Scarecrow's Painting Diary

[Scarecrow]

Well I finally picked up a brush again after a few months doing terrain and being overseas, and painted an Azra'il tonight. Only about 2-3 hours work, which was good. Nothing too flash, but tabletop quality, and looks good enough at arms length. The eyes are dodgy and I might redo them, and I think i need to paint up some of the lights, either orange or green. I also tried mucking around with pigment powders on the Panzerfaust barrels.

I cant help but think of the saying "Good from far, but far from Good"

[Arachas]

Nice, gritty model. It's Ariadna, right? Very fitting, I think. Well done!

[Morze]

Nice Haqq. I like the base, but the eyes need indeed redoing. Try to make them smaller and use something else than pure white. The skin is rather pale too.

[Crushar]

Base is awesome.
Browns look good.
I like what you did with the end of the Panzerfaust as well!
Would agree that the eyes are a bit much and Morze has the right of it I would say.

[Athanadros]

Great work! Love the base!

[kidterminal]

I don't know why you're so down on your painting Colin. This guy will look perfect on your table. The eyes need a fix up, but then they are the hardest part. I don't think you need lights.

[Scarecrow]

Here's some Haqq family pics of all my minis that are painted in this current scheme.

[kidterminal]

Super cool. Is that big one in the back a TAG? I love the dome color. Its like a single staring eye.

[Athanadros]

Awesome!!

[EdDator27]

Great job Scarecrow, also as per your scenery, keep on and show us..

[Magno]

Pretty cool bro.

[JohnnyM]

They look great! Especially the bases, the whole force looks unified but each model has it's own character. Exactly how infinity should be

[Scarecrow]

I appreciate the positive feedback guys. Im not entirely displeased with the minis... Ive got to start somewhere after all. The bases are what im most happy with, except that the pigment powders are somewhat tough to work with. I really like the dry powdery look, but as soon as you try and fix the pigment, you lose the dryer look. Ive taken to applying the isopropyl alcohol first, then adding powder to the alcohol.. it works... kind of...

[Scarecrow]

Ok, need some advice. Im keen to pick up ALEPH as a second faction, but at the same time, im not keen on adding more minis to the 30 odd Haqq minis I still have to paint. The only way I will convince myself to get a new faction is by working out a reasonably quick way to get my minis painted to an above average tabletop standard model. Ive found a colour scheme Im pretty interested to try on the ALEPH models should I get them, and was curious whether the whites in the below image (WHICH IS NOT MY WORK!!!!), can be achieved with the zenithal highlighting effect with the airbrush?

If so, what Vallejo colours would people use to achieve the white? How about the orange? Could I just glaze/use matte medium to dilute an orange colour, and paint it over the already gradiated white areas? What would the best way to get the dark lines between plates and the like, without ruining the whites?

Sorry for 1000000 questions... I just want to be confident I can achieve something even close to that with minimal of fuss before buying the minis...

Alternatively, would either of the two following pics be easier colour schemes to achieve with a Zenithal approach with the airbrush? If so, same questions as above . Of the three, the 1st and last are probably my favourite schemes (ignoring the blue arm on the 3rd pic).

[VeronaKid]

Scarecrow-

You can get a very good looking, reasonable approximation of the whites you see on that Yuan Yuan armor by simply priming your mini, painting the armor a medium grey color, and then using a thinned-but-high-pigment white (I personally use GW's Ceramite White) in two thinned coats. I used this method to paint up a Domaru link team, and the results were super quick and look very striking.

White is very, very hard to shade and highlight when you're going for a showcase miniature, but it is actually pretty easy to get a quick, good-looking tabletop paintjob.

Good luck. Love the Haqq army- further proof that the single most important facet of army painting is CONSISTENCY.

[Arachas]

I always regret reading threads like these. OH THE SHAME!

Great work man. Thanks for sharing. I especially love the dude in white armor, very pleasing on the eyes.

[Athanadros]

Fantastic work! I love the Yaun Yaun!

[Scarecrow]

As mentioned above, those 3 pics of the well painted minis are not mine. I was just posting them up to get advice on how to try and achieve those sort of colour schemes.

As for my minis, ive recently painted 2 Djanbazan and 2 Azrail. Nothing flash, but good enough for me. I think the Djanbazan are better in my opinion... didnt really enjoy painting the Azrail...

[Crushar]

Fantastic work sir!!!

[Scarecrow]

Not sure im feeling the colour scheme on this Hafza. Obviously a WIP, with just the base colours down... Dont know if i should change it or not... Already repainted most of the model from the colour seen in the 2 Hafza behind this model, as i didnt like it...

[Taylor]

I do. I like it a lot actually. Maybe give the knee pads and the circles of the bracers a shot of colour, and I think it'll come together.

[Crushar]

I agree with Taylor. I like that color. It is nice and different from your other darker browns.

[Scarecrow]

Im torn at the moment though, as i think had i left the dark brown colours, the same as the tabbard (with exception to the holster and belt), things may well have looked pretty good :S...

I might get the khaki colour painted onto the other two, and see how it looks before deciding what to donwith this guy...

[Crushar]

No way bro! The tabbard is a great color by its self and that is drawing the eye. I say stick with it! I like the khaki color. Of course this coming from the man that uses the women in his life to tell him what colors to put on his little metal men.....

[Scarecrow]

I do the same thing Crushar

[kidterminal]

They are good colors. You'll want to do more shading on the tan color is all. I know its just base color new, I'm saying light colors require a little more shading in general.

[Scarecrow]

Heres the other colour option...

[kidterminal]

I like the first option better.

[Lampyridae]

Option 2 gets my vote. Don't know why, but I think a Hafza should stand out more. Like "Ha! You've been punked, infidel."

[Scarecrow]

Option one is getting the votes on the Infinity Australia FB page as well... Looks like i should have done zenithal highlights for either the khaki or charred brown... Oh well