Azazel (Fallen Angel Terminator Sorcerer Lord)

Azazel

Hello people of the internet. Sorry for the delay since my last posting, but I got caught in what I call the “holiday crush” ™. That is when the recent holiday season’s obligations make it hard to get any good miniature photography done and though I have been painting regularly I had not updated till now.

Anyway, formalities aside I present you with Azazel Sorcerer of the Fallen Angel Chaos Space Marines. I envisioned this model as the brooding leader of band of Dark Angel turn coats. Starting his career as a librarian (pre-heresey) he dabbled in the dark arts and when some of the Dark Angels turned to the forces of Chaos he gladly switched allegiances to continue his pursuit of the mystical and occult.

This model has an interesting history. It and a few other seemingly limited run models were sculpted during one of GW’s global event campaigns. Interestingly it was released and then soon after (maybe half a year) the Chaos Space Marine Codex was rewritten and a plastic multi-part lord was released. Unfortunately for this awesome sculpt, the plastic lord kit totally overshadowed it, and that really is a shame. It is well sculpted, has super sharp details, and really captures the intangiable “feel” of chaos. The armor appears ancient, but resonates power, and perhaps as a precursor to the current kits, the blister included four weapon options. The problem being that their were only two options for each arm so you might want a combination that you can’t make (which i deal with in the next paragraph). All I can say is that I love this miniature!

Azazel

As I undertook building the model I set a scene in my mind. I imagined the sorcerer lord striding over broken asphalt blazing away at guardsmen or loyalist marines with bolts of arcane energy. I wanted him to be pointing as well (either as a leadership gesture or in challenge to an enemy). As such I wanted to use the sword (which I imagine is a force sword) and the dragon headed plasma gun (kai gun?). As such I did have a problem… these were both right handed weapon options. So I first looked at the arms and I knew I could really only do a conversion with the kai gun because the gun was symmetrical, and, as such, would look the same on either side. So I cut the gun and the power claw arms at the elbow and pinned them together I then resculpted the elbow pad and tubes. Finally I covered up the difficult cable and chain coupling with a cool skull bolt bit from my bits box. With both arms complete and ready to go I moved on to building the base.

Azazel

To create the broken asphalt I first took some thin cork board and broke pieces off it till it fit the base. The next step was to add details to make it look like broken concrete. I pushed sniped and bent paper clip bits at odd angles to create rebarr and then I clipped a small brush protector to make a broken pipe.

Lastly I thought that it was silly for a sorcerer not to have a familiar and when I saw the clock work angel from the Empire General sprue I knew what it had to be. The clockwork angel was clipped, trimmed and pinned to the rear of the lord’s armor using a straightened paper clip. I imagined he would hover over the lord bearing tides of woe to his enemies (the banner ended up with the phrase Vae Victus, similar to the Warhammer Online advert).

Azazel

That done, I was able to pin and base the body of the model and prime. The arms were left off so that I did not obstruct the detail. I painted the miniature using a similar scheme to the traditional Dark Angels, with some twists. One particular detail to note was the use of the broken sword motif on the ancient robe to show his former allegiance.

I hope this gives you some more ideas on generating a story to inspire your miniature building and converting.

Happy Hobbydays!

-GPC

PS. Coming Up: My award winning LotR Mounted Gothmog, more commissions, and Ancient Romans… not necessarily in that order!

Dr. Mortimer Klump (Wyrd Miniatures: Morgue Assistant Sebastian)

Dr. Klump

Happy Holidays from GPC! I recently joined a Starblazer Adventures RPG and I needed a miniature to represent my character Dr. Mortimer Klump. The character is a mad scientist with a heart of gold and a diamond edged bonesaw. With his fellow Starhunters he pursues intergalactic war criminals from an organization known as the Instrumentality.

This model was extremely enjoyable to paint. It is Morgue Assistant Sebastian from the fantastic Wyrd Miniatures company. I kept this project warm and used earth tones for the outfit. I used two different layering methods to paint the white portions of the miniature and this would be an interesting opportunity to discuss them.

There are many ways to paint white, but like black it can be source of frustration. There are cool and warm mixes for white. The cool mixes tend to start with a gray or blue base. I used a gray base to paint the white hair of the good doctor. Starting with a light (neutral) gray and progressively adding white, but only using pure white for the final highlight.

I painted the apron and straps of the doctor using a warm palette mix for white (please bear in mind that the apron is a light tan/white and I did not envision the apron as a pure white; the more white you use for the mid-tone the more white it will look at the end). I began with a light brown, khaki type of tone and built up to white by first using a mix with light flesh (a cream type tone with some caucasian flesh tones in it), and then mixing in pure white for the final highlights. Overall this was a very enjoyable miniature to paint and I am looking forward to painting more miniatures from Wyrd.

~GPC

Ancient Deep One (Dagon Jr.)

