Rear Guard (6)

Thanks Werner :)

Well, the last two days and nights have been very busy - refraining from computer games frees a lot of time :)

So first I completed the base colors and details of the base.

And then I applied the first black wash.

Since I needed a lot of washing and the base is rather big, I mixed my own wash instead of using precious Badab Black.

The shades slowly came out.

After most of the shades were done I started with some of the highlight effects.

Here you can see the light effects on the wall and on the steps - as well as the shadows Emilia and Berthan will cast.

Looking pretty nice so far.

But I really have a hard time finding the proper light setting to take good photos.

It's really hard to see what is a naturally casted light and shadow and what is painted.

Here you can see the effect I created for the gun flash - in a photo I took outside in daylight.

It looks good, and for a while I thought it was done.

But then I realized it only casts the color, but not the light of the gun flash (thanks to Mastiff for pointing this out).

:(

So I went back and gave the gun flash more "power", so it cast also some light. In addition I darkened some of the shadows, to make the effect more dramatic.

Unfortunately the shadows now cover most of the floor mosaic.

But now the OSL effects are a lot better and the eye is drawn to the two actors.

Here I tried another close up, but the lights make it really hard to see what's painted and what's natural light effects.

:)

I would like to thank Mastiff over at DakkaDakka who pointed out the muzzle flash issue and showed me the trick with the destaurated photo and the light effects:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/390/310208.page#4258712
Take your photo, and desaturate it, so it's just shades of grey. You end up with the following:

See how the flash disappears? That's what I mean by throwing colour on the wall, but not light. The stone is reflecting the same amount of light whether it's in the flash radius or not, while it should be brighter. Use some white to highlight the bricks, and/or add more dark washes to the walls and floor outside the flash radius. You're aiming for something like this:

The darker washes will also help focus attention on the two characters, who can get a bit lost in such a large canvas despite the central positioning. I highly recommend viewing images in greyscale, rather than colour, when you're testing the effectiveness of OSL. Before Photoshop I would sketch things out with pencil, but technology is faster and easier. Remember, if you ain't cheatin' you ain't really tryin'.

This was really helpful, and I wanted to share this tipp with you guys :)

C&C is welcome.

Cheers

Klaus

Rear Guard (5)

Wow, this one was really hard!
More than just once I was tempted to throw the model off my desk. For some reason the model simply didn't accept the colors well...hmm, sounds strange...regardless of what I painted, somehow it never looked good.
2 times I was ready to throw her into a "Simple Green" bath to strip the paint.
Well I fought the urge and "bit my way through".

Here you can see my "cheat" photos. I took them right after the build with a little flashlight simulating the neon light, to give me a good impression of the lights and shadows.


And here is the final Sister Emila.

I'm so f***ing glad I'm through.

I took no step-by-step photos, as I never knew if what I've just done would work out.

But here we are now.

After I was done (and I literally mean DONE) with the sister, I started with the base.

Again, base colors only.

Not all colors are applied yet.

I still have to do the little control panel, the lettering on the door (Lauch Pad 5), the neon light itself, and, and, and :)

Everything will be toned down by several washes of Badab Black and Grisiphone Sepia.

And after that will be the actual shading and working out the light areas from the neon light...

hopefully :)
I hope you like this little update.

C&C welcome and appreciated.

Cheers

Klaus

Rear Guard (4)

Thanks for your feedback guys!

Well, I finished Brother Berthan, including some light nad glowing effects.

I find it rather hard to get good photos that really show the lighting effects, regardless of the light in the room.

But hopefully you can get a good impression from these.

This is the direct comparison to the original.

I'm quite pleased with the outcome :)

@Werner Oroxon: yes, I'm pretty fast, but sometimes too fast for my own good :(
See below.

Yesterday I was about to start painting Sister Emilia when I realized with SHOCK that her hand was all wrong!!!

For some reason it escaped my attention so far, but I mounted a right hand on her left arm :(

I immediately took her appart again...

but then had to realize, that I had no more left hands in my bits drawer.

So I had to sculpt one from scratch.

I think it is OK and once painted, it should fit nicely.

I had to wait till it was cured, so only a very small update here.

Once primed with black it looks good.

Then I applied all the base colors again...

At this stage the model looks really crappy.

But I have to remember that Brother Berthan wasn't looking any better at this stage and hopefully I can get a good paintjob done here too.

I will try some lightning effects from the muzzle flash and a little glow from the blue power cords. The yellow part will all be NM-Gold, plus lots of shade...hopefully

Well fingers crossed :)
Thanks for your time - C&C welcome and appreciated.
Cheers

Klaus