Orlaster's army blog - From the ashes of the old world
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The masquerade of murder returns! A new game of Vampires Amongst Us has begun. Unmask the killers, trust no one, and try to survive the night. Find out more and sign up now!
@Orlaster especially when you put it in the deep shadow of the picture you take so you can't even see it, amirite? Although that's just a joke considering the newest picture of the WK you posted, makes me sound like an ungrateful ass picking on his hooves. :ghost:
But seriously, the Blight King conversions are awesome, such a great idea and beyond awesome in the end. Perhaps people might feel odd about their bulky appearance for being skeletal, but, what are you gonna do.
As for the WK vs Vamp issue. Personally I don't like the bloated, oversized vamp look. But a WK in huge armor just looks imposing, like a huge suit of armor maned by a skeleton. It's almost a cartoony feel to it, super cool. The big armor on the Vampire gives the impression (Possibly intended) of filling out that armor, and being rather fat or.. disgusting. It's kind of an interesting tweak of the Strigoi theme, especially since they are the most visceral and plague-ridden of the lot. But like, a Blood Knight I would expect to be a fallen warrior of extremely good lineage, not a super fat guy. Although I guess a super fat guy could be an uber-swordsmen and have bested so many undead as to warrant a Blood Dragon to turn him, just a matter of perspective.
Plus the decaying armor fits the theme of.. wasted away and skeletal that goes with WK. Where as, again perhaps just me, the impression of a vampire would be pristine and top-end gear not worn away. Unless forced to have worn it for the past 100 years in a crypt for being ugly or something.
But seriously, the Blight King conversions are awesome, such a great idea and beyond awesome in the end. Perhaps people might feel odd about their bulky appearance for being skeletal, but, what are you gonna do.
As for the WK vs Vamp issue. Personally I don't like the bloated, oversized vamp look. But a WK in huge armor just looks imposing, like a huge suit of armor maned by a skeleton. It's almost a cartoony feel to it, super cool. The big armor on the Vampire gives the impression (Possibly intended) of filling out that armor, and being rather fat or.. disgusting. It's kind of an interesting tweak of the Strigoi theme, especially since they are the most visceral and plague-ridden of the lot. But like, a Blood Knight I would expect to be a fallen warrior of extremely good lineage, not a super fat guy. Although I guess a super fat guy could be an uber-swordsmen and have bested so many undead as to warrant a Blood Dragon to turn him, just a matter of perspective.
Plus the decaying armor fits the theme of.. wasted away and skeletal that goes with WK. Where as, again perhaps just me, the impression of a vampire would be pristine and top-end gear not worn away. Unless forced to have worn it for the past 100 years in a crypt for being ugly or something.
@Farmer7574 The metal is really just multi-layered drybrushing and washes. I began with bronze and worked up thin layers of various greens to turquoises until I was drybrushing hellion green. Then I did some spot drybrushing in bronze and selectively hilghighted with runefang. I don't normally like to drybrush more than one or two layers because it makes the model look all claggy and caked with paint, but for the patina in works perfectly, coupled with the corroded look to the armour in the first place. Just lots of layers, really. I don't like the advice given by GW and similar sources about just slapping nihilac oxide or similar into the recesses. I don't think that works at all. Tabletopminions on Youtube gives an interesting alternative, as well as Borgnine's own advice, which is great. When I paint the other guy I'll add my own step-by-step method!
Also, @Tawg I think I'm in agreement with you. The wight king in armour looks better than the vampire. Sorted, thanks!
I have something quite special in mind for a new vamp model, so watch this space!
Also, @Tawg I think I'm in agreement with you. The wight king in armour looks better than the vampire. Sorted, thanks!
I have something quite special in mind for a new vamp model, so watch this space!
Count Raffael
Skeleton
So, it's been quite some time since I posted anything on here. Mainly because it's been quite some time since I *had* anything to post. But I thought I'd get my act together and finish off one of the characters I've had in the works for quite some time. It's another wight king blight king conversion- the one suggested by @Tawg earlier in this thread (and I think he turned out nicely, so thanks for the suggestion!). Here are some images-
Here are a picture of the parts I used to make the guy. I decided not to use the coven throne curtain as a cloak in the end- the model was already busy enough, I felt, without that addition.
And here is a blu-tac mock up
Finally, as you can see, the final version doesn't look too dissimilar. A fact I am quite relieved about, as that blight king torso and shoulders took some mighty shaving down before I could assemble the pose I wanted that wasn't quite as static as the blight king base. For all the brilliance of the models themselves, they aren't particularly flexible in terms of construction. Also, when I paint him, I'll take pictures of the stages like I said I'd do about six months ago, @Farmer7574 !. I'm going to paint him in a similar way to the other wight king (below), metal included, so I guess it'll be a sort of 'tutorial'. But the idea that I could tutor anyone is, at best, laughable.
