Inquisitor Mordecai Vangar

[mcjomar]

That's the current state of the model for Mordecai.



In the background you can now see my finished Tau warrior.
Looking at the Tau lexicon I'm thinking:

Shas'ui T'au Kais Mont'yr M'yen

As a name.
The point he's joining Inquisitor Helena's warband would be about ready to earn his position as a Monat Shas'vre Battlesuit pilot, except... now he's with an Inquisitor.


E: character sheet first draft done:
http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2640.msg35850#msg35850

[Alyster Wick]

Mordecai is looking pretty solid on a technical level. Definitely a model you should be proud to put on the board.

From a critiquing standpoint, his color scheme is a little all over the map. I'm seeing pretty strong reds, greens, purples, oranges, and blues throughout (aside from the metalics and more muted colors). You could get away with some of this (flames being orange, the garland on the powerfist being green) but the combination of everything is a little overpowering. I'd suggest taking a look at a color wheel (google image search it, you'll find something quick) and being more deliberate about your overall color scheme. You can also experiment with the same base coat blended up with different highlights on a model to add more cohesive variety (if that makes sense?). There's a few different ways you can get variety without throwing all your paint at a model.

The last thing I'd suggest is to try and find something you want to experiment with any time you paint a model. Whether it be high contrast highlighting, working more with washes, non-metal metallics, a light source, freehand, even a new color combination (using brown as a basecoat for read changed my whole perspective on painting a couple years back), just something new to try, it doesn't matter what. If you're anything like me, you'll quickly find yourself more excited at the prospect of finishing the model and you'll be happier with the end result, which will lead to more painting.

Your Tau is looking great too. Excited to see some paint on him. I've got my own "Alien Commander" that has been sitting around for a few years waiting for some paint.

[mcjomar]

From a critiquing standpoint, his color scheme is a little all over the map. I'm seeing pretty strong reds, greens, purples, oranges, and blues throughout (aside from the metalics and more muted colors). You could get away with some of this (flames being orange, the garland on the powerfist being green) but the combination of everything is a little overpowering. I'd suggest taking a look at a color wheel (google image search it, you'll find something quick) and being more deliberate about your overall color scheme. You can also experiment with the same base coat blended up with different highlights on a model to add more cohesive variety (if that makes sense?). There's a few different ways you can get variety without throwing all your paint at a model.

Yeah, I wanted to offset the dark greys and leathers with some brighter colours.

Specifically I like difficult to see buttons and switches to be made brighter to look more obvious - I did this in my stormtalon cockpit.
As for the belt sash I felt that the snot green would be a nice colour - something to at a little brightness to a model that might otherwise feel a bit drab, and grey/brown.

For that hem of lettering around the coat I felt that bleached bone, with a red gore highlight was appropriate. It's probably high gothic lettering or somesuch, and I tend to feel that this sort of thing is best set up with something that captures a feel of richness, which on a model like this seems like a red gore/bleached bone combination.

The plasma is bright because it's plasma, which to me means bright electric blue projectiles.

I can't really speak as to the rest of it though - which components specifically are the most problematic do you feel?

I do know that some highlighting and blending might help the flatter areas of the coat, but my blending skills are currently... not great.
I need a couple of mooks (probably some airfix NPCs would do the trick) I can foul up as I practice.

[Alyster Wick]

Yeah, I wanted to offset the dark greys and leathers with some brighter colours.

Specifically I like difficult to see buttons and switches to be made brighter to look more obvious - I did this in my stormtalon cockpit.

I totally agree with this strategy. Buttons and switches can often times be employed to make a model pop. This is especially try w/ NPCs as you can employ some easy quick painting techniques and just take a few extra minutes on small focal points to the piece stand out. My critique should not be read as an indictment of that.

The plasma is bright because it's plasma, which to me means bright electric blue projectiles.

I absolutely agree here too. Plasma guns are blue and you don't necessarily need to worry about this clashing with the color scheme. In my experience such "special effects" pieces can get a pass on this rule (both "in theory" but also because if the effect looks good it tends not to clash from a casual view, can't explain this part). As an aside, while the camera flash obscures it a bit I do think that you did a great job on the plasma effect for the pistol.

