300 Challenge: Dead Justice Part 4

I am pretty happy with how these are turning out. The Malifaux models proved to be quite a challenge. I only managed to complete seven of them this weekend, compared to the twenty-five+ guardsmen I turned out last weekend. The worst of it is that while I should be about done, I keep finding things I need to go back and fix. They will have to wait for now since I am at the point where I am fussing over them and will probably do more harm than good. When I do get back to them I need to add a little more blood and gore. i know they are yet too clean!

This brings my total to 68. This means that in order to meet my challenge goal, I need to grind out 32 more models in the next five days! How will I ever manage that? Maybe I need to start thinking "smaller."

-Maniple

300 Challenge: Dead Justice Part 3

 This project is taking a long time. I have been spending a lot of time going back shading and highlighting. I want to get all the tones just right and it has been tricky. This stage represents a number of steps after my last post, but it does not look significantly different. The idea with a wash or a highlight is that you don't want to move too fast and apply the paint too thick. A good wash will be very much thinned down with very clean water. The temptation is to glob on the paint and do it quick. This leaves the model without any depth and details obscured.

 Here is another highlight yet. We are getting there!

 I tried something new with this model. Blacklining is a technique where black or another very dark color is applied at the point where one color meets another on the model. This defines the area clearly and makes the light colors stand out a little better. I thinned down some black and applied it with a very thin brush. In order to get it as exact as possible I even broke out my 3x magnification eye glasses. After applying the line, I went back and cleaned up any parts where the black wasn't neat. I think it makes here look pretty good!

Lady Justice is looking pretty good, too. I need to pick out a few more details but I am finally happy with the shade of the skin. There are also a few more metal bits to work on and I need to put an inscription on the gravestone. Next I will move on to the Death Marshals and get them finished. They shouldn't take quite as long, I hope.



-Maniple

300 Challenge: Dead Justice Part 2

 Work continues on Dead Justice (and others). These Malifaux models make average space marines seem like children's toys. They are much more delicate and the features are much finer. In some ways they are easier to paint because the features are so well defined, but on the other hand they are more difficult because I am actually having trouble seeing them under the paint brush.

 Lady Justice got some work done on her pants and hair. I am using Dark Flesh with progressive highlights in order to get red hair. I think it will work. It is also a good next step for some of the leather. I also got my black out and fixed up some earlier mistakes. This seems to be a constant process on these minis- i have to learn to be more careful with the brush.

 The wood started with Scorched Brown, highlighted with Bestial Brown, then a mix of bestial Brown and Bubonic Brown, then straight Bubonic Brown. The coat has been highlighted as well with Bestial Brown over Dark Flesh.

The highlight is looking good, but I know I am going to have trouble with the flames. Still, the models are very cool.


-Maniple

300 Challenge: Dead Justice

 I came back from Gen Con with a pile of new Malifaux models. Here is "Dead Justice," the limited edition version of Lady Justice and her crew. On the left is the limited edition gunslinger, Miss Demeanor. I put Lady J. and her buddies on some graveyard bases and the gunslinger will have a noose on hers. Some of them I pinned and lgued to the bases, others are left free so that I can paint the base under the model. I can glue these down when I am done.

 I also have the Nightmare edition Teddy. I modeled him catching a bite to eat. I do not have a base yet for Teddy, I will probably order the orphanage set for him from Wyrd. The spray paint did not basecoat him particularly well. I went back and filled in the missing parts with some thinned-down black paint.

 I started by doing a little work on the bases. They are mainly green and brown, but there are a few interesting things I will pick out later There is a lot of fur, leather, and wood on these models so I went ahead and hit them with some Scorched Brown. I find this to be a nice base coat for any number of these tones. With a wide array of browns and grays I can highlights and blend each texture differently from the same basecoat. for instance, the bear will end up sort of sandy brown, like an old well-used teddy bear. The wood will have dark recesses and an extreme highlight. The leather will stay fairly dark, reddish, with a glossy finish.

 I wanted to define some of the details right away so I could keep them distinct from others. For instance, I did not want to get the Judge's kerchief blended into his hair or the coffin flames covered in wood tones. A little blue paint made those bits bright so I could be sure to keep the brown away from them and make my job harder later. Some of the brown bits also received a preliminary highlight at this stage. A light drybrush with a tan color and pick out details the eye can miss. I also reshaped the Judge's chain, keeping a nice curve to it.

 Here you can see that I began working on metal and flesh. All the metal bits are a light coat of Chainmail, dead flesh is Rotting Flesh, and Miss Demeanor has a basecoat of Dwarven Flesh evenly applied. In order to get a smooth coat, I applied many fine layers rather than glob it all on at one go.

 Lady Justice received a very diluted wash of Dwarven Flesh over the Rotting Flesh base. This creates a splotchy effect on the skin and also gives some shade to the, uh, crevices. I am not looking forward to painting her outfit- it has a crazy amount of detail.

 Miss Demeanor is looking pretty good. This picture will be helpful as a reference since the lighting shows me where the painted highlights should go.

More Soon.



-Maniple