Adding this here instead of as a finished project. I completed the plinths on these models this week. My late father-in-law did all of the Space Marines. He started playing 40k with me and a friend of mine around 2019-2021, somewhere in there. By the spring of this year when he passed, he had amassed an impressive collection of Space Marines, all painted up in Ultramarines livery. (By the latest count, it was around 7000points in total). Every model was carefully painted in sub assemblies and then put together and added to the display cabinet, waiting for a turn on the tabletop. When I put the hobby stuff collection together this summer, there was only one model kit that was still in the gray stage and it had just been started. There was no pile of shame, only a cabinet of pride. So I kept the models you see here from the collection and made plinths for them. 4 for his beloved granddaughters, one for my wife, and two for his close sisters.
I'm aiming to get a couple of extra vehicles painted ready for a weekend of gaming in a couple of weeks. I have a rag-tag sci-fi army consisting of minis and vehicles from various different indie companies, and this Dune Buggy is from Seb Games from the Void tabletop battle game. I run these as jeeps in Grim Dark Future One Page Rules, and as softskin technicals in Xenos Rampant. It's quite an old-school model, being a hybrid resin and metal kit. It's pretty straight forward and intuitive to piece together though, the only extra thing I do is to drill and pin the wheel pieces to the chassis, otherwise they'd be likely to break off under their own weight. I left the gunner and the roll cage separate for most of the painting. I intend to add a base like on my other dune buggy (pictured), partly for the look, but also it makes it sturdier as a whole. I'm just waiting on some cork sheets to arrive so I can build the base - for now it's drilled and pinned with 2mm brass rod which I've skewered into a big cork for ease of handling while painting - I'll also use this brass rod to secure it to the base. The way I painted it is to prime the model black, then zenithal white, but only concentrating on the main chassis. I then airbrushed a basecoat of MP Light Turquoise on the chassis, which is a very close approximation of the 'duck egg' colour used on a lot of engines and industrial facilities. I sprayed matte varnish over this because I would be using a stencil and wanted to ensure there was no risk of the paint lifting away. I attached a self-adhesive chevron stencil to the hood and then stippled on the pattern in Pro Acryl Burnt Red with a piece of sponge. I then blocked in all the wheels, suspension springs and metal areas in black, then painted the metals in Dark Silver, and picked out the headlamps in Bold Titanium White. I added weathering by sponge stippling a few shades of brown and black, and some Dirty Down Rust effect. Moving on to the crew, I painted their jumpsuits Dark Camo Green and their shoulder pads Mahogany. I also used Mahogany as the base colour for the gunner's skin. I used Shadow Flesh for the driver's skin. The jumpsuits were highlighted up by adding Dark Yellow Green into the base colour, with ivory added for the edges of the cuffs. The driver's skin was highlighted by adding Tan Flesh and Ivory, the hair was simply Yellow Brown with a Brown wash to shade it. The gunner's skin was highlighted by adding Shadow Flesh to the base colour, with final highlights including Olive Flesh. I fully assembled the model at this point and gave the whole vehicle a coat of gloss varnish. Once this was dry I painted on Streaking Grime - normally for vehicles I'd airbrush the whole thing, but I didn't want any on the crew or interior. Before this dried, I used a lint free cloth to wipe away the excess, leaving the grime effect in the recesses. I reapplied white to the headlamps, and then airbrushed white then yellow inks for the OSL effect. Finally the whole model was sprayed with matte varnish. The other vehicle I want to build and paint before my game is a second Mauler APC (Wargames Atlantic), which I bought this week - so we shall see how much spare time I have!
I used an airbrush for the cloth and smoke, and dry brushed the armor.
Starting the OSL on the back reactor. Fluor red and AK Deep red mixed with the grey I use for the side bits (AK Rubber Black and Grimy Grey)
Playing around with photography a bit. Still terrible at capturing yellow 😅
I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella. And I have never known defeat Sculpt by Bulkamancer, Printed by WarriorPrints3D This turned into a fun project, though it was a pain to get references for the colours on the prosthetics, it turns out to be a combination of Ivory, Bright Flat Gold and Duller Gold. A really interesting thing about Malenia is her body containing the Scarlet Rot, an outer god of decay that has corrupted her demigod body. I wanted to show this a bit more than the game (due to the limitations of detail and legibility of fighting her), so the areas affected make a transition from pale flesh, to bruising, to necrosis, to finally a grey scabby texture that cracks open to the raw diseased meat below. The areas that this has been somewhat held back are the areas woven with Unalloyed Gold (created by her brother Miquella to aid her sickness), which has delayed the progression in her left arm. In fact, the only area with healthy skin tones is her left hand, the area most protected by Unalloyed Gold. Finally is the corruption sneaking in around Malenia, the Fungus killing the roots of the tree and Aonian butterflies swarming around her. Even her shard of the Elden Ring is becoming corrupted and overwhelmed, only a little Grace of Gold remaining among the Scarlet.