I can't really speak as to the rest of it though - which components specifically are the most problematic do you feel?

To get into the meat of my critique, focus on the midsection, in which he appears to have been punched in the gut by a rainbow. Individually everything looks great, but taken as a total it's a bit much. From what I can see (and I could be wrong, the flash wasn't kind) it looks like he has blue pants, purple tabbard, orange-to-red flames, red gubbins, green shirt. Some of those colors go together well in the right quantities (I'm looking at you, red and green) but they don't all go together in such close proximity.

To give you an example of how I'd approach it differently, I have a "red leather" formula that I really like (forgive the fact that I'm mixing paint generations). I'd paint the pants Doombull Brown, shade it up with a 50/50 mixture of Doombull Brown/Scab Red, then the same combo at a 20/80ish ratio, then cut over to Scab Red/Vermin Brown to pull it back from being a straight red. Optional final highlight of Vermin Brown (but I feel it's a little too ugly a color to go on alone, depending on what you're going for).

That combo on the pants would give you a common base color of brown to tie it to some of your other leathers with a health dose of red to tie it to the gubbins and flames (which match really well). While it isn't super eye catching it is interesting.

After that, I might try plain white for the tabbard and possibly change the skull on the cap to white as well (and maybe a fashionable red hat in my "red leather" formula above). That would add some continuity throughout the model (the white in the tabbard matches the white of the skull which matches the ultimate highlight of the plasma pistol) and the drab grey hat is still a drabish shade of red, but it matches the pants and adds a bit of variety.

With those revisions, the green undershirt works in just fine (though I may darken it up a bit with some ink/shade, but that's a matter of taste). That actually would make the green on the powerfist laurel and the shoulder patches come together nicely with undershirt.

That advice shouldn't be read as a definitive way to paint a mini, but it's a glimpse into how I plan color schemes (which has changed a lot, notably after I received feedback on a number of my models that were too "busy" with conflicting colors) so I hope that it's helpful.

I do know that some highlighting and blending might help the flatter areas of the coat, but my blending skills are currently... not great.
I need a couple of mooks (probably some airfix NPCs would do the trick) I can foul up as I practice.

Honestly, just go for it on your main minis! The worst thing you'll have to do is paint over it (well, the WORST thing would be having to strip it and start from scratch, but if you're experimenting with layers you'll be using really thin paint!). That is the best advice I can give. My painting got better when I took chances on main characters. Mook practice is good, but generally when you have 5 Russian knockoff minis sitting in front of you to paint (let's be honest everyone on the Conclave, if you're doing NPCs you're painting Tehnolog  ) you'll quickly start falling back on tried and true speed techniques like inking and dry brushing. And there's nothing wrong with that, but for my money I'd rather spend my time painting nice PCs because I don't get a ton of painting time.

Sorry, I hope this overall rant has been helpful/not derailed things. I'm trying to give more constructive feedback as I feel my painting has much improved only because of the constructive feedback others have given.

[mcjomar]

No worries.

I'm inclined the keep the hat as is to match the coat (dark outer layer).
I could see my way to changing the colour of the sash (or whatever that is I painted green - it's over the leather rather than under it so I'm guessing sash).

In fairness, in normal lighting it looks a lot darker thanks to the badab black wash, so it's difficult to notice the colours (I went regal blue on the trousers, and liche purple on the tabbard)

Maybe if I painted the sash scab/gore red?
I guess I could paint the tabbard grey to keep with the theme of the model.
Then the deep blue on the trousers fits in with the dark grey, right?
Alternately if I just paint the sash purple too, then that removes the distraction of the green sash from that part of the mini (and gives the tabbard something to hang off).


E:
http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1446.0

Judge-minos (and at least one other claver) have also had this idea. The bounty hunter is just so Witch-Hunter-ey!
I think Judge-minos is the best still, for my tastes.

Still my next one won't be anything ground breaking, but I think the one after that should do a reasonable job of being impressive, at least for my level of ability.