Grot Walker Concept Art

I'm going to be starting a new project soon and I though I would sketch out some concept art for it. I started by ripping this excellent GW picture (all credit to them). It will be based on the Imperial Sentnel Scout walker.

The plan is to have a Sentinel Scout that has been captured by Gretchin (or as I like to call them Grots). The sketch is admittedly a little rough, but it more or less gets the point across. For some reason the Grots came out looking like radioactive rabbits, but I like where it's going. The Scout will be covered with battle damage and bits of corrugated steel, some kind of platform will exist on the back to hold more Grots. Grots will be hanging off all available parts, and the door will have been replaced by some kind of makeshift corrugated steel paneling. The roll cage will have been removed so that the occupant can be, "thrown clear", in the event that it topples over (safety first).

There might be a squig, or two as well, I don't know, it will depend on what I can dig up. The standard exhaust stack will have been replaced with something more ghetto, maybe some kind of after market "fart cannon", like the kids put on all their riced up cars. The whole operation should reek of Ork quality and attention to detail (or lack there of). I'm hoping that the final product conveys the same kind of feeling that my other Grot project achieved.

 

Stay tuned,

HMP

Ammo Runt

More paint was mixed! Yesterday I completed (almost) the "Ammo Runt". I think he's some sort of Snotling, or related diminutive  creature, perhaps some strain of mixed Goblinoid/Ork origin. 

The role such creatures play in Ork society was at first a mystery to the Imperium, and early imperial scholars didn't recognize Snotlings as a separate race and instead thought they were baby Orks!

This theory was however completely debunked by High Inquisitor Ratcliffe in his publication titled "Lesser Greenskins" published in the journal Xenos Autem Exterminavi, the data for which he acquired from a drone on planet XC-42936 in the delta quadrant, prior to orbital bombardment/exterminatus.

Ratcliffe found that not only were Snotlings efficient at hauling around gear, those with large hindquarters also served as pre-warmed meaty snacks for hungry Boyz.

Cheers,

HMP

Mixing Paint

Is miniature painting art, or is it just 3D coloring, like the adult coloring books that are so popular these days? I'm not really sure. It's pretty relaxing, so I find it an enjoyable way to spend time, but as an amateur I would say I'm more 3D coloring than "painting". Feel free to disagree. As a beginner I spend a lot of time looking at other people's work, and when I find something I like I try and copy it. This is why I'm pretty sure I just do 3D coloring. 

Occasionally, when I feel ready for a challenge, I forgo all my nice little pots of ridiculously named Games Workshop paints and I get out my box of Liquitex Acrylic Gouache, black, white, red, green, blue, and yellow. The upside is you know what the colors are, but this comes at the apparent cost of reproducibility, in that you can't match a color you already have by opening a pot. As we'll see, it doesn't really matter.  

With my massively oversized palette, and a terrible bottom color (denim) showing through I tried to actually mix paint today.  I figure that it's one of those things; unless you try you're unlikely to get better.

I chose one of my more disturbing Scibor miniatures for this, partly because it spoke to me, but mostly because it didn't really matter what color it ended up being. Seriously, nobody knows what color this is, so it can be whatever I decide. This is the exact opposite of, say, a giraffe, if you paint a giraffe the wrong color, like purple, everyone will probably assume you are either: a) an "artist", b) high, or c) a & b. No, it's actually none of the those answers, they'll just assume you're color blind and that you suck at painting. 

With my palette set up with the primary colors along with black and white, I set out on my journey.

In all I spent the better part of a morning painting this figure, and truth be told things worked out a lot better than I expected.  With lots of room on the palette I was able to mix different colors with ease and I was also able draw them out into series by adding progressive amounts of white, black, or other tones. 

The net result was that there was always lots of colors on the palette, and because the paint is cheaper than GW paints, (which are right up there with printer toner and cocaine), there was lots to work with. The other thing that happened was that the figure acquired a larger depth of tone than it normally would because you have a ALL THE COLOR right in front of your face. So not pots to open, no fiddling around, just painting. It was super pleasant, and I'm looking forward to trying again.

Keep having fun,

HMP

 

Tamiya Basic Putty

While the fantastic 5 (Ork Knobz) are on ice, aging if you will, the "ammo runt" isn't even primed! This will not do. 

As you can see the runt is pretty full of gaps, so I thought I'd try out one of my new tools, Tamiya's Basic Putty.

The downside: It smells (like cancer, probably because it's full of toluene or some other delicious organic solven) and it's a bit hard to work with, because it dries fast.

The upside: it smells (like model glue/cancer), and it dries fast.

Keen eyed readers will note that the strengths and weaknesses are surprisingly similar... The material dilutes well with model glue and (not a huge surprise given its odor), and according to the instructions, (for those who care enough to read them), one can also dilute it with lacquer thinner. I've seen videos where people dissolve sprues in modeling glue to make "sprue-goo" to fill gaps, this is basically an entire tube of sprue-goo.

I guess there's another upside; it doesn't shrink (appreciably). As many of you are aware this is completely opposite to something like "Liquid Green Stuff", which on average takes 2n + 1 coats before it gives the desired results (n = integer representing an annoyingly large number of already applied coats).

Cheers,

HMP

 

Where has the time gone?

I know, it has been an absolute dog's age since I posted, but really not much has happened. I've been working on the Ork Knobs, but it seems like nothing is happening. Sometimes even after 4 hours I can't tell what got done. Very strange.

What I can tell you is this, I've at least started the bases... Also, I have a new project lined up and its got me so excited that I'm super motivated to finish this one.  Here's the outline:

The above are going to have captired/commandeered this...

It's going to be great, 

HMP