No dwarfs were painted in the making of this post
This month I set out to paint some dwarfs and ended up with an elf, a goblin, a human, a skeleton and a sacrificial Skaven.
The elf.
This is the is the first reaper mini I have ever bought or painted. He was better than I thought he would be, for some reason I always assumed that reaper would be low quality. I picked up a couple more elf’s which also look good so I’ve definitely changed my opinion on reaper. The reason for this purchase was that I had the urge to paint Drizzt so a suitable elf ranger was required. I already had the drow ranger from wizkids but already owning something doesn’t quench my insatiable night shift eBay hunger and this was sadly the best representation I could find. I also wanted a chance to try out blending on his cape with the scale 75 paints although by painting to many minis at once I think I rushed it. The end result is quite poor and one I could have achieved with citadel or foundry paints so next time I will have to spend more time on the colours and blends.
Experimenting with new paints was one of my key goals with these five minis so the elf was primarily painted with scale 75 nature,wood and leather and the black and white paints. My conclusion is that I need a lot more practice to get the results I’m looking for specifically when to use which colour. The white tunic may have been a mistake and the green panto leggings definitely were but I like how the leathers turned out so it’s not all bad. For now I still prefer my foundry paints. All of the silver metallic for these minis were painted with Vallejo metal colour which gives a nice effect but I’m having difficulty using it. The paint is designed for an airbrush so with a brush it’s more like a metallic wash which I have been able to compensate for. I think the biggest problem is that I’m trying to use them as I would citadel paints so again more practice is required. The brass is painted with scale 75 which works fine but the colours are not what I wanted so I’ll pick up some more before deciding on them.
Speaking of metallic the elf’s swords were a pain to paint up. I originally tried making them look magical using green and blue glazes which I couldn’t get looking right. In the end I went with steel swords that I’m also not very happy with. Whether this is caused by the sculpt, the paint or me I’m not sure, again I think practice is the key thing.
The skin was also something I was not sure how to do. I wanted a dark purple colour so rather than use purple I went with black and grays with a purple glaze on top. I also went with red eyes and a yellow pupil which is not correct for Drizzt but I need to experiment more to achieve a decent red eye. While the mini turned out fine, certainly not my best work, it in no way suggests Drizzt to me so the search for an appropriate mini (and paint job) continues.
The goblin.
A cool little mini from otherworld I figured would be fun to paint up. He turned out ok. I had been hoping to try out some patterns and colours on his cloak which could be applied to a big monsters I have waiting for paint although trying out so many new things at once kind of killed my mojo. He ended up with a simple paint job and honestly I don’t like it. I really wanted to try out the scale 75 reds but this wasn’t the model to try them out on. I also tried the Vallejo rust washes with various degrees of success so again practice is required. I had hoped to replace my weathering powder for the death stuff I paint up but I’m not happy enough with it yet.
The human.
Another otherworld mini that I had been putting off painting because I was worried about doing osl but the chance to paint up all that steel with metal colours had to be taken (I also didn’t bother with osl which helped). Comparing this guy with my last otherworld knight guy I think the metal effect is definitely better even though I spent a lot more time on the last one. I think I achieved better results all round using a different approach than I normally use when I base, wash then highlight. This time I decided to base, highlight then wash which gives a darker dirtier look. Overall I’m happy with how he turned out and he is my favourite of the bunch. All the bases were tarted up with the gamers grass highlands set and some spiked bushes which I quite like.
The skeleton.
Krell is the greatest hero in Warhammer. One of my first minis and the general of my first army this is the original Krell that first terrorized the world with the liche master. This is one of three Krells I have the others being middle hammer Krell when he got his axe and end times Krell who is a suitably amazing mini. More practice here with red and black which I will need for my next paint job.
The Skaven.
Skaven were my other first army. I loved this mini and was looking forward to painting him up. It was while putting some red on his hood that I found out my 21 month old daughter had leaned the word ‘painting’. When she climbed up on my knee and repeatedly said it I had no choice but to hand her a small dry brush which got a cheer. Now most sessions start with 10 minutes painting with either a dry brush, spatula or fingers. Its also worth noting that she picked colours that perfectly matched my new background. I’ve always thought of the Skaven as a selfless race so I’m sure he’s happy with his lot in life.
