Painting Notes for Raptors

Following on from last night's post about using this blog as a place to keep my painting notes, I'd now like to revisit those Raptors marines I started on last December. I foresee working on them intermittently all year long and beyond as I've decided for this army project my goal will be to collect and paint an entire Battle Company of the Raptors Legion. I expect this will take me a long time to complete, making this record of how I've chosen to paint them rather important for me to keep updated.

I haven't worked on these guys in almost a month (last seen here) and likely won't get back to them for another couple of months more as I really need to begin devoting my hobby time to WHFB. Adepticon is fast approaching and only today did I at last settle on what army I will be working on for the 1000 point Fantasy tournament for which I've registered. Once I have finished my Frog Fighters, I'm going to put everything else on hold while I focus in on the square-based side of life. Therefore lest I forget how I painted the first members of my Raptors Legion, here then are my painting notes for them:

Basecoat: Color Primer Army Green

Power Armor: Devlan Mud (twice), drybrush of Traitor Green, edge highlight sparingly with Thrall Flesh, Orange Rust weathering powder

Equipment: Thamar Black, Greatcoat Grey

Auspex Screen: Gnarls Green, Iosan Green, Wurm Green, thin lines of Morrow White

Eye Lenses: Iyanden Darksun, Moldy Ochre, Sulfuric Yellow, Gryphonne Sepia, dot of Morrow White

Chest Eagle and Weaponry: Boltgun Metal, Badab Black, Mithril Silver

Name Plate: Tin Bitz, Dwarf Bronze, Shining Gold, Devlan Mud

Purity Seal Wax: Mechrite Red, Skorne Red, Khador Red Base, Leviathan Purple

Purity Seal Parchment: Hammerfall Khaki, Menoth White Highlight, Morrow White, (Am I missing a wash here? I think it might have been Gryphonne Sepia.)

Skin: Tallarn Flesh, Ogryn Flesh, Midlund Flesh, Ryn Flesh

Base: thinned Umbral Umber, heavy drybrush of Bootstrap Leather, light dryrbrush of 'Jack Bone

Base Edge: Scorched Brown

As I discussed above, I will soon be turning my attention to Warhammer Fantasy. I need to try my best to make up for all the time I lost the last few months while vacillating over what army I'd want to take with me to the tournament. I'm starting from scratch with an all new army and I haven't played any games of Fantasy in years, at least as far back as sometime before 7th edition. This means there is indeed much to be done so this project is going to have to be my top priority. But I will talk more about these plans in the days to come, for now I just want to get back to painting my space frogs. Goodnight!

Frog Fighters WIP

When I started this blog one of the main purposes in doing so was to use it as a way of keeping track of my painting notes. I've had notebooks for this before but have done a poor job in the past of hanging on to them or using them consistently. Since I like to skip around with my projects and always have a number underway at any one time, not keeping up with my notes can become very problematic. Thus my plan to use diceRolla as an online painting notebook was conceived.

Typically with the first WIP post of a new project I would include a complete list of the paints I had used up to that point, broken down for each discrete area of the miniature. As I made further progress these steps would be added and through the magic of the Edit Posts button a fully updated painting guide would gradually be created. (An example of how this ultimately looks once complete can be seen here.) This method provides less than a step-by-step or painting tutorial would but it is enough for me to feel comfortable about leaving a project for a long time without sacrificing consistency in the colors used. And voila... I had a painting notebook!

This system worked well initially but after my unexpected four or five month break from painting last year I neglected to resume this helpful habit. I'd like to say it was just laziness but truthfully I became self-conscious about this practice once I realized how many exceptionally talented painters see my work here. I worried that these "color guides" as I called them would come across as presumptuous or vain if their purpose as being for my own benefit were not understood, so I stopped doing them. I've since come to regret that as I, true to form, failed to take any notes once I started painting again last autumn. In that short amount of time I've already forgotten how I went about painting my nascent Blisstonian 9th army and the currently dormant Rogue Trader crew for Killzone. I'll likely be able to figure those out again but it will require time that would otherwise go to something more productive.

