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Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:55 am
by flatworldsedge
I'd agree that it should definitely lighter than the outside. Looking back at your last warlock, my only concern with grey is it might blend in a little too much with the grey/blue trousers of the rider. Maybe if the outside of the cloak was dark blue, you could use a middle blue for the inside, giving a nice stepped gradient through to the grey/blue trousers?

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 12:06 pm
by Rowena
Thanks for the suggestions, something light it probably is. I'll try to get started on it soon, so that I have something to show.

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 9:45 am
by Rowena
As I'm struggling with the cavalry as well as many annoying non-Warhammer related aspects of life (university work, windows being replaced in the house...), I have actually finished something. Ok, it's not a real model, but it's still something and it will probably get used for quite some time, so it should count, right?

Marchosias, the actual general of the army we're creating together, has said he would maybe like a dragon. With emphasis on the maybe, he isn't sure without extensive testing if he would like to put one in his permanent armylist, or to just have some fun with the model. Even testing is much easier if you have something to use without having to borrow a model every single time, though, so I have suggested maybe getting something cheap. Choosing and painting a "real" dragon model would probably take really long anyway.

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Anyway, we found this, crystal dragon by Papo, in a toyshop for about 12 euro. The dragon has almost perfect size (slightly bigger, but that can be fixed by basing), perfect colour and it was half transparent to go with the ice/crystal theme. And I guess my experiments with crystallic resin make me interested in semitransparent stuff. I guess it's something created by magic rather than a real living creature and probably can be used as an ice phoenix as well, if we ever decide to make the Lost Colony into a dual army.
And by the way, this is the only picture I have found online and haven't taken any of my own before basing it, but it does look much better in real life.

I didn't have to paint it (it would just lose the transparency), but it needed a base. And it wouldn't be me if I didn't make something really simple into something really complicated just by having crazy ideas.
First, the dragon had to be elevated above most infantry-sized models, to make up for its rather low pose and also for its size, as all of its paws were slightly over the base it should be on. Building a huge rock was no problem, but things snowballed from there. Because if this is an ice creature made by magic, there should be some frost around it, right? And I didn¨t want snow, I wanted frost of the kind you can get on your windows in winter, just something that happens when it's cold. And this is where I almost got stuck. I googled and found many tutorials for wnow, some for icecicles (which I used on the overhanging portions of the rock), but nothing for frost. I experimented with almost everything from drybrushing, diluted paint or paint mixed with varnish to glitter to silk-painting techniques and eventually ended up using strong solution of salt I put on the rock and left to crystallize.

And this is the result:

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Im not 100% happy with the result, but it's the best I was able to achieve with any of the techniques I have managed to come up with. The salt crystals even sparkle a bit. Then I sprayed with varnish a little to protect it from rubbing off, but I still tend to be careful around it.

The final dragon:

Image

(There are two more pictures on my blog, but they're kind of the same, so I didn't put them here)

And now back to the warlocks... :)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:31 am
by Amboadine
Nice dragon. :)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:58 pm
by Cold73
I agree,,,,,great find

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 7:53 pm
by Rowena
Thanks, I'm glad you like the model. :)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 11:29 pm
by flatworldsedge
>it wouldn't be be if I didn't make something really simple into something really complicated just by having crazy ideas.

Lol - very funny and I empathise entirely!

Love this find. The basing is incredible - especially the icicles. Awesome how it anchors the dragon in the genre, and the colours as you say are spot on for your force.

If you ever needed an "emergency hydra" I bet the model could stand in too.

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 9:00 am
by Rowena
flatworldsedge wrote:>it wouldn't be be if I didn't make something really simple into something really complicated just by having crazy ideas.

Lol - very funny and I empathise entirely!

Love this find. The basing is incredible - especially the icicles. Awesome how it anchors the dragon in the genre, and the colours as you say are spot on for your force.

If you ever needed an "emergency hydra" I bet the model could stand in too.


It's a temporary model that will probably stand for whatever monster we need at the moment, the dragon is just the most likely due to Marchosias' preferences. But yeah, hydra, Kharibdyss, ice phoenix, whatever. :)
I'm glad you like the basing. The icicles were actually quite simple, I used this tutorial if you ever needed to replicate this.
And thanks! :)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2014 9:04 am
by flatworldsedge
Just a quick note... I keep dipping back into your PLOG to look at the Warlock horses - those Glade Rider steeds are so cool. Great choice avoiding the crazy Dark Rider mounts with their horrific grimacing teeth! I keep wondering if I should get myself some and hack the Dark Rider mounts to pieces taking the legs off! Hope you're well!

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2014 11:05 am
by Rowena
Thanks for the compliments and I'm well, just too busy to finish anything.
I think changing the horses would make for a much more elegant feel, so if you don't like the crazy official ones, I'd say go for it. Maybe you could even use some other legs so that you don't have to cut the original horses? I think both glade rider (especially if you want to tie your dark riders with your wood elf shades) or maybe wild rider legs would work as well with much less work. (Yes, I'm lazy, I just normally try to hide it with my models. :D )

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 8:04 am
by Rowena
Strange as it may sound, I'm not dead and maybe even back to painting, at least for this moment. And I have a new model to prove it.