Ancient Deep One

Ancient Deep One

Ancient Deep One

Mortals beware! The earth quakes beneath the feet of this horror from 10,000 leagues! I created this ancient deep one for Realms of Cthulhu. The basis for the model is the Ghoul King miniature produced by Reaper Miniatures. Using two part epoxy putty I sculpted fins on the limbs and back. I created a blubbery fish finned neck to support a head swap using a growler head from the now defunct Vor miniature game. This is a great example of why as a miniature painter you should not throw any bits away. You never know when they will come in handy.

With the conversion finished I painted the flesh with a base-coat of P3 Trollblood base mixed with P3 Necrotic Flesh and Vallejo Black. I layered on progressive highlights by brightening the color with more Necrotic Flesh. One area of note is the fleshy meat that this monster is devouring. Massive trauma such as removed limbs are messy and do not lend themselves to a uniform layering. Instead, I used GW Mechrite Red layered with Vallejo Flat Red in the deep muscle, and the parts that might be torn flesh got a mix of P3 Midlund Flesh and GW Blood Red (just a tiny bit) built up with more Midlund Flesh and Vallejo Pale Flesh. I glazed the whole piece with GW Baal Red, and GW Leviathan Purple and GW Devlan Mud (in the deepest recesses). Finally, I gloss coated the monsters teeth and the “meatsicle” to give them a sickening shine.

Now to go devour some investigators!
~GPC

Ancient Deep One

Ancient Deep One

Deep Ones

Deep Ones

H.P. Lovcraft is my favorite author and a huge inspiration for me when it comes to gaming. Recently, Reality Blurs published and excellent book for the Savage Worlds rules called Realms of Cthulhu. The short interview is that this book is simply amazing. It has inspired me to model and paint more miniatures for my pulp horror collection.

Deep Ones

These are two of the recent additions. These Deep Ones are from the Strange Aeons miniature range. I met a member of the company at Gen Con and I was really impressed by the Strange Aeons rulebook and miniatures. Now admittedly these miniatures have some flaws (they lack polish), but please keep in mind that the company and sculptor are new and will only continue to grow in skill. These are some of my favorite depictions of Deep Ones. The models are really characterful and were very fun to paint. I am particularly partial to the hunched backed one as he has a really fun face (with a mouth full of misshapen teeth).

~GPC

Deep One

Ancient Celt (Historical Sample)

Ancient Celt

Ancient Celt

One thing I really needed to expand my miniature painting portfolio were more samples of historical figures. I picked an ancient Celt from the really excellent Warlord Games Celt Box-set. Warlord really has created some excellent figures for this range. I found the sprue to be clean and user friendly. The details were very crisp and the figures seemed to accurately represent ancient Celtic warriors (according to illustrations found in Warfare in the Classical World by John Warry, as well as some oline research).

Painting historical miniatures is different from painting fantasy, sci-fi, or superheros. Yes, I know this seems childishly simple, but it is something you should think about before painting. It just changes your entire approach. For example lets look at color selection. When I am choosing colors for a fantasy figure I’m looking at the pose, the facial expressions, the gear, and I am asking myself questions: “What is the mood I want to inspire as I paint this figure? What are the materials his/her clothes are made of? How would this character dress?”

For a historical figure I need to do research. Warriors in historical armies had uniforms and looked a certain way. Depending on how organized the army was this can be extremely specific (Napoleonic uniforms) or more vague. This Celt falls into that vague range. The Celts wore clothes that looked a certain way (due to available materials and the fashion of the day), but generally did not have an army uniform. Now books like Warfare in the Classical World show pictures of these warriors and you can get an idea of how they should look, but it is up to you, the craftsmen, to interpret them. What colors would be available to dye clothes? What are some traditional designs used by that culture? Questions like these will help you refine your work and the added realism will help bring your miniature creation to life.

Now go, expand your horizons! Grab a historical mini and an Osprey Book and let slip the dogs of war!
~GPC

Ancient Celt

Ancient Celt

Necromancer (Event Miniature)

There is nothing quite as enjoyable as painting a miniature you love. To revisit a common cliche its like “hanging out with an old friend.” That is how I felt when I painted this Mordheim Necromancer for Phantom of the Attic’s Warhammer Event: The Assault on Baldenhof Manor. The necromancer model was used to represent (unsurprisingly) the “Mad Necromancer of Baldenhof Manor” Anton Muller and played his role spectacularly commanding and raising the dead as well as blasting units with dark energy.

One point of interest on this piece was the painting of the skull raised over the necromancer’s head. To paint a skull such as this I start with a dark brown and over 3 to 4 stages I build up the highlights using first a browish ochre and slowly transitioning to a yellowy cream. There are many different colors that are useful, but I would most recommend the Foundry triple pack Boneyard. When painting a skull I save pure white for the teeth which makes the skull appear particularly menacing and adds some realism (the teeth of a skull tend to appear more white than the skull itself). Once again, painting using this layering technique is time consuming, but well worth it for the results.

