[PLOG] Veysha Everkiss and the Clan of the Shadow Fox

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[PLOG] Veysha Everkiss and the Clan of the Shadow Fox

Post by flatworldsedge »

Despite herself, Veysha listened to the witch elves. Somewhere in the storm she could hear them. Even above the discordant shriek of the frigid wind. Even above the shudder of silk and canvas, the groan of guy ropes bending against the gale. When the blizzard dipped, for a moment they were almost upon her. Their hot, liquid gasps almost her own. As searingly close, as impossibly out of reach, as her memories. Then the wind would rise again; the screaming cold blasting all noise into a still, deafening, paradoxical silence. And briefly she was alone, trapped in the numb vessel Morathi's jealousy had cursed her with.

She looked down at the corpse below her, lit in the pale, pearlescent glow of her own sleek nakedness. Relaxing her grip, she watched the man's chest deflate and heard the ghastly rattle of air escaping his lifeless body. For a sliver of time a mist shifted over the silver of the blade she held untarnished over his heart. To soil silken bed sheets with the blood of a slave would have been a necessary lever, but she had not come close enough that it might have been efficacious. For his failure in that regard, the pathetic bathos of strangulation had seemed the more appropriate end.

Standing, lascivious fingers of frozen air slid across her naked back, penetrating for a startling moment even the toxin-ravaged haze of feeling that she was left with. Reminding her there were other debts to collect. Debts for which the blade would be needed. Morathi. Whose jealousy had forced her to kill a sister in pretence of her own death, to ply the lowly trade of a soldier when her genius was cut to sing songs of death and fire. Songs Morathi had stolen, even as she had stolen every lover's caress.

An armoured shadow now bowed in the pavillion's curtain. The smooth arcs of Veysha's nakedness were irrelevant. There was fear, respect, silence; nothing else. An atom's nod instructed her marshall of the coming march. Through the night. Through the blizzard. Through the broken bodies of enemies, allies and kinsmen. Through the very blood of the Witchking if needs must. Yes. One day this pavillion would be a palace, and she would paint it with Morathi's screams, over and over, until Khaine himself wept tears of pity, until Morathi prayed that it was instead her who could no longer feel.



All of which sexed up, borderline pretension heralds the start of my PLOG, painting an initial 1,500 warband (see http://druchii.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=75567 if interested!) under the command of one Veysha Everkiss. So named for the finality of her couplings, striving to sate her lust despite the numb destruction wrought upon her nerves and senses by the toxins of her Cold One mount. When one's investing serious time in a project, I'm a sucker for a back story added at a marginal cost of zero! Having always played/painted earnest Dwarves before, a lascivious, paranoid, vain, fiercely arrogant, backstabbing vixen seemed the only way to go. Veysha is cast as a gifted sorceress who, paranoid that Morathi would jealously target her if she trained at Ghrond, instead killed her sister in faking her own death and took her sister's place training as a knight. Fast forward a century, robbed of her senses and bitter at not studying magic, she is plotting to overthrow the Witchking and wreak "vengence" on Morathi. At 2,000 points I'm going to add 1,000 of Skaven - her tenuous allies in this cause, held together by two halves of a map possessed by her and a Grey Seer purporting to show a route to the Old World through the Underground Sea. If you're not a fan of fluff, sorry - and thanks for staying with me if you're still reading.

So, to the painting.

I decided to start with the Cold One knights, a unit of ten including Veysha, painting the beasts first then reviewing. Two weeks in and I have invested a shocking ~12-14 hours just cleaning and assembling the mounts. This first entry is hopefully not too much of a whinge, but - wow - since I last painted ~8 years ago, it feels like GW demands a lot more of us even before you put a brush to plastic/resin/metal/etc. I love the detail of the plastic figures, but the casting lines are gruesome and run over so many fine points, like the ribbed fingers of the Cold Ones. I've been very busy with craft knives, scalpels, files, etc. I live in fear of assembling the knights; some nutter seems to have fixed them to the sprue in the middle of their shoulder pads, then split the shoulder pads over two halves. Getting all of that flush and satisfactory seems impossible!

This has also been my first experience of resin, in the "Dreadlord on Cold One" which I'm converting for Veysha's mount. All sorts of rebuilding, digging out of bubbles, etc. It all feels very DIY. Another 8 years absence and I guess GW would have been selling a block of soapstone. That's all very well, but not when you have a Cold One knight on the box. Whinge over - apologies! After I overcame the initial shock, it's actually been quite satisfying getting to work with the smaller blades. For Veysha's Cold One, I removed the whole tri-skull bridle and simplified it with green stuff. I then gave his overly straight tail a short bath in a boiling saucepan, and bent it into a more menacing swish. All very amateurish, but I'm enjoying learning the ropes.

