Brother Christopher's Other Projects

[Brother Christopher]

I think it's time to admit that my take on Warhammer has changed. After failing to complete my Black Templars army for way too many years and starting a yet-unnamed Space Marines Chapter, I realised that I quite like painting, and I quite like trying new stuff out.

 

I'm not a quitter. I just need a lot of time to bring projects to completion. While I have not abandoned — nor do I intend to abandon — my army-sized projects, I realised that I greatly appreciate the thrill of discovery, pushing my painting limits and, after all these years, developing my own style. As such, I decided to take breaks from my larger projects and attempt different (and hopefully more ambitious) things, as well as trying to paint miniatures from ranges other than Space Marines.

 

Technically, my first non-army side project was my Bayard's Revenge.

 

Back then, I thought it was a one-off attempt at something different. However, the process and the result were so satisfying that it made me realise I can just buy and paint minis that I like, choosing them without having gaming in mind.

 

This thread is dedicated to all of my future non-army projects. I have a list of minis that I like and, since I'm not in a hurry, I'm patiently looking for bargains so I can buy them cheaply.

 

I've already managed to buy a squad of Eldar Corsairs (inspired by @Dr. Clock's excellent work), a cheap squad of Ork Boyz and Boss from Armageddon (inspired by @Rusted Boltgun's juggling between Marines, fun Orks and other more heretical stuff), as well as some random Sisters of Battle. I'll also be reallocating some Space Marines to this thread and will hopefully paint them to a better standard than usual. On my wishlist, I have some other Xenos and Heretics, too — we'll see if I'll be able to find them at a good price. At the moment, I'm also quite apprehensive: I don't want to spiral out of control with my purchases — I've been there before, and I don't like that aspect of myself.

 

Right now, I'm taking advantage of the free time I have, and this is just a placeholder thread. I do hope that I'll get it running properly soon, though.

 

Inspired by @kabaakaba who made NNM look both amazing and easy, I think that my first proper project in this thread will be an ambitious NNM attempt on St. Celestine (in silver rather than gold). I've only tried NNM once before, and I failed miserably. I just hope that I won't ruin a nice mini with a rubbish paintjob.

[space wolf]

Well, I can say, I look forward to seeing what you do here. Your "revenge" model looks beautiful! Love what you've managed to do with the ork skin and the black armor. I wish my armor blends were that good. lol

[Brother Christopher]

I'm looking froward to sharing my other stuff. Even more so that I intend to up my painting game here. I figured that I can justify spending more time per mini if the projects are smaller or even one-off.

 

Speaking of, I've started painting St. Celestine. I think that I might have made a mistake with giving my first proper go with NNM on a SoB mini - it turns out they are way smaller than Space Marines (duh). As such, I find it quite challenging to paint the miniscule surfaces, get a convincing gradient and I have my doubts about my placement of highlights. On top of that, I probably really should have expanded my collection of paints for this purpose (especially some paints for NNM silver - get a warmer brown and a brighter yellow) and not work with the limited range I have. But I've got say that, uncharacteristically of me, I've been quite eager to start and there's no turning back now.

 

I'd like to think that this is a Black Templars' zeal that drives me! Otherwise, I must admit, that my impulses have gotten the better of me and I jumped the gun. And I don't want to admit this, so zeal it is! I'm curious to see where the tides of hobbying take me. 

 

I'll post some pictures once I reach a satisfying stage.

[space wolf]

What I would recommend in that case (and I am by no means a NMM expert) is to take your lightest and darkest values, and mix them a long your wet palette so that you have a line of gradient from the dark to the light. Then you can just pick the gradient needed. Additionally, I have noticed stark changes from light to dark in some places really helps to sell the "metallic" look.

[The Pounder]

I think you have to do what makes you happy in life.

 

Fantastic paint job on Bayard’s Revenge! One of my favourite releases that (sadly) I never bought.

[kabaakaba]

Wow, I've got mentioned

Good luck with your ambitions! 

