A (Hopeful) Return to Writing

So it's been a long time since my last post.  I have run in a race, gotten surgery, struggled with depression, and tried to muddle through as best I can.  Unfortunately I have not been painting as much as I'd like.  I have managed to make some headway, and plan to share that with you now.



My primary focus is getting a large commission of Robotech miniatures done.  So far I've gotten the lot assembled (the complexity of the Wave 1 Kickstarter models is something I have grumbled about endlessly), and out of the 33 models I have completed...four.



Painting robots has required a different approach from painting normal models.  The big thing is that there's plating, which doesn't shade as well as the folds of clothing or armor.  The lighting is a bit different and that's a challenge.



My theory on this so far is to try to get the light hitting the right areas.  I start with a base coat, mix in the mid tone and hit a lot of the raised/visible areas, and then top it all off by mixing in the highlight and picking out the uppermost areas.  It's going to take some fiddling, but I'm starting to get into the swing of things already.

Let's take an in-depth look at the Gladiators I painted.  For the most part I've been asked to do the classic paint schemes for all but the veritechs in the lot of Robotech figs.  The main color on the gladiators is green.



Whenever I paint a model that has a large portion in the same color (in this case 80%) it becomes difficult to discern progress.  I like a dark base coat and then picking out the medium and highlight layers, but when your target color is in the medium range it takes a while before you begin to truly appreciate your progress.



Even though there wasn't a lot of white as soon as I started applying it I felt like the model had finally begun to come to life.  It still surprises me how much of an effect you get when you add a little color to a model that is almost entirely monochrome.



The colors for the gladiators were: Green, White, Red, and Gray.  In that order of use.  I have to admit that I'm quite fond of the end result.  When I get around to painting my own models I'm debating about whether or not to use the standard schemes or try my own.  These make me want to try this out again.




I wanted to get these guys finished up for a very specific reason.  A friend of mine has challenged me to a paint off starting August 15th, and I have accepted.  I'll be posting more details later this week, but it's a great motivator to get more painting (and blogging) done.