Knight Part 10

Having wrapped up the White Speaker project, I spent some time trying to get the knight finished up too.  I'm not quite there, but he's getting very close.  This weekend I spend time working on his base.  I'm picturing him somewhere in Outremer, so I went with a rather dry looking base without much plant life.  I put a bit of dried grass in among the stones, but I still need to clean it up a bit and then use some washes or pigments to give it some color variation and tie it into the base.

There are a few other details I need to wrap up.  One of them is the arrows.  I planned to have two stuck in the ground and another two on his shield.  I figure for the arrows in the shield, he would have snapped those off, so they will just be stubs with the other half lying on the ground near his feet.  So this brings us to the question of how do I make miniature arrows?  Well, I'd already found some brass rod at about the right thickness.  But I still needed to make the fletching, the feathers on the arrows.  For this I remembered reading an article over on MassiveVoodoo about using real feathers on miniatures.  Turns out it was authored by Matt DiPietro.  In it one of the applications is feathers for arrows.  I mostly followed that tutorial, though I made a few minor changes.

To start, I got a bag of feathers from a local arts and crafts store.  Now, in Matt's approach, he clips off a section of the feathers shaft and glues that to the arrow.  I just clipped a portion of the outer section and was careful to hold it together while attaching it to the arrow (first image below).  To attach, I took the end of the brass rod and rolled it in glue.  Then I carefully placed it against the edge of the feather section I'd clipped off (second image below).  These pieces are intentionally too large so it'd be easier to hold them.  Once they dried, I went in with a small scissors and clipped them down to size (third image below).

The process requires some finesse.  I managed to screw it up a couple times.  But, easy to just scrape the feather off the arrow and clip a new section.  Take your time and be gentle as you clip the feather ends down to size.  So far I've got the one down and another half finished.  I still need to do the two ends from the shield, but I'm getting a better handle on this as I do more and more of them.  Once those are complete, I'll go in and paint the shafts.

Murmillo Gladiator 2

I decided to get back to a project I started two months ago, a 75mm Murmillo Gladiator from Alexandros Models.  The skin is still a work in progress but today I decided to put some time in on the helmet.  I started with Scale75's Necro Gold mixed with Reaper's Imperial Purple.  Then I mixed in some Elven Gold and finally Thrash Metal.  After that I applied a few dark brown and dark purple glazes to reinforce some of the shadows.

 

Here's a size comparison for my two gladiator projects.  Just a slight difference is scale...

Onto the next project - Murmillo Gladiator

Time to start on another historical figure.  This is one of three projects I'm hoping to wrap up by the end of the year.  The first is the Knight of the Holy Sepulchre.  I've already posted WIP pictures here and he's well on his way... just need to take care of that damn horse.  The second is a 75mm gladiator I started recently.  And the third is a 54mm Saxon from Latorre (still in the assembly phase).  The hope is that these three will all be entries for Crystal Brush next March.  The Saxon and Knight would go into historical single and mounted categories while this gladiator will go into the large scale category.  Things always seem to take longer than I plan, so I want to try and get my entries together early.  If I am able to finish these around Dec/Jan then I can start to look for a project to enter into one of the fantasy or sci-fi categories.  So yup, that's the current plan.  We'll see whether or not I stick with it.

As for the gladiator, it's a 75mm kit from Alexandros Models.  This isn't your stereotypical gladiator kit, he's bulky and has a gut.  It's less idealized and I'm guessing closer to what they really looked like (though who can say).  The kit represents a Murmillo gladiator.  They fought with the typical Roman short sword and large rectangular shield.  They were pretty well armored as far as gladiator's go, with the large shield, padded lower legs with a greave on their left leg, armored right arm, and large helmet.  The name murmillo is a reference to a type of fish, so you'll often see these kits with a sea theme.  This one has a lot of that imagery, with dolphins on the helmet, capricorns and shells on the belt, a merman on the greave, and Neptune with his seahorse drawn chariot on the shield.