Silver is a great metal and and there is so much variations of it. As @space wolfmentioned keep contrast strong. Especially for silver, in fact it's the one of metals you gonna paint from black to white. And be ready for sharp reflections with soft edges.  Oh! And follow the shape. If your highlights didn't they would be looks dull. 

And Celestine is a great mini to paint it with NMM.

I'll gonna haunting your tread with unwanted suggestions and needless cheers

Edited September 23 by kabaakaba

[Brother Christopher]

On 9/22/2026 at 2:57 PM, space wolf said:

What I would recommend in that case (and I am by no means a NMM expert) is to take your lightest and darkest values, and mix them a long your wet palette so that you have a line of gradient from the dark to the light. Then you can just pick the gradient needed. Additionally, I have noticed stark changes from light to dark in some places really helps to sell the "metallic" look.

 

That's what I've noticed, too. I've been trying to follow your advice but am not sure if I did it right and got enough contrast.

 

On 9/22/2026 at 10:26 PM, The Pounder said:

I think you have to do what makes you happy in life.

 

Fantastic paint job on Bayard’s Revenge! One of my favourite releases that (sadly) I never bought.

 

I'll try to do that! And right now, exploring new avenues of 40k seems like a great thing.

 

Thanks for the comment on the EC! I managed to snipe him and get a good price so I'll keep my fingers crossed that you'll manage to get one, too. 

 

1 hour ago, kabaakaba said:

Wow, I've got mentioned

Good luck with your ambitions! 

Silver is a great metal and and there is so much variations of it. As @space wolfmentioned keep contrast strong. Especially for silver, in fact it's the one of metals you gonna paint from black to white. And be ready for sharp reflections with soft edges.  Oh! And follow the shape. If your highlights didn't they would be looks dull. 

And Celestine is a great mini to paint it with NMM.

I'll gonna haunting your tread with unwanted suggestions and needless cheers

 

Sure you did! Since I'm not really into all the Social-Media-Painting-Influencers zeitgeist, this forum is my main source of inspiration. And your work really pushed me in the right direction. I hope that what I want to say doesn't come of as insulting. Please don't get me wrong: I mean this as a compliment. Your work is looking both great and approachable/achievable, unlike that of the "pro painters" (who seem to have unlimited resources and time) that Meta's algorithms show me from time to time. Sure, their minis are on another level but one that doesn't seem feasible to achieve alongside work, family and other hobbies. Your Bligh Hauler and Redemptor were particularly inspiring.

 

All suggestions and cheers are welcome, too!

***

 

So here's for the first genuine post. 

 

 

 

 

With the silver/steel, I think I've reached a point where I'm quite happy (especially since it's a first proper stab at NNM) but feel I probably could improve something, yet am afraid to damage what I already have. 

 

With the gold, I laid the foundation colours and will give it many more brighter and less saturated passes. I think that the yellow IRL is less rich/vibrant than in the photos. I'll post another update once it's finished and will hopefully take better photos, too. 

 

Overall, even with the signifiant magnification, I'm quite happy with the result. It's probably not a realistic style/finish but, I think, given the time investment, the process of exploring a new technique and the smaller-than-expected miniature, the state the minis is in right now is way better than I had hoped for. I'm considering giving the silver a cooler tint with some glazes later.

 

Comments and advise is welcome, particularly regarding the silver parts since I'd probably call declare that they're done. 

[kabaakaba]

Oh, there is the same thing I have had with silver on dread. It's like you afraid to put a little extreme on contrast. 

For example her right leg. On top on the grey part right next to grey white terminator should be black line since it's a reflection of abdomen. White area on other hand shouldn't be this flat. It should be most bright on top right side(top left on photo) and have soft gradient to grey on the right(left on photo) you could thin your grey and add few barely tinting layers over white, with each layer covering smaller area. An then add thinned white layer to the edge between white and grey. 