I then undercoated everything white for what I hope to be a nice pop to the green. This, of course, exposed all sorts of seams and casting lines I'd missed, precipitating more cleaning and another coat of white undercoated. I've tried to bias the coat from the top to help with highlights. Keen to see how that works.

So - thanks for tolerating this initial ramble. I hope to pick up the pace from here out with shorter, more image heavy posts as I progress. Any thoughts, comments, criticisms, etc. appreciated.

Apologies for the quality of the shots below. I shoot semi-professionally for Getty (https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatworldsedge/ if you're interested) and so dragging out shooting tables and lighting tents, macro lens, tripods, etc. is too much like work at this early stage where I'm just trying to document the project more for myself. Hopefully I do a decent job of the painting and will then go full bore on the photos of the finished pieces.

Note on edit - corrected some syntax.
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Crazy that it's taken 14 odd hours to get to this point... I'm too used to pixel peeking perhaps, and not comfortable leaving blemish or lines untouched.
Crazy that it's taken 14 odd hours to get to this point... I'm too used to pixel peeking perhaps, and not comfortable leaving blemish or lines untouched.
Detail of the remodelled jaw line of the "Dreadlord on a Cold One" resin model.
Detail of the remodelled jaw line of the "Dreadlord on a Cold One" resin model.
Last edited by flatworldsedge on Thu Nov 27, 2014 12:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by direweasel »

I agree that the "prep" time has increased over the years. Say what you will about the old pewter figs - tough to modify and all that - but for most of them, it took about 10 minutes to give them a quick bath, remove the flash, and file a few rough edges, and they were ready to base and prime.

Anyway, all that aside, I look forward to seeing where this goes. Keep posting! :)
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by Amboadine »

Welcome to the joy of the Plog.
Looking forward to seeing how you get on with the cold ones.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by flatworldsedge »

An update, part for personal record, as the paint starts to go on. Any advice would be appreciated!

I've started with a base of "Waaagh! Flesh" for the Cold Ones. I looked to thin the paint 1:1, aiming to add a second layer once dry. Just checking the first results, it looks a little uneven in consistency. I think I struggled to maintain an even mix with the thinned paint drying. Tomorrow I'm picking up some kit to make a simple wet palette per https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96mjmqWTPfM in the hope of keeping the paint more consistent by prevent it from drying so quickly.

I'll keep erring on the side of overly thin paint. That seems better than glooping it on too thick and not having the CTRL+Z I'm used to in Photoshop. (Picture below).

EDIT - Just one extra note... I whinged a little about the cleaning/prep required on modern GW miniatures above. I should also have noted that the staff have been *awesome*. One chap at a GW store kept it open half an hour closing to give me time picking paints, advising and chatting. Quite superb customer service/experience.
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First pass.  Paint overly thinned and not consistent enough.  Looking to use wet palette to help with consistency, but will err to too thin, not too thick.
First pass. Paint overly thinned and not consistent enough. Looking to use wet palette to help with consistency, but will err to too thin, not too thick.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by Ilmaestro »

Really nice back story, I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing how this progresses! Definitely keep the fluff up, it makes your work more than just painted models - it adds a whole lot more character to them!
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by Heartsbane »

Hi Flatworldsedge, looks like a good start to the army!

I know what you mean about the prep time of the cold ones, I've a standing agreement with a friend of mine that if he ever hears me talk about painting another unit of them, he'll kick me somewhere sensitive until I change my mind. I've asked him to do this as it'd be less painful than putting together another unit of them! I have to say though, that they are probably the worst kit I've ever assembled, most plastic kits are nowhere near so bad! The new witches in particular are a joy to assemble, someone's really thought about how to make them go together nicely. As for those should guards, my advice is don't bother. Get the chestplate to line up nicely, then take a modelling knife to the shoulders to cut it down and put a layer of greenstuff over the whole pad. I really did find resculpting the upper surface of them to be faster than trying to make it work as is. :(

Finally, I'm interested by the comments on wet palattes, I might have to give one another try. Another option is retarder medium which slows the drying time of the paint dramatically. It does alter the consistency of the paint slightly, but personally I like how using quite alot makes paints more translucent without making them runnier - great for painting highlights.


