OTHER FACTIONS

PSIONIC MONK
This model was painted to fit a very specific character concept. He is a monk that uses the power of his mind to focus into being an axe of psionic force. I wanted to really emphasize the nature of the axe and I felt that object source lighting was the way to go. He is a good monk and hence the bright blue axe as this seemed to be the best translation of his alignment. More pictures can be found here.

EJHIN de VANTH
This very interesting model has been a figure that I have wanted to paint for a couple of years. From the pose of the arms with the staff to the amazing head piece this model is unique. I decided to paint her with object source lighting since I felt it was the best way to capture the various cloth folds and to emphasize the staff head. More pictures can be found here.

NECROMANCER on STEED
This is the model of the set that really drew my imagination. The steed is amazing in every way, from the dotting flesh to the fantastic barding. I went with many similar tones of green on this model, all of which are different enough to give the model a real sense of life. A new colour combination was to add brown to the greys for the faces on the barding. This yielded a soft purple tint to the grey...helping to make it look not so 'clean'. More pictures can be found here.

NECROMANCER
Every since I saw this amazing set of figures I wanted to bring it to life. It is absolutely amazing how gaunt these sculpts are. It really emphasizes the nature of the model in ways that I have not seen in the past. I went with a more subtle scheme on the cloth letting natural light bring up my highlights rather than forcing the highlight. I really like the way it tunred out. More pictures can be found here.

MID-NOR CYCLOPS
This model was the most fun I have had in ages. He was a real study in colour blending and tonal highlighting. So many colours and at the same time a real cohesive look. He is done so that he looks very rotten with bruised skin and multi-coloured wounds. Many of the colours used were added in blocks and then faded into the bruised flesh by center weight highlights. More pictures can be found here.

UNIT of CONFRONTATION ORCS
These models are painted in a similar fashion to the orc warlord found in Gallery VI. The worn NMM combined with the brighter silvers and golds makes for a very cool final product. One thing about Confrontation models is that each member of a unit is individual and this is really appealing. I maintained a similar scheme throughout but was also able to make each one unique in some way. More pictures can be found here.

ELEMENTAL of DARKNESS
This model was purchased on my return trip from GD Toronto. I do not believe that I have ever seen a painted one on the net and really liked the way it looked in the blister. I painted him up for our D&D game and will use him as an adversary for the party. I did lots of full colour transitions for the model and feel that I was able to capture the evil and the chaotic nature of his being. One of the best demon models I have ever painted. I really wish they would put out a bigger demon at some point. More pictures can be found here.

UMRAN KAL
This model was a blast to paint. All the large armour panels made for lots of areas for patterns. I added a grey/red to the armour plates to give them depth that does not show up in the photos. But in real life it is very evident. I decided to do the brontops in a darker scheme than what Rackham did to give the model a darker more brooding feel. More pics can be seen here.

PHYTHIA of AZEL
This model is a very fine model, in fact she is deceptively small in stature. She is an experiment in sheer clothing and iridescent [non angular] armour. I had my doubts while painting her that the end product would look solid when done but in the end she is a great success. She is very colourful but not in a way that is over the top. The iridescent look of the armour turned out to be very striking in real life especially when framed by the NMM gold of the trim. More pictures can be found here.

SHAKA ORC WARLORD
This model sees me use about every colour I have at one point or another. His scheme is still pretty tight but to have the variety of shade that one would expect with so much stuff I needed a lot of colours. Not really sure how an orc would scar but I felt that the pink/purple scars showed up the best. I also felt that the two war paint swirls on his chest and side were necessary once the skin was done. Odd that I should feel it needed more detail since I felt the model was already too complex. However, I felt this was needed to round out the savage character that the model represents. I also used many different kinds of NMM for this model. The orc range from Rackham has many different tones and bases to their metal and I wanted to try that out. I think that it has real merit on onther pieces I will do in the future. More pictures can be found here.

EMISSARY of ARCHERON
This model sees me using many varied colours in different combinations to achieve the colours used. Each colour was a blend of at least two colours with some being four or more. Most of these were colours that are very different in the colour wheel, that when combined resulted in fantastic rich/rotten colours. I was also able to use some of my new Vallejo paints to good effect. More pictures can be found here.

SPASM ADVENTURING GROUP
These models, with their broad sweeping cloaks, have always appealed to me. I painted the cloaks to look like oiled leather with barbarian runic art at the rim. The two colours of angular swirls really complement the models, adding to their character. I thought that the cloaks along with the axes would mark them as spasm warriors, mundane items passed down from warrior to warrior. As such their patterns are different but they all look similar. The NMM of the axes is not as bright as normal since their weapons, being more primitive, would not have the high polish of other cultures. I posed them all on rocks bearing the swirl pattern since they would be great defenders of their homeland. The female model was done with fair skin to emphasize her femininity. I also posed her over a pool of lava, giving her a nice subtle lighting effect from the molten ground. More pictures can be found here.

ALDERAN CRANE WARRIOR
It seems that no matter how the Rackham sculptors pose their models they look good. This hand on the pommel pose is very effective at getting across the sense of relaxed prowess. This undead warrior looks very capable of taking down anyone that gets in his way. Since I have not done a lighting effect piece in some time I decided to make his sword glow with an evil red light. I then decided to do a secondary colour to the outside of the red effect not unlike the effect used in comic books. The blue works so well at accentuating the red and allows a good fade into the real colours of the model. More pictures can be found here.

