a year ago today

looking back a year to where I started..long way to go..but I think its comealong quite a bit.

got the basecoat done for the wood,ropes and vines. I'm gonna leave the touch up and cleanup for tomorrow.

woldwrath righ arm attached and drying

I found that there was a pretty significant gap on the underside of the lip for attaching the arm to the torso
So I sandwitched some greenstuff between superglue on the torso and superglue on the arm hopefully with the lip/the brass rod and the greenstuff once it sets is strong enough for so much weight on a small contact point.

I found my slippers actually work great to balance it on its side and not putting pressure on the base edge

I've made the decision to base all my bones on round lipped bases.
Even tho Warlord uses square bases, all the other 28mm skirmish games I want to play use the round bases and I want to be able to more seamlessly proxy figures. And mixed bases makes my OCD itch. I can't see to much of a problem using the round bases for playing Warlord since its just gonna be for local games anyways..we'll just have to make some small adjustments and consessions for b2b contact etc.

So I've had all the mummies from the old Nefsokar starter kit soaking in simple green and 3 bones I bought awhile ago that I had based on squares.
I got all of them seperated from the square bases now and I glued down the ghost on a 30mm round lipped base and used some woodfiller to blend the height of the brocholi base in..its left abit of a gap but nothing a little static grass won't hide.

I don't know if its abad idea but I decided to try adding a drop of black paint to some brush on white primer and used that for a basecoat on the ghost..Im gonna  throw it in the car for the next month and see how the paint holds up since its such a flexible sculpt..if the  tinted primer stays on I'll probably do the same for all the other bones in the vampire kit.

everything dried and seems to be secure..one arm to go!

ripple test

so heres the stuff 24 hrs later.
The good news is you can peal it off of the lid and the instamold stuff np. overall the ripple effects are good it just depends now on which ones to do.

the somewhat concerning news is its very flexible

so i pealed them off cut em in half and pressed them down on the base to just get a idea what it would look like..the little one from the instamold test is the clearest..the two from the lid are abit milky looking but thats due to the air inbetwween and needing another 24 hrs or so to really clear up .

splash and ripples test material...and right arm runes progressing

so ipicked up a jar of liquitex heavy gel today.
I applied a bit on some instamold to see if it sticks..i'm hoping to make an  bellshape out of the mold material then apply a ring of the gel around it and peal it  off flip it over and glue it around the the forward foot to create a splash effect.
as well I just put some over a base with turqose blue painted underneath on one side and realisti water on the other..when the realistic water dries I'll put some over it to verify it sticks and remains clear.

and as well I tried making a couple ripple patterns on a lid to see how they turn out..

as well I've been workin on the  runes on the right arm half ar done and just need to greenhalo line the rest and apply the fallout wash.
then all thats left for that arm is the highlighting of the wood/ropes and vines...so hopefully should be able to finish it this weekend.

x-wing mat arrives

So I took a chance and made  a custom matt online @ bannersonthecheap.com I used two square images side by side on a 4x8 vinyl sign
the space picture was pretty low res only about 1250x1250 but the spacestation pic was close to 3800x3800. using their built in online editor I added both pictures to the sign and scaled so they both covered half as well as I could tell.

Now that I've done one it would have been better to combine the pictures into a single file that was the correct aspect ratio(2:1) and simply scaled the single image on the website.

The banner came rolled up in a long box..but UPS squished the one end of the box and the whole sign has a crease in it along the one side every 4 inches or so..I'm hoping I can use some sheets over the vinyl and iron it out.

looking at it the space scene at 4x4 is abit blury but thats mostly due to the low res picture I used ..the spacestation is much better.
I'm gonna just cut it down the middle and have two mats.
all together including shipping it cost 47dollars...so less then 24 dollars each..simply the best price I could find and I'm really happy wiht how it looks.

I'm gonna look for some stock WW1 ariel photos from over europe and will probably get another sign or two made for wings of Glory as well.

heres some pictures

new delivery

woldwrath right arm

I got the right arm basecoated and applied the main washs to the stone sections and the wood and ropes.
tried to use alittle less stone wash and let some of the grey stone color show thru on edges..
I got some of the basecoat started on the other arm but won't have time till tomorrow after work to proceed.

Added a second application of realist water to the base its settling down tho not as much ..will add one more tomorrow morning before work to hopefully be the last one.

woldwrath arms

got most of the drybrushing of the arms done today..I think its bright enough and ready for the stone wash.
I'm gonna basecoat paint the wood and rope first then do all the wash's

I'm out of pure white paint atm. it took almost a year but white was the first color I actually completely used up. I suspect using all those colored primers has helped but its pretty amazing how many figures I've painted without needing to restock the essentials like black and white( the black is getting close)


The water effects has definately dropped..atm it looks abit to much like vacuumed sealed plasticwrap due to the way it pulls up the edges of things.
I'm gonna have to add at least one more layer to it,maybe two.

