Countdown to VaultCon 2011 Part 10

Back to it then - fully charged and ready to go!

The Troll has had the clothing painted in Denheb Stone which will be a great base layer for the final cloth colour.

The Ogre has had a highlighting session with Elf Flesh mixed with the Medium Glaze this thins the paint down and gives it more transparency.  I have left the "washed" recessed areas.  The skin colour is starting to look good now.  The "fresh" head on the rear has been washed with Thraka Green and left to dry.

Only had time to do a small amount to the two smaller figures.  I painted the coach's legging with Mecherite Red and washed the Orc's belt and eye area with Devlan Mud. 

Not long to go now! (Less than two weeks.)

A rest and recharge.

No proper post today.

The Gonk Machine is having a refuel of lightning bolts ready for the BIG PUSH...

Countdown to VaultCon 2011 Part 9

Today, the Gonk Machine has added some lighter touches to the Orc and Troll; some silver to the Ogre and a few lines to the Human.

The Orc has had two shades of green added to the washed green which dried overnight. This was blended to produce a nicer transient from the dark to light greens.  Some painters use very bold hilights but I think this makes for a very unnatural look.
I also use a thinned "Dead White" to highlight and "edge" the white stripes and trousers.  This is just enough to make the light grey look like shaded white. (Does this make sense?).

The Human just had some lines painted on his coat.  The lines had to be thin and I wanted the paint to last for a stroke without re-dipping into the paint.  Vallejo Thinner is great for this mixed with black.
This is the start of the chequered pattern I want to do so I tried very hard to paint thin straight lines.

Mr Troll had a blend of "Sombre Grey","Wolf Grey", "Electric Blue" and white to these colours I added a small amount of "Medium Glaze" this thinned the paint and also makes the paint easier to combine.  (Blend).  It can leave a shiny finish but at this stage I'm not worried as this will be cured later with a "Matt Varnish".

(All the paint and effects I use come from The Games Vault who will hopefully take them to VaultCon - I may need a stock up!)

The Troll now looks much better for his wash and lighten, (sounds like a shampoo).  The darker recessed areas now contrast nicely with the blended highlights.

The Ogre had a few highlights, (as the paint was there). I lightened up the skull at the back and painted the hair from the skull, (white as I want to give some bright colour later).  The dead head at the back was painted with thin green and then highlighted with bone for a decomposed look.
Lastly I painted the metal bits with silver leaving a small amount of black showing between the flesh and the metal.  This accentuates the silver.  I'll wash the silver with "Badab Black" later which is why I've used a fairly bright silver.  (I think it's called "Silver" but I've rubbed the name off...)

Countdown to VaultCon 2011 Part 8

The Gonk Machine has taken over and decided that there should be more shading.

Although the result will really darken things up temporarily, the end result will be a much better contrast between the muscle areas etc on the three gonks with a lot of flesh showing.



On the ogre Citadel Flesh Wash was used on the skin and some of the fur.  Sepia was used on most of the skull hat then Devlan Mud used to really darken up some small areas of the bone and fur trim.

The troll was given an overall wash of "Asurmen Blue" however in some areas this was watered down where the skin will be lighter, (across the belly and arms).  As the face is often the focus of attention then this given a heavy wash to create defined contrast.

"Thraka Green" was neatly applied to all the orc's skin area.  This not only gives a great background to shade and lighten later on it also revealed the "scars" that have been made by the sculptor.  (They look great and it would be a shame to ignore these.  I'll darken up later to make them even more prominent).

TGM TOP TIP:
Citadel washes are pretty good. (Sometimes they'll need watering down - especially Devlan Mud). As with all washes though they need to dry thoroughly before the gonk is handled or further paint added.  A bit of patience now will mean a whole heap of time saved later on.  I generally will leave the washes to dry overnight if I can.

Countdown to VaultCon 2011 Part 7

Today I've tidied up and hilighted the flesh on the ogre.  He's looking quite nice now that I've defined the "skull hat".  I must've been low on fuel as the brown leather bits had gone onto the flesh a fair amount.  The pale flesh colour that I'm tidying up with looks a good match for the flesh undercoat and has also helped to "smooth" the rough texture of the spray.

On the troll I have added further lighter tones of grey/blue but I'm not quite happy with the muscle definition - I think it is merging too much.  (With a gonk like this with a lot of skin showing it's good to make the ripples a contrast to the peaks).

