The Finished Dark Eldar Hellion

Well here he finally is, my finished Dark Eldar Hellion. Winner of the Gold Award in the Warhammer 40,000 single miniature category at GDUK 2013. Am I ever glad I decided to base him up and enter him!

Looking at this mini now I can see how it marks a major point in my development. The colour scheme has something of an old school feel (that is no accident) and the painting style has a cartoonish/graphic quality that is typical of my work up to this point. I'm very happy with both of those elements and feel it's with this mini that I hit my stride and regained full control of my painting technique. It's also here that I began to explore some of the newer (to me) things like texture, OSL and NMM. For me its that combination of new and old that makes the paint job work and gives it it's character.

But as happy as I am with it, this is a mini that made me think about changing the way I use colour; and so led directly to the evolution and, I hope, refinement of my painting style. The results can be seen in my Tomb King and the Dark Eldar diorama.

The Hellion is now up at cool mini here: http://www.coolminiornot.com/342336

Preparing for GDUK

The last week has been intense with mini painting pretty much taking over my life in the run up to  GDUK but all the extra effort seems to be paying off.  

So, my Skink is almost finished and my plans are coming together when from the back of the figure cabinet something catches my eye. Those of you with good memories may recall that my Dark Eldar diorama started out as a totally different concept from the finished piece. The very first thing I painted for it was a Hellion and it has been sat in the cabinet ever since.

Because I was keeping my options open for the diorama I never based up the hellion and pretty much forgot about him when the concept moved on. But as the DE dio is finished it seems a shame not to make something out of the hellion. So with just a few days to go project Hellion is underway here at Sproket Towers. I'm keeping things simple not the least due to time but also because it would be easy to go OTT on a base in a fit of Golden Demon frenzy. 

Just as the Skink stopped me overworking the diorama this will stop me overworking the Skink. Not that I don't already have enough on my hands with all the finishing touches I've planned! 

I doubt I'll get round to posting anymore before GDUK (It's this Sunday - there's so little time!!!) so I'm planning a catch up & report after the event. In the mean time here are a few teaser pics some of which may or may not feature things in my GD entries.

Strife through a lens

In my last post I mentioned that my camera was broken when it fell onto the floor. I've no one to blame but myself as, despite promising myself a tripod, I just kept on propping the camera up on all maner of improvised supports. I often find the process of photography a frustrating business. I've a basic understanding of the theory having studied it MANY years ago at college. To be brutally honest I achieved a pass in the photography module of my HND Graphic Design course for effort rather than results.

Having said all that I've begun to feel happier with both the process of photographing minis and the results I've been getting. There is (always) room for improvement but as I've become familiar with my camera I've developed the confidence to experiment with it. So of course I go and break it!

Well 'it's an ill wind' so I bit the bullet and ordered a new Camera. It's a Cannon Powershot SX240HS (for those who are interested in such things) and It arrived yesterday! I've had a little play with it and I'm VERY happy with the results. I set things up just the same as I would with my old camera but with one big exception. I also ordered a tripod and what a diference it's made to setting up a photo! I need to experiment but for these shots I used my favorite setting of 'AUTO' and my usual set up with my painting lamps. I have to say that I think they came out really well.

Hellion - work in progress.

Oh well, the best laid plans and all that! July turned out to be a bad month for painting as there have been a lot more important things going on in my life that just had to come first. That's the way it goes sometimes. Having said that I've always been the sort of painter who like to put his work aside from time to time to consider the next move. It’s a luxury I particularly enjoy because my professional output is completely deadline driven.

It is however time for another post so here is a little something to keep the ball rolling. It's the second Hellion for the Dark Eldar diorama...or at least the start of the second hellion.

Very much looking forward to going off on my summer holls and coming back rested and ready to paint!

Dark Eldar Diorama - the first Hellion

At the same time as I’ve been working on the diorama base I’ve also been painting the Dark Eldar. The first of the Hellions is done but I remembered to take a few snaps of the work in progress.

I wanted to try something a bit different from the usual black with neon edges that you see on the Dark Eldar. What I’ve gone for is a strong red/green contrast against a deep blue grey background. 

To be honest although I’m pleased with the final result I’m not yet convinced that this is right for the diorama. Something else that bugs me is that the colour scheme resembles the sort of thing I was doing in the late 80s and early 90s. 

I’m very pleased with the mini as I’ve painted it but I’ve a yearning to try something of a new (to me) approach to colour

A possible solution has already occurred...