Greetings all, I have been slowly collecting Classic Chaos Dwarves, as well as some Russian Alternative ones. I have plans… but fixing my house and groceries always come first, so this is a slow process.
Since my introduction began with my Golden Hat Entry, here it is in all its mediocrity (all the original photos)
My lighting setup is terrible, and I was horribly rushed to paint it, but I was happy with how he turned out. One thing the photos did not pick up was an attempt (moderate success, large failures) at OSL over metallics. I thing it really worked, but it didn’t show well in photos.
He’ll be an Iron Sorcerer in Kings of War. And he’s a start.
He'll be an Iron Sorcerer in Kings of War. And he's a start.
Darkmeer
I love KoW...and I love your start. This was a really nice GH entry, with quite a nice paint job. The painted metal tones you did on the spear/halberd are very nice, and kudos to you for painting the reddish 'reflective' glow from the fire onto the model (I don't have the skills or nerve to even attempt that sort of painting detail).
I'm looking forward to see more of your army...after groceries of course ;)
Well done good Sir :cheers
A nice start to your army. I spent some time looking at this model during the GH contest. I very much like where you were going with the scheme. I second Fuggit Khan’s comment about the metal tones on the spearhead. That is what made me stop and take a closer look.
A good start on the OSL as well. You started with a difficult application of it, as orange OSL on a yellow or orange tone metallic is really difficult to make pop (versus OSL on a grey, dull, or non-similar color).
This is personal preference, but I would suggest taking it down a notch in the application. I find all to often painters really go to town on the OSL making it far brighter and deeper than it should be. A subtle application goes a long way, and really makes one stop and look at a model.
Keep at it with the photos, it’s a more difficult part of the hobby to master than it looks, and many of us (myself included) continue to struggle with it.
Looking forward to seeing more from you! Cheers, JR
Thank you all! I very much appreciate the kind words about my Golden Hat entry as well as liking my scheme/style (and thank you TheHoodedMan for the vote!). :hat off :cheers
As to the OSL: He’s one of the few models that will receive it. I really don’t care to use OSL very much, and higher contrast is ALWAYS easier with that. OSL is a weak point for me, and I use true metallics (rather than Non-Metallic Metals), so the OSL is that much harder. I didn’t make it any easier that I don’t have an airbrush either. That comes after many more groceries.
I’m a very slow painter, and I have a few plans for which model to paint next. Probably one of the Dwarfs in charge.
Here are my originals that I entered into the Golden Hat. I have a couple others I’m working on (slowly) that will appear when I have time to finish painting them up.
and back
Eventually I’ll get better at photography. A multi-year struggle is what it appears to be.
A good entry! Always nice to see the RA miniatures all painted up. I especially liked your banner…it’s different than what is more commonly seen and the arrow design is simple but effective. It really caught my eye. Good work :hat off
Eventually I’ll get better at photography. A multi-year struggle is what it appears to be.
Darkmeer
Photography is the bane of my life. I usually take 50 pics or so, and end up deleting about 49 of them
The warrior with the Bull Head shield didn’t photograph well at all, it’s actually a golden color with a paler highlight in real life.
I have another sorcerer (one of the mm90 ones) to photograph along with my first Bull Centaur (one you might recognize). I also have an army Standard Bearer to post up too.
My army is being built with two mindsets, one is the guardians of the Temple, who wear very traditional garb (Classic Chaos Dwarves), while the field army are the Russian Alternative ones. Some outliers will be on both sides, and I had a very hard time deciding on this, but I couldn’t base them all the same way. With the Stampede from Happy Seppuku, I am making temple bases for the classic Chaos Dwarves and the classic Bull Centaurs. The others get a blasted wasteland base.
Jury’s still out on how I’m going to convert for the field Bull Centaurs. I’m thinking the classic Russian Alternative great weapons (and command!) with Mantic abyssal Halfbreed bodies. Has anyone done this that I’ve missed here on CDO?
Nice job on the unit frontline. The banner as stated is a cool alteration from the normal banner types we usually see. I like the coloration on the face and head of the bagpipe player. Makes it look like he’s in mid blow on the pipes. If you have a chance, neaten up the bottom edge of the bases, it gives models a crisper look. Don’t stress about the photography. It does get easier, though as Fuggit stated, most of us still take a ton of photos and then narrow to the best ones. Try playing with lighting when you have some spare time, and finding the right background helps a lot too, I recommend something other than white which tends to look very stark against the models. Once you find something that works it really makes a difference (construction paper, fabric, etc.). Cheers, JR
I did not have time to tidy the bases, but that’s definitely going to be done as I finish up the second rank for these guys. One thing I noticed, and it’s my own fault, is that the second rank is a little more difficult to put in place than I’d like. that and some touch ups I didn’t have time to do before the Golden Hat deadline hit.