Also here's a comparison with the other wight king blight king conversion.
Ooh, one more thing I've been working on is *another* necromancer. This one inspired by the merchant hags from the Dark Souls series.
Her parts are:
Body- Wraith
Head- Banshee
Hands- Corpse cart master
Sack and misc crap are a mixture of Ogre bits, giant bits, flagellant bits, blight king and grave guard bits. Basically anything I could get my hands on that looked vaguely like junk... I'll stick her all together and paint her when I can gather the nerve to finalise her. I'm still mucking around with the configuration.
One last thing, @Borgnine I'm working on those Crypt Horrors, but it'll take a bit longer. I was very ambitious... :/
Anyway, hope you guys like it.
Here are a picture of the parts I used to make the guy. I decided not to use the coven throne curtain as a cloak in the end- the model was already busy enough, I felt, without that addition.
And here is a blu-tac mock up
Finally, as you can see, the final version doesn't look too dissimilar. A fact I am quite relieved about, as that blight king torso and shoulders took some mighty shaving down before I could assemble the pose I wanted that wasn't quite as static as the blight king base. For all the brilliance of the models themselves, they aren't particularly flexible in terms of construction. Also, when I paint him, I'll take pictures of the stages like I said I'd do about six months ago, @Farmer7574 !. I'm going to paint him in a similar way to the other wight king (below), metal included, so I guess it'll be a sort of 'tutorial'. But the idea that I could tutor anyone is, at best, laughable.
Also here's a comparison with the other wight king blight king conversion.
Ooh, one more thing I've been working on is *another* necromancer. This one inspired by the merchant hags from the Dark Souls series.
Her parts are:
Body- Wraith
Head- Banshee
Hands- Corpse cart master
Sack and misc crap are a mixture of Ogre bits, giant bits, flagellant bits, blight king and grave guard bits. Basically anything I could get my hands on that looked vaguely like junk... I'll stick her all together and paint her when I can gather the nerve to finalise her. I'm still mucking around with the configuration.
One last thing, @Borgnine I'm working on those Crypt Horrors, but it'll take a bit longer. I was very ambitious... :/
Anyway, hope you guys like it.
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@Nikos To be completely honest, I haven't given it much thought. It is slightly annoying because the blight king models really don't fit on 20mm squares, but I'll be absolutely damned if I'm going to go circular! I don't really want to mount them on anything but 20mm, but it is problematic. I was possibly going to look into getting some cork type stuff and make rocky outcrops, just jutting off the edge of the base for any overhanging feet. Or just flat bases with the agrellan earth texture paint, because it looks pretty cool. But then just that on its own does feel like a bit of a cop-out. Alternatively, I have found a pretty interesting method for some really gribbly stuff I have yet to try. Suggestions would be welcome, actually. I need to do some google image trawling.
I like it sooo much that you updated! Definitely one of my favourites here!
Those guys must be a horror to rank up. Maybe put them on 20mm bases and mix some empty bases with them, perhaps in a checkered pattern? As for the hag necromancer - if you'll ever find yourself not wanting her, I'll buy her gladly
In the meantime I'll be waiting for those Crypt Horrors 
EDIT: Also thanks for the link about basing. It's wicked!
Those guys must be a horror to rank up. Maybe put them on 20mm bases and mix some empty bases with them, perhaps in a checkered pattern? As for the hag necromancer - if you'll ever find yourself not wanting her, I'll buy her gladly
In the meantime I'll be waiting for those Crypt Horrors EDIT: Also thanks for the link about basing. It's wicked!
So, as always, progress is very slow. I've finished the majority of the new wight king, and it's alright for the most part. Here's what I've got on him so far. I'm of the opinion that he looks a little washed out. A little pale. Perhaps he needs more purple, or something else, but anything you guys might think would be greatly appreciated.
So with the first stage, I put down a dry-ish coat of balthazar gold followed by a hilight layer of ghenna's gold.
Next came a watery wash of sybarite green to dull down the metal and add a bit of colour as well. Unlike a wash which would only have put dark into the recesses, this wash makes it a little more interesting.
Once I added a little nihilac, selectively adding it to the recesses and pitted armour, it did look a little washed out. I feel this might have been my mistake.
Once I added washes it started to look pretty weathered and textured, but not too busy.
Then finally, I did a very light drybrush of balthazar gold on the large areas of flat armour, followed by an even finer highlight of runefang steel. I also washed a little purple and brown into the mix. It's not final at this stage, but the metal is pretty much done for now.
