Saturday, May 4, 2013

Infinity PanOceania Orc Trooper

Hello everyone,

Well, finally got a chance to blog about my adventures in miniature painting. I apologize that it took so long to post. Life kind of got in the way. With a new baby and a new job it kind of has been eating away at my hobby time. With that, my blog might be a little slower on updates. But I'm still painting and have some more Infinity posts in the pipe line.

I have gotten some questions about tutorials over the past couple of months and I'm working on them. It's kind of hard explaining the whole process in word or video but I have a few plans. If you have any suggestion please feel free to let me know.

With that, here is an Orc Trooper from the PanOceania faction. This mini is one of the earlier minis in the Infinity range. I personally think that it's one that set the standard for many years. It is well sculpted and nicely cast. The one gripe I did have is that the scale is a little off. It seemed to be slightly bigger then most Infinity minis.

It look me about 20 hours over 20 days to complete. I seem to be getting a little slower in my painting. With this mini I made up what colors were used where and I think it came out pretty good in the end. I also added some other embellishments as well. Like the the number 5 under the Orc Insignia to personalize it a little.

With all of my minis I use Vallejo Model Color.

Here are some of the colors that I used for the Orc Trooper:

Grey Blue:
Base: Prussian Blue + Field Blue + Hall Red                         Shadow: Prussian Blue + Dark Blue Grey
Highlight 1: Field Blue
Highlight 2: Dark Sand
Highlight 3: White

Light Grey: 
Base: Londen Grey
Highlight 1: White
Shadow: Basalt Grey+ Black

For the base I used DragonForge again. It is from the concrete line. With some Mig Weather Pigment to add a little dust. I tried the salt weather technique on the yellow paint but it didn't work the way I wanted it to. Better luck next time I guess.

All in all it was fun to paint and I recommend this mini a lot.

Here are the WIP pics and the finished piece,

I hope you like,




























and thanks for looking.

If you like what you see and are interested in a commission, or if you have any questions about paint, techniques, or anything else regarding the Infinity Range, please leave a comment below or email at 


Thanks and happy painting,

Cullen


Saturday, February 2, 2013

Infinity Ariadna's Duroc of Mirage - 5


Hello everyone,

A new adventure in Infinity miniature painting. This time around it's Duroc of the Mirage-5 Team from the Ariadna faction. I really like this mini. I like the style, the movement, and the overall feeling. The sculptor really captured the mood with the pose, facial expression, and action. The funny thing is a lot of people did not like it. I guess one issue is that in the game his weapon load out is different than the actual mini. To me that still does not take away from a fantastic sculpt and character.

With Duroc I would have to say it took me about 20 hours over a month. Again I went with the studio colors with a few changes - namely the fur. The studio color was white with gray shadows. I went with a warmer gray brown base and built from there.

Here are some of the colors that I used. Again, I used Vallejo Model Color.

Green
Base: Luftwaffe Camo Green
Highlight 1: Golden Olive
Highlight 2: Sunny Skin Tone
Highlight 3: Sunny Skin Tone + Ivory
Shadow: Military Green

Blue
Base: Black + Dark Prussian Blue
Highlight 1: Flat Flesh
Highlight 2: Ivory
Shadow: Black

This mini came with it's own scenic base. I thought it looked like dried mud/clay with some rocks on the side so I painted it as such.

On a side note - when I posted this mini on my usual forums it seemed no one really liked it and I got some negative reviews. I was caught off guard by how nit-picky folks were all the way down to my mud not being muddy enough. This was an especially challenging mini as it was larger and had more organic lines and fewer hard edges. It's hard to put yourself out there only to hit a brick wall with the critical opinions that people share so freely. I have no objections to constructive criticism, but I was a little discouraged by the experience. In any case I am personally very satisfied with the finished product. Oh well - can't please everybody.

Here are the WIP pics and the finished piece,

I hope you like...


WIP 1

WIP 2












Thanks for looking.

If you like what you see and are interested in a commission or if you have any questions about paint, techniques, or anything else regarding the Infinity Range, please leave a comment below or email at 


Thanks and happy painting,

Cullen 









Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Infinity Nomad Spektrs Hacker

Hello everyone,

I hope all is well. So on to my next adventure with miniature painting. This next round is a Nomad Spektrs Hacker.

The Spektrs Hacker is part of the Nomad faction of Infinity the Game. She is part of the mid-release range of miniatures from Corvus Belli. At this time, they really stepped up their quality of sculpts. Compared to older miniatures in the Nomad range, the strength of their changes are really visible. I think the sculpt is spot on and really captures a moment in time, which is something Infinity is quite good at. It was a real pleasure to paint her and I look forward to painting more Nomads in the future.

This time around I decided to go with the studio colors: Orange, White, and Grey Brown. I did change a few things that I felt were out of place. I made some of the armor pieces white instead of brown, and went with a richer brown tone instead of the grey-brown of the studio colors. As before I used a Dragon Forge base. I did not use weather pigments this time because I wanted to create the look of her being inside a enemy star ship trying to hack into a door. In my opinion, probably not too much dust and dirt on a star ship, and the Nomad nation is on three very large star ships.