Therefore one of the things I've decided to do with diceRolla this year is return to my former intent of maintaining an online painting notebook. If all goes according to plan, the first WIP post for each new painting project will have a list of colors used, gradually expanding to include every pot of paint touched in the process of working on the miniature. Hopefully this will not be too intrusive as to annoy any veteran painters and perhaps might even prompt suggestions as to how I can improve my painting or choice of colors. And if anyone does in fact find these notes to be in some way helpful to their own hobby, then that will just be a nice bonus.

What follows then is my first color guide of 2011, beginning the year with a selection of Frog Fighters for the game Critter Commandos. Over the coming days I will return to edit this, updating it as I make progress painting these miniatures until completed. This is meant for my benefit but if anyone has questions, please don't hesitate to ask as I'd be happy to help if possible.

Bodysuit: Necron Abyss, Asurmen Blue, Exile Blue, Cygnar Blue Base

Jetpack: Iyanden Darksun, Gryphonne Sepia

Jetpack Bands: Thamar Black, Boltgun Metal, Badab Black

Skin: Knarloc Green, Thraka Green

Eyes: Underbelly Blue

Guns: Thamar Black, Boltgun Metal, Badab Black

Pineapple: Tausept Ochre, Devlan Mud

Base: Charadon Granite

Armored Suit: Macharius Solar Orange, Gryphonne Sepia (twice), Mecharius Solar Orange

Jetpack: Iyanden Darksun, Gryphonne Sepia

Jetpack Bands: Thamar Black, Boltgun Metal, Badab Black

Skin: Knarloc Green, Thraka Green

Eyes: Underbelly Blue

Pistol and Sword Blade: Thamar Black, Boltgun Metal, Badab Black

Sword Hilt: Tin Bitz, Dwarf Broze

Base: Charadon Granite

Armored Suit: Iyanden Darksun, Gryphonne Sepia (twice), Iyanden Darksun, Moldy Ochre

Eyes: Gnarls Green

Hairdryer: Mechrite Red

Before I go back to painting these guys tonight I'd just like to note the bases upon which these miniatures now stand. I tried my best to blend them with their original bases and am reasonably satisfied with the results. I am normally very reluctant when it comes to the greenstuff however so even this is an accomplishment of which I am proud. I wasn't sure if I'd bother with bases at all but trying to paint them without anything to hold onto was too much of a hassle. Now that they're properly based, painting my Frog Fighters has proceeded far more comfortably.

As an unanticipated side effect of mounting them on bases appropriate for WH40k, I'm also starting to have thoughts... terrible, heretical thoughts... about what to do with these miniatures once I've finished painting them. It's been many years since I lasted looked at the rules but I remember Critter Commandos as being something of an awful mess as far as game mechanics are concerned. Therefore if I want these miniatures to do anything besides sitting on my shelf I suspect I'll need to look elsewhere for a viable gaming experience.

Hmm... Killzone, perhaps? Someone call the Deathwatch. ;)

Citadel Woods WIP

Wow, where did the week go? These have been some busy days for me without as much hobby time as I'd anticipated. I've started painting the first three of my Citadel Woods and have managed to make slow but steady progress on them. With many army projects needing my attention, and now with a deadline to finish a few in time for AdeptiCon, painting terrain seemed like the obvious choice for this week's focus. Good call, Jason.

I had originally hoped to finish these kits by the end of tonight but I realized a few days ago that such would be unlikely. Nonetheless I'm satisfied with what I've been able to get done and think it will only be a couple more days until completion. Well... so long as my supply of washes does not run out first, that is. My usual camera is currently jet-setting about the country with my wife as she attends a series of conferences, and I'm too intimidated to try out her fancier camera for the first time without proper supervision. I therefore present to you bad iPhone photos of partially painted and unassembled terrain... hooray!

