Category: Fantasy

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

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This week I managed to finish “Alain”, the 28mm Iconic Cavalier by Reaper which I had started painting the face on last week.  This represents my first figure for 2021 and therefore my entry into Ann’s challenge.

The figure provided an opportunity for a little free hand work on the shield, front and back, in the form of a couple of crosses.  As the figure had quite a lot going on and a fair bit of detail I decided to keep the base work simple.

Images below.

TIM

Before, during and after Christmas, as well as after the New Year, I have barely picked up a brush.  My routine such as I had one went out of the window and I simply got lazier and lazier.  I managed to maintain a slight grip on my “Fools Gold” diorama and to some extent the blog but that is as far as it went.  When I finally picked up a brush I realised I had ran out of time to get a figure done for this Saturday’s post.  Accordingly, and for the first time in I don’t know how long, I was confronted with a blog dilemma, do I not post at all or do I try and make a post out of what I have done to date? 

I decided against no post at all.  I could hear the cries of “thank goodness TIM hasn’t posted, we will get a few days respite!” and concluded that annoying you all was more important to me than I realised!

So, what I have I got for you?  Well let me start by saying this is not a tutorial, it is however a brief guide on how I paint faces.  As you will know I am sure, there a great many ways to paint faces and painters far better than I am have tutorials on YouTube that you can follow and replicate.    If this post is of any use then all well an good but other wise it is just a work in progress.  Next week I will hopefully have the figure completed.

As I have mentioned before I prime using White Matt Enamel paint, Humbrol or Revel, diluted a little using white spirit.  The face paints I use are from “Lifecolor” and the set of six I bought comprise of Flesh Base 1 & 2, Flesh Shadow 1 & 2 and Flesh Light 1 & 2.  The first image below shows Flesh Base 2 having been applied.  Please allow for the fact these images appear at 6 times or more bigger than the head of the real figure.

Next using Black, Vallejo in this case, I block out the eyes and apply a thin line to the mouth.  I don’t concern myself if I have gone outside of the lines as that will be tidied up in due course.

Next I paint the whites of the eyes.  Any white will do, I don’t get excited about an exact colour, perhaps I should but I don’t.  This white was again a Vallejo colour.

Pupils come next and again I use black.  I try to take account of where the figure is looking and position the pupil accordingly.

Time now to tidy up the black around the eyes using the base colour again and then, using the darker of the two shadow colours, outline the areas which need to be darker – around the eyes, hair line, neck, chin and nose.

The next image is a little blurred but at this point I am using the lighter base colour to start the highlights – forehead, chin and cheeks.

The next level of highlight is added to the same areas above.  

Finally some near white to the nose, corner of the eyes and chin plus a little Old Rose Vallejo paint to the bottom lip.  

Now the images on my Samsung Tablet show the head way larger than in reality (as mentioned above already), accordingly the end result looks far from great but in normal eyesight mode the exaggerated lines provide good definition.  Hopefully the finished model will demonstrate that next week but if not then I will go back and touch a couple of bits up.  That forehead is looking a bit to white as things currently stand.

Meanwhile I need to get my act together as this is not a great start to the New Year.  I have lots to paint and do and shrugging off the festivities and establishing some sort of routine is a must.  There are challenges on the horizon and my arse is not in gear for anything right now.

TIM 

As I have mentioned in previous posts I do like figures which for me have a bit of character and to my mind at least this 28mm Reaper figure, which goes by the name of Vodellis Winterhand, has just that.  If there was an opportunity to do some freehand I couldn’t see it so in many respects it was a straight forward paint job.  None the less I was pleased with how he turned out.

In truth given the lack of empty space on my painting desk at the moment I am surprised he got painted at all.  Generally my work space is neat and tidy and free of clutter  (She Who Must Be Obeyed would argue to the contrary) but I had forgotten how much space and stuff I need out when working on dioramas, not to mention the, mess that goes with it.

Adversity was overcome in the end and images of the little chap appear below.

TIM

This weeks 28mm figure is from Reaper and goes by the name of Oriana, Grey Maiden.  Despite the colour in her title I went for green as the dominant colour and in so doing ended up with a figure I really do not like. 

In truth I did not like my colour choice right from the start and should have stripped it down and started over but, for no other reason than laziness, I couldn’t be arsed to do so.  Interestingly I feel the same way about another figure I have started that is sat on the side of my desk.  I’m not entirely sure why this is but I am very much inclined to blame it on Covid and the lockdown.  I’m not looking to make excuses but I have pretty much been nowhere and done nothing since early March and mentally I think it is now taking its toll.  I’m not concerned about going out just cannot be arsed to do so.  Where is there to go when everything is shut down anyway? 

More and more the least little thing is now becoming an effort and I am sorry to say that I fear the same can now be said for modelling and painting.  I’m loath to take a break from painting or from the blog as I worry I wont start up again if I do.  The thing is I usually do some research and look at images of other peoples work all of which helps to determine what I do.  This however requires effort that I am not putting in and the results as far as I am concerned speak for themselves.  Hopefully the forced break induced by Christmas and family in attendance will provide the opportunity to rekindle my enthusiasm, that and the dawning of 2021.

