Old Schooler New to Lizzies

[T`hinker`er]

Maybe, I'll have to try that sometime as a thinner. Maybe you've hit upon "a self cleaning airbrush" mixture.
But does the blue tint ever show up in the paint?

 

[brokbrok]

Not that I've noticed. Being a 3d artist however, I see color and form as visual noise instead of color and form. "Hmm, something is off here, it needs more/less noise."

I got the technique from this guy http://youtu.be/AqB7toyycz4

 

[T`hinker`er]

O.k., before we drift any further off topic, here is an update on my mounted Scar Vet on his Cold One:





So what do you think guys?

 

[Divinor]

Wow... so much to take in. Everything looks really well done, your painting skills are excellent.

The color on the belly / underside of the cold ones is great. Everything on the model is great. My only criticism is that the color of the cold one is very similar to the base and makes it hard to see where the cold on stops and the ground starts. Still, the green contrasts very well with the orange lizard and I do like that!

Keep it up!

-D

 

[Lord Tsunami]

lovely colors! i do not like the model, but i hope we can remain friends

The green/orange contrast is excellent, but i am not 100% sure the brown is the coolest thing ever for the shield. it does look good, i am just wondering if it could be even cooler with a different color... have you used the same color for your foot saurus' shields?

 

[T`hinker`er]

Thanks guys Tsunami, I'm with you on the shield comment. I am not 100% satisfied either. It't actually a maroon color, with darker browns in the recesses and a fairly subtle highlight which isn't showing up in these photos very well (remember I am still using my cell phone camera until I can get my Olympus back...grrr!) Also, the Scar Vet is red, not orange, so maybe your monitor is a bit off?

Anyway, these are the colors that I've been using on all my Saurus and Skink shields, and if I change it, I would change it for the entire army. Thinking that the solution may simply be adding more highlight, but I have to experiment with what color/colors to use. So far I haven't yet hit on anything that I like better...

FWIW, I do happen to like the Cold One model, especially with his sculpted tail replacing the original plastic one and his front claws re-positioned. As for the Scar Vet model, with the few changes that I made to his pose and the addition of those banner poles I think this guy looks like he means business! And yes, we can have a difference of opinion without me taking it personally

Divinor, the edges of the base are sort of olive drab while the Cold One's topside is pure green (Badger's airbrush color "Green Oxide"), so the colors aren't really the same. Having said that, I admit that when coming up with the color scheme I was thinking that the beast would be adapted to his environment and somewhat camouflaged. I resisted the temptation to give it stripes however, as the Saurus have them and my girlfriend has warned me that wearing too many stripes is a fashion faux pas

I am thinking about adding a little detail to the feather on the sword hilt, and also going back and giving the Cold One's eyes more detail. I just wish I had my good camera back...

 

[ZeeDeveel]

Cold ones look great, which airbrush did you use?

 

[T`hinker`er]

Cold ones look great, which airbrush did you use?

The Testors Aztek (aka, the "Azcrap"). Frankly I am starting to like my Badger airbrush better.

O.k., so on to a totally random conversion, because apparently 12 painting, sculpting and conversion projects all going on at the same time isn't enough for me

I'm doing a second Salamander, using the wonderful old GW Dimetrodon-esque all metal mini from the 90's (purchased back when the blister pack was only $8.99!). The new one has to be a completely different pose and base from the old one, so essentially I have to take it apart before I put it back together. The original GW sculpt has the Sallie curled around into a "C" shape.



I want the tail to go the other way on the new one, and that means re-positioning the head - otherwise he will come out in a very unnatural looking "S" shape - fine if you are a snake, but odd looking for a stout Dimetrodon, and anyway, if all I did was bend the tail it would still look like the old model, just with a bent tail!

Re-positioning the head, unfortunately, is not a simple task. If you are familiar with the old mini, the lower jaw and neck, including these wonderful "gas sacks" from whence the sallie's flame springs, are all part of the main body (the upper head is a separate piece). Thus, to change the angle of the head one has to cut off the entire lower jaw and neck, sculpt a new neck and lower jaw...



...and then resculpt the gas sacks:



Here you can see the new head, facing forward and upward, with the tail repositioned in the opposite direction compared to the original model, which was assembled in the normal way:



I love the photo below - it looks like they are having a heated argument about something:



Note that I have more Chameleon conversions happening in the background of this last photo (and can anyone guess what that thing is in the upper left?)

Coming up next, I will do something funky with the Sallie's forelimb...

What do you think guys?

