SHOWCASE: Painting Dozer and Smigs Pt. 3
Catch up with Part 1 and Part 2 here:
These last two painting articles have been all Dozer and no Smigs. Lets put an end to that now. I knew right away I wanted this little Pygmy Troll to have a markedly different skin color than his big pal. I gave his skin a base color of Underbelly Blue, and started shading it with my custom navy mix: a 50/50 mix of Umbral Umber and Exile Blue.
I begin defining the skin more and more. This includes doing the knuckles with a pale pink mixed by adding some Ryn Flesh to the Underbelly Blue. This is shaded with a nice earthy purple I keep around mixed from about 50/50 Umbral Umber and Beaten Purple. I also start on his shirt and leather bindings. The former gets a basecoat of Gun Corps Brown while the latter is done up with Umbral Umber.
I start defining the face a little more, doing the lips in the same colors as the palms ans knuckles. I pick out more details like the tartan, which will match Dozer’s, the bedroll in Hammerfall Khaki, the fingernails in Gun Corps Brown, and the chain with my black mix (Thamar Black with a some Bloodstone added).
I paint the chains and the helmet the same way, highlighting my black mix with Umbral Umber, then Underbelly Blue, then a little Menoth White Highlight in places. he rope is Gun Corps Brown highlighted with Hammerfall Khaki. The troll lumps get a basecoat of Umbral Umber.
Onto another angle now. The backpack itself is done with Traitor Green. It and the Bedroll get some shading with the navy mix. I begin highlighting the leather straps with Ryn Flesh in the same way as those on Dozer.
I keep cleaning everything up. The shovel and buckles are done in the same colors as the steel on Dozer. Smigs’ little platform is also painted in these colors.
He’s finally really starting to come together. The shirt was painted to match Dozer’s leg and arm wraps: Gun Corps Brown highlighted with Rucksack Tan and Menoth White Highlight. Then I’ll have to do the tartan.
But for now it’s on to the cannon. See Pt. 2 for a tutorial on this NMM technique.
And here it is with some battle damage added.
And a different angle.
I decided to go ahead and do part of the Bombard in the traditional Khadoran red. I start it off with Sanguine Base and then start to blend in some highlights with Khador Red Base.
I add a lot of distressing to keep this bright red from becoming too overpowering on a mini with so many Earth tones. I start with some streaks of Ryn Flesh mixed with Khador Red Base. Above these add a little Umbral Umber to create the illusion of depth. I also add a few larger areas where you can see the metal showing through.
Nothing feels quite so good as when you finally put the whole model together.
But I still have the base to deal with. I pour some plaster with some gravel mixed into it into this little box I made.
I hacked chunks away from it with a screwdriver until it could fit into a large base.
I wanted to create a little narrative of Dozer and Smigs breaching a trench, so I left the other side flat and glued some balsa “planks to it. Before gluing them, I ran a wire brush over the wood to help bring out the grain. I also sculpted some sand bags out of Gray Stuff. I had a tablecloth with a suitable texture that I pressed into the bags to get a burlap appearance.
Then it was time to start painting them. The wood starts with a basecoat of Umbral.
I drybrush the wood with some Bloodtracker Brown, then Trollblood Highlight. Then I add some crates and a Barrel from the Merc Jack kit, and some chains from other kits to add some more details to the area. These are painted with the same metallic techniques used on the rest of the model.
Alright, here he is all finished up. The shots look just a little odd because I had to light him from multiple angles since that big cannon casts such a big shadow.
Heh… looks like I forgot to take off the little tag they put on him when I entered him.
~Hope you enjoyed the articles!
