Sunday 20 December 2015

Malifaux "Hide and Seek" Crew (Completed)



This evening I put the last brush stroke on a long overdue commission which has taken me almost eight months, including a month or two off as I moved and painted a new apartment, though it has definitely been worth the wait. I'm very happy with how these models turned out, and I look forward to seeing some higher quality pictures taken by the new owner!


The "daydreams" were the first models I painted, and actually had the most trouble with due to their small size and radically different colour schemes! I repainted the model on the right after painting the other two so the contrast matched the box art and the purple colour matched the tiny daydream with the dreamer model below. Having purchased extra fine brass wire for pinning them to the base I hope they will stand up to the rough and tumble of gaming despite their small size.


The tentacled Cthulhu-inspired "Coppelius" stood out on his own in terms of colours, though I managed to match some of his skin tone with the highlights on the other models. I wanted the bright orange of his suit to match his in game speed and provide a visual distraction compared to the duller tones on the Alps below. His handheld eyeball was particularly satisfying to work on! The skin tone on the "dreamer" was a first attempt to lighten a model from bottom to top, rather than just using the same tones on all skin. I'm very happy with how it turned out as this draws the eye to the face rather than legs which I would previously have painted just at bright.


The Alps were suprisingly fast to paint, having mostly darker cloth tones which went well with my current wash/glaze techniques. The box art lighting from the cigar made absolutely no sense with his face lit up but hand showing no 'glow' (you can find the original art here on the wyrd website) but I then struggled to paint in depth with the lighter face tones with a front on light source and no contrast! I also had a lot of "fun" pinning the running model at the correct angle after seeing how silly he looks when positioned facing the ground.


Last on the painting list was "Lord Chompy Bits" himself. After my initial airbrushed base-coat was damaged in the move I decided to repaint the model using brushes and a lot of wet blending and glazes. A lot of patience was required trying to blend on such a big model, and I wanted the model to be lighter and darker from top to bottom. This was achieved using shading washes/glazes and a couple of sessions working on the highlights bottom to top. You can see a little of the reflection from a gloss protection coat which I have dulled down with a matte medium. I was pulling my hair out at one point after a few more spots began to chip from handling. I think sorting out my preparation and painting plinths will be a big goal for the new year!

Update: I've added these models to my coolminiornot page!