Just a side note - this mini came with a clear plastic sheet that had round, futuristic hacking screens of various sizes. I believe this came with all the mid-release hacker minis of each faction, but I don't think they are in the newer releases. I'm not quite sure though, so don't quote me on that. The print on the sheet was very dull and they were a pain to cut out. I did try cut one out and paint it up with brighter, "computerized-looking" colors but when I placed it on the mini it still looked pretty crappy so I decided to skip it.

Here are some of the colors that I used. Again I used Vallejo Model Colors.

Orange Parts,
Base: Calvary Brown + Orange Brown
Highlight 1: Orange Brown
Highlight 2: Sunny Skin Tone
Highlight 3: White
Shadow: Calvary Brown + Hull Red

White Parts,
Base: Pale Blue + Dark Blue Grey
Highlight 1: Pale Blue
Highlight 2: White
Shadow: Dark Blue Grey
Tones: Blue Green

Weapon,
Base: Black + Turquoise
Highlight 1: Sunny Skin Tone
Highlight 2: White
Shadow: Black

Brown Parts,
Base: Basalt Grey + German Camo Beige
Highlight 1: Deck Tan
Highlight 2: Ivory
Shadow: Basalt Grey + Chocolate Brown

The time it took me to paint the miniature was about 15 hours over 25 days. It took me a little more time to paint as my skills are improving and I wanted to do the mini justice.

At any rate here are the WIP pics and the Finished Pics

I hope you like,


 WIP 1

 WIP 2










And as always thanks for looking.

If you like what you see and are interested in a commission or if you have any questions about paint, techniques, or anything else regarding the Infinity Range, please leave a comment below or email at 


Thanks and happy painting,

Cullen 





Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Infinity Haqqislam Ahl Fassed

Hello everyone,

More adventures in miniature collecting and painting. This post is going to be about the Ahl Fassed from the Haqqislam faction of Infinity the Game.

To start with, this is an early mini from Infinity line. It was made in 2007 so it is one of the first in the faction. I really liked the character but it's pose is a little static which is common in the early days of the Game. One of the other odd things is that the mini is a female and it is easily mistaken for a male. Other than that, it's a great mini. The casting was smooth and the parts (there are two) went together easily.

Initially, I went with the studio colors for the color scheme. Personally, I really like the dark and light green color combo of the faction. However, I did end up changing a few things. The biggest change was the cable suit under the armor. The studio color was brown and I changed it to a dark blue/black with white highlights.

Here are the some of the colors that I used. Again, I use Vallejo Model Color most of the time.

Dark Green: 
Base Color: Luftwaffe Camo Green
Highlight 1: Golden Olive
Highlight 2: Sunny Skin Tone
Highlight 3: Sunny Skin Tone + Ivory
Shadow: Military Green

Light Green:
Base Color: Dead Flesh+ Luftwaffe Camo Green
Highlight 1: Dead Flesh (Vallejo Game Color)
Highlight 2: White
Shadow: Luftwaffe Camo Green
Tones: English Uniform

Gun:
Base color: Black + Dark Prussian Blue
Highlight: White
Tones: Prussian Blue

The Base:
Base Color: Orange Brown
Highlight 1: Dark Sand
Highlight 2: Ivory
     Pigments (Secret Weapon and MIG):
              (SW) Terra Cotta Earth
              (MIG) Iraq Sand
              (SW) Ancient Earth

Also, I did a little battle damage with this mini and I used pigment to dirty up the armor. I think that it came out quite good and I really liked the effect.

I used Dragon Forge Bases: Desert Wasteland to get the feel of the Haqqislam's home planet Bourak.

So here are some WIP photos and the Finished Piece. I hope you like.


WIP 1
WIP 2










And as always thanks for looking.

If you like what you see and are interested in a commission or if you have any questions about paint, techniques, or anything else regarding the Infinity Range, please leave a comment below or email at 


Thanks and happy painting,

Cullen 







Saturday, October 20, 2012

Infinity Yu Jing Hac Tao

Hello.

Well, it's time to post about further adventures in miniature painting and collecting. This will be about one of the recent minis that I've painted. She is the Hac Tao of the Yu Jing faction of Infinity the Game. She is one of my favorite miniatures in the Yu Jing faction and I had a lot of fun painting her.

It look me about 10 hours over 15 days to complete her. I basically started with the Studio color scheme and went from there. You will notice in the WIP photos I change it up a little, like the cable suit under the armor. I think the blue is a better contrast to the orange.

Here are some of the main colors that I used. As always, I paint with Vallejo Model Color.

Black Armor:
Base: Black
Highlight 1: Basalt Grey
Highlight 2: Ivory
Shadow: Black

Green Missile Launcher:
Base: Military Green
Highlight 1: Luffwaffe Camo Green
Highlight 2: Golden Olive
Shadow: German Camo Extra Dark Green

Blue Cable Suit:
Base: Prussian Blue 
Highlight 1: Blue Green 
Highlight 2: White 
Shadow: Dark Prussian Blue 

Orange Details 
Base: Cavalry brown + Orange brown 
Highlight 1: Orange brown
Highlight 2: Sunny skin tone 
Highlight 3: White 
Shadow: Hall Red + Cavalry Brown

As before, I used a Dragon Forge Resin Base, this time from their line of Urban Rubble. I wanted to get the feeling of an urban battle field. I also used Secret Weapon Weathering Pigments to get the dried mud effect.  

