So I've been having a lot of fun painting lately, but mainly figures. When I was talking to my buddy he told me he's trying to work on at least one piece of terrain a month. That sounded like a good idea, so I worked it into my routine:
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| Ancient statue to some unknown race. |
This ancient statue and these shipping crates have really nothing to do with each other, I just chose them to paint first.
The ancient statue head is a piece I ran across on ebay. I had seen some scenic bases for 6" X-men action figures featuring a destroyed sentinel (giant robot). I thought they would make cool terrain, but the price was never right. The statue was much more cost effective so I pulled the trigger. I've had this thing for nearly 3 years, so I figured now was the time to paint it.
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| Green only in the deep shadows. It grows better there. |
I knew right off the bat I wanted it to be red. Not so much a Mars look, but because our area has some cool red clays. I thought it would be fun to have this piece carved from some special rock formation on the planet. There was lots of work with spray-paints, followed by shades and a lot of dry brushing. To make the base stand out I did some brown and grey dry brushing to make the statue pop more.
Tip: If you are painting 3D printed stuff, particularly filament printed, do yourself a favor and get some fillable primer from the hardware store. It really helps soften the print lines.
Next up was some 3D printed shipping crates I got from an Etsy seller. A little more sci-fi and less grimdark than the 40k ones which I like. I also really liked that they have a stacking system built into the design. So much so that I placed a second order.
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| Shipping Crates: Nice quick versatile terrain. |
I tried my hand using an Army Painter yellow speedpaint. While I liked the flow and found them comparable to contrast, I really disliked the fact that they reactivated and stained my hands while handling the crate. I also need a dry pallet to drop them into. So as much as I like the rest of the Army Painter line, these speedpaints may not be for me.
I finished up the crate with some spot details, and some weathering. I like cleaner models, so I tried not to go overboard on it. Also, it's just a shipping crate so I didn't want to spend too much time on it. I do still have five more of these to finish. I did try a stencil I cut myself. It didn't work as well as I had planned. It's something I'll have to practice with.
Expect more terrain over the next few months. I have a rather decent collection now... (thanks Fogou!).
Lovely work on the scenery!
ReplyDeleteThe giant head is really striking and the print lines don't detract at all from it, rather giving it the look of something thats been carved out of stone that is wearing away. Brilliant!
The shipping container is great too but I've hears similar tales about the lack of permanence of the Army Painter speed paints. Did you varnish it to secure the colour?
All the best!
Thanks ScS! I thought the same thing about the print lines on the statue head. They add to the piece rather than detract from it.
DeleteI was kind of bummed about the speedpaints as I've really been leaning into the rest of the AP line. The speedpaints seem to work just as well as the contrast... except for the bleeding. I did hit the crate with varnish before I did the "stencils". Apparently I didn't hit the one side well enough because it bled into the grey and also the white. It's still a good tool, but IMHO if I have to hit it with varnish between steps it looses the whole point of "speedpainting". Hopefully it's something they fix in the future. Until then I have collected plenty of contrasts...
I really like both of these. The statue has a cool mysterious feel, like something from a Moebius picture, and the paint scheme helps with that. It reminds me of a John Blanche picture from the old Eldar book. The crate is really nicely painted. The highlighting and weathering are great. Shame the paint sounds a bit iffy but the end result is very nice.
ReplyDeleteThanks Toby! I thought the same of the statue when I saw it. Maybe this is an old Eldar Crone world? Maybe some precursor race? Who knows!
DeleteDon't get me wrong the paints work well, I just don't need an extra step in my process. Especially when I mostly use Can Spray varnish. Usually give it 24 hours to evaporate the gasses.
Both of them look pretty interesting. The head looks mysterious indeed, but the crate is really something, I like the design and how it turned out. Crap about the paint itself, but the result looks great IMHO!
ReplyDeleteThanks Suber! really like the crate you say? Well then you'll want to stay tuned :)
DeleteLooks good! I never have much luck with army painter paints so I skipped the new speed paints altogether. Not regretting that decision so far. Thanks for sharing, really enjoying your blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks Strawfoot! There's a lot of really great colors in the Army Painter line. I like them to fill in the collection. I have to say my favorite paints are probably the Monument Hobby Pro Acryl line though. Really great stuff, and one of the best whites I've ever used. Then I follow that up with the contrast and washes from GW. Only thing I really like in the pot.
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