#BloodBowl - Orc Team - Troll - TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Blood Bowl Troll  and he is TO DONE! Well, sort of.

He certainly was at this stage, or so I thought. I'd varnished it at the very least. I was overjoyed at the the repose I'd made and so much happier with it as an addition to my roster.

But as I mentioned It's the back I can't reconcile. The darkness of the scales bleeds into the darkness between them, making the whole ill-defined.

So, having taken these pics I decided I'd throw in the heavy red shade that would help make that definition between scales - if you can't go darker, go lighter!

Otherwise I was happy, although that varnish bubble on the Goblin's head was not something I was happy about 😫

The freehand 14 came out really well and the subtle green mildew made it look pretty cool alongside the rust effects.

The belly could have done with some more highlights I suppose but part of me likes how scrappy it is. Subtle nod to my Middenheim Marauders on his 'kneepad'.

His face turned out much better than I expected and now you can see it! The cut is practically unnoticeable on his left arm.

The extra couple of scales on the back and top hide whatever join is underneath seamlessly.

Very limited highlights on tabard, hope it doesn't look like a cop-out and the Porkbelly Stuffers cloth patch worked out OK too.

Some rust on the armour.

OK, so I took the plunge and washed his back.

Definitely happier with the result.

I like how the red picks up on the pink bits on the Goblin, ties the elements together.

Definitely the right choice and an important lesson that even after it's varnished I can still take a gamble. I'd already learned to take risks cutting the arm off even after painting it but this has been a great lesson in doing what needs to be done, even if it feels like a step backward. It's better to do it and be happier with the result than to be constantly disappointed with the finished article. To be fair though I have spent many TO DONEs saying that I'm just happier something is complete rather than because it met my expectations and I'm comfortable with 'finished, not perfect'. I guess it's about knowing when to take that risk and when not, which in turn is a decision and open to stalling a project... Who ever said this hobby was good for reducing stress?

And with that a GREAT Big RUSTY Stamp of Approval. 

#BloodBowl - Orc Team - Troll - final highlights

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Blood Bowl Troll. Following on from yesterdays dramatic decision to take clippers to my half-painted figure I'm now completely back on track and SO much happier for taking the risk. Highlights for all the skintones and scales.

Now, if I'm honest the scales aren't quite what I expected, although unhappy might be too strong of a word. The issue is I can't seem to resolve what is going on, the definition of each scale has gone and it's almost difficult to look at [exactly how they always describe anything remotely chaosy...]

Maybe I added to much shade washes and all that red inbetween has been obscured. The irony, or perhaps the saving grace is that as I write this it is complete and varnished and I still haven't come to terms with it. But, now I look at it and compare to yesterdays post and I think perhaps another thin heavy red wash inbetween the scales might bring back that definition. Do I take the risk? Well I just did with the clippers on his pose and was pleased with the results...

Anyway, having added some red to the Goblin, I threw on some white ready for the Fluoro Magenta so he can be in my Mongrel Horde team.

I also highlighted all the claws on the troll.

A bit of pink fabric, but this scrap will be from my Porkbelly Stuffers Halfling Team.

The moon badge on the glove, may not be the Mongrel Horde's logo but it'll still be pink to match the gobbo. His eye and the highlight on the skin came out alright in the end. Pure luck.

Almost done then and I think I need to gamble on this red wash. VGEO Heavy Red washes have never let me down before, they've always look awesome and if the fact it's too dark is failing to reconcile what's going on then maybe I need to go lighter...?

#BloodBowl - Orc Team - Troll - surgery

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been kitbashing on my Blood Bowl Troll. Although I think this is a great model, the pose has always irked me. The raised hand, although perhaps accurate for a throwing pose covers up the Trolls face - both hiding it and making it difficult to paint. I;d seen a number of conversions where it had been reposed and one very recent which was so good I was gutted I'd got this far down the road where I couldn't cut and shunt my model to something I was happier with... or could I?

I just got out my clippers and snipped under the armpit and behind some back scales. When it was removed I could tilt and rotate it down with the same scales somehow managing to form a pivot point and still stay mainly attached at the top of the shoulder. The gap in the armpit I filled out with bits of sprue - support which would be covered up with greenstuff.

I was so much happier at this point. You can see the Trolls face, which is amazing but also means I have to do a decent job on it! Having smoothed the armpit most of that will be in shadow anyway so it didn't have to be anatomically correct Some veins on the belly too.

I added a few scales onto the shoulder to help blend it in with the rest of the scales. The armpit is slightly more sculpted on the back, it looks something like skin and muscle stretching but it doesn't need to be perfect, luckily. You should also have noticed I've used a heavy red wash inbetween all the scales to make them look angry. I was using my turquoise Genestealer Aberrants for inspiration here.

Now that that unforeseen diversion has turned out for the best, it's back to painting this monster. 

'nids part 340 - Parasite of Mortrex - BIG BUILD TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on a Parasite of Mortrex that was gifted to me by my mate Pete. Apparently he'd been scouring the blog for something I didn't have and what a gift!

He comes with a small chitinous piece for his base and the peg on his tails slots into it but I thought it was somewhat underwhelming. I've had this square cut piece of slate for over a decade, waiting for the right model to use it on and boy did this work out great. There's also a second piece added to the right facing to make it more rounded, it's perfectly flat otherwise.

Whether the pin holds or not is up for debate, he's definitely more fragile - that think drops the weight of the slate will send serious shock through the model causing all sorts of damage. And, for a creature you probably want to hide I've made it much harder - modelling for disadvantage! But it looks awesome and rule of cool wins out.

Here's the Great Big Big Build RUSTY Stamp of Approval for the build.

As I'm updating my oldest Zoanthrope it made sense to give this a progress boost - get the Red Planet BASE! done and basecoats.

Then I can batch the two of them for the chitin, washes and bone. The wings will be somewhat of a challenge but also something to look forward to.

And with the [mostly] painted base - Great Big Big Build BASE RUSTY Stamp of Approval.