I paint a squig hopper every summer to track progress but I decided to also do a color challenge with this guy.
Wip of a 3d printed hunter with a crossbow. I've had the model sitting around for a while and decided to paint it to test and idea for skin tones. She's... A little 'cheekier' than the models I normally paint, but has been fun to paint.
I wanted to capture the rotting beauty of death, how it can be painful yet peaceful. That all things pass on and have a second life, giving back to the earth. I really loved how the foggy eyes convey the emotion of a ghost: something might still be there but is slowly fading. I have painted this elk from Witchsong Miniature (Arsen, Horns of Hell).
This was my first Necron Canoptek I had ever painted back in 2023. I was new to painting, and I was learning how TMM worked and how to make a glowing effect with just my brush. I am proud to see how far I have come.
building model number 2 of my Ratling Kill Team™️and contemplating how to make a 25mm base interesting but not overwhelming and i had the idea of using two very different basing textures. I used the Monument Hobbies Coarse Grey Earth which is thicker with a coarse texture and then filled in around it with Bear Cavalry My Name is Mud which is thin and loose with varying sizes of grit mixed in. The plan is to let it dry and then prime over everything and hit it with a quick dry brush and Aggaros Dunes contrast 🤷
Update on my Chaos Terminator Lord. Did a lot more work on the blue and gold, as well as sketched in my flames.
Not miniatures, but I printed out some props to try out some large scale painting and here are the WIPs
Enjoyed painting my first Warhammer anything! Grots for my Ork army. Can’t wait to keep pumping them out.
With the most recent update, it looks like posted pictures will zoom to fill the frame unless they're already a square. Maybe y'all were already posting squares as a standard or something, but I don't know anything about that, so a bunch of my projects now have odd, cut off pics. Sorry about that! This post is just to say I know about it, and I'll to take new pictures eventually.
Well, results for the next tier (1k pts) are in. I started off pretty good in tier one, but hit a major slump in this tier. As expected, I completely fell off the board. They only post the top 5 per Race/Faction and top 10 overall. So there may be a chance I’m still in the running for “Top Aeldari Player” but I’m not sure. (Especially if my slump continues) I do still think I’m in the runnings for “Top Painted”, as so far, there is only one other painted army in the entire league. I played against them this tier (Necrons) and they look good! I think maybe my general style, basing, and use of bold colors is going to be to my advantage. We’ve now started Tier 3, which is 1250 pts. I’m well ahead of schedule, painting wise, as I’m currently sitting on 1750 pts worth of painted Aeldari.
10 years ago Relicblade was released with white metal pigs. The sculpts were full of character but customizing metal miniatures has always been difficult. With rising costs of shipping and tin as well as more renown for the game itself there has been a growing need for a different material. Recently the pigs were resulpted in plastic and re-released with updated rules and scenarios. I am so excited to own both types of pigs. Design of the new pigs has evolved style wise and with the design and new material there is now better opportunity for magnetizing these beauts. It is understandably tedious to execute but the way the wraps were designed near the hands of the pigs affords for a straight cut through.
Early wip,but i think the scheme works!
Kitbashed by the amazing raegon_forge on Instagram, I get to be the one to put paint on this monstrosity. My request for it was a Night Lord's Terminator Lord that is Possessed, using the Saturnine Praetor as a base. It needs to keep the silhouette of a Terminator, as it's not a Daemon Prince (though I doubt any would mind if I played him as one). Also no tusks, cause I think the elephant tusks on Chaos Termis looks dumb. Hoo boy I got exactly what I wanted. Now I get to give it 110%
WIP of a Knight Castellan, being painted entirely in NMM with OSL from the base. Yep, pretty mad to do something this size that way, but it's a good way to practice larger scale, adding texture, and keeping the lighting right even with texture. I've still got a ways to go to getting this to where I'm fully happy with it, but the me of 6 months ago would be ecstatic at this.