Is this perhaps the worst iPhone photo ever taken? I think so. Those blurry, undifferentiated blobs of brown are actually nine trees and their three bases. At this point they have been primed black, then sprayed again with Leather Brown colored primer from The Army Painter, followed by a thorough washing of Devlan Mud. After drybrushing the trees, roots, and logs I will next paint the stones and add flock to match my gameboard. There are some details to pick out like skulls and whatnot but otherwise that should be it.

Now for the leaves. Because it took me so long just to clean off the seventeen miles or so of mold lines from the trees and branches that when it came time for the leaves, I simply said "never mind" and decided not to bother with them. This is a very rare concession for me as I am normally diligent when preparing my minis, but I really don't mind slacking in this case. I'll clean up the worst offenders once I start clipping the pieces off the sprue but I'm not going to worry about the rest. You are therefore forewarned should you happen to see any leafy mold lines in future pictures that get posted here. Thank you but there's no need to point out my laziness. I know the mold lines are there and I am at peace with them.

Another sacrifice I have made for the sake of expedience concerns my choice of colors and my overall approach to these pieces. Originally I had thought I would paint and highlight all the leaves individually and mix in a variety of shades of green like you see on the trees in White Dwarf. When it came time to actually start painting them, however, I realized how insanely stupid that would be if I ever wanted to actually finish these and move on to something else. So instead I primed 'em black and then blasted away with Army Green colored primer, then washed liberally with Thraka Green. In these pictures I've also almost finished drybrushing the leaves with Iosan Green (P3) and will follow up with one more light drybrushing to pick out the more prominent edges. After that I'll just need to paint the little branches poking through the canopy and I can then start snipping and gluing.

As mentioned I am running low on the two washes I've used so far. The pots you see to the left were new and filled completely just this past Thursday night when I opened them for use on these woods. I believe I should have enough Devlan Mud to complete the job but it's going to be close. Otherwise they're all now empty. I've been feeling increasingly ill and worn out beginning yesterday so I'm grateful to be working on a relatively simple painting project. Thank goodness for my happy little trees... time for me to paint some more leaves!

Lord of the Feast WIP

Okay, so I said before that it was time to work on some units for my Circle Orboros army, but here I am posting about another one-off sculpture, the Lord of the Feast solo. I took Monday off from painting and instead opened up a blister of Tharn Bloodtrackers to see what would be involved in assembling them. I decided that I wasn't quite ready to begin on them and would rather do the Lord of the Feast first. I wasn't sure how I wanted to divide up the Bloodtrackers and realized that if I had the solo done, I could next paint the first six of the Tharn to give me a 25 point usable army. After that I can finish off the unit before moving on to the unit of Druids, thus bringing up the points total to my current goal of 35, which I believe to be a relatively standard size for most games.

As for the Lord of the Feast himself, I initially struggled to find the right skin tone to use on him. I want to convey a sense of unwholesomeness and a sort of general ickiness that I get from the miniature and his fluff. Although I like the soft grey colors that I've seen him done in before, I'm nonetheless happy with the progression of colors that I ended up using. For a skin tone, I think it looks pretty gruesome, although I won't know for sure if this was the right way to go until I can see how it looks with some other areas painted up. Getting this guy assembled was fairly tricky and challenged me enough for the day so I don't feel like pressing to get much more painting done on him tonight. I'm also not sure how I want to paint all those different areas of animal skins so I think I'll leave him alone for now. As can be seen in the WIP photo, I've already managed to break the raven off of his arm within the first few minutes of painting. I'm worried that this forebodes some durability issues but hopefully he won't prove to be quite as delicate as I now fear. Oh well, time will tell. I really like this miniature and just hope it all turns out okay.