HIRH-KARN, The ENRAGED
This model is just crazy. Confrontation dwarves have got to be the most unique looking dwarves in any range. Their huge heads make them look very cartoony. This huge head also provides the painter with a great surface for doing good facial work. I used a new paint blend for the skin tone since regular flesh tones just didn't seem to be appropriate. The face was based in Dark Grey and Shadow Grey and then worked up with Flat Yellow and Elf Flesh. The tone created suits the dwarf perfectly. The rocks see me use the Smoke colour again, works great for rocks. More pictures can be found here.

This model is another example of object source lighting. The head of the necromancers axe is glowing with the sickly power of death. I based him on a pile of skulls [from GW] to further emphasize his affinity for the dead. The skulls of the base were painted in a monotone grey to prevent the base from becoming a focal point. I chose to do this model in earth tones but with a tricolour highlight/shadow on the robe and cloak. The shadow work with purple turned out very well, providing a sense of decay to the figure. While the glow of the axe will obviously attract your eye the little familiars were done to be stabs of brightness in an otherwise dark model. More pictures can be found here.

This model was quite a departure for me in style. Other than the highlighting of the greenish armour this model is done in very muted natural colours. I find it curious to try to emulate the style of the staff painters for Rackham, it sees me using very interesting highlights and counter shadows. The reason I went with a muted scheme is that this faction in the Rackham world are from a dark culture of torture, drugs and death. The scheme really works on this figure and the highlights used really bring out the detail of the model. The only bright part on the model is the lenses of his glasses. I wanted them to be peering out of the darkness of the model and I feel I achieved this with the bright primary colour. More pictures can be seen here.

This model is very thin. It was fun to paint the sword flame effect but I might have liked the model to be larger so I could have done larger glow areas. Those familiar with the model will notice that I painted the entire model in armour vs. the open areas left for skin. This is because the character is in dragon full plate and there are just no gaps in full plate. The shield does not match since it was acquired separately from the armour and is made from completely different material. The long sword is painted with flame since the sword the character wields is flaming. More pics can be found here.

I have been intrigued with this model since I saw the original one in the Female Painting Challenge a few years back. It was painted so well and was one of the first times I had seen a Confrontation figure. Even then I knew I wanted to paint her. Then they released a new version and I liked it so much better. She looks so damn good and her horse is very regal looking. The gold filigree of the armour and barding looks very good but it is a pain in the butt to paint IMHO [lots of edge painting]. The internal armour highlights combined with the gold NMM and the gray dapple horse make a great final package. More pics can be found here.

This was a labour of love. I took my time on this amazing model, lavishing it with all kinds of details and subtle tones. It was a real learning experience. My idea behind the rocky outcropping over the lava was one of testing. The rocks are covered with Barbarian runes and this is the place where potential chiefs must go to prove their worth. More pics can be found here.

I picked this model up in a small hobby store in Glen Burnie when I was there for USGD 2002. It seems that every store I stopped in had Confrontation models, while this is great for those of you in the US it is not the case for Canadians. For some reason, I have yet to find, these models are not sold by a retailer in Canada [at least of any size]. Enough of my ranting. :)
This is the Mutant Goblin model and when I saw it I knew I had to paint it. It is totally out of control and I really like painting mean looking monsters. This model sees me really expanding the painting pallet I use, and I really like the effect. More pictures can be found here.

What a great model. I can't say enough about the models from Rackham. I am sorry the picture is so bright but my camera is seemingly causing me all kinds of trouble at the moment. I went for a dark look, with black to red armour in 20 successive highlights. The base is a swamp base with a snake, lily pads and murky water. The face is such a strong focal point since the silver chrome is so much brighter than the rest of the model. For the most part the chroming worked well. It is a pretty hard technique as you have to imagine how light will interact with the surface to create a reflection of the horizon. More pics can be found here.

This is an amazing figure. The composition of the sculpt is really amazing so that it is pretty easy to bring this model to life. Some of the detailing is very small, like less than a brush width at the tip. As a result parts of the model were a real challenge to paint. I tried to do something different with this model, hence the grey skin and the turquoise hair. As I was painting her I was torn between two concepts, she was an undead spirit playing above her grave marker, or she was a fey creature. I am still not sure which idea I like better but I am very happy with the model in the end. More pics can be found here.

He is called, The Great Skull and is an undead minotaur for the game Confrontation. This model is a serious piece of work. The illustrator for Rackham must be one messed up fellow because this is a very disturbed model. The sculptor created a fantastic undead creature that is sure to appeal to anyone that likes the 'dark side'. The pose is so epic and his cloak is just stunning. I actually purchased the model just so I could paint the cloak. While he is very dark and brooding his two weapons and horns act as a trifocal point. This really gets the eyes moving over the figure. I attempted to follow the colour scheme of the actual model pretty closely since I really like the look they were able to achieve. I did a lot of work on the base as you can see. I carried his undead theme all the way with skeletons littering his base. I also mimicked the work on his cloak by sculpting it into the ground. This really serves to tie the model to his scenic base. More Pictures can be found here.

This is my second Confrontation figure that I have painted and it was a real treat. I extensively resculpted the chest and shoulders so that he looked more 'primed' for action. If you look at the actual model and compare you will see that I have enlarged the shoulders added 5mm of thickness to the upper body but I have done this while maintaining the original look of the figure. This model was started before my finger injury and has been sitting for 4 months on my painting table. Pictures from all the angles can be seen here.