First big age of sigmar model
Just thinking over the hobby as a whole and the breadth of techniques, styles, modes, fashions, and camps folks hitch their wagons to. Arguments over edge highlights vs natural highlights, grimdark vs Eavy Metal, saturated vs desaturated can be daunting for a newbie. But something I think that needs to be the message is to just try. Get out there, get to it, paint away! Don't worry about if you're gonna win Golden Daemon your first try or your 100000000th time, just have fun and learn. Make mistakes, invent new colors, discover your voice and method. Don't worry if your latest marine will give poor Duncan an aneurysm, worry about if you learned something from it. Have fun, paint something weird, and keep improving.
While I am still working on the NeverEnding cyclops, I'm also looking ahead to my next project: a bunch of fun casino scatter! So here's a pre-production shot of these fresh off the printer. I'm particularly looking forward to painting the slot machines!
I have been working on this one a little while. Still, adding a few more painted minis to complete it. Almost done.
Actually just finished this for my son. He plays guitar and loves Orcs.
I used plastic card to make it look like the ice is breaking below the broadside's feet. I think the effect is working but I feel like it missing something. Maybe a little more height surrounding the brake?
Had some fun painting a couple Skaven heroes! Tried a little OSL on the grey seer too.
Working on my Kithguard army and dialing in the scheme!
My favorite chapter, the Blood Ravens. This is a paint scheme I’ve always wanted to try.
I tried glazing soft green over the white skirt, but I failed to control the paint consistency, so it didn’t turn out well. I made some corrections, but I’m still not satisfied with the result.
Had a sick day from work today so as a distraction I worked on this. Had the random ides for this at work so gathered the main model and some bits from the Maw Krusha left overs I have and... I made this guy who my wife described as "Metal as heck". I will likely get round to painting this is the distant future.
A quick how to of how I approach my process for TMM in light of the monthly challenge! 💪
I went into this as a digital (and manual) camera noob feeling like all the terminology was mysterious, overly technical and very confusing. I hope to remove at least a bit of that mystery and confusion. My mother-in-law who gifted me my camera is an avid amateur landscape and wildlife photographer so she was kind enough to show me the different camera settings and what they do and how they're related. She's not used to Nikon cameras or close-up photography, but it was a huge help to get hands-on advice from someone who knows what they're actually doing with a camera! Here's my setup: • Camera: Nikon D810 • Lens: Tamron SP 60mm F/2 Macro • Shooting distance: 12-14 inches / 30-36cm • Shooting mode: manual focus • Lighting: one household halogen bulb (28W 230V 2800K 370lm) It's a bit warm (in color) and not super bright. I'd like to try something closer to 5000K with a high CRI • Stability: I'm not using a tripod but I have the camera sitting stable on the desk, using a cabled remote to trigger the shots And here are all the settings and factors coming into play... ISO It helps me to think of ISO as basically the camera's “light sensitivity” setting. This may not be the most technically correct explanation but it's layman's terms which help wrap my brain around it. • Low ISO (100–200 or even less) = camera is less sensitive to light resulting in darker, but cleaner images • High ISO (1600–6400+) = camera is more sensitive to light → brighter, but more grain/noise After reading and watching some tutorials asserting that certain ISO settings (anywhere from 100 to 600) were objectively "the best", I read that for my specific camera, ISO 64 is often more ideal. So after trying ISO settings anywhere between 100-800, I switched to 64 (immediately saw cleaner photos) and stuck with it and adjusted every other setting around that. Aperture, f-stop, depth-of-field. Oh my! For me, the terminology around aperture was (and honestly still is) the most confusing part. Aperture is basically the size of the hole in your lens that lets light into the camera. A bigger hole lets in more light and a smaller hole lets in less light (a lot like our pupils). That part makes sense to me. The weird thing though: aperture is expressed as the letter "f" followed by a number (like f/1.4 or f/2 or f/4 or f/8 or f/16, etc ... also known as the "f-stop") and (here's the weird part) • the lower number actually means a bigger hole (more light) • and a higher number means a smaller hole (less light) Even more confusing is you might hear or read phrases like "stop down" or "stop it down" which usually means the light goes down (smaller hole) but the f number goes up ! 