Gizmos Plog- Say hello to my little friend

[Gizmos]

Hello there.

So I finally got round to taking some pictures of my models and in my humble opinion, I dont think they look too shabby although there isnt many! Therefore to give me impetous to ramp up my painting, I am proud to present (the still in progress) PLOG for:

The Bronze Host of The Citadel Of Dusk.

The colour scheme, is dark reds and blues. As little white as I can get away with. I know that some of you may think high elves with no white robes is heresy but I hate painting them and I cant get them right anyway. I am also using a fair amount of black (although they dont look very druchii, so dont worry about that). And Im trying to use bronze as well as the usual silver and gold. As you can see from above I have gone for The Citadel of Dusk as for where they are from. To this end with them being in the south and near lustria, black robes, bronze etc wouldnt be too outlandish. Also the animals eg griffon, horses, lions will be a bit exotic and *non standard*. Coughzebracough.

I will try and get the pictures uploaded later today, in some sort of order with an explanation of what bitz i used for kit bashing and so forth.

From time to time I may post pics of either scenery or my chaos cultists from Dark Vengeance, or maybe 1 or 2 of my bros WE. Otherwise it may go stagnant or be boring.

Anyhu thanks for tolerating my inane rambling and back covering and watch this space.

Gizmos

[Gizmos]

Okay so Im going to post these in the order they were painted. To give you an idea of progress, skill improvement (if any) etc.

First up, the first high elf model I painted. He doesnt have a name, feel free to post any ideas. But he would be run as a noble with a halberd (poss a great weapon). Oh and I know the plume isnt very good. It was blue, then I painted over it with red gore and it has gone weird, It done over a year ago now. I could repaint it, but its nice to see what I used to paint like, compared with my latest model.

[Gizmos]

Next was this mount for an old metal mage model. The mage isnt done yet, Im still arguing with myself over robe colours.

[Gizmos]

Now on to that stalwart of my army the Eagles Claw Bolt Thrower.

As mentioned previously I have used a fair amount of black and bronze, but i think the gold and the blue *runnels* balance that out. To fit the scheme of blue of red, I have used blue on the runnels and the fletching and armour edging (if you can make it out), and the red is on the sashes and the underrobes. On my next BT, I will be swapping them round, so red on fletching and runnels (using my own home made *shiny red*), and blue on the sashes etc. You get the picture.

[Gizmos]

Next is my spearmen, or the Castellans of the Bronze Keep. I may have fibbed earlier, the spearman on the far right was actually painted after my noble as a tester for the army colours etc, but i didnt have a picture of him on his own, so hes with these. Once again blue and red on robes, armour trim and shields. Another potential point of contention, I went down the route of using a mix of shield front, so as you can see no uniformity on which symbol. Personally I quite like the variation.

The standard is the one from the archer box, coincidentally my archer standard is from the spearman box. I thought it odd that speaman would have 2 piddly drapes rather than a proper rallying point of a banner. The champion was a simple case of using a head from the hero box, and the spear as well. I think it makes him stand out better having a big spear rather than the miny sword thats in the box. Also as a side note they were meant to be made as seaguard, but after the release of IOB and the seaguard being able to be bought seperately (i have 30 altogether), I decided to make them as seen.

[Gizmos]

On to the archers, black robes, blue sashes and red underrobes. Im thinking blue fletching, but as you can see the champion and standard have different colours. This is because the standard has the already painted bow case and arrows that was going to be used on the spearmen. A couple of little swaps, obviously the standard is the spearman one, the champions head is from the chariot box, his quiver is again from the hero box. And either the pointing arm or the sword arm is from the RBT box. Im not quite sure TBH. Ive slept since I made them lol.

[Gizmos]

Finally (for now) the pride of my army is my recently bought and painted mage. For the first time, I decided to paint the whole model stuck together rather than in bits, and I used washes and highlighting. Let me know what you think. No black (bar the orb), but blue and red (there is some there) again with a bit of green and purple to break it up, and more bronze than gold.

[Elessehta of Yvresse]

I love the banner, such a simple design but nice.

[Andrew_uk]

Are you planning to dip these?

What you have done is block colours. Now if you were to either dip or a wash (one or the other) you would create shading and depth, then take a lighter colour and go round the bits where you think the light would be caching it and highlight these... it will make them much much more realistic and is only a small amount more work

Otherwise speaking your painting is very neat and the banner looks great!

[Gizmos]

Cheers guys, thats encouraging. I assume the banner you like is the archer one? Or is it the spear one? Personally I prefer the archer one, I think the tower on the spear one came out too *fat*.

And andrew, what do you mean by DIP? Ive heard people use that phrase but I dont actually know what it means. And as on the mage I have started recently using washes and highlighting. And I will be trying to use them more in future.

[tinman]

Imagine a large container with a tinted varnish in it. You take your painted model and actually "dip" it in the stuff. Shake all the access varnish let dry for 24 hours and presto. Model done...

Compay is called Armypainter
Check these links...
http://usshop.thearmypainter.com/produc ... tGroupId=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw1b56j_gSI

Nice paint job by the way.

