Procrastination by Numbers

[fatolaf]

Will this make me cry?

Its not good news I'm afraid..........

[cunningmatt]

I read the review...

[Crompton]

The way you've balanced that box makes me believe you haven't actually thrown it away. I bet you rescued it and hugged it all night stroking its exterior and whispering how sorry you are to it.

[cunningmatt]

It was too big for the bin, that is all!

I may have not really thrown it away

[jackhoneysett]

It sounds like you'd better just bin the fate cards Matt... apparently "they're made of fail and AIDS"!

Don't want to put you off painting the ships though. You might end up with the only painted version of Dreadfleet in the world once GW have pulped everything, it could become a rare relic!

[cunningmatt]

Update 42 – Thursday 2nd February 2012: If  a Picture Painted A Thousand Words... this Blog Would Probably Have a Word Count of 2 Billion Words

By way of a quick introduction, I should first say if you're reading this on some kind of smart phone device, you may not be able to see all the pics or read all the text, so log onto a computer quick – there's a lot of pictures, so put down that ZX Spectrum! Today's blog features some painting and then my guide to taking photos, so the impatient amongst you may wish to scroll down to get to the funny bit quicker! Enjoy!

In amongst all the craziness of anti-clubbing rants, reviews of 2011, awards ceremonies and closet Silver Helm painting (ssshhh don't tell anyone), I haven't got round to mentioning the other bits and pieces I've painted over my extended Christmas break (lucky me). Yep I've been busier than a scrap metal merchant on the East Coast Mainline, and have painted myself up a Tiranoc Chariot, and two Mages.



You may be wondering where has Matt photographed them? This looks like an infinity curve, well keep reading dear friend...

Those of you paying attention to my New Year's Resolutions back in Update 34, you'll know that I was only three units away from having painted up one of every unit for my High Elves and they were Silver Helms (check), Tiranoc Chariot (now check) and the White Lions (not checked yet). So we're getting close. Really sad readers with not much better to do in their lives may remember the two mages I painted up back from Tale of OG Gamers – High Elves Week 18 update dated Wednesday 4th May on Page 33 of the thread (and people wonder why I've started numbering the updates), where they made an appearance in the classic feature What's In The Box?, whatever happened to that feature? Oh that's right it was crap. Anyway I decided that given my army only has a single mage, Wizbit, it could probably do with a little more magical support particularly as I may be taking the army to a Storm of Magic game soon (sometime in the next 4 months anyway).

The "blue-cloak" mage I attached to a base from a Warhammer basing kit, by snipping off his slotta base tab and pinning him through the resin. The other I decided would be a Dragon Mage in training as he looked quite aggressively posed (for an Elven mage anyway). So I painted him with orange hair, a yellow cloak and added the baby Dragon from the High Elf Dragon sprue to his base. Baby Dragon doesn't really sound right, what is the correct term for a baby Dragon, Dragonette? Dragooonie? Dragonling? I invite your better suggestions.

Either way here's some painting guides for all three for you to ignore. Get scrolling.

Stage 1 – Tiranoc Chariot







Chariot

Wood: Khemri Brown
Silver Metal: Chainmail
Gold Metal: Tin Bitz
Yellow Detail: Iyanden Darksun
Blue Detail: 1:1 Enchanted Blue : Ice Blue

Crew

Boots, Gloves and Leather: Scorched Brown
Silver Metal: Chainmail
Gold Metal: Tin Bitz
Armour Trim and Yellow Cloth: Iyanden Darksun
White Cloth: 1:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey
Blue Cloth and Plume: 1:1 Enchanted Blue : Ice Blue
Wood: Khemri Brown
Elf Flesh: Dwarf Flesh

Horses

Rock: Chardonite Granite
Masonry: Calthan Brown
Horse Flesh: Adeptus Battlegrey
Leather: Scorched Brown
Silver Metal: Chainmail
Gold Metal: Tin Bitz
Yellow Cloth and Armour Trim: Iyanden Darksun
White Cloth: 1:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey
Blue Cloth: 1:1 Enchanted Blue : Ice Blue

Stage 2 – Tiranoc Chariot







Chariot

Wood: Layer 1:1 Khemri Brown : Graveyard Earth then layer Graveyard Earth
Silver Metal: Wash Badab Black
Gold Metal: Shining Gold
Yellow Detail: Layer 1:1 Iyanden Darksun : Golden Yellow then layer Golden Yellow
Blue Detail: Layer 1:1 (1:1 Enchanted Blue : Ice Blue) : Ice Blue then layer Ice Blue