🤯 Anyway! The other very important thing that aperture influences is depth of field . If "depth of field" isn't a familiar term, it relates to how "deep" the camera can focus in relation to the main focused area. Imagine you're photographing a miniature wearing a backpack and holding a hammer in front of them. You might zoom in on the miniature's face and get it focused nice and sharp, but then the backpack in the background and/or the hammer in the foreground becomes a bit blurry/unfocused. In this situation, the "depth of field" is quite low or "shallow". It might actually be exactly what you want, but if you want to get the entire miniature in focus, then a higher f-stop/aperture setting can help (the tradeoff is less light and potentially diffraction of the light leading to less sharpness). But also know that moving the camera farther away from the miniature will also give a deeper (rather than more shallow) depth of field. So if you want the whole mini in focus, your 2 options are changing aperture to a higher f-stop number and/or moving farther away from the mini. Now that all that is clear as mud, here's what I ended up doing for my particular camera/setup... I read that an aperture of around f/11 might be ideal for shooting small things with my camera so I started there, but in my situation, i found i wasn't getting good depth of field so after some experimentation, i ended up going with f/16. Shooting distance As mentioned with the Aperture topic, changing the distance between the camera and the subject influences depth of field. Closer gives less depth and farther away gives more depth. I settled on shooting from around 12 inches / 30cm away (maybe slightly more). I started closer but ended up moving back after some trial and error. So far, I've only been photographing 32mm scale miniatures. I'll probably have to back up more for larger models but I'll burn that bridge when i get to it. Lighting Lighting is also a huge factor. Currently I have a pretty regular household halogen bulb (28W 230V 2800K 370lm) installed in my ikea architect desk lamp with 3 paper towels over it to diffuse the light. Caution! Light bulbs - especially halogens can get very hot. Diffusing with paper towels is a fire risk! I have the light pointed straight at the front of the mini but a bit above from an angle of around 45 degrees (maybe slightly less). Most tutorials recommend a similar setup at a minimum and many go beyond this to also include a light on the front-left and front-right of the mini to help reduce shadows. I'd like to expand to a 3 light setup eventually but the one light setup is working okay for now. I do shoot with the room overhead light on but I also use some sheets of paper to block that light to not create shadows on the model and not introduce a second light source (it's also a basement room with only a small window so having the overhead light on is not too different in the daytime and the nighttime so I don't have to think about different settings for day and night) Exposure time (a.k.a. Shutter speed) Exposure time in layman's terms can be though of as how long the camera "looks at" the subject. The longer it looks, the more light gets in (higher exposure, lighter images). The shorter it looks, the less light gets in (lower exposure, darker images). Given all the other contributing factors above, I'm finding that in my lighting conditions, a 5 second exposure time is working well for me. 4 seconds for less light or 6 seconds for more light are also pretty decent but 5 seems to be the sweet spot in my setup. Currently I leave the camera on my desk and trigger the shot from a cabled remote so that everything is super stable and motionless. White balance All of the above were getting me pretty good quality shots, but they were a touch warm in color (my light is a touch warm so no surprise) . I was fixing this color warmth with warmth and tint adjustments in photo editing software (i'm currently using the native photos app on my iPhone 17 non-pro for post-editing). But then I realized the camera had some icon-based white balance settings. I switched it to the icon that looked like a light bulb (presumably meaning I'm shooting under artificial lighting) and now the colors look a lot more accurate. Metering I don't fully understand this one, but I believe it has little or no effect (on my camera) when shooting in manual mode. Just mentioning it here as it might be worth looking into for some setups. --- So far, I've shot or re-shot the following projects with this approach: • Goblin Shaman • Hammer Maiden • The Gray Matter Connoisseur • Big Boss • Rat Man • Dwarf with Big Gun • Space Marine • Necromancer • Blue Space Marine I like some better than others, but they're all a lot better than I could manage previously on my phone. Let me know if you have any advice for increasing the photo quality. I'd love to push this even further! --- GitGud Painting has a very nice YouTube video on miniature photography with a digital camera. It's definitely worth a watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahw-ExizoO4 And Richard Gray did a really nice breakdown of the GitGud video adding some of his experiences richardgraycreations.com/photographing-m… I think the really important thing to remember is all cameras are different and people have different lenses and lighting conditions. So take precise advice (like specific settings for ISO, aperture, white balance etc) with a grain of salt. The advice is likely in the ballpark but it's also likely you'll need to tailor it to your camera, lighting, lens etc.
