Search the Community

So, recently I've been taking on several commissions, and of them, this is the first I've finished! One of my fellow players at our FLGS asked me to paint an archer mini for him. I told him to take some time picking one out, and a week or two later, he brought me this guy: Now, first, to address the elephant in the room: this is obviously Tanis Half-Elven, right? I mean, it's not even subtle, this is totally him. I can't be the only person who sees it... The mini itself is pretty solid, but that's a very accurate representation of the paint job: wash everywhere, lumpy colors. I'll be honest, though, even unmodded it's not a bad mini compared to a LOT of the prepaints - anatomy's solid, pose is strong, and the detailing is simple enough that the paint job almost works. But anyways! So, the orders of business, as per my client's requests: - Cloak painted black with green highlighting; not just dark-green - Replace the bow with a better one that's less wiggly (his one was pretty deformed - Copper skin and brown hair; the character is a wood elf I suggested doing some additional sculpting on it, which caught his ear - he was really excited by my suggestion of a black fur capelet to complement the darkened cloak. So, the finished mini! So, first off: The sculpting. I did a pretty simple swap for the bow, since I'm pants at hands - cut off the old one, cut a bow from a Reaper Weapon Sprue in half, glued in place. Ordinarily I'd pin, but with the base mini so flexible, it's actually pretty sturdy - the hand bends away from pressure before there's any danger to the bow. I fiddled with it before I painted - it's definately strong enough for gameplay, even if the mini's lifted by the weapon. Then I moved to the fur. I did the caplet, first - just a simple little thing to sculpt, work the GS in and then texture. I suggested this for two reasons: one, the sculpting on the upper shoulders was a lot weaker than the rest of the cape, more bunchy, and two, the shading I had planned for the cape works better on the billowy bits than the narrow folds, so if I could just paint those, I'd take it. That said, a professional is never less than perfect, so I didn't tell the guy that. I merely said, "Like the King in the North, but with black bear fur," and he was pumped. I also didn't really like the sculpting on the arms, and the decorative tongues on the boots, if we're being honest. So, some thin strips of greenstuff and a Xacto knife later, he was wearing fur boots and gloves. Then, one rebasing later, I was ready to talk color! I did the cape first - Walnut Brown, with Vallejo's Luftwaffe Cam Green highlights, and Pure Black used in thin lines to deepen the folds. Pure black for the fur, too - but then Nuln oil as a wash, to add gloss to the "fur pelt". Once the cloak was done, I realized that changing the color of the cloak meant a complete pallette change, too. I hate brown-on-brown clothing, so I moved to a darker green as a better fit for the cloak, with some brown trim. The pants I took from a khaki white to more of a silver-green - the color is a mix of the green and brown used for the cloak and belt, with white to shade. Although the colors I used are all pretty warm, I tried to give the figure itself a more wintery feel, keeping the palette darker and more subdued.- the sort of ranger you'd imagine slipping through the undergrowth on a cool winter morning, the sun still low in the sky, blending into the shadows of evergreens as he slides towards his prey. But, to bring in some more of the warmness of his hair and skin, I accented him in gold, which makes his weapons stand out and gives them a little more definition against the cloak. All in all, this was a great mini to paint! It was a lot of fun getting to do some of my own sculpting, since most of the minis I've painted lately have been either custom jobbos from places like Heroforge, or more exotic/expensive minis from fancy companies, where the player went and found the *perfect mini* and I just have to get the painting right! And, for the edification of anyone wondering, this guy, with weaponswap/sculpting/painting, took around 4-5 hours, and I charged the guy 40$. I still need to base him, but I'm waiting to do that with the guy, so I can get his opinion; all i've done so far is sculpt a greenstuff "earth" base.