Like I said, I feel it looks a little pale, a little flat. I'm going to add a strong orange rust to the axe, perhaps try a bit of a stronger blue/green on the armour, and more purple to the cloth, but generally I do think he needs more colour. I dunno. Something along those lines. Lemme know what you guys think.
So with the first stage, I put down a dry-ish coat of balthazar gold followed by a hilight layer of ghenna's gold.
Next came a watery wash of sybarite green to dull down the metal and add a bit of colour as well. Unlike a wash which would only have put dark into the recesses, this wash makes it a little more interesting.
Once I added a little nihilac, selectively adding it to the recesses and pitted armour, it did look a little washed out. I feel this might have been my mistake.
Once I added washes it started to look pretty weathered and textured, but not too busy.
Then finally, I did a very light drybrush of balthazar gold on the large areas of flat armour, followed by an even finer highlight of runefang steel. I also washed a little purple and brown into the mix. It's not final at this stage, but the metal is pretty much done for now.
Like I said, I feel it looks a little pale, a little flat. I'm going to add a strong orange rust to the axe, perhaps try a bit of a stronger blue/green on the armour, and more purple to the cloth, but generally I do think he needs more colour. I dunno. Something along those lines. Lemme know what you guys think.
robtion
Vampire Thrall
Haven't check in here in far too long. I love everything in this plog, definitely one of my favourites. Your conversions are uniformly fantastic and I really like the dirty, gritty looking painting style you use.
I particularly like you necromancer's. I also have a penchant for necromancer conversions. Great fun. Please get that Dark Souls hag painted asap. Looking awesome.
My only complaint would be you need to paint faster! I want to see more now!
I particularly like you necromancer's. I also have a penchant for necromancer conversions. Great fun. Please get that Dark Souls hag painted asap. Looking awesome.
My only complaint would be you need to paint faster! I want to see more now!
I absolutely love your work. Your conversions are top-notch and the painting is gorgeous. I'd love to see a groupshot of your finished stuff so far.
Your plog has inspired me a lot, so much that I took the idea of converting blightkings to crypt horrors and ran with it too. Thank you!
Your plog has inspired me a lot, so much that I took the idea of converting blightkings to crypt horrors and ran with it too. Thank you!
@Angie Ooh a group photo doesn't sound like a bad idea actually. I might take some inspiration from your own plog and fashion a rudimentary light box. Hmmm. Thanks for the feedback, both yourself and @robtion . I always appreciate it immensely! Also I realy need to get back onto painting and modelling a little more. Fallen off the wagon a bit recently.
Since the release of AoS I haven't really been doing much painting or gaming at all, really. It's a bit sad. All those skeletons mouldering away in their crypts, gathering dust. I had a really lame time with AoS at my local GW last July/August and it put me off. Huh.
On top of the rest of the warhammer fantasy I have ideas for a Mordheim warband too, so I might start that at some point in the future! Mordheim is great. I like Mordheim.
Also I realy need to get back onto painting and modelling a little more. Fallen off the wagon a bit recently.Since the release of AoS I haven't really been doing much painting or gaming at all, really. It's a bit sad. All those skeletons mouldering away in their crypts, gathering dust. I had a really lame time with AoS at my local GW last July/August and it put me off. Huh.
On top of the rest of the warhammer fantasy I have ideas for a Mordheim warband too, so I might start that at some point in the future! Mordheim is great. I like Mordheim.
Great work on his armor! I also have a problem with flatness when painting verdigris, but you seem to have battled that particular problem rather well I like how monochrome he is, but I'll wait for progres on the color front before I say more
Also, I think your style would fit GREAT in mordheim!
I like how monochrome he is, but I'll wait for progres on the color front before I say more Also, I think your style would fit GREAT in mordheim!
@Orlaster Brilliant tutorial you've done here, I'm a big fan of the heavy verdigris effect still retaining a nice shine. Good job!
Greetings to you all.
A little while ago, I pretty much stopped hobbying. It was shortly after Age of Sigmar hit the scene. I became disillusioned and I sort of drifted away from modeling, painting, gaming. The whole lot. I made a pretty ranting post about how awful everything was, which was received amicably by the community here. I felt like some of you shared my disappointment. On the whole, though, I was a little ashamed of my reactionary ranting. It was pointed out that I was simply howling in the desert. It was absolutely a cry on the wind. It was never going to change anything and I'm mature enough to admit that. However, it was a little rude. I don't think my post was all that bad. I had been a huge fan of WHFB since I was like 10 years old. A lot of thought and years and effort went into my hobby and it hurt a little for it to be canned so swiftly, so I hope you can forgive me.
