New Skorne, new scheme, and a LOT of old stuff to repaint...

[gaminguy]

First off, I've been a 90% dry-brush painter for a really long time, but seeing JTY's phenomenal coven (http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?t=304) got me playing around with wash techniques. I painted that way mostly because I thought it was easier and I just wanted models good enough to put on the table quickly.

Here is a couple of examples of my older style (sorry about the slightly blurry pics, my auto focus picked the wrong thing :rolleyes:) Molik Karn is probably one of the best pieces I did in that style, the Karax is one of the worst.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/oldschemefront.jpg http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/oldschemeback.jpg

[gaminguy]

After quite a bit of experimentation with the washes, I came up with these.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/newschemefront.jpg http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/newschemeback.jpg
(I think it's pretty obvious that I don't know what the heck I'm doing with a camera. :p)

They are actually not that far off in terms of color. It would take a minimal amount of dry-brushing with orange to perfectly match the old color scheme, I know because I tried it. The problem is that I like the wood stained colored armor so much I'm seriously considering stripping and repainting the rest of the army to match. I was probably going to do that anyway since I hate the old gravel bases and the lousy job I did on the skin, but it's a daunting task. (If it's been released, I have a full unit. Two in a few cases.)

Since it wasn't really obvious in the pics above, here's a side-by-side of the old bases and the style I'm going to switch too.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Bases.jpg
I'm pretty sure that's a sign of some kind of mental instability, but I've never had much luck getting gravel to stick to bases properly and the flagstone approach appeals to me.

[rvrchamp]

Man... I think they all look great! The bases are cool too.

A friend of mine does a similar effect by using green stuff to sculpt bricks & tiles for his menoth bases. While it may take more time, it may be something worth trying (and fun too right? 8)

Since you're so excited about learning to use washes perhaps you might try giving those bases a wash of black also (like armor wash or badab black). Certainly it's a personal preference, but I/ve found that I like darker greys for most things.

Keep up the awesome work!

[Raven Abaddon]

The blue make them look like Smurfs

[gaminguy]

Man... I think they all look great! The bases are cool too.

A friend of mine does a similar effect by using green stuff to sculpt bricks & tiles for his menoth bases. While it may take more time, it may be something worth trying (and fun too right? 8)

Since you're so excited about learning to use washes perhaps you might try giving those bases a wash of black also (like armor wash or badab black). Certainly it's a personal preference, but I/ve found that I like darker greys for most things.

Keep up the awesome work!

Thanks. If I knew squat about sculpting I'd be a little more inclined to give that a try for the bases. (That would actually be a pretty good place to start...) I've been cutting squares from sheet plastic and gluing them down. It takes a while. It's one part deliberate for the "hand tiled" effect and one part working with what I know how to do already.

The bases are actually a little darker in person. If they were really that bright I would wash them for sure.

Oh, and I had a look over your Khador. Nice skin, and the bases are gorgeous. The war dog came out really good too. I've never been a fan of large swaths of black on a model because it always looks a little unpainted to me, but it's certainly well executed.

(Smurfs. :rolleyes: Personally I think they look a little blighted, but I still like the effect.)

[ScotlandNil]

I'm pretty sure that's a sign of some kind of mental instability, but I've never had much luck getting gravel to stick to bases properly and the flagstone approach appeals to me.

They look really cool! I especially like your Molik Karn and Tyrant Commander.

Also, about the basing problem, I always glue the sand or whatever to the base before priming with spray paint - this really helps it to stay stuck to the base. Also, if you want to paint the sand/gravel (which IMO looks better) it makes doing that easier too. Your flagstone bases look good though :).

[gaminguy]

They look really cool! I especially like your Molik Karn and Tyrant Commander.

Also, about the basing problem, I always glue the sand or whatever to the base before priming with spray paint - this really helps it to stay stuck to the base. Also, if you want to paint the sand/gravel (which IMO looks better) it makes doing that easier too. Your flagstone bases look good though :).

I've been doing the bases between painting and varnishing. The varnish helps it stick, but I've always had a hard time getting a good covering in the first place.

Unfortunately Molik is one of the models up for repainting. That model hasn't been varnished yet; I've heard you can just wash the latex paint off, I'm going to give it a try. I don't want to strip a model if I don't have to. I'm hoping that works out; I have Ferox unvarnished too.

My other issue is beast skin. I'm not quite sure what color to paint it. I want it to contrast well with the armor and the flag stone (and I'm already on the fence about the capes and belts, I think the models don't have quite enough contrast as it is but I'm afraid of overwhelming the skin and armor). I'm going to use the same skin color on all the beasts and the Ferox, so I want to be sure I like it.

I'm only three models into the new pattern, now is the time to change things. On the other hand I don't want to change it too much so the new models don't clash too badly with the old ones that I haven't repainted yet. It's a tough balancing act.

[gaminguy]

Got the Standard Bearer done to go along with the Tyrant. I thinned down my brown wash a little more, I like the contrast better now.

I put the Tyrant in there to try for a clearer picture and for a side-by-side comparison of the color change.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/TyrantandStandardBearer.jpg

And a couple of the standard by itself.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/StandardBearerFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/StandardBearerBack.jpg

[gaminguy]

Once again, included the Master Tormentor in hopes of getting a clearer pic.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/BloodRunnersandMT.jpg

The three Blood Runner sculpts at a few angles.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/BloodRunnersSide.jpg
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/BloodRunnersFront.jpg
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/BloodRunnersBack.jpg

Up next; Molik Karn, Makeda, and Tyrant Rhadeim.

[rvrchamp]

Thanks. If I knew squat about sculpting I'd be a little more inclined to give that a try for the bases. (That would actually be a pretty good place to start...) I've been cutting squares from sheet plastic and gluing them down. It takes a while. It's one part deliberate for the "hand tiled" effect and one part working with what I know how to do already.


I swear I thought the Brushthralls had a tutorial about doing menoth style bases, but I couldn't find it. ANyhow What I did find is this... I hope it helps!

Brushthralls Sculpting Tutorial (http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=1666)

(thanks for the compliments on my models. I must say also, the skorne is really lookin cool man!)

[Exemplar's_Gaze]

The Tyrant and Molik Karn look amazing!