Color Guide - Lord of the Feast

Basecoat: Chaos Black, Bestial Brown drybrush

Skin: 30A, Ogryn Flesh, 30A, 30B, 30C

Chainmail: 35A, 35B, 35C, Badab Black

Eyes: 4C, Gryphonne Sepia

Stockings: 11A, 11B, 11C, Devlan Mud

Leggings and Straps: 45A, 45B, 45C, Devlan Mud

Skirt and Hood: 12A, 12B, 12C, Devlan Mud

Satchel: 7A, 7B, 7C, Devlan Mud

Belt: 13A, 13B, 13C, Devlan Mud

Severed Arm: 5A, 5B, 5C, Ogryn Flesh, cuts done with Baal Red

Bracelets, etc.: 36A, 36B, 36C, Devlan Mud

Pendants: 32A, 32B, 32C, Badab Black

Skulls: Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, 9A, 9B, 9C

Trophy Skulls: same as above and finished with Devlan Mud

Antlers: Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, 9A, 9B, 9C, Devlan Mud

Sword Blade: 35A, 35B, 35C, Badab Black, Ogryn Flesh

Sword Grip: Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, 9A, 9B, 9C, Ogryn Flesh

Mane: Scorched Brown, Dark Flesh, Red Gore drybrush, Ogryn Flesh

Trophy Hair: 34A, 34B, 34C, Badab Black

Raven: 34A, 39A, 39B, 39C, Badab Black twice

Base: watered Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, Graveyard Earth drybrush, Kommando Khaki drybrush

Stones: 57A, 57B, 57C

Base Lip: 34A

Shifting Stones WIP

I finished up the Gorax last night and thanks to some great weather, I was able to get him sealed earlier today as well. This means I now have a fully painted 15-point army for Hordes! I know that 15 points isn't much, in this case being just one extra warbeast added to the Circle Orboros Warpack box, but I am proud of the accomplishment regardless of its scale. I just realized however that I don't have any pictures of the completed miniatures posted here, so that all I've shown off have been WIP shots. Fortunately I am still working on a solution and hope to have some showcase photos added in the coming week. It turns out there is an internet cafe even on my rural island and so I plan on going there to do all of the uploading necessary to launch a picture gallery... my internet is just too slow for me to do it from home.

Having gotten to this point with my Circle Orboros collection, I feel it is now time to begin painting some units. It's been fun painting the individual miniatures, but I am now ready to branch out into new territory for a different experience. The first unit I'm painting is a batch of Shifting Stones, which are pictured above in the WIP photograph. I anticipated them being a fairly easy project and one I could get through quickly. I got them assembled and primed today while the baby was sleeping and had thought I might be able to take them from out of the packaging to completion in the span of a single day. Although I stopped painting tonight with them incomplete, I'm still pretty sure that another day of work should see them finished. Considering my usual pace, I would certainly be happy about getting a unit done over the course of a weekend.

As per my now standard practice, I have listed below the colors that I am using in painting the Shifting Stones so as to help me keep track of them.

Basecoat: Chaos Black

Plinth: 34B, 34C, 57B

Relief: 41A, 41B, 41C, 2 parts 41C mixed with 1 part 2B, Thraka Green, touchups with 41B

Plants: Knarloc Green, Ogryn Flesh, 28B, 28C

Stones: 57A, 57B, 57C

Skull: Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, 9A, 9B, 9C

Base: Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, Graveyard Earth drybrush, Kommando Khaki drybrush

Base Lip: 34A

Gorax WIP

I started work on the Gorax this past Sunday and even got to do a little sculpting to fill a gap with green stuff. The rope connecting the Gorax to his stone did not fit exactly together, it being a couple millimeters too short and left a noticeable area lacking depth and detail, so that is where I focused my attention. I'm uncomfortable with sculpting but I am satisfied with how it turned out, although that might change once it's been painted. Regardless of how it looks, though, it will have to do as I am not going back to work on it anymore.

