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Monday 30 May 2016

Iron claw mutants - complete painted set


Another quick one for today, Do any of you have those sort of projects you thought were finished and you realise afterwards you can still add a little something ? Well that happens a lot to me and it's just happened ot long ago.
Some of you might remember that a year ago I painted a warband of Rad mutants based on Iron claw pirates right ? Well I just happened to miss one of the mutants from that set. I'm not exactly a completist collection wise (despite some attempts) but since there are 5 mutant models in the set I thought it'd be cool to have them all as 5 makes a better number for a squad than 4 (or at leas tthat's how I feel).

Strangely enough, it's proven quite a challenge to get my hands on that fellow without taking the easy way of Ebay and the infamous BIN prices... Once again, I wouldn't be much without the help/love/awesomeness of those around and my brother James just got me the missing dude which I got amongst many other models at Knavecon.


So here he is, amongst the other 4 I painted earlier. I have to say I'm a bit relieved to see he doesn't look too odd amongst the others especially since I've had to replace some of my colours due to discontinued ranges... 
He might be  a  little more refined than his companions but maybe that's just an impression. As ever with Bob Olley models, it was simultaneously challenging and pleasant to paint this little guy. I sometimes feel like Bob was playing with us when sculpting those, The eyes and ears are sculpted differently (I had experienced that already with this psyker) and god those textures everywhere ! As ever though, just block colours and start playing with washes, highlights and BAM ! the textures start to make sense, the details reveal all of their awesomeness and in mere seconds you realise you're having a wonderful time ! That's the Bob Olley effect for you. If you're reluctant to painting any of his stuff, I sincerely welcome you to try and paint one and see how you like it.

I've tried to order them from the least (left) to the most (right) mutated.

This little group is still unfinished though and to accompany them and the others, I still have a couple of space minotaurs from the Space raiders range I'd like to add (and then maybe a couple of beatsmen as well but that's long-term thoughts).

For now, I'm going to have to clear a few little things to free enough time for 2 far bigger projects ! (all I can say for now)

26 comments:

  1. I'm running out of ways to tell you how good your painting is mec. Can't you just wait like a day and post 10 new models all together? ;)

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    1. And blog about unrelated subjects AT ONCE ? (rolls over the floor pulling his hair)
      Thanks mec, you and me ! ;)

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  2. Great! I love this guy's skin transition, and the Olley sculpt is sublime. What does his gun do? Who knows! Who cares?!

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    1. The double barrel makes me think of a shotgun but like you said, who cares, it could be a laser cannon or a hairdryer for all I know !

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  3. Nice to see the group finally copmp^lete. I really like the way you painted the red on those guys.

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    1. Thanks, I didn't want the red to be as bright as what I ususally do, I wanted something a little more "natural" or at least plausible.

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  4. Those guys are neat JB.

    Any plans to paint the rest of the Iron Claw pirates now?

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    1. Scratch an Olley and you realise your all body's itching... I'll seperate them in groups so the next round moight see the weird bunch with capes and weird helmets.

      Cheers ;)

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  5. Excellent :) Really nice paint job with interesting paint scheme :D
    As you yet know I painted some Iron Claw miniatures and I found them delightfully grotesque and funny to paint. Sure Oldhammer miniatures have that particular charm that many of the new perfect 3d Sculpting/Printing miniatures simple don't have... As the difference between a huge, aseptic and modern shopping center in a big city and a nice little shop in a small town...

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    1. I love the analogy and agree with it. For me it's all about the element of surprise. i don't get much surprises with most new modesl (though I enjoy painting some). Bob Olley is the sculptor who will always have that detail or part to surprise and challenge ou as a painter, without being a chore.
      You did great on those mercs, makes me want to paint some of mine now. ^^

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  6. Hehe - the Bob Olley effect! Love it mate, they're a great little group... gives me some ideas on how to tackle mine when I get around to it!

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    1. It exists, it works every time ! I swear !

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  7. I'm going to have to agree with Crooks! I will just say woooooow man!!! Those bleed Oldschool and your paint work has brought them to life.

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    1. The human sacrifices must have helped at some point too... ;)

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  8. I think I mentioned it once before, but I'll repeat it again, just in case my feeble memory has failed me yet again.

    It's a real shame that the original studio paint jobs for Bob's mini's were so poor. I don't know who painted his work, but they sucked arse X1000! If they'd have been painted up even half as good as what you've done JB, then they would have had a tonne more interest....no shit brother, Yours look ace!

    Oh, and slow they fuck down with your output would ya, your putting the rest of us mere mortals to shame :P

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    1. I'll calm the fuck down I soon as I get a new GF, I promise... ^^'
      It' strue some original paintjobs weren't exactly helping but I think the painting style of tha ttime wasn't the most adequate either. there's isn't too much to blend on those but if you just let washes work, the textures owrk for you so I think they're more suited for modern(ish) techniques.

      Thanks mec ;)

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  9. Great colours, right down to the rim of the bases. Are these planned out, do you start with a rough idea and then go from there, or do you just go with the flow and see how they turn out?

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    1. I usually have a colour combination in mind when I start, generally a couple of colours and then I add what I need to make things work. Painting Bob Olley models is a little different though as there's too much to just plan hence the diffreent colours on those (about 7-8 I'd say) I try to keep some desaturated to avoid clashes.
      The base rim is an idea I've extended from my chaos renegades, since they're all black I found a grey bas rim made them look darker. The red almost pinkish tone of the base is also here to make the rest seem colder by contrast. ^^
      Or maybe I'm just overthinking things !

      thanks !

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  10. It's great to see these guys painted up nicely as said above, they were never given a very clarifying job in White Dwarf resulting in their quality looking a bit unclear. Some lovely details can be seen here, typical of Bob. You're on a real roll at the moment, Mr Man.

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    1. I have to say I'm curious to see how the human ones of the human ones of teh group will look like, I don't think I've ever painted a normal human from Bob so far so we'll see. His Squats work fo rme so I guess the humans will follow !
      Thanks Ed !

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  11. I do love me some Iron Claw sculpts, especially the Squats.

    A VERY nice squad of muties mate, very nice.

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    1. Thanks ! Iron claw sculpts are really good, I'll get working on more in a not too distant future !

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  12. Beautiful work on the skin tones make their faces come alive. You truly did a great job :)

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    1. All the details areon the sculpts, simples washes already give full life to those sculpts, they're a real treat for lazy painters like myself !

      thanks !

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