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Progress continues on the SD Sisquiede. The mobile suit itself is done, I was able to assemble it in time for the Painting Challenge deadline. Here are the sub-assemblies laid out:

Next will be the huge gun and other weapons that it has.

This is not, technically, my first post of the new year, since the one above this was made four hours and thirty-two minutes into January the 1st. Still, I've decided this will be my 'official' first post of the new year, so here is a group picture of all the miniatures that I finished painting in 2020.



This time last year I set this goal in the Fight the Pile of Shame thread (which now has a 2021 edition):

 Turaxa wrote:
I was thinking about this myself recently, so I'll join in. My plan is to complete at least one model per month. This might seem like setting the bar awfully low, but the models could be anything from tiny Reaper miniatures to full 1:144 kits.

I didn't literally paint one model in each calendar month, but over the course of the year I did complete twelve models. In large part this is due to participating in the Dakka Painting Challenge, so thanks are due to Paradigm and Nevelon for organising it each month.

My entry for this month's Painting Challenge is this Reaper Bones miniature of..... a Naga of some sort?


I got this miniature as a freebie with a Reaper order. I've tried (and failed) to paint figures made from Reaper's original white Bones formulation, and found them to be no better than boardgame PVC pieces, with soft detail and bendy extremeties. This figure seems to be made from a slightly different material. It was grey and has sharper detail. The theme for round 71 of the Dakka Painting Challenge is "new tricks". Since the line was released, Reaper fans have learned various techniques to paint Bones miniatures, which includes basecoating them with Reapers Brown Liner paint. So for me, this is a new material painted with new techniques.

Good luck with your progress in 2021 Turaxa.

Cheers,

CB

@ Captain Brown: Thank you. Let's hope 2021 is a better year than the last one.

I started painting her last month, but the first model I finished this year is this Battle Sister.


I wanted to update the colour scheme from my old Order of the Crimson Rose Adepta Sororitas army. Below you can see this model compared to a similar one from the original army.


The original figure was undercoated with Citadel white spray paint and then painted with Citadel Bleached Bone, Chaos Black and Scab Red, with Citadel golds and a silver for the metallics. The only washes were, I think, a chestnut wash on the cables. The colours on the original lack depth and definition, and some of the gold doesn't "pop" against the cream-coloured armour.

The figure for the new scheme had already been undercoated with Citadel white spray paint, and got the following treatment:

Cream - Citadel Iyanden Darksun basecoat / Citadel Bleached Bone layer / Citadel Seraphim Sepia wash / Bleached Bone drybrush

Red - Vallejo Hull Red basecoat / Citadel Scab Red layer / Citadel Chestnut Ink wash

Black – Citadel Chaos Black basecoat / Vallejo Dark Rubber layer / Citadel Nuln Oil wash

White - Army Painter Spaceship Exterior layer / Dark Star Paynes Grey wash / Spaceship Exterior drybrush

I think this makes the colours less flat than in the original scheme. This time the metallics were done with Brass and Tarnished Steel from Dark Star. They have far better coverage and are much brighter than whatever I used originally. I also tried the thermal discolouration technique on the muzzle of the gun, using Citadel washes and inks. I think it came out alright, though old-school Citadel blue ink is really potent and overpowers the other shades a bit.

I completed the Naga from Reaper's Bones lines.


I'll quote myself from the Painting Challenge Round 71 thread:

 Turaxa wrote:
This Grey Bones material is much better than the older White Bones. Some details on the head and the quiver were a bit indistinct, but overall the level of detail is comparable to older plastics. The limbs and bow, being slim parts, are bendy, but there was no distortion on my figure. I didn't find any mould lines. The material is "grippy" enough that I could push-fit some parts, but I had to superglue others. There is a noticeable seam between the upper and lower body that would have been easy to fill with poly cement if this had been HIPS. Overall this is a good enough material, but I still prefer HIPS or white metal.

Base-coating with Reaper's Brown Liner paint worked surprisingly well. It flows well and gives good single-coat coverage.

I've seen some Dakkadakka members posting checklists or bingo sheets of hobby goals for the year, so decided to gameify my own hobby aspirations. Let's see how many I can check off in 2021.

I didn't intend to let this go un-updated for three months, but such is life. Update time!

I updated my showcase thread with better pictures of all the models I completed in 2020.

