Wah Wing's WIP - So it Begins...

Wah Wing · **Posted:** Tue May 26, 2015 5:40 am

Here is a little treat. I needed to take a Depth of Focus photograph for my humanities class that I'm taking in college and I have chosen this as my subject; the Taming of Smeagol. Let me know what you think!

The only editing was to give the picture a dark edge and change the color of the photo so it showed the true colors of the piece. I think I also messed with the sharpness of it. Don't know about that one...

Crucium Giger · **Posted:** Tue May 26, 2015 12:05 pm

Looks great to me, I like the fact it looks like Sam is staring right at Gollum who is eyeing him up in return

Erunion · **Posted:** Thu Jun 11, 2015 4:23 am

Nice photograph! It's very atmospheric. I hope you got a good mark on the project.

Wah Wing · **Posted:** Mon Jun 22, 2015 1:51 am

Thanks for the comments guys. As of right now, I have yet to know what grade I got with the photograph.

I'm slowly plugging away with that game board of mine. Adding the dirt is almost finished.

You might not be able to tell really well, but these are two smaller hills to add variation to the board.

Some outcrops of trees that are almost finished.

And King Theoden for size.

Hope you like it. I know that it's not much. But it is something.
Comments and criticism are welcome!

Feanorthenoldor · **Joined:** Wed Sep 02, 2009 6:44 pm **Posts:** 879

very cool! Are you going to paint the dirt or put any textured grass down?

Wah Wing · **Posted:** Mon Jun 22, 2015 3:45 am

Feanorthenoldor wrote:

very cool! Are you going to paint the dirt or put any textured grass down?

Of course! I've got to put more dirt on the board and then I'll find some way of painting the thing. I might need to use some kind of sealant to help hold the dirt down first.

After the painting, I'll add foliage and other things to make it look as real as possible.

Feanorthenoldor · **Joined:** Wed Sep 02, 2009 6:44 pm **Posts:** 879

I've done a large board before like yours. I think I used 2-3 layers of watered down PVA glue to seal it up, then I painted it up. PVA may not be a good form of firming everything up though.

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Mon Jun 22, 2015 7:10 am

All looking nice. I would use watered down PVA to seal everything, a couple of coats should be fine.
Do you have an airbrush ? That or a can of spray paint would be good for getting a base layer down, car body paint is a cheaper option. A mid tone brown would do the trick.
Once this is down you can be really messy, just throw loads of washes of different colours to get the effect. Use plenty of greens to simulate moss and have the same green running up some of the trees.
You can see on the below link my troll diorama, this is what I did when painting it.
http://mallysminiatures.blogspot.co.uk/ ... -work.html
I should also add that a few drybrushed for highlights in set areas will add to the effect.

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Mon Jun 22, 2015 2:31 pm

Nice work

Crucium Giger · **Posted:** Tue Jun 23, 2015 2:15 pm

The board is looking good so far.

Wah Wing · **Posted:** Thu Jul 09, 2015 12:00 am

Thank you all for your comments.
Gandalf the Grey, thanks for the link. I'll definitely be using that as a reference for painting up the board.

I finally got some paint on a mini! So far it's just a base coat on most of the model. I worked on the eyes and skin today. I'm struggling to understand the blending technique. I'd like to do that with his cloak; that is, blend two colors together from bottom to top. Layering wouldn't work with that. Any ideas?

Here is the progress though:

What do you think? :-D

Nevinsrip · **Posted:** Thu Jul 09, 2015 7:29 am

Instead of PVA, try Modge Podge Matte Medium instead. It's better than watered down white glue for this type of project.
Use a Michaels or Hobby Lobby coupon, and it's as cheap as it can be.

Matte Medium won't discolor, stays flexible and seals everything tight. Some will tell you that PVA and water is the same as matte medium. It's not.
Try a small patch out on your board and see the difference.

Wah Wing · **Posted:** Sat Jul 11, 2015 7:04 am

Here's another update on Sharky. I'm quite pleased on the blending of the two colors on the cloak. :-D

And the eyes are also one of my favorite parts. I hope you like it. Sorry for the low quality of photos. You might not be able to see the two colors (catachan green and scorched brown) on the cloak.

Hope you enjoyed! :-D

Wah Wing · **Posted:** Mon Jul 13, 2015 12:09 am

A few years ago I bought these Rohan warriors on eBay. They were very cheap but the painting done on them was far worse than what I saw online. They looked bad before I bought them, but in person it somehow got worse.
I never got around to getting a solution to soak them in till now to strip the paint off. Now here they are in their pre-painted glory and soaking in their redemption. Hopefully. :roll:

Hold on to your butts!!

In 24 hours or so I'll show you the results!

Dead Marsh Spectre · **Posted:** Tue Jul 14, 2015 8:07 am

What solution are you using ?

Wah Wing · **Posted:** Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:10 pm

I'm using Pine Sol. It's a cleaning solution in the US. And it worked like a charm! Pictures will come soon. There were still some spots that wouldn't come off though. Do I re soak them out pushing over them?

Wah Wing · **Posted:** Wed Jul 15, 2015 5:31 am

Another update on Sharky!

The cloak and under tunic are practically finished, however, as I took the pictures, I noticed some places that need touch ups. Funny how that works! :-D

Only things left are the staff, details, and the base.

I may not be the best at painting techniques, but I feel that I'm good at highlights and color choices.

Here are the results for stripping the paint from the Rohan warriors.

As I said before, there are a few spots that were being stubborn.

There was another concern, however.
There is a very stark contrast or rather difference in shade of the bare plastic of the minis. Here's a comparison with other minis.

Can you see it? Did the Pine Sol do that during the soaking? I think they were like that before I got them.

Oh well!

Hope you enjoyed!

Afastr · **Joined:** Mon Mar 09, 2015 5:20 pm **Posts:** 70

I believe there are two different types of plastic that GW have used in the last 10 years or more. Some of my minis are the lighter plastic similar to your rohan warriors, others are the slightly darker plastic of your other minis.

Not sure if there is any difference in quality between the two plastic types etc.

YOrcShire · **Posted:** Wed Jul 15, 2015 9:06 pm

Nice muted colours on Sharkey.

Agree with Afastr on the plastic. I have come across two different types in my time. I have always thought the darker plastics seem to have 'sharper' details but that may just be my imagination.

Wah Wing · **Posted:** Tue Jul 28, 2015 6:35 am

Another big update! I've finished my Sharky entry for the July Challenge!
First one in years!!

This was the funnest model that I've painted and made a base for. It turned out far better than I was expecting. :-D

Also, I've stripped the paint off my old Fellowship models to redo them. But not all of the paint came off so I will have to re soak them.
This is a BEFORE picture:

For the Total Warfare Diorama challenge, I've made some progress on the base. The models will be pinned to the base rather than glued so I can re-pin them on separate bases for games. I've only got a few days and there's much work to be done on the models. Get cranking! :shock:

That's it for now. Got to get working on that diorama!

Wah Wing's WIP - So it Begins...

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