So here are some WIP photos and the Finished Mini 

I hope you like.




WIP 1



WIP 2

















And as always thanks for looking.

If you like what you see and are interested in a commission or if you have any questions about paint, techniques, or anything else regarding the Infinity Range, please leave a comment below or email at 



Thanks as always,

Cullen 

P.S.  I'm in the process of getting some Tutorials up in the not too distant future. If you have any suggestions please let me know. 



  

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Infinity ALEPH Nagas Sniper

Hello.

This post is about the ALEPH Nagas Sniper from the Infinity the Game range of miniatures. This was my first mini from this faction so I was a little apprehensive about the feel and style of the faction overall. Again, as with my other Infinity minis I started with the studio colors and veered off from there and make up my own color scheme.

I have to say that I think the mini is a great sculpt. The pose is very dynamic and really creates the over all mood of the figure. It's quite small at 28 mm so I'm inclined to say that lots of patience is needed when undertaking the painting of this mini.

The main colors I used are as follows. As usual, I mainly used Vallejo Model Color.

White:
Base: Deck Tan
Highlight 1: Ivory
Highlight 2: White
Shadow 1: Germ.C.Beige WWII
Shadow 2: Violet

Hair: 
Base: Royal Purple
Highlight 1: Violet
Highlight 2: Sunny Skin Tone
Highlight 3: Ivory 
Shadow: Black, Dark Prussian Blue

Black:

Base: Black + Violet
Highlight 1: Ice YellowHighlight 2: White
Shadow: Black



It took about 10 to 15 hours over 15 days to complete this gal. I didn't vary the paint job much from the Studio color. The one thing that I did do was change her eyes. The original studio eyes are glowing pink with no pupils. I decided to change it because I wanted a little more feeling and expression, so instead her eyes are looking in the direction of her pointing fingers. I really wanted to create a strong mood.  

Also, as with my other minis I used bases from Dragon Forge (Forgotten Empires). I like this base set because it still has the hex shape that goes along with the futuristic world of Infinity but makes me think of the ruined look of an old, forgotten civilization. It hints at the strange and mysterious ruins of Paradiso where the ALEPH are fighting a pitched battle with the Combined Army and its master the E.I. (Evolved Intelligence).

I used Secret Weapon pigments and MIG pigments to get the dusty effect on the base.

So here are the some pics of the WIPs as well as the fully finished mini. 

I hope you like:

WIP 1

WIP 2










Thanks for looking.

If you like what you see and are interested in a commission or if you have any questions about paints, techniques, or anything else regarding the Infinity Range, please leave a comment below or email me at 


Thanks as always,

Cullen  


Sunday, August 19, 2012

Infinity Combined Army Rasyat

Hello all,

This post is about the Combined Army Rasyat Figure. This is the first mini that I painted from this particular faction. To be honest I was a little intimidated. It is larger and more complex than the other minis I've previously done from Infinity.

I guess that it took me about 15 hours over a 15 day period to paint it. I did decide to change the paint scheme in the middle so that definitely added a little more time.

I really like the pose of this mini. It is very dynamic and fluid and it gives a good sense of the mini in motion. I also really like the sculpt - it is very well done even though it was made about four years back in the mid-release date of this range. However, I think it stands up to newer sculpts very well.

I have to admit I did have some issues with the color scheme. I was originally going for the studio color scheme and I was almost finished but the colors did not sit with me very well. I decided to change the overall scheme a little. In the studio colors the mini's pants were green and the chest armor was brown. I don't know what it was but I just did not like that color combo. So I changed the chest armor to blue and the pants to brown and I think it works quite well.

Again I used Vallejo Model Colors.

Here are some of the examples of the colors that I used:

Some of the metal armor and knife I used this formula:

Base: Prussian Blue + Field Blue + Hull Red
Highlight 1: Field Blue
Highlight 2: Dark Sand
Highlight 3 White
Shadow: Prussian Blue + Black

For the hair I used:

Base: Prussian Blue + Violet
Highlight 1: Royal Purple
Highlight 2: White
Shadow: Dark Prussian Blue

Again, the biggest issue I had with this mini was the intimidation factor. When looking at the Combined Army as a whole it is very complex, detailed, and very, very different from all the other Infinity factions. So sometimes it's easy to feel a little overwhelmed by it all. I would have to say the same about this mini as well. But by just sticking to it and following through, once finished the results can be pretty fantastic and quite stunning.

So here are some pics of the process and the finished mini. I hope you like:


WIP 1

WIP 2
















Thanks for looking.


If you have any questions about my painting technique, or colors that I use let me know and I will be more then happy to answer them.

I also do commissions so if you are interested drop me an email at

 darklyteproductions@gmail.com