Another option is add reflection of sword with hand. You could see it if you look at mini from it's right and front. So you could break white area in half with black/dark grey line and build gradient from tat color to white in both directions.

This ain't rule, but I prefer to put all base colors before adding reflections. It's allow you chose right colors for them. Also on matter of reflection(I thinks it's main thing for NMM) your metal should reflect gold parts. Like little brownish/yellow stripes from gold pat that thinning over it's length

 

For chest plate I wanna add that they shouldn't have pure black on it's bottom since there is silver with gold armor on legs and abdomen of unknown color so it should reflect it. 

 

O_o idk if me English good enough to express what I mean correctly but I've tried.

 

Also what thinner do you use? 

Edited September 23 by kabaakaba

[space wolf]

I think you need to further contrast you lightest tones and your darkest tones. as an example, the tops of the *ahem* "chest armor, I think your lightest value should be a bit narrower. Additionally they are *ahem again* essentially conical so the highest highlight, should go from the tip of the cone...following its shape to the base of the cone. Then again I suppose depending on where the light source is coming from, your shine highlight, may vary.

[Brother Christopher]

I don't like this feedback  but I appreciate it. Soo... I don't want to, but I'll get back to it then. I'll tone the brightest sections down and see where I'll end up. Thanks!

[kabaakaba]

2 hours ago, Brother Christopher said:

I don't like this feedback  but I appreciate it. Soo... I don't want to, but I'll get back to it then. I'll tone the brightest sections down and see where I'll end up. Thanks!

I wish someone have had give me feedback with dread....

[Brother Christopher]

@kabaakaba I appreciate your support and feedback, even if I'm not able to make good use of it.

 

I think that my biggest problem is that I haven't done proper homework and thought I can sort of wing the effect. I approached a rather advanced and artistic method without the necessary theoretical background and with my lame sense of what looks right.

 

While I'm not sure if it's an upgrade, I put some more work into the mini's armour and started painting the jump pack. Admittedly, the photo isn't great but what do you think?

 

 

 

 

[space wolf]

I think you're getting there. Especially the thighs and knees!

[kabaakaba]

Hm, I am seeing some progress, though it's feels like you haven't thinned your paints properly. Like for NMM I thin my Vallejo with glaze medium 1:2,5-3 and put 10-15 layers for each transition. If you blows on it with your mouth after every layer it's drying pretty quick. And you could put next one. Legs are great now. 

For jump pack wings good question is what they are reflecting right now. They have few flat surfaces but round corners. So don't forget make your reflections highlights on them curvey on the round edges 

[Brother Christopher]

On 9/29/2026 at 9:33 PM, kabaakaba said:

Hm, I am seeing some progress, though it's feels like you haven't thinned your paints properly. Like for NMM I thin my Vallejo with glaze medium 1:2,5-3 and put 10-15 layers for each transition.

 

I'm definitely not attempting your level of NNM transitions - it turns out that I don't have the patience (or heart?) to do it. For the thick and slightly chalky finish - some of it is probably due to the mini being bough as second-hand and my attempts to remove the old paint. The plastic was left a bit coarse after the process.

 

But thanks a lot for motivating me to push myself.

 

On 9/29/2026 at 9:33 PM, kabaakaba said:

If you blows on it with your mouth after every layer it's drying pretty quick.

 

This isn't... elegant, but thanks for the tip! It works, even though I feel a bit silly doing it :D

 

***

 

Here's another update.

 

I would say that the silver/steel armour is done - I'm afraid to do anything else to it at this stage. I would say I find it acceptable at this stage. I'm curious what you guys think, even though I probably won't make more changes.

 

I must admit, the face was extremely challenging. The hair getting in the way of painting the right eye was very annoying. I thought it was a good idea to try and add some freckles to her cheeks but, I don't know. For the lips - yeah... they're not great, but this miniature is miniscule. I think I fixing it is beyond my skills at this stage.

 

For the hair, I started prepping them to paint them a dark grey/black but now I'm considering going for a warmer tone, perhaps a straw-coloured blonde to contrast with the overwhelmingly grey armour.

