Thursday 2 April 2015

Ax Faction Zombie Hunter [Completed ... sort of ]

Ax Faction's Zombie Hunter was one of those pieces in which almost every colour decision I made turned out to be the wrong one. Mistake was compounded by further mistakes to produce an overall colour scheme that seems a bit off to me. On the bright side, I managed to get fairly good results on the hunter's pants and skin tone. But still, I regret not doing this miniature the justice it deserves.

Ax Faction Zombie Hunter [Completed sans freehand designs on cloak]
Zombie corpse on the base was painted in uncharacteristically light pastel colours  
The piece's overall mood resisted being too gloomy because of the corpse's colour scheme
Back view of the Ax Faction Zombie Hunter

Perhaps one of the key reasons that the overall colour scheme is not all what it should be is because of my decision to paint the zombie corpse in bright pastel colours. I did this to bring out the hard to see details on the corpse as a duller and darker colour scheme could have hidden such details. On the flip side, it kind of goes against the convention of what zombies are supposed to look like.

Blood splatter on the axe was painted using Tamiya Clear Red X-27
Not exactly a Marsala coloured cloak as intended but close enough
Zombie Hunter sports dark brown hair in contrast to the blonde zombie

I haven't completely shut the door on this piece yet hence its status of being sort of completed. One possible addition to the Ax Faction Zombie Hunter would be some freehand designs or patterns on the cloak. The overly dynamic and 'flowing' nature of the cloak means doing such freehand painting is way beyond my skill level at the moment but perhaps a possible consideration in the future after I've had much more freehand painting practice on a less dynamic piece of clothing. 

Unfortunately, reflection of the lamp light on the cloak doesn't do the colour transitions justice
Less reflection from the lighting shows of a better view of the cloak
Painted in bright colours to bring out its details, the zombie corpse could've arguably worked better in duller colours

As with all the other Ax Faction resin miniatures, the incredible amount of detail in such a small figure continues to astound me. In fact, I don't think I can get a highlight on the hunter's pupil on his right eye, unless I have an electron microscope and some nano technology tools (OK, perhaps I am exaggerating ... a little bit). But then again, I'm not confident enough to try hence contributing to the almost completed status of this piece. However, another part of me (rightly or wrongly) resisted putting on a highlight on the pupil because the hunter's eye looks like it's encased in shadows.

Looking towards the back of his shoulder, the hunter is aware of a new threat
This is how small the Ax Faction Zombie Hunter miniature really is

Despite the pastel zombie, the overall colour scheme is still sufficiently gloomy for me to seek a more 'bright and happy' miniature to work on. So I guess it's about time I resumed painting pieces from the Super Dungeon Explore board game. Speaking of which, after finishing the rather dark and depressing Murakami novel titled Sputnik Sweetheart, I needed a change of pace in my reading material and picked up the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. I tend to read across all genres (this one being under the Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction genre) as I believe a good book tells a good story regardless of what reader segment it aspires to. So for the rest of the week, it's more reading for me with some painting and drawing thrown in. I hope your week will be just as fun!   

http://shireworks.blogspot.com/p/ax-faction.html

17 comments:

  1. I think your job is quite good!
    there is a good atmosphere and the shades on the cloak are wonderful!
    good reading!
    bye

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    1. Thanks for your kind words luca. It could've been better but I am happy to move on to another project and be satisfied with the results I got.

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  2. Great paintjob ! I'm looking forward to your next project.
    Greetings

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    1. Thanks Mario, I'm looking to paint something more cheerful for my next project.

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  3. Very nice job, a bloody and windy atmosphere!

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    1. Thank you Phil. The nicely sculpted cloak does give an impression of windiness.

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  4. Its good and dark, but maybe a little flat. I think with how petite these ones are you really have to push the contrast until it looks almost wrong. Great first crack :)

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    1. I hear you Zab and you've no arguments from me. :) Thanks for the advice. A wrong choice of colour for the cloak meant 'pushing the contrast' was not really a good option. To compensate, I could have (and should have) added some freehand patterns to the cloak but my skill level isn't quite up to par yet.

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  5. Lovely work F.E.M. I don't think your zombie is the wrong colour, it looks great. If you think it too light give it a dirty wash to tone it down. It's what I do to all my zombies.

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    1. Thank you for the advice Bob. Adding a dirty wash to tone it down could have worked but then again it would have negated my wish to bring out the details on the zombie. I guess I was caught in a Catch 22 situation and I couldn't have my cake and eat it too. Ha ha ^_^

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  6. Sweet! Once again you never stop surprising us all! The attention to details, the dedication, the... everything! Lovely piece :)

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    1. Suber, thank you very very much for your very kind words of support. :)

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  7. Well done, 4EM. Can't claim to be a huge fan of the mini itself, but your painting is top drawer, as always.

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    1. Thanks Finch. For some reason, I prefer painting female figures so maybe that contributed to the less than stellar results on this one. No inspiration ... ;)

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  8. I can feel your sentiments about the paint job but still I think it's some awesome work you've produced here.

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    1. Thanks you Moiterei. Part of me wants to like what I did and yet part of me is face palming myself repeatedly. Kind of an ambivalent piece this time around.

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  9. Love his face! you did a great job with the skin-colour! that's awesome FEM!

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