Oh wow, these look absolutetly lovely! And I can agree with your point about washes – that's why I never use them. Whenever I need a wash or a glaze, I just thin down my regular paints. Never had satisfying results with washes.
Thanks for the compliments! I feel washes still have their uses in some cases, especially when I want to get something done quick or little touch ups. I've been experimenting with inks too. The weapons and back armour were glazed with a mix of black wash mixed with diluted VGC blue ink. I'm still experimenting with the ratio however.
This year has been productive so far. Since my last post I've finished four more minis. The most recent is the Hulang. I've posted him in the conversion thread but here's the completely finished version. I don't like the skull face at all (too WH40k), so I filed away the nubs on his head, filled in his eye sockets and face, and gave him a nose job. My green stuff skill is poor, but I think I've successfully hidden it with decent paint job. The face pattern is based on a Chinese opera mask template. Spoiler: More Hulang
What a fantastic idea and great execution. That final paint job very successfully masks (pun intended) any flaws in the green stuff work. Kudos!
Thank you! I actually had this idea for a while, but never had the chance or the right model to do it untill now. I am very happy with the result and it looks great at table top distance.
Haidao Sniper I have a thing for snipers and sharp shooters. This guy is no exception! Spoiler: More Haidao
Thank you both! The foliage and grass came from an old GW basing kit that I have around but never used. The leaves are etched brass and finicky to work with. Modern advances in plastic and resin probably offer much better basing products than etched brass.
Qiang Gao alt model At first he's going to be a Shang Ji proxy. But I got the Shang Ji box set so this guy will be a Zuyong proxy instead. I don't like the way some of the highlights show up in the photos, but since it's not noticeable on table top I'm not going to bother fixing it. I had some fun with the free-hand. It was challenging even with my smallest brush. I found it difficult getting the right paint consistency to flow while retaining saturation. Spoiler: More pics
Nice, I chose the helmeted option because the angle of bare head feels a bit strange, but now that you mention it since I have the generic release too, I can proxy him as a second Zuyong HMG.
Keep practicing. Never tell yourself freehand is too hard. Don’t give up on it even though the rest of the model is finished, just take a break and do it when you are fresh. These tips go through my head every time I have a go at it :-)
It is now the beginning of March and the days are slowly getting longer here in the Great White North. I have so far finished seven models, which is a record for me. The last two are the Mowang and the N2 missile launcher Hac Tao. Both were finished a week ago as I am taking a short break from painting while cleaning and prepping the next batch of models. Mowang This Big Boi was a treat to paint. Lots of different surfaces for me to practice. I messed up a few places but looks ok on the tabletop distance. Spoiler: More Big Boi Missile Launcher Hac Tao I like the model despite it being smaller in scale. I just don't ever use this profile so she will proxy as a Missile Launcher Zuyong instead. Spoiler: Gal with big boom boom
Painting has slowed down a little but I still got stuff done in March and April. I got the Shangji box and HMRC Yanhuo assembled and ready for priming. Except I didn't feel like painting them just yet. Instead I finished the Defiance backlog. Jazz and Billie: I didn't follow the studio scheme this time. If I were to play Nomads it would be Tunguska, and to me they're black with teal/jade parts. Uma and Caden. Uma is the studio Pan-O colors. Caden I just eyeballed and used colors that I have. Group shot of all four Defiance default heroes. Finally, Trisha and her Yudbot. With that, I'm calling Defiance done as I have no interest or motivation to paint up Rahman. This project only took me three years
Congratulations on finishing your three year project :D They all look great. Love the cyberpunk pants on Jazz especially.
LOL thanks. It's been emotional. I wanted to like Defiance, but the mechanics are just too unwieldy as a single player dungeon crawler. At least I got some good painting experience out of it, and a Shasvastii force on top of that. As for Jazz, cyberpunk is what Nomads is all about! At first the colour I envisioned is more blue, but the green actually looks really good.
Well, May to July has been super busy for me with a new puppy and summer travels. Didn't get much painting done until mid-August. First one to get done is Bixie. Spoiler: More views Then I painted the Shang Ji box set, which felt like it took forever because I worked on all the models at the same time. They are quite a pleasure to paint though, and the sculpts are wonderful. I can't quite decide if I like the white background or the black background. Up next: Yan Huo with HRMC!
