Barbarian: Hair Highlights

Put the top level highlights on his hair. Awesome? No. Done anyway? Probably.

Barbarian: Hair

Got back to the barbarian's hair. I still need to do another round of highlights, but it's starting to get there.

Barbarian: Clothes

I worked some on a commission item today, so all I got to on the barbarian was base coating his...let's go with 'kilt', though I don't think I'm going to put a pattern on it. I've always seen this guy done in red, so I'm doing something else. Besides, I think the blue will go nice with the skin tone.

I should have worked on his hair. I'll get back to that next time.

Diorama: Swords

I've started trying to make swords out of plasticard to use in the diorama - I want to hang a couple of swords on the wall behind the throne.

So far, it's just experiments and practice. Straight swords are harder than curved, it turns out.

They are quite flat, but since they're supposed to hang on a wall I'm hoping I will be able to add enough depth with paint that it'll be OK. Paint on a couple of these will be the next step.

I've also got the final base piece for the diorama and have been doing a bit of gap filling with it. I plan to start putting paint on it soon.

I've also picked up a couple of commission pieces, so posts will be a bit more infrequent while I work on those as well as these other projects.

Barbarian: Skin, Hair

I got back to the barbarian today. I brought some red back into the shadows and put highlights on his skin. I wasn't happy with the highlights initially. They seemed a little too stark, a little too pale. I also wasn't sure I was thrilled with the skin tone for him overall. So, I went back and glazed over everything with Bronzed Skin. That knocked down the highlights a bit and gave everything a less pink tint.

After I glazed the skin, I was still trying to decide if I was happy with the skin or not. It looks more contrasty in person that in the pictures, but I still wasn't sure about the tone. I decided to fill in the face details and his hair to help me decide. This is when I noticed his face was cast a little funky, so I think I have some work to do there. He also has surprisingly tiny eyes for a 54mm figure.

Jeannie: Lighting, Highlights

I continued working on the source lighting effect from the ball of flame today, lightening up the reflected light on the closest surfaces and refining it some. I also messed about with the positioning of the lighted areas a little. It still needs work...that lighting on her arm is now awful opaque and chunky. But it's progress.

I also did some shading and highlighting on the rest of her skin. It was kinda quick and dirty, but even so, it's amazing what a difference it makes. I'm going to try bringing some of the blue in as a light glaze over a couple of the high points.

You might notice I didn't put shadows under her legs. That's because I plan to give the clouds a slight glow.

Jeannie: Flames

Got back to OSL practice with Jeannie today. I painted the ball of flame and then just started laying out roughly where I think the light from that flame would go and at what intensity. It still needs a lot of work. I don't think I quite have all the light placement right yet, either.

This is a somewhat helpful trick for OSL - shine a light on the figure from the direction of the light source, It's not perfect - the sculpted light source will itself block some of it, though I suppose that just means the shadow placement will tell you something about where the light might go. The flashlight is probably also putting out a wider beam that the source would. However, it's still helpful for visualizing where the light would go, just don't use it as gospel.

What it tells me is I should think about broadening the lighted area across her breasts, and also bring some of the light on to other leg. However, the light source on the figure may not be giving off as strong a light as my flashlight is, so I may choose not to carry the lighting effect that far.

Barbarian: Still Shading. Also, some swords.

I added in the next layer of shadows on the barbarian's skin today. I'd have liked to get farther, but I didn't. I'm pretty happy that I don't feel like I have to do a ton of smoothing, but I think I am going to bring some of the red lighter shadow back.

I spent some time working on the next steps for the diorama. I want a couple of swords to hang over Conan's head, so I started looking at options for those. I started making one out of plasticard; since the thing will be stuck to a wall it doesn't need to be perfectly 3-D. A flat back isn't a problem. I didn't really finish it, but ran into some issues. This plasticard has a grid on one side, which made a weak spot where the 'hilt' broke off. The guard would also need some more shaping. I'm pretty happy with how the shape of the blade came out.

