Tyrion -- Painting (I): Armour - Phase 1

Phase 1 of Tyrion's armour is now done!

It has been a number of years since I have painted a major piece of armour, and I am happy--and relieved!--to report that it's just like riding a bike: just do it!

Since this is intended to be the metallic basecoat to a weathered, dark-russeted cuirass, I went with G-S Mr. Metal Iron straight out of the bottle, rather than one of my custom metallic lacquer "cocktails". For the latten trim, I went with G-S Mr. Metal Brass, applied as a series of controlled washes. PERFECT!

It should be noted that I also wanted to introduce a somewhat textured surface to represent age and grime. Thus, I applied a somewhat heavy coat of paint (rather than floating a thinned coat), which I then textured as it was setting. Do not concern yourself with overdoing it it--within rea- son!-- as any overdone areas can simply be burnished-out when polishing the lacquers. As I've always said, you have to go out of your way to screw-up with the Mr. Metal lacquers!

I will let the lacquers cure for a week before proceeding with the russeting and weathering. In the meantime, I will complete undercoating Tyrion.

As a final note, I would like to praise a new product that I recently acquired: Tamiya's Craft Cot- ton Swabs. I purchased these for the express purpose of polishing metallic lacquers, especially tight areas, and they simply shine (pun intended) in this capacity! No more scratches from cut- down Q-tip shafts, no more lint to carefully remove before continuing with your work. And at ~5- 10¢/swab, depending on your retailer, these are money well spent!

Judge Death - Painting (IB): UC'ing 2 - Back to Black

. . . or close enough. . . 

 

The foundation piece of the Judges, regardless of the dimension from which they hail--the jump- suit--is now undercoated. I am very pleased with how it turned out: I used a roughly 60-20-20 mix of Vallejo Black, Reaper Midnight Blue, and Reaper Nightshade Purple: as with Dredd, the achieved undertone is perfect for what lies ahead!

More to follow. . . !

DWC's 70mm Judge Fear

The Lord of War has survived the perilous trans-Atlantic voyage and has made it to his new home none the worse for wear. . . Judge Fear isssss here!

In a dream trifecta, Judge Fear is the ninth release in Dark World Creations' 70mm 2000AD line. As with the rest of the line, its design was in the most capable hands of 3-D sculptor, David Richardson: if it ain't broke', don't fix it; and David's creations for DWC are as far as you can get from broke'! And in keeping with what has become a brilliant single-player game of one-upman- ship, David has outdone himself once again with this latest release. . .

The figure is close to 80mm in overall height: it may very well be the largest of the Dark Judges to date, but just. The kit is comprised of 9 exquisitely cast pieces + the logo-ed base: the casting is on a par with Mortis; i.e., perfect, as best I can tell! 

There are some interesting/curious deviations from canon that I will comment upon in a week or so after completing my research. In the meantime, preliminary clean-up will commence this weekend. . .

Stay tuned! Definitely more to follow!!

UPDATE 07.06.2014. . . Fear has been pegged and mounted on its work base. . . As with Death, a word of caution: proceed slowly and very carefully with a preferably new bit. There is hardly any freeboard on those legs: and the legs are slightly thinner than Death's! 

UPDATE 08.06.2014. . . The head, cloak, arms (right arm has been permanently attached), and right pauldron have been fitted--more or less. There is still some tweaking to do before the fit is finalized, but I believe most of the anticipated adjustments will prove needless once clean-up is finished. 

Judge Death - Painting (IA): UC'ing 1 - Goin' Green

Whereas I would normally do the flesh first and the gear last, since I decided to undercoat these areas in tonal variations of a basic hue (Reaper Olive Green), I went ahead and painted all the greens. Which means that Hisssss Honor is just short of 50% done.

Next up will be the jump suit, followed by any necessary touchups. If all goes as anticipated, Death will be ready for oils by the end of the weekend--but not before I post an image or two. . .

Stay tuned!

Tyrion -- Painting: UC'ing 1 - Armour

Let the games begin. . .

It was a long day at work, and I simply wasn't up to a lengthy, demanding session with the brushes. So I opted for a quick, somewhat "loose" warm-up: I undercoated the pedestal and the cuirass on the The Imp.

Stamina and focus aside, this was precisely what needed to be done, as the cuirass will be painted as it was forged: 'black' (UC; actually a mix of Vallejo Black and Reaper Blackened-Brown); steel (G-S Mr. Metal lacquers); and russeted (oils). Unless I want metallic pigments making their presence known at the most inopportune moment down the line, the cuirass will have to be painted first--at least through the pre-russeting stage. In fact, the plan is to first apply the lacquers, and then complete the UCing of the figure--going forward, I will then be working almost exclusively in oils.

UPDATE 04.06.2014. . . The pauldron was undercoated in "scrubbed" Vallejo Black. "Scrubbed" means the paint was applied in a layered, 'wet' dry-brush, which results in a smooth, satin finish that will yield a different textural quality to the shoulder armour. 