-=-=-
Moderator's EDIT:
Several comments on this thread led to a "Wet Palette Tutorial".
I moved the comments along with the tutorial.
You can find them here: Wet Palette Tutorial
Now flatworldsedge can enjoy his thread with no more hijack! ;)

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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by CitizenKhaine »

flatworldsedge wrote:
EDIT - Just one extra note... I whinged a little about the cleaning/prep required on modern GW miniatures above. I should also have noted that the staff have been *awesome*. One chap at a GW store kept it open half an hour closing to give me time picking paints, advising and chatting. Quite superb customer service/experience.

Great start on your plog!
I have the metal version of that model, and it just isn't as clean as the one in your post. Resin has its faults, but usually has sharper edges and smoother surfaces. (usually :? )

I recently started using a wet palette too, another Druchii member pointed me at how to make one with tupperware, paper towels and baking paper. Works a treat!
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by flatworldsedge »

More progress pictures below as the Cold One's limp along at a slow, steady pace, plus all the deliberations over conversion for Veysha's model. Lots of text above the pictures.

Edit - if anyone has spare copies of the female "dark elf warrior" torso shown below, please shout me. Happy to buy/trade!

direweasel wrote:Well, it depends in part on the paint used. I've seen paints left on for a week with no issues. Others will seperate out into composite colors - Vallejo paints seem to do this most often - but those are fixed by mixing them back together on the pallete. I would guess the same to be true with this as well.


Thanks! Interestingly that one could not be saved, but the paint I left overnight split the same way and was recovered with a little mixing and water. FWIW it's GW "Waaagh flesh" - lots of blue in there, it turns out.
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Although I won't be painting her for a little while (lots of Witch Elves to practice my eyes), I'm looking at the build for Veysha.  The yellow pieces look right at the moment.<br /><br />Originally I was going to use the kit body, but it's just not feminine enough.  There's a slight slouch to it, so even though the head (thanks to Payce for recommending this from Statuesque Miniatures) fits neatly in the hole I bored through the original, I think I'm going to use the lowly Darkshard torso.  The sword in scabbard (red square) doesn't work with that torso, however, so I have some mid-paint conversion to do there.  Not a problem, as we're only a first undercoat into things.<br /><br />I love the head - hence wanting to do it justice with a paint job.  The cool, tight lipped stare is so much more appropriate for Veysha than the standard GW screaming Dark Elves.  I'd thought of adding that horned circlet shown above her with a little metal loop, but I think that will distract too much.<br /><br />The sword from the Dreadlord kit is too much cooler than the CoK, so that will get lopped off.  I might then use the old Dreadlord body for the BSB, having gone to the trouble of decapitating, drilling, digging the cloak free from hair and re-sculpting it.<br /><br />For Veysha's cloak I've bored out a Corsair's SDC - my only concern there is the shoulder-line which needs some remodeling and whether I can make the texture/colour work with all the scales of the Cold One.  I thought for the Cloak of Twilight, it could look quite cool to paint it up black to indigo like a night sky, with the spines shimmering like stars... whether I can make that work with the colour scheme (green/purple) is the question.  I'm hoping with the less ornate torso, things should be quiet enough to put up with the extra detail of the cloak without looking crazy.
Although I won't be painting her for a little while (lots of Witch Elves to practice my eyes), I'm looking at the build for Veysha. The yellow pieces look right at the moment.

Originally I was going to use the kit body, but it's just not feminine enough. There's a slight slouch to it, so even though the head (thanks to Payce for recommending this from Statuesque Miniatures) fits neatly in the hole I bored through the original, I think I'm going to use the lowly Darkshard torso. The sword in scabbard (red square) doesn't work with that torso, however, so I have some mid-paint conversion to do there. Not a problem, as we're only a first undercoat into things.

I love the head - hence wanting to do it justice with a paint job. The cool, tight lipped stare is so much more appropriate for Veysha than the standard GW screaming Dark Elves. I'd thought of adding that horned circlet shown above her with a little metal loop, but I think that will distract too much.

The sword from the Dreadlord kit is too much cooler than the CoK, so that will get lopped off. I might then use the old Dreadlord body for the BSB, having gone to the trouble of decapitating, drilling, digging the cloak free from hair and re-sculpting it.