Thanks for reading.
The elf.
This is the is the first reaper mini I have ever bought or painted. He was better than I thought he would be, for some reason I always assumed that reaper would be low quality. I picked up a couple more elf’s which also look good so I’ve definitely changed my opinion on reaper. The reason for this purchase was that I had the urge to paint Drizzt so a suitable elf ranger was required. I already had the drow ranger from wizkids but already owning something doesn’t quench my insatiable night shift eBay hunger and this was sadly the best representation I could find. I also wanted a chance to try out blending on his cape with the scale 75 paints although by painting to many minis at once I think I rushed it. The end result is quite poor and one I could have achieved with citadel or foundry paints so next time I will have to spend more time on the colours and blends.
Experimenting with new paints was one of my key goals with these five minis so the elf was primarily painted with scale 75 nature,wood and leather and the black and white paints. My conclusion is that I need a lot more practice to get the results I’m looking for specifically when to use which colour. The white tunic may have been a mistake and the green panto leggings definitely were but I like how the leathers turned out so it’s not all bad. For now I still prefer my foundry paints. All of the silver metallic for these minis were painted with Vallejo metal colour which gives a nice effect but I’m having difficulty using it. The paint is designed for an airbrush so with a brush it’s more like a metallic wash which I have been able to compensate for. I think the biggest problem is that I’m trying to use them as I would citadel paints so again more practice is required. The brass is painted with scale 75 which works fine but the colours are not what I wanted so I’ll pick up some more before deciding on them.
Speaking of metallic the elf’s swords were a pain to paint up. I originally tried making them look magical using green and blue glazes which I couldn’t get looking right. In the end I went with steel swords that I’m also not very happy with. Whether this is caused by the sculpt, the paint or me I’m not sure, again I think practice is the key thing.
The skin was also something I was not sure how to do. I wanted a dark purple colour so rather than use purple I went with black and grays with a purple glaze on top. I also went with red eyes and a yellow pupil which is not correct for Drizzt but I need to experiment more to achieve a decent red eye. While the mini turned out fine, certainly not my best work, it in no way suggests Drizzt to me so the search for an appropriate mini (and paint job) continues.
The goblin.
A cool little mini from otherworld I figured would be fun to paint up. He turned out ok. I had been hoping to try out some patterns and colours on his cloak which could be applied to a big monsters I have waiting for paint although trying out so many new things at once kind of killed my mojo. He ended up with a simple paint job and honestly I don’t like it. I really wanted to try out the scale 75 reds but this wasn’t the model to try them out on. I also tried the Vallejo rust washes with various degrees of success so again practice is required. I had hoped to replace my weathering powder for the death stuff I paint up but I’m not happy enough with it yet.
The human.
Another otherworld mini that I had been putting off painting because I was worried about doing osl but the chance to paint up all that steel with metal colours had to be taken (I also didn’t bother with osl which helped). Comparing this guy with my last otherworld knight guy I think the metal effect is definitely better even though I spent a lot more time on the last one. I think I achieved better results all round using a different approach than I normally use when I base, wash then highlight. This time I decided to base, highlight then wash which gives a darker dirtier look. Overall I’m happy with how he turned out and he is my favourite of the bunch. All the bases were tarted up with the gamers grass highlands set and some spiked bushes which I quite like.
The skeleton.
Krell is the greatest hero in Warhammer. One of my first minis and the general of my first army this is the original Krell that first terrorized the world with the liche master. This is one of three Krells I have the others being middle hammer Krell when he got his axe and end times Krell who is a suitably amazing mini. More practice here with red and black which I will need for my next paint job.
The Skaven.
Skaven were my other first army. I loved this mini and was looking forward to painting him up. It was while putting some red on his hood that I found out my 21 month old daughter had leaned the word ‘painting’. When she climbed up on my knee and repeatedly said it I had no choice but to hand her a small dry brush which got a cheer. Now most sessions start with 10 minutes painting with either a dry brush, spatula or fingers. Its also worth noting that she picked colours that perfectly matched my new background. I’ve always thought of the Skaven as a selfless race so I’m sure he’s happy with his lot in life.
Thanks for reading.
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