The dead are among us- a tale of conversion and paint

[Mnemloch]

First off, I would love C & C. I have never been very artistic and I have never built or painted models in my life. I received my first model (the necro) on Jan 10th 2016 and I didn't have any paint until Jan 18th so be gentle

To start I am going to dump a bunch of low quality pics I have taken with my phone over the past month that I was sending to my brother (not blood but we both were in the Army together and it is one of those things that transcend blood) who got me started in all this mess...

But before I do that, I thought I would share this one from my soon to be wife...

 

[Borgnine]

This is a month's work? :| Crazy fast! And they still look good. I don't know how you did it, my first attempts at painting were a garbled mess Cool idea with the catapult, you've got quite a lot of bits for such an early stage in the hobby.
Good to see a new plog here Keep up with it!

 

[Adam_Barrow]

Machine-like efficiency. I, for one, welcome our new painting machine overlord!

Looking great so far, man. Keep that momentum.

 

[Mnemloch]

It's funny you say that, in those 8 days between getting model and getting paint I watched a ton of youtube paint videos and I always wondered why they kept switching colors so much. When I paint I usually set 10-20 guys down (for skels) and decide which scheme I am going to paint them (all the schemes tie back to a Mortarch eventually) and then just start with 1 color and run through the lot. Then run through all the colors. Touch ups and washes. I can usually get 10-20 skels done in an evening sitting at the table watching tv and chatting with better half (I don't get home from work til 5, make dinner/clean-up etc and in bed by 10).

 

[Mnemloch]

@Borgnine I picked up 50+ ebay auctions. Some included bits, some were just bits. And some when I chatted with the seller and was telling them that I planned on converting the Empire/HE etc I was buying from them, threw extra bits in the auctions I bought.

Have to say overall I am really liking the WAR community so far...

 

[Koalaninja]

Loving this good job! Took me a year and a half to assemble and paint that many models. Are you planning to play the game?

 

[Mnemloch]

Thank you, and yes indeed.

 

[Sessioni]

I can't believe you are just starting this wonderful hobby! That vampire lord looks very good. I wish I could paint so many models in such a short time

 

[Mad 'At]

You really are a painting machine

I'm glad to see you are continuing painting the bases in that cool green colour. How do you achieve that effect?

 

[Mnemloch]

Yea, after your suggestions and talking about cohesiveness I wanted to see what it would look like on full unit. Did it on the DW and it looked great so will carry it through all of them. Thanks @Mad 'At

I know some are pretty elitist about paint but I have probably 5-6 different paint brands (love the blood effect from the Tamiya Clear Red that you did on your conversions enough to spend an hour or two saturday hunting down a bottle in town).

I primer in white, hit with a fluorescent green (Hobby Lobby brand acrylic). Let dry. Hit with Michael's brand crackle (seriously it lasts forever and is CHEAP). Let dry. Paint black layer. As it dries it cracks. Let cure >24hrs then hit with hard/clear coat to seal it.

Similar to these instructions.

 

[El Syf]

I second the praise for the bases, they look awesome.

 

[Farmer7574]

@Mnemloch I love your winged vampiress conversion, she reminds me of the girl vamps in the Van Helsing movie.

Your basing is pretty unique as well, I've never seen that before - it looks like blighted ground glowing with evil energy. A nice touch.

Keep knocking out the minis, you're making really quick progress.

 

[Borgnine]

Wow, you are really going superfast about them! I like the armor on Arkhan and the new winged vampiress the best. I thought maybe putting her braid to point upward would enchance the feeling of her swooping down, but that may as well look silly on a static mini

EDIT: Damnit you're fast! You posted something new while I was writing my post! Wings on that painted vampiress are terrific!

 

[Nagash Worshiper]

Wow! The speed of how much this thread I progressing makes me feel bad! Nice starting on Neferata!

 

[Leithel]

Some fantastic work there @Mnemloch , really love Arkhan.


I noticed a bit back you built a light box, but your pictures were a little dark. I had this problem too. If you're photographing with an iPhone, download a program called Camer+ (not camera plus). You basically need to expose the photos in the l ight box for longer to get a good result, this app will let you do it.

Awesome work man, keep it up!

 

[Mnemloch]

No iphone here, just need to tweak ISO on camera a bit. That has been pretty far down line, was attempting to get as much done before wedding as possible. Thanks for suggestions and compliments. Also probably will add 3rd diffuser/light to box, I think that the room I am working in is too dark overall and that it needs the third one.

 

[Mnemloch]

Back from the honeymoon and getting ready to knock some models out. Have ~30 or so GG primed and ready for some paint and I also just ordered one of these to see about making a black coach conversion.

 

[Nikos]

Arkhan is coming along very nicely, I really like the muted colour choice

 

[Borgnine]

GGs look great in this red scheme! Properly vampiric-themed

I am also very much curious what will you do with that cart

 

[Mnemloch]

I wont know until I see the cart, it should be here in a week or so hopefully then I can start to think about what I want exactly. It is a 0 sized train model which should translate over to our sizes if the forums are to be believed. I have a throne and a sword and some books, maybe some spare spirits etc. We will see I guess.

The Infernal Standard is ready to be planted.

 

[Zacharias]

Loving the basing especially on the Morghasts, how did you achieve the green almost magical portal / primordial ooze look?

 

[Mnemloch]

That is actually pre-cursor look to the normal basing. Haha, I guess black primer and thin layer of cheap acrylic neon green.

With white primer it looks like the standard bearer in the GG group.

 

[Borgnine]

Now that's a cinematic photo! Tomb Kings look very cool in red and black I also like those dirty bones on the horses

 

[Mnemloch]

I will catch it in the sun or my light box sometime after finishing the other two. The carriage is Kantor blue, with a dark wash and then copper highlights. The metal pieces I love, they are actually a dark bronze metallic paint (Tamiya) and then dry brushed with Titanium Gold. Looks like antique bronze and I have gotten a ton of compliments on shields I have done with that combo too.

Overall I am pretty happy with it. These guys will probably end up on Ebay b/c I don't like the Egyptian theme of TK. They were in a lot on Ebay that I picked up though that had some things in it I did want. Figure I would slap some paint on them to keep practicing/honing skills before putting on the auction block.

 

[Mnemloch]

I think attaching dread abyssal to the base may be my least favorite thing... 1 step closer to Mannfred's ride