 

The lining of the cape is almost done - I've went for a tan colour. The sides of the corset will stay red (to go together with the roses), while the middle part will be blue. I'm planning to do the same with the loincloth and back of the cape. I also decided to use blues as ancillary colours for details (sword hilt, gems).

 

If these are bad ideas, please let me know.

 

[kabaakaba]

Well, it's better. If I were you, I'd add more reflections. The red should be reflected on the chestplate and the gold on the shoulder pad. You need to step back a little from the edge of the gold element and draw a thin, barely noticeable gold line. Look at the reflection on my dread on the rocket launcher on top of the body. How the yellow is reflected. 

With a little reflections you faking chrome. Even if your transitions are a bit rough with reflections it would be great.

[Lathe Biosas]

When I look at how awesome your toys are, I get sad that mine will never be that cool. 

 

Amazing job.

[Brother Christopher]

@kabaakaba I'll be attempting to glaze some reflected colours on at a later stage, once I figure out all the other colours for the mini. I expect that this will make or break the paintjob. That's why I'm delaying starting on it.

 

@Lathe Biosas Thanks for watching and posting! I appreciate the comment.

I haven't yet seen your work but I'm sure it's cool, too. And I'd say this: take your time. I'm a self-taught painter who's been in the hobby on and off for many, many years. But I've seen significant improvements only for the last couple of years whilst trying new stuff out. Come to think of it - this self-perceived spike of improvement has led me here, actually.

[WBRBloom]

This is amazing work there @Brother Christopher, and I'm fully supportive of your way of thinking. I too like to buy miniatures more with 'what I want to paint' as a compass, rather than 'how useful is this for my army/list'. Also, I don't play as much as I want these days, so there are little to no constraints of how I want to expand my collection.

 

Really amazing work as well. As someone that is still trying to learn to do NMM and reflective surfaces without the use of metallic paints, I find it fascinating and commendable that you are trying to better yourself.

 

If I had to give some kind of advise, since I'm not a painting expert and I paint for my own amusement, is to thin your paints and that glaze is your friend. Even if you do make a mistake it would be easier to cover it up and start again, than having to strip something down to bare bones.

[space wolf]

looks good to me! honestly, you're braver than I am!

[The Pounder]

@space wolf speaks the truth!

 

Fantastic work on a beautiful model. I’m nowhere near as brave as what you’re doing here.

 

I think she’s stunning.

[kabaakaba]

14 hours ago, Brother Christopher said:

@kabaakaba I'll be attempting to glaze some reflected colours on at a later stage, once I figure out all the other colours for the mini. I expect that this will make or break the paintjob. That's why I'm delaying starting on it.

the earlier you add them the simplier repair would be. 

also I have noticing you was not glazed back with previews color. this make it look rougher than it is. 

Hic sunt dracones:

Spoiler

no magic,

you put layer then next one. 

you frag your brush from darker to lighter color. to prevent sharp lines you need to drag you brush alongside your stroke.

once it's dried you grab your previous color thinning it and brag backward i.e. from lighter side to darker. it's create pretty smooth transition. if you blowing it wouldn't take too much time.

in the start of stroke there is thinner layer of paint and in the end thicker. 

 

 

[Heraclite]

I just noticed it after zooming. 

 

Everybody is focusing on the NMM (which looks amazing by the way).

 

But... You gave her freckles! How awesome is that!

[Brother Christopher]

On 10/8/2026 at 11:34 AM, WBRBloom said:

This is amazing work there @Brother Christopher, and I'm fully supportive of your way of thinking. I too like to buy miniatures more with 'what I want to paint' as a compass, rather than 'how useful is this for my army/list'. Also, I don't play as much as I want these days, so there are little to no constraints of how I want to expand my collection.

 

The only drawback is that, it turns out, GW's portfolio is absolutely huge. And many models are not available. So traversing these new waters (i.e. things that are not Space Marines) is quite tricky.

