The Great Green Motherland Machines of Mikkel Ernst

At this years WTC one incredible Khador force stood out amongst the crowd in ways that could not be ignored. The weathering, the Freehand, the blending were all on point and Mikkel Ernst of Denmark walked away with the Best painted army award. When I saw this impressive and inspiring force I knew I wanted to share it with my audience here at LITW.  Mikkel agreed and had this to say:

I started painting when I was like 12-13 years old but just a few regiments of WHFB... I then started painting again 7-8 years ago when I became a dad (I'm 32 now) as it's a really nice relaxation process for me in the evening.

My aim has always been to paint armies rather than single mini's, but I've been considering trying to see what I could do if I spend the time on a single mini instead.

If I should pick an area where I would like to improve and has been wanting to for a long time it would be the metals... I think it got a lot better since I started painting layers of the washes rather than just soaking the area in it... but still...

For a FIRST ATTEMPT at freehand....I think Vlad turned out alright ;P

I think we can agree that the results army wise are seriously impressive and I look forward to seeing if Mikkel really does throw down and go all out on a single competition level mini someday!

Something I would like to share though is that you might have noticed the desaturated/washed out colour levels of the photos from the WTC.  I wanted specifically to include these next pictures for my readers sot hat you can see the colours with more clarity and really appreciate the finish:

He was also kind enough to include a few WIP pics giving a brief glimpse into his recent explorations and approach to teaching himself NMM!

 I included some pictures of my try to do NMM coz I never really learned it and would be awesome with some guidelines as well - and it's me trying a new different style (for me) :)

I really like this NMM look - reminds me of the Rackham aesthetic - which is also the style of  NMM that I enjoy painting!

 

Congrats Mikkel!

What is next for Mikkel?

Apparently a Cryx army though he is still working out ideas in terms of theme and colour scheme. He says:

"I like colors that pop, but would also like a dark and terrifying feel to it...".

 I know that I am definitely looking forward to seeing what he comes up with and wish him all the best with his future work!

Gobber Tinker Part 3 Final Pics

So in an interesting twist of fate - I have been invited to be a part of the Putty&Paint online community. An excellent gathering of incredible talent and inspiration - I am honoured to be a part of it! What is more, I have now posted this tinker, my Boromir bust and a special scratch built historical piece that I have been waiting to post the SBS tutorial for! I guess I had best get started on that for you all soon eh? ;)  Yeah ok - expect that pretty soon!

So aside from that here is the finished photo set of the Gobber Tinker - thankyou to all of those who have given such awesome feedback! If anyone tries a similar conversion Id love to see it and maybe host pics of them on here :) TTYS!

So I did a thing.... Gobber Tinker Part 1

So Im going to start by giving away the end of the story...

I built a Privateer Press Gobber Tinker model and took it to the always AMAZING Sword And Brush competition in Toronto this past weekend and won this year's theme award "Best Orc or Goblin" sponsored by the awesome folks at Big Child Creatives.

I had a wonderful day meeting up with friends, helping to judge many of the categories and just seeing a Tonne of fantastic work.

Special Shout out to David Faust Du Sablon who took both Peoples Choice and Judges Choice Best In Show Awards!




So now that you know how it all ends - lets see how It started. As many of my readers are aware I LOVE to make things.... MUCH moreso than to paint them. I have shown my many troll conversions over the past months but have as of yet to settle on a paint scheme to finish them all.  In fact following the painting of Boromir and my Prototype WW1 tank last fall that I powered through in the wake of my mothers passing - I have found it incredibly difficult to sustain any painting and have completed almost nothing for a year now. I really needed to get back on the right path so this summer I quickly painted a couple of pieces for demoing the new MK3 Warmachine edition and taught a class in painting at a store. With these baby steps behind me it was time to dive back in properly and with the Sword and Brush I had a clear (albeit short) deadline to meet. So I figured I might as well take on the theme piece for the year and went rummaging through my hobby room where I found the Tinker! A useful enough piece in the game and a characterful little guy I still know I would have to do something significant to elevate him to a competition worthy piece though......
That's when I remembered this little piece of art that I had seen in a No Quarter Magazine some time back.


I know I couldn't fit all of that on a medium base to stay game legal, but I figured that the inspiration could lead me down an interesting path! So I started by buying a second hand Cygnar Jack and chopping it up! I also grabbed an extra Rover I had and stole a leg from it.... to add to the cobbled together vision! (click on any pic to see it larger BTW)

I originally cut the gobber in half to sit him down to drive but then I had a great idea while watching Pacific Rim - and I immediately glued the gobber back together and patched him with some putty so that he could command while standing atop the 'Jack! I made sure to include all the key identifiable parts of the gobber model - the cart the scrap even the handles, basically I just left off the wheels and went from there! I added some brass etch details from Etch Master (wonderful products!!!!) and built new hips and arm stumps and supports for the scrap bin from styrene, wire and a couple of plastic Grandt Line Rivets.

A copper wire made for the top part of the pedal assembly with a random Tamiya bit supporting below. A Tamiya tow chain, some plastic distressed to look like wood, a bit of brass tubing, brass mesh, some Forgeworld brass barbed wire, some gears and hoses from DragonForge Design,  and a chop/reposition of the gobbers arms gave me this Franken-monstrosity!

Next Week - Ill show you the paint on this piece and coverage shots of the Event!