Razormage paints some trolls

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razormage
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Razormage paints some trolls

Postby razormage » Mon Jan 06, 2014 2:30 pm

Good morning! I know I've been quiet on here lately, so I'm going to place the blame where it lies: the US Warhammer Masters GT. I got nominated to represent the South Region (based on my 2012 tournament results and paint ability), and I've been busy painting the past few weeks as I try to get my BattleMallet Greenskin army to a low-composition score setup. It's let me play with a couple of non-GW models (a Trollblood Dire Troll, then 10 Mantic Flea Bag Riders), but has kept me from painting a lot of Mierce stuff.
Let me tell you, going from Mierce to other manufacturers is a huge difference! The Privateer Press stuff was lower quality but wasn't painful to paint, while some of the Mantic models just seemed painfully flat and devoid of detail!
For the next step in my force, I need a quartet of River Trolls! Fortunately, I've had these bad boys from Mierce just sitting around, begging me to put paint on them!
For more detailed commentary, easter egg mouseover text, discussion of the fermented grain beverages I enjoyed while painting them, and other notes of general amusement, check them out on my blog here. If you just want pictures, keep scrolling!

Originally, I'd intended to do them in a red/grey color scheme, but after doing a high contrast blue/bone paint job on the Dire Troll, I began to play in different directions. My wife finally gave me the inspiration to go with greens, but to "muddy them up". Normally I paint greens with yellow for highlights; this time around I'll be using a brown palette to make the trolls look like they just emerged from the San Antonio Riverwalk.

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The base coat is down! I did a mix of 2 parts Cayman Green : 1 part SS Camo Black Brown.

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I was extremely disappointed with how bright the models looked after the base coat, so I went back and decided to do a wash to bring them in line with the models in The Beer Waaagh. Those models were completely base coated and then dipped with a pure-black wood stain. For the trolls, I used an eyedropper mix of 1 part Black Ink, to three parts Purple Wood Stain, to 15 parts water/future floor wax. This allowed the dark stain to run into the cracks and crevices, while allowing the base coat to shine through.

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For the next step, I re-mixed the base coat and re-applied it, this time letting the wash stay underneath. You can already see the depth it's adding to the models, even with the failure on the Gothi's side where I fell asleep (I fixed it before the next layer).

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2 parts Cayman Green to 1 part Bestial Brown and added a drop of water.

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2 parts Cayman Green : 1 part Khaki, with my typical drop of water 3:1 with the paint.

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I realized that I've only been showing the same angle with every shot, so here are the troll backsides.

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Here's the Gothi. you can see some of the feathering on his quads and biceps.

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One of the rank-and-file trolls, with horrible lighting.

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When this guy's painted up, I'm going to take a picture of him and caption it, "Come at me, bro!"

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The fourth of the trolls. You can see the feathering in places on his tummy.

More to come as I keep painting!
--Ryan Smith
Blog: http://thebeerwaaagh.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @beerwaaagh
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AndyS
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby AndyS » Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:27 am

Trolls!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now you've done it. I put Gamla Bror together last night and will start converting unit 2 tonight!

Looking lovely btw!
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razormage
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby razormage » Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:30 pm

Thanks, Andy! Actually, one of the reasons I didn't want to do my trolls green is that I knew if I did, I'd always be finding them inferior to yours! I guess now I'm just going to have to live with that consequence.

Here's progress from day 4:

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The next layer was 3 parts Cayman Green to 2 part Elf Flesh. I switched over to a Winsor-Newton Series 7 size 0 brush for this one.
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Another shot from higher, to show the work on the back.

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I then did a fast layer of 1:1 Cayman Green to Pale Flesh. Not satisfied, I mixed up one last layer: 1 part Cayman Green to 1 Part Scorpion Green, with one part Pale Flesh and one part White. However, I did this transition so fast that I forgot to take a picture of the Green/Pale layer! Sorry about that! Typically for my models, those last two layers cause the paint job to "pop", and bring the contrast ratio up to what I want.

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Extreme close up!
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One day, I'll learn my lesson about taking photos at 1:30 in the morning. Specifically: DON'T!!
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Another horribly lit shot. Usually by this point in the night I'm just ready to go to bed, and this was no exception.
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One last shot of the skin tone. Tomorrow, I get to choose whether to work on straps or bone/claws/teeth!
--Ryan Smith
Blog: http://thebeerwaaagh.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @beerwaaagh
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AndyS
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby AndyS » Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:55 pm

They look great from here mate!
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razormage
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby razormage » Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:35 pm

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Well, Tuesday was a pretty useless day, and Wednesday did not start any better, so before I started painting I poured myself the largest pint I could from my kegerator. Hopefully this will explain why my photos are disjointed and a few layers are missing. No, wait, that's just me.

