Blog Sotek's Fang constellation Project

[Portgas]

well hello my fellow lizard friends,

This will be a post where i'm going to upload all the progress made about painting and building my army of seraphons, it has to be noted that this will be my very first time painting miniatures as well as posting it on a foreing site( i'm from Barcelona, Spain), so bring patience and sorry if sometimes my english isn't good enough to understant it.

So.. I'm going to describe a bit of what i've in mind, I come from the game Total War, at the beggining i did not know anything about the lore of this world but step by step i fell in love with it to the point that starting to look for the novels and then going further with the tabletop game and the miniatures. One of the things that bringed up my attention were the Seraphons, dinosaurs at war? oh boi, i was like i 10 years old looking for all the miniature models and making my own storys about them.

Finally i armed myself with courage and acquired 16 saurus warriors to start up.The main idea of the army is to be lorefriendly, i'm gonna paint those saurus with the vanilla paint scheme and then use a "warpaint scheme" to simulate that they form part of one of the different constellations of the seraphon. This will be something like this:​

Spoiler: Color scheme

The color scheme can be aplied to skinks and saurus as you can see, i will stick to that, but im thinking of doind something diferent for the generals, is there another coloration for the Seraphons in the lore that are not blues? im taking sugestions on this point!


for the moment thats it, in the next days im going to upload the procces of painting, the miniatures are already primed but i must buy the paints before the start, I'm going to show step by step all the different painting phases, sort of a tutorial, for anyone interested.

See you guys! waiting for any sugestion or criticism you may have!

 

[Bracnos]

Awesome im looking forward to seeing your work

 

[ravagekitteh]

Great. I paint my miniatures as The Fangs of Sotek as well, and I can't wait to see your work!

 

[Portgas]

So today i started with the skin and scales, have in mind that this will be my first painted miniature so dont expect amazing result, i will try my best though!

First i will leave here a list with the paints i used to do the work.

Skin
-sotek green (base coat)
-temple guard blue ( base coat)
-lothern blue ( for highlights)
Scales
-kantor blue ( base coat)
-lothern blue (drybrushed)
Shade
-coelia green

First of all i aplied 2 capes of sotek green on the skin of the saurus, not worring much about painting some scales or details becouse they will be painted later

Spoiler: Sotek green basecoat

Next i do the same but changing to a brighter color, this time will be the temple guard blue.

Spoiler: Templeguard blue basecoat

Once the base coats of the skin are finished and dry i applied kantor blue to make the base coat of the scales. Now its starting to look something like a saurus.

Spoiler: Scale kantor blue basecoat

Now is time to put in the shade, im not used to do this and maybe i applied more than it needed but it will be fixed with the highlights later i hope.

Spoiler: Coelia green shade

For the final step i drybushed the scales with lothern blue and applied some highlights in the skin as well with the same colour

Spoiler: Drybrush lothern blue

Spoiler: Drybrush lothern blue

Thats it for the skin and scales of the saurus, being honest i dont really like the final result, i think its a bit messy and the lother blue doesnt really highlight much, maybe i've to try something brighter.
Well hope you enjoy this, next post will be about bronze details or maybe the claws and fangs! I will love to hear your critics about it and see if i can improve somehow!

 

[Portgas]

Doing some details today, i decided that will be better repainting yesterday's saurus to get better results and then start with the bronze details.

Layer
- brass scorpion
Shade
- agrax earthshade

This are the results so far:

Spoiler: Bronze details

Im happy becouse its starting to look good, i have a lot to work on but after yesterday i was a bit disapointed with myself, today's results are giving me some hope on the project and my painting skills!

Hope you liked, any constructive critic will be more than welcome!

