Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Graeme's Formidable Fimir - January's Rank and File #1 (190 points)

 January - Rank and File #1


The first month of my second challenge… and Fimir are definitely proving a challenge! I made the mistake of thinking the preparation of the Fimir would be quite straightforward - they’re big lumps metal, without too much fiddly detail - should be a straightforward dunk in Dettol, a quick file and/or scraping away of mold lines, and away we go… Unfortunately, some of the mold lines on these guys were significant, and some of the models are showing their age and had started to oxidize, so I had to soak the models in vinegar, then scrub them with a stiff (plastic) brush to get rid of the powdery texture and get down to a paintable surface. Custom-made bases were needed to hide their ‘sandals’ on the bottom of their feet. Add my first foray into green stuff joins to the list, and it was the middle of the month before I even touched a paintbrush.


Luckily, the painting went pretty well - it’s the first time I’ve ever attempted to paint my Fimir and I enjoyed it. They’re such unique models, with weird character, weapons, and stances. I pushed myself to leave my comfort zone and try something new - so instead of flat skin colors, I went for a mottled skin effect, to break up the big surface areas, using quite subdued, natural-looking colours. I gave the weapons a bog-wood and corroded bronze effect, to give the idea that they were ancient weapons that had been fished out the swamps.





Fimir Warriors


5 Fimm Warriors : 160 pts
Hand weapon


Now, you’ll probably notice the bases of the Fimir are not finished. I’m planning to do some epoxy resin water-effects. But this needs a few practice runs, and I’ll probably do all the Fimir bases in one go at the end of the challenge, to get a consistent effect.



Boars


5 Boars : 30 pts


The preparation of the bases for the Boars took longer than actually painting them - I flew through these in a couple of days and was really happy with the results. I’ve left thee for next month, to give me a bit of cushion, since it’s a short month.


January's group shot:



All-in-all, I’m pleased with how things went this month. I spend the last six months of 2020 in a real hobby dip, but the OWAC has given me a jump-start again and even though I have less hobby-time, I’m way more productive!


I’m not sure what I’m going to do next month - I’ve got some more half-prepped warriors, which need some green stuff work before they’re ready for painting. I could also use my wildcard, to make some scenery - which would give me a chance to try out my water-effect ideas… with the down-side of using up my wildcard very early in the challenge… we shall see.


Anyway, it’s been great seeing the other challenger’s contributions - there are some really impressive armies in the making!

Onwards to February!

22 comments:

  1. Cool skin tones! I especially like the yellowish with the purplish spots. The water effect basing will realy tie them together methink

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    1. Thanks Iannick!
      I'm still struggling to find a watery basing style that I like, but I'll get there in the end... :-)

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  2. Oh nice, always loved the idea of doing a fimir army but the price always scared me away. You are rocking it so far though!

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    1. Thanks Adam! Yeah, I was lucky I started collecting Fimir ages ago - the prices now are just eye-watering. Hopefully loads more to come!

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  3. A lovely post! Congrats on trying new things out in the first month - especially under a bit of pressure with the mould lines and all. They look great, and will look espcially awesome standing in some boglike water!
    Great job!

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    1. Cheers! The amount of pre-work needed caught me by surprise, but I'm going to keep plugging away... :-)

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  4. It may have been a faff but the effort certainly paid off. They look great.

    The boars look suitably bristly too.

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    1. Cheers Paul! I'm really happy to get some paint on these, even with all that effort. The boars were a lot of fun to paint.

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  5. Loving the variety in the skin tones!

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  6. Loving the real wet amphibian feel to the skin tones Graeme - a great success i'd say. Having never really seen these models before, i'm looking forward to seeing this army emerge from the mire as it were.

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    1. Cheers! Yeah, I'd love to build up something impressive by the end of the challenge.

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  7. Loving the mottled skin and the markings on the head and shoulders really add interest. Great to see Fimir with some paint on!

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    1. Cheers! Yes, really good to see some paint on them after all this time.

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  8. As Thantsants said the mottled skin really adds to the figures. Great painting.

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  9. A fine job on some old blobs – they sound like an awful lot of work.

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    1. It was a bit of a slog with some of them, but I'm happy with the results, which makes it all worthwhile.

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  10. Nice to see them all painted. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest.

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  11. Great work mixing in some color & detail on what are fairly plain sculpts. You really added some interest to the figures, and even with the mix of colors the regiment looks good together. Really nice patina on the weapons too.

    (In spite of the comments about plain sculpts, I'm a really big fan of the figures -- so I don't mean that in a negative way.)

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    1. They are pretty chunky models, with big areas of just bare skin, so they're definitely pretty plain - you really have to make the most of what there is. They're fun to paint, though.

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  12. A really rare sight to behold. I'm eager to see more of your work.

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