Soul Eater Bust
Project Log #04 - Complete!
Model designed by Bella Nacht Miniatures (bust was a Patreon Exclusive)
Products used:
General Supplies:
Monument Hobbies Primer: Black and White
Monument Hobbies Pro Affix
Unfinished Wood Plaque
Hobby Items (Knife, Sanding Sticks, Brushes, etc.)
Bright Jade
Bright Yellow Green
Burnt Sienna
Camo Green
Dark Golden Brown
Dark Purple
Dark Umber
Golden Yellow
Jade
Light Umber
Magenta
Plum
Transparent Brown
Transparent Orange
Warm Yellow
Auburn Shadow (09241)
Bathalian Chitin (09292) - DISCONTINUED
Carrot Top Red (09242)
Clear Green (09096)
Clear Magenta (09098)
Clear Purple (09099)
Dark Elf Highlight (09165)
Dark Elf Skin (09164)
Dragon Black (09437)
Driftwood Brown (09162)
Highlight Orange (09243)
Khaki Shadow (09121) - DISCONTINUED
Linen White (09061)
NMM Gold Base (09302)
NMM Gold Highlight (09303)
Rich Leather (09429)
Soft Blue (09230) - Kickstarter Paint?
Burnt Overgrown Tufts
Blue Wash
Flesh Wash
Green Wash
Purple Wash
Red Wash
Other Paints:
Citadel - Agrax Earthshade Shade
Green Stuff World - Coagulated Blood
Privateer Press - P3 Piggy Purple Ink
Hey, hi, hello, and happy time zone!
I have no idea how I am going to write a project log for this next one. I wasn't really feeling any of the pieces that I have on my shelf of potential, but I thought a bust would be a good practice piece. That's essentially what this bust became. I often forget that I own a 3D printer and that I am able to have a bit more freedom with my printed figures just because I can always print another one. I actually have a box of misprints that are supposed to be for practice... but who has time for that! Anyway, this piece is far from perfect, and I even did a terrible job cleaning up the print. However, at the end of the day, I used this piece to practice a few things.
The first thing I wanted to practice more of is my airbrush control. I used multiple different layers of paint color, alternating back and forth from a Blue/Jade-hue to Bright Yellow Green. I made sure to keep the blues on the opposite side of the light source, while the greens and yellows were coming from the light source. After I airbrushed the skin, I went in and started experimenting with skin textures and freehand painting some markings onto her shoulders. I was aiming for an Orc Necromancer feel, so I wasn't aiming for perfect skin. I'm not sure how I liked how the skin came out, but it did give me the texture I was looking for! The freehand markings were okay as well. I should have added a bit of green or something into the "ink" color to make it look a bit more natural, like a tattoo instead of just markings. In the end, I lost some of the contrast to the skin, but I still kept my light source coloring for the most part.
At this point, I was feeling a little bit like I was channeling the Hulk, what with the green skin and purple cloth, but meh. I love the combination of green and purple, so I can't complain too much. The goal with the color palette was, again, to have fun. That being said, I also aimed to stick to a tertiary color palette (Green, Orange, and Purple). Green obviously took up a lot of that space, so it only made sense for the next largest space to be orange/red hair. I wanted to keep the leather more of a warm tone as well, and using the cloth for my purple color, I was able to work a little more with wet blending. This was another part that could have used more contrast, but with everything else going on around it, I made the fabric seem less reflective.
I will admit.... I might have been a little lazy on the eyes... But the glowy-green effect worked out! At this point, I basically blocked in the NMM Gold base colors and finished up with the leathers. Again, trying to keep in mind the color palette I was working with, I opted for orange-brown coloring for the leather, wanting to keep it a bit warmer. Some of the scratches I included were a bit too thick, but I was losing steam and needed a break. Always take a break before you need it, especially before doing tedious details like the many straps in her harness...
One of the last bits I did before finishing up the plinth/base was to work on the NMM Gold. I have to admit that for some reason, I have a much easier time painting NMM Gold, but I still struggle with silver. I'm not sure why that is... Anyway, at this point in the picture I haven't gone back and added environmental coloring to the metals, so it looks pretty plain.
Finally, for the base! I kept it pretty simple, but used the skull to really practice some techniques, since I love utilizing skulls and other bones in my bases. I added some grass tufts as well as some miniature leaves that I just bought off of Amazon. For the letters, I did a base using my reds and yellows to give it a sort of metal looking affect, and then applied Coagulated Blood from Green Stuff World to paint over it and add some light spots of blood to the plaque. Once I added the matte sealer over the top, it gave this interesting look of red metal. I'll have to remember that... The only other thing I did to finish up this model was add very thin coats of the Clear Reaper colors (listed above) to the NMM Gold to bring some of the environment to the metal, as it reacts that way in real life.
This project was a great learning experience, and just being able to paint without worrying if the end product would be good enough to sell or worrying about being 100% happy with the model was amazing. It really allowed me some freedom that I don't normally allow myself with models. I really do need to utilize my 3D printer better and maybe make some more experiments out of my 3D printed figures... We'll see! That's all I have for you this time, so until the next project...