Game of Thrones - Shae [Completed]

On my first attempt at painting sheer fabric, I resisted a strong urge to overdo it a la the "wet t-shirt effect" and instead went for a more subtle effect. So the end result was more of a hint of flesh through diaphanous material. A less subtler effect would have made the miniature's paint job look too sleazy.

Shae with a hint of skin showing through the fabric

While admittedly her skin could have been smoother, Shae actually looks nice under normal eyesight. But under a closeup shot with a macro lens, the chalkiness is unfortunately very noticeable. It's ironic that I got a smoother texture for the whitish cloth than her skin since white is so much more difficult to paint. Since Shae was completed, I have had more practice on other miniatures and managed to reduce chalkiness by adding more flow improver/enhancer to paints. A drawback to this is a glossier finish to the skin, so more experimenting is needed to find a technique that works for me.

Game of Thrones - Shae

Painting cloth to stimulate a diaphanous material

Game of Thrones - Shae, side view (right)

For the base, I went with a dark brown wooden flooring which provided contrast to Shae's lighter skin tone and the cloth she is holding. For touch ups, I painted additional highlights on her hair. 

Game of Thrones - Shae, back view

At first glance, Shae seems to be a very simple miniature to paint. While it is true there are only two things of note to the miniature, namely the skin tone and cloth, this makes it all the more important that they are painted well, a feat that I did not truly achieve. Shae is certainly one miniature I would not mind revisiting after a period of time spent further improving my painting techniques.   

Game of Thrones - Shae, side view (left)

Well, Shae has gotten my Game of Thrones miniature painting project off to a reasonable start. Although I am not entirely happy with what I have done with Shae, she did allow me to try out new things and achieve a few firsts like painting sheer fabric. With Shae done and dusted, it's time to look towards the next project ... Jotnar's Bane from Ax Faction. More on the Troll Hunter on the next post. Till then, I leave you with a photo of Nocturna Models Freya next to Dark Sword Miniature's Shae.  

Size comparison between Shae (Dark Sword's heroic scale) versus Freya, Nocturna Models 54 mm scale

Working on the imp's whore

Shae, a Game of Thrones miniature by Dark Sword, is without a doubt the smallest miniature I have ever worked on. Her face was also the toughest challenge I had faced as a painter so far. For one thing, Shae's eyes were super tiny and I had a hard time painting them to look bigger. One thing I tried was to give her a Moulin Rouge look which hints at or gives an illusion of bigger eyes. Another thing I tried with Shae's face was to accentuate her dimples and paint rosy cheeks  to show makeup. Just for added realism, I also painted some eyebrows on her face.

Shae - a work-in-progress with her face and skin tones done

To give you an idea just how small Shae is, I took some pictures of her next to a 31 mm paperclip and the smallest Games Workshop miniature in my collection - the Grethcin. For a miniature this small (and simple), the face was key. If I mess that up, the rest would be moot. While I did not knock it out of the ball park, I kinda did ok seeing that this was my first try at a face this small. 

Next to a paper clip is Shae, or is it Thumbelina?

Even the Gretchin's hand is bigger than Shae's face

Just to explain the title of this blog post to those of you who are not familiar with the Game of Thrones books or HBO series, the imp refers to Tyrion Lannister while the whore is Shae. In the books, Shae (played by Sibel Kekilli in the HBO series) is a prostitute who has been taken in as a lover by Tyrion, who is played by Peter Dinklage. I still have not watched the series though.

Graffiti of Tyrion Lannister

Shae in an intimate moment with Tyrion

Shae marks my continuing struggle with chalkiness of the paints. But this time, I suspect another culprit was responsible. When painting Shae, I had used distilled water to mix the flesh paints which had a higher percentage of flow improver in them. Both characteristics (use of distilled water and flow improver) have been known to reduce chalkiness. I had primed Shae immediately after a short period of rain and I believe the humidity could have wrecked havoc on the priming. It is either that or the fact that I had neglected to use wire wool to smoothen out the metal miniature before priming.

Another inauspicious start to a painting project

As I wasn't painting Shae up as a competition piece, I was too lazy strip the primer and re-do the preparations for the miniature. So I just continued to paint her the best I could; more as practice.

Shae toying with gold from Casterly Rock

The fabric Shae is holding will be painted as a sheer fabric

Shae's back looks much better under normal daylight

Going forward, Shae will give me the opportunity to try painting sheer fabric. That actually was the main reason I had gotten Shae for my painting project, other than the fact she would make a good addition to my Game of Thrones project. Tom Meier certainly did an excellent job sculpting Shae and thus far she has been a real challenge for me. Next up will be the base and sheer fabric. Stay tuned!
 

100th Post Special: Hayao Miyazaki, master of colours

In my 100th blog post, I wanted to share with you the foremost creative inspiration behind all my miniature paintings. No it's not someone who has won numerous Golden Demons or other sought after miniature painting awards. In fact, the person in question, Hayao Miyazaki (see photo below) delves in a completely different genre namely anime. Why then is he my creative inspiration? 

Hayao Miyazaki, the creative genius behind Studio Ghibli

To touch briefly on his bio, Miyazaki is a Japanese manga artist and animator (among others) whose career has spanned over 50 successful years (and counting). He co-founded the now famous Studio Ghibli which has produced anime films such as Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, etc. If you are unfamiliar with his works then at least know this, it is literally an explosion of colours. To me, Miyazaki is the master of colours in animation.