[Rosicrucian]

Gorgeous. Interestng choice with the monochromatic clothing and contrasting skin. I definately prefer Skorne with more a more alien skin-tone like you have here.

[Khador247]

I like everything you've done except the skin color.

[gaminguy]

The Tyrant and Molik Karn look amazing!

Once again, that version of Molik Karn is in the old pattern than I'm moving away from. You guys are going to make me start second-guessing myself. :p


Gorgeous. Interestng choice with the monochromatic clothing and contrasting skin. I definately prefer Skorne with more a more alien skin-tone like you have here.

The effect has grown on me as I've worked with it. (It's not particularly original, Star Trek beat me to it by a long way.) I had originally wanted white skin with a blue tint but I've made several attempts at lightening the color, so far the execution has eluded me. Every time I try I end up feeling like I messed up a perfectly good wash job.


I like everything you've done except the skin color.

Imagine the pattern on a LoE model. It would fit the Everblight fluff perfectly, and that's the only real problem I have with using it on the Skorne. (On the other hand, if it's the execution you don't like I'm open to suggestions on how to make it better.)

@ rvrchamp: I can't find green stuff in my local area, but I can get sheet plastic. Weird right? There isn't a gaming store in Jackson anymore so I'd have to drive at least a 45 minute round trip everytime I ran out.

Further progress report: Tyrant Rhadeim is assembled and ready to base, Molik Karn and Makeda are stripped and ready to reassemble.

Going to pull out some other models (maybe my trolls...) and try out some different colors for beasts before I paint Molik. I'm leaning toward a cold blue-green to differentiate them from the infantry but still fit the rest of the colors. I think that would be close enough to still look fairly coherent.

[rvrchamp]

@ rvrchamp: I can't find green stuff in my local area, but I can get sheet plastic. Weird right? There isn't a gaming store in Jackson anymore so I'd have to drive at least a 45 minute round trip everytime I ran out.



Try ordering some from galeforce-9. They've got this package of tubes that cost about $20 and lasts FOREVER! I've been using mine for like 2 years on all kinds of stuff and still have about 25% left.

Perhaps try the war-store? I think that guy has pretty much everything (and offers a discount too 8).

When, or perhaps i should say if, you start sculpting I would also suggest getting a set of clay sculpters. They're essentially rubber tips on paintbrushes that help smoothing things out, and you can use them for pretty much anything. They're really awesome, and my sculpting skills have definitely improved. It's sorta like switching paintbrushes from the old GW brushes to Windsor Newton brushes (aka crap to awesome in one step 8)

[gaminguy]

First things first:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/MakedaandMolikKarnFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/MakedaandMolikKarnBack.jpg

I made one last change to the pattern, I decided I really didn't like the capes being so close to the armor in tone so I experimented a bit and found my brown wash came out burgundy if I put it over Georgia Clay (an orange-brown from Americana) so now I've come full circle from pretty much all dry brushing to pretty much all washing. Being able to put down most of the color and then just wash the whole thing is so much easier. I better be happy with it now, I've started varnishing. (It also occurred to me after I had painted these that brown wash won't show at all over black. That would have made the banner poles and weapon hafts a fair bit easier to manage. :o)

I also switched to white basing, which cost me a couple of days. As a side note; Valspar white primer is utter garbage. It rubbed right off the models just handling them to paint. I had to strip all four models again and start over with Rustoleum.)

[gaminguy]

And the Tyrant:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/TyrantRhadeimFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/TyrantRhadeimSide.jpg

I spent several days trying different colors on my poor test Trolls trying to find something that I thought looked good next to the infantry. I was staring at Rhadeim's mount trying to picture it in different colors when it dawned on me that I kind of liked it the way it was.

This is a huge stretch for me as a painter; I've never had much luck getting white to look good, and now I'm committed to painting a whole army worth of beasts in white.

I think my next update will be a Gladiator and a Krea, lots of skin there to paint.

[rvrchamp]

I really like the darker cloth... I think it offers great contrast to the light bone color of the armor.

Also, drybrushing and washing go hand-in-hand. You're just testing your skills and finding out what works best for ya, welcome to the club buddy!!!

[aai]

These look really good.

[gaminguy]

I really like the darker cloth... I think it offers great contrast to the light bone color of the armor.

Also, drybrushing and washing go hand-in-hand. You're just testing your skills and finding out what works best for ya, welcome to the club buddy!!!

I like it better too. (They look a little Blighted Menoth to me now, but hey whatever.) Now was the time to change it, I only had ten models to fix. I think the black on the weapons and banner poles looks much better too, they don't blend into the armor anymore.

If I remember correctly the first model I painted was back in 95. I toyed with washes for a little bit with my first space marine army, but I decided I didn't like how hard it was to control how they turned out. I've not really looked at it since. That's a loooong time to take getting back around to a technique. :p Speaking of which, I also found epoxy putty in the local hardware store. It's blue instead of green and it's only soft for about 5 minutes, but it's a heck of a lot faster than cutting out bits of sheet plastic. Heck, I might even try my hand at filling in the cracks when I get to assembling the gladiator and I never thought I'd hear myself say that.

Next time: Hexaris, a Gladiator, a Krea, an Agonizer, an Ancestral Guardian, and 6 Beast Handlers fit perfectly in a salsa jar. :D

[Khador247]

Imagine the pattern on a LoE model. It would fit the Everblight fluff perfectly, and that's the only real problem I have with using it on the Skorne. (On the other hand, if it's the execution you don't like I'm open to suggestions on how to make it better.)

I think it strikes me as add to have such a cold skin tone against the rest of the model in warm colors. Yes, I think it would more natural on an Everblight model. The Skorne live in harsh climates that are hot in day and cold at night. I picture them having dark brown leathery skin. As I said though I really like the rest of the models a lot. And hey, if you really like the skin tone then by all means stick with it.

[gaminguy]

I think it strikes me as add to have such a cold skin tone against the rest of the model in warm colors. Yes, I think it would more natural on an Everblight model. The Skorne live in harsh climates that are hot in day and cold at night. I picture them having dark brown leathery skin. As I said though I really like the rest of the models a lot. And hey, if you really like the skin tone then by all means stick with it.

The blue is a hold over from the old scheme. They used to be orange armor, brown-orange cloth, and a really badly done blue-white skin. I carried it over so it wouldn't look too inconsistent to mix the old and new models while the army is still in progress. I would like it better if I could get the faces a little crisper, but I seem to have a hard time touching up the wash effect.

