Lord Coteaz of the Ordo Malleus

[Christian]

Hi there all,

I just wanted to post a test mini of mine: Lord Coteaz. I painted him over the last few days and hope to get some Critics and Comments. I am "training" my painting for a local Golden Demon (HK). From my point of view he looks quite ok but the camera made a mess out of him. The gold isnt as good in the picture. I still hope you like him.
And now to the pictures:

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1010463.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1010460.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1010458.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1010457.jpg

Thanks
Christian

[Grailkeeper]

Teh camera is a bit blurry,

Suggestions I'd have- a little bit of writing on the purity seals, and other paper parts would look well, maybe go over the tabard on teh front again- it looks a bit messy but that might be the camera. One thing that might give it a bit of visual pop would be if you were to put in a tiny bit of a contrasting spot colour- like a blue or a green.

[Mr.Pickelz]

looks good. :)

i'd try to paint the =I= symbol on his hammer a different color, and his fur on the cape as well, those are usualy spots for contrasting colors. other then that, it looks fine. Good job!:D

[fuzzbuket]

if you are doing another training model id go on the CMON tutorials page:

cause whilst you model is good it is nowhere near good enought to win say 40k single

IMo your skills are good (cortez's eye is very good) yet there are some spots that need a touch up the NMM?armour , the cloak and the hammer.

best of luck and happy painting

-fuzz

p.s. there are some spots on the tubing/gems/purit seals that could be touched up a wee bit but some parts (hourglass) are perfect!

[Jay Adan]

I don't know what kind of camera you're using but here are some suggestions for taking a better photo:

Make sure that you have your camera set to Macro mode if it has one.

Use a tripod... or just prop it up on something hard and flat so you aren't holding it (and shaking it).

The the self-timer. Again, so you don't shake the camera.

Avoid the built in flash. Or if you really want to use it put a piece of white paper in front of it to diffuse it.

Give it seamless background. A piece of paper or cloth that starts under the mini the curves up behind it.

In looking closely at your photos it appears that your camera is focusing on the background and not the mini. You might be too close. Back off from the mini a bit then shoot again. Then crop the pic to get rid of the excess stuff in the background.

Oh, and don't be afraid to try different things if your shots aren't working out.

[Christian]

Sorry about the camera guys and thanks for the comments. I made some new pctures and I hope these are better.

@ fuzzbuket: I now see that some parts look different than on the real model. For example I didnt use NMM for the armour, just normal gold. And also the tabard looks unmessy, but there I will go over again.

I dont know where I should add some contrast and what colours? Would white fur work?

Well anyway here are new pictures:

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1010471.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1010470.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1010468.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1010467.jpg

Thanks
Christian

[wittdooley]

Christian--

I think the model looks good, its just so hard to tell with your lighting. Here's what you need to do, and it requires very little work:

Take a picture of them model against a solid white background. It'll allow your camera to focus on the model, whereas now the depth of the box is 'swallowing' the fig.

Take the picture under some Natural lighting. I've taken some just sitting at my kitchen table that has 6 (i think) natural light lightbulbs, and it gives plenty of solid light. Ideally, you want a photobox, but you can get a plenty serviceable picture without the box.

Some slight suggestions on the mini:

Use a lighter gold to highlight the places on the armor where the light reflects, then do really subtle spot extreme highlights with a mithril silver equiv. It'll mimic the light reflections and give the model some depth.

Also, you could probably take your red up a shade or two to an extreme highlight. Mix your top red with a little blazing orange equiv and blend it from there. If you're really looking to move towards Daemon quality, you want to essentially glaze your highlights up really gradually,, so you'll basically have anywhere from 5-10 layers of the red. It takes time, but if you're looking for a show fig its worth it.

I think you're in a really nice starting place, as you certainly have all the basics and some more advanced techniques down; further, it's all about practice and patience.

[Christian]

First Post since a long time but I did not come to painting over the last days. I have improved some of the things that were told me here and changed some colours on the model, for example the cloak. I have taken new pictures, which are hopefully better as I took a different camera.

Critics and Comments appriciated.

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1020833.jpg
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1020839.jpg
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1020840.jpg
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1020843.jpg

Christian

[Christian]

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1020844.jpg

[fuzzbuket]

MUch better I love the cape - and the fur.

-fuzz

[Lerra]

It's always tricky to get high quality feedback on your painting from a photo. Models look different in person than in a photo, even with great photography. Sometimes the lighting gives odd reflections, and metallic paint is notorious for looking poor in photos compared to the real world.

That said, this looks much better. You can really see the depth in the armor (did you add stronger highlights or is this just a trick of the light?). The tan scabbard makes the mini seem more serious and the blending on the cape is great. It looks like there is a bit less depth to the tabbard in front, but that could be a trick of the light.

[Christian]

Thanks a lot guys. I did add a little more highlight to the armour but also washed it some more times to make the recess darker. I probably have to go over the tabbard again. But here are some pictures of another mini which I am painting. Im not doing grey knights at the moment because they are coming out soon but because they are my only metal and intact figures. Hope the model isnt too small on the picture.

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1020854.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1020853.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1020852.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1020851.jpg

Im trying to get my silver blending right on this and further models.

Happy if I get more C&C

Christian

[Christian]

Hi there, here is another update. I finished the Incineratorguy. More GK which I found lying around are WIP. After that my Tau Ethereal will be painted again and my Dark Elf Witch. Does anybody know how I can change the Topics name?

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1020857.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1020859.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/Christian1138/P1020861.jpg

Christian