Ok so after painting my Space amphibian from the Colony 87 range in June, I have left the 5 other models aside for an unknown reason. It seems even more odd when you know how wonderful all those sculpts are.
After getting another load of models done for my Helmawr gang, I found it would be an excellent opportunity to paint a Noble from the upper hives, you know, those kind of places (see right at the top) :
I wanted the model to be visually coherent with the Helmawr gangers but with a richer approach and I wanted it to be significantly different to show those don't operate on the same level. To achieve this, I kept the same colour scheme but I worked on a much deeper red, darker and yet richer.
I broke the whole scheme by giving him a nice piece of exotic feathers. I first wanted to paint it like fur (like Tiger or Leopard fur) fut given the texture, I felt like making something even more exotic. I can imagine he decided to sport the feathers of an extinct species just for the pleasure to display his social status...
I broke the whole scheme by giving him a nice piece of exotic feathers. I first wanted to paint it like fur (like Tiger or Leopard fur) fut given the texture, I felt like making something even more exotic. I can imagine he decided to sport the feathers of an extinct species just for the pleasure to display his social status...
Painting wise I tried to work this part with glazes only in an attempt to imitate the work of guys like Don Hans or Martin Grandbarbe who fascinate me... let's say I'll need a couple more trials to get how this all works and start getting into their tracks... ^^'
Oh and I also wanted his face to bear the marks of congenitality with weird and digusting skin problems. Problem is that I opted for a very pale skintone at first using a stone grey (the one I used for his clothes actually) but it proved to contain a slight amount of green in it (which I had never truly noticed before even with my daylight bulbs) and that very slight amount of green completely screwed the whole highliting which started on a normal skin tone (containing orange)... after cleaning up the mess, I tried adding glazes but those were way to violent for the skintone so had to tidy things up again...
It's a real shame as his face is truly one of the best I've ever seen on a model in 25 years of modelling.
Sergei of House Kalente has known one thing from the day he was born until now : people owe him. People owe him many things as respect, money, benefits, some of their rights and for most of them even the right to live. House Kalente is one of those ancient noble families that have journeyed alongside (some would say in the shadow of) House Helmawr for generations. Like House Helmawr, House Kalente has preserved its familiy heirloom and genetic superiority with internal unions and some "assisted" natural selection... those practices have meant both families have kept their bloodline pure... only not untainted by illness.
Whatever it takes, whatever the cost, Sergei will make sure House Kalente stays on top of the food chain and he will get as many as it takes below him to keep things this way...
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| Sergei Kalente sometimes need to give instructions directly for special "requests", Pierce Gavstone is one of the very few operative he can consider reliable... |
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| Sergei Kalente knows his duties lead him to deal with strange beings like Zaba Krobosh but you cannot really trust those aliens can you ? |
I really hope you like it, I had tons of fun painting this one even though I messed his face to my greatest shame... you don't get many of those miniatures that really make you want to paint more but this one (like the slann) was really one of those. I'm really looking forward to painting some more, so I'll probably pick a stand alone like this one before I get what I need to work on the other groups I've planned !
Oh and funnily enough, while looking in my drawers I realised I may have bought a little too much drill ends... Every time I go to a DIY store, I just think "oh I must be short on drill ends, let's get some in advance..."
I love your interpretation JB - from the disease ridden skin, to the shifty eyes, and the sombre colours. You get a real sense of presence with the darker tones, but also a hint of a much more flamboyant character with that brightly coloured wrap over his shoulders.
ReplyDeleteLovely job!
Well glad the initiator of the line appreciates the effort ! You have painted teh model yourslef so you obvisously know how good the model is (even if you might have been biased). Just like for the amphibian, everything made sense and I neevr had to struggle about how to do things. Just the perfect ratio of details and smooth textures. Really my kind of figures.
DeleteThanks a lot for both the model and comments !
...You are so beautiful, my Baron. Your skin — love to me. Your diseases — lovingly cared for for all eternity!
ReplyDeleteThere's a bit of that yes ! Only with a little more introversion !
DeleteAwesome miniature, and great job on the fur. Looking at it, I cannot stop thinking of Baron Harkonnen from the Dune books by Frank Herbert. :)
ReplyDeleteWell it looks like you're onthe same page as 24-cigarettes above !
DeleteI t must have been a secret influence I have tosay. Like most people into thi shobby, Dune has been a tremendous onfluence for me but I didn't have that in mind counsciously, it was just... the right thing to do !
Thanks a lot !
That's rather funny - I just finished painting this one on the weekend! Haven't sat it down in front of a camera yet though. It really is a great model, isn't it - fun to see it coming to life as you paint it. I really like the colours you've gone with - the red in particular is lovely and deep. What colours did you use for frills on the cape and the edging on the tunic? They look like what I was trying to achieve but didn't!
ReplyDeleteOh now I want to see it ! I only find nice to see the same model painted by different people, I like to see the idea I wish I'd had !
DeleteI think the base colour is Runelord brass followed by an agrax earthshade wash then I build highlights in a zenithal approach with brass again and then the final highlight is in Sycorax Bronze with a touch of mithril on top if I really want to pake things shine (I didn't do that here).
For some reason I don't like my yellow gold so I usually shoot for somethig warmer and closer to brass or copper but dessaturated with mithril.
Great, thanks for the recipe! I'll get mine up when I get a chance to sit down with the camera.
DeleteWell I 'll check tonight those are the right ones, I'm not really good with names and especially with evercganging paint names ^^'
DeleteThat's ok, I use Vallejo these days, so knowing what the basic colours are is fine!
DeleteIts such a great figure that in some ways I imagine that it would be hard to make it unappealing, not that you did in any way of course, it looks lovely. I do like the little checks on the cape.
ReplyDeleteIt is a superb sculpt that gives a lot. I was afraid the checks might make the cape look like a carpet or something but I think it works reasonably well.
DeleteThanks Paul !
Wow, the colour choices are great and the minis look great too thanks to your painting skills.
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say that the sculpt is really painter friendly, everything feels natural and is a pleasure. Glad you love the subdued version of the Helmawr gang ;)
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