So far I've focused on painting the skin.  It's a big figure (even for a 75mm kit he's big) so I've been working on the skin in sections.  The upper body is pretty far along but the legs are still at an early stage.  I'm following the same approach as I used on the Dragoon's face.  Once I get the legs and hands to the same state as the upper body I'll go back in to add brighter highlights before finally using some red, blue, and purple glazes to create some more variation in the skin.  In the meantime I'll be using some glazes of the skin and shadow shades to help fix a few of the transitions (like the one on the back of the left leg).

Since this is a larger figure those pictures are just about actual size (only slightly bigger).  Here's a zoomed in version (about twice the real size) so you can get a better look at him.  It's a bit easier to see here that the skin still needs more definition through the highlights.

Here's a sneak peak at the other project, the 54mm Saxon warrior.  I recently got my detail sheets from the Etch Masters indiegogo project, so I used one of those pieces to switch out the axe head on the figure.  I'm going to give him a pretty beat up look, so this will help with that.  Still need to do some tweaking to his shield, but I hope to start painting him next week.

Eyes

I had a request for a closer view of the eye on the Roman figure.  I also grabbed an image of the Dwarf's eye since they're about the same size and the painting approach was the same.  To recap, in each I started with the dark shadows around the eye.  Easier to get this into all the cracks and crevices without worrying about screwing up your carefully painted eye, so that's why I do this first.  From there I paint the eye a reddish pink.  This is covered up by the white of the eye but will still show through at the corners.  For the white I use off whites.  If you use pure white it will be too bright and make the eyes look cartoony.  With Reaper I use Weathered Stone and then mix in some Leather White to get a little bit of shading.  They eyes are so small even on a 90mm scale figure there's no need to go overboard with the shading, but a little bit is nice.  Don't go all the way to the corners, leave a little of the pink showing.

To do the iris I start with a dark color, either dark brown or dark blue.  Begin with a little dot and then slowly work it into the full size.  You can also start with a vertical line if that's easier.  If you're doing two eyes (which you often are), I do this with both eyes at the same time.  That why, as I increase the size of the iris, I can make small adjustments to keep them looking in the same direction.  Maybe expand one eye to the left a little more and the other one to the right.  Just see what needs to be done.  Of course if the iris is too big or misshaped you can correct with your white mix.  With the shape and size correct I go in with a lighter version of the iris color.  I try to paint out from the center leaving a dark border to the iris.  I'll then go in with a lighter shade or even two to give some variation.

The pupil is pretty straightforward.  Just a dot of pure black.  I use a 000 size brush though you could probably also dab the tip of a toothpick in the black and add the pupil that way.  If you're having trouble you might find it easier coming in from the top of the eye.

The last step is to add the catch light.  This is optional and something I wouldn't bother with on a 54mm or 28mm size figure.  But for the 90mm scale it's something I like to do.  Now I will use pure white for this part.  Just like the pupil, add a small dot off center.  For the Dwarf I actually did a double dot, one big and one small.  An alternative to adding a catch light is to coat the eye with a gloss varnish.  I think this trick works better on larger scale figures like 150mm and 200mm scale busts, but you can try it on the smaller scales and see what you think.

 

And here are the eyes magnified by a factor of 2.  It's a little easier to see the variation in the iris color and the double catch light on the dwarf.

 

Oh, and don't worry about going outside the lines and getting paint on the upper or lower eyelids.  This is very easy to correct with your skin shades.  When painting around the eye I use a dark line along the top for the bottom edge of the upper eyelid (and also the eyelashes).  Along the bottom of the eye, the top of the lower eyelid, use your skin highlight color.

Keep in mind all the detail I'm doing on the eyes is because this is a 90mm scale figure.  Attempting this on a 54mm or 28mm is beyond my abilities, so I do a simplified version but the idea is the same (off white, dot for iris/pupil or just merge into a single dark dot, upper and lower eyelids, etc).

Roman WIP part 2

I'm continuing to work on the face. I was fairly happy with the how he was last time but had a few minor things that bugged me. The main one was the mouth. The sculpt on the right side ended in a crease but the left side just kind of drooped down. So I faked it by added a shadow to the left. The crease on the right also went down a little too far so I lightened the bottom part up a bit. I also sharpened the shadows on the lower eyelids, especially the left one. Then I took care of the ears and the neck.

