Farmer's Undead

[Borgnine]

You're doing crazy good job with those zombies I love the guy with a hat and that eyeball - a very nice detail! The necro looks interesting without that collar, more wretched, maybe I should have done the same Thanks for the link! Your work on the ogre's skin is great - I wonder how would you tackle a giant for your orc army...

Also, I wanted to ask - how are you making your photos? They are so crisp, without black shadows, without glare, just perfect. Some certain settings on the camera? A combination of lights?

 

[Mad 'At]

I'm loving that zombie made from mantic legs and the corpse from the Crypt Horrors kit. He looks incredibly creepy. Yet another reason for me to make more zombies I guess

 

[Farmer7574]

Update time - another batch of zombies squared away:

And some finished conversions:

I wanted to make a farmer zombie with that pitchfork from the giant kit. He was quite a bit of work for a single zombie but I like how he's turned out

Here's the third filler for the unit:

A zombie's insides becoming his outsides & a meal on the move for the one following him. The guts on the zombies were all made of green stuff rolled out, then hardened with super glue once sculpted into postition.


@Sessioni Cheers mate. I'm going to stop at 50 zombies for now and put more together in the future. Regarding the necromancer - I was thinking about sculpting him a hood but may just leave him like this as he looks alright as he is.

@Borgnine Thanks man, I'm glad you like them I'd never planned to convert them as much as I have but felt I had to because of the lack of options with the Mantic kit and their slightly retarded appearance when assembled normally.

Regarding my pictures, I use an iPhone4S to take them. It gives decent results with fully automatic settings. I use my bog standard run-of-the-mill desk lamp for lighting on my yellow box and thats pretty much it. Quick, decent and nearly effortless photos!

I've got a giant in the cupboard still on his sprues, I mostly just bought it for the extras that it comes with. He'll be painted at some point but not in the near future I'm afraid.

@Mad 'At Cheers! I'm a fan of how he turned out too - his torso is only being held up by his spine, pretty gruesome

The last batch of zombies to finish this unit off are already in the works. Thanks for taking a look and feel free to drop a line!

 

[Raizi]

I really like those zombies and the trees in your unit fillers. I was thinking something similiar with my ghouls later so I think I will try to mimic some of your positioning.

Great detail on the zombies. Really like how they are telling a story. Keep up with the good work, I certainly will be watching your stuff.

 

[Borgnine]

Sorry for not replying earlier, this needs more attention Awesome zombies as usual Last time I added blood on all the exposed bones of my zombies, thinking that it's appropriate - but seeing how creepy look those pale, clean bones showing from underneath the dirty skin I'm not so sure of my decision Small criticism, I think the intestines could use some more wet glossiness. But maybe they're already dried a little on those guys, so that's rather just my opinion Keep it up, I can't wait to see the necromancer

 

[Farmer7574]

The latest additions to the zombie unit:

These guys bring the unit to 50, which is where I'll stop (for now) and focus my attention on something else.

Here's the mini filler - half a zombie dragging himself forward:

He was really easy to make. The spine is a small part from the Mantic kit cut to size. I added a small rock to his left hand to make it look like he's grabbing whatever he can to pull himself along.

Here are a few shots of the unit so far:

I've used four different skin tones on these guys to show different stages of decomposition. It's helped to give them a rag-tag hordey feel whilst still being unified by all the gore and the basing.


@Raizi Cheers mate. I'm quite happy that the unit has various focal points that draw attention rather than being one mass tide of dead guys staggering forward.

Glad the tree bases have inspired you

@Borgnine No worries mate! I'm a fan of clean bones poking through the skin - it helps keep them slightly unified with the skeletons.

I like your idea about glossing up the last filler's guts. Guts hanging out for a while could easily be dry but his have been pulled out by his hungry companion - they'd be fresh and shiney...

Cheers for your comments, chaps. More in the works!

 

[Leithel]

These are very awesome nice work. I'd love to see a group photo of your army at some point, it would be a sight to behold.

 

[Adam_Barrow]

Man, they look so rad all together like that. This may be the best unit of Mantic zombos I've seen.

 

[Borgnine]

Awesome unit, they look great together. And those trees really make it feel as if they go through a forest, really sets the right feeling. I only feel that you're wasting the potential of your awesome ogre by putting him at the end I look forward to more undeads from you

 

[Farmer7574]

Here's the Necromancer all finished:

He was quite straight forward to paint, but the eyes were a bit of a chore to get right (my first time painting pupils). My first attempt had him looking cross-eyed, the second looked like he was a drug-fueled maniac, and the third is what you see here. Tricky, but at least they're positioned in the same place.

