I think this model turned out quite nice but a little dark. When compared to my early tanks, it is noticeable a shade darker. Next to the newer, glowy Fire Prism, they are about the same. This model also fell victim to a phenomenon that was slow to recognize but is now undeniable--varnish will change the color of your paint job. Sometimes it is nice, because it tends to bend together fades and hides the brush strokes. Unfortunately, it can also dull and darken the highlights. After spraying this model I had to go back and repaint all of the hard lines. I wish I had taken a "before" shot to show the difference. BTW: the same problem occurred with the Black Queen and I had to repaint her skin and hair highlights. I switched to a new can of varnish before coating the most recently painted jet bike. The fading is less obvious on this one.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Another Eldar Tank
So these posts are a bit out of order. I painted this tank just before the NOVA open in August. The tournament before that, the ICGT, proved to me the value of mechanization and I meant to fixed that gap in my army. I hope to add another Wave Serpent to my army soon as well as beef up and double my jet bike squads (see blue jet bike in previous post). I've even been toying with the idea of a second, three-strong squad of war walkers. I don't really like the paint job on the current ones and my 'Ard Boyz list for 2011 requires six :-)
I think this model turned out quite nice but a little dark. When compared to my early tanks, it is noticeable a shade darker. Next to the newer, glowy Fire Prism, they are about the same. This model also fell victim to a phenomenon that was slow to recognize but is now undeniable--varnish will change the color of your paint job. Sometimes it is nice, because it tends to bend together fades and hides the brush strokes. Unfortunately, it can also dull and darken the highlights. After spraying this model I had to go back and repaint all of the hard lines. I wish I had taken a "before" shot to show the difference. BTW: the same problem occurred with the Black Queen and I had to repaint her skin and hair highlights. I switched to a new can of varnish before coating the most recently painted jet bike. The fading is less obvious on this one.
I think this model turned out quite nice but a little dark. When compared to my early tanks, it is noticeable a shade darker. Next to the newer, glowy Fire Prism, they are about the same. This model also fell victim to a phenomenon that was slow to recognize but is now undeniable--varnish will change the color of your paint job. Sometimes it is nice, because it tends to bend together fades and hides the brush strokes. Unfortunately, it can also dull and darken the highlights. After spraying this model I had to go back and repaint all of the hard lines. I wish I had taken a "before" shot to show the difference. BTW: the same problem occurred with the Black Queen and I had to repaint her skin and hair highlights. I switched to a new can of varnish before coating the most recently painted jet bike. The fading is less obvious on this one.
A small break for Chess
While drooling over the Golden Demon models at Games Day, I was captivated by the amazing skill with which the artist are painting faces. At the same time, I realized that my flesh tone paints have nearly dried up, from lack of use. There are but two un-helmeted heads in my entire Eldar army and account for about a micro ounce of elf flesh paint. Therefore, I took a small break from Eldar to work one of my Chess pieces. The below image is of my recently completed Black Queen model.
Although I think her flesh is highlighted and blended well, it is not the color I had set out to paint. She is supposed to be a frankenstein-like creature and I wanted the flesh to a have a blueish tint. However, I started painting her like any other humanoid and was so pleased with the blending that I wimped out when it came time to tint with blue. Oh well...
Although I think her flesh is highlighted and blended well, it is not the color I had set out to paint. She is supposed to be a frankenstein-like creature and I wanted the flesh to a have a blueish tint. However, I started painting her like any other humanoid and was so pleased with the blending that I wimped out when it came time to tint with blue. Oh well...
Jet Bike Grafiti
Recent tournaments and painting competitions have indicated a strong judging preference for detail work and weathering. Unfortunately, rusty/dirty Eldar is not my style but I will give the detail work a try. The below image is a picture of my new jet bike and a modified old one. Although I've already grafiti'd the entire [old] jet bike squad, I'm toying with the idea of adding the same touch to the rest of the army. The swirl/swoop work on the tan bike is a bit sloppy, but I refined by technique on the new [blue] one.
In this picture, you can also see how badly I painted the rider on the old versions. Three big differences with the new paint job: 1) I painted the rider before placing on the bike, 2) my blending has gotten a lot better, 3) I was not rushing to put together the core of a fledgling army and took my time.
In this picture, you can also see how badly I painted the rider on the old versions. Three big differences with the new paint job: 1) I painted the rider before placing on the bike, 2) my blending has gotten a lot better, 3) I was not rushing to put together the core of a fledgling army and took my time.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Hardliners Image Tag
Ken requested an image to use for tagging mini photos. I think this gif should work.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Tacticon 2010
Yesterday I attended Tacticon 2010 in Denver, Colorado. Though it was a disappointing day for results I still had a lot of fun.
My first game I was paired against a Space Wolves army with the mission being Spearhead and Annihilation. I initially won the roll off so it appeared things were looking up; unfortunately the initiative was taken making my deployment very ineffective. Things only went down hill from their. This opponent had a wolf rider squad with two lords which is by far the most over powered squad I have faced. Three volleys from my entire army before the broke my lines and I had only reduced the squad by 2 models. Ultimately suffered a major defeat. The good news is he went on to win the RTT.
My second game was against Necrons. This was a standard pitched battle seize ground mission. I easily controlled the Necrons in this game, but sadly only ended with a draw. My opponent played extremely slow allowing us to only finish 4 of 6 turns.
Game three was a mechanized Ork army with a dawn of war deployment and 6 objectives. I lost the deployment roll and was on the defensive most of the game. Through a lot of tactical moves and losses I did manage to ultimately end the game in a draw by contesting all claimed objectives. The dawn of ware deployment causes large problems primarily because I was unable to control the Nob biker squad before it broke my ranks. Overall this was the most fun I had.
Finally painting. Sadly I did not walk away the victor this time; I lost to the SM army pictured below. I apologize for the relatively bad picture, lighting was horrible in the room. In addition to my army there was a Demon army that was painted exceptionally, but I was unable to get a good picture because it was in a plexy glass box. As for the winner he seemed to impress the judges primarily with his display base, conversions, and hand painted markings. The judging criteria seemed to favor these items more the just painting technique. I talked to one of the judges afterwards who was brought in as an outside party who explained most of this to me. Additionally, it seems the two primary judges knew this individual and where impressed with how much time it took him to create. Overall, I think this army was worthy of winning. Painting is ultimately very subjective, and comes down to opinion in most cases.
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