(I picked that color in the first place on the premise that white skin would reflect more light and therefore be cooler. I went with a blue undertone to make it appear brighter.)

[gaminguy]

I think this will be the last update to this thread unless I get a whole lot of feedback saying "keep posting them". Much as I enjoy putting my work out there it feels a little pretentious to have a whole thread for it. I'm not that good a painter. :D

Agonizer:
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/AgonizerFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/AgonizerRear.jpg

I almost feel guilty for painting the poor little guy.

[gaminguy]

Beast Handlers:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/BeastHandlersFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/BeastHandlersRear.jpg

I designed the color scheme to work well on a model with a lot of armor and not a lot of cloth. These came out OK, but they really show off the weakness of the overall pattern; on a model that is mostly cloth it doesn't look so good.

Hexaris:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/HexarisFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/HexarisSide.jpg

I'm glad PP fixed this guy, I finally got the skin effect I was looking for and I'd hate to not be able to play him.

On another note, why the heck did they declare the shoulder alignment as the default for the front arc? There are very few models that are actually looking in the same direction their shoulders are aligned and when you say "facing" I think "what direction is the model looking?"

[gaminguy]

Krea:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/BasaliskKreaLeftFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/BasaliskKreaRightRear.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/BasaliskKreaFace.jpg

The first beast to get painted with a lot of skin showing. Not too shabby. :p

[WarcasterKramer]

Very nice! I love the color scheme. The armor looks like old stone from Egyptian temples. Contrasts very well with the blue skin.

[gaminguy]

Gladiator:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/GladiatorSide.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/GladiatorRear.jpg

I will say this, painting a model in pieces gives you an entirely different appreciation for the sculpts you are working with. I have two Gladiators and I had not noticed up till now that they are wearing something very much like a diaper. It's the kind of thing you don't want to think about too hard. I'm reasonably sure Gladiators don't dress themselves, somewhere in the Army of the Western Reaches there is a Skorne who really hates his job.

[gaminguy]

And lastly, the Ancestral Guardian:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/AncestrialGuardianFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/AncestrialGuardianRear.jpg

Yup, still a statue. Carved out of a single piece of rock:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/AncestrialGuardianAlign.jpg

I had fun trying to get the bands to line up from the body to the spear. I just couldn't see painting it like a big chunk of armor without doing something to break it up a little.

[Khazore]

Dude, your stuff looks great. Keep posting updates, I love this kinda of stuff :)

[Ganmeyde]

Dude, your stuff looks great. Keep posting updates, I love this kinda of stuff :)
Agreed! :D

[xees]

Love this stuff! The Beast Handlers look amazing. I actually think that this with two different main colours looks amazing. Some of the other models the faces are a bit blue for me.

I love the pale glad. and the other pale models, they look fantastic!

[barrel]

How are you doing the armor (base color, wash color used)?

[gaminguy]

How are you doing the armor (base color, wash color used)?

Three "keep it coming" and a how-to request. Yeah, I'll take that. :D

I only use Americana, I like it for the consistency of the paint and for it's economy. It's cheap, there is quite a bit of it in a tub, and they have squeeze-tube type caps so it's really easy to apply paint to a brush without getting more than I want or letting anything dry out on a pallet.

I'm home-brewing a wash, it's about 3 parts water to 1 part Burnt Umber. I'm applying a single generous layer straight over a white base for the armor. If anything comes out a little 'shallow' I will add a little wash to the detail areas. To do cloth I'm painting Georgia Clay and using the same wash, which speeds up the washing process considerably. That's pretty much it. Zip, bang, done. (I paint the banner poles and weapon shafts black before the wash too.)

Pretty much the same process for the blue skin; black out the eyes, then a single thin layer of blue wash. (That is the hardest part of getting the skin to look the way I want. There has to be very little wash in the brush or it comes out too dark and then I have to white it out and try again.) That one is considerably thinner than the brown wash, 5 or 6 parts water to 1 part true blue.

There are a couple of detail areas (the hair on Makeda and Molik Karn) that I did by painting Bright Orange and then giving it two coats of a Deep Burgundy wash. The Burgundy is thinned down just like the Burnt Umber (about three to one) but it's a thinner color in the first place so it takes two coats to show the way I want.

The weapon blades are the only thing that is really different, I'm painting them straight black and then doing 2-3 layers of drybrushing from gray up to white. I like the effect and it makes them stand out a bit from the rest of the model. (And I just realized I completely missed it in Hexeris. :( Gonna have to fix that.)

I'm actually starting the white on the beasts just like the armor, and then following it with several layers of white dry-brushing. The Agonizer had 8-9 passes, the Gladiator had 4 over most of it and 5 on the face. I do that part first, and then go back and do the armor afterward. It means I can't afford to be quite as sloppy with the armor, but the beasts are mostly big enough for that to be OK. (The beast mouths are the same color set too. :D Black at the back, Georgia Clay over most of the inside, white teeth -> brown wash -> pick out the teeth in white again.)

The AG is special, I did the bands in Cashmere Beige and then brown washed it. That is the color I use to fix it if I manage to get something on the armor that I just can't ignore while doing the skin, it came out noticable without being obvious enough to be jarring. (I originally tried it with Georgia Clay. I don't know what I was thinking, it came out looking like a barber pole.)

I will note that the homemade washes get thicker as I get to the bottom of the mixing tubs, so eventually I have to either guess on how much water to add or rinse the tub out and make another batch.

Since ya'll asked for it, up next: Xerxis, 6 Cetrati, a Drake, a Savage, and the Totem Hunter. It's a medium base extr-r-r-ravaganza!

[Raven Abaddon]

Nice marbling effect on the Ancestral Guardians.

[gaminguy]

Nice marbling effect on the Ancestral Guardians.

That's exactly what I was aiming for. I'm going to do the Immortals the same way, but they will all have the 'grain' at different angles. :D

[gaminguy]

I'm doing something a little unusual for me; a mini-update.