Crew

Boots, Gloves and Leather: Wash Badab Black
Silver Metal: Wash Badab Black
Gold Metal: Shining Gold
Armour Trim and Yellow Cloth: Layer 1:1 Iyanden Darksun : Golden Yellow then layer Golden Yellow
White Cloth: Layer 1:1 (1:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey : 2:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey) then layer 2:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey
Blue Cloth and Plume: Layer 1:1 (1:1 Enchanted Blue : Ice Blue) : Ice Blue then layer Ice Blue
Wood: Layer 1:1 Khemri Brown : Graveyard Earth then layer Graveyard Earth
Elf Flesh: Layer 1:1 Dwarf Flesh : Elf Flesh then layer Elf Flesh

Horses

Rock: Drybrush Adeptus Battlegrey
Masonry: Drybrush Khemri Brown
Flesh: Layer Codex Grey
Leather: Wash Badab Black
Silver Metal: Wash Badab Black
Gold Metal: Shining Gold
Yellow Cloth Armour Trim: Layer 1:1 Iyanden Darksun : Golden Yellow then layer Golden Yellow
White Cloth: Layer 1:1 (1:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey : 2:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey) then layer 2:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey
Blue Cloth: Layer 1:1 (1:1 Enchanted Blue : Ice Blue) : Ice Blue then layer Ice Blue

Stage 3 – Tiranoc Chariot











Chariot

Wood: Layer 1:1 Graveyard Earth : Bleached Bone then layer Bleached Bone
Silver Metal: Highlight 1:1 Chainmail : Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Wash Gryphonne Sepia
Yellow Detail: Layer 1:1 Golden Yellow : Sunburst Yellow then layer Sunburst Yellow
Blue Detail: Layer 1:1 Ice Blue : (1:1 Skull White : Ice Blue) : Ice Blue then layer 1:1 Ice Blue : Skull White

Crew

Boots, Gloves and Leather: Layer Scorched Brown
Silver Metal: Highlight 1:1 Chainmail : Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Wash Gryphonne Sepia
Armour Trim and Yellow Cloth: Layer 1:1 Golden Yellow : Sunburst Yellow then layer Sunburst Yellow
White Cloth: Layer 1:1 (2:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey) : Skull White then layer watered down Skull White
Blue Cloth and Plume Layer 1:1 Ice Blue : (1:1 Skull White : Ice Blue) : Ice Blue then layer 1:1 Ice Blue : Skull White
Wood: Layer 1:1 Graveyard Earth : Bleached Bone then layer Bleached Bone
Elf Flesh: Wash watered down Ogryn Flesh

Horses

Rock: Drybrush Codex Grey
Masonry: Drybrush Dheneb Stone
Flesh: Highlight Fortress Grey
Leather: Layer Scorched Brown
Silver Metal: Highlight 1:1 Chainmail : Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Wash Gryphonne Sepia
Yellow Cloth and Armour Trim: Layer 1:1 Golden Yellow : Sunburst Yellow then layer Sunburst Yellow
White Cloth: Layer 1:1 (2:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey) : Skull White then layer watered down Skull White
Blue Cloth and Plume Layer 1:1 Ice Blue : (1:1 Skull White : Ice Blue) : Ice Blue then layer 1:1 Ice Blue : Skull White

Stage 4 – Tiranoc Chariot











Chariot

Wood: Layer 1:1 Graveyard Earth : Light wash of Gryphonne Sepia
Silver Metal: Highlight Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Highlight 5:1 Shining Gold : Mithril Silver then highlight Mithril Silver
Yellow Detail: Wash Ogryn Flesh then highlight Bad Moon Yellow
Blue Detail: *NO CHANGE*

Crew

Boots, Gloves and Leather: Highlight Beastial Brown
Silver Metal: Highlight Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Highlight 5:1 Shining Gold : Mithril Silver then highlight Mithril Silver
Armour Trim and Yellow Cloth: Wash Ogryn Flesh then highlight Bad Moon Yellow White Cloth: Highlight Skull White
Blue Cloth and Plume: *NO CHANGE*
Wood: *NO CHANGE*
Elf Flesh: Highlight Bleached Bone

Horses

Rock: Drybrush Fortress Grey then Wash Badab Black
Masonry: Drybrush Bleached Bone
Flesh: Wash Badab Black
Leather: Highlight Beastial Brown
Silver Metal: Highlight Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Highlight 5:1 Shining Gold : Mithril Silver then highlight Mithril Silver
Yellow Cloth and Armour Trim: Wash Ogryn Flesh then highlight Bad Moon Yellow
White Cloth: Highlight Skull White
Blue Cloth and Plume: *NO CHANGE*

I again infringed Games Workshop's copyright by photocopying their banner and then tracing it across to my banner. I then assembled all the sub-assemblies with super glue pinning the quiver, spear and banner in place.

