Rhupert Carvolo - Piper of Ord

This is another Warmachine post. I will get by to the Falcon soon. I think it is that darn camo pattern that is making me hesitant to continue that project. Stippling is teh hard!

What I have done on the other hand is painted my first ever Mercenary, the very cool Rhupert Carvolo - Piper of Ord. Unfortunately it's not my mini. For no less than three reasons. First it's quite a useful solo in Warmachine, second it's a very nice model indeed, and lastly because it is the best mini I've ever painted! I am a little big pleased with myself :)

So here comes the pictures, I'll add little tidbits as it progresses from bare metal to model.

And we begin with just metal, and a good portion of green stuff. I wanted kind of a swampy / hilly kind of feeling and I just played around. The mini should be stuck in it pretty hard by now as it is logged into the green stuff.

Spray painted black, without complete success. It's quite hard to get an even coat that isn't too thick. I've obscured details far too often with thick paint and I am pushing myself hard to make sure I have less and less primer on. I don't think I need to prime it that hard really. And I've heard cool rumors that the Formula P3 paints actually covers so well that you can use it instead of primer. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Well, I actually would like to use an airbrush to coat with, I am plans to buy one in the future :)

Worth noting is that I for the first time when it comes to a metal mini decided to paint - assemble instead of the other way around. To get the glue to stick properly I painted on liquid mask in key places before I primed it. That way I just had to get rid of the mask when it was time to assemble :) If you don't own it, run down to your friendly local game store and buy a pot of liquid mask. Go now, the blog will be here when you return :)

Here you see my masonite board that I use for painting. It's quite good! Give it a go if you don't have a good painting "basis" or whatnot. You also see the pipers pipes being painted golden. I love painting stuff gold for some reason *cough* Cygnar *cought*.

And... rouges do it from behind!

I looked around the good old i-net for inspiration and I saw a range of different versions of the pipes. I opted for Vallejos London gray and then bone white, and finished off with some ogryn flesh wash. Here you see some bone!

Here's some bone from the front. I've laid down basic colors with a flesh color for the, eh, ehm, pig stomach thingie that the air goes into? Whatever it is, that's the color! Then green for the coat and dark brown for the pants. Our Piper is quite woodsy! And before I forget about it again, there is suppose to be a print from a warjack in the greenstuff, just that it is quite hard to make out :( Cool idea, epic fail. Maybe I'll get to incorporate it in some future model. I did use the foot of a hunter to press down though, so that part was at least authentic :)

And another rouge piccy..

Our piper is one serious rock star, look at all the light! Yeah yeah, that's just a crappy way of saying "bad photography dude!", but I can't be faulted for trying:) I have gently drybrushed the hair and beard with London Gray and I was really really pleased with the result. It looks far better IRL than on this picture. I was thinking of washing it with black, but nah, I decided against it. It would have made it too dark, not good.

Rouge! Should point on that since the last picture the old guy has gotten his skin painted. I used an unholy little mix as the flesh color I have is far too light. I have had problems with skin in the past and the quality is at least rising. Who knows, one day it might look like *gasp* skin!

Well look at Carvolo now! He's got a bunch of highlights and washes and is starting to look a whole lot better. The little armor piece on his right arm now has a metal color with some rusty looking stuff on there as well. I also did a london gray + light bluegrey highlight + mithril metal scheme on his arm and washed it aplenty with black wash. Turned one super! And yes, he is standing on three pots of paint :) Also note the little blue thing hanging from his belt. I *had* to have something blue on there didn't I? *cough* Cygnar again *cough*

I come back to this angle, I am now starting to wish that I was painting a female mini. Hmm. I do have Epic Haley that is primed white, maybe I should paint her soon :)

And now Carvolo's got a sword! I was quite pleased with the sword, I went for a kind of rusty, used look. Reading the fluff and everything I got an image of an old man, that doesn't take good care of himself. I just wonder what awful thing that has happened to him. Maybe it's somewhere in the fluff!

And now with not one but *two* arms! Looks a whole lot better put together. And the green flock adds to it as well. I wanted to go with a swampy look, but I also wanted to have fake water in the little *puddle*. That did not happen. Maybe it will in the future! If someone tries it, I recommend trying to get a little brown or green or blue or something in the fake water, when it is completely transparent it looks a big gel like. I will have to experiment in the future!

More blurry pics!

And a Rogue :)

The guy just looooves the lime light!

The hair, the toes, etc. I like the details. Got nice details but not the insane orgy of details as I am used to from Cygnar minis.

And to finish it all off, we go Rouge!

That's all folks! If you want to see the mini in real life it can be seen at my (!) friendly local game store. It's not *my* store, I just go there and spend far far faaar to much money. Oh which store you ask? It's Game Maniacs in Katrineholm, Södermanland, Sweden. If you can, come on in and take a peek at it. Yeah yeah, I am proud of it, I will admit that much :)

You don't know where it is you say? Well, try http://www.gamemaniacs.se and then I am sure you can find your way:)

Oh, and it took my about 10 hours or so to clean, base, paint, assemble, spray purity seal, and be done with it. I am *not* a speed painter for sure, but it still goes much faster than before :)