As for the painting, at first I thought I wanted to try out a more unusual color scheme for the Gorax and decided to go with Slate Grey (32) for his body and Moss (29) for his mangy hair and fur. I quickly felt like this might not be the right way to go but continued to build highlights until I pretty much finished with those two areas. Something still seemed off about the Gorax and he just did not seem to fit in or belong when viewed with my other painted Circle Orboros minis. So Monday night I reluctantly started going back over the previously addressed areas, though this time I feel much better about his overall appearance. I'm now confident that I have the color scheme worked out and like the way he is starting to look now. If all goes well, I hope to have him wrapped up by the weekend. As with some of my other WIP posts, I'm keeping track of the paints that I've used in the following color guide. I will be updating it as I go along.

Basecoat: Chaos Black

Body: 32A, 32B, Devlan Mud?, 11A, 11B, 11C

Mangy Fur: Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown drybrush, 3 parts Bestial Brown mixed with 1 part Kommando Khaki drybrush, 3 parts Kommando Khaki mixed with 1 part Bestial Brown drybrush, Badab Black, Scorched Brown touchups

Claws: 9A, 9b, 9C, Devlan Mud

Teeth: 10A, 10B, 10C, Devlan Mud

Armor Plates: 41A, 41B, 41C, Thraka Green, touchups along edges of armor with 41A

Metal Collar: 35A, 35B, 35C, Badab Black, Devlan Mud

Straps: 45A, 45B, 45C, Devlan Mud

Eyes: 4B, Geyphonne Sepia

Big Rock: 32A, 32B, 32C, Devlan Mud

Rope:55A, 55B, 55C, Devlan Mud

Base: Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, Graveyard Earth drybrush, Kommando Khaki drybrush

Stones: 57A, 57B, 57C

Base Edge: 34A

Kaya the Wildborne WIP

Good news... I finished the Warpwolf today! There were just a few remaining things to address on him and so, with a little work during the day and then some more this evening, I was able to wrap everything up. That leaves just my warlock left to paint and I will have completed my Circle Orboros Warpack. I doubt that there is enough time to paint her before the start of the next month but I still feel like getting this much done is a good accomplishment for the month of February. That doesn't mean, however, that I am not going to at least try. Tonight I have therefore officially started painting Kaya the Wildborne.

I decided I would try out something a bit different with Kaya by lightly drybrushing the entire model with Bestial Brown. I was having trouble figuring out the overall color scheme that I wanted to use and thought that this would be easier for me if I could see all of the details sculpted onto the miniature. Brown seemed to be the way to go since I'll be sticking with the earth tones common to the Druids of Circles Orboros. And it's always seemed to me like gold-colored paints go on better over brown rather than black, so even the metallic areas should benefit from the brown drybrushing. Although I'm little concerned that I might have gone too heavy with the paint in certain areas, such as Kaya's abdomen, I am generally very happy with how this experiment is turning out. It really is amazing how much the details stand out now and I'm pretty sure that this will end up helping me to get her painted quickly and with less hesitation than I would normally have experienced. I didn't get much beyond this initial step tonight but you can see the results of my labor in the above WIP photo. Also it is enough to start a color guide for Kaya the Wildborne:

Undercoat: Chaos Black, Bestial Brown drybrush

Skin: 5A, Ogryn Flesh, 5B, 5C, Ogryn Flesh

Hair: 53A, 53B, 53C, Devlan Mud

Eyes: 34A, White?