My Neighbour Totoro, my all-time favourite anime movie

From Up on Poppy Hill - a film directed by Miyazaki's son

When I paint, I always try to keep in mind the importance of colour combinations ala Mr Miyazaki. I am very much in awe of his fantastic use of colours to tell a story. He has a talent for colors that must be seen to be understood so do yourself a favour and catch one of his films. Personally, I have always been fascinated with colours. Growing up in a 'financially challenged' family meant my most treasured possession was a 36-colour pencil set by Staedtler. I loved it to bits. Ahh sweet memories!  

Kiki's Delivery Service - a film Miyazaki wrote, produced and directed

Spirited Away - a film heralding the return of Miyazaki after a temporary retirement

One of my dreams is to visit the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo, Japan. Chances of that happening seem unlikely but if there is one thing I have learnt from Miyazaki's films is the importance of one's dreams. As a young boy, I dreamt of painting miniatures in a diorama. Well look at me now, an old guy with a shaky hand holding on for dear life to his paint brush (and dreams). 

Sign pointing towards Ghibli Museum - For me, it's more than 5,000 km away

Well that's it for my 100th post. Short and sweet. A small milestone in what started out as a creative outlet for both my writings and paintings. Here is to a hundred more. Cheers.

First look at Ax Faction miniatures

Way cool was the thought that immediately entered my head when I first laid eyes on an Ax Faction miniature featured at The Jolly Bodgers blog. That miniature was the Forsaken Princess aka Witch Hunter and I knew there and then I had to try painting her. Details on the Witch Hunter were simply mind boggling and the paint job by Avicenna was truly amazing.

Simple but effective packaging for Ax Faction miniatures

To start off my journey with Ax Faction miniatures, I will be working on Raen of Rannoch (Giant Hunter) and Jotnar's Bane (Troll Hunter). Both of these miniatures seem easier to assemble and paint. Later, I will be working on other Ax Faction miniatures including my favourite - the Witch Hunter.

Unboxing of the Giant Hunter and Troll Hunter

Both Raen and the Troll Hunter came with a double sided art card measuring approximately 15cm by 21cm (A5). One side contained art work while the other side had a brief description of the miniature.

Front (left) and back (right) of the Art Card supplied with Jotnar's Bane

Front (left) and back (right) of the Art Card supplied with Raen of Rannoch

Upon unboxing, my very first impression of Ax Faction was that they reminded me a lot of the Kingdom Death miniatures. Details on the Ax Faction resin miniatures were very impressive and assembly range from easy to intermediate difficulty in view some parts being fairly small.

Jotnar's Bane aka Troll Hunter and her resin parts

Raen of Rannoch aka Giant Hunter and her resin parts

So far, all I have managed to do is assemble both miniatures (combination of super glue and dry fitting). During assembly I couldn't help noticing the amount of details on the miniatures. Mould lines were minimal. While I detected some tiny bubble imperfections (none of which damaged the details), it was nothing some green stuff can't fix. I am so looking forward to painting Raen and Jotnar's Bane.

After assembly - Raen of Rannoch (front view)

After assembly - Raen of Rannoch (back view)

After assembly - Raen of Rannoch (base - giant footprint)

While I was washing the Troll Hunter and preparing her for assembly, I accidentally broke the tip of the small bird's wing. It was an utter noob mistake that resulted from me washing it too hard with a brush. Duh ... face palm. But as they say, a silver lining in every cloud and all that jazz. Because of my error, I had the opportunity to try and glue a very small part (less than 2 mm) back to the wing of the bird ... and I succeeded against all odds. It helped that the small broken piece was still attached to the sprue so that made things a whole lot easier. Certainly a hobby confidence booster! 

After assembly - Jotnar's Bane (front view)

After assembly - Jotnar's Bane (back view)

After assembly - Jotnar's Bane (side views)

After assembly - Jotnar's Bane (base - troll's head)

Actual size-wise, the Ax Faction miniatures are fairly similar to W40K minis although scale-wise the former is bigger at 32 mm versus 28 mm for W40K. That is why Raen's height is similar to that of the Ultramarine. Hypothetically, if both were at the same scale, the space marine would tower over Raen.

Raen shown here next to the very first miniature I ever painted

This concludes my initial look at the Ax Faction miniatures. Thanks for reading and stay safe.

Nocturna Models Freya [Completed]

Woo hoo! Work on Freya of Nocturna Models is done after less than two weeks of consistent painting comprising about 1-3 hour long sessions per day. While not perfect, Freya is by far the best work I have done to date although the Black Legion Forgefiend that I painted a while back could perhaps give Freya a run for her money. Freya is a small step towards more ambitious projects, which hopefully can improve my painting skills along the way. Below are the final pictures of Freya.  

Nocturna Models Freya

Freya's expression shows she means business

Side view (right) of Nocturna Models Freya

Freya's beautifully sculpted cloak never ceases to amaze me

Freya's blond hair went well with her purple / lavender cloak

Another angle showing off how well sculpted the cloak is

Side view (left) of Nocturna Models Freya

Freya's pauldron was dulled by a wash of Citadel Devlan Mud

Freya's base was surprisingly difficult to paint. I struggled in giving the ground some depth. It would have been great if I had some replica moss to place on the base but dead grass was the best I could get a hold of. For the broken axe, I tried to convey a damaged and rusted look.

Base of Nocturna Models Freya

Thanks for following my painting journey with Freya. It has been a real blast painting her and I have enjoyed every single minute of it. Happy, happy, happy!