This model has been near completion for some time. One of the things I wanted to work out was how to do icicles on the base. I tried four different techniques before finding the one I liked the most. The other techniques not only took a while to dry (24 hours), but weren’t nearly as convincing as I wanted. That’s what slowed down the process for me, trying all those techniques, and having to wait so long to decide if it was going to work or not.
Once I had that worked out, I realized that I wasn’t 100% happy with my snow basing. I won’t bore you all with the details, but I needed to do some testing on other models first. Once I was happy with the results on the test models, I was ready to wrap up the Sorcerer.
Maelstrom (Sorcerer) Gallery
Painting Thoughts
For those who haven’t been following closely, my big goal with this model was to work on blending, but to not spend hours on each single element of the model. I feel like I accomplished that with the Sorcerer. When you zoom in, you will see things aren’t perfectly blended, and I’m more than fine with that. For the table I feel like it looks good.
One of my things when painting models is that the process needs to flow. For me that means that things need to feel as though they are constantly moving forward.
The last time I worked on blending a model, aiming for a higher quality than this, the process was just slow and painful. I constantly found myself getting aggravated, and when that happens then the fun in painting gets lost.
I want good looking models, but I’m going to paint them in a way I enjoy (which will never be perfect), and in my own style.
As for the results, I’m very happy with how the Sorcerer came out. There were some struggles, but I’m going to try to not criticize my own work. We are, after all, our own worst critic. Instead, I’ll talk about what I really like about the model.
Reworking my snow basing technique was a setback in terms of time, but I’m impressed with how it came out. The snow is far more convincing than any of my previous attempts.
Also, I’m extremely happy with the icicles. It took me a week to work that out, but I can’t argue with the end result. I’m sure I’ll refine the process, and improve upon it in the future, but I think it looks good. If you’re wondering, the icicles are hot glue.
I think the eye on the shoulder came out well also. If you like how I did that, then check out my glass effect tutorial.
All around I’m happy with my quick blending technique as well. It’s going to take me more than one model to fully work out the process, but I have a good start.
Conclusion
There you have it. My completed Chaos Sorcerer in Terminator armor.
It took longer than I had planned, but I really did learn a lot on this model. Most of all, the model feels like my work. When I did my Herald of Khorne, to push my painting skills, it came out great, but it just didn’t quite feel like my work, my style. I suppose you’re either going to know what I’m talking about or not. It’s hard to explain.
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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Really nice job dude. He looks great. The icicles are really good too. Gonna have to try that myself
Thanks.
I’ll probably do a tutorial on the icicles at some point, like next time I need to make some. In short, I squeezed out some hot glue on a clean flat surface, and quickly used a toothpick to pull it to a point. I then cut it to length and glued it on.
Tutorial? Yes please!
Looks awesome. My Raven Guard Captain will look forward to challenging him. I hear there’s a sudden infestation of Culexus Assassins at the shop though…
Thank you.
He’s a bit of a chump in a challenge. I don’t think the poor bastard has come out on top of one yet.
Assassins, ug. Yes, no shortage of those lately. Between my Sorcerer fighting like a 6-year-old girl in combat, and Assassins, it’s been rough.
Very nice work, dude. I particularly like the eye and the blood drop on the shoulders.
Thank you. That’s my warband’s emblem, Disciples of Twilight.
Excellent work Thor. I really like the subtle glow on the staff, I’ve seen a lot of models where the glow effect is overdone, but yours compliments the model and doesn’t dominate the paint job. I like this subtle paint style, it keeps me looking at the miniature and searching out its intricate details. Great work!
I tell you, that staff was a chore. I wanted a red glow from it, so I worked in oranges and yellow. The problem was it looked fiery, not red at that point. I redid that glow at least three times before settling on what you see. I like how it came out in the end, but I didn’t think I was going to pull it off at the time.
It is more subtle than I intended, as I often work pretty bold, but it works for this model I feel. Thanks for the compliments!
Great minis and great base! You are right it is very important to have fun in painting before a perfect result in a standard way (look at my minis lol), however your minis are great so you have find equilibrium in fun and results!
Thanks.
Yeah, if you aren’t having fun painting then why do it at all?
Loving how it all came together in the end, glad you took the extra time with it. Nice blends and the OSL on the staff is just right.
Much appreciated. His first game after being fully painted saw him die on turn #2. Hopefully that was just a fluke and he’ll do better next time…I hope.
He was just working out the kinks in the armour, sure it will be fine.
Excellent work, Thor! The red on the staff really pops in an awesome way. You can be proud of the model.
That was the goal with the red. I knew it would compliment the other colors. The tricky part was getting it right though. A glowing red was harder than I expected.
Thank you.
What method did you settle on for creating those icicles? I’ve got a few snowy scenic bases for my HQs that I thought were missing something, and a few icicles would work perfectly.
It’s just hot glue. I used a hot glue gun and squeezed out some onto a flat surface. I quickly dragged a toothpick through it to get a point. Once dried, I trimmed to length and glued it on. Simple and takes all of a few minutes from start to dry.
I’ll definitely give that a shot, thanks!
I haven’t seen icicles on a base before. Great idea. They look good.
Thank you. They were so easy to do that I’m sure I’ll use the technique again when I have big enough bases to work with.