[Andrew_uk]

Yeh, most people disslike dips because its much less controlled than washes and you can't for instance dip different areas with different shades or colours... That said I've seen it do wonders on bold block colours. There was an army on here a few years ago which was all Red and Gold and had been dipped; both very bold colours and it really brought them to life! Similarly someone else recently made a Swordmaster themed dipped army.

I still think post dipping you would want to show the gems a little extra special love though to really bring them to life

[Gizmos]

Okay, time to dust off my plog and update you with all my paintings and doings.

First up I dont think I ever posted the picture of the cultist that I did from the dark vengeance box. Ive tried to keep him in normal colourings for imperial guard with some suitable slaneeshi tints.

[Gizmos]

Next up is the swordmasters that i finished for decembers challenge. Just 2 at the moment plus the champion. I have the standard, musician and 5 R/F on the go (including 2 metal ones). I have kept the red and blue theme going but to prevent overdoing them, I have thrown a little purple in with the sashes. It took me ages to decide what to do with the armour, I didnt want it to be too silvery shiny, but also didnt want it grey and dark. So I had an idea to base the scale in tin bitz, and ten ummed and ahhed over what to do next and finally decided to put badab black on top, followed by individual scales in bronze (which fits with the rest of the army). It did however take FOREVER!!! And was so mind numbingly boring. Soo many episodes of big bang were gone through while doing them. I also then decided to give the blades a coating of guilliman blue to give a mystical look. Any way the pictures. Comments and questions welcome.






EDIT: If anyone can think of a cool way to base them, im open to ideas.

[Gizmos]

Now is what I spent my christmas week doing. TROLLS! My brother got me trolls, a giant and a dragon for christmas. The very first thing I opened was the trolls, I have loved these models for ages and really wanted to have a go painting them. Suffice it to say i was not disappointed. I have got 2 done so far, (well apart from the reeds that I want to stick to the bases, but I havent found the glue gun yet) one more in bits and the troll from the battle for skull pass box started. Im trying to paint them different colours (i know they wont match) to show that they are natural creatures so not uniform, and im also trying to keep a contrast between skin and scales.
Once again questions and comments welcome.

[Gizmos]

Next up is my tester model for my phoenix guard. The main thing you will probably notice is the blade, each one will be different (15 different blades so far) and the gems will be painted to match. They are painted in a similar way to gems. I have also done the bases in green stuff, modeled as cobbles, the champions has a phoenix (the topper from the archer box) in it. They were then pinned to the bases.
Comments and questions welcome.

[Gizmos]

Now is the WIP of a model I am doing for a friend at work. Hes a bit of a film buff, so this seemed perfect. So far just the camera and final assembly to do. The third pic is a bit blurry sorry.

[Gizmos]

Finally the last of many posts is what i have done this weekend. I have painted some stuf for my brothers WE army, to help him out with colours and ideas. I pretty proud of em, mainly how quickly I got them done. I will admit though that the skin looks iffy on the glade riders face. Oh and the horse is highlighted etc , it just doesnt stand out well on the picture.

[Gizmos]

Okey dokey, another update. I have got another troll more or less finished, just the base to go. Im pretty proud with how it came out, and i dont think the pics give it justice. Also the loin cloth is shaded and highlighted but doesnt come out well in the pic. Since the pics were taken I have sanded the base and as you can see, I have made a start on some painting. Just one more troll to finish (have started it already) and I will have all 4 finished and ready to chomp down on my bros skaven.








Next up is model I have done for a friend at work. He is a bit of a film buff and used to work at a cinema so this model just screamed to be painted, plus it gave me an oppurtunity to paint it as I have wanted to for ages, but I wouldnt have had anywhere to put it.







Let me know what you think.

[John Rainbow]

You have a great painting style and seem to be getting better with everything you do. Good work. It kind of looks cartoonish or cell-shaded which is a pretty cool idea.

[Gizmos]

You have a great painting style and seem to be getting better with everything you do. Good work. It kind of looks cartoonish or cell-shaded which is a pretty cool idea.

Cheers, I will admit it wasnt intended to be like that, I just dont think Ive quite got the hang of blending yet.

[John Rainbow]

Cheers, I will admit it wasnt intended to be like that, I just dont think Ive quite got the hang of blending yet.

Haha, well I was definitely complimenting your style - even if it was an unintended result!

[Ptolemy]

Im liking it all. You have a nice, tidy paint on these models. I would rather not see you dip them because dipping is sort of an end to the painting learning curve and you are showing some good fundamentals.

Take a look at GWs Shade paints. They would be the next logical progression.

[Gizmos]

I finally have something complete to show. I still have my last troll in parts, some swordmasters basecoated, a giant started and a mage part greenstuffed.

But apart from that I finally finished something, although I only started it yesterday, so kinda finished a new thing rather than an ongoing thing. oops. But I couldnt help it, what with next months release and all.