For Veysha's cloak I've bored out a Corsair's SDC - my only concern there is the shoulder-line which needs some remodeling and whether I can make the texture/colour work with all the scales of the Cold One. I thought for the Cloak of Twilight, it could look quite cool to paint it up black to indigo like a night sky, with the spines shimmering like stars... whether I can make that work with the colour scheme (green/purple) is the question. I'm hoping with the less ornate torso, things should be quiet enough to put up with the extra detail of the cloak without looking crazy.
All the Cold One's now have their first coat of watered down &quot;Waaagh flesh&quot; (WF).  Some like this lucky chap (BSB mount) have had a second thinner &quot;touch up&quot; coat of WF, touching up areas where the primer was just too visible or where I missed an atom or two first time around.  Whereas the first coat was in part to practice brush control (I haven't painted in 8+ years...), this second coat I am concentrating on covering everything even with some spill over areas like reins, which will be painted black later anyway.  Next step will be a wash with Nuln oil - which I might sex up with a tiny dash of green ink.
All the Cold One's now have their first coat of watered down "Waaagh flesh" (WF). Some like this lucky chap (BSB mount) have had a second thinner "touch up" coat of WF, touching up areas where the primer was just too visible or where I missed an atom or two first time around. Whereas the first coat was in part to practice brush control (I haven't painted in 8+ years...), this second coat I am concentrating on covering everything even with some spill over areas like reins, which will be painted black later anyway. Next step will be a wash with Nuln oil - which I might sex up with a tiny dash of green ink.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by Rowena »

I'm sure I have that torso, I have bought the old kit and haven't used any. I would be happy to send it to you, if you pm me with your adress.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by flatworldsedge »

Firstly thanks to @direweasel for a superbly detailed wet palette tutorial - now moved from this thread to one of its own here: http://druchii.net/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=75680

Meanwhile, work has continued on the Cold Ones. I initially hoped to do the army with zero drybrushing, on purist grounds. Then I saw all those damn scales... so I've been drybrushing like crazy! They are currently painted as follows -

i) Thinned "Waaagh Flesh" x2 coats
ii) Thinned "Nuln Oil" wash all over
iii) Painting "Nuln Oil" into edges
iv) Drybrush "Waaagh Flesh" x2
v) Drybrush "Warboss Green"
vi) Drybrush "Skarsnik Green"
vii) Drybrush "Nurgling Green"
viii) Paint "Athonian Camoshade" into creases, muscles, edges, etc.
ix) Drybrush "Nurgling Green"

...phew. Probably over kill, but I am kind of taking small steps as I relearn the whole brush craft thing. I have to say, the resin Cold One is a nightmare for drybrushing compared to the plastics. I'm going to see what it looks like with all the metal done - metal being dominant on that mini, where scales are dominant on the plastic ones. The definition and quality simply isn't there in resin for the scales to look good with just the drybrush.

I think the green works for now (see below). I did want to paint their underbellies another lighter shade, but actually thing I will leave it for now in the interest of getting a small force battle ready. Then I can paint the underbellies as an "upgrade" once I am back on the table top.

Next steps - I'm doing the black reins/saddle next, undercoating the metal black at the same time, then painting highlights up through the greys. The metal will then be added in silver, though I might go crazy and use a bright gold. Then I'll do the spines/spikes/claws in bone and - if that isn't too busy - pick out a scattering of scales in a different green set - Warpstone/Moot probably. Screamer pink for mouths and tongues, then teeth in white and eyes in yellow.

With them done, I'm going to get five Dark Rider steeds done before any knights/riders.

Pics so far - any criticism appreciated, however harsh. Thanks!
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Sorry about the dodgy focus - quite happy with the effect for now.  More on the greens to be done once the rest is base layered and I can see the bigger picture.
Sorry about the dodgy focus - quite happy with the effect for now. More on the greens to be done once the rest is base layered and I can see the bigger picture.
Ten of these done now to this point.  Texture is a little off on the skin areas - might well try to highlight that with a fewer ultra thin layers of Nurgling Green then wash in Athonian Camoshade.
Ten of these done now to this point. Texture is a little off on the skin areas - might well try to highlight that with a fewer ultra thin layers of Nurgling Green then wash in Athonian Camoshade.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by Ilmaestro »

Good to see this plog progressing along!

I think that the cold ones probably need a little bit of a highlight on their skin, even just a few simple layers to give it some added texture. The green of the scales near the skin/scale border (if that's even a thing) matches too much and makes it look unfinished. Even just a dark wash on the skin and very lightly over the scales to pick out the bits in between will do wonders I think.

Otherwise good to see this moving forward, and keep that fluff coming!
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by Amboadine »

I agree with Ilmaestro in the need for a few highlights on the scales, maybe pick out a few in some yellows and browns to give the skin a less perfectly even colour and make it look a little more natural.