I wasn't completely wrong though. In my opinion, although some of it is good the art style of AoS official books is still pretty garish and shiny. Have you noticed how closely the artists stick to the model design? Even a few years down the line. It smacks of corporatism and stifling of creativity.
Having said all that, I have been really impressed with how GW turned around a dying brand (commercially dying, not creatively) and made it something new. The quality of their sculpts has been really high over the last couple of years and they offer small scale boxed games for more casual fans, or ones who don't want to invest more money. One of the most redeeming features, however, has been the way in which the modeling community has taken what GW has offered and made it something their own. Time and time again, fantastic blogs like The Gardens of Hecate and Sometimes Minis and Watching Hour and Nekrokult and Mo's Marvelous Miniatures and WilhelMiniatures andd WarbossKurgan (to name but a few), as well as the good folks right here on Carpe Noctem itself, have produced fantastic work which has an integrity all its own.
In fact, I've recently been out and bought some stuff from GW for the first time in quite a long time. I saw the underworlds ghoul squad which came out a little while ago and thought 'huh they look alright,' so I went in to check them out and emerged with the beginnings of a new project. So, in a somewhat controversial move, I am resurrecting this thread like a proper crusty necromancer. No longer shall we languish in shallow graves, waiting for the end of the world. We rise, and we hunger.
A little while ago, I pretty much stopped hobbying. It was shortly after Age of Sigmar hit the scene. I became disillusioned and I sort of drifted away from modeling, painting, gaming. The whole lot. I made a pretty ranting post about how awful everything was, which was received amicably by the community here. I felt like some of you shared my disappointment. On the whole, though, I was a little ashamed of my reactionary ranting. It was pointed out that I was simply howling in the desert. It was absolutely a cry on the wind. It was never going to change anything and I'm mature enough to admit that. However, it was a little rude. I don't think my post was all that bad. I had been a huge fan of WHFB since I was like 10 years old. A lot of thought and years and effort went into my hobby and it hurt a little for it to be canned so swiftly, so I hope you can forgive me.
I wasn't completely wrong though. In my opinion, although some of it is good the art style of AoS official books is still pretty garish and shiny. Have you noticed how closely the artists stick to the model design? Even a few years down the line. It smacks of corporatism and stifling of creativity.
Having said all that, I have been really impressed with how GW turned around a dying brand (commercially dying, not creatively) and made it something new. The quality of their sculpts has been really high over the last couple of years and they offer small scale boxed games for more casual fans, or ones who don't want to invest more money. One of the most redeeming features, however, has been the way in which the modeling community has taken what GW has offered and made it something their own. Time and time again, fantastic blogs like The Gardens of Hecate and Sometimes Minis and Watching Hour and Nekrokult and Mo's Marvelous Miniatures and WilhelMiniatures andd WarbossKurgan (to name but a few), as well as the good folks right here on Carpe Noctem itself, have produced fantastic work which has an integrity all its own.
In fact, I've recently been out and bought some stuff from GW for the first time in quite a long time. I saw the underworlds ghoul squad which came out a little while ago and thought 'huh they look alright,' so I went in to check them out and emerged with the beginnings of a new project. So, in a somewhat controversial move, I am resurrecting this thread like a proper crusty necromancer. No longer shall we languish in shallow graves, waiting for the end of the world. We rise, and we hunger.
From the ashes of the old come the seeds of the new ... something something...
Not sure what to call it yet but ... watch. this. space.
Not sure what to call it yet but ... watch. this. space.
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robtion
Vampire Thrall
Welcome back. I understand how you felt, I was also put off by the changes with AoS.
Nice to see your plog back up and running. Let's face it, a few years down time means nothing here among the undead
Did you ever paint that Dark Souls inspired hag/necromancer?
Nice to see your plog back up and running. Let's face it, a few years down time means nothing here among the undead
Did you ever paint that Dark Souls inspired hag/necromancer?
I absolutely love your conversions. Your necromancers are amazing and FatVamp is brilliant, not least because you so rarely see fat vamps.
And you definitely hit the Dark Souls feel on those Crypt Horrors. Well, maybe more bloodborne, though I think they kinda remind me of the lycanthropes from DS3. And some of the more bulky skeletons also reminds me of some of the big DS armor guys.
Also really like the "fell bats".
And you definitely hit the Dark Souls feel on those Crypt Horrors. Well, maybe more bloodborne, though I think they kinda remind me of the lycanthropes from DS3. And some of the more bulky skeletons also reminds me of some of the big DS armor guys.
Also really like the "fell bats".