Quest for the Golden Demon - What's to Come

[LunchBox]

heehee, im saving all my 40k entries for chicago <_<

 

 

 

Starks

 

 

Yep...that's reeeeeeaaaaaaal helpful.

 

Oh, in regards to "celebrity status"...is my new signature attention-whorish enough?

 

(I'm quite the little capitalist)

 

Also, I got the standard done, pics will be up this weekend. I had to scrape off the water effects after a week, because it didn't set up right. From there I went back over it with gravel.

[Starks333]

Yep...that's reeeeeeaaaaaaal helpful.

 

Oh, in regards to "celebrity status"...is my new signature attention-whorish enough?

 

(I'm quite the little capitalist)

 

Also, I got the standard done, pics will be up this weekend. I had to scrape off the water effects after a week, because it didn't set up right. From there I went back over it with gravel.

 

 

hahahaha, i love your sig

 

and ill show you my standard if you show me yours :tu:

 

so have you decided on adding more members or not?

 

im going to be slaving away at my entries for a New York scale model show, so i might not comment much

 

Starks

[LunchBox]

Yep...that's reeeeeeaaaaaaal helpful.

 

Oh, in regards to "celebrity status"...is my new signature attention-whorish enough?

 

(I'm quite the little capitalist)

 

Also, I got the standard done, pics will be up this weekend. I had to scrape off the water effects after a week, because it didn't set up right. From there I went back over it with gravel.

 

 

hahahaha, i love your sig

 

and ill show you my standard if you show me yours ;)

 

so have you decided on adding more members or not?

 

im going to be slaving away at my entries for a New York scale model show, so i might not comment much

 

Starks

 

 

I'm adding 1 more member; the guy on the 1st page with the shield. I have the head and midsection of yet another one already done, but he's a little more animated than the rest of the squad...so i shall leave him out as well.

[Cherub]

That is one bright sig there Lunchbox ;)

[BLARGAG!!!]

hey Lunchbox, have i mentioned latley how much i hate you?

 

in case i havent I HATE YOU!!!!

 

anyway, it all looks amazing, keep up the good work

 

BLARGAG!!!

[LunchBox]

Hey...I wanted to run an idea by ya'll: A friend of mine thought of a clever way to add the leaping Marine in the squad. He suggested I place him offset in the background, jumping an assassin lurking in the rubble. I think the display base may be a bit small for that, but would it just ruin the overall look?

[HellChyld]

personally yes as I think your marines would just shot him through the bushes instead of going 300 on him.

[LunchBox]

the Standard Bearer is done, after the basing issues. Actually, I lack a couple more shading glazes on the red, but for now it's done.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/pics/pics12/img472cfeb4cddf1.jpg

[Starks333]

looking good :rolleyes:

 

not much else to say other than i absolutely hate that sword, its just so out of place, but i know you are done with the squad..so...next mini!

 

PS i have some Wips up on Canadian Team...going pretty well

 

 

 

Starks

[Your account name here]

Nice. I am humbled to much to say anything actually constructive.

 

That, and Drunk.

[LunchBox]

 

Starks...is it the color of the chainsword? I think the gritty grey-green looks good. Is it a personal preference, or have I committed a painting no-no?

 

Account Name...mee twoo... :tu:

Although...I have to watch that stuff...'cause I got a polite warning from a mod last night for posting political humor. If I'm ever going to take over the B&C, I have to mind my P's & Q's...FYI

[Starks333]

 

Starks...is it the color of the chainsword? I think the gritty grey-green looks good. Is it a personal preference, or have I committed a painting no-no?

 

Account Name...mee twoo... :tu:

Although...I have to watch that stuff...'cause I got a polite warning from a mod last night for posting political humor. If I'm ever going to take over the B&C, I have to mind my P's & Q's...FYI

 

ya the colour, it draws away from the body and focus too much because its one the only desaturated colour on the model and two, brighter than most of the colours...annnd every other colour is seen throughout, except that one, its just by its lonesome, so it stands out

 

any colour combo is technically preference, but this is one of those, it has support behind it kinda things...its still up to you in the end!

 

Starks

[LunchBox]

The 6th, and final Veteran is done. I'm also working on the display base, as a turorial for Starks' basing tutorials.

 

http://www.coolminiornot.com/pics/pics12/img474088fa2bbfe.jpg

[Grey_Death]

Another great addition. You really captured a lot of character in the models face.

 

Just a thought though, since I see some damage on the shield, had you had any plans to do some battle damage paint on the armor as well?