 

[Jorgik]

They look nice, but if you don´t like them don´t start an army using that colour scheme. If you are unhappy about a single model, imagine the desperation when you see your 200$-worth army painted in colours you don´t even like.
It is very important that you like your color scheme before you start painting your army. To do this, what I do is select the colours I want my models to be painted in, and once that´s done, I pick 3 or 4 infantry models (skink or saurus, or both if you want to see how it´ll look on both) and paint the same colours using different recipes or even just techniques.
That way you´ll have 4 colour schemes to pick from and you´ll make sure you like the choice you´ve made. Also I´d recommend taking into consideration the time spent. It won´t be the same to paint with drybrushing or highlighting. Remember that if you choose a really good-looking colour recipe, but it takes you 80 hours (exaggeration to get the point ) to paint a single R&F model, you´ll provably also get fed up of painting your army.
Hope that helps

 

[Portgas]

They look nice, but if you don´t like them don´t start an army using that colour scheme. If you are unhappy about a single model, imagine the desperation when you see your 200$-worth army painted in colours you don´t even like.
It is very important that you like your color scheme before you start painting your army. To do this, what I do is select the colours I want my models to be painted in, and once that´s done, I pick 3 or 4 infantry models (skink or saurus, or both if you want to see how it´ll look on both) and paint the same colours using different recipes or even just techniques.
That way you´ll have 4 colour schemes to pick from and you´ll make sure you like the choice you´ve made. Also I´d recommend taking into consideration the time spent. It won´t be the same to paint with drybrushing or highlighting. Remember that if you choose a really good-looking colour recipe, but it takes you 80 hours (exaggeration to get the point ) to paint a single R&F model, you´ll provably also get fed up of painting your army.
Hope that helps

the problem is not me liking the color scheme, in fact i love it ! the problem is im not liking the results of my painting becouse i compare them with some pics in the painting guide or internet and they dont look so cool using the same exact colors and proces of painting i know im new into this world and that with the time maybe i'll improve and be able to achieve those results, just going to keep practicing and posting here to get some feedback

 

[Teheloqtec]

Don't worry about perfection, enjoy the painting process. All of us are still learning and improving as we go, so you just continue painting and after around 10 figures out so, look back at the first one, notice how it isn't as bad as you thought and how much you've improved. The rest is just practice, practice, practice. And just so you know, for a first mini your work looks quite good. I also struggled with shading when I started painting and I've learned that when washing a strong color over a bright one it's a good idea to thin down the shade with a little water to prevent pooling.

 

[Portgas]

Don't worry about perfection, enjoy the painting process. All of us are still learning and improving as we go, so you just continue painting and after around 10 figures out so, look back at the first one, notice how it isn't as bad as you thought and how much you've improved. The rest is just practice, practice, practice. And just so you know, for a first mini your work looks quite good. I also struggled with shading when I started painting and I've learned that when washing a strong color over a bright one it's a good idea to thin down the shade with a little water to prevent pooling.

thanks a lot for your words, the tip about the shading will actually help a lot! like i said before i'll keep doing my saurus and hopefully one day i will have enough to actually play a battle

 

[Warden]

thanks a lot for your words, the tip about the shading will actually help a lot! like i said before i'll keep doing my saurus and hopefully one day i will have enough to actually play a battle

I have no tips to offer, other than encouragement to keep it up!

Your painting looks good so far, good luck on your future progress

 

[Crowsfoot]

the problem is not me liking the color scheme, in fact i love it ! the problem is im not liking the results of my painting becouse i compare them with some pics in the painting guide or internet and they dont look so cool using the same exact colors and proces of painting i know im new into this world and that with the time maybe i'll improve and be able to achieve those results, just going to keep practicing and posting here to get some feedback

Don't be scared to go bold with your drybrushing, the colours you are using now work but are better suited to a layer highlight, try going with a lighter colour for a final drybrush and then apply a glaze of blue to bring back the colour.

Try a test model with a final drybrush of skull white then a glaze of blue to see what I mean.

 

[Portgas]

Don't be scared to go bold with your drybrushing, the colours you are using now work but are better suited to a layer highlight, try going with a lighter colour for a final drybrush and then apply a glaze of blue to bring back the colour.

Try a test model with a final drybrush of skull white then a glaze of blue to see what I mean.

hey mate! thanks for your answer. The only part of the mini where im using drybrush is in the scales of the back, when you say that i should apply a final drybrush and the glaze are you refering to all the miniature or just in the scales?, im actually trying to make the highlights in the legs like this:

Spoiler: highlight details

But im not actually getting it, my lines are to thick ( maybe i need a smaller brush for details like this? ), also, in this exemple the legs look like a base of sotek green and then a highlight with some lines in templeguard blue right?

