Monday 7 January 2019

Get over here ! - Chibi Ninja from Super Dungeon Explore


And now for something completely different... I've recently been offered to take part in a fun painting challenge to paint chibi models from Super Dungeon Explore ! Some painters offered to send some of their models (thanks Audrey !) so that many could try their hand on this kind of subject so I took the offer to paint something different for a change.
Now those models have super deformed proportions (they're chibi) and come in a soft plastic. Now I'm used to painting heroic 28mm so correct proportions aren't really my thing but this is entirely different !



Now the models were assigned randomly from many sets and I got this sweet little ninja with katana. And being the contradictive idiot that I am, what do I wanna do when I see cute little ninjas ?


 That's right, I want to recreate a cute version of the least cute ninja from pop culture :


Now since I'm still an idiot, I also didn't take the time to check how scorpion looks before painting so  I got the colours for the hood and mask the other way...
Yeah I know, I didn't do my research properly, amateur hour and all that...
Painting wise, I thought there were only 2 ways possible : go full Kawai with flashy colours and big eyes or try to reverse that...
I opted for the latter. I kept a very desaturated palette and added a bit of weathering, blood splatters (totes not cute) and dust on the base. And I'm glad I did. 
Now since Scorppion has white eyes, I decided to paint him chibi eyes but in a light grey as if the colour from his eyes had vanished or he has strong cataract. I imagine he's just the result of an unfortunate babality.
I'm honestly not one to blend on huge areas and I need a fast and nervous approach to painting so I know this isn't the kind of figures for me but my respect for those painting them has hugely increased.
I don't fancy painting soft plastic and soft details, I need the sculpt to giude and help me to be honest. The katana on this one had 6 sides almost all the same size so it was quite hard to get a semi NMM to look right and get semi sharp edges. I guess I could paint a box like the one above if I fancied the game though.


It's quite fun to see this little guy next to some of my most recent models but now I must focus and work on some secret but really cool projects !
Enjoy !

13 comments:

  1. You know I was really expecting a Sub-Zero. Katana looks very katana in the photos - great stuff.

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    1. Which Sub-Zero ? ^^
      I opted for the antihero rather than Mr Nice Guy. ;)
      Thanks.

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  2. I don't relate to the appeal of Chibi but your painting is up to its usual high standard.

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    1. I'm a big fan of mangas and dspite being used to it, for some reason, it's not a style I'd favour for painting generally although a small project could probably do it for me.

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  3. I really like how you did your blending, and the muted tones really suite the mini. I got some of these to try and paint awhile back, gave up and let my daughter have them.

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    1. It's quite different isn't it ? I've never tried the game so there's little chance of me painting any more than this but it was fun trying really !

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    2. Those are Ninja All Stars minis actually.
      The game is kind of blood blowleish in the sense position and influence zones work in order to get to choose from the dice results.

      The game bombed so soda pop reimplemented the minis into super dungeon explore. Ninja All Stars range is quite nice, so you can get Oni and kitsunes (ogre, fox etc kinda masks) instead of vanilla ninjas.

      Great work, still have to paint mine but IMHO I'd rather use a brighter palette and bigger eyes to fit the scale. It kinda feels like painting marines kawaii with pinks and stripes as if they were J pop mechy groupies.

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  5. I think painting a different style of miniature is a useful exercise once in awhile. I like how he turned out.

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    1. It really is, it's like stretching before and after exercise ^^

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  6. A great mix of muted yellows and a dash (well, more than a dash) of red. Nice work.

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    1. Thanks! I wanted something really comic book like hence the choices. ^^

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