My entry for Round 72 of the Dakkadakka Painting Challenge was this harlequin. Actually it was supposed to be several harlequins, but this one took up all my time. It was my first attempt at freehand painting the harlequins' iconic diamond pattern, and it was really not easy, taking three attempts before it looked passable. I want to try it again but on something bigger, the classic harlequin figures are a bit tiny for practising this technique.


Round 73 of the Painting Challenge was the first of 2021. My aim this year is to enter something for all twelve months. Again, I planned to enter a group of figures but got bogged down on just one. In this case it was a space marine in the black armour of the Death Watch. I wasn't really happy with the finished scheme but I received some encouraging feedback on it, so I plan to revisit it in the future.


I also started a second marine in a Grey Knights colour scheme, but it wasn't finished in time. This one I was happy with, so I completed him after the challenge. The photograph makes the dark metal colour look very grainy, but in real life it's much smoother and shinier. He will serve as a prototype for some Grey Knights terminators which are lurking in my painting queue.


For Round 74 of the Painting Challenge I entered this Grot Bomb from Forgeworld. Once again the photographs are harsh on my paint job, this little thing looks better in real life and I'm quite pleased with it.

This was my entry to Round 75 of the Dakkadakka Painting Challenge. It's the robot from Blackstone Fortress (that's totally not an Abominable Intelligence, apparently). I decided to paint it in Gundam-inspired colours. Unfortunately, after the basic colours were done it got caught in a very explosive paint spill from a faulty dropper bottle. So I had to wash it and retouch the paintwork, so it's a little rough around the edges.


Last month I also finally finished my Sisquiede kit. I finished the body of this mecha back in January, but didn't get around to its accessories. While finishing them I also went back and panel-lined the kit and added a faction symbol with a waterslide transfer. The big gun it carries is designed with swappable handled so it can be held ambidextrously, but doing that leaves holes in the side where the handle isn't attached, so I converted it to be right-handed only.

Nice work on the SD Gundam. Did you do the panel lining directly over colored plastic, or did you paint it first?

Thank you. It's all painted except the clear effect part for the beam and stickers for the eye and camera. I applied a coat of matt varnish before the panel lining. I've found that the lining markers seem to "dry out" more quickly when used directly on a painted surface, and sometimes the nib scratches the paint.

For Round 76 of the Dakka Painting Challenge I entered these five guardsmen. Painted in the same 122nd Cadian scheme as the five from last year, these are from the push-fit box. They have many of the same flaws as the multi-part kit and suffer from softer detail on some parts, but have the advantage of being quicker to assemble. I didn't paint the eyes on 2020's quintet, but after getting lots of encouragement from other entrants in the competition I decided to paint the eyes on these guys. They're not bad, but I need more practise.



Also, recently the grot bomb which I painted back in April appeared on the front page of the Dakkadakka gallery. This is the first time I've seen one of my images up there, and I was (probably excessively) excited about it, so here is a collage of some more pictures of the missile and its unfortunately gretchin pilot.

The eyes on those Guardsmen turned out pretty well. Next time, I'd suggest painting the whole eye black, then the cornea white, and then dotting in the pupil. I know someone in the Challenge thread compared that technique to eyeliner, but it really does help.

Having a model show up on the front page is a rush, isn't it?

@JoshInJapan: Thanks, and sorry to respond so late. The eyes seem to have been a popular addition. I'll have to dig some unhelmeted models out of the pile of potential to get more practise.

For the 77th round of the Dakkadakka Painting Challenge I entered this Eldar Harlequin.



This sculpt was really nice to paint, it has no awkward shapes or vague details. The colour scheme is based on this miniature's illustration in the box art for the original Harlequins box.



I decided to attempt to do the base in the Blackstone Fortress style, but I don't think it was that sucessful. In fact, if I hadn't been painting it on the last day of the contest I would have been tempted to paint over it with something more conventional. More practise is needed.


On the theme of more practise, I painted another erzatz Deathwatch marine to try and get a black armour technique I am happy with.



The edge highlighting is a little over done, but I think this one is better than the previous one (below left).



Lastly, this guy:

Has seen some drek, man. He's also become my most commented on image in the Dakkadakka gallery, and also the first one to accrue enough votes to display a rating.

Get some, Turaxa!

Congrats on the internet fame with Private Eyes over there and the grot bomb!

New highlighted armour definitely looks better!

Great colours on the harlie too, matches the art and looks like something out of an 80s sci fi anime.

Keep it up!

