Scum, Subs, and Muties

[Radu Lykan]

am thinking the headscarf should be a different colour than his skin as it detracts from the albino-ness?

[Trasher]

Very cool model, makes me want to get a few Guardsmen! I agree with Radu Lykan though, try googling for "military tan color" and "military coyote brown color", maybe on of those might look good?

[Gideon]

These are absolutely beautiful figures. I am a huge fan of the tech-heresy construct and the Afriel Strain Guardsman - particularly because he has the same damn bionic arm piece that I have been scouring the GW website for fruitlessly for ages! Where did you get it from?

[MarcoSkoll]

I think I'd agree that the headscarf could use toning back, as it seems to be stealing the focal point from what should probably be his pale skin.

(As an aside, I'm starting to enjoy colour theory a lot more with my current project. Being able to go nuts on the concept with Photoshop's paint bucket is really making working all this stuff out much easier. Might even get a co-ordinated warband this time!)

particularly because he has the same damn bionic arm piece that I have been scouring the GW website for fruitlessly for ages! Where did you get it from?

Toothpick Murke is out of production, so your only real options are eBay or the Arcadian Smugglers Ring.
As for where Van Helser got it, I think he's been buying up most of the job lots of Inquisitor parts on eBay for the last half decade.

[Alyster Wick]

The head scarf is far too white (maybe a nice camo green or reddish brown?). I love the Fallout 3 inspired shotgun (it was never very practical but the rule-of-cool is in full effect).

Basically I have nothing original to add, just wanted to support the scarf change and let you know that pound-for-pound this is my favorite thread on the clave right now. It may not be the grandest but you're making solid characters with some pretty standard parts. It's inspiring and is helping to push me to do more with what I have rather than lazily slapping together parts for lame NPCs.

Really great thread, looking forward to the article in DM.

[Gideon]

Toothpick Murke. That's the fellow.

I think, given the brown uniform and the white skin, the scarf could actually function well if painted like a keffiyeh? A red and white one (such as the page image in the link) would be good - red goes well with brown and white, and a particularly ruddy red-brown wouldn't distract from the shocking white of his skin.

[Seargent Maxwell Forest]

The guardsmen looks quite nice indeed

[Saussure]

These are very nice indeed, Ruaridh! The Construct, with all of that lovely rust, is particularly nice, and I think the albino is exceptionally effective. Have you changed your painting technique recently?

[Van Helser]

Thanks everyone.

I have been working quite a bit on my painting technique in the last few months, with guidance from our good friend Robey as I signed up as a freelancer for Precinct Omega Studios.  I am much more careful with layering now, and have been trying things like non-metallic metals.  Baby steps, but I think I'm improving with each model I churn out.

The general advice here and elsewhere was that the headscarf needed a change, so it has turned into a bit of a keffiyeh.  Blue was chosen as a counterpoint to the red eyes.

And like buses, you wait ages and two come along at once!

Left  Right

The Scaly is complete.  I pondered for a long time what colour to make the loincloth... It was light blue before I went for the yellow.  Bold, but I think it's a good contrast to the armour.  What does everyone think?

Ruaridh

[Necris]

I really like the yellow, it stands out really nicely, I'm really liking these models and the way they are coming together.

[Gideon]

The Keffiyeh is lovely; I would never have thought of blue but it works wonderfully well. The Scaly's brilliant - the hood makes him (it?) look very B-movie slasher-horror style, which suits him (it?) to a T. The loincloth is bold but an excellent character choice. It also works well with the blue-green scales.

Top notch old chap!

[Alyster Wick]

Much improved with the Keffiyeh. Now that you mention it the NMM on the gun looks brilliant as well. I need to start stretching myself on both freehand and NMM...

Love the Scaly. Very bold choices with the coloration of the scales versus the skin and the loin cloth. I would have pictured more of an organic blend between the scales and flesh but it really works the way you've done it. I also think that the loin cloth works wonderfully. Great example of a little something extra that you could have easily just done as a dull brown and called it a day.

Great stuff, really pushing me to be a better hobbyist. Jealous in the most productive way possible.

[Heroka Vendile]

nice work Ruaridh, the blue on the keffiyeh really helps a lot, the plain white was just a bit much combined with the skin tone (or lack of).

[Van Helser]

Lastly then, the shapeshifter:

Right  Left  Rear

After looking at these photos I think I'm going to go back to him and try to get the different halves of the model to flow into each other better.  The idea here is that he is mid-transformation from a guardsman to some sort of more basic human shape.  I thought I had the blending done pretty well, but under the lens that's not so!  If anyone has any tips I'd be happy to hear them!

Ruaridh

[Kaled]

Very cool - it's a great concept.

As for tips, I'd be tempted to put more veins of colour snaking out from the green side across his flesh...