And for the mages:

Stage 1 – Mages











Base: Khemri Brown
Silver Metal: Chainmail
Gold Metal: Tin Bitz
Yellow Cloth: Iyanden Darksun
Blue Cloth: 1:1 Enchanted Blue : Ice Blue
White Cloth: 1:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey
Boots and Leather: Scorched Brown
Elf Flesh: Dwarf Flesh
Hair Blonde: Dheneb Stone
Hair Red: Vomit Brown
Rock: Chardonite Granite
Skull: Khemri Brown
Dragon Flesh: Mechrite Red
Dragon Wing Membrane: 1:1:1 Mechrite Red : Chaos Black : Liche Purple
Dragon Claws / Teeth: Scorched Brown

Stage 2 – Mages











Base: *NO CHANGE*
Silver Metal: Wash Badab Black
Gold Metal: Cover Shining Gold
Yellow Cloth: Layer 1:1 Iyanden Darksun : Golden Yellow then layer Golden Yellow
Blue Cloth: Layer 1:1 (1:1 Enchanted Blue : Ice Blue) : Ice Blue then layer Ice Blue
White Cloth: Layer 1:1 (1:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey : 2:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey) then layer 2:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey
Boots and Leather: Wash Badab Black
Elf Flesh: Layer 1:1 Dwarf Flesh : Elf Flesh then layer Elf Flesh
Hair Blonde: Wash Badab Black
Hair Red: Wash Ogyrn Flesh
Rock: Drybrush Adeptus Battlegrey
Skull: Layer Dheneb Stone
Dragon Flesh: Layer 3:1 Mechrite Red : Macharius Solar Orange, then 1:1 Mechrite Red : Macharius Solar Orange
Dragon Wing Membrane: Layer 2:1:1 Mechrite Red : Chaos Black : Liche Purple
Dragon Claws / Teeth: Layer Beastial Brown then Snakebite Leather

Stage 3 – Mages











Base: *NO CHANGE*
Silver Metal: Highlight 1:1 Chainmail : Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Wash Gryphonne Sepia
Yellow Cloth: Layer 1:1 Golden Yellow : Sunburst Yellow then layer Sunburst Yellow
Blue Cloth: Layer 1:1 Ice Blue : (1:1 Skull White : Ice Blue) : Ice Blue then layer 1:1 Ice Blue : Skull White
White Cloth: Layer 1:1 (2:1 Skull White : Astronomacian Grey) : Skull White then layer watered down Skull White
Boots and Leather: Layer Scorched Brown
Elf Flesh: Wash watered down Ogryn Flesh
Hair Blonde: Highlight Bleached Bone
Hair Red: Highlight Vomit Brown
Rock: Drybrush Codex Grey
Skull: Layer Bleached Bone
Dragon Flesh: Layer Macharius Solar Orange
Dragon Wing Membrane: Highlight Blood Red then Blazing Orange
Dragon Claws / Teeth: Layer Vomit Brown

Stage 4 – Mages













Base: Drybrush Bleached Bone, then Flock with Static Grass
Silver Metal: Highlight Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Highlight 5:1 Shining Gold : Mithril Silver then highlight Mithril Silver
Yellow Cloth: Wash Ogryn Flesh then highlight Bad Moon Yellow
Blue Cloth: *NO CHANGE*
White Cloth: Highlight Skull White
Boots and Leather: Highlight Beastial Brown
Elf Flesh: Highlight Bleached Bone
Hair Blonde: Highlight Skull White
Hair Red: Highlight Bleached Bone
Rock: Drybrush Fortress Grey then Wash Badab Black
Skull: Highlight 1:1 Bleached Bone : Skull White
Dragon Flesh: Highlight Fiery Orange
Dragon Wing Membrane: *NO CHANGE*
Dragon Claws / Teeth: Highlight Skull White

STOP SCROLLING NOW. WE'VE GOT TO THE GOOD BIT

Photography Corner

The astute amongst you may have noticed a selection of backgrounds, camera settings and photographic ability throughout those stage-by-stage guides. So I thought it was about time I tried to get a bit more professional in my photography. To that end I've tried to follow the excellent photography guide penned by Annie, excellent in the sense that it explains her technique very well but also excellent in the sense it doesn't show any of the things that she's been trying to photograph which seem to commonly look like unmentionable male body parts.

In case you haven't seen it, here's a link:

http://ogforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=2789.0 - which you can follow if you can put with Annie's avatar grinding away in the corner of your screen, very distracting!

So I've decided to reattempt to photograph the above three models using Annie's guide, let's see if they come out any better.

Step 1 – Setting Up

Step 1 is the location of a flat surface, which is easily done by sweeping everything from the top of the chest of drawers onto the floor...



Then I have to construct my infinity curve which fortunately isn't as big as its name suggests. Sadly I don't have any A3 paper to spare, and no masking tape to attach multiple A4 sheets together. So I've made some attempts.

