Alright, so after the disaster, I realized that without weeks-worth of stripping every last speck of paint of my minis, I would never be able to get the smooth finish I wanted for the Death Wing. So my next move was to try something different. I thought of an army of the dead (kind of like Legion of the Damned, but less fire and brimstone. So I went with a two tone bronze-brass idea, using a 50/50 snakebite leather/ Tin Bitz as a base and Dwarven Brass as the zenithal highlight. I then washed everything Delvan Mud and started playing with the Patina, which is a recipe borrowed from Les Bursley.
The concept of tarnished looking Termies seemed cool and Ghostly Death Wing seemed like an interesting take, but as I move through this WIP model, I am not sure. I really think it could conceptually look cool, but I am at a point where I need somebody else to let me know what they think, so here I am. Click the photos as they are raw images from my camera and should get fairly large.
The hammer is blank right now because I want to do an airbrush effect for the hammers. The areas where there is boltgun metal, I am thinking of changing to a bright rust (with a little texture) using powders. I think that orange could pop and add to the theme. At that point, the glowing eyes would move to glowing blue as would the power weapon. So with that in mind, try to visualize that with what you see here.
The model on the left was the first test I did just to see if I liked patina at all, the model on the right is where I used the effect across the model. The white symbols are there because I felt like it offered contrast and could represent purity despite the decrepit state of the surrounding armor. The white right now is literally a base and wash, but obviously would be taken up a few steps in the process.
So with all that being said, I need criticism folks, so keep it constructive, please and fire away. Any ideas are welcome and this community has some great folks out there who may be able to really help, so I am looking forward to your thoughts!
PS: I figured these guys would be the ghosts of former Death Wing, who in death has received the Emperor's forgiveness only to serve him as they did in life. I imagine them bailing the current DW out of a harsh situation, only to be thought Fallen and just when it looks like the living DW will attack them, Ezekial steps in with his ability to see guilt and sins and knows that they are Forgiven - and poof, the whole Forgiven force vanishes like smoke only to be seen in battles across the galaxy - even where the Dark Angels are not present. Don't consider that part open for criticism, I know its cheesy!
I like the idea, has a lot of character. However, it needs a lot more contrast and 'pop' - can't wait to see one finished!
ReplyDeleteI have been wanting to comment since the disaster post; however, I could not find anything to say. I like the concept and way you have decided to go with the DW....
ReplyDelete...if you get lemons...make lemonade.
I really like the look of these new guys, but as with BlueRonin, I think you may want to add in a little more contrast by taking the brass a little brighter, and I'd suggest going a little easier on the verdigris as it takes up too much of the surface at the moment in my opinion. Limiting it to only the recesses where it wouldn't wear off from normal wear and tear would look better, perhaps with a few minor streaks.
ReplyDeleteI really love the look however, its very effective and a great save from what you'd been left with, great work.
If you use rust pigment, the orange is going to blend into the rust and just look like rusty eyes. I can understand wanting to stay away from blue though since everybody and their mother has blue glow eyes and power weapons. Green? I think it'll be personal preference
ReplyDeleteIf you want to lighten up the brass do a super light dry brush of shining gold. Super light and just over the top of the model's weird hunchback thing.
I like what you're doing. You're biggest critic is always yourself though. Push through that and you'll have a cool looking army. Its quick and easy so why not push through?
I think I got it down. I popped out of the shower this morning and started doing some super-light drybrush rust shades, picking out less details and letting the patina and rust do their jobs as far as effect and cool factor go. Still looking for advice on what people think of the white and I am still playing with colors for the eyes.
ReplyDeleteIf these guys are supposed to be ghosts I think the green color should be brighter to put more emphasis on the ghostly aspect. Draw more attention to that aspect so you can avoid having your army assumed to be a counts as variant rather then deathwing who continue their fight for the emperor after death.
ReplyDeleteI would go less on the verdigris as well, and take it to a pale green. As for the eyes, I'm not sure if anything but blue would really work for the glow, reds yellows and oranges would really blend with the bronze that I feel any glow would be lost. Greens would be lost in the verdigris. I'm not sure if something grey would look quite right.
ReplyDeleteDeathbringer, they are more unread than ghosts.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea, but I think the patina is too green. Maybe another very thin wash of patina with more light blue in it to help bring up the contrast of the metalics. I'd go with yellow, yellow/green, and green for the eyes and stay away from blues and reds. As reds and blues tend to be 'go to' colors for marine eyes, and yellow and yellow/green and green make for a great 'ghostly' color if you use them for OSL.
ReplyDeleteThanks elbrun, I like your ideas.
ReplyDeleteBTW, just picked up some stuff for a daemons conversion army!
Can't wait to see where they're going.. right now they do look like they need some more contrast.. metallic on a large scale doesn't always look great.. you could try some NMM or mixing the metallic in with some browns/beiges to shade and highlight.
ReplyDeleteI think they need more contrast as well. One idea would be to have bits and pieces of the original paint scheme remain. It would tie them in more and achieve the "these guys are really old" feeling. Sort of like chipping in reverse (since you can't really chip copper)
ReplyDelete