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Now, back to the trolls! I only had an hour and a half for painting, so I knew I couldn't get into the NMM or the bone in a way that would make sense. Instead, I went after the reds. I used these on the mouths, and on the shields. The first layer is 3:1 Vallejo Dark Red to SS Camo Black Brown, pretty typical for my red blends.
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Next highlight of red. Same as above, but with no SS Camo Black Brown
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This layer is all Bloody Red.
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At this point I was getting nervous about the orange-ness of the color, so I did something I never do with reds - I highlighted with pink. Usually I feel it cheapens the red (I highlight red with yellow 95% of the time), but I think it worked really well on the gums, and don't mind the shields looking a bit pink.
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Well, when you're drinking a liter of beer, you sometimes forget to take pictures of painting steps, especially when you're doing layers in 5 minutes. First layer was Stormy Blue, the second was Medium Blue.
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Two more layers of blue in rapid-fire succession (2:1 medium blue to sky blue, and then 1:2 of the same), and I called it a night and took a pair of close-up shots to let you see how the red highlights had come out.
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Two more shots, with a lot of background clutter. The plan for tomorrow: the wood handles of the weapons (brown), the straps (black), and the skulls/teeth/claws (obvious color)!
--Ryan Smith
Blog: http://thebeerwaaagh.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @beerwaaagh
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AndyS
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby AndyS » Thu Jan 09, 2014 2:30 pm

Those gums and shields are eye scorching!
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razormage
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby razormage » Fri Jan 10, 2014 2:46 pm

Day Five: only an hour and a half for painting today, so the teeth and claws probably won't get done. Without further ado, let's start on the wood (after a brief moment to pour a tall one of Adelbert's Gypsy Belgian IPA).
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The woodtones started with a basecoat of 50/50 Earth and SS Camo Black Brown.

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Second layer for the wood was all Earth, with a third layer of 50/50 Earth and Dwarf Skin

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Some closer shots of the wood. The third layer was pure Dwarf Flesh, with the last layer being about 3:1 Dwarf Flesh to White.

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Final shot of the unit with the wood fully painted. I also went back at this point and added a final highlight to the reds, as I was really unhappy with how dark they were.
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I let my wife pick the color for all the straps. Surprisingly, she went with Black! As most painters know, black is one of the hardest colors to get right. Let's see if I can do it...
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A close-up to show the black straps. The first layer was 4 Black : 1 Stormy Blue : 1 Basalt Grey. I then decreased the proportion until the last layer, which was 1:1 Stormy Blue to Basalt Grey.

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Some close-ups of the individual models. Vortunn's shoulder pad can now be glued on, as I'm done with the skintone and straps, and need it in place for the next step, the bone.
--Ryan Smith
Blog: http://thebeerwaaagh.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @beerwaaagh
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AndyP
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby AndyP » Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:57 pm

Like what you've done with these, I prefer the more natural looking tones of AndyS's trolls but even with your high contrast style they look fantastic. On a tabletop surrounded by your other works these are going to look awesome :-)
As I always say. At the end of the day.................it goes dark :-)
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razormage
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby razormage » Mon Jan 13, 2014 1:34 pm

@AndyP: Thanks for the kind words! I agree with you; I think Andy S's trolls are going to be the standard by which all others get judged, and mine come up short. These are done even more stylistically than my other Mierce stuff, because they're having to fit in with the paint style of a bunch of other models, which were done very comic-book style (including a lot of blacklining).
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Anyway, enough excuses from me! Shall we see some poorly lit, I-took-these-at-2-AM types of pictures showing how far I got this weekend?

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First layer of metal. It's the typical one I used for the Tawrdraig, so I won't repeat myself. The beer is my favorite American-made Scottish Ale. This can's been aged for 18 months.

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The silvers are all done. These pictures are more reminders on why I shouldn't be taking photos late at night. I never seem to learn.

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The unit ranked up 2x2 for some reason. I've done the bronze at this point as well, again using the same mixture I used for the Tawrdraig.