Nice,classic work on the Harlie. The base looks like it will look fine at tabletop distances, which is the real test. The lines might benefit from another layer highlighting before you get to the pure white where the lines intersect.

I've pretty much given up on edge highlighting-- I just can't seem to get it right. I'll be following your efforts with interest.

@ Tzurk: Thank you. Now that you mention it, the Harlequins do have a bit of an anime feel. I suppose they're like very flamboyant super sentai.

@JoshInJapan: Thanks. The result this time was much further from the real thing than I'd hoped, but I think I will try the Blackstone effect again at some point, it makes a nice change from basing with sand. I too usually avoid edge highlighting. I much prefer drybrushing and washing, but those techniques don't suit every miniature or colour scheme; black armour seemingly being one.

These three Ebay-rescue cultists made a brief appearance in this blog back in October last year.



My previous paint scheme didn't work out and I ended up putting them to one side, but I've decided to revisit them for the 78th Dakkadakka Painting Challenge. The detail won't be great, since I primed them over my own half-finished paint job and the original owner's black spray, but I'm determined to get them done this time.

On the subject of primer, my search for a decent brush-on primer may be over. This primer is from Army Painter, and while it doesn't smell great it suffers from none of the bubbling and consistency problems that have plagued the other primers that I've tried.

Yesterday I saw that my grot bomb had made it to the main Dakkadakka front page! This motivated me to actually update this painting log for once. So, without further ado, updates:

 Turaxa wrote:
These three Ebay-rescue cultists made a brief appearance in this blog back in October last year...I'm determined to get them done this time.

And get them done I did, and in a colour scheme I quite like as well.



My entry for the 79th Dakkadakka Painting Challenge saw this Inquisitor miniature finally seeing paint.

I painted the highlights and shadows on the fabric, rather than using washes and drybrushing like I usually do. It mostly looks good, but I'm not sure it looks that much better for the amount of extra work it took.
The brown leathers and warm/cool whites go well together, but I ran out of time on the weapons ; I think they could have done with more highlighting or some colour. Also I painted his face, including the eyes, which was so much easier at 54mm scale.



For the painting challenge Halloween round I painted this Damned Legionnaire. I built the miniature using as many bone-encrusted parts as possible for a seasonally appropriate skeleton theme, and added a fire-coloured effect to the base as a nod to the LotD's traditional fire motif.


For the Painting Challenge's 81st round I painted another Harlequin. Like the one I painted back in August, this miniature has a colour scheme based on its appearance in the box art of the original Harlequin boxed set. There was no way I was going to attempt those tiny red-and-white checks on the trousers though!

The base is done in the same style as the one for the LotD marine above. I painted a layer of varish, then painted lines of colour on top of each other while the varnish was drying to try to get a bloom effect. It sort of worked, but I'm not satisfied with it.

For December I painted Hello Kitty, Space Adventurer!

Twenty-twenty was a significant anniversary year for two famous Japanese franchises, Hello Kitty and Gundam. This is an official crossover kit marking those anniversaries. It lets you build an SD kit of a Zaku II mobile suit, and a small model of Hello Kitty, with the option to stick the Kitty head on the Zaku body for a sort of cosplay crossover.
I modified the kit with some upgrade parts to give it a more retro sci-fi look. I spent all month on this project, since this was painted as a gift. This was the first time that I used a medium to thin the paint rather than water, and that really helped to get the necessary multiple thin coats without the paint becoming too diluted.

I missed the last two months of the previous Dakkadakka Painting Challenge cycle, but I'm back in the game for Round 85, the first round of the new Painting Challenge year.

Since the theme is space marines, I'm entering this primaris-based marine below. I say "primaris-based" because, while the primaris do have more natural proportions than original marines, I also find them a bit boring by comparison. So I've tried to give this one more of an old-school marine look.



The most interesting thing about basic primaris infantry is their more granular variety of bolter types, and since I wanted all the "tacticool" accessories I did this:



Very fiddly, but worth it I think.

Thanks for sharing your retrospective. You finished a lot of fun models.

I'm quite impressed with your bling-bolter. Your step-by-step looks like it was quite involved, and the final product is seamless. I look forward to the finished product.

Thank you. I'm glad it looks seamless, I think that's the real test of any conversion.

Here is the finished old-school-ified primaris: Brother-Sergeant Gaius, leading the 1st squad from the 5th Company of the Ultramarines. I think he came out pretty well.