The Cyclops Savage is one of the models that stands out the most in my memory. It is without question the most aggravating model I ever assembled. It is four pieces (left arm, right arm, hands and weapon, body) that need to come together just so but line up very poorly as sculpted. The first time I put it together it made me so mad I actually threw the model. :rolleyes:

Doing that with bare metal is one thing, doing it with finished pieces is quite another. With that in mind I did something a little unusual and did the final assembly after I had the under-colors and dry brushing done but before I did the wash. Much to my surprise it went together quite easily this time. The alignment of the pieces is still a little iffy, but I'm not going to argue with it at this point.

Since Barrel asked for a how to (which I probably answered if far more detail than anyone actually wanted) it occurred to me to take a couple of WIP picks. That sort of thing usually occurs to me after the model is finished.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/WIPs%20and%20Old%20Models/CyclopsSavageWIPSide.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/WIPs%20and%20Old%20Models/CyclopsSavageWIPFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/WIPs%20and%20Old%20Models/CyclopsSavageWIPRear.jpg

[gaminguy]

Here is that same model after washing. I included the other Savage from the battle box for comparisons sake.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/WIPs%20and%20Old%20Models/CyclopsComparisonSide.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/WIPs%20and%20Old%20Models/CyclopsComparisonFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/WIPs%20and%20Old%20Models/CyclopsComparisonRear.jpg

The spike on the right shoulder is a bit of plastic from a GW chaos marine. Not a matter of looking better, I didn't notice the bit was missing until I did the assembly. I've learned that scrubbing paint off with a tooth brush should be not be done over the sink basin with the garbage disposal. (Also; my garbage disposal will chew up white metal. I wondered what that sound was.)

[gaminguy]

I wanted a group shot of the Basilisks since I felt the need to visually distinguish the Drake from the Kreas. Again, I've included my second Krea for the sake of comparison.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/WIPs%20and%20Old%20Models/BasaliskGroupRight.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/WIPs%20and%20Old%20Models/BasaliskGroupFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/WIPs%20and%20Old%20Models/BasaliksGroupLeft.jpg

Little things make a difference. The Drake's back foot was originally standing on a rock, cutting that off and repositioning the foot so the Drake was standing flat (and not at a weird angle) took a fair bit more work than it probably should have. I didn't get it quite square, but thankfully out of the 10 sculpted bases in this batch one of them had two flagstones in the right places and at just the right angle to match up. I usually say better to be good than lucky, but I'll take lucky when it comes up.

[gaminguy]

One last one for today; the Totem Hunter.

I came very close to using this pattern on my beasts. I really like it by itself, but I think it clashes with the regular Skorne infantry. Something about putting the green in with the blue jumps out at me and says "Nope, that's wrong. Sorry."

At least I got to use the wash I made for that color, and having it jump out as not quite belonging there is fine on a minion.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Solos/TotemHunterFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Solos/TotemHunterSide.jpg

Oh, and I also learned that cropping my pictures is bad. They get sized funny and pixelate when I do that.

[gaminguy]

The last few out of this batch are done.

Xerxis:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/XerxisFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/XerxisLeft.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/XerxisRight.jpg

This guy has some issues with posing him properly, the way his arms line up puts the pommels of the Pillars of Halaak in contact with his legs. Good gluing point I guess, but it makes the model a little less dynamic. (And man is he ever hunched over. And I just noticed one of his feet is floating in the air. Funny what you notice after the pic is posted.)

[gaminguy]

and the Cetrati:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/CataphractCetratiFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/CataphractCetratiRear.jpg

These guys were a pain to line up on the bases. I didn't get the feet flattened out properly and getting them to stand straight was way harder than it could have been. I'll have to pick up a decent file before I get to the next batch.

Next time: Zaal and his Kovas, the Void Spirit, the Cannoneer, the Cyclops Shaman, and 10 Venators.

(The void spirit should be fun, the whole bottom half of that model is a scenic base that doesn't match mine at all. The whole point of this project was to grow as a modeler and painter...)

[rvrchamp]

On another note, why the heck did they declare the shoulder alignment as the default for the front arc? There are very few models that are actually looking in the same direction their shoulders are aligned and when you say "facing" I think "what direction is the model looking?"

If you mark the 'arcs then you don't need to use the shoulders as reference. I have seen tons of players at my LGS, myself included, who mark their bases however seems best for the model. Just think of stuff like the manhunter, Gorman, or Kell... if you marked their bases straight across at the shoulders thei would be looking entirely the wrong way.

[darthgus]

Those are very nicely done, congratuations :)

[JTY]

Looking really good.

I'm a fan of very simple schemes, I think too many colours can make models look to busy, which detracts from the look on the table, whereas simple schemes catch the eye and draw it in for a closer look.

Yup, I like these, the red and bone are very complimentary, and the blue adds plenty of pop without looking out of place.

Bases are cool as well, they frame the models nicely and compliment the skin tone.

[John Q.]

they look awesome, nice work!

[gaminguy]

Thanks for all the feed back. I guess I'm an attention hog after all. ;)

@rvrchamp: Yeah. I marked a pair of lines on each base (the gray ones) to denote the front arc. I wanted something that wasn't too big. I was just lamenting how they work if you don't mark it. It wasn't like that in Mk I and it caused some issues in my first FT game.

(I had to take a long break from the game, and my local gaming club kinda dissolved while I was away. I'm driving to the nearest larger city instead now. I never had a problem with figuring which way a model was looking, but I hadn't noticed the change and they had more time to get used to it. I went for free strike dice a few times on moves my opponent thought were safe.)

[purgatorial]

I really like your take on Skorne warbeasts, in particular the skintone and armor on the gladiator and basilisks. Your shade of orange is really tasteful as well.

[lordbubonicus]

Wow. These are really, really nice. I love the effect that you've achieved on the armour. I'm not so keen on the blue skin tone, but it does ncely emphasis the fact that the Skorne are an alien culture. My only other comment would be that the white skin tone on the basilisks blends into the armour a wee bit. It may just be the photos, but you may want to look at that.

Please keep posting shots of this great looking army.

[rvrchamp]

@gaminguy
Ya... I've had people get confused also about freestrike stuff, hence why I started painting the arcs. Since then the game has become SO much easier for me to play, and has reduced arguments about that kinda stuff to an absolute minimum.

That said... with the new mkii changes, and watching this post, I'm feeling an itch to try out my skorne again. They've been mothballed for like 2 years now.

