[Archive] The Red Queen's Wardens: Update - Artisans XXIV Golem

Jackswift:

Morning CDO,

I’ve been collecting and assembling Chaos Dwarves to be used as Abyssal Dwarves in Kings of War.  I have models from more than 12 manufacturers in the composition for this army, and there are units I will run as allies that may bring in a few more.  I recently decided that it was time to lay down some paint, and get this army done, or at least in progress.  My goal is to have enough units from the army painted and playable for KoW by mid winter.  With that in mind, I put a hold on further assembly and conversion until I have several existing units completed.





The theme to the army will be very loosely based on Alice in Wonderland’s setting and characters.  This will be done with compositional use of checker board pattern, stripes, card themed details, and a prevalence of Primary Reds, Blues, Whites and Blacks. Some units are simple core and the paint job will be the unifier, while others will be more thematic such as the “Incubuses of the Despot” models which follow after the Caterpillar.  And of course many lunatic “Hatter” CD models.  I’ll save the specific details for later as the army builds.

I painted up the first color scheme test model last night. A simple FW Chaos Dwarf, a unit of which will form the core of a “Blacksoul” horde of 40 models.





The test model uses roughly 15 colors including the base, so I will very likely tone down the scheme slightly for the generic rank and file to speed the painting process. You will note the blue sigil on the shield is a stylized “spade” card detail. I will have the alternating scheme for this unit done in the next couple of days, then it’s cranking out the unit.

Let me know your thoughts, comments, or suggestions. Cheers! JR

sam585:

Very well done on that infernal guard.


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Abecedar:

Coming along very nice. Looking forward to more as they come.

TheHoodedMan:

First of all: That is an impressive collection of Miniatures. I like the Mierce Chimera which lures behind those monstrous infantry.

What models are those on the big bases with the big swords? Look very interesting.

I especially like the red and your base. The metal parts are really dark (is this warplock bronze?). First I thought they were not painted. From my point of view I would recommend to highlight the edges of the metal parts a little bit to enhance the details. You obviously have the skills to do that.

Admiral:

Good advice, TheHoodedMan. Subtle highlights require both skill and patience, but starker highlights always draws the eye. Of course, the photos could be tricky, so always go for what looks good to your own eye (and what you yourself would prefer). I can relate to that issue. When I first learnt to paint Warhammer miniatures, I soon took to some quite extreme highlights, such as orange edges on red cloth. Then came a period when I toned down the highlights and got a more realistic result, but the subtle highlights didn’t make the model pop, which a friend of mine amongst others commented upon. So now I’m back almost where I started, with using almost as extreme highlights at before. Tricky balance, that.

Good colour scheme! Looking forward to see all the other regiments take shape, not least the thematic ones. Buildings regiments with a theme and background story is the way to go. :slight_smile:

Jackswift:

Thanks very much for all the comments.  

TheHoodedMan, The models with the Huge swords are Reaper Bones Fire and Frost Giants, cut off of their integrated bases and re-based as a unit.  They will serve as KoW Obsidian Golems in the army.  The squat giant style I felt worked perfectly with the Chaos Dwarf style and concept.

Re the highlights… yup… that’s Warplock Bronze.  I was going for a dark patina’d bronze look with verdigris, but for armor, scratches would burnish to a highlight which I really didn’t account for.  There are a few highlights there, but they are subtle, and probably fewer than their should be as I did not hit very many of the edges.  You can see some of them in the second pic.  Frankly I’ve never found exactly the right color or method to make highlights that I like on the dark bronze.  It is great and much appreciated advice, and I will definitely think about adding more or bolder highlights.  Similar to Admiral’s comments, my style goes back and forth.  I tend to make bolder quicker highlights the faster I paint (as blending and such goes right out of the picture), which means that when I start blasting through the rest of the unit at a faster speed, the highlights will definitely be less subtle.  Ends up being a trade off between detail and time.  Cheers!

Fuggit Khan:

The theme to the army will be very loosely based on Alice in Wonderland's setting and characters.  

Jackswift
This promises to be good, I love uniquely themed armies :hat off
And what an impressive variety of models you have, perfect for KoW (since they allow any composition of models that you like).
Great start :cheers

Jackswift:

I had time to attempt test model number II last night.  The plan is to checkerboard the unit in alternating colors, so the second test model is stylistically the same, but alternating colors.  The checkerboard theme will carry through to the base of the model in shades of black and white.

Here are the two versions side by side:



The model was painted faster, and it shows in the transitions.  I may come back and blend it a bit more, but am fine with it for now as a test model.  I still need to hit the bands in the CD’s beard, do a little work to thin out and crust up the verdigris (far too blocky on the second model as it is), highlight the metallic armor, and add a subtle bit of dark orange rust to the blue armor parts.



I really like the vivid blues, but they seem over bright next to the red dwarf test model.  Not sure if I want that level of the contrast.  I may do one more test model using a lighter blue as the base color which should wash out the blue a bit.  The rust may also wash it out a bit without further alteration.