Coming along well though.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by flatworldsedge »

Thanks for the comments chaps - definitely something I will address then. I'm currently painting all the black (reins, saddles, plus all the metal undercoat) and they are starting to look very dark indeed. I think the spines/spikes (in very light bone) will lift them a little, so I'm waiting until that's done before I decide exactly what to do, but I like the idea of picking out scales along the "skin/scale border" (I reckon that is a thing too). I wanted to use yellow for their eyes, and only their eyes to give it emphasis, so might try either a brighter green or maybe even a purple for the scales. Either way, message received - add some variation to the scales/skin.

Regarding those reins and metal sheets though, a note to self - next time, paint them without heads.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by direweasel »

Not saying you need to copy this, but it might help as an idea.

The Sea Dragon Cloak on this guy has some scale variation. Looks better than it would if it were all just the flat green.

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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by flatworldsedge »

Thanks - I do like the effect and it is good to see it cleanly delivered. I picked up a Moot Green and Warpstone Green as I liked the colours so much and think they'd work well for this purposes, and stand out against the more natural palette I've used for the Cold Ones so far. Once I've finished the black undercoat and first layer of metal, plus those wretched spines (!) then I think this will be the next step.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by Vulcan »

I think a bit more highlighting on the scales of the cold ones would work wonders. Doesn't have to be dramatic, just a bit to emphasize the scales so they don't blend in as much.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by flatworldsedge »

Picked up a 10/0 brush today at Darksphere (awesome shop!) to help with the highlighting in the scales. Should be all sorts of fun. Still working on all the damn black undercoating of reins and armour though!
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by Vulcan »

Now that's dedication. I just drybrushed my highlights on...
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by Heartsbane »

When considering how stark to make the texture I'd ask if you're painting these for display or gaming, to be honest. Gaming minis are usually viewed from further away, so you need quite striking levels of contrast for the viewer to notice. Unfortunately (to my mind at least) that level of contrast looks rather unnatural when looked at with the focus one would view a display model. In short, if they're for gaming, I think they need more contrast on the texture, but this will come at the cost of making them look rather unnatural.

For display purposes, I think your scales will look spot on once you've re-done the underbelly in that lighter shade.

For gaming, I think another few drybrush layers would improve things, probably working up by adding a pale brown or khaki colour to your greens. The light brown will lighten the colour, without making it look like a super saturated green like the warpstone green would.

Of course all of the above is mostly stylistic, so ymmv.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by flatworldsedge »

Thanks everyone for the tips on the scales. Really useful to get your input. I thought I'd post a quick update so you can see why it's so valuable. As you can see in the picture below, I'm still painstakingly adding the black undercoat for the reins and armour.

The reins will just get highlights in greys. I'm going to try a glazing effect with very light layers starting with Eshin and working up to Admin. The armoured sections will another painful round - adding increasingly layers of silvers. Then everything will get a wash of Nuln Oil, and once dry the edges with the skin will get another Athonian Camo wash.

All of which, it is increasingly obvious, will leave it even darker and the scales looking all the more too evenly toned. I think the spines will break it up, but more and more I'm thinking another brighter colour - either once of the mad greens (e.g. Moot) or maybe even a white/lilac (?) would look good.

Anyway - quick shot below for documentary purposes, and so you know I'm still limping on. In future I realise I should do the black first - I had left it because of the drybrushing on the green, but correcting those small green spills would have been so much less fiddly than painting the thin lines of black on now. Oh well, you live and learn!
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Black detailing nearly done on 2 of the 10.  The others at earlier stages along the way.
Black detailing nearly done on 2 of the 10. The others at earlier stages along the way.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by direweasel »

Much much much better. The scales have SOO much more depth and vibrance. Night and day.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by flatworldsedge »

Heartsbane wrote:... I'd ask if you're painting these for display or gaming...


That's a great distinction which I hadn't considered. I guess they're being painted chiefly for gaming, but with a view that I want people to be impressed (so far as my meagre talents allow!) when they lean in for a closer look! I hope that doesn't sound like sitting on the fence! Given a choice of people being impressed from a distance, or impressed close up, I'd go for the second. Lots of work and practice before they're impressed at any range though!