[gaminguy]

Wow. These are really, really nice. I love the effect that you've achieved on the armour. I'm not so keen on the blue skin tone, but it does ncely emphasis the fact that the Skorne are an alien culture. My only other comment would be that the white skin tone on the basilisks blends into the armour a wee bit. It may just be the photos, but you may want to look at that.

Please keep posting shots of this great looking army.

I think the armor on the Basalisks blends in a little too. I put an extra coat of wash on the beast armor so it would stand out a little better since they have the same base color for the armor and the skin. It looks better in person, the camera's color filter and the angle of the shot come together to wash it out a little. (I need to get the camera up a little higher and angle it down, but I don't have a tripod. :()


@gaminguy
Ya... I've had people get confused also about freestrike stuff, hence why I started painting the arcs. Since then the game has become SO much easier for me to play, and has reduced arguments about that kinda stuff to an absolute minimum.

That said... with the new mkii changes, and watching this post, I'm feeling an itch to try out my skorne again. They've been mothballed for like 2 years now.

The Mk II field test was what motivated me to get out and play some more. The reconditioning project is JTY's fault (thanks btw :D), but I doubt I would have bothered to try something this ambitious if I were not playing again. I have quite a bit to repaint after all. To be honest, if I can make this kind of an improvement after just a few batches I was really letting myself stagnate as a painter and modeller.

The two feed into each other; I paint more when I'm playing, I want to play more when I have fresh paint to show off. (That, and I won't put an unpainted model on the table. I'm trying to prioritize my core units so it's all painted the same way...) I look at the stuff on CoolMiniOrNot and lament my lack of skill, I need to get to the club from time to time to remember that for every phenominal painter putting stuff on the boards there are two people playing armies that look like they were assembled out of a discount used model box without being stripped first. I'm trying to hit what I think is a middle ground; a competent and consistent army that looks like a coherent force on the table.

I suppose I should have done my units, then solos, then beasts and lastly warlocks (and from least to most played at that) so that it would be OK to get better as I went along...

[rvrchamp]

I look at the stuff on CoolMiniOrNot and lament my lack of skill, I need to get to the club from time to time to remember that for every phenominal painter putting stuff on the boards there are two people playing armies that look like they were assembled out of a discount used model box without being stripped first.

One of my friend is an amazing painter... Seriously, his trolls are just beautiful. That said I have easily three times as many painted models as he does. While my painting may not be as picture perfect as his, my stuff is done baby!

Painted is just so much better than bare metal.

I am painting up my models in much the same way as you are, with the goal of hitting that "sweet spot" between how great they look and how long it takes to paint. I've been able to narrow down a process that is pretty quick, fun, and looks heads and shoulders above the "bargain bit" armies we so often play against.

So... keep it up brotha! I'll get to posting some of my IFP that I've been working on here soon also :D

[gaminguy]

One of my friend is an amazing painter... Seriously, his trolls are just beautiful. That said I have easily three times as many painted models as he does. While my painting may not be as picture perfect as his, my stuff is done baby!

Painted is just so much better than bare metal.

I am painting up my models in much the same way as you are, with the goal of hitting that "sweet spot" between how great they look and how long it takes to paint. I've been able to narrow down a process that is pretty quick, fun, and looks heads and shoulders above the "bargain bit" armies we so often play against.

So... keep it up brotha! I'll get to posting some of my IFP that I've been working on here soon also :D

I'll keep an eye out for them. ;)

I don't know about "fun", but I do find finishing a unit uniquely satisfying. There is something profoundly annoying about fielding against the 1/4 bare metal, 1/4 stripped badly, 1/4 primed, 1/4 "you call that painted?" army*. It's one thing if your opponent hasn't been playing or painting long, but I know a few guys who have had armies for years and still don't have any paint on them. I watch how they handle their own models and I cringe a little whenever they reach for one of mine.

* Especially when a fair chunk of the army is pretending to be something else. These are my dedicated proxies, I insist on my opponent using them if they don't have the right models. I have enough small bases for a 10 man unit and two solos, enough medium bases for a 6 man unit and 2 solos, and two large bases. If you need more than that for your army list I'm not playing against you. :p

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/proxies.jpg

[Kaptain Von]

On another note, why the heck did they declare the shoulder alignment as the default for the front arc? There are very few models that are actually looking in the same direction their shoulders are aligned and when you say "facing" I think "what direction is the model looking?"

Like rvrchamp, I mark my arcs on the base, based (badum-tss!) on where the model's looking. I accept that big silver lines on the base compromise the aesthetic somewhat, but at the end of the day these are gaming pieces and if I can't tell which way they're facing, at a glance, they're unfit for purpose. Form follows function.

My pal Shiny marks his with danger stripes around the front of his base. It's not subtle but it looks strangely awesome, and I might do something similar with my Trolls (runes? tartan?).


Back to the topic. The blue skin works as part of the colourscheme even if I'm not sure I like it thematically. I'd have been tempted to find another part of the model to bring out with that colour... but they do look marvellous, and your work on the details of the armour is most impressive. I also think the Totem Hunter is excellent, very alien and weird.

[gaminguy]

I have to compromise the aesthetic a little in any case because there are so many multi-wound models than need marked to keep track of which one is which when they start taking damage. (And I have multiples of a few beasts and solos, and they need something similar.) I don't have a problem doing it, I just don't have trouble telling which way a model is looking without it so I don't quite see the need.

Bah, whatever. :rolleyes: If it's marked there is no room to argue about it, anything that helps enforce game mechanics is a good thing. :D

Runes would be really cool, I'd love to see that.

The blue skin ... yeah, there is something to that. The scheme would look fantastic on Everblight, I'd have whipped up a slightly darker blue for the beasts and run with it. On Skorne, from a thematic standpoint, not so much. The burgundy and bone would look very at home on Menoth though. I want the skin to say "not human" loud and clear, and it certainly does that.

I do like them as they are. At this point I'm not sure what other color I could paint them that would accomplish that and still look good with the rest of the scheme. In any case, I'm a little leery of trying to change what I've already varnished.


Looking really good.

I'm a fan of very simple schemes, I think too many colours can make models look to busy, which detracts from the look on the table, whereas simple schemes catch the eye and draw it in for a closer look.

Yup, I like these, the red and bone are very complimentary, and the blue adds plenty of pop without looking out of place.