From there I went in with some glazes to add a little more color. I used a red (GW's Bloodletter) and a purple (GW's Bloodletter mixed with their Guilliman Blue), both further thinned with water. I added a little of the red to the creases in the forehead and then applied several layers to the end of the nose, in the cheeks, and the lower part of the ears. The purple went around the eyes, especially on the lower eye lids and then just a little in the darkest shadow of the cheeks. Lastly I had to re-highlight the tip of the nose.

I'm Back!

Well, after a long trip and then a move across the country I am finally back and painting again.  I should finish up one of the numerous figures I have in the works... but my trip to Rome inspired me to paint another ancient.  Better to work on something that inspires me than to work on a figure because I feel I have to finish it.

The kit I chose was the 90mm Roman Officer from Young Miniatures.  I picked this up from a friend over at CoolMini not too long ago.  It's the first run metal version and not the later resin kit, so it's going to weigh a ton when he's all assembled.  The body is a bit of a puzzle.  His left arm is clutching a helmet against the side of his body.  Ideally I'd like to paint this in sections so I can easily access any part of the figure with the brush. However, if you're not careful with the assembly it's very easy to end up with a floating helmet instead of one cradled against his body.  Luckily I can put off deciding what has to be glued and what can wait until after I finish his head.

I'm approaching this similarly to how I did the dwarf wrecker (the head is almost the same size).  I began by laying down the shadows, Mahogany Brown on the inside of the eyes, under the nose, and under the chin.  Then Chestnut Brown around the rest of the eyes, cheeks, mouth, and other shadows/creases.  I do this before I paint the eyes so I don't need to be too careful with my application.  It will mostly be covered up later.

For the eyes I start by painting them pink (a mix of Rosy Skin and Violet Red).  This will be covered up with the white area but will still show at the edges.  For the white I use Weathered Stone and then a mix of Weathered Stone and Leather White to make them a bit more three dimensional.  Again, avoid using pure white for the eyes.  For the irises I started with Ritterlich Blue to give them a dark outline and then worked in several layers to Ashen Blue to lighten them up.  From a historical standpoint I think brown eyes would have been more common... but I feel blue eyes show up better at the miniature scale.  If you're going to the trouble of painting the iris and pupil you want it to be noticeable.  The brown iris and the black pupil blur into a single color unless you are very very close to the figure.  I suppose the blue does too... but you can pick up the difference without being quite so close.  Last step was to add a dot for the pupil in pure black and then the catch light in pure white.

The above image also shows the first half of the skin work.  I've applied a number of layers of Chestnut Brown and Rosy Shadow mix (gradually more and more Rosy Shadow until I'm working with 100% Rosy Shadow).  Basically defining the main shadows (cheeks, nose, eyes) and just starting to define some creases on the forehead (the surface is flat so I am creating that effect just through shading).  The chin is left unpainted and the jaw is rough because I intend to go back over those with a different skin mix to imply stubble.

Returning to the face a day later I began on the highlights.  Now I start to mix in Fair Skin to the Rosy Shadow.  At the very end I add just a touch of Fair Highlight to the top of the cheeks and on the nose.  I chose to omit the Rosy Skin step this time and jump straight to Fair Skin.  I made this point in my skin tones tutorial but it's worth repeating, remember to vary the intensity of your shadows and highlights.  Notice the shadows under the brows are the darkest.  The shadows at the cheeks and lines from the nose to mouth are dark but not as dark.  And the shadows on the forehead are very subtle.  I've seen many figures where people paint every shadow just as dark as the next.  The result always looks off.  Use references and think logically whether or not a given area should be a 'big' shadow or a 'little' shadow.

For the stubble I used the Dusky Skin set and mixed it in with my regular skin colors.  So Dusky Skin Shadow into the Chestnut Brown, Dusky Skin into the Rosy Shadow, and Dusky Skin Highlight into the Fair Skin.  Now, a little brown goes a long way, so I'm only adding a bit.  Too much and his face will just look muddy.  Too blend the edges I go back and forth with the stubble mix and my regular skin one.  For the stubble a brown or black-grey would work instead of the Dusky Skin colors.  Lastly I took Pure Black and put down a base for the hair and painted in the eye brows.

Up next are the neck and ears, then I will go in and shade the hair.