@direweasel - Thanks! Slow going! Appreciate the support!
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by Amboadine »

Definitely getting better with every update. Nice work.
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by Rowena »

Well, I'm definitely impressed, so you must be doing something right. :) The scales are lookijg great now and I look forward to seeing the cold ones with spines painted. also, I have great respect for your approach, I think I would have gone mad by now. :)
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Re: [PLOG] The vengence of Veysha Everkiss

Post by flatworldsedge »

I'm away for a couple of weeks training in DC having started a new job. I didn't want to go without an update, leaving people wondering if I'd abandoned my post in despair at all this painstaking detail work! Wish I had the Cold One's finished before the trip, but it's not going to happen now. So - not much change on the paint front, just slowly, slowly, very carefully doing the black undercoat on the Cold Ones still. To break things up I've now cut out all of the Cold One Knights and started the cleaning on them - lots of sprue/flash/lines to remove.

Before my trip I also wanted to say a big, public thank you to @Rowena. She answered my plea above and shipped a Dark Elf warrior torso half way across Europe to help out. Just stunningly generous and I'm massively, massively grateful. Thanks Rowena!

That has given me the impetus to start finalising the Veysha conversion, as I now have leeway to start putting the scalpel to plastic! I'm testing with the original torso, and will use the one Rowena sent in the final model. The shots below show how Veysha is starting to look - all held together by Blu Tack in these test shot, so a little less exact and with some issues around shoulders and elbows.

Some notes as I tweak this and pictures below. Of course, I'd love input and critique.

i) I shaved off the original resin sword that's part of the "Dreadlord on Cold One" model. It swings up at quite an angle, and the pommel came right across Veysha's chest. It was distracting, looked out of scale, would have made her a nightmare to paint and just seemed unnecessary. So I took it off in layers with the scalpel, and then added a chainmail texture and cloak edge with the scalpel point. Having done that, she then looked a little exposed on that side, so I added a much smaller Cold One sword/scabbard, at a much more horizontal line. I'm really pleased with this - even though it's only a subtle change when seen start to finish, it felt like a well thought through series of steps, each improving things.

ii) Veysha's head and body are now pretty much set. There's a tiny chance her head looks too small in the final then I'll add a crown from spare Cold One Knight crests. Still, I'll glue them soon. The torso just needs a 1-2mm platform of green stuff to prevent it looking too stocky. Although a plainer torso than most character models, I like the simplicity of it. I'm going to try to boost it's impact with a cool paint job. In my mind I have a silver/purple/indigo version of the Green Knight swirls, but I might not be able to pull that off. In which case silver and lots of purple ink.

iii) The sword arm then comes from the Dreadlord model, the upper section from a Dark Elf Warrior. Still thinking about the paint - I might go for an opaque green sword even.

iv) The shield is hard to position with Blu Tack. I'm hoping to take it lower so she's looking over the slanting top of it. I'll paint the shield separately, though I'm still working on fluff and thus the icon it will bear. More soon - that I can do whilst in DC. Lots of time in the air to finalise things on that front!

v) The big issue is the cloak - not shown here. She's taking the Cloak of Twilight and a SDC, so it's essential the model has one... if not two. Neither a Chaos Warrior cloak, nor a hollowed out Corsair cloak fit naturally... yet. I'm going to hollow the Corsair one further, and maybe try to bend it. If that doesn't work, I'm going to try to build something from Green Stuff in the @Lion of Flanders mode (though without any of his mind blowing skill!). I'm thinking I might be able to sculpt a green stuff "under cloak" that makes the void between her and the SDC look believable. The cloak is the main element where I'm still undecided in terms of the conversion.

vi) Don't worry about the paint on the Cold One - the scales are way, way, way off done. The texture isn't there for drybrushing, so I'll be trying to repaint highlights manually. Oh and he needs a name... More work for the flight to DC! Satyr? Fulcrum? Faust?

NOTE - More pictures on page 2 in separate post - I could only upload three here.
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Here's what the Cold One's flank looked like in between the first sword's being shaved away, and the new one being positioned.  You can see the bare resin where I've been at work.  It will all get re-undercoated, of course.
Here's what the Cold One's flank looked like in between the first sword's being shaved away, and the new one being positioned. You can see the bare resin where I've been at work. It will all get re-undercoated, of course.
The old scabbard, part of the resin model, now shaved away with the scalpel.
The old scabbard, part of the resin model, now shaved away with the scalpel.
DE Old Scabbard.jpg (35.26 KiB) Viewed 19066 times
The new scabbard - smaller, set further back and more horizontal.  Altogether less obtrusive, but enough to keep some balance this side.
The new scabbard - smaller, set further back and more horizontal. Altogether less obtrusive, but enough to keep some balance this side.
Last edited by flatworldsedge on Tue Sep 23, 2014 9:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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