Painter's Log 2019-11-16

Oh the joy of burning yourself out.

One of the reasons this blog went quiet (yet again) is because it became a chore to keep up with it.  Since I don't monetize it through ads (Google is being a bit odd and most people rightfully use ad-blockers because web ads are on the obnoxious side), the blog absolutely should not feel like a chore or job.

Another reason is that I could not get the blog to display the last Painted Plastic Panels comic at the resolution I wanted.  It left the comic difficult to read and that's something I refuse to put up with.  That's why I haven't continued the comic even though I'd really like to.  I may revisit it by posting it on DeviantArt, simply because people can actually zoom to the correct resolution instead of me having to redo a bunch of work in order to ensure the text is readable.

The last reason is that I seriously burnt myself out painting the Ultramarines.  While I will likely get back to painting them, I was so sick of the constant painting that I did not get around to painting anything at all for a good month.  I kicked myself back into painting by working on one of the Warhammer Underworlds warbands.  Normally I don't paint for other people but I'm working on Spiteclaw's Swarm for my housemate because I felt painting skaven to look like lab rats would be a neat challenge.

So all in all I figured I'd take a more leisurely approach to the blog and just do a weekly thing about painting.  Occasionally the RPG article or a review of some kind will pop up as well.

But enough with the blog housekeeping, let's talk about models and painting them.

The challenge with the lab rat skaven was figuring out how to make them so pale and to get the white fur just right.  Eventually I settled on Reaper Miniatures' Fair Skin Tone triad (9046 Fair Shadow, 9047 Fair Skin, 9048 Fair Highlight) for the skin.  Careful use of Carroburg Crimson to stain the noses, the inner ear folds, and the skin around the eyes produced some really nice results, giving that subtle almost albino look.  Meanwhile, the tails were not quite pink enough, which stumped me before remembering that I had a bottle of Secret Weapon's Cotton Candy wash.  Worked perfectly for me.  The white fur ended up being basecoated with Pallid Wych Flesh and then highlighted with White Scar.  Though I think I probably should have used a warmer and slightly darker grey for the basecoat.  Rakarth Flesh or one of the many bone colors I have.  The eyes were based with Vallejo Model Color Old Rose then the pupils were done with Screamer Pink.  Everything else on the models is a matter of figuring out what is which kind of element (leather, chainmail, armor, etc...)

Skritch Spiteclaw

After Spiteclaw's Swarm is done (Skritch there was the guinea pig for the color palette), the plan is to work on the Ossiarch Bonereapers I have.  The majority of the work will be done with Citadel Contrast, but there's been a lot of planning and thought on what I want these models to look like.  Naturally most of the bones will be done with Skeleton Horde; why deviate from that kind of classic look?  But then I had to consider what cool colors to use to break up the warm colors and I did not want that to be a lot of purple since that's kind of the default color for the GW studio army.  The armor is going to be based on the colors for the Sons of Horus, because I think that sea green would look neat on the bonereaper models.

Soulmason or midget Mortarch?

The one thing that had my scratching my head was determining how I wanted their bases to look.  In a fit of insomnia I realized I should use crackle paste to give the bases something beyond sand and static grass.  Drybrush the crackled material with some lighter bone color and then liberally apply Nighthaunt Gloom.  Naturally the models with space on their bases will get some appropriately deathly decor like skulls.  There's divots in some of the bases from the production process that will have to be filled before I can apply crackle paste, but that's what I have greenstuff for.

Also kitbashing together a Mortisan Soulmason, since both my housemate and I had spare parts left over from a variety of things.  As with all my kitbashes, this one ended up two or three sizes bigger than I had intended.  It doesn't look so much like a bony person riding around on throne of bone so much as a midget version of Neferata.  Oh well, I have more modifications to add with green stuff and basing to do before it is done.



I've also been involved in organizing a painting meet-up at my local hobby shop, as one of the things that helped me grow as a painter was sitting around with other hobbyists talking about techniques and ideas (I credit my experiences at Randy's House of Games out in Sacramento for realizing how valuable the experience was).  We have that going on Wednesday evenings currently and it's been growing steadily.  It surprised me since we have the holidays coming up.

Anyway, I will try to get into the habit of posting a painter's log on Saturdays.