+ Painting Dernledger and Threack +
+ Painting this pair of 'fine, upstanding' soldiers has proven more of a challenge than I was expecting, but is a good example of the importance of tone over colour – and why sometimes it's better to stop than carry on. +
+ Comparing the two WIP figures below, you can see that Threack (the ogryn) fairly effective tonal contrast – his light trousers against the dark gloves and base, for example, help the figure to 'read'. Dernledger, meanwhile, is a demonstration of PPP, or 'piss-poor planning'. +
+ As mentioned in the previous inload, the aim was to evoke a Napoleonic-era military uniform to the model – which, on the surface, should have worked, as the figure has a coat, breeches, boots and straps – in other words, all the main features I needed. However, in diving in, I ran into problems – the legs are all-but-covered at the front with heavy armour plates. In painting these silver, I immediately lost the 'white breeches' feel. +
+ Working on the fly, I decided that the armour plates on his top half would have to be red to get the redcoat impression: they simply cover too much of the surface of the fabric to work otherwise. However, this raised another problem, in that the figure's become very monotone. It also created one of my pet peeves about painting – using the exact same hue on different materials. It's very unlikely (to my mind, at least) that the red used for the armour panels and the red dye used for the coat fabric would match exactly. +
+ So, what to do? Well, when I reach a point like this, I stop – it's far too easy to [+SCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT+] up some perfectly good paintwork by trying to fix things on the fly. Instead, I put the figures down and wander off for a cup of recaff, then come back later to look at them with fresh eyes. +
+ Tweaks to Dernledger +
+ My current plans are as follows: to repaint the straps with the same white as his breeches, and to create a different weathered white to use on his kneeplates, the armour on the back of his hands, and the scabbard on his knife (on his leg). This'll bring some more white to the figure to bring back the Napoleonic look without losing the feel of high black boots, and will help to break up the large monotone areas of red. Secondly, I'll brighten the white on the collar to help frame the face. Thirdly, while I will leave the torso and shoulders red, I'll probably add a little freehand to add detail. ++ Tweaks to Threack +
+ Threack seemed to work a bit better owing to the less-cluttered sculpt, so for him, I think I'll concentrate on cleaning up the white a bit and finding a muted midtone for his boots and gloves. The gloves in particular are too large to look good in white, I reckon. +
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