The Goodwin Project vol.4 strippers!

So with the majority of the miniatures are here with the odd few still to come, Dark reapers and swooping hawks, I thought I would get a head start with stripping some of them down.

Now this isn't going to be tutorial on how to strip miniatures as from experience, other bloggers have got alot of stick from readers about the stuff used to strip thier minis of paint.
So this is simply just an update on how the army is going and some of the products you can use to strip miniatures.

Nitromors "green" the supermarket available version. Less toxic but I would still use a face mask and rubber gloves! dont use this on plastic minis or in a plastic tub. and obviously do your best not to get anything on your hands despite wearing gloves!!

Dettol, my school used to use this when you cut your leg in the playground to clean it up. Now I use it to strip paint. This stuff stinks but is a lot more safe than nitromors, plus it's cheaper and more readily available! also a great benefit of this is it doesnt melt plastic like nitromors.

i usually leave them in soak for a couple of hours, then give them a scrub with a tooth brush. Then pop back into soak. Remember to still use gloves and a mask though. It's safe but stinks in large quantities.

Sealing the top keeps the whiff in!

Karandras all cleaned up and converted into a challenging pose. The step down from the emblem to engage his victim! May their gods protect them!

the wraithlord in all his glory, cleaned and ready for spraying.

some of the aspect warriors. just need to order some more bases as i cant find anymore lying around.

 

 

 

 

i managed to aquire the older avatar miniature for the army. look at him all cute next to the current version. still think its an epic mini though and will take centre place when i choose not to use the farseer.

the mini i managed to get was missing his cloak but not to worry, a bit of plasticard later for create the basic shape before green stuffing the folds onto it.

 

more to come very soon

Death Guard Legion Standard Bearer. Warhammer Nurgle Lord Conversion

Remember that chap I photographed the other day, well this is about him...

Another Facebook painting competition to paint the warhammer Nurgle Lord, the rule simply states he just had to start as that figure.

So I was having a think, and thought, space marine, deathguard!!
I'm on it like a car bonnet!!

The standard bearer bit came later...

After a bits box rummage I found a helmet for him, and well, that was it...
So a helmet is all I've got, that will be all I use!!

After filing down a lot of his armour to make it more one piece sections rather than the plating it was I started to cut back the legs and left arm to thin them down ready for some green stuffing.
I sculpted in the soft armour around the back of his legs and a broken chest plate, then added the shoulder pad and helmet.
I then realised no backpack, but luckily bring nurgle you can usually get away with plenty of things. The nurgle daemon prince being the inspiration for this. Bone exhausts perturbing from his back, then I though a hose running from his helmet to this monstrosity was next. Out comes the guitar strings.






The weapon was next... A scythe just gotta be a scythe!! Then after looking at his helmet, something as dramatic as a scythe wouldn't fit his less dramatic look. So I sat thinking. A banner maybe?
So a banner bearer he became.

Grabbing some styrene rod I cut away chip pings from it to match the existing theme of the axe that lived before it. Pinned it too his hands and voila!!

The flag itself was a bent piece of plasticard simply cut to shape.

Day 1 over!!


Day 2 meant the green stuff was dry. I can now glue the hose in place as it pulled on the wet green a little too much and ruined its shape, and I can remove the exhausts to cut their shape also. Luckily green stuffs hold on the subject it's attached too isn't great so these easily break free. Then simply super glue in place after.

The last sculpting is now taking place, the rest of the armour to bulk him back out and the trim of the power armour.
A last minute rummage found me a couple of skulls and a pistol in holster so these were added to the base and thigh, and top of banner pole.
Glue the banner in place and done!

Now to spray him up and paint!

Now I wanted to see if I can stand the test of time and evolve my painting skill to all the cool shading and non metallic metals people are producing today. So a lot of research was done before I started. Not on colour but on technique. So if anything this chap is a beta project.

The shading around the armour seemed simple enough simply progressive layers, though that's what I did. Whether there's a better technique out there I dunno!
The skin was done the same I wanted it greeny so a base of green was applied, then simply mixed the colour I wanted it to be more and more each layer.
The non metallic metals were fun, on the trim of his armour and his chain mail. Again similar to shading the amour, just pick where a static light source would come from and layer lighter colours to the closest point of the light source. And a thin line of white to give it some life!
I found some 3d shapes on the net that helped a lot too!

Whether I created the effect or not correctly I learnt a lot through painting this guy and I will continue to use what I've learnt.
So watch out for my eldar in the Goodwin project as I will be using what I learnt on them.

The Goodwin Project vol.1 the spirit warrior

Ok so heres the first instalment of the Goodwin project. As the models start rolling in from all my different sources I take hold of the old eldar dreadnought or now known as a wraithlord and get him ready before I strip him down of paint.

Remember this classic pose?

All these models to me are amazing and really reflect my early hobby years and my childhood so I really want them to be all they can be!
Hopefully as this army progresses we can see how they still stand the test of time against the more modern sculpts.

This wraithlord just needs a little bit of conversion work to bring it to life, make it more graceful, more eldar like!
I remembered an old picture by mark gibbons from the old second edition codex. This would be my starting point.

Now not to copy directly, but loosely base the wraithlord on this pose as it reflects enough character to not be a static bore. This guy will stand out as a centre piece to the army so needs to look better than the original sculpt.

The cutting starts...

got my tools and reference pic ready

 

i didnt have any metal bright lances at the time of this so a plastic one will suffice for now.

 

the bodys spine is cut in 2 to help the turn of his head and using 2mm brass rod pinned together.

 

the leg has its soft armour removed and a small cut behind the kneecap to allow the bend. i didnt fancy pinning this, i wanted it to be still connected so slowly bent the leg in stages, little bit at a time.

 

as you can see heavy pinning through and through.

 

here he lays in his complete pose as i wait for the base to dry.

kindly held up by me here he is in his final pose. not as dramatic as the picture but gives the wraitlord a nice sense of movement i think. just what it needed.

 

now ive got to pull him apart again ready to be stripped of paint. he will then be green stuffed around the joints to finish him off then have banners and a loin cloth added.

Some of the models I already had with some of the ones I managed to get on eBay luckily for a few quid.

Just waiting on the rest now before I start the mass stripping.
Some of these are going to need a little bit of extra time in the stripper it seems!

until next time...

Chaos Sorcerer Lord of Tzeentch

Painted for a little fun painting competition on Facebook. The first display standard model I've painted in about 6 years. It's interesting that my painting style hasn't evolved with the times, so hopefully as I see the other competition this chap is up against my painting style will start to evolve and improve!

what ya think?



The last thing i painted was a lizardman bloodbowl team so all the colours i currently owned were for them, hence the blue ;-). "note to self i need to buy more colours ha ha"