One thing I hadn't considered was that I used elmers glue for the folliage and the realistic water is softening it up abit which is making it turn white vs the clear it usually looks when it dries..I'm hoping as the realistic water hardens that it will turn clear again..otherwise I got abit of a white halo around someof the grass and leaves.

blasted wetland 120mm base finished

so I ended up adding a few more leaves to the ground and painted the greenstuff around the feet to look like the ground.
I've applied the first layer of realistic water..It will settle quite abit after 24 hours and clear up..the foliage sucks up alot of the water effects. I'll evaluate it tomorrow and decide weather to add a second layer or maybe use some liquidex gel to add some ripples to the surface.

woldwrath base flocking

decided to do alot of the flocking before attaching the woldwrath but I'm getting close to adding the water effects now so its that time.

I'm debating adding more leaves to the ground before turning everything into a puddle :) But i'm  not sure if its gonna coverup the ground detail abit to much..

here it is so far.

woldwrath base painted

I ended up leaving the base color grey to start and simply painted over the whole thing with the sewer brown wash.
This tinted it a nice earthy brown while retaining the darker tone of dirt.
I used a little creme color for painting the fungus on the trees then used the stone wash on them to tint abit greenish.
Then drybrushed the trees a lighter linen white to get them abit of a weathered look

I then try burshed Waaagh flesh green over the more textured areas of the base then highlight drybrushed with goblin green to give it a dull green overgrowth look.
I then used xv-88 brown to highlight the smooth dirt parts adding in some some of the wood color mix i still had and then used abit  of linen white to do a final drybrush highlight over all the ground.

I indent to add alot of leaves and autumn clumps to this and some dead grass. after thats done I'll be using the realistic water over all the low points to give it all abit of a flooded puddle look.

Heres the woldwrath with the finished 3 torso pieces glued on sitting on the base.

I was thinking it would be easier to glosscote dullcote the torso before attaching to the base but haven't decided yet.

woldwrath base basecoating and torso pieces

I almost forgot about the 3 torso pieces that need to be glued to the worldwrath. just need to do a sewer brown wash over the wood bits and then the coloring of the runes.
at the same time started basecoating the scenic base wood parts.

Found a new recipe for inner wood core I really like I used leather brown for the bark and a blend of leatherbrown, reaper marigold yellow and linen white for the core wood. its around a 1:1:1 ratio which is much easier to reproduce.

woldwrath vine highlighting

finished highlighting the vines and painted the gems on the body.
As well I mixed some mixing medium in with the fallout wash and applied a second coat to the legs and hips and head which seemed to need a bit more.
Overall I think the body is ab out ready to be sealed then move on to the base.
Anything standout that looks off please feel free to point it out. :)

woldwrath rune work continues

so got the rest of the bodies runes lined with the greenish wash and then used one application of the fallout wash in them..it really does dry transparent..might need another..was thinking of adding a dab of mixing medium to it .
As well got the first 6 wood logs glued to the body 2 above the head 2 beside the chest and two o the lower sides.

added a  layer to all the ropes to bring up the highlights. I think its enough..I could add a slight lighter highlight to all the ridges..not sure if its needed tho.

heres pic..not sure if it shows up well enough to tell tho

woldwrath rune work

so started on the second stage of the runes..doing a slight halo along the edge of the runes in fallout wash mixed with some green trying to go for a half in half out effect.that way the falloutwash will seem brighter in the middle and now as much at the edges and give abit of a glow effect...maybe

at this stage..it just well doesn't look great but in for a penny in for a pound :)

as well painted the log ends that are on the sprew and sewer brown washed them..gonna have to brighten up the ends of the logs as well as maybe a slight dry brush over the wood..I think i'm gonna put some brush on sealer on them before trying to glue them on just so handling them so much hopefully won't rub off the paint.

and after second runes layer adding in the fallout wash

er

woldwrath runes begins

I ended up applying the softbody black wash to recesses between the stone sections and in the cracks around the rings on the neck to help with the constrast abit.
I then thinned down some white and used a10-0 brush tip loaded up with very watery white to touch the widest inner parts of the runes and let the paint flow out of the brush into them...using the tip to guide the paint forward till it filled each .

There are some spots I need to touch up where the white got out of the runes...mostly around the face and the gem area above the head due to the very deep and sharp edge of the recesses but I'll go back and touch them up after I I finish the rest of the white.

