[PLOG] The Lost Colony

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Which demon should I use?

The dying tentacled demon
5
83%
The Reaper fire demon
1
17%
 
Total votes: 6

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Calisson
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Calisson »

What about a larger pyre, which higher flames would fill basically the lower third of the flag?
It would kill two bi.. er, I mean, it would achieve both goals to tell it's a phoenix and to fill out evenly the flag (the wings fill enough the top third).
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Rowena
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Rowena »

I'm not dead and I have even been painting, even if I'm lazy to take pictures (especially as I'm terrible at photography and the pictures never look good)

At the moment I'm working at more things at the same time, the main ones being the altar I have pledged to do for January painting challenge (not much progress there, unfortunately) and a pegasus hero I need some help with.
The vision we have for pegasus heroes is basically a "harpy hero", they were oiginally elves experimented on by a Chaos sorcerer. They managed to escape, but they remain changed into this form. (They were also the original harpies, what you have already seen is their progeny.)

Anyway, I wanted to depict this one in triumph over a demon, but am not sure how exactly to achieve this effect. At the moment I have two versions and am not sure which one to use, so I would like to turn to you for help.

The first one has a demon sculpted for me by a good friend of mine. The body of the demon is cast in crystallic resin and is slightly transparent. Also, it's very clearly dying, so that's a plus. It was made from fimo in about an hour, so it's not as detailed as most models, though.

Image Image

The second demon is Large Fire Elemental by Reaper. Translucent, drybrushed with colour for painting glass. It's definitely more detailed and probably more striking and dynamic, but I'm afraid it doesn't really look like it's dying. But maybe an epic fight would be okay for the model?

Image

What do you think? Which one would you use? (Or do you have a completely different idea that would make me throw everything out of a window?) I have made a poll, so please vote. :-)
And I'm sorry for the crappy pictures, I hope you can see at least something in them. There will be slightly better ones when the model is finished.
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Lord Drakon
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Lord Drakon »

I somehow like the first option even while less detail on the deamon. Its very dramatic which is always good I think. Maybe you can even place the hero 1 tentacle lower so the spear is actually piercing the deamons flesh this very moment, giving him the final blow. Also great paint job, which makes the hero stand out more than against the fire elemental deamon.
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by cultofkhaine »

I like the one with the tentacles as well!
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Calisson
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Calisson »

Nice to hear back from you, Rowena! :D

I voted the tentacle demon not only for being clearer but also I like better the maritime look than the fire look.

However, I wonder.
If the model is intended for display, then the demon below is perfect.
If the model is for Marchosias to play as a Pegasus hero, then, if I were the opponent, I would regret the demon. Indeed, imagine I play with Empire, demons are a traditional foe, DE are the foe I am fighting currently, what is this demon doing in my battle? Not immersive.

How would your model look on top of a column?
That would be superbly consistent with your marvelous harpies.
And facing that as opponent, I would have no problem to recognize the model as some kind of Lord of the harpies, who uses the rules of Peg Master and it makes perfect sense.

-=-=-
Note also that your demons are way larger than those fought by St Michael in popular representations.
See http://www.le-mont-saint-michel.info/im ... ion.pg.jpg
This makes your model look more like a diorama fight than like one model with its base.
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Shadowspite »

I think the tentacle daemon works better if you're going for a diorama, while the fire elemental is better as a scenic base for a tabletop model.
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Sabious »

Both look great. I lean towards the first with the tentacles because the elemental seems shinier than the harpy hero.
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Rowena
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Rowena »

Thank you for all the feedback, those are all great points. It seems the tentacle demon is a clear favourite of the forum. :)

Lord Drakon: I can try the lower tentacle, but I imagine the final blow happened just a few seconds ago and now the heroine is pulling the spear out (at least that's what her pose seems to say, her spear hand is very high) and the demon is melting. It would have to melt super fast if the final blow was to be happening.
But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try it, because if it looks better, who needs realism. !lol!

Calisson: I didn't see the nautical theme before, but now that I do I suppose I would have been disappointed had you voted any other way.
Concerning immersion, you raise a really good point here and I guess it shows I mostly see the army in our display case these days. Our army has Chaos as its main foe (going back to the fluff I never got around to writing) and while the demon is by far the most noticeable, it's a theme also visible elsewhere in the army. If there are more pegasus heroes (and I hope there will, I know of at least one more model that would be perfect for the job), those will be aither on columns or somehow on the ground, but for this one I'm afraid the pose wouldlook strange without a foe (I know, the opponent should provide those, but still)
I tried smaller demons also and found it didn't make the heroine look badass enough, somehow. This thing is supposed to be a dead demon prince, something hard to kill.
Thank you very much for your comments and deep analysis. I may disagree, but it really made me think.