I painted it while trying to replicate every detail of the box art. Painting the banner was especially challenging.
The sculpts in this Armageddon box set are just too good, so I’m buying the units separately and painting them, excluding the regular infantry. This is the first one: a Blood Angels Ancient. I’m trying to follow the box art as closely as possible.
After a week of delay, I'm back with another Black Coach rescue update! Currently I've got a base coat on almost everything and I've been pushing to complete the sarcophagus so I can glue it into the carriage. Feels a bit odd to be putting this much detail into a piece that is going to be mostly enclosed, but it's good practice. I managed to smooth over the messy green stuff with some sprue goo. First time using sprue goo and it was fantastic! Really glad to add that to my toolkit. Still needs quite a bit of work, but it's getting closer to being finished! Previous Update: thebaselair.com/posts/w2jru3ibnf
I've been quiet because I've been working slowly on this gnarly dude. Pretty out of my usual style, but still fun to work on so far.
Love this mini
- first time trying this lightning pattern. - really interesting trying to attempt the right type of glow. - a lot of back and forth between deep dark purple, finding a right red, and the yellow ink
"Let the trumpets sound... for it is in the violence of war that salvation is gained."
The first tier of the 40K Slow-Grow League is done. Out of over 60 registered players, here’s how I stacked up: - Top Aeldari Player - 5th in the Xenos Faction - 8th Overall Not too shabby, considering I hadn’t played 40K in close to 20 years. I have ZERO expectations to win the whole thing, but my goal is to keep the Top Aeldari spot, and hopefully win “Best Painted”….
A little scene I put together as a love letter to Mordheim, a game very close to my heart, released as it was during my prime teenage Warhammer years. Here we have my take on three classic Mordheim figures: the Orge Mercenary, the Freelance Knight, and Johann the Knife. I made the plinth from styrene sheet and have made a 1 part silicone mould to cast it in resin.
I pulled this old painted model from my graveyard. Decided to give him a second chance.
A quick intro on how to make Grey more interesting!
Minis are perfect for cartoons.
Once again, Corey Hoster @BarelyTabletop paints a mini that , I think, belongs on the cover of FANGORIA. Kudos to your designer freind, for the mini.
I think a lot about how to get better at painting, and now all of my work related writing is done by machines so I figured I'd exercise the old critical thinker and try to write something here about my abstract theory of improvement. I'm here to tell you about the secret to getting better at getting better . The photos for the post are of a WIP piece I'm doing for a challenge themed around "Deliberate Brushstrokes". The first photo is the actual paint job and the second is a digital paintover I did myself to guide my next steps on the project. I use this tool of doing paintovers more and more in my work and it's building on a skill I've been specifically honing for a while that I don't hear people talk about much which is the skill of imagining a better version of the paint job you have so far. We all start the journey on the basics of learning to control the brush and learning to handle our paints, but once those are at an approachable level, the content that's out there tends to focus on a few things: how to do this or that advanced painting technique (things like glazing more skillfully), how to paint this or that particular thing (this is your NMM or hair or fur tutorial). Sometimes you get videos or tutorials about processes. More rarely you'll find content on composition, light and shadow, more abstract concepts like that. There's very little discussion about how to improve the rate at which you improve. I'm going to throw into the ring that there's a secret meta meta level technique, which is studying how others give you feedback, and then practicing giving yourself feedback as though from a third party. This is the skill first of really seeing the work you've already done, secondly of imagining the next way it could be better, and then thirdly, and probably flowing automatically if you've done a good job of step two, is knowing where to put the paint to achieve the improvement. My practice for this started by signing up for Vince Venturella's feedback patreon tier, and first getting and studying his feedback, and then eventually trying to guess what he was going to say. I guessed and checked until eventually that became, guess, improve , guess improve , check, and so on trying to push out just how much I could anticipate about the feedback and act on ahead of time until I was getting feedback only when truly stuck - when actually at the limit. The limit feels like seeing your piece, and knowing it can be better, but truly being stumped on the how. The paintover is a tool I can use to get my eyes into that same loop - I guess at an improvement and then quickly try it out and verify with my eyes that it is better. For most of us our taste is advanced furthest of any of these skills so if you make an improvement you'll generally be able to see that yes it is in fact better or no it's not. I think it's important to note: spotting that something is wrong isn't the same skill as being able to imagine what should replace it. "This isn't good enough" doesn't tell you where the next brushstroke goes. You have to be able to really conceptualize the better version. I think training this skill is likely to yield greater dividends faster than almost anything else you could spend time on. I don't think this is the only way to train it either, just one I found for myself.