Spent a few more hours this afternoon finishing the basic runes. The inner sides of the feet and thighs were expecially hard to do neatly.I'll have to spend time tomorrow cleaning up the edges of the runes tomorrow. My eyes are too tired from looking thru that mag light to continue anymore today.

woldwrath washing stone

applied a thin softbody black wash to the recessed areas and when that dried applied a layer of stone wash over the legs and hips.

the softbody black shows thru just abit making the recessed areas darker but not black..i think thats a better effect then the slate black paint I tried on the woldwatcher.
hardest part of doing a wash like this over such a big figure is not being streaky and or reapplying tomany times that it darkens to much.

fun times :)

 

knuckled down and got the rest of the stone wash applied before crashin lastnight.

 I like it but I'm wondering if its abit to dark and maybe I should go back and apply a light drybrush highlight over it all using mostly a very light grey with a touch of the stone wash mixed into it. I'll have to decide to night after work

Definately pleased this part is moving along so fast..tho I'm sure doing all the runes next is gonna be mind numbing :)

applied a very light bright grey/green drybrush highlight layer to try and brighten it up a bit after the wash

woldwrath washed

Got the  sewer water brown wash over the wood and ropes to shade ..I like the effect.
It did darken the inner wood abit to much and will have to lighten it but back up and with a layer or two of highlights over the ropes and wood they should be good

Next up I want to use a softbody black wash over the stone  areas where the runes are instead of the slate black paint..i think the transparency will help take the edge off. then after that its Stone wash time for the rest.

woldwrath basecoating continued.

basecoated the wood and drybrushed abit of highlights on it then basecoated the ropes and vines.

Working on a large figure like this with no airbrush is interesting..like cleaning the bathroom with a toothbrush ..just feels like you got the wrong tools for the job.
So everything is slow going but its fun once you zone out on it.
I have to give it a once over looking for any mistakes or missed vines etc.
After that I think I'm ready to apply sewer brown wash to the wood and ropes and then the softbody black and stonewash to the rock parts..

Heres couple pics with a zoomed in view of the vines and ropes on the legs

 

woldwrath drybrushing

so begins the drybrushing of the body.
did two applications getting progressivly whiter..probably gonna have to do 2 more before its at the point where its abit to white and ready for a stone wash.
Im thinking of adding some gold trim and red armor coloring to the back of the fists and on face helmet and gemt thing above head area..unlike the runes its sculpted the same as the armour designs in those area's and might look odd on their own but as a whole army it might serve to unify it abit.

heres a couple more layers of drybrushing..might be close to enough

army so far

just a quick shot of everything so far..

woldwrath primed.

so got all the inserts and joints covered with mak tak or tape and then color primed all the pieces and base uniformed grey.
gonna let that set and cure then I'm ready to start drybrushing the stone..which should take a few weeks LOL

epic krueger basecoating beginning

while waiting for the weather to warmup to be able to spraypaint woldwrath outside I figured I'd start basecoating Epic Krueger.I figure I'm gonna need to switch between figures to keep  fatigue at bay while tackling such a large figure.

I love this sculpt it has a ton of really fine detail ..I can see why people use a mild wash or drybrush to make the detail stand out after priming..
I found the original design sketch and its is helping I can see where I stopped with the bronze paint around the neck should continue on and where the belt buckles around the belts in the midsection..



I plan to paint the gloves and boots brown and will highlight the black cloak with green like the others cloaks Ive done for this army
I'm undecided on leggings(mostly the knees) and the shirt tunic color(mostly the arms) maybe just alighter green color or lighter brown..


edit:
got rest of basecoating done

warporn skinwalkers complete unit including Warpborn Alpha

Here we go

Woldwrath Assembly continued.

Heres where I am atm

I ended up gluing an old cd under the secret weapon blasted wetland base to give it abit of thickness and strength. Definitely feels better now.
I've pinned and glued the arms and hands together as well as the head on the body. I haven't attached the torso to the base yet. I might just wait till I've painted the body since it will be alot easier to work on the legs and feet if it isn't attached to that base yet. I'll just have to mask out the two spots where the feet will be attached so I don't paint that those parts.

I've left the logs on the sprew thing, the painting guide suggests painting them up and glueing them on last which seems like a good idea as well as 3 body cover pieces ..leaving them off will make painting the wood and vines/ropes much easier.

And here is what arms look like against it..I still have to figure out how to pin the arms to the torso. I don't like the way it connects its a 45degree flange thing that catches a lip..its weird.But there is going to be alot of weight on the connection so gotta make sure its strong.

Now I just gotta wait till sunday to get over 10 degree's and  then spray bomb all the pieces uniform grey