Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Adventures in Painting Minis


So, I decided it was finally time to attempt getting some paint on some of the Oldhammer minis I've been collecting.


Here is the first mini I've painted since, well... ever. He's not Oldhammer.


And he was only tossed together for two reasons: (1) so I could use him for scale when taking pics of my terrain builds and (2) to try a rust technique.

So I primed up multiple dudes to give me a bit of choice in case I got bored or suffered from painters block or some other malady I imagined could strike as I tried to get creative with these little guys.



I wound up starting with the Ork. I'm a big fan of the old 'Eavy Metal style so I tried emulating it to the best of my ability... lol. I need lots of practice!




There are MANY things I took away from Mr Ogryn:
  • Variety in similar colours is a good thing - my browns are waaayyyy too uniform
  • Sealing dulls highlights and drybrush highlights way down
  • Matte sealer (Liquitex) isn't that matte until you get a few coats on
  • Windsor Newton inks are very glossy when dry
  • I definitely need more practice
  • And one for my kids - green is not a creative colour
I then moved on to this old Eldar figure:



With all my Orky experience I figured I'd be able to hoist those lessons learned aboard and improve my painting immediately. From him I learned:
  • Large smooth surfaces are challenging for me to blend/layer on
  • Painting when you are in a hurry / have a deadline is not a good thing if you try to rush everything
  • Homemade terrain washes need to be very refined if you plan to try them on miniatures.
With all that new and hard-won experience the adventure then continued with this Ogryn:


This time I slowed down, painted what I could with the time available and forced myself to patiently wait until the next opportunity to get more done presented itself :-)

I got the main colours blocked in and started trying to do the skin highlights.



I actually was pretty happy with it until I tried to wash it with my brand new GW flesh wash straight from the pot and screwed it all up! (Yay!)





Overall though, I'm ok with how he turned out. Could definitely have been better but it's only my fourth mini paint job ever so there's still much to learn.

Next I think I'll finish up the Squat from the pic further up the page.

To the guys on the Oldhammer forum and FB group - keep it up! The inspiration you provide is awesome!

JoBangles out. 

2 comments:

  1. Hello, MrJoBangles. I'm happy to have found your blog. I live in Ladysmith, British Columbia. I think the paint work you've accomplished on your Rogue Trader Ogryn is really well done... is it really only your fourth figure ever!? It's amazing for a fourth figure. I've been gaming and collecting since the 80s but had turned into a bit of a stale collector of this-and-that and I haven't finished a project for a sadly, long time. It's a bit embarrassing, really. A few years ago I was sitting around amongst my horde, collection, I mean collection, and I was thinking about what games and miniatures I really missed and I decided that among other things it was: Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader 1st Ed., Warhammer Fantasy Battle 3rd Ed., and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Ed. And, I really missed the RT 1st Ed plastic Mark VI Imperial Space Marines and the metal bodied/plastic arms Imperial Guardsman. I had traded away all the aforementioned books and miniatures many years ago but as it happened I was browsing the for sale-or-trade items of a forum of which I was a member and I saw an add for a bunch of sundry items and amongst them was a RT blister titled Forces of the Imperium. It was my first Oldhammer purchase. It's actually a really cool blister as it contains 2 Commissars, 1 Imperial Officer and 1 Imperial Beastman Hero. While I was waiting for it to arrive I stumbled upon The Oldhammer forum. I'm not a member but I do lurk there form time-to-time. Since that time I've concentrated on collecting the books and miniatures I've previously mentioned as well as others. I've been lucky. I've stayed pretty focused and I've a nice collection of Space Marines including some vehicles, a start on Imperial Guard and some Genestealers and a couple of Hybrids. BUT, I haven't painted a darn thing, embarrassing. Nevertheless, I'm working on assembling a few plastic beakies and a metal Mark IV SM. I'm really glad to have found this blog post of yours about collecting and painting as it's inspired me. Since I've started collecting Oldhammer stuff I've also began trading away and sometimes giving away some of the many other games and miniatures I've collected. Among-other-things, in my most recent trade I acquired a few White Dwarf Magazines issues: 123,125,126,128, 154 and 168. At-the-same-time as I became interested in Oldhammer I also decided that I'd re-collect and newly acquire some other OOP games and miniatures: various Renegade Legion stuff by FASA, various orange spinned AD&D books, loads of Chronopia and warzone by Target games and-so-on. I've been thinking recently that I'll probably be able to collect more Oldhammer Imperial Guard and Genestealers but I won't be collecting Oldhammer miniatures for armies for WFB 3rd Ed. as my budget just couldn't cope. Anyway, I've rambled on-and-on... I like your painted stuff and your terrain as well.

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    Replies
    1. That's awesome. Thanks for the kind words on my terrain and paint attempts thus far. Hardest part is finding time!
      I can relate almost exactly with your Oldhammer experience :-)
      For me a lot of it is that old nostalgia (and finally having the means to pursue it!) and the hard part is not over doing it for sure.
      Cheers, and who knows, maybe we'll run into each other at an event some time. It's a small world and this OH hobby definitely makes it even smaller!

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