I've started this army around half a year ago, and with my incredible painting speed I've already finished 14,5 model! (Only 35,5 to go from the battalion box...) That's what you get when combining perfectionism with too many time-consuming hobbies. Anyway, these are some pictures I took along the way. My very first model! Didn't really have a plan at this point, except I had some turquoise paint and thought that might work. I like to paint all parts before assembly, so I can reach all the difficult corners. So these don't have heads and shields yet.... ... and this was the first saurus to have a head. Plus another skink. Some more skinks and saurusheads, and a cold one. Did that one mainly to try out the purple colour scheme, though I want to finish some more infantry first before I really start on the cavalry. Then I'll also remove that ugly grass thingy. Last weekend I finally got around to finishing the shields for this guys. So that's 10 finished saurus warriors, and I already have the shields and spears for the other 10. I'll make some pictures from different angles as soon as I get the chance. This actually isn't the final version, because I decided to add some extra gold highlights to the bronze shield parts after I took this picture. And this is Tictocaz, champion of the above unit. Used a cavalry spear and some small bits on the shield to make him more unique. As you can see I haven't done anything to the bases yet. I plan to do them all at once when I have some more models painted. I'm curious to hear what you think! Also feel free to ask for specific pictures.
Looks good! Nice to see someone else take on the purple on cold ones. The only thing I can feel that is missing is the lack of contrast on the models. But your gold/bronze is very nice.
Thanks all! Yes I've been thinking about adding a contrast colour but I couldn't decide and in the end got kinda attached to these colours Though I'll probably use more contrast in more special units/models. I plan to do some temple guard next, same basic colours but probably some white (bone helmets, lighter coloured shields) and maybe some brightly coloured details as well. The cavalry saurus will probably get some purple details to match their mounts. So in short the more expensive the unit, the more it stands out
One easy way to bring contrast to Lizards is to use a very different color for the scales. It worked pretty well for me and it really isnt that hard. Nice painting you have going there, the scheme is well thought, the painting itself is very clean and the models look really good! If you add some contrast, these guys will be fantastic. Basing, even in a basic (no pun intended ) really improves a miniature's appearance so don't over delay the basing of your miniatures.
i love that good old colorscheme. really takes me back to 5th edition as some pointed out, some extra contrast could be great. back in the good old days it was common to see a very very dark red (almost black) used for the weapons, and that worked great for contrast. might be something to think about. one could still do jewellery, and stuff like sword hilts and armour in the metal color you have, but with red/obsidian for the weapons. Also, i would recommend a coat of anti shine, because i like my models matte. that is a very personal preference though. overall, they look great
I actually don't think this scheme needs a contrasting colour really... But the simplest thing to do would be to just change the shades a bit. I notice already the scales look a more icy blue while the skin is an aqua green/blue. Enhance that difference; make the scales a bit more icy and the skin a little more green and there should be enough. Details are already quite different from the blue areas to make them stand out. The other possibility is to paint the spines down the back a completely different colour. Brown or bone I guess.
I think you could get a contrasting color just by painting the base with some yellow and ochre tones. They would look good against the blue and purple. But like Strewart said, it's not really necessary - they look quite good as is. Keep in mind that once the army is all together on the table, there can be quite a lot of different colors, especially in a Lizardmen army where you've got lots of things like Salamanders and Stegadons to play with.
Its really nice Like the others said, i'd love to see a bit more contrast. Maybe just a lighter/brighter green (they scales are green, right?!: ) to highligth the scales? - Keep it up and welcome
I wish I had more time for painting. Right now I hardly ever have more than an hour, while I'd really need a solid afternoon of painting to get any progress. I've been thinking about using a very different colour for the scales, but I wouldn't know which colour to choose. It also feels kinda natural somehow to have only a subtle difference with the skin colour. I've actually been thinking/experimenting quite a lot with the scale colour and I'm still not sure what I like best. My skinks have 'very' different scales, mainly to try things out, I'll probably want them (more or less) the same colour in the end. Here are some pictures (It's hard to catch the colours properly on camera): From left to right: Light blue from a bottle, something black-ish, something very slightly green-ish (similar to what I did on the SWs), and something slightly purplish. But maybe I should just cut the '-ish' and the 'slightly' and try something crazy for a change What do you think? I could also stick with the small differences but have them different for each unit type. Like greenish for the SW (maybe a bit greener than they are now, which is more like turquoise/light blue which at some point came near a bottle of green xD), blueish for the TG, purplish for the CoC and something else for the skinks. Using yellow/ochre on the base sounds like a good idea. Something else I've been thinking about, particularly after strewart's 'aquatic lizard' remark, is to do something with water. Crazy idea: would transparent nail polish work for small puddles of water on bases?
The only thing you have to be careful of with nailpolish is it will melt paint, so don't let it get on painted areas. This is going to be a little bit difficult as you will need to put a base colour underneath the polish on the base so it gives the water some colour rather than just black. If you don't brush too much, more just dab it on and with a fairly thick amount, you could get it to work nicely. My other small concern is you would want it to be obvious that there is water there from a 'tabletop' distance. I guess this will come down to overall plans for the base. If you put down brown, then a few patches of nail polish, I think you will only be able to see it from really close and notice the difference. If you have gras patches on the base, and probably a slightly different shade of colour for the non-puddle areas then it could work well. Avoid using blue/green for the water if you just want puddles, that implies deep and clean water. Give a few different techniques a trial on some spare bases if you have some, or find a piece of plastic and basecoat it black if you don't.
i like all of the scale colors you used. it can make a unit come alive to have some variations while still retaining an overall uniformity. as mentioned, nail polish can melt both paint and models. there are other cheap varnishes that work better.
I think you guys are thinking of nail polish Remover, it's made of acetone, thats the stuff that melts plastic and paint. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetone
Nope, acetone certainly makes short work of paint and some plastics but actual nail polish does too. It contains solvents such as acetates which eat water based paint, it can also include petroleum based chemicals like toluene which can react with paints and plastics, some nail polish even contains formaldehyde! I'm speaking both from the perspective of a chemist and a kid who once tried to use clear nail polish to make a model shine. As I said before though, if you apply it gently, don't brush, and leave it to completely set, it could be used on a base to make parts of it shiny. In fact for mud, a bit of melted paint to blend colours might even help the effect.
nail polish is often times based on acetone. thats why you can dissolve it with acetone (well, partial) edit: oh, and it is not acetates that damages plastics, but rather ketones and other not very polar solvents.
Thanks! If I'm going to try it I'll be careful What would be a less risky alternative? I've been thinking about what to do with my Slann. This morning I realized since I already have a name in mind that is a kind of homage to the Mystics from The Dark Crystal (the Jim Henson movie), I might draw some other inspiration from there too. That would mean a lot of earth colours, spirals and maybe some purple gemstones. I'm not sure if it would work though, and the earth colours are a long way away from my other models.