First post to test the function ;) Last month was a Worldcup month, so leave me some minis unfinished, will finalize them and post them shortly.
Had a lot of fun painting this guy and pushing myself. I’ve posted this elsewhere, but keep forgetting to come put these up here too.
Continuing my attempt to excavate some of the painting that gets Buried in the Basecoat . In case you missed the first installment, this is a series where I look back at painters and projects that may have slipped past us when they first appeared. With so much incredible work constantly being added to Baselair, even memorable projects can disappear into the layers surprisingly quickly. For this installment, I decided to rummage through a past Baselair challenge. Mecha May had the second-highest number of entries, with 96 projects, which made it feel like the perfect place to search for a few robots that may have gotten lost in the mechanical shuffle. Selection My initial guideline was to look for projects with fewer than 10 likes that had been submitted to the challenge ( don’t come at me for the two that have 11 lol ). The rules are more like guidelines around here. The likes cutoff is admittedly a shallow restriction, but using it led me toward a deeper appreciation of the creative process and intent behind our shared craft. I think platforms like Instagram have trained me to gravitate toward certain styles of painting, presentation, and photography. Looking outside the projects that immediately gathered attention helped me notice different kinds of ideas and accomplishments. The projects below are arranged in the same order as the related Buried in the Basecoat collection. thebaselair.com/collections/638418-burie… Projects Night raid by @PearsonPaints view project The angle of the key photo immediately caught my attention. The lighting is striking and gives the scene a strong sense of atmosphere. I also like how the basing shows the mech’s fallen prey, adding a little story without making the composition feel crowded. The Grim Mech by @BarelyTabletop view project If it’s photos on the stovetop it’s probably BarelyTabletop. This is a very Doom-like project. The desaturated, grimy skin contrasts nicely with the more colorful weapons, and the accented cables add some sharp little points of interest throughout the model. It’s a special kind of griminess that looks like controlled chaos. Battletech: Rifleman by @yenzie view project A nice freehanding attempt, especially at such a small scale. The markings give the mech more identity, and the basing feels appropriately sparse and rugged for the model. Love the story in the description as well. My First Gunpla by @Zaxitar view project We do not get to see much Gunpla on Baselair, but I would say it is absolutely part of our shared hobby, especially when it has been painted and presented like this. The glowing effects are fun, and the shading across the mech gives all those panels some satisfying definition. The exposed-wire details on the base are also a cool touch. Gundam Assemble: GFred (Gqx) by @TheNeonCaster view project This is one of the few Gundam Assemble models I have seen on the site. First of all, look at that wicked base. The backdrop scenery is pretty cool too. The styling of the mech lends itself nicely to strong part separation, which is especially helpful when there are approximately eight million different pieces fighting for attention. Did you get him? by @artifactminis view project The backdrop blends beautifully into the sculpted foreground, making the whole project feel like one continuous environment. The differences in elevation also give each character a chance in the spotlight. The water feature is another great part of the basing. The robot’s scheme is fairly restrained, but that works within the larger composition. The miniatures do not scream for attention because the scene itself is the subject. Oooops… sorry. by @Joe__mn view project Using a black-and-white image as the key photo was a striking choice. It helps focus the eye on the composition and the wonderfully silly scale of the scene. I especially appreciate the placement of the giant robot’s feet. The pose looks exactly right for a mech casually terrorizing a city. The single wrecked building also suggests a surprising amount of worldbuilding. It feels like a complete little disaster assembled from several relatively simple elements. “BIG” Stompy Mech by @Mitb view project This must have been a tough project to photograph, but the scene they established gives the model a wonderful sense of scale. The unfortunate person on the ground has clearly already been stomped at least once before. The colors of the sunset backdrop complement the robot nicely, and the backdrop itself is beautifully painted. Bjorn the Fellhanded by @Tomldad view project Tomldad’s posts were the first place I remember seeing the split-shot idea used on Baselair. I like how the boxes in the key photo highlight different details across the miniature. Part of me would have preferred the second photo as the key image, just so I could get a clearer sense of the entire model before diving into the grid. There are some excellent details to discover, though. The freehand on the front is immediately noticeable, as the artist points out in the description, and all that gold