The Lichborne - Homebrew Warband - Aspiring Champion Completed

[Volgon]

Hey all, been a bit since I've worked on anything. Always tough for me to start a new project. With the rest of the kill team completed, it was time for me to take a crack at a leader, so I went with this Aspiring Champion. I worked on this guy across around 2 weeks. The first session was really frustrating; I had a lot of trouble with the blending. Even after a few months chipping away at it, glazing still remains a bit of a conundrum for me. Sometimes I get it perfect, but most of the time it's just back and forth, repainting layers as I mess up the previous gradient and have to start over. Overall though I am really stoked with how he came out, I think he is easily my best painted mini so far. I went with a higher contrast paint style this time. As per usual, may not be that evident in the photos but I am really satisfied with how he looks in hand. At first I wasn't sure if I'd like the look, as I felt darker shadows pulled away from the overall tone I was aiming for, but I think it came out great. I also went with no brown sponging this time as it was imperative to me not to mess up any of the blending I'd worked really hard on. I think that is probably what I'll continue doing for these guys from here on out.

 

[Tallarn Commander]

An outstanding model--excellent technique! And the color choices you made here gel nicely.

[Volgon]

@Tallarn Commander Thank you friend! It was a lot of fighting but I think the glazing is the best I've ever done. And happy to hear about the colors. I've been going with the Fire Hawks as the chapter for the unfortunate victims on my bases or as trophies for sentimental reasons but I'm glad their color scheme is complimentary to the blue of the armor. More secondary/tertiary colors is something I pushed for on this mini as I was really happy with the red on the banner of my previous project (the Icon Bearer) so I wanted to continue using the same color and others as well.

Edited November 15 by Volgon

[Rusted Boltgun]

Really lovely. Can see the progression from the previous minis (which were also great!). That head on the central spike is particularly gruesome!

[Firedrake Cordova]

He looks great!  

 

Glazing can be a pain - the paint consistency has to be correct (and different colours will need diluting by different amounts), and also the brush "loading" has to be correct.

[Volgon]

@Rusted Boltgun Appreciate the kind words! I have gotten more compliments than I expected about the spiked head. I can't paint skin at all so it's literally just a base of Rakarth Flesh with an Agrax Earthshade wash that I tossed Blood for the Blood God on to mask imperfections. The rough look is perfect for a head on a pike so I suppose it works out!

 

@Firedrake Cordova Thanks! You are on the money regarding glazing. So many little factors that make a big impact if you are going for a specific look. I like the look of really smooth blends so I'd prefer really thin glazes but that makes them pretty difficult to work with. And then when working with glazes that thin it takes ages to finally break up the transition line between two layers. I need to try stipple glazing and/or stippling layer paints at the transition to fuzz that gradient before beginning the glazing process. I've seen it work well for others. Maybe next project.

[Volgon]

Quick update on the Champion. It was bugging me that I kept him pretty clean compared to the rest of my kill team. My original intent was to have a finished piece that was a bit weathered but clean on the blue panels where I did all my blending. I wanted to ensure that the gradients were present and visible, and for him to function a bit as a milestone/display piece more than anything. However, it was bugging me that he didn't necessarily fit with his own base or with the atmosphere of the rest of the team. He can't be trampling through mud and be spotless except for his boots. I pulled the trigger on doing some light weathering. I purposefully skipped his plastron as I wasn't sure if I could effectively weather that area without really messing up the blending.