Shadowspite: Is it because the fire demon is a simpler concept with less of a face and maybe less movement? Because while I moight see what you mean, I would be able to see the opposite as well.
The fire demon is not obviously dead (The original idea was for the demon to be bursting into flames after being slayed, a la Rage demons in Dragon Age Origins, but then I realised I won't be able to make this clear enough) and so the whole model could end up looking like a fight with no clear winner yet - something probably more common in dioramas than in tabletop models.

Sabious: Part of it is the photograph (I'm afraid the photograph doesn't do the demon justice), but I put them nextto each other again and the demon really seems a bit glossier.
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Marchosias
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Marchosias »

@ Calisson: Thank you for replying! You never leave a post unnoticed. :)

You raise an interesting point with immersion. However, complete immersion gets broken regularly. For example:
- The bases. In my area, there is an army with snow bases, an army with desert bases and an army with jungle bases. When any two of those fight each other it is difficult to imagine where they are actually.
- To be honest, it is sometimes difficult to imagine why are two armies fighting, period. The classical example of lizardmen vs wood elves comes to mind.
- Sea monsters (which are often used to represent a kraken / kharibdyss) are not really made to run on ground but we let them do that quite often. Providing them with their own transportable pool is cool but doesn't help with immersion much, either.

Because of that, at least for me personally it is far more important what message the army sends. I really like it when the army has a feel, a character. This can be done with colour scheme, painting, choice of models (see here a beautiful example - army shot around middle of the page) but putting something on the bases is a very strong sign of a theme as well. Because of that, we have all the ruins, several hints to chaos (head of a defeated demon held by our executioner champion, a bloodied barbarian club on the base of a harpy, a lost chariot wheel with an eight point star for another harpy). The demon under the harpy hero is part of this line - far more prominent but really just a continuation of the theme that is everywhere.

On the other hand, I understand you might draw the line between accepted features and breaks of immersion elsewhere. :)
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Lord Drakon »

Ah sorry now I see it Rowena, yes I agree it is great like this. I did missed the blood on the spear until now, to make it even better than it is now you could try darkening the blood (look up GeOrc for inspiration in the plog list) and/or making the wound more visible.

@ Marchosias the link is not working, do you have a picture of it or other link?
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Marchosias »

@ Lord Drakon: Strange, it works for me. Anyway, linking directly. More images somewhere in the thread I am linking above.

Image
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Lord Drakon »

Thanks, indeed epic! Ah strange, now the fourth try it indeed works, before empty page. Maybe its my internet.

Talking about army shots, what about the Lost Colony so far? :D
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Rowena
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Rowena »

Lord Drakon: I'm sorry for not replying earlier. I must have missed the reply, or something as lame as that. I would like to have an army shot, but I don't trust my photography skills enough. Even with only one model the photos are usually terrible and it's pure luck if it's possible to see the model. I'm afraid that an army shot would just look like a greyish-blue blob of something and it would be impossible to distinguish individual models.
I'm trying to find a better photographer to take the pictures for me, so maybe then?

Anyway, there is no other photographer yet, so you will have to bear with me for a little while longer. After two months of trying, cursing the models and trying to find some time I have finally finished the proper model for the Divine Altar (for the January pledge).

Image

A Phoenix? What heresy is this?
With Marchosias we have long thought about what the altar could possibly be in our army because sacrificing enemies in the middle of battle doesn't fit with our background and because we consider carrying large statues to battle somewhat impractical (we are not the Empire after all). We knew it had to be something universal for both of our "factions" and it had to be strong enough a symbol to inspire the whole army. And first of all, we had to decide what should that thing actually be. We felt our elves should fight well because of what they are, not because of some external inspiration (such as a statue or magic) that could go away. In the end, we decided the altar will be just that: the materialization of our army's determinatio and purpose, summoned from the army itself. Thus, we picked the phoenix, as a symbol of what the colony used to be and what they still believe in, and above all a representation of their inner fire and will to fight and to survive.
The trio is in the middle of turning the will and determination of the army into a burning avatar, at the same time a symbol and inspiration and powerful in itself. The two men are standing in for the two factions and the girl above them is focusing their energy and turning the duality into a single force. At least that is what the story is meant to be.
(Also, one bright day when the DE army is fully done, we would like to expand it so that it can be played as Highborn Elves as well. We are not sure this will ever actually happen but, well, we now have a fire phoenix.)