I like the standard bearer’s “arrow” and I tend to use 3 arrows, lightning bolts, and the symbol of Hashut (which looks like “V” to my eye, so there are no surprises when it appears).
As to the background, I have a proper portable light box and full setup, but I haven’t EVER been able to get good photos out of it using blue, black, or white. With 3 kids, setup time is at a premium.
These photos were taken outside a little before dusk with a full flash, and I’m happier with them than my sorcerer in post one. I’m probably going to splurge and get one of the nicer blue to white gradient backdrops (or print one myself) to see how that goes. We’ll see when I get there.
As to next up, my classic Bull Centaurs are on the painting table (along with an odd assortment of non-CD miniatures). Photos when I have proper time to do them… which is fairly rare. :cheers
This is on a 40mm base, and is the “fire” version. The other version is dismembering a goblin (not my thing, oddly enough). This was a “speed” paint, taking only about 5 hours, including the glow effect. I could push it further, but I stopped when I thought it looked right to my eye. The base is 40mm using cork with a Happy Seppuku base over it into Procreate. The lava is liquitex matte medium layered until the base texture was less visible.
The white dots on the staff and that show up on the arm are not there in real life, not sure what the camera was doing, but otherwise this is exact to real life.
Here are my close up shots of my Golden Hat entry. I’ll say that these are not the best models I’ve painted in a while. But they are far from the worst.
Leader/hero:
Banner
Musician (note, I broke the hilt of his sword off, the resin is very brittle):
Raised Bull Shield (best picture I could get of him was the most important, but no front views came out):
These were a lot of fun, and I have 5 more on deck. The lava/temple bases have been a lot of fun to work through. The first up is Hthark the Unstoppable, from Blood Bowl. he w0as a lot of fun, and I intend on using him for my “great weapon” version of the bull centaurs. The Bases are a Happy Seppuku base over it into Sculpey, which was broken into shape. The lava is liquitex matte medium layered until the base texture was less visible.
Painted to medium tabletop, with some highlighting. I’m very happy with them.
Hthark the Unstoppable
Bull Centaur 5
Bull centaur 6 (honestly, my favorite Bull Centaur)
This is the model I intend on using for “Rosubian” the sorcerer for my Song of Blades and Heroes warband. He is so much fun, and I’m very happy with him. The basing is liquitex matte medium (for the lava) which was painted, cork and then Golden Blended fibers for the top of the base. And, sadly, he is the only MM90 Chaos Dwarf I own.
Whoa! You’ve been very busy, lots of new stuff all painted up! Excellent bull centaurs…and no true CD bull centaur unit is complete without H’Thark the Unstoppable. Really good to see him painted in all his glory :hat off
Many thanks, Fuggit! I don’t get much camera time, so when I do, I take advantage of it. Other than my first GH entry, everything was painted over the last couple of months. Hthark and the Bull Centaurs got some real priority, and they are as fun to paint as I thought they would be. Thank you, Fuggit, for a copy of Hthark. It was such a pleasure to paint him. :hat off:cheers
Hello my very neglected Army Blog! I am such a slow painter, and I have MANY projects going at once. So, here is my most RECENT progress on my Chaos Dwarven forces, and I’d very much like to introduce the next character in my army, prince Robu:
This is the second time I’ve painted him, and I’m much happier with him this time. Red and yellow works really well for this miniature, and I really like the dull tone I have for his hat.
Next up, is a row of 5 bull centaurs!
The camera died and I am out of batteries (and no, I do not have a camera that will connect to my computer properly, which is a bit sad), but these guys were a blast to paint, and I sculpted small details onto each of their shields. I tried for traditional chaos dwarf iconography. I have one more to paint and then the “stampede” will be done. I want to get one more so that I can have seven to make it for sure legal in Kings of War.
Next up is one of the three Black Orcs that I have (who will be used in Song of Blades and Heroes). The only regrets I have are the ends of his horns (which don’t really look red IRL) and the mould line under the horn on the bottom that you can see in the rear view.
Lastly, is someone to help Robu… recover… from his battles. Admiral’s WONDERFULLY sculpted Chaos Dwarven Harlot from the Taming of the Wildman set.
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