Here are some more shots:

I was a bit indecisive about the colour of his robes at first. I was going to go for dark brown but this lacked contrast as the ground and his staff are mostly earthy tones, so I settled for the same blue I used on my Wight King's cloak.

Cheers for your feedback chaps.

@Leithel I've still got to get a display cabinet so all my stuff is in boxes at the moment. It's almost been one year since starting this army so I think I'll get everything out soon for a '1-year army shot'. Watch this space!

@Adam_Barrow It took a fair bit of time to make them different from the standard box versions. Glad you think it has worked out well

@Borgnine I'm thinking about picking up a few Citadel Forests to have some cool scenery alongside these guys. I put the ogre in the back for only one reason - he's big and blocks the view of whatever's behind him.

Thanks for taking a look, let me know what you think. More Black Knights in the works.

 

[Theerteen]

Man, I almost forgot about your work. How ever could I?! Those Zs really have everything a "serious" zombie needs, and if I'm right (didn't read everything) there are some nice TV show and movie references...or there are similar minds in creating that stuff like yours Anyway, I'm going to spend more time here again, hopefully with some effort on my last minis. Thanks for still keeping your work up!

 

[Borgnine]

Top notch work as usual The colour of his robe fits him very well, looks like a crow. Other than that, the single hairs on a bald head are superbly made, as is the writings on the tiny parchment and that coin hanging there with the skulls.

I only think that in this case your clean painting style clashes with the character himself - that black robe looks like finest suit fabric fresh from Armani, not like something a forest necromancer would wear. But that's just nitpicking, your style is your style, mini is still awesome. And maybe he indeed has such fine clothes

 

[Shadespyre]

Nice necromancer, very much looking forward to that 1st Birthday army shot

 

[Irisado]

As someone who really likes undead cavalry units, I really appreciate how you've painted those Black Knights. They look very impressive indeed. Also, excellent modelling and painting work on that unit of Dire Wolves. They look very ferocious and the red eyes are a very classy touch.

 

[Farmer7574]

The Black Knights are still in the works:

This is where they're at so far. What's done? The bones and nearly the steel (the most time consuming parts). What's left to do? Still some edge highlighting & scratches on the silver, the brass then all the other little details. It's pretty much down hill from here. These are taking a bit longer than planned, but I should hopefully have them done next week.


@Theerteen I'm pretty pleased with how the zombies have turned out too - The Walking Dead's zombies were quite inspirational when it came to doing these guys.

@Borgnine Glad you like the small details on the Necromancer - this guy is 90% clothing so the details were fun to do. I may experiment with weathering the blue cloth on an old mini later down the line, but it's a little hard to take a drybrush to a finished mini for me.

@Shadespyre I like how he's turned out. Looking forward to painting the Corpsemaster from the ME kit in the future. Army shot's coming once these knights are squared away

@Irisado I'm a big fan of cavalry units too, I always find them impressive to look at. This current batch gives me 10 but I've got another 10 to put together later on to make a big BK bus. Also looking at picking up some Blood Knights soon too, but I'm unsure as to what colours I'd use on them.

Thanks for your feedback everyone, More on the way soon!

 

[Irisado]

I really like the contrast between the blue and gold on the Black Knights. They're well on the way to looking really impressive and imposing, which is just how cavalry should look.

 

[Farmer7574]

Finally done, the second batch of Black Knights:

I left for work at the end of September with literally a few highlights left to do and leaf-basing, then got caught up with house stuff that needed doing. I finally got around to finishing them a few days ago and getting some pictures of them.

Here are some individual shots:

I've left their shields blu-tac'd right now as I'm not sure if I want to keep them as they are or paint some blue like the skeletons' shields. Some of the knights (especially the VC ones) made it a bit tricky to put trunks on the bases, so I went for a lot of fallen branches on these as they sit lower. These were fun to put together and paint!

Here's the unit so far:

I find the TK horses blend in alright amongst the VC one's and look fine used in moderation. I'm liking how they are all ranked up together, and am looking forward to expanding this unit in the future.

I'm unsure what's up next. I'm thinking of doing another character while I get some night gobbos out of the way, but also want to square away my ethereal scheme as that'll allow me to get to work on some Hexwraiths.


@Irisado Thanks mate, they're looking pretty mean all ranked up together as they are... Even cooler when all 20 are done! But I'll leave some for later on down the line

Thanks for checking out my work, feel free to comment

 

[Absyrtus]

Wow, this is absolutely amazing work!!

The Knights look awesome, but the Zombies absolutely blew me away. The modelling is brilliant, but the paintjob really sets them apart for me. The eyes look vacant and wonderfully zombie-like! The gore and the skin tones are fantastic and really tie the unit together. The fillers are outstanding and characterful! I've always shied away from painting my Zombies but perhaps, once my Flesh-eaters are eventually done, I might have to give them some love.

