Finally, the centerpiece of my Vulpa legio is done!
I'm really proud of this one. It's by far the best mini I ever painted, owning mostly to just too many hours spent. I literally worked on him until I burned out, took a ~6 month break while working on other models, and then went back to refine and improve for about one month more. It's not without fault, it's not getting me a Golden Daemon or anything, but I've given it everything I got and it was worth it.
I learned a lot with this project. I switched to using Contrast paints for glazes halfway through the project. I started using FW Sepia as my main shadow color, eventually changing to Wildwood Contrast there the shadow is warm and a mix of black and Space Wolves Gray where it's cold. Contrast thins into a barely noticeable glaze better, is easier to control, and don't dry glossy.
I enjoyed doing chipping on this one a lot. Previously, I weathered mostly by applying enamel dust and grime and removing it with white spirits. On this model it was more or less just chipping. Grime and dust make a model feel old and deserted, which is not appropriate for the energy of this model. Also, the layers of grime toned down surfaces that I worked hard to differentiate between glossy and matte. Instead, I chipped with matte dark lines and silver/gold highlights: because the chips are effectivelly matte, they stand out so well and look so realistic. It looks great on the orange parts, it's only meh on the purple; it's too dark to work well with this approach.
I also took these pics very differently than usual. I spent a lot more time controlling lights, used a black backdrop and edited every single pic to control the background, which was never truly black, as much as possible. Gimp was used, what can I say. I also used a little portable light on the fireball, pointing from below - counteracting the natural shadow that exists in other parts of the scene, making it look like it's glowing even more. It turned out really well.
Thanks for looking!
Gorgeous mate, love the flaming ball and the stipples on the armour, awesome
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