Logan assembled and more work on Hulk's skin tone

As I try out different skin tones for The Hulk, I decided to proceed with my Marvel Universe painting project by completing the assembly of the Knight Models Logan white metal miniature.The pose adopted by this miniature closely resembles Logan as seen in the movie titled 'The Wolverine'.

Knight Models Logan, fully assembled

Assembly of this metal miniature was relatively easy except for the claws on Logan's hands. The thin blade's small surface area made gluing them to the hands a challenge. But that was solved by using a combination of sodium bicarbonate and super glue, a topic I touched upon in an earlier post. 

Logan's pose seems to be based on the movie 'The Wolverine'

After being attached, the joints of some parts needed to be filled in with green stuff to smooth out the flesh sculpture. It wouldn't do to have any gaping holes that would break the illusion of real flesh.

Using green stuff to helped smooth out the flesh sculpture

Figuring out the colour scheme for Logan is a no-brainer as he should be clad in a white singlet and jeans which are either the traditional blue or maybe in black or dark grey colours. But it's the simple colour schemes that are the most difficult to paint because the very nature of its simplicity makes any painting errors more painfully obvious to the naked eye. Moreover, it's tough to make simple colour schemes look interesting. But as Barney Stinson would say ... 'Challenge Accepted'. After all, isn't failure only a six-letter word? Sticks and stones, and all that jazz.    

Cool pose on Logan's right arm as it's in mid-motion

Meanwhile, I have managed to get some work done on the remaining two gretchins to try and get as close as possible to The Hulk skin tone as seen in the Sideshow Collectibles figure. For these two gretchins, I went with a highlight that incorporated a very light flesh colour. Additionally, the gretchins were finished off with a very diluted wash comprising dirty green/flesh mixture. Both the gretchins' pants looked rather flat so I might repaint them if I decide to complete the whole 'Ork Heavy Support' set which would entail painting two Big Gunz - one for each pair of Gretchins. 

Hulk skin tone experiment on Ork Gretchins continues

Grime and verdigris on the shell means it will likely explode in the Big Gunz

Not much contrast work was done on the pants as both minis were skin tone practice pieces

Skin tone on the left figure was smoother because it was prepared with a black undercoat vs white on the right

Resulting colours were still a little too green but the highlights were much closer to the Sideshow Collectibles Hulk figure. This means if I wish to paint skin tone in a similar vein to the Sideshow Collectibles figure, I will have to use the current highlight as a mid-tone and look for a brighter shade for the final highlights. But the increased chalkiness that comes with adding pale flesh-like colours into the final highlights might require me to compromise and settle for a greener skin tone overall.

Sideshow Collectibles Hulk skin tone versus my Gretchin test skin tone

If you look closely enough, a comparison to my earlier gretchin test subjects (located on the extreme right and left of the foursome below) will show you that the latest two gretchins I painted sport a much lighter/paler shade of green. Effects are reasonably subtle but it's there. 

Ork Gretchins stand ready to man the Big Gunz

Gretchins on the extreme left and right are from an earlier Hulk skin tone experiment

As I dabble with assembling Logan and practising Hulk's skin tone, I am also close to finishing the paint jobs of Ser Gregor Clegane and a knight from House Baratheon (Renly version) in my Game of Thrones project. Once completed, I will be able to start on a knight from a yet to be decided Westeros House as well as a paint job conversion of an Ax Faction miniature into a wilding. Additionally, work will begin on a beautiful Nocturna Models miniature called Le Petit Chaperon i.e. either paint her as Red Riding Hood or convert her into Marvel's Black Widow, who is after all the master of disguises. On top of all that, I hope to start painting some W40K stuff again. Phew ... do stay tuned!

My first Gretchin experiment

It feels good to have my fever break and finally start the recovery process proper from chicken pox. It feels even better to finally get started on my painting projects for 2014. Still feeling slightly under the weather, I took things slow and started small by painting the first two (of four) gretchins that have been earmarked as skin tone test subjects for my Knight Models Hulk project. One half was primed in white, the other in black (as indicated by the base colour) to determine if it has any effect on the final paint job. Main colours used were Citadel's Knarloc Green, Gretchin Green and Bleached Bone. 