trim came out beautifully. It looks like they had a lot of fun painting this one. Mecha dogs by @VesperLynn view project The project description was what initially caught my attention here. I like that the artist developed lore for these characters, and the basing helps support the scenes they imagined. There is also some great variation among the three dogs. Together, they feel like a record of the artist exploring several ideas on the same sculpt and refining that initial seed of creativity into something more developed each time. I am not sure what order they were painted in, but I think the third dog is my favorite. One More Layer Did y’all know the challenge banners are clickable? Selecting one takes you to the original project used for the banner artwork. The Mecha May banner came from @thehivemind5 . Since some people may not have encountered their work before, I wanted to add one more layer to this excavation and highlight both the banner project and another gorgeous entry they submitted to the challenge. Hivemind’s projects Mech vs Demons view project Check out this beast. I am not surprised it was chosen for the challenge banner. The OSL from the gun is fantastic, especially in the way the surrounding surfaces reflect that light throughout the scene. The entire project feels like a still pulled from a movie. And that frickin’ sword. The glow on it is excellent. Crisis Assault view project Wait, this is just a picture of the cover of the battletome, right? Right?! The attention to detail is wild. The weathering came out beautifully, and the painted backdrop adds scale and atmosphere without overwhelming the miniature. I also like how structurally impactful the base is while still allowing the mech to remain the clear subject. Maybe the artist should change their Baselair title to Blending Beast . Thank you!!! Those are the robots I managed to excavate this time, but I am sure there are plenty more still hiding beneath the layers. Let me know which Mecha May projects caught your attention or which ones I should have included. Mecha May Entries At the end of the day, these reflections are written to help me process my feelings as I continue this journey in the hobby. Still, your thoughts grant me a perspective I cannot fathom on my own. I am deeply appreciative to hear from y’all. Cheers!
Doing tests to paint the Spirit Island minis. And omg are we talking tiny.
I'm pausing my work on repairing older minis to start painting something for the "Full Metal" contest that just started. I love true metallic metal paint, so I was pretty excited to see that it was the theme! I'm really looking forward to seeing what y'all submit!
Someone asked about the paints I used for the ork big boss so here they are with a few outtakes. Titan Buff (PW6:1/PW6) - Golden Artist Acrylics Zircon Mixing White (zircon) - Schmincke Primacryl Heavy Body White (PW6) - Schmincke Primacryl (from their old line) Cadmium Yellow Light (PY35) - Liquitex Heavy Body Cadmium Orange (PO20) - Schmincke Primacryl Brilliant Orange (PO67) - Schmincke Primacryl Quinacridone Magenta (PR122) - Golden Fluid Acrylics Phthalo Blue green shade (PB15) - Liquitex Heavy Body Chromium Oxide Green (PG17) - Golden Fluid Acrylics Raw Umber (PBr7) - Golden Fluid Acrylics Burnt Sienna (PR101) - Schmincke Primacryl
Always loved the models for Adeptus Titanicus so was excited to put together my first warlord (have got another in progress as well)
Trying to break bad habits, trying to slow down, being patient with the build up. Trying to be methodical in what areas i tackle first while keeping myself mentally engaged in the model. I have been consistently enjoying dwarves for a while. ADHD is a real ball buster.
TL;DR Toy Plastic Soliders are excellent to practice painting techniques on to see how fully finished models will look 👍 Ive seen many different post on other platforms of people showing off painting techniques on different items (Paper, plastic spoons, spare mini parts etc) and I know that not everyone has those or likes to use those items for practice. I have my own person preferance as seen above. Bases make great practice material no matter the technique I wanted to practice rust some years back and used some necromunda bases to try figure out how to sell the effect. The big one those is toy soliders the ones that come in bags of 100 that you could pick up from a corner shop or toy shop for pocket change. To this day there still availble and arent too expensive. Because they are posed with guns or in the above case medieval weapons you can try everything from lighting, skin tones, nmm weathering... the list is endless. I find it helps with trying new techniques out on something more tangible than a spoon or spare parts because you can paint the full solider up to see how something youre trying looks against other techniques/ a fully finished model. Hope this helps some people and it gets adopted by those who find it intresting.
Have since had to pull this guy off his plinth because he was off center. Working on darkening the purple shadows at the moment. Still have some work to do in his other leg and arm.
thebaselair.com/projects/425325-hellboy The final photos are linked above for those that are curious about the final look!
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