Experiments in Weathering

I don't like weathering. I'm fighting it kicking and screaming. As unrealistic as it may be, especially for barbarians and monsters, I like to paint things as pristine and flawless as possible. The idea of taking an old brush and spattering rust pigments on metal I've painstakingly blended sounds terrible. However, I really want to be able to appreciate weathering and be able to incorporate it into my wheelhouse of stuff-I-can-paint so I'm jumping in to give it a chance. Today, I'm going to risk ruining a painted miniature and give it a try.

My victim chosen for this torture, ironically enough, is a torturer. The Domina of Torment from Avatars of War is a pretty nasty lady and the grotesque piercings were fun to paint. I can't believe her clothing is held up by hoops pierced in her skin. And the nipple piercings? Yikes! Here's her lovely official description:

Dominas of Torment are beings of a grotesque and sinister beauty specializing in subjecting enemies to horrific and endless physical and mental torture with inhuman cruelty to quench their thirst for pain.

Her only presence will terrorize the enemy for it is told that the torture of a prisoner can last for days. Once satisfied the Domina of Torment will end the suffering of her victim by executing him in the most humiliating and frightening way.
— www.avatars-of-war.com

She sounds like a real nice lady, huh? She's gone from primed to painted in about 5 hours, although in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have taken the time to blend all that NMM before cramming pigment into it, but oh well. We're learning!

I'm using Tamiya Clear Red for blood on the edge of her metal blade and talons as well as my new Secret Weapon Rust Brown and Violet weathering pigments. I'm going with the uncomplicated tactics. While I could get fancy with sponges and sealants, I'm going with this method: dip a damp brush, smoosh it in the crevasses, grimace and hope it turns out alright in the end. I admit, it really does look more "authentic", especially for this evil creature who probably prefers torturing people with rusted blades. While weathering is growing on me, I need to take a break, step back, and re-evaluate. Is the pigment dark enough in the creases? Is it applied too smooth? Should there be texture? I left her leg untouched by the weathering to see the difference and woah, the clean metal looks really out of place. I'll finish the chains on her back as well as her leg guard once I have the technique down. I'll need to do some research and find examples of something similar done well since it's not quite there yet. Still, I'm excited I've finally started down this road of weathering. It's about time!

FRONT: Before & After

[censored] ...because reasons.

BACK: Before & AFter

Chibi Twilight Knight WIP

I have the crud. AGAIN. This time from a friend's wedding this past weekend. This wretched allergy season has negatively impacted my immune system to the point where I can't go to a social function without catching a bug. Ugh. On a positive note, I was able to work in some miniature prep this past weekend. I put together Domina of Torment (Avatars of War), Fiama (Enigma), Wu Ling Shu (Bombshell) and a chibi Medusa that I'm not exactly sure where she's from. I also cleaned up Cheetah Girl (Reaper) that required no assembly. I ran out of super glue soon after that, though I was able to get them attached to the start of their bases.

After that, it was off to the wedding. I received this key upon checking in. It's like they knew I was coming! I'll have to hang this by my painting table. Love it.

Other than that, I redid my Twitter banner, which features the miniatures I've painted in the last year. The old banner was of miniatures I'd painted years ago and I figured it was time for a refresh. All but one of these (second from the right), I've painted in the last year and I'm super proud of them. Not all went according to plan, but I learned a lot and I tried to get my hands on different types of miniatures– chibi, sci-fi, animals, dwarves, dudes, etc.

While I'm working on the Kingdom Death Twilight Knight, I thought I'd pick up the Soda Pop Twilight Knight for fun. I joined a Google Hangout and painted some progress into this little one:

Here's a closer look. While she won't match the creepy skintone of her larger counterpart, this little gyaru chibi will be in themes of purple too!

Kingdom Death WIP: Twilight Knight

I haven't finished painting a Kingdom Death mini yet. I know, it's disgraceful, isn't it? I haven't worked on Twilight Knight for 26+ weeks according to Instagram. I figure it's about time I picked her back up. She taunts me from the Shelf of Shame. I imagine she says, "What? Are you intimidated– afraid to paint me? I know how much you've spent on Kingdom Death miniatures in the last year and you haven't finished a single one of us. SHAME! I'm already halfway done. You should paint me. And for the love of all things holy, PLEASE glue my freaking head on already!"

So I did. Glue her head on at least. I spent so much time painting her back only to realize her cape would cover it. Ugh. Here's where I left off months ago, and here's where I ended up last night:

However, something was missing (and not her head this time). I painted up the skin with unearthly pinks and purples, and the gems on her legs and sword hilt were bothering me. I tried to work some green into the tied strip on her sword, but it still didn't make sense visually. I thought the green standing out against her skin would be a good thing, but after re-evaluating half-a-year-later, I realized I never really liked it. So I used purple glazes to change the color and switched up the highlights a bit. I like it much better! The purple ties in the skin so much better and your eye moves around the miniature more freely. Now to decide what color to paint the cape and rework a few parts of her sword, change the color of her belt from grey metal to studded brown leather, and paint her hair. Oh, and the base. Right... so I may have more to do on this miniature than I thought but hey, I'm no longer intimidated by her! In fact, I'm really happy with how the skin turned out with the darker violet glazing.

She no longer looks like a pink marshmallow Twilight Knight– hooray! Maybe that's why she was so grumpy...

Have a great week! Until next time :)