still lower than the other one and lower than it should be IMHO.
 
austinio

austinio

New member
Thanks for that - I see your point on the skull - it could be a bit cleaner - same with the Crozius Arcanum (the mace). Might resubmit it in a few days along with my next project.
 
K

Kretcher

Active member
Next mini you paint a mini post a WIP thread on it and we might give some ideas on the way what we like or dislike. It helps a lot to get that kind of help. I myself have progressed and learned a lot that way.
 
austinio

austinio

New member
I've reposted Ulrik with a few improvements - added some more highlights, cleaned up the skull quite a bit, toned down the yellowness of the gold, lightened up the wings on the Crozius - I quite like the final result - thanks for the tips:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/358612

Might well try a WIP thread soon.
 
Canny

Canny

Active member
Great job, he has come up awesome. You should be proud, I would be pleased with him painted to your standard. One thing that bugs me paint the rim of the base black to give some better contrast to the ice. I think you have done a great job on a mini thats got a lot going on. Look forward to your wip :)
 
austinio

austinio

New member
Interesting idea on the base - might give that a try.

Looks like the touching up has given me just over a 1 point boost - so well worth the effort. Clearly looks nicer IRL. This process has given me quite a lot of confidence in the voting system and user base - it seems that the 30 or so people who vote on average on pictures on the front page must look in quite a bit of detail at each paint job and vote on what they see.
 
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