The elves are on foot for several reasons. I simply couldn't imagine a chariot that would serve this function and still look good for us. It would be either too big and look too fragile, it woudn't have enough room for all the models needed, or both at the same time. And I didn't really like the idea of a chariot that moves by itself, even in a strongly magical army. Also, we are trying to take the focus away from "big strange things" and onto the elves and what they're able to do. So making the Altar attendants walk together just seemed right for us.

The wall of fire is representing the ward save and impact hits. I also like how it ties the whole thing together.

Image

The base is actually built from a number of lasercut bases - it was the easiest thing to get hold of when I started panicking that no composition looked nice enough. I still think I maybe should have smoothed the edges even more, but I was really sick of the stupid thing and just wanted to get it done.
The tiny shrine with the bowl of fire is (apart of continuing a theme that appears elsewhere in the army) mostly filling the spot reserved for a hero.

Image

The BSB is a converted model from the Raging Heroes kickstarter and will get some solo photos eventually.
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Lord Drakon
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Lord Drakon »

Very cool model and I think it is your masterpiece so far! Absolutely worthy to take a bit longer. I really like the thought / fluff put into it and those impact hitting flames finish it off!

Great work! Looking forward to more
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Calisson »

Breathtaking, as usual!
I love the flames from a distance, but I am sure that the models should be superb from close up.
Great handpaint on the banner, too.
Did you sculpted the phoenix yourself or is it a model bought on shelves?

Wondering, how come the ladie's shirt does not ignite?
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Marchosias »

Calisson wrote:Wondering, how come the ladie's shirt does not ignite?


She's simply cool. ;)
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Rowena
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Rowena »

Calisson wrote:Breathtaking, as usual!
I love the flames from a distance, but I am sure that the models should be superb from close up.
Great handpaint on the banner, too.
Did you sculpted the phoenix yourself or is it a model bought on shelves?

Wondering, how come the ladie's shirt does not ignite?


Thanks a lot, I'm glad you like it. Close up the flames don't look as smooth as I would have maybe liked, but I wasn't ready to destroy a good brush for it. (I don't have anything to wash the glass paints from my brushes)
The banner is from HE Phoenix Guard kit and came with this relief. I just put it in the model's hand and painted it. Boring, I know. :roll:

And my interpretation of the phoenix is that it's a manifestation of the army's will and determination. So of course it's not going to burn the elves, it can only hurt their enemies. But what Marchosias said is of course true. :)
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Lord Drakon »

Does Rowena painting again also means Marchosias playing again? I hope so as you were a legendary Druchii team!

What do you plan to paint next?
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Rowena »

He is playing when he finds some time. What he doesn't do is write reports, because... no time. :( Neither of us has as much time for the hobby as we would like, but we're doing our best.
And thanks very much for the compliments. :oops: :)

I have actually painted some stuff during the time I have been off the grid, so stay tuned for some more stuff.
From the things that are sitting on my table right now, there are some more witch elves as first priority, but after that I'm painting warlocks from the new Raging Heroes kickstarter, so that's something to look forward to. After that... from the kickstarter we also have (non-snakey) medusas, some chariots and sisters, but we will see what our army will need. :)
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Rowena
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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Post by Rowena »

As there seemed to be interest in her, here are close ups of the BSB that was seen on the altar.
I have actually had her for a while, she was part of the freebie pack Raging Heroes sent early on and I painted her some time later.

Image

I fell in love with Raging Heroes Sinzirith as soon as I saw the concept art and the model didn't disappoint. I only had to convert her a bit with a banner arm (I don't remember from which kit, but most probably either witch elves or wood elf sisters of the thorn, as Raging Heroes models are very delicate) and Phoenix Guard banner.

Image

Concerning the banner itself, I spent some time thinking what to do with the Phoenix and Asuryan symbol. They were obviously High Elf things and I didn't want to have too much gold on a lunar banner, but at the same time I imagined the phoenix as a universal symbol for our whole army. In the end I went with a compromise - phoenix highlighted as much as possible to make it paler, flames black and as much silver on decorations as possible.

Image

There's more to come, so stay tuned. :)
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