I picked up this bust from Scalebro, who sells the Blood Carrot Knights range of models. I had decided I wanted to try something different, to experiment, and learn. This bust really captured my attention and I thought it would be fun to work on.
Blood Carrot Knights
While I’m not going to do a thorough review of the product here, I will say the quality on this bust is great. I had no issues with the casting and the resin is a high quality. I would definitely buy from Scalebro again. In fact, I’m looking at a few other busts now.
Barbarian Painting Showcase
As always, click an image to enlarge it.
Video
I got myself a motorized display base recently and decided to do a short video for YouTube. I figured I may as well put it here too.
Painting Thoughts
There’s a lot I could say about this piece but I’ll keep it relatively short.
Purple Skin
For the skin I thought I’d try something fun instead of the usual skintones. I wanted something that looked cold, so I went with the purple tones. I didn’t want this guy to look pale as in dead – just interesting.
In hindsight, I really wished I pushed the contrast on the skin more. I’m always afraid to get too much contrast on skin for fear it just looks wrong. Yet, every time I keep it subtle I find myself wishing I didn’t. Time to finally learn from that I guess.
NMM Armor
The armor was an experiment with using rougher blending. Visible brushstrokes were used to give a rougher feel. I wanted it to look used and worn, and perfectly smooth blends on typical NMM doesn’t really convey that.
I also found the technique to not only be refreshing, as you aren’t aiming for perfection, but far more interesting to look at. Having big surfaces with smooth blends can be a bit bland.
The Rest
Pretty much everything else was business as usual for me. I tend to find a few things to experiment with, like the armor, and then do the rest in my usual style.
I like doing it that way so the entire piece isn’t just one big learning experience. If you’re doing an entire miniature or model in a new technique or style, then it can become frustrating. If you have to fight and struggle through every element, then it’s easy to lose motivation and interest.
So, if you want to become a better painter, then be sure to push yourself, but also don’t bite off more than you can chew.
Rock Base
Lastly, the rock for the base was an idea I had early on with this bust. The nice wooden plinths you often see are fairly expensive. The ones I saw were about the cost of the bust itself, and some way more expensive.
While I can see the value in a nice plinth, especially as this is a show piece, I just thought it would be more fun and interesting to do something different.
I got myself some diamond drill bits and bore out a hole. The bits were larger than I thought they were (it was an Amazon buy). I didn’t want to buy the right size and wait for shipping, so I made due with what I had.
The bust has a smaller rod glued into it. Then a larger hollow rod for the rock base. I slid the smaller rod into the larger rod, glued it all together, and it came out pretty solid.
Closing Thoughts
I definitely enjoyed working on my first bust. This took me a good long while to do, but I told myself I would paint it for fun and when I felt like painting it. I wasn’t going to force myself to get this done on some imagined timeline.
During this process there were days that I put hours into it, working small areas, and other times where I didn’t touch it for a week or more.
It was pretty liberating to work on something that didn’t need to be done for any particular reason.
I would highly recommend trying something like this some time for anyone who wants to do something different. Not only does it break up the monotony of whatever you usually work on, it gives you the freedom play around and learn new things.
I’d highly recommend checking out the offerings from Scalebro. You can also check out Blood Carrot Knights as well, who created this particular bust.
I love painting miniatures and teaching people how to paint. I also really love blogging, so I've combined those two passions here.
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This is stunning, it was great to see it coming together.
Thank you. Always fun to try something different like this.
This looks amazing! Nice work.
Much appreciated.