Blog Northern lizardmen

That dude looks big, bag, and awesome.

Beautifully sculpted!

 

Many thanks for your replies guys!

PhoenixTheCat
Indeed it was

deer riffs
Haha, thank you! The core idea behind him was that he would resemble some kind of aged mentor (pretty much like Yoda in the Vth episode).

Warden
Thank you then I hope you like what's coming up next...



So, here is my somewhat "big" block of saurus. 25 of them, to be exact.
It took me a lot of time to complete all the detailing and there are still some minor things to fix, but all in all, I consider this unit to be finished. Frankly I'd like to have a unit of 40 saurus, but 25 is enough for a starting 750-points list. So I'll go with 25 for now, painting them and adding more as the need comes. I also plan to sculpt some TG, kroxigors and salamanders, not to mention additional converting job for every other unit I have, so... yeh... it'll take quite some time.









The unit also includes two minor fillers. One of which is the big bad saurus you saw earlier:


I really like how he turned out, looking like he could have some kind of art-picture of his own. Hopefully I won't screw him up with painting.
The other is a "crocaligator":


Since GW never really realised any original Lustrian/jungle-themed creatures for WHFB, I decided to give it a shot and sculpt one. I believe the anatomy and proportions are somewhat poor, but overall it's a nice result for the very first miniature sculpted from scratch. Hopefully my kroxigors will be better.

And also as a small bonus I've speed-painted one classic saurus, to see how the color scheme will look like. Here is the result of 1-hour painting (which is a hell of a rush for me):


I believe that in general the colors mix up pretty well. The only issues are plain black scales (already know how to fix that) and too similar brown wood/golden trim on the shield. But I've already found some alternatives for that.

Now the next thing for me to sculpt will be my oldblood/buffed scar-veteran. I also will be painting the miniatures at hand (2 priests, 2 units of skirmishers and 25 saurus), which with the oldblood completed will make my starting 750-points list

Cheers!

 

THAT ONLY TOOK YOU ONE HOUR!?!?!

 

Well, maybe 1,5 hour, tops. I was really rushing this one.

 

Can we get a recepie? Maybe you have some magic technique or so...

 

I had a similiar reaction.

@ChiliPepa the "speed" painted saurus is beautifully done , the rest of your saurus will look fantastic when they are finally painted. I am thoroughly enjoying all the sculpts, magnificent poses, custom weapons and armor, and the unit fillers! The Big Bad saurus is amazing, and so does your crocaligator!

 

tom ndege
Haha, well there is one I know of - to make paints dry faster, I sometimes (for example, in case with this test-saurus) use a hair dryer. It accelerates the process quite a bit. I also merged some of the steps (like washing different parts with one wash) into one, which also contributed to the overall time-efficiency.

As for the recipe, I based the miniature with a mix of Vallejo Jade Green and Vallejo Cold Grey, then washed the recessed details with blue wash, then covered the body with Coelia Greenshade, then restored the original color and highlighted it with a mix of Vallejo Jade Green and white paint. The rest was much quicker.
Scales are done with just black base and two layers of light drybrush (Vallejo Field grey (simialr to the old Citadel Shadow grey) and Vallejo Cold grey), then quick shade with a black wash.
Gold is done with a few washes and drybrushes (mix of Vallejo Old Gold and Citadel Leadbelcher, shade with Carroburg crimson, drybrush with Vallejo Glorious Gold, overall wash with Reikland Fleshshade, light drybrush with Vallejo Old Gold, slightly shade with Agrax Earthshade and a final highlight with Vallejo Elfic flesh (similar to the former Citadel Bleached Bone)).
The only tricky part was the green blade: the base was Citadel Caliban Green, then succesive blendings with Vallejo Jade green, mix of Jade green and Citadel Moot green, then with pure Citadel Moot green and finally extreme highlights with a mix of Moot green, Flash gitz yellow and some white to make it look shiny.
The bones and eyes are dead simple on that one: both have Vallejo Heavy brown in base washed with Seraphim sepia, then some highlighting - for bones I used Vallejo Dark sand, for the eyes - Flash Gitz yellow.

All was painted really quick, sometimes I painted some other parts while the first ones were drying. But some of my experience with miniature painting has also contributed to that (5 years of painting Night Lords with their dark to blue armor have left their mark...).

Hope it is readable and doesn't look to rushed. My color palette is also somewhat offset, because I use both Citadel and Vallejo paints, and I still have some old Citadel colors which they do not produce nowadays. If you'll have any questions regarding anything, I'll try to answer them as thotoughly as possible

Warden
Many thanks! I'm already painting saurus and skinks, but know I'm taking a more though-out approach, trying not to make any mistakes and paint everything as neatly as I can. So it will take quite more time before I can post the finished unit.

 

The shield and the gold trim are exquisite! Great job. I wish I could paint gold even half as well as that.

 

Wow fantastic work i love every bit of your models makes me want to do the same. Imo the normal lizard troops look really scrawny. And hell i already have my primal guards why not...well it will take me far longer than you do it. You have skills my friend to be able to keep all your scale work unified. I have issues even when drawing to keep the right side lookibg the same as the left side.

 

Looking closer at your models im even more impressed whe i see the level of skill you have with ether a dremil or a hobby knife. wow such clean wook cutting apart the weapons to be able to make your own just awesome

 

That paint job is incredible! I've been at this since last July, and I haven't painted anything remotely looking that good. The fact you can get a model looking that good in an hour is unbelievable!

 

The hairdryer explains something... but not everything...
Thanks for sharing your recipe!

 

@NIGHTBRINGER , @ravagekitteh
Thanks! Well, it's just a matter of practive

@Bracnos
Thank you I use model knife and a few other "custom made" tools. To be frank, the scales aren't that unified, it's just a matter of perspective. I just put a few small balls of green stuff on their back and then flaten them, adding some recesses in between them with a knife if needed.

@tom ndege
You're welcome well, as I've said, I was really rushing, which resulted in some thick highlights (e.g. on the shield or on the head crest). Will do the next ones less speedy and more accurate.

 

... why can I only like things once...
here have some spider men instead...

 

@Aginor
Thank you!

@n810
Haha, thanks, I'll keep them

I was hoping to post the first skink priest today, but I ran into some problems with jade stones around his neck. Also his base require some more work, so I think I'll post him the day after tomorrow.

 

So guys, after a few days messing with the jade necklace, which was the biggest issue for me, here's my first skink priest:



Overall, I think it is a decent start for the painted part of my collection He turned out to be a bit too colourful - but hey, if your lizzies aren't rainbow on the march, then you're doing something wrong.
The gold and the cloak also were difficult to paint, since the cloak is somewhat blending with the teal skin and I always have problems with painting metal. I'm thinking about improving cloak somehow, yet I don't know exactly what I could do: the blue reflects the Heaven lore as his basic lore of magic, and I really don't want to overload the miniature with excessive free-hands of stars, lightnings or such. Maybe you guys could suggest something?

Also, as a small bonus - I'm already working on the second skink priest:


The skink from the carnosaur/troglodon kit, which was the base for this conversion, is much bigger than the original skinks, so he is somewhat easier to paint. All the detailing (like the wooden staff, jade necklace, bone parts etc) is still to be painted, as well as some ornaments on his orange robes, but the core is already there.
As with the first one, the robes' color represent the basic lore of magic of his, which is Beast. I'm not too sure about the leather belts though, as they tend to blend with the golden parts quite strongly. Might consider repainting them, to get a darker shade of leather.

 

They are ridiculously good!!!