Painting: converted Dire Troll Mauler

[morsla]

I've sculpted 50-odd tyranid beasties over the past few weeks, but I've ended up getting a bit sick of 40k models as a result... for a change of scenery, I've (finally) started to make some progress painting the Hordes models that I've been converting.

There are a few larger pictures under the cut. The green parts on the unpainted model are kneadatite putty (greenstuff), and the troll's gnawing on a plastic genestealer leg that I had left over from the Naga project...

Model was painted from a black undercoat using Reaper Master Series "Marine Teal" as a base colour, with a few drops of Vallejo "Fortress Grey" and "Dwarf Flesh" added to the bottle. I've shaded the muscles by adding small amounts of Gory Red (making a nice purple colour), and the highlights use the base colour with more Dwarf Flesh added to the mix.

The leaves on the base come from Silver Birch seed pods that I picked at my parents' place... unfortunately the glue's still a bit wet in these photos, so there are a few white patches.

I'm pretty happy with it so far, although the high-res photos brought out a few mistakes that I hadn't seen earlier. I'll touch them up when I next have some blue-green paint on my palette, and then I'll add a coat of varnish to stop it getting scratched.

Unpainted shot:


Another unpainted one, showing the troll's dinner...


Mostly finished :) Not the best photo, but enough to see the overall effect.


Top-down shot showing a bit of gore. I'll add a bit of gloss varnish to the stringy tendons, to add a bit of realism to it...


This is probably the most accurate photo of the colours used.


More pictures of the trolls can be found at http://www.pbase.com/morsla/trollbloods

Comments

[lycaonia.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

I wish I could paint like that. It would be cool.

Is it hard to do?

[morsla.livejournal.com]

It just takes practice, and a good eye for detail. Keeping the paint thin (I use acrylics, so I just add a drop of water) helps too - the aim is to use layers that are almost translucent, so you don't have sharp changes in colour.

I tend to paint when I need to relax. There's something calming about focussing on something small and ignoring the rest of the world for a few hours :)

[lycaonia.livejournal.com]

If I wanted to start doing this how would you recommend starting out?

(you could even turn this into an article for you wargaming mag thing)

[mousebane.livejournal.com]

I have a heap of spare tyranid models/bits if you need anything for that army (need to get rid of them so i'm giving them away)...assuming the sight of tyranids doesn't make you nauseous on sight now.

[morsla.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. You'd need some paints, brushes, and something to paint...

Paints: there are a few starter sets out there that have a decent range of colours in them. I mainly use Vallejo's "Game Colour" paints, as they seem to be the best ones out there at the moment - Mind Games sells them at the upstairs counter. You only really need 10-12 colours to start with - try a starter set and any favourite colours that jump out at you.

Brushes: I use fairly cheap (~$4) synthetic brushes from places like Lincraft. You want round point brushes, as blunt/flat tips don't really work on 3D surfaces. A size #2 brush will handle just about anything, and a size #0 or #00 is handy for any fine details. A brush that holds a point is much, much more useful than a microscopic brush that fans out or frays.

Models: the easy part ;) Browse through Mind Games for shiny things... in particular, Reaper (green-backed packets) have a huge range of fantasy models. It's also worth getting hold of some plastic models to practice on, as they tend to have slightly less detail on them. I can probably dig up some plastics for you - I have way too many boxes of things upstairs...

Paints like the Reaper or Vallejo brands come in dropper bottles, so you generally use a palette to mix and thin them on. Disposable plastic plates are good for this, as are plastic blister-packs that the miniatures come in.


If you want to come over one day (weekends or evenings are generally good), I can show you how I paint. aeliel has a handful of models that she keeps meaning to paint, too... you're welcome to borrow some paints and brushes to try it out.

[morsla.livejournal.com]

I think I have enough bugs at the moment - thanks for the offer, though :)

I have enough of them to build another few hundred points worth, but I won't be going back to them any time soon. Too many other things to paint ;)

If you're interested, there are some pictures at http://www.pbase.com/morsla/hive_fleet_naga - I think I'll repaint the brown areas in a bone/white colour, but that's basically what the models look like at the moment.

[lycaonia.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure pete has a collection so I shall see tongiht what he has and let you know.

I'm all excited now and cursing that I'm at work.

*curse curse*

I want to go buy shiny things.

[mousebane.livejournal.com]

Some neat conversions there.
I've always been too scared to try any major conversions. The chance that I'd wreck a rather expensive model...but am thinking to try it soon.

And basing. I've never really tried basing before.

I'm mostly painting Daemonhunters at the moment, and they're finally looking alright. Some of the best I've done, I think i'm improving all the time.

[bishi-wannabe.livejournal.com]

Looks *great*. Not inspiring me to start ruining perfectly good figures with my own painting "talents" though ^_^

[vaingloriesque.livejournal.com]

They look awesome!

...and would you like to join our mailing list (http://vaingloriesque.livejournal.com/331559.html)? *grins*