Dom's WIP (Easterling Kataphrakts)

Thao · **Joined:** Sun Jan 22, 2012 10:10 pm **Posts:** 179

Well, the cloak is painted without any real blending, as far as I can see. I think it is possible to paint with such technique while looking great, but I think its much harder than applying some blending.

There are plenty of tutorials you can find via google.

Dead Marsh Spectre · **Posted:** Fri Jan 10, 2014 1:29 pm

Your painting gets better with every model Dom. A simple way of blending is to add a little water to your paint when highlighting and increasing the amount of white or bleached bone with each highlight. (remember to add more water every time you add paint or the mix will become too thick and won't blend) the more water you add the more transparent the paint will be hence the more applications you will need to apply. When adding water to your paint always remember to knock the blob of watery paint off the end of your brush before touching the model to avoid the paint from running and pooling on the model. You used this technique well with your TLA elves buddy - keep at it your painting is really coming on now!

Harfoot · **Posted:** Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:58 pm

Great work Dom, you painting style is very confident

DomyHill · **Posted:** Mon Jan 13, 2014 12:55 pm

Thanks guys, I really appreciate all of the kind comments people have given me and am grateful for all the tips and advice.

DMS - I remember the painting I did with those TLA elves and I think they were pretty good. It's just so daunting going from a relatively small piece of cloth where the sculpt does a lot of the hard work for you to a large billowing cloak where you really have to imagine the way it's interacting with the light and air.

hollowcrown · **Joined:** Mon Dec 30, 2013 3:52 pm **Posts:** 164

I was reading a thread the other day where his method was doing a grey base coat spray and then he sprayed white from a vertical angle over it, naturally shading flat areas and giving you a "guide" for challenging areas like a flat cloak.

DomyHill · **Posted:** Thu Jan 16, 2014 1:08 am

@hollowcrown I have seen that before and I've thought it must be a good guide for painting but I've never given it a go. I'll look into it.

I've done the second Knight's cloak and I think it's a bit better than the last. I've just ordered Elrond so by the time I get to him hopefully the cloak will be worthy of such a cool miniature.

JamesR · **Posted:** Thu Jan 16, 2014 3:53 am

That cloak looks quite good. Your improving quite quickly, that is by no means to demean your earlier work at all though.

Galadrin · **Posted:** Thu Jan 16, 2014 3:59 am

Fantastic work Dom!

My only complaint is that you make me weep for my poor painting skills in comparison :sad:

That really is some great work

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Thu Jan 16, 2014 7:54 am

Looking nice Dom, I'm liking what your doing. If you used a thinned mid tone grey on the cloak and applied it to all but the very highest and lowest areas, you would start to see a blend between the colours. Take the excess off your brush before going near the figure to stop the paint pooling. As you apply the paint you should see it dry as you finish the stroke. This way you can start to control your blending, literally stroke by stroke.

hollowcrown · **Joined:** Mon Dec 30, 2013 3:52 pm **Posts:** 164

Yeah that cloak looks much better. It's a lot less flat and you've gotten more layers of textures and folds into it as well as giving an a darker look which is more blended and less pasty, so overall well done.

DomyHill · **Posted:** Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:55 pm

Finished another Knight today and Erestor yesterday:

SouthernDunedain · **Posted:** Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:57 pm

very nice. Erestor is especially good. Lovely highlights on the cloth.

Dead Marsh Spectre · **Posted:** Wed Jan 29, 2014 9:01 pm

Haha Absolutely Fantastic Dom!!!!! Can we see some more pics of the models individually? Feel like I'm missing out a little as its a bit of a distant pic.

Top notch painting mate!

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Wed Jan 29, 2014 9:07 pm

Very good Dom, I can see you are improving.

DomyHill · **Posted:** Wed Jan 29, 2014 10:03 pm

I experimented a little with the cloak and mixed in silver instead of white to get my highlight colours. This looks a lot more like what I want than the first two but it's still not 100%. Really I want them to look something like this:

I want more contrast that what I've achieved at the moment starting with Eshin Grey so the next model I paint I'll start with black. However, I'm not sure if I should do more highlighting stages with a more subtle colour transition or if I should do fewer highlight stages and then an extreme highlight of Mithril Silver. The former method prevents one getting those obvious lines where the colours transition which I get quite a lot but I think it will also give the overall cloak less contrast and I really want the bulk of it to be about Eshin Grey/Boltgun Metal dark. However the later method improves the contrast but gives more obvious colour transitions. NIGHTMARE!

I've just had another look in the Legions of Middle Earth Book and this fellow is pretty much bang on what I want. Maybe a little darker overall. Somewhere in between that and the one one the far left of the front rank of the first picture in this post. I'm picky I know but I will just think everything I do is rubbish until it comes out looking exactly like it does in my head!

Anyway, this is what I've done. Ignore Erestor's hair; I'm blaming that on the sculpt. Not the colour though, I'm a sucker for blondes.

Dead Marsh Spectre · **Posted:** Wed Jan 29, 2014 10:10 pm

Yep awesome painting!! well done Dom.

I'm sure theres a painting guide in a white dwarf somewhere for the metallic cloaks. I'll have a look 2moro.

DomyHill · **Posted:** Wed Jan 29, 2014 10:16 pm

Cheers DMS, that would be a great help. I want to get these cloaks down before I get my hands on the Hobbit Elrond! He's in Leamington though. I accidentally took leave from Uni before collecting him! Hopefully I can persuade a mate to pick him up. D'you reckon the GW staff would be cool with that if I let them know first?

Dead Marsh Spectre · **Posted:** Wed Jan 29, 2014 10:19 pm

Yeh mate I don't see why not.

Barnsley Burglar · **Joined:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:32 pm **Posts:** 126

Another awesome Erestor!

That horse looks grand too

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

wow, well done on the blending for the cloaks. You improved a lot since your last posts.

Dom's WIP (Easterling Kataphrakts)

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