Speed-painting challenge: beastmen batallion

[Guest Edu]

I'm probably insane. But I already committed, so now I cannot fail

So, my local Games Workshop store published a new painting contest on their Facebook page. The idea is to take some gift from this past holidays (self-gifts are allowed) and paint it before February, 6th. Although I had collected a few individual models shortly before the holidays, the only purchase I can honestly regard as a "self-gift" is my Beastmen Batallion box. That's a total of 40 angry, ugly, overly mutated servants of Chaos that, fortunately, I already assembled over last week.

Of course, I can't go into the level of detail I'd put onto an individual hero or monster model. I'll have to pull every trick (multiple spray layers, quick-washing, etc) to speed up the process if I'm going to reach at least a table-top standard before the deadline.

I plan to share my progress on this thread, and I hope this will help me to keep the motivation to complete the challenge.

I know I can't win the context (some of the players that frequent that shop are really far above me in painting skill), so I had to find out a way to challenge myself that is at least achievable.

Hugs,

Edu

[Charlize]

I am always happy when i take on that kind of challenge. If not at first then later as i realize what i've learned about letting go. I remember drawing classes where one worked from the model who changed position every 30 seconds before changing to one minute poses, before 3 minutes and then a longer pose. It made my work better somehow. I couldn't ponder each move. Total realism and detail slipped away but the essence of the model came forth in mood and style. Let go and enjoy. it is certainly a great challenge. Let us know how it goes.

Hugs,

Charlize

[Guest Robin Winter]

Sounds intense. I personally loathe deadlines, but I'm a bit envious of people who thrive on them. Looking forward to seeing your progress

[Guest AllisonRae]

Hi Edu, I like Robin abhor deadlines but I am confident that you can do this. You have already accomplished something more difficult!

Hugs

Allie

[MarcieMarie12]

When speed painting, do one color at a time. I.E. paint all the brown bits and then the red bits, and then the steel bits for all the models before going to the next color. You may need to clean your brush at some point. I find this helps when painting my miniatures. I am also a big fan of the black inkwash. I use instead of using dry brushing to give the appearance of shadows. Much quicker and also tends to give models a "dirty" I've been there look.

I am into Warmachine (Cryx) and Xwing at the moment. THough with the recent changes in my life they have taken a back seat to hanging out other girls, and RL stuff.

I hope to her painted soon:

http://privateerpress.com/warmachine/gallery/cryx/warcasters/deneghra-the-soul-weaver

[Guest Edu]

Thanks for the tips, Marcie, although I already have a plan to do these guys. Low-pressure sprays are a nice trick to have a 2-3 shade basecoat (in this case, I used a couple shades of brown on top of a black primmer). I'll use different shades (a.k.a. inks) to make the wood (shields and weapon handles), fur, and clothes look different.

That's a nice model. I come from the Warhammer franchise (by Games Workshop), and have been moving towards Kings of War and Mantic's miniature range.

Here is one of my upcoming projects: http://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Kairos-Fateweaver(already assembled and white primmed, I will not be speed-painting this one!).

I'll soon be pre-ordering Mantic's Forcess of Abbyss mega army, so I don't know if I'll be able to paint that guy before I get flooded with the new 160+ models box

Hugs,

Edu

PS: First round of pictures probably coming tonight (CET time)

[MarcieMarie12]

Long time agoe in a galaxy far far away, oh wait that was the late 80's and early 90's I played Warhammer 40k and painted up more than a few armies. I was never a great painter, but I am decent at it. I try follow the 3 foot rule when painting (I.E. details that I can't see from more than 3 feet away I try not to worry about it). However, I sometimes go all OCD to get a detail just perfect.

Now that I am getting close to needing bifocles, painting is getting tricky.

[Guest Edu]

Photobucket seems to be down for maintenance and I can upload the pictures there for now. Also, I'll be away from my computer for a few days. So I have made a temporary album on my gallery to hold these pics until I can upload them properly at photobucket:
Edit: link removed - see later post for pictures.

Marcie: if you like detailed models, look at my roast chicken phoenix model from last year: http://forum.lauras-playground.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=66226

Hugs,
Edu

Edited January 28, 2016 by Edu
Removed link to old location of pictures

[MarcieMarie12]

Loved the Pheonix, the flame effect was perfectly done! I was half expecting smoke to be trailing from the wingtips!

[Guest Edu]

Brief update: I was on a brief vacation from Jan 21st to 25th. On Tuesday I just wasn't in the mood for painting. At last, yesterday, I grabbed my brushes and got back to work. Took me the entire morning to basecoat all metal parts (weapons, armor, etc), and I had an exam during the afternoon. I'm at the office right now, so I can't upload pics atm. Photobucket seems to be back up. This evening I'll move over the pics to photobucket and upload the new ones. I hope to mostly finish the project over this weekend and have the next week for touch-ups and improving some details.

Hugs,

Edu

[Guest Edu]

Finally, the pictures are on photobucket. Here is the progress so far:

The whole batallion, ready for painting:

Spray basecoat: Chaos Black primmer followed by two shades of brown (using low-pressure sprays to create highlights)

Main shading: flesh (flesh tone), wood (brown), and clothes (purple) become more distinct when shaded with different inks:

Metal basecoat: had to apply it manually on all metallic parts (weapons, armor, accessories), no spray shortcut for secondary colors:

Hugs,

Edu

[MarcieMarie12]

Looking good! Are all the beastmen now on large bases? Also, any ideas/thoughts for a herald on the banner? Something maybe like this?

[Guest Edu]

Gors (the guys with hand weapons) and bestigors (the armored guys with bigger weapons) are on 25mm bases. Ungor Raiders (the smaller guys with bows) are on 20mm bases. AFAIK, this has been the standard at least through 8th edition (hence since 2010 or earlier). With the release of Age of Sigmar, however, base size has become irrelevant (it's still relevant on non-GW games where the models can be used, such as Mantic's Kings of War), and all new stuff is coming in round bases.

Also, there seems to be a trend of making stuff bigger and bigger (and more costly!) For example, the newly released dwarves (now called "Fireslayers", GW is taking trademarking a bit too far!) are all on 32mm round bases or bigger. To put it in perspective, W40k orks and space marines come in 25mm round bases (and they are supposed to be "big guys").

Regarding the banner, anything beyond some simple rune is out of the question due to the timeline. I may consider repainting some parts after the contest deadline, but with hundreds of models waiting on my shelves to be painted, that's quite unlikely

Hugs,

Edu

[Guest Edu]

This is long overdue!

As expected, my batallion did not win the contest, but got a lot of people (including store staff) impressed with the quality over time taken. 40 models painted to a tabletop standard in less than 10 hours of actual work (drying times aside) are something serious

Here is one of the "official" pictures taken the context morning by the GW staff. I'll try to upload more and better (taken by me!) pictures this evening

Hugs,

Edu

PS: Currently working on a Chaos Lord on Manticore. I'm not sure whether to share pics while it's WIP or wait until it's finished (This time I'm going for quality rather than speed / quantity, but I need the beast to be painted and glued to the base for a battle this weekend.)

[MarcieMarie12]

Cool. I'm impressed too. I am so getting that painting bug.....but have a few minis that suffered move damage when I moved into my apartment (including the one I am working on..

[Guest Edu]

I couldn't upload the pics yesterday, so here they are (click pictures for larger version):

Gors (10 with additional weapons in the front ranks, and 10 more with shield in the back):

Ungor Raiders (10, all of them with bows):

Bestigors (10, two-handed weapons):