Thanks for the inspiring pics!

 

[Hardt von Carstein]

They look seriously great, really with that undead feel to them! I would very much like to know how the metal was painted, especially the one closest to the camera in the last photo.

Edit: OH haha I didn't notice the tutorial above.

Edit again: no wait I actually do want some tips on how to do that verdigris bronze look.

 

[Irisado]

The Black Knights look fantastic and the undead steeds definitely do blend in together. I hadn't even spotted the ones from the Tomb Kings range until you pointed out that there were some there. The whole unit has turned out really well and once the others have been added they'll look even more imposing than they currently do, which is saying something.

I'd love to see some ethereal units. Cairn Wraiths and Hexwraiths are my favourite units in the Vampire Counts army, so if you've got the latter on your painting table, I'm really looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

 

[Borgnine]

No matter what you post, one can be sure that it'll be awesome They look really grim and serious, the color scheme works great, as on the other minis. Those blue pieces of cloth near the tips of their lances are really awesome - they catch the eye and enchance their weapons. I need to remember that when expanding my BKs. I only think it's a pity that those Von Carstein shields have only one colour on them - those bat emblems would pop out nicely while being differentiated a bit. If not a color, then maybe a stronger shade around them?

 

[Farmer7574]

A few things to share:

Here's the 1-year army shot:

@Shadespyre @Leithel Here we go chaps! Sorry for the wait but it turns out it's quite difficult taking decent photos of armies. Here's everything to date from October 2015 when I started this army. I've just shelled out for a display cabinet too, so I've got somewhere (other than a storage box) to put my work when it's done.

Busy these days with anything but painting unfortunately, but I've started work on another bunch of goblins as a nice change of pace from all that bone, and also got Krell ready for some paint:

I got him for Christmas from my parents around 3 or 4 years ago and thought it was about time to give him some attention. Every skeletal mini in my army so far has predominantly silver and some form of blue on it, so I'm thinking of making him stand out by using all verdigrised bronze armour with black/dark brown fur bits. The thing I'm struggling with is the axe and axe shaft. Any suggestions here?


Thanks for your comments earlier and feedback everyone:

@Absyrtus I never used to be much of a fan of zombies but thought I'd do a bunch for this army. After starting work on them, I found them pretty fun to convert and paint. I'll definitely be doing more in the future! Glad you like them and looking forward to seeing your zombos when you get around to them.

@Hardt von Carstein The bronze is basically Balthazar Gold washed with Nuln Oil, then spot-washed with some verdigris colours and highlighted in a Balthazar Gold/Runefang Steel mix. I'll get a tutorial just like the steel done soon so you can see the process in pictures

@Irisado Seeing the block of Black Knights finished makes me want to get a command group in there, but that'll have to wait a bit longer As for the ethereal stuff, I'll be doing a few full test minis for my ethereal scheme this autumn - I'm eager to get cracking on some ghosts as I really want to make them stand out from ethereal else.

@Borgnine I didn't want to overkill 'Black Knights' with too much blue, so I went for limiting the 'army blue' only to the lance bits and rein covers. Regarding the shields, I totally agree. I haven't glued them to the knights yet because it looks like there's something missing. The bat emblems would benefit from being more noticeable. Would you go for deeper/darker rust in the crevices between the shield and the emblem to bring them out?

More stuff on the way, cheers for looking

 

[Irisado]

The Black Knights would definitely benefit aesthetically from having a command group. I'd love to see your work on their standard bearer and leader in particular.

 

[Borgnine]

Now that's a solid army, nice work!

I am so much hyped for your Krell, one of the best models that Death faction has to offer Maybe you could paint the axe similarly to mine - shaft done light brown, as if sculpted from bone/ivory would fit well with the brownish fur - and then the axe in similar color as verdigris, the tone changed a bit to make it stand out - as if made out of stone. Or go along GW's option and make it black, with edge highlights keeping close to verdigris' colour? I think both options could work fine. Also, BTW - did Citadel Failcast take a bite off his axe? It shouldn't have those big, round notches o_o

As for those cool BK shields, I think yes - strengthening the shadows/rust in the crevices between the shield and the emblem should work. Or make the shields themselves more rusted or darker overall, to imply that the emblems are made of nobler/better metal than the rest of the shield?

 

[Shadespyre]

Thanks for the army shot, looking so good. Imagine how impressive this will be in another 12 months!!!

When Krell was alive, he served Khorne, so the obvious choice would be to bring red and brass to the model, providing some contrast with the rest of the army. It's called the Black Axe, so I assume that refers to the blade.