 

On 10/8/2026 at 11:49 PM, kabaakaba said:

the earlier you add them the simplier repair would be. 

also I have noticing you was not glazed back with previews color. this make it look rougher than it is. 

 

It's quite clear that I've made a rookie mistake. Will see if it's fixable.

 

On 10/9/2026 at 12:54 AM, Heraclite said:

I just noticed it after zooming. 

 

Everybody is focusing on the NMM (which looks amazing by the way).

 

But... You gave her freckles! How awesome is that!

 

Thanks for noting this! I appreciate it. Giving her freckles was one of those ideas that seemed cool but I weren't sure about the outcome. Getting the small face right-ish was really challenging. 

 

 

On 10/8/2026 at 11:34 AM, WBRBloom said:

Really amazing work as well. As someone that is still trying to learn to do NMM and reflective surfaces without the use of metallic paints, I find it fascinating and commendable that you are trying to better yourself.

 

On 10/8/2026 at 11:21 PM, The Pounder said:

Fantastic work on a beautiful model. I’m nowhere near as brave as what you’re doing here.

 

Yeah, haha - I've gotta admit - it was brave. To be honest, after doing some work on this mini, I suppose it was too brave and optimistic. It's quite apparent that I'm not yet ready to level my painting up to a degree that I envisaged. And I think that the biggest problem is my attitude and where my priorities lie. What I'm about to type might turn out a bit complain-y but it isn't, I assure you.

 

I think that I'm not mentally ready to take on painting projects that last tens of hours. While focusing on tiny details and trying new things out is fun, I find this project a bit tiresome. After all, I have so much other cool stuff to do. It doesn't help that the results aren't as satisfying as I had hoped. I don't intend to complain - it's just that I've discovered that I don't have the knowledge, skills and time to do things properly.

 

A big issue with the way I approach life is that I quickly forget about negative experiences and feelings. But this project reminds me how eventually grinding I found painting my Shield Captain.

Spoiler

 

At this point in life, I'm just not ready to up my painting game. And I think it's important to note that this is neither good or bad - it's just something I feel to be natural. The NNM attempt has also been a very insightful experience and I think I've learnt a lot that I will use in my painting from now on. For example, I think I learnt some theory regarding how different shapes reflect light - something I never paid much attention to (probably didn't have to with power armour). Where I'm still failing is getting ambient lighting right: I think I manage quite well when it comes to parts of minis but I somehow can't get it right for all the parts combined.

 

Consequently, I will be 'rushing' Celestine and will probably forfeit attempts at 'better painting' for the next couple of months. And by rushing, I probably mean just giving up on bettering myself - I think I'll concede and see where I end up with. Regardless, I already kind of know that she'll be one of the best miniatures I've painted to date. 

 

In the spirit of rushing things, I finished another stage. What's still on the to-do list is: sword; back of the cape; wings; servo skull and an attempt to glaze some colour/reflection on the "NNM" armour (I put NNM in quotes since, in the end, I don't think it'll be convincing enough). 

[kabaakaba]

first of all you are criticized yourself too much. 

you done her great. 

and as one of your first painting(art painting) project you make it absolutely fine. 

there is thing you mentioned about tens of hours. just don't try finish such project in one go. it should be slowburner. you paint something like few layers of highlight, sometimes just a single color and leave it be. do your sm stuff , play some games. when you return to painting your slowburner you will see it in new light, find things you wanna fix and add next few layers of finish some parts(i.e. shoulder pad, helmet) and repeat process again. it's ain't job. it should be pleasure and nice time. 

also there is no rookie mistakes in your painjob. it's all fine. I'd kill almost week to understand how to transitions(I'm not the brightest pal in the block)

so just rest a bit do your stuff and return to this project in few hobby sessions or so. like give her few glazes and leave it be. 

 

oh and your NMM is NMM not 'NMM' you know. it's really looks like metal.

Edited Wednesday at 10:33 PM by kabaakaba