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A shot of the middle of the unit, showing the highlighting on the black straps on Vortunn, and the generic red triangle design on one of their shields.
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Overly dramatic lighting. What was I thinking?

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Ah, that's better! Pushed them back a bit.

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A closer shot.

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A shot of the troll in the back, roaring over his commander's shoulder pad.

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I still think this model should be referred to me as the "Come At Me, Bro" troll.

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The one in the back left, guarded by a massive cleaver.

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Apparently I didn't want to bother, you know, spreading them out to take a picture. 2:30 decision making, you're not the best!

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A top view to show off the bone color of their back spikes, and just give you a player's eye view of what the unit looks like.
--Ryan Smith
Blog: http://thebeerwaaagh.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @beerwaaagh
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AndyS
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby AndyS » Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:13 pm

Looking great there Ryan. The NMM is looking good too.

I'm not sure my Trolls are 'the' standard. But thanks for the compliment!
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wrinklestiltskin
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby wrinklestiltskin » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:27 am

Lovely unit! Kuddos for going with such bold colors to offset the drap greens. I always plan on doing something like that, but I chicken out in the end.
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby Tim Fisher » Fri Jan 17, 2014 3:56 pm

Crikey! I can't explain how wierd it is seeing all you folks painting the minis we have made - from the concepts through to sculpting and casting it's a relief to see that you guys love them enough to paint and use them (and of course buy them in the first place!)

What I'm trying to say is that it's odd to see the minis we've poured love into being loved themselves! :0D
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby Aniku » Tue Jan 21, 2014 1:40 pm

I love that miniatures and you has painted them really well. Even as I'm not a big fan of the pink on the shields and the leather bags. On the mouth looks really good.

Have you got any idea for the bases??

For how long must we wait on to the next project?

Many thanks.

Ciao!
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razormage
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Re: Razormage paints some trolls

Postby razormage » Tue Jan 21, 2014 2:01 pm

Wrinklestiltskin - Heh, bold colors are my primary paint style! I paint for tournaments, not the internet, so I go very high-contrast and use a lot of colors that are not common so that people will walk across the room to see my army. Going dark (as is intended with Darklands) tends to fade into the background at a GT, and so people don't see the amazing paint job (and inexperienced paint judges will pass it over).

Tim - we love all your stuff, mate. I'm jealous that you get to sit on the creative side of the table with Rob and come up with concepts and ideas. I'd love to just sit down and flesh out ideas for monsters, integrate them with the existing factions, and get down into the specifics of each of them.
I'm also jealous of your casting skills, but that's because the few times I've tried it I horribly failed. It's a world that I really want to find out more about, and immerse myself in! I'm really hopeful that it takes off in the next few years, as I would love to add Darklands to the growing family of Alamo Grand Tournaments.

Aniku- Yea, pink is a divisive color. The troll unit is tricky to look at on their own, because they're designed to fit into a larger Orcs and Goblins force. The greens are distinct from the greens I use for orc skin, and I did something similar with the reds to contrast them with the red straps and contrast color I used with one of my large units. Normally I highlight reds with skintone and yellows; this was a deliberate choice to take them pink, because it's a color not seen elsewhere in the army. I have a couple of Privateer Dire Trolls that are turquoise for the same reason: to make them stand out from an otherwise boring sea of greens. The bases will be boring and themed for that army - generic flock with grass and maybe a beer barrel or two.
As for what's coming up next: I'm finishing up that Orc army for the WHFB US Masters for the next few weeks (nine goblins, three bolt throwers, and two homemade chariots - which may get pulled by Jowan's hounds - to go), and then I'll be going back to Mierce projects. Right now it's a toss-up between Shaaroc the Reviled, three more Dyndraig, and Angrislaug. I've got a box from Mierce currently on its way, so I can't work on any of those three right now in any case. After *that*, it'll be Magaan and Tundaar, a mixed group of 10 Rackham Griffin Templars and Praetorian Guard, and then Belech if I have him. At some point I will also be taking a shot at sculpting a horse-sized version of the mount we didn't unlock for Hedroc in the last Kickstarter, which I'll mount Tundaar on. I was going to use Kraan's bear for the piece, but I've gone very draconic with the rest of the army, and the bear is now out of place. At some point I'm also going to saw Angrislaug apart and try to make him very, very tall. I'm not sure the idea will work until I see how his legs and wings slot in, but I have an idea!
--Ryan Smith
Blog: http://thebeerwaaagh.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @beerwaaagh

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