I got some TAU last year before the release of the new rules (or was it the year before?). Anyway after the new rules came out and my army book got FAQed AGAIN!!, I kind of lost interest with 40k and my TAU. I had assembled all my fire warriors and kroot and drones, and one fire warrior got basecoated red. But that was all I got up to.
With some prodding from my brother and the upcoming TAU release, I finally got the impetus to restart them. To that end I decided on a new colour scheme, as the red didnt float my boat any more, plus I was using it a lot with my elves, and I didnt want too much of the same thing. So I went for green, specifically Dark Angels green, and to go with it Cream (ala bleached bone etc). This was probably due to my love of both those colours, and my love for the DA paint scheme. I think the two complement so well. The team leaders will have cream helmets, and the RnF will have either cream shoulder pads, or cream tau symbols on said shoulder pads. Im thinking to do the sept markings in turqouise, provided I can figure out how to do them.
If anyone has any comments etc, please share, such as more highlighting or paint this part to stand out etc. These models are a whole new ball game for me, Im used to metal, cloth and wood not space age plastics and plasma etc. So im taking my time and getting a feel for the basic model before diving into everything like my HE. Next on my board is the first drone tester and the forge world tau tank commander model, as I want him in my devilfish.

[Gizmos]

Hellooooooooo is anybody there?
Hmm better clear the dust out of this thing. I am currently making a big effort to do some painting, and tyed in with that will be keeping this updated (hopefully).

Anyway, heres some of what I have been doing lately.

I did another wizard, venturing into some green stuff sculpting while at it.







I also did a bit more 40k, this time with my bros Dark Eldar. He asked me to come up with a colour scheme, and this is what I managed.







Not too bad if I do say so myself, but Im glad I dont have to paint a whole army of them.

I also painted my Loremaster, I have to say, it was a lovely model to do, although after seeing everyone elses converted ones, I regret just doing it vanilla, however I like the colour and he fits with my swordmasters so im happy. I dont know what any one else thinks but I have found it to be the MOST awkward model so far to attach to its base, so i had to pin the buggery out of it.









Finally my proudest moment, something I finished this week, the standard for the swordmasters. It took my a while to decide on what colour, I didnt want to do it red as I already enough red with the robes and the plumes. I didnt think the blue would work very well and I thought it may have stood out too much. But the purple I had already used for the sashes and gems, and I thought it would work well. I still need to figure out what to do with the bases, I am thinking jungly, but also I would like to use some rocks painted obsidian like on the standard bearer and the loremaster. Also I will pin them to the base to make it easier. Any thoughts would be most welcome.







Next on the agenda will be two more swordmasters (including musician) and then basing them all. I then have to paint a model for my bros birthday on the 31st. Then I will be working on my Secret santa and also on the last troll, that seems to refuse to be finished. Thank heavens for a four day weekend.

[Gizmos]

So a week later, I have got my brothers model half done and the other swordmasters are alll base coated, just the layering and highlighting to go. Although the bronze scales are all done (which takes the longest time). I will try and do some WIP pics.
I am also after some help, im a bit stuck on how to do all the skin on my bros model. Its the wardancer lord from the WE army

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catal ... GameStyle=

, and as you may know has A LOT of skin, does anyone have tips on how to do good skin. I want to keep it pale but not flat. Also how do people go about doing tatoos on models?

[Gizmos]

Cant believe it took so long but I finally finished my bros model 2 weeks ago. Admittedly I was away for 2 weeks as well.
Here are some pics for your perusal, more can be found on my flickr.






The only thing I would like to change is add tatoos, but having never done them before I dont want to ruin what I currently have. Any one got any ideas?

Oh and obviously I have been working on my secret santa, but cant post any pics of that yet.

[solith]

I love the Wardancer! The bright colours work really well and make the model really eye catching. Any chance of some close up pictures?

As for tattoos, I say do it! For what tattoo's to give her I'd suggest either something tribal or something along the lines of ancient Briton/Celtic tattoos/warpaint. As for how to paint tattoos, they're not too hard - just mix the tattoo colour 50:50 with the skin colour and start from there. If the tattoo colour is too strong then it'll end up looking like warpaint instead. Also, if you're unsure about the design of the tattoos or unsure of your freehanding skills, it might help to trace out your designs with a really weak colour (maybe 20% tattoo color and 80% skin) so you can cover up mistakes more easily.

[Ferny]

Your painting is ridiculously neat - wish I had such a steady hand! Looks great - love the standard bearer and the loremaster is well done too (though I still find the pose odd).

[Gizmos]

@ferny- thanks, I try my best to be as neat as possible, however it means everything takes ages to paint. Yeah the loremaster pose is a bit weird, some people on here have made some brilliant models out of the vanilla GW one. Maybe someday I will make my own from scratch or buy a new one and fiddle with it a bit.

@solith Thanks, I tried to make it stand out without being garish. I will try to get some close ups with my new phone tonight. I might give the tatoos a try, either this week (if i get a day off) or next week. Again will try to add photos when I do it. Thanks for the tips

As promised, some close ups. Im not that keen, the camera isnt very forgiving in my opinion.






More pics on my flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gizmos24/

If anyone else has any other tips for painting tatoos, or WIP pics etc, let me know. It will be appreciated.