[LunchBox]

Another great addition. You really captured a lot of character in the models face.

 

Just a thought though, since I see some damage on the shield, had you had any plans to do some battle damage paint on the armor as well?

 

 

I figure the shield is just a tool...you can clean your tools, but there's some damage you can't mask. The armor, however, is carefully maintained...like a car. if you get a big dent in the car, you get it fixed.

 

That's my logic, and I'm sticking to it.

[Tinweasel]

First I've seen the thread and I'm extremely impressed... and saddened at the same time. With the overall quality and appearance of these guys, it pretty much means that my intended entry of my Chaos Warband and/or corrupted IG has a snowball's chance in hell of going anywhere. 8^) Different painting styles, though - I'm using real metallics and weathering with more of a drab palette. Probably won't have nearly the same "pop" but I've always been more of a gritty and realistic style painter, anyhow. Great work - I'm not really complaining, just commenting that you're setting a really high bar well over and above your SM's you entered in Chicago this year.

 

I think it's a good idea with the purple glazes, as they kinda unify everything color-wise. It also allows for more contrast as, for example, on the purple-glazed white tabard you could always go back and highlight the extreme upper edges with pure white if you were so inclined... that, and if you wanted to ensure people would be noticing his crotch first and not his face or something.

 

I would definitely have to agree that the green-tinged chainsword draws attention away from the detail on the rest of the figure. With the fact that it's sticking outwards from the body and that it's such a bright, unadulterated color (even with the color transition on the "blade") it pretty much captures your attention first thing, as opposed to, say, the banner. If you're really hard up on keeping with the same color blade, you could give it a few glazes of something to tone down the color a bit - like a dark red as the complement to the green (or do non-detailed blood spattering with stippling or something), or even just a few hits with thinned-down Smoke or Black Ink... those'd suck the "life" out of the color for sure while still keeping the same base shade to tie it in with whatever it is you're trying to tie it in with.

 

 

I can tell from the pictures that these guys are definitely outshining your GD entries this year, even the Wolf Priest. (So far as the Wolf Priest, single figure entries have such a hard competition, though, from what the judges were telling me - everybody goes balls-out with their stuff and there's so many entries. I have my conspiracy theory regarding my Genestealer Patriarch entry, though, in that he didn't go anywhere because he's an OOP and thus "unmarketable" figure. That's my self-consolation story and I'm sticking with it! There's also the fact that I ruined the appearance of the crystals on the base by going back and adding more detail to 'em, but that's not a factor - really!)

 

As an aside, it sounds like my first-ever stab at NMM (on my Chaos Sorcerer's robes) uses pretty much the same color progression as yours, except at the high ends where I stopped at yellows and didn't go into the light tans. It's definitely a good appearance you've got going, and Tausept Ochre is a great color for blocking out areas - I personally don't see a difference between Tausept and Snakebite Leather, though - are you sure they're not just two variations on the same color, one simply having more pigment for basecoating?

 

Your flesh tones are just awesome - any chance of getting the recipe?

 

I'm planning (tentatively) on attending Chicago next year - one taste of the forbidden fruit and I'm definitely hooked. (My first GD ever and I make First Cut with all my stuff and win a Silver with 3 Honorable Mentions?!? Blew my mind...) It would really be nice if I could actually meet up with some of you guys in person, perhaps - you and Starks and whomever. I was all by my lonesome going this year, not knowing anyone, much less even the other people from my store I took the bus in with.

[LunchBox]

Tin...Thanks for all the kind words. I stuck with the dark and gritty style for a long time, and after many exchanges with Wappellious, I realized I was setting a base for brighter mini's if I wanted them to be so. If you've noticed here, or on my CMON, everything since GD07 has been much brighter, and more pop.

 

As for your theory on OOp models...don't be surprized if one of the teams enters stock or converted OOP's as a theme here within the next year or so. I don;t know any of those guys, but I get a sneaking feeling the retro look will come back...call me crazy.

 

As for the faces, check THIS out. The face was done using the same techniques, but better paints (VMC).

 

As for your entries, i'm in the same boat, having done so well in my first GD. I say enter what you can, and enter what you love. Also, I'm hoping we can plan a bit better this year, and some of us can get together for an evening of merriment.