Bases are cool as well, they frame the models nicely and compliment the skin tone.

Considering my best work doesn't match your quick and dirties, I'll take you liking them as a huge compliment. :cool:

[kezzit]

As a Skorne player I truly love the new scheme that you when with. The tan color for the armor is great really fits in to them coming from the sands. The only thing I would change if they where my minis would be the skin, Im not liking the blue.... but I can't think of a good idea to use. May more of a blue gray so its not so bright of a blue....

I'm a Cryx player also so I like darker colors my that is just it :confused:
Anyway GREAT JOB!

keep up the great work

[gaminguy]

As a Skorne player I truly love the new scheme that you when with. The tan color for the armor is great really fits in to them coming from the sands. The only thing I would change if they where my minis would be the skin, Im not liking the blue.... but I can't think of a good idea to use. May more of a blue gray so its not so bright of a blue....

I'm a Cryx player also so I like darker colors my that is just it :confused:
Anyway GREAT JOB!

keep up the great work

The blue skin does seem to be the sticking point doesn't it? :rolleyes: I was originally going to make it more of a blue-white, even lighter than it is now. The skin just doesn't seem to have enough depth for white dry-brushing to work out as well as it does on the beasts, and now I've grown accustomed to it.

I had this notion when I first started painting them (my original scheme, not this one) that because the Skorne homeland is resource-poor they would have developed materials that we would consider fairly exotic to use instead of metal and wood. (They would consider a spear with a metal point and a wooden shaft a shocking waste of exotic materials. :D) My original orange brown was an attempt at a terra-cotta, something like a reinforced ceramic. Now I think the armor would be something closer to fiberglass; a kind of cloth-resin laminate. I envisioned an inner layer with some give, and a harder outer layer impregnated with something like grinding powder to help dull the edge of anything sharp that hit it. The color is from the sand in the outer layer. (That also gave me an excuse for all that filigree on the armor, the harder outer layer needs flex points.)

Nerd? Boy did I ever cross that line without slowing down. :p

[gaminguy]

I keep changing my picture setup trying to find something that really works well with my camera, this set look a little washed out. I'll get it right eventually.

Venators:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/VenatorsFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/VenatorsRear.jpg

I consider these guys one of my core units. I know they get a lot of flak on the Skorne boards, but I just don't feel right without some fire-support on the table. The Venators are certainly in the running for most commonly fielded non-auto-include thing in my collection.

Cyclops Shaman:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Beasts/CyclopsShamanFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Beasts/CyclopsShamanRear.jpg

The Shaman didn't really get a chance at the table, he was released after I stopped playing. He was a tough little bugger to get looking right, he had the same issue as the Beast Handlers. Too much cloth, not enough armor. Still, he turned out alright. (I might go back and fix his mouth, I didn't do it the same way as the other beasts, it doesn't really look right to me.)

[gaminguy]

Cannoneer:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Beasts/CannoneerFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Beasts/CannoneerSide.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Beasts/CannoneerRear.jpg

One of the few places I put any metal in the scheme is on the guns. (I did it on the Reivers too.) It's a straight black wash over white, it comes out cast-iron looking which is appropriate.

[gaminguy]

Zaal and his Kovas:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/ZaalandKovasFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/ZaalandCovasRear.jpg

I was really pleased with how Zaal turned out. Another rare use of metal in the army, only the only other model that will have this color on it anywhere is the Soul Ward. The color on the Kovas is another one that I tried out on the test models for my beasts. I thought it looked terrible for the beasts, but I thought it might work out well for the spirits in the army. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Void Spirit:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Solos/VoidSpiritFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Solos/VoidSpiritRear.jpg

This is the first real sculpting I've ever attempted with modeling putty. I'm not completely satisfied with it, but it's better than I expected. I also toned down both the cloth and armor. It isn't very obvious until it's sitting next to a "live" model, then it jumps out a bit. (Although the ghostly blue-green does that pretty well too...)

Every time I look at this model, I hear Nelson Munce saying "Ha Ha!"

[planescapedm]

You are an amazing painter, these look awesome. I am glad that you are sharing these with us as I am a fairly new player to Hordes (which is the first war game I've played) and I'm trying to get more into modeling and painting.

I really love making my army "my own" but I am really bad at painting, and I don't have the patience for it. I have tried to paint but I continually get paint where I dont want which just leads me to having to repaint the messed up area, which leads to me getting paint where I don't want.

I cannot understand how people get such fine detail on their models. I don't know if my hands just aren't steady enough or maybe it's my terrible eyesight. It's hard for me to focus up close on the small details of a model for any extended length of time.

With that said, I really enjoy modding, making bases, redoing poses and the like. I hope to eventually have brass rods for every cataphract and ferox spear and every flag that's bigger than the cataphract flags.

I really love that void spirit mod. Is there anyway you could explain how you did it?

Thanks again for posting all of this!

[gaminguy]

You are an amazing painter, these look awesome. I am glad that you are sharing these with us as I am a fairly new player to Hordes (which is the first war game I've played) and I'm trying to get more into modeling and painting.

I really love making my army "my own" but I am really bad at painting, and I don't have the patience for it. I have tried to paint but I continually get paint where I dont want which just leads me to having to repaint the messed up area, which leads to me getting paint where I don't want.

I cannot understand how people get such fine detail on their models. I don't know if my hands just aren't steady enough or maybe it's my terrible eyesight. It's hard for me to focus up close on the small details of a model for any extended length of time.

With that said, I really enjoy modding, making bases, redoing poses and the like. I hope to eventually have brass rods for every cataphract and ferox spear and every flag that's bigger than the cataphract flags.

I really love that void spirit mod. Is there anyway you could explain how you did it?

Thanks again for posting all of this!

Glad you like 'em. I think making an army your own is a big part of the fun of this hobby. I've never been a big fan of going with the studio colors.

I let the wash do most of the detail work for me. I do go through and set the color under the wash (orange for my cloth, black for eyes) before I do the wash, but it's pretty easy to fix errors up until I put the wash on. It's a lot harder to fix after the wash; I have to try to match all the little variations the wash produces.

As for patience, I find that if I work in large blocks I have a hard time staying focused. I try not to have more than five models in front of me at a time, or just one if it's large. I had trouble with the Venators because I did all ten of them together. By the time I was painting the under coat on the last one I just wanted to be done with them. If I'd done them five and five it would have felt less tedious. I spent about three hours painting that one squad.