It doesn't matter if you are black or white

Apart from the relative roughness in the final texture of the gretchin's skin - with the black primer giving a smoother finish - there were no noticeable differences in the final paint job. I suppose this was to be expected seeing that the basecoat colour for the skin tone was the very opaque Citadel Knarloc Green paint. Moreover, this foundation paint had good coverage which meant both black and white undercoats were painted over in roughly equal (and minimal) number of paint layers. 

Bluish grey pants for the gretchins ala The Hulk

To closely approximate The Hulk's overall paint scheme, I painted both their pants in greyish blue. The only link they have to my current ork army is their yellow cloth wrappings which show that they belong to the Bad Moonz Orks clan. If I manage to finish the other two gretchins and their big guns, I will also have two additional heavy support units entering my small Warhammer 40K Ork army.

Yellow cloth wrappings on the gretchins indicate they belong to the Bad Moonz Orks

Both gretchins are my best attempt at a smooth green skin to date. While that is not saying much, I am still pretty pleased because it shows that I am progressing as a miniature painter.

Bluish grey pants for the gretchins ala The Hulk

Unfortunately, the final skin results were way off the targeted Hulk colours - much too green. I will need to find a way to lighten the skin tone, perhaps with more Citadel Bleached Bone. One issue I faced when adding more Bleached Bone was an increase in chalkiness - something I need to resolve.

Skin tone comparisons between The Hulk and gretchins

All things considered, I actually like this shade of green that I got. So I guess I won't mind using it if I am unsuccessful in my attempt to obtain a lighter and paler shade of green in the skin tone for The Hulk that can be seen on The Avengers movie as well as Sideshow Collectibles figure.  

Gretchin as guinea pigs for Hulk and a look at Logan

In addition to my ongoing work on Iron Man, I plan to start painting the Knight Models The Hulk white metal model kit soon. But before a single drop of paint is applied to The Hulk, I will need to figure out the proper green skin tone to use. To help me with that will be four little gretchins, half of which is primed in white while the other half is in black.  In theory, these gretchins should allow me to try painting slight variations of The Hulk's skin tone on both a dark and bright undercoat.  

Gretchins primed in white and black

One Hulk skin tone version that I am considering can be described as pastel-like pale green, akin to what can be seen in 'The Avengers' movie's version of The Hulk. In this version, the greens are much more subdued compared to the traditional bright green colours one tends to associate The Hulk with.

The Hulk from the recent Avengers movie

Another slightly paler skin version is that of The Hulk figure from Sideshows Collectibles which seems to have more flesh colours mixed in with the green skin, or more flesh undertones to be precise. Not what one would call the traditional Hulk skin colour but it looks kinda cool to me and much more realistic in a way. However, pulling this version off would be much harder.

The Hulk from Sideshow Collectibles

With work on The Hulk at the 'guinea pig stage' another Knight Models miniature from its Marvel Universe line will likely take centre stage. To commemorate the recent release of 'The Wolverine' in Blu-ray and DVD, I will be painting Logan. It has been a while since I tackled human flesh skin tones so I will need brush off the rustiness that has set in. Also the Logan miniature will require me to paint textures to simulate the fabric found in jeans. That's going to be a big ask for me.

Hugh Jackman in the latest 2013 Wolverine movie

Knight Models Logan aka The Wolverine

Logan unoboxed - it looks to be a fairly simple model to put together

So the gretchins mean I will be working with W40K miniatures again after a very long hiatus. Should be a fun little diversion from my current painting projects. With the new year just around the corner, the paint jobs of Iron Man, a House Baratheon knight, a Nocturna Models figure as a proxy for Ser Gregor Clegane and Abbadon the Despoiler remain at various stages of completion. Meawnhile, Other stuff include the use of an Ax Faction miniature (Giant Hunter) as a proxy for a wilding in the Game of Thrones (GoT) universe as well as Nocturna Models miniatures for GoT, Marvel and other movie character paint job conversions. So much to paint and so little time. It's going to be a fun 2014.