 

[Lord Tsunami]

lovely! very nice attention to detail

with just these small adjustments you can hardly see it is the same model. very nice

 

[brokbrok]

It looks like some old spear saurus, and a skink with a gigantic sail on his head, which probably means he gets all the ladies.

 

[ZeeDeveel]

Awesome sculption on the gas sack! Do a Green Stuff video tutorial!!!!!

 

[T`hinker`er]

This project is proceeding ahead quickly, so expect a lot of updates. When we left off, the gas sacks were being sculpted and there was no left forearm and no base. Behold:

Forelimb is cut at the elbow and straightened, and the base is removed from under the foot and the toes/claws are separated with a file:



Attaching the forelimb, greenstuff in the gaps and sculpting some scales (also added a tongue to the mouth):



The addition of a base, and filling the gaps between the parts:



Other side:



Brokbrok: Indeed, he does get all the ladies That's my Skink Cheif BSB conversion, which isn't quite done and will be featured when I next work on him (may be a while, as it's not a model I often use). The stuff in the background behind him and his giant sail is all Skaven actually

ZeeDeveel - I don't have a way to do a video at the moment and I'm not sure where I'd even start...

 

[FavoredoftheOldOnes]

Wow. I'm really having a hard time describing how I feel about your recent work (or all of it for that matter). I mean, you really put a lot of time and effort into make your army truly unique. So much has been converted, kit bashes, sculpted, etc. Its awesome! Lets not forget the painting skills either. No less awesome than your modelling skills.

Oh and love that scar-vet. Looks like he will be whooping some a$$!

 

[T`hinker`er]

Well thanks for those kind words On the down side, doing an army this way is taking a long time, but I have about 2000 points to play with after a year of work, so I'm not complaining. It took me at least that long to get to this point with Empire and Skaven and my son's Dwarfs, and I'd rather go slow and steady like the proverbial turtle...

So, I discovered that I was all out of extra 40mm plastic bases (the old 90's blister didn't come with one, as Sallies used to "roam free" ), so I had to make my own base, and I figured if I was going to make the base from scratch it better be something special. The plan is to have scenic water flowing in little channels, so hopefully you can make those out in the photos. Now I don't have any actual scenic water, so I am going to try using future acrylic floor wax (my old stand-by for clear coating stuff cheaply).

LET THE PAINTING BEGIN!





As noted earlier, my Sallie coloration is based on a Dumeril's Monitor Lizard (see below), so the black stripes and spots will be going on tonight now that the undercoating blending is done. Here's my reference photo:



Oh, and here's my progress on the skink handlers (which I actually started while the Sallie was still under construction):





They basically just need flock and stuff now. All of this needs to be finished by the weekend, preferably tonight.

Meanwhile, in other news, I spent way too much time gluing my fingers together trying to put Chakax (sp?) together...what a nightmare of a blister pack! Oh and I'm also working on that BSB with the big Aztek calender disk for a standard...whoa... Nice models, but quite a pain to assemble in metal.

Another late night coming up...<yawn!>

 

[nuklearangel]

Silky smooth sculpting there Thinker. The Krox in particular was very impressive, as is your son's version. Makes me think of sculpting one of my own following your formula! The gold in my temple pyramid is running low, but I have putty! I've been kicking around the idea to sculpt a Carnosaur too, but maybe I should start small So yes, your work is very inspiring! Great paint too, I love how the sally is coming along.

 

[FavoredoftheOldOnes]

Never cease to amaze. Looking forward to seeing more work done on the Salamander or any model of yours for that matter. Truly inspirational.

 

[Lord Tsunami]

very sweet as usual! it will look great next to your other model

 

[T`hinker`er]

Well, happy news (for those who recall my story of chopping off the end of my finger while preparing Bok Choy 4 weeks ago) - my bandages are finally off and my finger has healed beautifully - better than I or my doctor first imagined that it would!

Feeling very celebratory today! If anyone wants to come up to upstate NY, the Bugman's is on me!

O.k., so drum roll please, the second Sallie is now DONE! Here are the results:





Note the Future Floor Wax streams on the base

Here he is from the angle I usually see him from while playing:



And a group photo of him with his "crew" -



Meeting my other Sallie (o.k., make nice guys!):



I think I will name them Frik and Frak

And finally, the two of them going off together, presumably to have a BBQ:



So what do you think?

 

[n810]

Brilliant !!!

I simply love the paint scheme on your Salamanders.

 

[nuklearangel]

Very striking paint scheme. They look great!