The void spirit wasn't actually that hard. I cut the bottom 1/2 off the "legs" because the scenic base would have looked really out of place amongst my flagstone. I bent a chunk of aluminum rod into the rest of the S shape, drilled a hole in the bottom of the legs and glued the rod in place. I put down one layer of putty to get the taper I wanted, and once that was dry I put down a second layer for the texture. Then I just tried to continue the spiral from what was left of the legs. I'm really just getting started working with the epoxy putty, but there are plenty of tutorials out there. Just look for "green stuff sculpting" and you should find a bunch of tips.

Edit: I forgot my "next up" bit! A Bronzeback, a Brute, the Extoller Soul Ward (while I still remember how I did Zaal's face plate...), 5 Ferox, and 10 Karax.

[gaminguy]

This load of beasts

Brute:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Beasts/CyclopsBruteFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Beasts/CyclopsBruteSide.jpg

I forgot to lighten up his shoulder spike, I'll have to do that before I varnish him.

Bronzeback:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Beasts/TitanBronzebackFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Beasts/TitanBronzebackSide.jpg

That Bronzeback was a $&@% to take apart. I don't know what I did when I put the legs and torso together, but they wouldn't come apart for nothing. I ended up just pulling the arms off and painting the rest of it as one big piece. I used the same color on his back hair that I used for Makeda and the Shaman and a few other models. I also used it on the Cannoneer's torch, so when they are right next to each other it kinda looks like the BB is on fire. That might explain why he goes faster. ;D

[gaminguy]

Ferox:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/FeroxFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/FeroxSide.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/FeroxRear.jpg

For my money, the Ferox are one of the ugliest units in the Skorne range. It's hard to put a good paint job on a model that you don't like much in the first place. I'm actually pretty happy with how these turned out. (The squad leader is not actually as googly eyed as he looks in this picture under normal lighting.)

[gaminguy]

Extoller:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Solos/ExtollerRight.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Solos/ExtollerLeft.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Solos/ExtollerRear.jpg

I actually messed up the face wash really bad on this one, I had to go back and fix it by hand. Considering that, I'm thrilled with how well she turned out.

The Karax for this update are all painted, but I can't take pictures yet. I ran out of glue assembling them, I'll have to wait until the stores open tomorrow to finish them off. :mad: The Karax are the only thing I can think of in the range that give the Ferox a run for their money in the ugly sculpt division. At least there is some actual depth to their armor so it wasn't quite such a pain to wash.

Up next on the painting tray: 10 Praetoran Swordsmen + UA, 10 Immortals, 6 Acuarii, Venator Catapult, Rhinodon, Epic Makeda, Morghoul, Epic Morghoul. (I got ambitious for my holiday painting vow.) Once this is finished I have nothing left but my Bone Grinders and my duplicates (a second unit of paingivers, a Krea, a Gladiator, a BB, and an Ancestral Guardian).

[gaminguy]

And the Karax, finally assembled and stuck onto bases:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/KaraxFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/KaraxOther.jpg

[cunningweasel]

I'm digging your stuff dude. It is bloody brilliant.
That armour is the colour I have in my mind for the my models, but I am a fan of green for the cloth and stuff, as I dig the colour.
My only problem is that I barely get my dudes assembled after over a couple of years, so painting will be a long way off for me. I'm a notorious procrastinator.

[cunningweasel]

Your Bronzeback makes me want to purchase one now, as he looks amazing.

[gaminguy]

I'm digging your stuff dude. It is bloody brilliant.
That armour is the colour I have in my mind for the my models, but I am a fan of green for the cloth and stuff, as I dig the colour.
My only problem is that I barely get my dudes assembled after over a couple of years, so painting will be a long way off for me. I'm a notorious procrastinator.

Well, if you look back several posts you'll see that I did the Totem Hunter's skin in a cool green and the ghostly models in a warm green. I can say from experience that bone + green will look awesome. Get painting! :D Do at least three test models first though. Find one with a lot of armor, one with a lot of cloth, and one with a lot of skin. I think my painting scheme doesn't work quite as well if the model in question isn't mostly armor. Look at the paingivers; they're good, but the predominance of cloth makes them look a little shallow. They were the first mostly-cloth models to get painted in the army, and by that point I had committed to the scheme already.

If I wasn't mostly done with my beasts I would seriously consider repainting them with a black wash for the skin instead of the same brown wash that I used on the armor. (That would mean re-painting the Ferox too. That thought makes me sad.) I think having the same base color on the armor and skin doesn't work as well as I would like. Even with dry-brushing white until the wash almost doesn't show there isn't enough contrast. They're not bad, they just could be better.


Your Bronzeback makes me want to purchase one now, as he looks amazing.

I'm going to have to put that guy on the table a few times, he has yet to see play outside of a Titan herd list that I took in a friendly MkI game just to try it out. I have two of the things and I can't imagine ever fielding them both. :rolleyes:

Glad you like 'em. I have the Rhinodon and the Catapult painted, but I have family visiting this week so I haven't been able to finish the bases and mount them. The Rhino is a tough one because there is so much skin and so little armor (and almost no cloth), it makes what little armor is on the model blend in badly. I put three coats of wash on the armor and it still looks too light. The BB only had two, I'm starting to wonder if I didn't dry-brush it thoroughly enough.

[cunningweasel]

(That would mean re-painting the Ferox too. That thought makes me sad.)

I think those look amazing and you should leave as is.


As for my painting, I have old Warzone miniatures which I will try out various schemes on; I'm pretty settled on what I mentioned though. If nothing else it will allow me to get my painting proficiency up to standard before I actually attempt my Skorne models

[gaminguy]

I think I should leave them as-is too. I like how they turned out, which is remarkable because I think they are fugly models to begin with. The thought of stripping those and redoing them is not a happy one, even if I kept the riders out and just re-worked the mounts.

I find my problem with proficiency is maintaining a the same level of painting as I go along. The first few might be a little rough while I'm working the kinks out of a new technique, then I peak and the quality starts to drop off as I do more work. "Here we go again" starts to set in after the first two or three dozen models. (The Rhinodon that is on my finishing table right now is an example. I shorted the dry-brush stage a little.) Realistically I think I need to set aside all the important models for that Peak phase, but I also have an issue with having a few models of significantly higher quality than the rest of the army. It doesn't look right to me when I do that. I've also noticed that when I do a model that looks really good at close range it ends up not looking so good on the table.

