Lt. Commander Psigoras Complete!

With the OSL effects complete, Lt. Commander Psigoras is done!  Notice he is "Lt. Commander" - because on the table-top the model will flex between using either a Lieutenant or Captain datasheet depending on the list.

This model is a classic Jes Goodwin (070268/6 from the 1992 Citadel Catalogue) and I bought him new a very long time ago.  Actually 2 of them came in the blister pack! (What am I going to do with the second one?)

So I had a very long time to think about what I wanted him to look like.  It was clear that the armor had an elaborate breastplate with a planish metal finish (also known as hammered metal) that should probably be gold, but otherwise there is a lot going on.  Along time ago it was just too much to parse so I think it was intentional that I avoided working on this miniature until I knew what I was doing and what I wanted.

In the end, well today rather, I had a much better sense: I wanted it to have the same color scheme as the battleline tactical squad troops (rather than my elites).  This is because he wears standard power armor (albeit a bit more fancy) as opposed to Terminator Armor, so it makes sense to wear similar colors.  Also, now that I have Lt. Aurelius, I wanted them to match a bit.  This time however, with the hammered metal I was going to use metallic gold instead of golden yellow.

Just to be sure I did a few internet searches to see what other people had done with him.  I stumbled across about 7 different ones.  4 were valent attempts by hobbiests and 40k enthusiasts, and while I wont show them (mainly because I am not sure who to give credit to), my main critique (skill level aside since I'm not a pro either) was that they were all riots of color.  Just way too much going on.  The 3 I will show I believe to all be professional jobs by Games Workshop 'eavy Metal staff (so credit to them).

None of these schemes look good to me.  

The first one is a blue and silver theme (probably to mirror the blue and white of the Ultramarines) and perhaps came before it was established more firmly that yellow/gold was the Ultramarine secondary color (and that the white of the Ultra Iconography was mostly just reserved for the icon and is more of a tertiary color).  It looks like it comes from 'eavy Metal in White Dwarf.  Overall it seems very dark, but I give credit for keeping the color scheme fairly simple.  I don't like the green chest laurels (which seems to be a staple in every example), but you've gotta love the classic goblin green base.  This pro did an incredible job with the plume and the checkering on the knees. (edit: found references: Warhammer 40,000 2nd Edition Rulebook, pg. 64)

Next is what I think is probably the best and closest to what I ended up with.  I think this was probably painted late 1st or early 2nd edition and it matches the scheme of the time (and therefore also my scheme).  I think this also came from a White Dwarf, but again not sure who the artist was (edit: found reference: Codex: Ultramarines 2nd edition pg 29 or 87).  Notice the red weapons and the inclusion of a lot of gold and yellow.  There's too much going on color wise though - 3 different colors of leather?  Why do we insist on the green laurels?  The red and white plume was cool though, I kinda wish I had tried that.  Interesting that this one and the next one didn't have the cape.

The last one I found that I'm going to show looks like a modern recreation of number 2, but with a few twists.  I think they did a great job, but still too much color for me.  I think this one might have been by a private painter, but pro or near pro level.  If it's yours or know whos it is, let me know so I can give credit.

So with the reference examples, it was pretty clear what I didn't want, and so a lot easier for me to zero in on what I did want.  Gold hammered metal (and gold laurels), matching leather, and otherwise the same scheme as my battle line: Blue, Yellow, Red, and White.  So a red cape (to match Lt Aurelius), brown leathers of the yellow tone, white for the plume and iconography, and finally matching power sword and plasma pistol effects that I had done previously (though amped up a bit I hope).  Also, a bit of color theory here - the yellows and reds seem to be a good split complimentary pair to the blue, and so I think this scheme works so well for that reason, but really 3 should be the limit.

This angle really shows the OSL effect and the subtitle reflection on the side of the helmet.

I'm really happy with the result.  Not a riot of color, elevated but still related to the main battle line and the core color schemes of my army.  Let me know what you think!

PS: "Psigoras" is a nod to one of my dad's gaming callsigns.  He introduced me to making models at an early age and would take me to hobby stores.  He always encouraged my model making hobby and helped a lot with tools and such.  Thanks dad!

Color Tone Study

 As I mentioned in the last Chappy 'n Cappy update, I realized that I had used cool tones Dark Reaper and Vallejo Gray Blue for the armor edge highlights.  The recipe I blindly followed was Giovanni Di Lena's presumably famous guide for black power armor.  It was funny because in the back of my mind I was thinking I was supposed to use a modified formula, but I thought I had already modified it in my plan.

Turned out I hadn't.  So when I got looking at my miniature, it looked off.  From Jeremie Teboul's book I knew exactly the problem - color tones.  At first I thought that maybe the cool tones of the armor and the warmer tones of everything else would be an ok effect to emphasize the difference between materials.

But, it kept bugging me.  It looked off and it kept me up at night.  So finally I decided I'd do something, but I didn't want to redo the most difficult edge highlighting stages, so I wanted to try contrast paint.  On a hidden area where the arms are to connect, I tried several colors to try and tint the existing highlights.  Boy did that not work!  I mean, if I wanted a sickly green effect, or muddy rust effect then it would have been great, but none of the tinting effects were anywhere near the look I was trying to achieve.

So rather than agonize further, I just re-did it all with warmer colors.  Specifically Vallejo Olive Brown instead of Dark Reaper, and a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Sky Gray and Vallejo Basalt Gray (because I should have a perfect medium gray in my palette but I don't) instead of Vallejo Gray Blue.  The Olive Brown is definitely warm, and the gray is neutral, but definitely warmer than Dark Reaper and Gray Blue which are both cool tones.

Even though I made some errors and had to fix a few spots, it was worth the extra 4 hours.  I have some before and after pictures that I've tried my best to match lighting and you can see the difference (I think), though in person it is very striking.

So it was inadvertent, but a really good lesson on color tone theory.  I kinda wish I didn't practice it on this miniature, but I'm glad it turned out well and it now looks great!

PS: I changed how I did the highlights on the 'toes' which aren't straightforward.  I saw how the reference GW model was done so changed it to try to match and they look better too.  I think overall I did about the same job, some areas ended up a bit better other areas ended up not as good.