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He won't be a standalone model but a part of bolt thrower crew (that's why he's bluetacked to a round base), but I wanted to show something even before the whole bolt thrower is finished.
More about the bolt throwers and why there will be a mage as part of their crew when I finish the first one, which hopefully shouldn't take too long now. So stay tuned. :)

(Two more pictures on my blog)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 6:05 pm
by CitizenKhaine
Looks great and I am hoping that the presence of a mage means some magical conjuration as part of the final model? I will keep waiting with anticipation...

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 11:21 pm
by flatworldsedge
Ace to see things are still ticking along! (I know exactly how it is... busy, busy!). Love the highlights on this chap's leg especially. Intrigued to see the finished war machine.

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 11:52 pm
by cultofkhaine
Nice job - look forward to seeing more now your back into it!

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:35 am
by Rowena
Thanks to everyone for your kind words. I have just finished the bolt thrower itself, only the second crew member and the base to do. This will also be my first try at magnetizing models rather than bases (I need the crew to be removeable), so fingers crossed I won't ruin them!

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 7:18 am
by Rowena
We have been using paper bolt throwers from one monk for some time (the website seems to have changed so I can't find the bolt thrower itself there anymore), but now I finaly got to replacing them. It may have something to do with the fact that I hate the cavalry and will probably scrap the models and try to come up with completely new conversions.

Anyway, as always we had to find a model we liked and this was the first time we almost disagreed. I quite liked the high elf bolt thrower with its elegant shape while Marchosias thought it too obvious a choice (an unconverted GW model?) and wanted something that would look like it was assembled on the battlefield, maybe like the old goblin spearchukkas he had once used on a tournament.
Luckily for us, while searching for some other options I stumbled upon Eccentric Miniatures and their Great crossbows and the model seemed like a perfect compromise, simple but still civilised.Plus the price! I think this is the first time our alternative model is actually cheaper than what it's supposed to represent, at least when not counting the crew.
We ordered two packs straight away and when they arrived we discovered the war machines were even smaller than we had first imagined. Not that a smaller model doesn't have its advantages, for example it can fit on its base together with its crew (one of Marchosias's arguments against the High elf bolt throwers was that they were too big), but could we really imagine this small thing taking out demon princes or big monsters? And this is how the idea of magical support was born. :)

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The warrior is made in the exact same way as our spearelves and the mage is made from High elf archer kit (the staff is actually the archer standard pole) and a mage head. The warrior is drawing an arrow out of a High elf bolt thrower ammo stand while the mage is casting casting a spell on the war machine.

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Yeah, I guess it wouldn't be me if I didn't overcomplicate everything. But as I wanted to have the mage there, I couldn't resist some magical effects and for me that means crystallic resin. He's supposed to be drawing the High elf rune over the bolt thrower with his finger.

Top view:

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More bolt throwers in progress and I plan to make them all into "mini-dioramas", so stay tuned. :)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 5:13 pm
by Calisson
Nicely done, perfect conversion, great painting, result well in line with the rest of your army.
Good job!

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 10:14 pm
by Malys the younger
Wow, great idea! The rune is really impressive!

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 4:04 pm
by Amboadine
Great work on the RBT.

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 8:11 am
by Rowena
Thanks very much for the compliments. The rune is actually a second attempt at casting it and it's less transparent than I expected it to be, given that it's my favourite crystallic resin.
Anyway, crew for the second RBT is finished, so only the warmachine itself to go. More magical effects! :)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 10:17 pm
by Booah
I love the rune effect. Here's to more 'overcomplicating' things units if they end up looking like this.

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 7:37 am
by anthalont
Nice! Your conversions are really great and the rune fits perfect
Looking forward for more mini dioramas and magical effects :)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 10:55 am
by Rowena
Thanks for the compliments and the second bolt thrower is finished! (Ok, I cheated a bit and painted some of it together with the first one)

I continue with the mini-diorama ideas, so this time the two crew members are defending the war machine from an attack and showing their cooperation. The mage has almost been badly hurt, but tthe warrior protects him with his shield, receiving magical support at the same time.

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I wanted to use the shadow warrior champion head and things kind of snowballed from there. And of course there must be more magical effects. The sword was first greenstuffed to create the flames, then I created a mold for it, tore the greenstuff off, painted the sword and made the flames on top of it with my favourite crystallic resin and painted with. It could have been even more transparent, but still I think it turned out ok.

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I have also added some OSL to help show that the mage is casting on the warrior rather than clinging on him for support.

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The rest is pretty straightforward. The fire bowl is supposed to be a simple field version of a tiny shrine of Asuryan and was included mostly to add a third element to the whole model, as the two crew members are so close together. (It's the phoenix guard banner top made from crystallic resin)
I am not very happy with the damage on the warriors's shield, but once I painted them on, it would have been really difficult to remove them, so they get to stay.

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As with the previous one, both crew members are removeable so they can act as damage tokens.

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 11:52 am
by T.D.
Very cool 8)

Re: [PLOG] The Lost Colony

Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 12:42 pm
by Amboadine
T.D. wrote:Very cool 8)


Yes indeed. Great work.