Cutter Complete!

So after about 10 hours of work, Panoceania's scariest TAG is finished.

I used a couple of unfamilar techniques in this that will carry onto the rest of my infinity stuff. Non metallic metal of two varieties was a really interesting and enlightening technique for me as I've never used it or considered using it before. I suppose my technique and formula will improve as time goes on. But for a first attempt - I'm happy.

Object source lighting is something I've always loved. I didnt really have the opportunity to use it to its full potential on the cutter, but I think that where I used it, it really had quite an effect. I like a green glow on the red background for its contrast value - the effect is striking.

The base is made with balsa wood and plaster for smoothing. I think that has a really good value for concrete. The rough stuff is just textured brown paint with a couple of washes (nuln oil and secret weapon stone wash). The base fits the theme for my terrain project (the kickstarter one).

Here is the kickstarter link

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/584807271/28mm-city-terrain-tutorials-infinity-40k

Next in line is sculpting cloaks for the dark eldar and moving on with some more infinity stuff - ORC trooper with multi rifle, nisses and hexas with sniper rifle and spitfire respectively.

I hope you all enjoyed this - don't hesitate to ask any questions about it!

"Here's one I prepared earlier" part 4

Here is part 4 of "here's one I prepared earlier"!

The first 2 pictures are of my Warhammer Fantasy Chaos Lord. I didnt really want to go with a standard armour colour for him, so I painted it like bone. You've probably realised by now that I love working with red. The bottom of the cloak however is drybrushed with a dusty dirty brown colour, because no chaos lord (minus a marked of slaanesh) should be squeaky clean.

The final picture is the Vampire Count Konrad Von Carstein. The model was a speed painting effort, but I guess I'm still happy with how he turned out.

Cheers.

Kickstarter link!

Well, my kickstarter project was approved! Here is the link for anyone interested - 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/584807271/28mm-city-terrain-tutorials-infinity-40k

Also worth mentioning - after nearly 10 hours of work, the Panoceania Cutter is almost complete. A few details on the legs plus some work on the base and that beautiful model will be finished. Pictures to come later this afternoon.

Later this week, I'll showcase my Dark Eldar Trueborns. I'm in the process of sculpting cloaks onto them along with my own conversion work of Duke Sliscus with a flayed skin cloak of his own.

Poll Results and Kickstarter

Hey readers!

You may remember I had a poll running. Even though there were only 3 votes, the results were decisive, so the next project will be a nice tightly packed light urban setting complete with all of the tiny details you'd think that would include.

I've already done a lot of the planning, window shopping etc involved in my preliminary phase and I decided that this was going to be a costly project. Knowing that I intend to use this to help people by doing tutorials and reviews on things that I buy, I decided to run a Kickstarter campaign to help raise funds for it. My campaign hasn't been approved yet, but once it is, I'll be posting a link so you can all check it out.

So my idea is to create a light urban setting (no high rise, but still tightly packed), complete with advertising boards, restaurants, mechanic's stations and apartment blocks with all of the details. The story behind it is basically that it's the budding population centre of a young colony. I intend to add graffiti, garbage and all sorts of interesting details. One of the kickstarter pledges is actually for me to make customised billboards or graffiti that will certainly be featured on this blog.

So some of the kits that I've factored in so far

-Sci fi building bundle from CNC workshop along with some bins and vending machines etc.

-Warmill's basic MULE system with an elevator to fill it out into a two storey building as perhaps an office space. Warmill also had some interesting random bits and bobs to add detail to buildings. No doubt, I'll be using some of those too.

-Some of Warsenal's buildings including the commanche barracks because I like the aesthetic of it and it also works well as a small apartment or unit. Perhaps also a couple of their modular two storey buildings to add more flavor.

-MicroArt Studio has some great lasercut hdf scenery that I really like. I'll be using a pair of district 5 L shaped buildings and a garage kit to make a taller apartment building. I had considered also the 3 storey apartment building and may still add this to the list. The catwalk kit will also be essential, as stairs are required to traverse levels (obviously).

