Night Lord Evolution

I thought I’d take a moment to catch us all up with where my Night Lords are, where they’re going and maybe one day, this will be something interesting to look back on.

The focus of this little ramble will be the Aspiring Champion I have just finished. Have I enjoyed painting her? Sure! But there are also many things I would have done differently or better on her also.

The main thing I would have changed would be the time I took over the robes. I feel that the result looks a tad rushed, particularly with the blending. I think I’d like to blame my choice of brush – I found some of the larger areas a lot harder to blend, so used a larger brush when I should have taken my time and blended it together a little better. Patience is key in getting a nice finish. Another thing I rushed was the shading. I go into the recesses with Carroburg Crimson and dashes of Druchii Violet. This time I attempted to dab it in to try and give a bruised and worn effect to it – in the end I feel it just looks a little messy – but we’re learning!

I do like the stitching effect I’ve decided to try and do. Pushing this a little further will be something I’d like to pursue in the future. The divide of the parts is something I’d like to work on, as well as adding different skin tones into the mix.

The armor is something that continues to develop. This is the latest incarnation of the spot highlight/midnight effect I’ve been trying to work on. I am happy with it at this point – however, anyone who has seen the Contemptor I’m working on, there is another scheme in the works.

I’m particularly happy with the Power Sword. I decided to try the shown effect after trying something similar with my Space Wolf. Patience is something that was of great importance when I was doing this – something I need to remember in the future.

The face/skin tone is something I haven’t quite made my mind up about yet. Finding that pale Nostraman tone that looks natural, yet eerie, has been very tough. This was done following a basic version of Darren Latham’s techniques, but with different paints. Also, on this model, I think the head looks a tad too small. However, I am happy with the final look and I’m eager to test out and develop the flesh scheme a little more.

Overall, I had fun with this mini. At the end of the day, there are things I like and dislike about it, but both will be placed into the grinder to be developed and evolved once the brushes have been picked up once again. Lets see what they look like a year from now!

Thanks for reading,

-Tom