Rackham Dwarven Blunderbuss Gunner by Whiz

Description	:	This piece represents my return after nearly nine months away from the brush. I’m fairly pleased with the results. I would have liked to have added a few more scratches and blemishes for detail, but a self-imposed deadline prevented me from doing so. Still – not bad for a return. In terms of how things were painted, my aim was to increase the contrast in my pieces, working shades darker than some of my prior work and working lights up to white wherever it seemed appropriate. I think I fell away from this goal as I neared my deadline. The earlier painted portions demonstrate more of this aim than the latter. For instance, the kilt actually has white highlights painted across raised folds, whereas some of the wood highlights on the barrels, which were painted toward the end of the project, climb only to ivory. All told, however, the contrast on this piece is greater than most of my earlier work, and I’m pleased. Coming work should feature even greater study in this area. Anyhow, the figure was painted nearly entirely with Vallejo Model, my paint of choice. Some of the brown metals, however, were rendered with Reaper Master. And all shading and lining was accomplished with my old standby – Reaper Pro Walnut. Walnut really is my totally favorite color. All paint was thinned with a mix of 20:1 water and Winsor and Newton Flow Improver. I’m thinning my paint less than I used to, however, preferring instead to now “push” around thicker globs of paint on the surface of the mini, feathering edges and leaving centers opaque. It produces a smooth finish with nice degrees of blending and much quicker coverage. I won’t list all my recipes for colors. I couldn’t remember them off the top of my head, anyway, as I used over 60 different colors across the mini (I know. I counted the bottles I took down from my shelves.) I will gladly supply specific recipes for those who ask here, however. It would be my pleasure. The base is a departure from my standard cork base. Instead, I used a wood chip to achieve a striated rock texture as opposed to a granulated. I’m happy with the result. Pretty cool, if I may say as much. I’m looking to explore this rock type more with different colors and placement angles. Further photos are available on CMoN. I’ll add larger photos to DarkVine in a bit here. Kev’s got a busy week, and I’m not up on uploading to our site. He’s our tech guru. Look to them shortly. Or e-mail me at dhlavaz@darkvine.com to request humongous resolutions. LOL. Anyhow, thanks for looking. Best to all. –D.

Poll results:
Number 3 overall.
First Choice: 2 votes
Second Choice: 6 votes
Third Choice: 2 votes

From:	Dave Wright (orkydave)	(Fri 29 Dec 2006 07:37:02 AM CST)
This is fantasti. Seeing this makes me want to go out and buy this mini. a loveley, vibrant paint scheme.

From:	Rhonda Bender (Wren)	(Sat 30 Dec 2006 07:28:01 PM CST)
Superb job! It's a small mini and packed with detail, but it doesn't look busy and everything's visually distinct. I love the highlighting on the beard and all the details of the tubes and dials on his back especially. The skin on his head doesn't seem quite as wonderous as the rest of the piece.