For Round 86 of the Painting Challenge I entered another space marine miniature. The theme was "reborn, remade", so I painted this 2018 plastic redux of the classic metal Noise Marine. I originally intended to make it more multicoloured, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to paint purple and so gravitated towards the pre-heresey Emperor's Children colour scheme. I actually think that the darker main colour helps the more lurid parts of the colour scheme to pop more.




My entry for Round 87 of the Painting Challange is a kit of the Ohmu, a giant insect from the film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

So it looks like I haven’t updated around here in almost half a year! I’ll do a roundup at some point, but right now I’m going working on a cheeky last-minute entry for this month’s painting challenge.


I’m going to give this kit a Hallowe’en make-over, and the main thing to change is the head. Surprisingly, the head in this kit has some nice internal detail that I don’t want to wreck, so I’m going to scratch-build a new head, because nothing says “last minute entry” and “weekend project” like trying some totally unfamiliar techniques


Carving expanded polystyrene without a hot wire cutter. What could go wrong?


The kit is mostly snap fit, so at least building it was quick and easy.

The unfamiliar techniques are going better than expected.

Previously on DakkaDakka....

 Turaxa wrote:

My entry for Round 87 of the Painting Challange is a kit of the Ohmu, a giant insect from the film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

 Turaxa wrote:

A wild Ohmu appeared!

 Turaxa wrote:
The militia are surely the underdogs of the Empire armies.

 Turaxa wrote:

Anyway here are my militiamen.

 Turaxa wrote:
Rright now I’m going working on a cheeky last-minute entry for this month’s painting challenge.

 Turaxa wrote:
From the depths of Gundam lore comes the menacing Dokoro Zaku.

This is an official figure of it, with my (rather less menacing) version for comparison.

(cut to opening credits and theme )

So I completed the big bug for Round 87 of the Painting Challange. I made a few mistakes when building it; painting the legs on the sprue turned out to be a false economy, I could have filled the seam line which runs the length of the kit and still painted it in sub-assemblies, and the eyes are a much darker blue than they should be. Overall though this was a fun kit to build, and I'd like to have another go at it at some point.

For the Dakka Painting Challenge Round 88 I painted some Empire Militia. These were part of an Ebay lot, so I didn't assemble them myself, but I have built other minis using bits from this kit before. The detail is surprisingly good, especially compared to some of the kit's contemporaries (looking at you, soon-to-be-replaced plastic Cadians), and I like the modularity that the kit has.

I actually decided to paint them in 'natural' colours because I couldn't remember any of the WHFB Empire uniforms, but making them a bit varied with a limited palette was fun in itself.

Last month's challenge entry was a super-deformed kit of a Zaku mecha from the Gundam franchise. I was recreating one which is modified to have a skeleton theme, so it was perfect for Hallowe'en. The head is scratch built and ended up looking a bit derpy, but that kind of fits the chibi aesthertic so it's fine.

Time for another recap post, since it's been almost a year since I posted anything here.

Back in December last year I painted this commissar figure from the Warhammer 40K Chibi Figures Vol.2 gashapon range. They come pre-painted, but I thought I could make his uniform a bit more fancy.

This is him before and after:



At the time I only had a limited selection of 'craft store' paints, and the figure didn't take paint very well. So he's a bit rough, but I think he came out well enough.

Then I had a bit of a hiatus until August, when I entered this very colourful SD mobile suit from the anime Gundam Unicorn into the 102nd Dakka Painting Challenge.

When I was painting the pink mobile suit I decided to try building myself a wet palette, something I've wanted to try for a while. It was surprisingly successful, and much better than using a dry palette in terms of mixing paint and preventing wastage.



It is built using a sponge inserted into a Tupperware-style plastic food tub and topped with grease-proof paper, and has some copper wire in the bottom since I heard that can prevent problems with mould.

A trio of necrons, my entry for the 104th Dakka Painting Challenge. It's very impressive that it's possible to make such delicate plastic models, but they were not fun to build, so much so that the last two are still on the sprue. All four limbs are separate pieces, and have tiny contact points. Trying to glue both legs at the hips whilst also trying to glue both feet to the base was an exercise in patience. Hopefully they are more fun to paint!

No, they were not fun to paint! I think part of that was down to the slightly wonky poses they ended up in. SO much went wrong with these. Ugh.

They're a real pain but you suffered through and they look good!

Thanks! Good to know I'm not the only one to struggle with them.