Commission Updates: Thundarr and Griffon

I've been working on two projects since the tournament, both of which have gone much better than painting my own models!

The first which is a WIP, is a Griffon for Simon.  This is actually just a converted Basilisk. I chopped down the barrel and added a lot more armor plating around the sides.  I also converted the back so that it sits much lower and has a side entrance rather than back for the ladder. The back part is more of an effort to make it more distinctive from the Basilisk design at a glance.

Since these Guard are part of a Sisters themed army overall, I added some decorations to the front to tie this in with the rest of the army and have done the same to the two Manticores as well, which are also assemlbed and have some green on them.  The conversion took a lot more time planning than it did to execute, and I could not have been happier with how it turned out.  I really feel like no one could mistake this for a Basilisk once it is fielded.

The other project that I just wrapped up is Thundarr and Ookla themed paint job for some Reaper barbarians. 

Ookla the Mok

 Ookla for me was all about working on creating realistic battle damage with metallic metals. This is really about using combinations and blends of washes over a metal paint.  To get this look I actually used blue, purple, brown and black washes.  The purple and blue don't show well in the picture, but it gives a shimmering effect that enchanted armor might posses.  The brown and black layers help to give it an aged look.  I started using Chainmail, then washed that with black.  Then I used Mithral silver to put on the faded scratches and chips that you can see on the interior of the surface.  Next came the blue and purple, followed by brown to age it.  More silver along the edges to get some highlight.  The last step was to wash it with a watered down black before doing some more silver highlights that are the bright, obvious ones on the edges.

The cloak didn't come out quite as well as I would like.  Wet blending from black to gray is much harder than I had thought.  It still looks solid.  While that didn't work out as well as I would have liked the gray fur pelt ended up just like I envisioned it would.  Dry brushing the grays and blacks was much more successful than the blending.

 The other half of the set was Thundarr! All muscles and leather the figure was looking really drab by the time I had gotten all of the base coats on and started adding some wash to the fur and chest.  I had planned to paint the stones hanging from the fur in a granite earthy look, but they would have just faded into the rest of the model.  Instead I thought some bright Jade pieces would pop out nicely.  They bring a little more story to the character.

Thundarr

 Thundarr would not be complete without his Lightsaber Sunswords.  The character has just one but the model has two, so the model is twice as awesome as the character right?  Really looking forward to dropping these guys off this week or next to see how well they go over for the customer.

Sunswords

With the Thundarr and Ookla done, I'm considering pushing a bit more to see if anyone else wants single model commissions done.  The quality above is my top of the line work and I find I really enjoy spending that much time on single models.  I still have way too many models of my own and for friends' armies to consider doing armies or squads on a commission basis, but the change of pace of putting everything I have into a single model is really satisfying.

Next on the list is a female Marbo for Simon and another special Gundam Broadside for Gundam John.