Finally, I am on the fence about whether one or both the weapon blades, and/or eyes should be the same color on both models to dial down the contrast and make the unit a little more cohesive.  Leaning towards blue (or even Obsidian-esque Black) weapon blades, and either leaving the eyes as is, or making them all glowing orange (orange will contrast better against red, than blue against blue).

TheHoodedMan:

Good idea to cross two maincolors on the models, I like that and it will work very well.

As for the highlights I mostly used sycorax bronze as highlight color and then wash it to tone it down. The darker the wash the more subtle the highlight (from Reikland flesh to Seraphim Sepia to Agrax Earthshade for example).

But the lighting of the pictures has much impact. On the newest pic the metals look much more detailed and for me better.

Congratulations that is a really promising start!

Admiral:

Wow, a checkerboard pattern over a whole ranked unit? That’s an ingenious idea, and pretty fitting for a race so contradictively devoted to both slavish order and raw Chaos as the curly-beards.

And as TheHoodedMan points out, the pictures themselves can deceive. Promising start indeed!

Abecedar:

Ambitious plans and really interested to see how it works out.

Also any plans to play chess with them?

TheHoodedMan:

Abecedar, a great idea! A chaos dwarf chess!:cheers

Admiral:

…introducing the blue and the red pieces. Bloody good idea, Abecedar. :cheers

Jackswift:

Wow. Not an idea I had thought of; however now that it is out there… I just may have to build an entire chess sets as a subset of the army. Already have a few ideas brewing. I know what to do for the blue queen. And the Mid Nor Demon Tower would make a great Rook… Hmm… yeah… I think I’m going to have to run with this…

Doombeard:

+1 mid nor demon tower

Grimbold Blackhammer:

I’m going to be the grumpy dwarf from the slave pits and say I’m not a fan only because of consistency. It’s not the colors I object to but how they are placed. The red model, for example, has red “steel” armor except for his breastplate which is…not steel? And he has an ice weapon? Your painting skills are fine but the model looks messy to me just because the colours don’t seem to be in the right places for me. It’s an easy fix but then if you have the guy in blue armor next to him, it confuses the theme again. I want to see more because maybe there is more to this than I’m getting from just a couple of pictures. Regardless of what I say though, if you have a vision, go with that!!

Admiral:

You’re really pursuing the chess game possibility? Now that’s great! Looking forward to the Daemon tower. :cheers

Grimbold, you’re right about running with your vision, not least because something like this comes into full play first when you can see it on a unit level. A friend of mine was most sceptical about giving my headtaker unit glowing eyes when looking at the two models I finished first, but once he saw a whole rank of them painted, he changed his mind.

Abecedar:

And I’ve always liked the idea of a vertical chess board to show them off.

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Doombeard:

I'm going to be the grumpy dwarf from the slave pits and say I'm not a fan only because of consistency.  It's not the colors I object to but how they are placed.  The red model, for example, has red "steel" armor except for his breastplate which is...not steel?  And he has an ice weapon?  Your painting skills are fine but the model looks messy to me just because the colours don't seem to be in the right places for me.  It's an easy fix but then if you have the guy in blue armor next to him, it confuses the theme again.  I want to see more because maybe there is more to this than I'm getting from just a couple of pictures.  Regardless of what I say though, if you have a vision, go with that!!

Grimbold Blackhammer
complementary colors are a must too, as well as a 3 color scheme . At the moment Red and Blue will clash quite badly whereas Blue and Orange or Red & Green will just mesh together . Look at some color theory and color wheels and stuff. When I dress to go out I always try and co-ordinate 3 colors as it just works, its a fashion thing but applies to color schemes too!

Jackswift:

Thanks very much for all of the additional comments.  Whether I agree or not, the insights made me stop and think about the composition quite a bit.

It’s not the colors I object to but how they are placed.  The red model, for example, has red “steel” armor except for his breastplate which is…not steel?
I was going for bronze on the breastplate.  My primary reason was to break up the color rather than having red on shoulder pads, breastplate, and helmet.  It felt like too much color top heavy on the model.  Perhaps under the paint it isn’t "steel either, or perhaps these chaos dwarves have developed a unique process that makes their bronze as hard as steel.  Mostly going for a certain look rather than a specific makeup of armor.  Plus I am less than enthusiastic about metallics in general.
And he has an ice weapon?

Or perhaps another alloy that has a glowing blue sheen… onyx dipped in mithril and tempered in minotaur blood.  Currently using the weapon to add another spot of bright contrast to the model.  Frankly, when all is said and done, I may hate it and go to shades of grey for the weapons.  

I am certain that the current composition is not for everyone… but as was said, for now at least I am going to go with my current vision and see where it takes me.  If it comes together then great.  If not, I’ll try something different but complimentary for the next unit.
At the moment Red and Blue will clash quite badly whereas Blue and Orange or Red & Green will just mesh together.
The green is there actually… it’s just more subtle… in the verdigris.  The core color choices are primary red, blue, and yellow (though the yellow comes in through the slight gold highlights on the bronze and through the orange; perhaps I’ll bring the orange a bit lighter.  The complimentary colors are far more subtle in the red model than in the blue model.  

And Yes… definitely doing the chessboard thing.  Already have the demon tower… and the MidNor bishop.  Though it will be a while in the works.  Cheers JR