Armor Plates: 41A, 41B, 41C, Thraka Green, touch-ups with 41B

Gold Edging: 36A, 36B, 36C, Devlan Mud

Pants, Vest, and Sleeves: 7A, 7B, 7C, Gryphonne Sepia

Cloak: 26A, 26B, 26C, Thraka Green

Arm Guards: 12A, 12B, 12C, Devlan Mud

Boots: 14A, 14B, 14C, Devlan Mud, multiple washes of Baal Red for the top of the boots

Straps and Tassels: 45A, 45B, 45C, Devlan Mud

Trinkets: 9A, 9B, 9C, Devlan Mud... also the Stone bits on the tassels are done like those on the base, then washed with the other trinkets

Staff: 13A, 13B, 13C, Gryphonne Sepia

Base: watered down Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, Graveyard Earth drybrush, Kommando Khaki drybrush

Stones: 57A, 57B, 57C

Feral Warpwolf WIP

I decided to take Thursday off from painting after having completed work on the Argus minis, but I was then too tired to get any painting done last night. Despite a somewhat late start tonight I was able to get in a couple of hours painting time and have begun work on the Feral Warpwolf from the Circle Orboros Warpack. Once again I am quite impressed with the miniature itself and believe I'll enjoy getting him painted up. I don't want to just replicate the colors I used on the two Argus models, although I do want them all to look like they belong together. Having an army comprise of mostly a bunch of monsters does allow for more latitude than I'm used to when painting uniformed soldiers. I'm therefore looking forward to being able to vary the color scheme a little as I go along and hopefully make each character or beast look like an individual while still having them look like a cohesive group.

Just as with my previous WIP, I'm going to keep an ongoing list of the paints I use. I plan on adding to it as I make progress on the Warpwolf so that once I've finished with him I'll have a full color guide.

Basecoat: Chaos Black

Body: 6A, Devlan Mud, 6A, 6B, 6C

Shaggy Fur: Scorched Brown, Dark Flesh drybrush

Spines: 6A, 10A, 10B, 10C

Armor Plates: 41A, 41B, 41C, Thraka Green, touch up along edges of armor with 41A

Scar/Wound: Baal Red, Mechrite Red, Red Gore, Blood Red, Baal Red

Eyes: 4B, Gryphonne Sepia

Tongue: 6A, 5B, 5B and 5C mix, Ogryn Flesh

Claws: 10A, 10B, 10C, Devlan Mud

Teeth: 9A, 9B, 9C, Devlan Mud

Armor Edging: 36A, 36B, 36C, Devlan Mud

Straps: 45A, 45B, 45C, Devlan Mud

Base: watered Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, Graveyard Earth drybrush, Kommando Khaki drybrush

Stones: 57A

Argus WIP

I'm painting again! I've been working on two Argus models from my Circle Orboros Warpack for the last three hours which means that HORDES is now underway! I'm having a lot of fun and the miniatures are a joy to paint. I plan on staying up a while longer tonight and so I hope to have these two finished by tomorrow. Could I possibly have the whole group painted by the end of this weekend? That would definitely be a cool accomplishment. We shall see.

On this project I want to do a better job of keeping track of the colors I am using. Therefore I will be listing out my steps as I go along. This is what I've got so far:

Basecoat: Chaos Black

Body: Foundry 42A, 42B, 42C

Shaggy Fur: 42A, 42B, Devlan Mud (Argus #1) or Badab Black (Argus #2), 42B drybrush (A#1) or 32B drybrush (Argus #2), reapply appropriate washes to each Argus.

Armor Plates: 41A, 41B, 41C, Thraka Green, touch up along edges of armor with 41A

Muzzle and Nose: 34A, 34B, 34C, Badab Black

Harness: 45A, 45B, 45C, Devlan Mud

Metal Rings: 35A, 35B, 35C, Badab Black

Foot Pads: 34A, 34B, 34C, Devlan Mud

Claws: 10A, 10B, 10C, Devlan Mud

Teeth: 9A, 9B, 9C, Devlan Mud

Armor Edging: 36A, 36B, 36C, Devlan Mud

Eyes: 4B, Devlan Mud, 4B

Base: watered Bestial Brown, (possibly a wash of Devlan Mud?), Graveyard Earth drybrush, Kommando Khaki drybrush

Stones: 57A, 57B, 57C

Base Lip: 34A