(Warzone. There's a name I've not heard in a long time. Some nice looking models there, as I recall.)

[gaminguy]

The Catapult:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/VenatorCatapultFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/VenatorCatapultLeft.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/VenatorCatapultRight.jpg

I'm a little worried about the bases on these. I tried a different epoxy putty and it did not set up as hard as the LOCTITE I was using. I picked up some more of the "blue stuff" (as far as I can tell it has all the properties that Green Stuff is supposed to have), I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed for these guys. They see a lot of play too. :(

[gaminguy]

The Rhinodon:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Beasts/RhinodonFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Beasts/RhinodonSide.jpg

I didn't fill the tail gap on him. To be fair I couldn't get it apart, but that's not a real excuse.

[typhus22]

that is such a cool color scheme. any chance u have a photo of ur whole army together?

[gaminguy]

that is such a cool color scheme. any chance u have a photo of ur whole army together?

The army is still a work-in-progress. I'll get a group shot when I have it all finished. (Thanks for the suggestion. :D)

Just finished my latest group of bases (making those flagstones isn't hard, but it does get time-consuming when you have 30 of them to do all at once) and six swordsmen, and started on a base for Epic Makeda. I couldn't decide on what to have her standing on, so instead she is going to be standing under a Skorne banner that I free-handed the icon onto. It's about three times taller than she is, gonna be fun trying to get a good picture of it. (And the thing's going to be a sail when its ready for dull-coat.)

[Agamemnon]

The eyes on the Rhino look great

[gaminguy]

The eyes on the Rhino look great

Thanks! Those did turn out nice.

Here's some more. I wanted to finish my entire holiday vow and dullcote it all together, but there was enough in here that I thought it would get too unwieldy.

Praetorans:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/PraetorianSwordsmenFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/PraetorianSwordsmenRear.jpg

I had not really thought about how odd the Swordsmen's stances are. It was kind of a pain to paint them, I just couldn't see the advantage of doing them in pieces but that meant each individual was a bigger job.

I also had a fairly mixed batch of bases. I had some trouble getting consistently sized balls of putty to work with (the Loctite does not lend itself to small divisions) so the stone sticks up on some bases and not on others.

And the UA:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/PraetorianSwordsmenUAFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/PraetorianSwordsmanUARear.jpg

I could have been happier with the commander, I didn't get his eyes quite right. On the other hand, the flag turned out well and they blend in with the unit nicely. Despite my best efforts at the time, I couldn't say that before.

[gaminguy]

Immortals:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/ImmortalsFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/ImmortalsRear.jpg

I did these pretty much the same way as the Ancestral Guardian. The striations are a little further apart but on a unit I think that worked out OK. They are all done at slightly different angles too, so the unit doesn't look too uniform. (By chance, I managed to pick three models with a similar angle to photograph. :rolleyes:)

[gaminguy]

Epic Makeda:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/EpicMakedaDetailFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/EpicMakedaDetailLeft.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/EpicMakedaDetailRight.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/EpicMakedaDetailRear.jpg

[gaminguy]

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/EpicMakedaFlagFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/EpicMakedaFlagRear.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/EpicMakedaWholeFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/EpicMakedaWholeRear.jpg

Again, didn't quite get what I was looking for on the eyes. At table-top distance it isn't noticable, but I was trying for a higher standard on EMakeda. I also managed to goof a bit on free handing the symbol on the flag, the front and back are not quite at the same height nor quite the same shape. I hadn't done NMM before, what I found suggested something similar to what I did if the thing in question is supposed to be flat.

[gaminguy]

Well, here's the end of my Holiday Painting Vow:

Acuarii:
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/CataphractAcuariiFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/CataphractAcuariiRear.jpg

Epic Morghoul:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/EpicMorghoulFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/EpicMorghoulRear.jpg

Epic Morghoul's base is actually the result of a painting experiment. I decided to paint tiles on it so it would look more like a rooftop and match the scenic piece better. Once I had it done I realized that it would only look right from two angles, so I pulled it apart and tried to sculpt a roof peak. (I used a little more putty than I really needed.) I should have done the tiles in individual lines so I would have longer to work on each one. It turned out ok, but it started really solidifying before I was quite done.

[gaminguy]

Morghoul:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/MorghoulFront.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/MorghoulSide.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Warlocks/MorghoulRear.jpg

With this set, I'm closing in on fully painted again. I have my Bone Grinders, my duplicate warbeasts (BB, Glad, Savage, Krea), an AG, and my spare Beast Handlers left to go. Those are in the paint stripper as I speak, I'm not sure what I'll do after I finish them out.

[rvrchamp]

Wow awesome man! The models look great, and the bases on morghuls are rad as well....

While you've finished your army I've been stuck on the same unit of IFP for a month now. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them...

[gaminguy]

Wow awesome man! The models look great, and the bases on morghuls are rad as well....

While you've finished your army I've been stuck on the same unit of IFP for a month now. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them...

[Monty Python]I'm not done yet![/Monty Python]

The sad part is I started 12/6/09. Just over 30 days, and everything important is painted. 17 second-stringers to go and it's all done. I wish I could show that kind of hustle all the time. :rolleyes: (I'm going to try to finish it before Monday. :D)

Finish those IFPs! (Edit: The link to your Black and Tans was broken when the forum went down.)

[gaminguy]

Farrow Bone Grinders:
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/Units/FarrowBoneGrinders.jpg

And done. (Finally built a proper picture box.) Didn't quite hit my Monday goal, but I got close.

Here (as promised) is a group shot of the whole army, all 241 points worth.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/gaminguy_2007/Skorne%20Refurbishing%20Project/GroupShot.jpg

Thanks for all the feedback, see ya in the 2010 army buildathon thread. (Time to get some paint on those LoE. :D)

[Aldarionn]

Dear lord thats a beautiful sight. Nicely done!

[Asa]

My Skorne are smurfy too!

[Bubba9]

i had a similar idea but with armor, the ancestral, ... made of jade. clothes made in black, metal some sort of bronze.