-For the interior details of the buildings, Spartan Scenics has some fantastic sci-fi flavoured details - mess hall parts, bunks, lockers, an armoury set, medical centre. These will be great for adding a real homely feel to the board I think.

I'll probably be making my own base board out of mdf and wood. I haven't yet decided if the board will be modular, or a whole piece as there are great benefits to both.

I'm really hoping to invest quite a lot of time into this project, and I hope I can find some support.

I'm off to finish sculpting some cloaks onto my Dark Eldar Trueborns.

Update

Progress has been fairly slow this week due to work, but progress has been made.

On the Cutter, I've been finishing off piece by piece, so some parts are nearly completed while others are still only in the beginning stages.

One of my main aims with my infinity miniatures has been to avoid using metallic paints altogether, so I've tried my hand at non-metallic metal for the first time ever as you can see on the Cutter's gun. I like it for a first attempt, but it definitely needs some development.

You can also see some lighting effects on the gauntlet and visor. They arent finished and they need to be taken brighter in my opinion.

Before I go to work today, I'm planning to prime at least half of the bare metal in the first picture.

Review time!

Hey readers!

While working ever so slowly on the Cutter, I thought I'd do a review on a couple of the Panoceanic heavy infantry models - Aquila Guard with multi-rifle and Swiss Guard with rocket launcher.

Both models are fantastic as far as metal models go, and as per the Cutter, I think I'm really going to enjoy painting them. Both models are relatively easy to put together, being monopose and having locking pin type joints for the arms.
As to be expected with metal models, both required a (relatively small, to be honest) amount of cleaning and flash removal.
The Aquila Guard actually required some greenstuff work - the locking pieces on the jacket didnt quite match up, so I decided to fill them in. There were no such troubles on the Swiss Guard.

Rating -

Sculpt - Both models are a 4/5. The level of detail is comfortable and still impressive, while the poses are absolutely fantastic.
Cast quality - Another 4/5. While there was still a small amount of flash and some injection points to clean up, Infinity consistently produces some of the nicest metals I've ever worked with. Really, the only problem I had was the jacket and the head on the Aquila Guard which required some gap filling.

I can't wait to finish the Cutter so I can get to work on these!

Poll!

Readers may or may not have noticed that I'm running a poll right now on what you all think I should develop into a project next.

I really want to get readers involved in my work, so don't be afraid to comment or message me and let me know if you had anything you'd like to see from me.

So far the choices are - blood angels v orks or tyranids diorama, infinity gameboard w/ terrain, a baneblade variant tank or a night lords kill team.

Get involved - let me know what you'd like to see.

Infinity progress update

Slow progress on the cutter - about 5 hours work so far and I reckon it's maybe 30-40% finished.

I'm really liking the colour scheme I've chosen and I think I'll definitely stay with it for painting the rest of my Panoceania force.

Red can be a real pain to highlight, so I opted to wash the red really dark and then highlight starting with an equal parts mix of mephiston red and fiery orange, progressively mixing in yriel yellow on the more extreme edge. It seemed to work on the right arm, so I'll keep it up with the rest.

The grey parts are russ grey, with highlights of russ grey/ ceramite white mixes - obviously with more white being added for the higher edges.

I'm really enjoying painting the cutter. It is quite unlike any model I've ever painted before and I think in that regard, it's testing my skills nicely.

More progress pics coming soon.

"Here's one I prepared earlier" part 3

As promised, a Dark Eldar Wraithknight, raider assault craft and as an added bonus, a picture of my (as yet not quite finished) conversion of Drazhar, Master of blades.

Check in tomorrow for more progress shots of my Infinity project.

"Here's one I prepared earlier" part 2

Hey readers!

Here is part 2 of "heres one I prepared earlier", featuring some of my Dark Eldar models including an Archon with a resculpted head, a unit of Wyches and 2 Kabalite warrior squads.

Yes I realise many of them are not based, I'm saving that little job for when I have another (admittedly quite big) project, involving lots of Infinity terrain. This way, I can keep some coherence between my prime 40k army and the battlefield they'll be playing on.

Stay tuned tomorrow to see a Dark Eldar Wraithknight and a raider transport.