The Lichborne - Homebrew Warband

[Volgon]

@Pearson73 Thank you friend! I actually did attempt some OSL on the shield runes, but don't recall why I decided against it. I don't have an airbrush and a limited selection of red paints so it probably just didn't look good enough to me. Regardless I am very happy with the shield. So happy in fact that I am looking to start incorporating more Ossiarch Bonereapers themes in future conversions. I have tinkered around a bit with some very bespoke kitbashed Terminators using OBR parts from multiple kits.

 

And I appreciate the painting comments, too. My painting has certainly slowed down even more the last few projects but I get a lot of satisfaction seeing the completed result. The project I am working on now is even more technical. I am trying to incorporate even more volumes than previously. I think I did a decent job of that on the shield guy; it was my first real attempt at that style of painting, so it's time to push it a bit further. 

 

After that, I'm looking to incorporate a new black recipe into my scheme. I don't mind how I do the black areas currently; the black you see is literally just the black primer but touched up where needed with Vallejo Black. The chipping, weathering, and lately the rust adds a lot to the look, and the flatness helps it come across as exactly how I want it to: a surface painted with matte black paint rather than actual black metal, or more commonly the look of blue-ish metal/paint since many people tend to paint or highlight black armor with blues.

 

Lately it's been nagging me that I kind of just coast by on the black though; while I feel like I'm "leveling up" my painting trying different recipes and techniques for other surfaces, I haven't done that with the black, so I want to try something technical and difficult just because I can. What's been holding me back is twofold:

1. I haven't found a recipe I liked (until a few days ago). It is imperative that I keep the look of the black areas, well, as black as possible, so it's been a real struggle for me to find examples of potential recipes that fit my criteria and painting situation. Lots of blue-black armors (wrong color), lots of high contrast blacks (think NMM style, so basically gleaming armor when I want ultra matte looking black), lots of weathered armor (essentially what I'm doing now). The closest I got was "warm black", so using dark warm greys like Skavenblight Dinge and Stormvermin Fur. I finally found an example that looks perfect for me on an old post on Dakkadakka; it's on cloth and looks very natural, but I'm hoping it translates well to armor plates. Fingers crossed.
2. The limited areas I have that are actually black. It's almost entirely trim with very sparse spots where I can actually work the volumes (essentially just the thighs). I worry about working in such small areas, in both a physical sense of using a brush and also whether any contrast will actually show up well with the selection of colors I have picked. I specifically want a low contrast look for the black but that just might not work that well. Time will tell.

Sorry for the ramble! Just putting some thoughts to paper since finishing the last guy.

[Volgon]

Hey all, finished up another mini today. He's my version of the Visionary, the leader for the Nemesis Claw kill team. I might expand on the team later but I have other projects I'd prefer to complete first.

 

I did some experimenting for this project. I tried to go harder on volumes, a kind of NMM style painting, which I think came out pretty well. I think the rear half of the mini shows this off best, though with less contrast than you would see in higher end NMM as I don't particularly like the extreme contrast and glaring highlights unless it's literally bare metal. I prefer a more matte look.

 

Another positive is that I may have finally cracked the code on blending. I've detailed my highs and lows across my posts but this time I tried doing stippling/scratching/hatch marking around the gradient with a very sharp tipped brush and that really helps with the glazing afterwards. I always struggled with blurring the gradient between two different color layers and this stippling was the key to making it much easier. I had tried it before but never with a very sharp tipped brush so (at least for me) it never really worked out, but trying it out with a different brush worked wonders.

 

All that said, I really struggled with motivation on this guy. Towards the end I was just ready to be finished. I totally forgot to weather the blue on his sword arm, and I just didn't bother with weathering the blue shin armor at all out of choice. I was simply ready to finish the project. I might go back and add a little detail later on, but it doesn't bother me all that much. I think I should try to codify my painting process a bit, work one section at a time, and try to paint in smaller sessions. I've noticed the longer my painting sessions go the more impatient I get which leads to skipping out on steps.

 

[Grotsmasha]

Looks terribly brutal in all the best ways

[Volgon]

@Grotsmasha Thanks! I was trying to go for a more worn down look, like a battle line sergeant/squad leader. Rusty and blood stained weapon, a decent amount of weathering, some rusting around rivets and recesses. Just ran out of steam at the end.

[Firedrake Cordova]

He came out great. The armour looks really nice

[Volgon]

@Firedrake Cordova Thanks as always! I am happy with the armor for sure, I think future projects are going to be much easier after what I learned on this guy which is exciting. I am a really slow painter so anything that can speed things up without sacrificing quality is going to be great for me.

Edited March 18 by Volgon

[Farva Ramathorn]

I think it worked out really well. A complex mini with lots of detail to pick out. 

Sounds like you employed many different techniques. Well done.

[Volgon]

@Farva Ramathorn Cheers, you are definitely right about the details. I made most of the kitbashes in this thread before I started painting, so I went pretty extravagant on a lot of greeblies and details that look awesome but are exhausting to go through and actually paint! It really is just ticking off a laundry list of little things over the course of the paint job.

[Teetengee]

Just found these, and I am loving the kitbashes. Each looks coherent and that's so important to make a mini feel like a mini, and not just obviously parts slapped together. Plus, you have me liking blue, which is a feat in itself. These are gorgeous.

[Volgon]

@Teetengee Welcome to the thread and thanks so much for the kind words! I've put a ton of effort into every kitbash and paintjob so it feels great to see someone new check them out. I love converting so every mini I've painted so far has had kitbashing to various levels, some with just a simple head swap like my earliest pieces but most with much more involved processes.

[Teetengee]

no pressure, of course, but do you have any plans for the archlich paint yet? I'm really curious to see it painted to the style/scheme you've got going here

[Volgon]

@Teetengee The Archlich is something I think about often, as I consider him my holy grail project. I want learn as much as I can before starting, as while I don't plan on entering any painting competitions, I would like to paint him to that display/competition piece standard if possible. I do feel like I have grown enough as a painter to give him a paint job I am proud of, but I am still making tweaks. Paint related things like the blue recipe (thinking of trying to push contrast higher by making shadows darker) and a real recipe for black armor (right now it is about as bare bones as you can get). Technique related skills like refining my blending and dialing in exactly how much (if any) weathering I want to commit to. Even thoughts of expanding the project to something a bit larger, like a small diorama. 

 

I think there's a good chance I get started on him sometime this year, just not sure when. I actually have a Fantasy/Sigmar version of the same character that I have been working on. There's been some AoS releases this edition that really got my creative juices flowing so I dove in a one-off conversion project. The plan is he will serve as a tester mini for the 40k version as I deliberately utilized many of the same iconic pieces for both versions.

[Teetengee]

very nice, and yeah, I get that patience/hesitation for touching the big centerpiece hq type minis