My attempt with toilet paper was ruined when I was savaged by the Andrex puppy.



Attempting to take the resident five-year old's artwork to stick together resulted in a fight leading to tares and then tears. Awkward.



I found the reverse of a roll of left over Christmas gift wrap to be the best option.



Step 2 – Location

Now I've finally set up my infinity curve on a chest of drawers and attached to my bedroom wall, Annie mentions location. What I am supposed to do, take the wall with me?

My plan to photograph outside, the ideal option, was largely ruined by it being 8pm at night.



The next suggestion for a well lit room is a kitchen, sadly the only clear space I could find was the fridge (I blame last night's midnight snack). On the plus side it does have its own lighting.



So with those options exhausted I moved the wall and chest of draws back into my bedroom and got out my lamps.

I have two lamps, one isn't really daylight but pretty close – certainly sufficient for simple painting tasks. The other is a proper daylight lamp but has started misbehaving, its angle poise arm now always returns to one of a couple of positions, rather than being angled as placed. Perhaps someone with some more mechanical intelligence than me can suggest whether I'd be better off tightening the screws or something like that. In the meantime I have to bury it with clothes to stop the arm extending.



So with my lamps positioned as suggested to throw light onto the model from both sides, we're surely ready to go?



Step 2a – Camera Settings

You may not believe it, but I actually use a digital camera not a smart phone camera for most of my pictures. Problem is I bought this camera when I was just finishing school, which as any of you who know my age will attest was back in the days when black and white photography was in its infancy and cameras were the size of a room.

The main problem, above age, that my camera has is that during an unfortunate slipping-over-whilst-boarding-a-ride-in-Disneyland-Paris-and-landing-on-my-arse-whilst-having-my-camera-in-my-back-pocket shaped incident, there is a massive crack across the viewscreen.



Unlike Annie this is the only type of crack I will be photographing.

This massive crack, that's an unfortunate word, this massive gash – no that's worse, massive hole – again no good. This massive imperfection means that it is both quite hard to see whether what I am actually trying to photograph is in shot and to actually explore the settings on the camera.



Still I have managed to find the setting to turn the flash off, and a macro setting (the small flower) that's good for tiny objects.



And whilst I cannot find the one that features various different light sources for white balancing and the like, I have found the "Indoor" setting (represented by a bunch of flowers – don't ask), which I guess is useful for indoor lighting.

Step 3 – The Angle, Distance and Holding Still

My current construction has the tricky problem of where to balance the camera, as Annie has said my hands will shake – it's almost like she knew I downed that bottle of Vodka this morning. There isn't enough room on the chest of the draws for the camera, so I have tried to construct a tripod (with one leg) out of Citadel paint pots:



That has failed.

Then I had the cunning idea, they don't call me cunningmatt for nothing, of opening up the draw and using a few books to boost the height of the camera and extend the surface of the chest of drawers. Genius I think you'll agree well done me.



Because I've still had the bottle of Vodka, I tried to use Dave's technique of using the timer facility on the camera, if only I could work out where it was.... Oh look there it is the clock based symbol.



And there we have our photos.



Step 4 – Finishing Off

I have even used the crop facility on Paint Shop Pro to crop my photos and remove the stray objects you usually find in my photos like Shakeaway Cups and pubic hair – often these occur because they're under the bit of the screen that's cracked.

As you'll seen from the billion photos already on this blog, currently causing your internet connection to strain, I have no problem using Photobucket to upload them.



So there we go after a mere seven hours and the trashing of my bedroom, lovely photos of my models on the infinity curve next to the original photos done on the floor.













To be honest I'm not sure it was worth the effort!

I hope you enjoyed? Any thoughts, tips or feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks to Annie for allowing me to essentially mock her photography guide, without being annoyed or kicking me. Obviously as I write this she has no idea I have mocked her guide, but I am hoping by writing this it would be too awkward for her to suddenly turn on me!

Just a reminder you can now find me on Twitter tweeting randomly at those who electronically pass by, like a drunk sitting on a street corner. So please follow me at @ProByNumbers those who have this week have been seeing sneaky pictures of how my first Dreadfleet ships have been getting on. Lucky them!!

[jackhoneysett]

Is it just me, or does the trainee Dragon Mage look a bit like Charlie Dimmock...?



(I don't mean that disparagingly to either Charlie or your model, it's a great paint job!)

[cunningmatt]

I think you're right that elven belt does give her a bit of an unsupported clevage look. Not sure what she's doing with her Tommy Walsh though - looks like he's about to breathe fire.

[jackhoneysett]

You won't be surprised to hear I wasn't actually thinking of her cleavage... but now you mention it, yes!!
I assumed the other mage was Tommy, isn't that why you gave him silvery hair? 

[cunningmatt]

The Dragonette will have to be Alan Titchmarsh then.