The two smaller gonks need some more base colours.  The ref will have "white" trousers and stripes on the waistcoat and the coach will have a chequered coat to give him a bit more flourish.

TGM TOP TIP:White is a hard colour to get right.  White paint is very "grainy" and we want a nice smooth finish.  My "white" will be an extremely light grey that has been built up over lots of thin layers. I use the Vallejo thinner with "Ghost Grey" for this, (rather than water which would seperate the paint up). Later on I'll add some white paint to the mix.

Countdown to VaultCon 2011 Part 6

A bit short on time today so have blasted on some base colours. 

The flesh on the coach was just splashed on, later I'll decide the colour of the clothing and go over the overspill.
The troll, (a firm favourite of The Gonk Machine), was "wet dry brushed" with a dark blue/grey leaving the lazy black creases underneath, (like the belly button).
On the ogre there's going to be some metal.  Metallic paint always always looks better on a black base and as I've sprayed him pink I've had to go over those bits in black.  The brown is also the dark "Beasty" brown from Vallejo which I'll lighten up later.  It's a good base colour to leathery stuff like belts though.
The Orc ref.  Well he's just be splodged with green at the moment.  It will take several layers to get the skin right over the black undercoat but it will look much better than if I'd used a white undercoat for example.

TGM TOP TIP:

It may seem obvious but after undercoating start with the "deepest" base colours.  By this I mean the areas that a furthest back into the sculpt.  These will naturally be the darkest colours.  You will start to build up layers which are lighter and lighter. For instance, on the troll I've done a fairly dark blue/grey which will be succesfully covered/ layered until maybe the belly will be nearly white.  (Trust me - you'll see!)

Countdown to VaultCon 2011 Part 5

The super glue has dried, the models have been washed, filed, pinned, green-stuffed and now undercoated.  I tend to undercoat mostly in black but as there's a bit of time pressure on me I used a "flesh" spray for the ogre as this was the majority colour.

TGM TOP TIP:
Take time to get a good overall covering.  I normally spray from four directions, starting off by spraying up, (between the legs) and letting each direction's coat dry between.  This does take some patience but the nooks and crannies are all coated and it leaves a good foundation for the base colours.  (If you are lazy/pressed for time then these dark nooks can be left as the "lowest" darkest shading).

The flesh spray is great for this type of figure but it's not as smooth to paint over as black

Countdown to VaultCon 2011 Part 4

After gluing the limbs and heads onto the larger gonks there was some joins showing so I mixed up some "green stuff" and squished and shaped this into the gaps. 


TGM TOP TIP:
Always have a pot of water nearby when using green stuff.  It's wuite sticky and will certainly adhere to plastic or metal.  However, your sculting tool and fingers can stick to the green stuff so wet them with water now and then.  NOTE: don't drop the ogre, (or any other gonk), into the pot of water.  This will cause green stuff not to stick and will cause significant frustration whilst waiting for the model to dry.

 

All ready for undercoating.  I added a ball to the ref's base for fun.

Countdown to VaultCon 2011 Part 3

 After washing the gonks in warm water I allowed them to dry then drilled holes into the neck and shoulder sections of the two bigger models, (using a handheld pin drill).  Then I "pinned" the head and arms onto the main body using superglue and cut up paperclips. 

  

Countdown to VaultCon 2011 Part 2

Let's see what I've been given to paint then:

 Ogre

 Troll

Coach

 

 

 

 

Referee

These are all from our friends at Neomics who have sponsored the BloodBowl Tournament at VaultCon

They all need a wash in warm soapy water - just to remove any traces of the mold release, (or the paint may not stick properly). Then trimming the mold lines and gluing into the bases.

I love these gonks and I'm sure will enjoy whacking some paint on!

Countdown to VaultCon 2011 Part 1

This is where it starts...

I've been asked to slap some paint on the BloodBowl prizes for VaultCon 2011.  (Twenty one days to go).

The figures are handed over and I get to deliver them to The Gonk Machine.

Here's Steve from The Games Vault with the merchandise:

The gonks have been handed over...

VaultCon 2011

Not long until VaultCon 2011.

Just got back from an intesive weekend at PAW where I helped The Games Vault out on their huge stand. I ran a speed painting contest which was quite cool.  It was good practice for the Frantic Painting contest that I'll be running at VaultCon on 12th March 2011.

I had better start thinking about whacking some paint onto the prize gonks.  Plenty of time. (Well 29 days!!!)