I also found a couple of leftover Tyranid arms and am looking in to using those. The top one in the picture is as it was originally. The second one is after I removed the arm and the hand. I think it still needs some work to reshape the hilt and guard a bit to get rid of the organic look. That plastic was surprisingly soft and easy to work, though.

7!

I got a late start tonight and didn't feel up to doing careful blending, so...here's a barrel. Just something quick and easy.

Barbarian: Shading Skin

Started shading the skin on the barbarian today. This is really just roughing in the first couple layers of shadows. I'm going back to trying red in the shadows again. This time I'm using a less vibrant red than last time. Hopefully that'll help me a little, and so far I think it is. That's RMS Redstone in the shadows now, which is a pretty desaturated red. I might go purple, blue, or brown in the deep shadows. Haven't decided.

Verocithrax: Teeth, Horns. Jeannie: Boots, Cloth.

Finished up Verocithrax's teeth and his horns. I think he's done at this point. I'll let him sit for a day or two and see if I want to change anything, then seal him and put him with the others.

I had a little time after finishing him, so I put a base coat on Jeannie's boots and loin cloth. Next for her will be putting in the value changes from the light sources.

Verocithrax: Highlights, Face

I'm trying to wrap up Verocithrax and move on to more building on the diorama. So, I focused on him today. I put on a layer of brighter highlights, brought some more of the base red back into the shadows in various places, and then did his eyes, tongue, and started the teeth.

I think the horns I'll do as black, or maybe dark brown or purple that will read as close to black.

6!

Yes, it's been a bit. I was without internet for  few days. I was still painting, though.

First, finished off Hellakin.

Also got some paint on Jeannie. I'm going with darker skin and hair on her to make my life easier with the OSL. In OSL, the light source should generally be the brightest thing on the figure. That's harder if you use light colors for the figure. Next for her is either going to be placing highlights and shadows from the flame, or base coating her boots and loincloth so I can place highlights from both light sources at once.

And, the barbarian. He's been primed and is starting to get a base coat. He's probably going to end up with a kilt-like thing so I can practice textured cloth again.

Last, I started on the 5th head for the diorama. This is Verocithrax...at least, his head. I'm going to go brighter with the highlights.

Hellakin, Barbarian, Jeannie

I shaded and did highlights on Hellakin's armor. It's studded, so last thing I'll go back and make the studs metallic. I also put a base coat on his cloak.

He's coming along pretty well, by which I mean 'quickly', because...

I pinned and glued Jeannie's other arm and spear on today. That was a delicate operation because the pieces are so thin, but for once I didn't screw it up. She's ready for paint.

I also glued the barbarian's sword arm on. Less of a delicate operation because it's so much larger. Still, I'm going to have to be more careful with him now. His sword is very, very thin, and so going to be extremely prone to bending and eventually breaking if I'm not very careful with it.

He needs pins in his feet next.

I also build up his base some more. That's probably how I'm going to leave it, at least for now. It needs to be primed next. I will probably wait for a warm day and hit it with spray primer.

If I get adventurous, I may carve out a channel on that left side and see if I can run a little stream through there.

Hellakin: Pants, Armor. Barbarian: Base.

Continued work on most everything today, though the barbarian and Jeannie still look the same. For them it was just more cleanup. Tomorrow they'll both probably get their unattached bits glued on.

Hellakin got his pants finished, the hair on his feet finished, and a base coat on his armor.

And I started putting together a cork base for the barbarian. It's going to have more built up on it before it's done.

Heads, Hellakin, Jeannie

First, Hellakin has hair now, and his skin has been shaded and highlighted. The eyes are done, they just don't show up very well. Both are half covered by hair. Yay!

Also finished putting together the 4th head. Here's the bunch together. I like 'em!

And, here's Jeannie, who will be an OSL practice project. I still have some prep work to do with her before moving on to paint.

I did work on the barbarian, but it was just putting on sealer to fill in rough spots. He looks the same as he did yesterday. I have to decide what I'm going to do for a base for him so I can give his feet an appropriate treatment next.