Completed Critique White Wolf Miniatures Gazelle

[Kimmo]

Seeing as the paint has been flowing lately, I rummaged the stash and found this piece, a twist on a classic theme in 75mm scale. No major issues with casting or assembly, although the spear was quite warped but "straightened out" with hot water. It didn't turn out quite straight, but rather wavy, which adds a ton of character. The blade had snapped off and required a pin. I also pinned the arms and hand. The left hind leg didn't fit properly into the hole so rather than try to bend it to fit, I added a piece of cork.















I primed everything a burgundy colour using Vallejo Surface Primers. I basically skipped a step by doing this instead of using black or dark grey. As you can see, she's broken down into logical sub-assemblies for ease of painting. I left the hand/spear separate taking possible future shipping into consideration. I have no faith that it would survive intact. The other option would have been to glue the hand in place and cut the front of the spear off and hollow and pin, but the wrist join looks ok like this. If it needed filling or messing about I would have gone the other route.

















This should be lots of fun. Plenty of fine detail to pick out, textures to add and so on.


Kimmo

 

[Kimmo]

The initial fun started with getting colours blocked in and an underlying coat of fur sketched in. This looks somewhat horrible at the moment but now I have a good idea of how to proceed. I'd forgotten how shiny these Game Color shades were, still rather satin after a flat coat on the gazelle half. The burgundy undercoat helped to give the skin a bit more life off the hop.














With so many tans and browns, I'll have to figure out what to do with the leather/hide straps so they stand out a bit more. Plenty of fun left.

Kimmo

 

[Kimmo]

A bit more progress, mainly on the fur. I cleaned off the palette and switched to the Model Color equivalents of the same shades and kept going over the body with a filbert. It points well for fine lines, and it also starts to splay as wide/large brushes do so I got some random chaos from multiple lines all at once, just what I was looking for. I switched over to my half rigger to continue with shorter fine lines and more precision. Still some work to be done, especially around the dark patches on the shins. I think Red Leather is a good option for the straps on the legs. The torso got a basic highlight and I'm trying some things with the ears and nose.














Slowly taking shape, plenty left to do.

Kimmo

 

[Kimmo]

Things have finally cooled down enough to get back to the bench, not much fun trying to do stuff when the indoor temperature is hovering around 30C. The skin tones are starting to get where I want them, the fur is pretty much done and now I can get on with the details.


















Still plenty of fun left, hopefully I can get a few good sessions in over the next couple of days.

Kimmo

 

[NigelR]

Looking really good, I like the way you handled the fur.

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nigel!

A bit more work done, details are starting to come along.

















I have to decide what to do with her eyes, whether to go human or animal. Yellowy eyes would add a bit of tension and give her a more ferocious look, but then again, not sure if I want to go that direction. Fortunately I can play around with options digitally and see where we go.

Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Apologies thought I caught this , certainly a different subject and challenging which you like , do like the painting so far , bringing life to a dark palette

Look forward to seeing more especially the shield , I would go more animal than human on her

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap! No worries, everything got delayed because of the heat and this week has been starts and fits...



A little more progress. I got the shield done, the spear has been started and more details picked out. Things are finally starting to take proper shape.

















I'm close to being able to glue the torso in place so I can get a good idea of the overall lighting. Plenty of little things left to do along with the base.


Kimmo

 

[Nap]

I like that shield really works well , the piece is certainly coming to life as you paint

Thanks for sharing the updates

Looking forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap!

Been slow going the last few days, had to clean off the palette again to get some fresh paint for detail work and to clan up some areas. The eyes were being troublesome so I carefully removed the paint and started over. I added dark washes around the beads on the wrap to make them stand out more. The spear blade is looking good, it has a nice bronze feel to it.


















Still a fair bit of fussy work left, particularly the copper, inks should help there.


Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Very nice painting you've done , glad you sorted the eyes out , agree ref the spear , looks great

Look forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[NigelR]

Looking fantastic!

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap and Nigel!

A bit more progress, her left eye is still giving me fits, not sure what the issue is. More tidying up and I decided to add some markings to her face.

















Not much left to do now, I'll try and get the base sorted out later tonight as it will need to dry overnight with what I have in mind.

Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Just so much fine detail painting on this , good idea with the face decoration

Look forward to seeing the base

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap! There certainly was a lot of stuff to cover and pick out.


Right, I think we're finally done. The pigments on the base weren't quite working as I wanted, I had intended to get some dry cracked sections in the depressions. I couldn't pile enough pigment in to make that happen though as the hooves were getting lost. I wish I had taken a photo of the initial stage because I accidentally ended up with something that looked remarkably like 1:1 red granite, which looked cool, but not appropriate to what I was going for. I'll keep that info tucked away for future projects. I ended up going with several applications of reddish earth tones with lightened sections here and there to create some depth and interest. I did some touch ups here and there, a light application of inks on the copper, leather and her skin. I also added a bit of verdigris to sell the copper/bronze effects a little more.

















The pigment might need one more flat coat, we'll see how it looks tomorrow, the eyes could be better but I think I can live with them. There's so much happening that they kind of get lost anyway. Once the groundwork dries out properly, I'll get some good photos taken, the bench light is making the fur appear glossier than it is.

Kimmo

 

[Kimmo]

Finally got around to taking and editing photos, seems this was one of those never ending projects. A gallery can be found here.

A teaser




Thanks to everyone who followed along and commented. My apologies for not giving the low down with the colours used, this project had so many starts and stops I just forgot to take photos or make notes. Suffice to say, there plenty of skin tones used from both the Model and Game Color ranges.

Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Great updates and result

Thanks for sharing your journey and the SBS

Look forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap!

Not sure when or what the next project will be, but there will be something.

Kimmo