[Starks333]

flashyness attracts the eyes, but solid composition atmosphere and technique finishes the story

 

never paint something just to have an entry, paint it because you wanna paint it, you dont need to focus hours and hours on it, leave the hours of work for a main entry....the best way to do it is to have one main entry that is all your skills put to perfectionand then a couple others that you use for practicing new techniques, colours, ideas, or just practice for improvement of certain ideas/techniques

 

with your stuff Lunchie, you improve on them, and you try new things, but your overall style stays the same, thats perfectly fine, because you have a style and you add to it, which means you will improve your style faster, and perfect it(which is the ultimate goal)...the toughest part, is trying many different things/styles, as you may improve in a ton of areas, and learn a lot, but its harder to create a great overall piece because you dont have practice maintaining consistency within a certain style and tend to combine too many things(my problem)....the advantage however is that by doing many different things all the time, you broaden your abilities and can eventually create something great combining many things, or doing different styles(years...and years later..im waiting for it to cash in :))

 

ignorance is the only wrong route in the art of miniatures, fear and uncertainty are common, knowledge is what defeats those fears...so when you come up with a problem, never just ask the "how to solve" but the why, and the when, the two things often forgot...its easy to make an excuse, but its more beneficial to find a reason

 

the reason lunchbox has improved, is because he did not stop with the "how do i..." he went into the "why do i need to..." and the "when do i need to.."

 

so my advice to anyone who reads this post(...pff everyone :P) is to do just that ^^

 

 

Starks

[LunchBox]

You make a lot of great points. Style is style...everyone has their own. Wappellious' style is completely different than mine, but I saw things I liked and wanted to use. Starks style is also very different from mine, so I petitioned him for advice as well. Like he said, the key to getting better is to work at getting better. We've all seen a few whining posts about people who think they were robbed at the GD. We've also seen posts where someone asks for C&C when all they wanted was an ego boost, and get their feelings hurt, then have no intentions of following through with sound advice. My posts are frequently motivated by my being an attention whore, and for self agrandizement...but I damn sure take honest C&C to heart. Personally, I use CMON ratings as a fair judgement of my progression. A few years ago, I was stoked at my first 7...a year ago, I was unhappy with anything less than an 8. Now, if I don't get 9's, I mentally rip apart the mini to see what I did wrong. You can sit back and say, "well, those folks on CMON are spoiled, or they are just looking for something flashy", but the idea of painting minis to a competition standard is to appeal to the viewer.

 

I will say that many of the painters on here (like Starks) are far better technically than I am, and I'd be in deep s* if he entered against me. Instead of sitting back hoping he doesn't throttle me at the '08 GD's...I've publicly taunted him...so I know I better 'come correct'. It's a competition...it's supposed to be competitive...and those looking for an easy win will get exactly what they put into their entries. *This is NOT in response to anyone who's posted in this thread. That being said, I don't paint to win competitions...I do it because I love it...winning anything is just all the better. More importantly, losing is a good teacher.

 

Tin...you and I are in a similar boat...we both have the skills to hit home runs, but we have to apply them correctly, without flaw.

 

Starks...when refering to me...capitalize my name, mortal.

[Tinweasel]

I use CMON ratings as a fair judgement of my progression. A few years ago, I was stoked at my first 7...a year ago, I was unhappy with anything less than an 8. Now, if I don't get 9's, I mentally rip apart the mini to see what I did wrong. You can sit back and say, "well, those folks on CMON are spoiled, or they are just looking for something flashy", but the idea of painting minis to a competition standard is to appeal to the viewer.

 

Tin...you and I are in a similar boat...we both have the skills to hit home runs, but we have to apply them correctly, without flaw.

For a while there, I thought CMON was the be-all end-all so far as global viewership, support of the hobby, and getting honest critique on posted figures. Now, while I maintain an account and still post stuff there, I by no means take the scores seriously at all. I've only had one figure that's scored over an 8 - it was a whimsical exercise in realistic rust techniques for which I wrote up a tutorial, and I'd go so far as to say that the overall appearance isn't nearly as good as a lot of the stuff I've painted since then. I think it scores over an 8 because it's a novelty item that had a tutorial wrote up for it. My figure that won a Silver Demon this year hasn't even broke a 7.5 yet in either of the posted image formats (light background and then dark background by request), and the Chaos Sorceror that I put less overall work into and had less "back patting" on is outranking my Demon winner at roughly a 7.7 or so. No offense to CMON, but I feel a lot of the scoring has to do with how popular a painter is historically and overall is subjective - I mean, no matter how you slice it, every figure you post starts out with a "6" score that statistically has to be "overcome - if the site were focused on accurate scoring of people's opinion, then by rights every posted figure ought to start out with no score at all. So far as useful feedback, I think I've gotten less from CMON (both posted pics and attempts at getting feedback in the Forums alike) than pretty much most of the other sites I've visited. Maybe you've gotten a different response and nothing but valuable critique - if so, more power to you!