Happy Painting!
~GPC

Mounted Archaon (Independent Commission)

Mounted Archaon gave me the chance to stretch my creative muscles and try some new things. The customer for this commission gave me free reign to develop a color scheme and details. I painted the mounted Archaon in an identical manner to the Archaon on foot. I painted the horse’s flesh with GW Chardon Granite and built up the highlights based on that. For the sword and shield once again applied a fire technique.

Continuing with the fire theme I decided that the modeled base was a lava flow bursting from under Archaon’s steed (in response to his powerful presence). To make the base match up with Archaon on foot I used basing pumice on the base and on the sculpted details that came with the miniature. I didn’t like the idea that the spikes were bones so I painted them as lava spikes piercing up from the earth. The lava was painted in a similar manner to the flaming sword and shield.

In the Warhammer Chaos storyline Archaon comes from the Chaos Wastes. The frozen wasteland north of the Empire. As such I used made the base of rocky and snowy. What I really wanted to convey was that the lava was melting the snow. To do this I applied the scatter snow in the usual way with PVA glue. After doing so and applying Testor’s Dullcote over the entire model. Once the miniature had completely dried I went applied Vallejo Glosscote around and on parts of the scatter snow in a random fashion. This simple technique gave the impression that the snow around the erupting earth was melting



Happy miniature painting!
~GPC

Dwarf Lord with removeable Oathstone

I wanted to do a project that would give me an opportunity to use rare earth magnets (something I just had not had the chance to try out). This excellently sculpted Dwarf Lord by Games Workshop was perfect. As a part of the dwarf army a lord may have an oathstone. This stone when placed provides the lord with an elevated position to fight from, but more importantly sets the minds of his comrades to fight to the bitter end in defense of their lord and his sacred relic.

The first thing I did was clip the lord from his base tab. Then, using a Dremel tool on a low setting, I carefully drilled a hole and set a rare earth magnet in each foot. To secure the magnet I used two-part epoxy and superglue. I then made a two bases. The first base is a normal 20mm square base with a small square of thin sheet metal attached to it. Sand was sprinkled over the base except where the magnets would make contact. The base was finished with a variety of grays and some Woodland Scenics scatter snow.

The oathstone was made primarily out of pink foam. I cut and shaped it with a hobby knife and then roughed it up with some sand and white glue. I added an anvil symbol from my bit-box and hand-primed the oathstone (to prevent it from being damaged by the spray). Finally I painted the stone in a similar fashion to the other base.

I really enjoyed this project. It was a fun way to add a lot of character to an already awesome model. I hope it inspires you to try something new!
~GPC

Wolf Thunder Warrior

While practicing miniature photography, I was reminded of a piece I had worked on over the summer. This is a Wolf Thunder Warrior from Kraken Editions really sweet Alkemy miniature game. I plan on doing a force of their great looking toad figures at some point, but I was really inspired by this particular model so I decided to create a display for it.

Wolf Thunder Warrior

For the figure itself I was really inspired by the Native American theme that seemed to be pervasive in the Aurlok faction. I kept the colors cool: gray skin-tone, white feathers, blue warpaint. I really like the way the warpaint pattern turned out. I researched Native American warpaint schemes and I found a lot of really great pictures from old paintings and black and white photos, to current pictures from modern Native American gatherings. I did not chose the most elaborate scheme I could find. Instead, I chose a scheme that was simple and bold, and I limited the colors to a single color because I felt that these qualities would make the best transition to miniature.

Wolf Thunder Warrior

After I completed the miniature I went to work on a display base. I started with an old peanut butter lid (of all things?!?!). First, I roughed up the surface and used white glue to apply a mix of fine and course sand. I selected a weathered stick I had found that looked to me like a miniature log. Some patches were left bare to serve as mud puddles. The base was primed black and then base-coated and dry-brushed the sand up to the highlight level I desired. I then painted the “log” in my normal layering style. I selected a mix of browns to make the bottom of the puddle and painted them directly onto the bare patches. To create the puddle I mixed some brown and green ink and some Vallejo Water Effects and slowly poured it onto the bare patch. It is a puddle so I left the water effects to one layer.

I hope this gives you some ideas of some cool things you can do with the awesome miniatures you have at home. Till next time…

~GPC

Archaon On Foot (Independent Commission)

Archaon

Archaon

Here is Archaon “The Everchosen!” This is one half of a independent commission I am currently working on. I chose to paint Archaon in black (similar to the GW sample), but strayed away from the reddish highlights and instead went for a true black.

Painting black comes up often on painting forums, but I think people make it harder than it has to be. This black armor is achieved by progressive layers of black mixed with white. Each layer I only add a tiny bit of white and I try to avoid finishing anywhere near even a dark gray (such as Vallejo German Gray). I build my highlights toward the raised areas where light would naturally collect. This is a time consuming technique but I find it to be effective.

~GPC