Apologies for the miserable post! 

TIM

The last couple of weeks have been pretty shitty in modelling terms.  Nothing has gone wrong on the painting and building side.  The problem has been that nothing really got done!  I am retired and in lockdown due to Covid-19 and some how still could not find the time to get any hobby activity in.  Why was this?  Well that is bloody good question to which the answer is Parish Council business. 

In a mad moment a few years ago I agreed to get involved with parish affairs.  I fell for the line “its a breeze”.  It’s not.  The last two weeks have been insightful to say the least but my term in office will come to an end by year end (well that’s the plan).  Not because elections are due but because I intend to tell them to fuck off.  If Covid-19 has taught me anything it is that life is to short to spend time discussing meaningless shit, especially if it takes needless time away from my hobby.

The good news is that I did manage to get this little chap finished.  Over the last two week I have picked him up and put him down more times than I have been to the toilet this year.  Now there’s a thought to leave you with!

The figure itself is from the 28mm Reaper Pathfinder range and goes by the name of “Ilnerik Sivanshin”.  Now I do like Reaper figures as many of you know by now and this one piece casting had sufficient detail to be interesting.  If I have one disappointment it is with the base.  I was pretty happy with the paint job but in my haste to get something finished cut corners on the base.  I think the completed figure was deserving of something much better.  I’ll see how I feel about that in a few days time.  There is always the option to try and sell this one on Ebay and simply do another.

Images below.

TIM

When it comes to ideas for little dioramas or vignettes no companies figures inspire me more than Hasslefree right now.  I can’t put my finger on it but there is something about the composition of their figures which gets my creative juices flowing.  I think it helps that a great many of the figures can be easily placed together, such as in the case here.

The figures go by the names “Iona Starkiller” (the figure in blue) and”Kami Riko” and to my mind at least are a natural fit for a model like this.  Both figures are listed under the Sci Fi menu header which led me to giving the ground work a redish colour, something in my mind said the colour suggested another planet or another world.  The flora was added just to break things up a little.

The paint job was a straight forward affair but the figures needed to be lined up so that there eyes were fixed on each other in concentration. Not a difficult thing to do but explains why one figure is positioned higher than the other and why the ground work needed to be built up a little.

TIM 

Time for a little diorama, a welcome change from doing quite a lot of single figures recently.  As I wait to get the various bits I need to start a couple of larger dioramas I thought I would get back into the dirorama groove with a simple little one.

What we have here are two figures I thought went together well.  The little girl is from Statuesque Miniatures which I first came across when I saw IRO do a great little scene with her quite sometime ago (sorry IRO I was looking to include a link to your post but couldn’t find it) and the other is from Crooked Dice.

The idea of the girl seeking to find something she heard, with what it was behind her, was a simple idea given the composition of both figures.  After that it was just a case of how to base it.  I had a few options but for some reason I settled on this one.  Not entirely sure I pulled it off but I was looking to create a dark cave entrance and the end result was just about OK.  I wanted an earthy effect on the walls which I managed to achieve using … earth!  A handful from the garden mixed with PVA and a little acrylic paint and then dry brushed and away you go.     

Finally, for those of you who like a bit of fluff to go with a figure(s) all I can say is it doesn’t end well for the little girl!

TIM

PS – OK so the little girl gets away safe and sound!

 

Aina has been sitting in my to do pile for far longer than she deserved to be so this week I made a concentrated effort to get her done and dusted.  A search through my ever increasing pile of lead revealed that she is not the only figure to have been neglected.  In truth I do not need to buy another figure for at least 5 years based on my speed of painting but you know and I know that is never going to happen.  The buy list is as long as the to do list, perhaps longer.  Who am I kidding, it’s much longer.  I digress.

As you can see from the title, Aina is a Female Valkyrie.  A three part figure of high quality as typically produced by Reaper and a joy to paint.  The pose suggested to me that she should be based with an element of height.  A few slate chippings from the garden and a nice wood turned base from my neighbour Kerry and away you go.

TIM

 

What we have this week is an experiment.  Being honest it didn’t work out as I had anticipated.  There is I think a simple reason for this.   It was a tougher assignment than I thought.

The figure is a “Diabolist”, a Reaper Pathfinder Miniature.  The idea was to paint the figure and any base work using as much as possible a single colour and shades there of.  I got the idea from a model I had seen during a google search.  I thought it looked very cool and very different.  Inspired I gave it a go.  I can’t fault the quality of the figure, I rate Reaper as most of you know.

I decided on purple as the single dominant colour and I think that was my biggest mistake.  I chose a colour I liked and that I felt provided a good gothic style mood but I struggled with subtle variation.  I think this says more about me as an artist and my understanding of things like colour wheels  than of the colour itself but on reflection I think purple feels like an advanced colour to work with.  Had I chosen to go with green as the dominant colour I think I might have achieved a better contrast.

If I do another experiment along these lines (which I wont be any time soon) I will go with green.  In the meanwhile I will leave you to make up your own minds and if you have any constructive criticism fire away as I’d be pleased to hear what you have to say.

TIM