Con-fusion's Return to the Undead and Beyond

[con-fusion]

My minis and palette tend toward 80s-retro.

It's funny, but the last three minis represent a number of completely different approaches to green.

The deathrider is actually very simple. The mini was primed black, and the colors were built up in very straightforward layers. The green cloth and leather is made up of three colors: cryx bane base, ordic olive, and wurm green. The skeletal parts of the horse are layered from iosian green to necrotite green to a mix of necrotite green and cygnus yellow. The lightning effect is cryx bane base, iosian green, necrotite green, cygnus yellow, and white. I used only one slightly thinned down coat of each color, so the darker colors underneath show through. Taken separately, each part and color build looks pretty funky in a not-good sort of way. Taken together, it has an impressionist vibe that I really like for those mimis in particular.

The green robe for the necromancer was actually built up like I did my banshee and wraiths. The mini was primed black and highlighted up to white through a selection of blue/green-greys. I then glazed the robe twice with ordic olive and twice with wurm green, covering less space with each coat. I used glaze medium to get the colors thinner than a wash but not so thin that they couldn't tint the white.

The clothes on the vampires are done in much the same way as the necromancer's robes, except that I thined down the ordic olive and wurm green even more, and, between each coat, I glazed on an ever smaller area of thamar black for the boot and mons venus, pallid wych flesh for the expanses of skin, and a mix of pallid wych flesh and reikland fleshshade for shading in certain areas like the nipples. Then I hit the final "high" areas of skin and boot under the clothing with one last super thin glaze of wurm green. The process of laying on the glazes was painstaking, and I used at least three brushed on each layer: one to put color on, one to move color around, and one to take excess color off. This all was intended to create the impression of what lies beneath the skirt, top, and gloves. For example, her left boot above the foot and entire left leg do not exist except as layers of glazes designed to give the three dimensional impression of pressing against a translucent material. Or, at least, that's my hope. It's my first time trying something like this, and I'm just guessing as I go.

There are so many ways to do green in a spooky undead army. I'm really enjoying the challenge.

Thanks for the advice on the skin. I decided to add some additional shades using my glaze of pallid wych flesh and reikland fleshshade. I think it really helped with definition, without taking away from the fairly bloodless skin tone I was going for. Additionally, I tried out makeup for the first time. Using some of the purple tones from the snake to add color to her lips and around her eyes. In my opinion this really helped to make her eyes pop. Unfortunately, the right side of her face is much better sculpted than the left and ridiculously placed fangs distort her mouth. She may have a great rack and legs that don't quit, but she will never be beautiful.

I hadn't done any work on the hair yet, but I really liked your suggestion. I pulled down some manga, and decided to work some of the darker purples from the snake into her hair. I like the effect, and I think it pulls together the mini. I'll really have an idea of the final effect though when I see it all in daylight tomorrow (or today as the case may be).

Hopefully, I'll get to wrap this one up in the morning and take some new pictures.

 

[con-fusion]

Remarkably, I found the time to finish up my vampiress.
Here's the pics:

FYI: I added the frames because I keep accidentally deleting the wrong pictures.

 

[Devour the Cabbage]

Blimey, brillianr paint job on the lassy, love the way you've made the clothing look semi transparent, always impressed when folk manage to pull that off. The green colour you use is likely my favorite part though, so vibrant. The change in the hair does draw it together with the rest of the model a bit more as well I'd say.

 

[Angie]

Your greens are amazing! I love the way the green and purple contrast on the vampiress too. She looks wonderful.

 

[con-fusion]

Thanks, guys.

Well, it seems like I've been all about distraction lately. I'm supposed to be working on my skeletions for Oldhammer Day, but I've been doing everything but...

Regardless, here's my first re-finished model in GW's excellent "fighters" line: Reynard the Bastard. Granted legitimacy and a knighthood by his father, Baron Raynard du Tancret, the Bastard serves his family as the bodyguard to his father's heir, Reynard the Younger. He is fierce, loyal, and brutal, and prefers the bloody crush of combat on foot to horse and lance.

 

[con-fusion]

I now have a good picture of my finished marines.

This was taken two weekends ago at Oldhammer in the New World at Dropzone Games in Maryland on the Rogue Trader demo table.

 

[con-fusion]

I've been working on mini assembly and terrain recently.

Here's a modified Warlord Games ruined farmhouse that I just finished:

I have the ruined hamlet box in the hopper, which should give me a nice little village for WFB, Mordheim, and Bolt Action...

 

[con-fusion]

Moving right along, here's my next ruined farm house:

I decided to work some extra highlights in while building up to white, and found that this resulted in some serious color saturation. It looks a little more cartoonish than the first, but stands out nicely on the table. I'm trying to decide which house I like better.

 

[con-fusion]

And, here's another one:

The next one story building will have a larger footprint. This one only holds 7 minis on 25mm bases, which is a little tight for me.