More to follow. . .

The time is nigh. . .

The figures are primed. . . and I have just completed cleaning my brushes, rearranging my painting bench, and sorting-out the acrylic undercoating palette. . .

Which means that as soon as the opportunity presents itself, painting will commence on Judge Death and The Imp. . .

Let the good times roll!!!

Tyrion -- Painting: Priming

Most of the executed mods should be readily apparent. . .

Judge Death - Painting: Intro

You might recall the legion of variables encountered when painting Judge Dredd. Dredd was bad; but Death is arguably worse, if only because of the absence--by design--of any regulated uniform- ity. As a painter, this is not necessarily a bad thing, as we can now be guided by our artistic eye and our sensibilities--but it still has to look right! And therein lies the rub.

Death will be an exercise in tonality and hue. Do I go with a greenish skin, a bluish skin, a deathly flesh tone. . . or a custom mix of all three? The gear--how faded/worn should it be depicted? And so on, and so forth. . .

Fortunately, the only canonical speed bump to be negotiated is the helmet. When the chromatic Death first appears, he is wearing an alternate version of the standard Judge's helmet--i.e., black helmet with red trim. At some point, an alternate scheme was introduced: a strongly blue-biased black helmet with silver trim. Not knowing the timeline of this development, and/or the reason for it--in spite of rather diligent research, I am inclined to go with the original iteration. 

Stay tuned!

PS -- As before, any comments, especially from our die-hard 2000AD fans, are most welcome!

UPDATE 24.06.2014. . . I have concluded that not only Judge Fear, but Death (and possibly Mortis?) are all based on the iterations found in the Batman/Dredd crossover, "Die Laughing" (hence the chained badge, etc.). Thus have I decided to paint the helmet in the aforementioned alternate scheme.

Judge Death - Painting: Priming

The crime of an idle paint brush will be tolerated no longer. . . it mussst end. . . and sssssoon. . .

Looking ahead in 2014--pre-Summer revision

It is so hard to believe that Summer is less than a month away--three weeks to be exact! Where has the year gone???!!! 

As in the previous posting, I have not listed all I hope to get done: just those items that will most likely get done--especially if I can start slinging paint in the next fortnight or so.

Here goes . . . 

• Judge Death (DWC, 70mm)
• Tyrion Lannister (Castle Miniatures, 150mm bust)
• "The Red Viper" (Fort Duquesne, 1/4 scale bust)
• Jon Snow and Ghost (Toison Studio, 70mm)
• "Moondirge" (Mierce Miniatures/BaneBeasts, ???)
  
• Judge Fear (DWC, 70mm)

As always, subject--and now less likely--to change. . . save to add.

Figone's Colin

The other day, I was reading a fellow miniaturist's blog, when I ran across a bust that immediately struck a chord. The rendition in question was a minor conversion; but the base piece was not credited, hence it took me about 30 minutes to track it down.

The base piece was a delightful 1/12th scale bust titled, Colin, (sculpted by Romain van den Bogaert) in Figone's Fantasy line. Colin is intended to be a caricature of a pirate, and as such is an eminent success--but it is ideally suited to be converted into a much more menacing subject.

If Colin is any indication of the quality of Figone's product line, then this is a manufacturer that has earned--and deserves!--our patronage. The bust is designed in two pieces, and the casting quality and evinced detail is second to none: the castings are flawless! 

As a bust, it should be noted that this is essentially a head study mounted on the top half of a backless torso. I am not a big fan of this approach, but in this case, it serves my purpose to a T: the back has already been rouged-in with MS and is now curing in the oven. Once cured, I will tap the base of the bust, insert a tin-solder mounting rod, and transfer it to its work base.

Before closing, I should point out that as I could not find a retailer on this side of the Pond that carried this particular offering, I ordered it direct from Figone. Their customer service proved to be excellent: I received it today, 10 days after placing the order.

Stay tuned. . . !

UPDATE 30.05.2014. . . I had the opportunity to do a little grinding on this piece this evening. The quality of the resin--as a casting medium as well as a tooling medium--is exceptional!

Notable Acquisitions May 2014

KITS 
NutsPlanet Teutonic Knight (1/10th scale bust, Jun-Sik Ahn)
Figone Colin (~1/12th scale bust, Romain van den Bogaert) 

Weekend Update

Prepwork on Tyrion and Judge Death is officially done: both pieces are now in the priming queue. Given that it is month end, I probably will not get them on the painting bench til the weekend. I should be able to start breaking out the paints by next week. . .

It should be noted that Death's "groundwork" is still very much a work in progress, much like Dredd's base was earlier in the year. Unlike Dredd's, however, the completion of Death's base is not slated to coincide with the commencement of the painting of the figure.

Images to follow as soon as the pieces are primed. . .