 

I'm not really trying to rag on CMON here as I do like the place, but I'd rather post here or over on the Relicnews P&M Forum any day of the week and have folks chew my figures a new one time and time again - well, maybe with the occasional encouraging post and "nice work" comments - but overall, honest critiques are how I figger I'm going to improve. Although part of my posting stuff is for the glory and the self-promotion, what I really long for is a site where everyone is motivated towards posting constructive criticism and striving to help others improve as painters. Since I got back into painting about 2 years ago, people have been telling me "you're a good painter." Meh. It's a hobby that I enjoy and often obsess over... Having won an award, I guess I'll have to concede that maybe I am a reasonably good painter compared to some, but having my ego stroked does absolutely nothing for me so far as improving my skills or my technique and I'd much rather be told where I can improve than "wow, d00d, that's a cool figure" if given the option.

 

 

In that, yeah, I'd say we both are in the same boat. We both can apparently paint reasonably well, definitely have room for improvement, and seem to be pretty open in terms of asking for critique and accepting it at face value. I don't have any social contact with other painters short of online, and I'm trying to broaden my horizons by posting on new and different places.

 

I guess to keep this post topical, I like your painting but I'm not going to kiss your ass and I'd appreciate it if you'd do the same. I'd like nothing better than to bring a piece to Chicago next year (hopefully more if I can swing it) that I can truly be proud of in knowing that I challenged myself, got all the flaws picked out during the process, and have something that would look pretty damn good in a display case whether or not it wins an award...

 

(Congratties on the baby, by the way! A little belated, but that's what I get for coming in on a thread already in progress.)

[Mud]

Wow - some incredible work done, no wonder I'm keep coming back, the inspiration from you fellow hobbyists is raising the bar ;)

[anggrath the unbound]

yo lunchbox plz dnt tell me you enter the uk GD coz if uou do m screwed i paint well but i cant get the cool highlightly look that most GD painters have (DAMN YOU)

 

keep up the good work Lunch YOU ROCK!!!

 

--anggrath--

[LunchBox]

yo lunchbox plz dnt tell me you enter the uk GD coz if uou do m screwed i paint well but i cant get the cool highlightly look that most GD painters have (DAMN YOU)

 

keep up the good work Lunch YOU ROCK!!!

 

--anggrath--

 

 

I can drive to Chicago no problem. Last time I tried to drive to the UK, I encoutered a bit of a problem.

[LunchBox]

Well...here it is, done at last. As I said before, there will be a detailed write up with step-by-step pics in Starks' tutorial, and I'll probably get those up tonight, or tomorrow.

 

Abyway, I think the base turned out great, but please forgive the crappy lighting. My battery recharger broke, batteries were dead, and I had to hurry.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/lunchboxmtbr/done.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/lunchboxmtbr/100_0950.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/lunchboxmtbr/100_0951.jpg

[Starks333]

base looks good, i dont have comments for it right now other than its too big for the size of the squad, some models get lost, they are also too symmetrical, which is always an issue with squad organisation on many peoples entries

 

as for composition, when organisiing a squad you want it to tell a story(like what Mathieu said) so with your piece the way you've posed some of the models doesnt make sense, you have the two guys who look like they are about to swing at someone behind guys who have their arms raised to cheer/motivate/direct in a less battle ready stance

 

another thing...heres an idea about organising the models...right now your focal point is the middle, so much so you almost lose the other models(also because of the large amount of space) if you instead put the banner on the left, the model flows from the sword inwards to the banner(which means your eyes already going in the direction the rest of the squad will be) you could then put two handed sword man, and purple shield man beside him, or instead starks and purple shield guy....

 

now look at the other side, see how the powerfist model slopes your eye towards the left(to his fist) and away from the wall? thats also a good thing

 

symmetry is bad, but balance is good, so banner is big, wall is big chaplain is big, having two in the same section of the piece unbalances(unless of course you balance it)...if the wall was much larger you could get away with it because the wall is offset by two big models being together, or say 5 models on one side, the too big ones on the other, again numbers would balance(most likely)

 

just try placing them around on the scenery to see it, i may be right, may not be

 

i know you cant change it, but its something to consider for future squads :)

 

 

 

Starks