Chest of Colors forum

I agree quite much with you, Arctica.
As much as I respect your painting skills, Wraithlord, I think this time the style doesn't work all that well. Just because of the reasons mentioned by Arctica. But you know you're not painting this model for us

A patterning effect? Any chance I could get you guys to elaborate a bit more? Battle damage perhaps? I was also thinking about making the glow between the plates stand out a bit more.

Well very similar to the lava effect or power weapon effect you've done on heresy (was the lava done by DF? don't remember, im about 60% sure it was you). But not as strong or colourful but using similar metallic tones as you've done here , although not strictly highlighting it would definately add a much better effect to your model. Or you could even almost give it a mottled effect but i keep thinking that a juggernaut was born out of molten steel and rock, and having a cracked stone effect across the large plates would really give it the "umph" you're looking for. Plus i think you'd enjoy painting an effect like that, try it out on one of the back legs and see how you feel.

well, anything which would make it less boring.
maybe some scratches, maybe some damage, maybe chipped paint, maybe lava glow, maybe paint texture, maybe some rusty bubbles, maybe rusty streaks, maybe some verdigris?
I really don't know but ideas can be many...

Hmmm. I am unsure of what to do as far as that goes. I am going to finish off the model and once it is done see what would fit best. There are already chips and scratches on the model and for certain I could do the lava effect from the edges in those spots too. I just don't want to put more on the plates right now only to find when I am done and the dude is sitting on the model that it was too much and the model looks too busy. I will certainly keep your advice in mind however. Heh, freehand is something I rarely do and I am highly reluctant to do it due to lack of confidence.

Wraithlord wrote:There are already chips and scratches on the model and for certain I could do the lava effect from the edges in those spots too.

that sounds pretty cool

I agree that the plates are dull as they are now. But if you don't feel comfortable with freehanding, it's safer to leave it that way than to spoil everything by a clumpsy freehand... On the other hand you can just introduce some highlighted spots on them, just to introduce some color variation on the largest plates. That should also do.

Just about finished now. Still uncertain about the freehand idea on the plates however...

Click to see full-sized image
Click to see full-sized image

I still think reds look flat. let's take right rear thigh/hip form the last pic as an example.
base colour, light highlight to the bottom, stronger at the top edge and by scratches. at least that's how it looks on pics. if there is any change of that base colour - sorry, I can't see it. Even if it is - why don't you introduce some stronger contrast to it? add some black to the bottom/hidden/shadowed parts and red to top/lighted parts.
treat metallics with some washes, give them some contrast, smooth transitions.
your mini looks pretty good now, but if you want a contest-level piece, it needs some more work to it.

Ahhh. Sorry, the thread title is misleading now. I originally planned on painting this for a GD attempt but was unable to make it and never got a chance to paint it up in time anyway. This is a tabletop gaming mini now, nothing more. I paint them up to a decent level but because I will be handling them, dropping them, etc, I don't generally go all the way with the details. However...

When you are talking about the highlights, you mean the actual shading right? How some spots would be darker because of indirect light as opposed to, say, the top of that hip where the light would be hitting it directly?