Wednesday 16 December 2009

Painting camo











































We've had a few people asking about the camo paint scheme on Ali's version of Kara - so I've managed to persuade her to do a quick tutorial on how she did it.

She used quite a simple technique, but it produces great results. She paints the pattern, in this case - a base colour and two additional colours over that - then she simply glazes in the shading to give some form and definition. On the original version of Kara she went back in and added some simple highlights to the prominent areas (like the pockets), once the other areas round the camo were finished.

She has very usefully drawn up a quick illustrated version to show this along side the painted miniature. Her are some brief notes to go with the pictures.

The base colour was a mid greeny-grey, the second colour applied was Kommando Khaky with a little bone added. The third colour was a very dark brown - Scorched Brown with a little blue ink added. She kept the dark shapes smaller than the light ones, and always overlapped the edge of a lighter area.

Once the patterns were down in a way that looked right (don't be frightened to go back and adjust the way they work with each other), Ali added the shading. She mixed up quite a dark 'dirty' colour from Graveyard Earth with a little dark blue added - and used this to carefully glaze in the shading. The glazes were built up in gradual stages that are allowed to dry between applications. Obviously - the more applications to an area - the darker the shading comes out. Don't go too deep though, or you will obscure the camo pattern.

When you are applying camo schemes it's good to treat it like any other detail painting - keep the colour a little on the thin side, and don't overload the brush. Use a good brush with a fine point. It's also really useful to work from reference - so you can clearly see things like what patterns are used, and how the colours are distributed.

That's it! It's really best to keep things simple - if you try complex shading you will tend to lessen the effect (and go insane trying to smoothly apply highlights across all those colours...).

Just a quick update on orders for Kara - things are still moving a little slowly I'm afraid, but we are sending out orders as soon as stock arrives, so things are moving. We didn't expect her to be this popular! Thanks for you patience and support - we'll get miniatures out as quickly as we possibly can.

cheers!

mike


Friday 11 December 2009

Kara concept art

















I thought I would share the concept art for Lt. Kara Black with you. It's by Sam Wood, who has been working in the games and miniatures industry for many years. Sam did a lot of the concept work for D&D 3rd Edition and has worked on too many fine gaming products to mention here. We loved the concept he did for Kara - it was one of those pieces that I just couldn't wait to see sculpted.

The original idea for her was that she would be fighting an 'opponent' in a sort of mini diorama - and Sam did that concept for that piece too. For one reason and another we decided to just make her for the time being - but we may well re-visit the subject at a later date and let everyone see what it is she's been battling against!

The reaction to Kara has been extremely positive - beyond our expectations really, so we might be a little slower than normal filling orders for the next few days. Don't worry though, if you've ordered already, we have shipped one batch out this morning and there will be more going out soon. She's a great miniature, and I hope you agree she's worth the wait - thanks for being patient with us!

I have just about finished my painted version (hopefully she'll be done over the weekend), so I'll be showing her here soon after.

cheers!

mike

Wednesday 9 December 2009

Lt. Kara Black























I've just added the latest miniature in our Limited Edition resin series to the Studio Store over on the main website! The latest miniature is our first non-fantasy release - we're delighted with how she came out, and it's a subject we certainly plan to explore further in future releases. The concept was by Sam Wood, and Kev White sculpted her in stunning detail.

I particularly like the pose of this piece - depicting her in the midst of a fierce fight with an unknown assailant - the recoil from her gun kicking her backwards. Kara is scarred and bleeding, but undaunted! She comes complete with a scenic base insert showing some great details - like her discarded helmet and a slime covered skull.

I have another painted version on the way - and that will hopefully be shown here in the next few days. Ali and I also plan to collaborate on painting another miniature, which we will show in stage by stage form on the blog. I'll also be showing the original concept here soon.

cheers!

mike