Display base: initial construction

A while back I painted four Amazons, and I think some time after that I talked about building a display base for them. I started on that today. I don't do a lot of construction, and I'm not very good at it. So, this will be a big experiment, and I'm sure there will be problems along the way.

Anyway, here's the initial construction. This is three layers of foam core with a layer of chip board at the bottom. Circles are cut in the foam core; that's where the figures will be placed. Each layer of foam core is thick enough that the bases of the figures should sit in there snugly and be somewhat protected from being accidentally knocked about.

For the next steps, I'm going to wrap the back and thickest part of the sides in paper to hide the rough edges of the foam core and chip board. I'm also going to trim the front edges of the foam core at an angle, so that it's less of a hard edge and suggests a gradual incline.

Ywain: Armor, feathers, cloth, spear

Today I finished Ywain's armor. It looks better in person than in the picture. I'm particularly happy with how the breastplate from came out. I still struggle with TMM, so having some come out the way that I want for once is nice!

From there I moved on to the feathers, that weird band across the top of his armor, and the rest of the shield. The feathers and the band are done. I'm considering putting some freehand on the shield. 

I also base coated some parts of the spear.I'm going to finish those things off, and then start dealing with his cloak.

Ywain: Armor

Today I put the base coat on Ywain's armor. 

Ywain: Leather, Armor

Today I finished the leather straps and leather parts of the armor, and put a undercoat on the armor, which will be bronze. Mostly.

Ywain: Padding, Leather

Finally got back to Ywain today. I finished up the linens and got a base coat on the leather parts.

More Pillars

I wanted to do something constructive tonight, but I was also pretty tired and didn't feel up to anything that was going to take actual, like, effort. So I went to my fall back project - I'm making a set of pillars for a friend.

I'd cut and scribed them previously. Tonight I put a base coat on the stone pillars.

I'm not in any hurry to finish these. I work on them when I want something simple to futz with.

Ywain: Skin, Padding

I did some work on Ywain today. I finished the last round of shading on his skin and then did the highlights. Then, I got a base coat on the wraps under his greaves, and the padding on his sword arm.

I really wasn't sure about the colors I chose for the shading and highlights on his skin, particularly the highlights. But with it all together, I'm pleased enough with it.

Ywain, Lea

I do have a commission piece I'm working on, but I didn't feel up to serious work tonight. I ended up spending more time choosing and mixing colors than actually painting, I think. I was having a hard time picking a shadow color for Ywain, and then had to find a mix that matched the reference image I'm using for Lea.

But, I did get some shading done on Ywain's skin, and base coat Lea.

Why did I shade all of Ywain's back? He's got a cloak that's a separate piece that will cover that whole area when it's attached.

And a plain base coat on Lea.

Finished pillars

Finished the stone pillars today. I painted in the edge lines with almost-black paint to make them stand out better and cover the pink that had bled through from the pen. Then I re-highlighted everything with a light drybrush. Last was cutting out slots in the bottom for the 3/8" nuts I used to weight them and hot-gluing the nuts in.

I don't love them, but they'll do the job, and I learned some things in the process. Good enough!

Pillars: Mostly painted. Sort of.

Today I painted the stone pillars. It's a very simple paint job - base coat in dark gray, a couple of layers of drybrush in lighter grays, then go over it with a dark wash. I'm not thrilled with it - it's a little too stark. I will make some adjustments next time. The other issue isn't showing up much in the pictures, but is very visible live. The purple ink from the pen I used to etch the stone shapes is bleeding through the paint, and turning all the grooves pink. Next time I'll go over the grooves with black paint to try to fix that.

Pillars

Today I was working on a commission piece, so no pictures of that. But I've also started working on some stone pillars:

They're on toothpicks so I have something to hold on to when I paint them. 

Yes, whoever laid those stones for the pillars had no idea what they were doing, and if those were actually stone pillars they would fall down after taking a hit. The proper layout of the stone is something I have to work on. 

8!

Finished up Goremaw today (finally)!

I am very happy with my wacky color scheme, and also glad to have it done.