 

[Crowsfoot]

hey mate! thanks for your answer. The only part of the mini where im using drybrush is in the scales of the back, when you say that i should apply a final drybrush and the glaze are you refering to all the miniature or just in the scales?, im actually trying to make the highlights in the legs like this:

Spoiler: highlight details

View attachment 32045

But im not actually getting it, my lines are to thick ( maybe i need a smaller brush for details like this? ), also, in this exemple the legs look like a base of sotek green and then a highlight with some lines in templeguard blue right?

Yes just the scales,
What size brush are you using on the legs?, a size 1 should be about right for that kind of detail, make sure you thin the paint a little so it flows of your brush easily.

That example has a base and one layer on the legs, leaving just a bit of the base coat showing in the deepest recess, you can add a spot highlight on the toes, ankle etc

I tend to go a lot lighter than I think I need to when highlighting.

 

[Portgas]

Yes just the scales,
What size brush are you using on the legs?, a size 1 should be about right for that kind of detail, make sure you thin the paint a little so it flows of your brush easily.

That example has a base and one layer on the legs, leaving just a bit of the base coat showing in the deepest recess, you can add a spot highlight on the toes, ankle etc

I tend to go a lot lighter than I think I need to when highlighting.

im using army painter brushes, for the legs im using one that its called character, i dont really know the size but in some webs they said its something like a #0.

for the moment im gonna try just basecoating with sotek green and then aplying a layer with templeguard blue in some places with no recesses like in the exemple i've shown. will post a pict later from the results. thanks a lot for the tips !

 

[Portgas]

Here is one of the saurus i painted today, i think that i can see an improvement in this one!

Spoiler: Saurus warrior

Spoiler: Saurus warrior

Im not puting to much effort i. The left arm becouse is where the shield its gonna be, other than that, thanks to all, your replies are helping me improve!

 

[tom ndege]

Definitely a good looking saurus.

 

[Jorgik]

Pretty well painted! Good job!

 

[Aginor]

Really pretty well done!
I am not a big fan of edge highlighting myself, I use drybrush for highlighting almost exclusively, but it seems you are making good progress.
My first Saurus (in a similar paint scheme) were not _that_ great either, but if you have the technique figured out on a few then a bit of training will get you - at least - to a point where you produce something the people here call "tabletop quality". I would say you're actually 90% there or so. When you are done with the first unit of Saurus you will notice that when viewed together and not from that close they look pretty awesome already.

EDIT: Actually frankly speaking I am sure I wasn't there with my first 12 Saurus, yours already looks better than my first batch.

 

[Portgas]

Really pretty well done!
I am not a big fan of edge highlighting myself, I use drybrush for highlighting almost exclusively, but it seems you are making good progress.
My first Saurus (in a similar paint scheme) were not _that_ great either, but if you have the technique figured out on a few then a bit of training will get you - at least - to a point where you produce something the people here call "tabletop quality". I would say you're actually 90% there or so. When you are done with the first unit of Saurus you will notice that when viewed together and not from that close they look pretty awesome already.

EDIT: Actually frankly speaking I am sure I wasn't there with my first 12 Saurus, yours already looks better than my first batch.

Thanks a lot for your kind words! i was seeing your post yesterday and your lizards are awesome! the quality of the paint and those spectacular bases makes them great to the sight. Im thinking to use fimo aswell to make like lizardmen ruins and then break these ruins in little pieces to put them in some of the bases to simulate a ruined ground with moss and some jungle stuff as you have done with some of your minis !

 

[Aginor]

Thanks a lot for your kind words! i was seeing your post yesterday and your lizards are awesome! the quality of the paint and those spectacular bases makes them great to the sight. Im thinking to use fimo aswell to make like lizardmen ruins and then break these ruins in little pieces to put them in some of the bases to simulate a ruined ground with moss and some jungle stuff as you have done with some of your minis !

Thank you! This is a great hobby and a great community to learn from.