Yep, big fella at the front is a GCT Studios Bushido Sumo. He's called Mikio on their site and is being used as a monk in my Oriental Adventures party. Monks in D&D are usually portreyed as being lithe Bruce Lee types, they fight with their fists and eschew armour for mobility. Well, thought I, why can't the rules support a different sort of monk? A bit of fiddling later and it turns out that Sumo wrestlers make perfect Monks, just stear clear of the nippy feats! But now the important bit, painting:
Once again, GCT have outdone themselves on the sculpting, this fella is a dream to paint. I started, obviously enough with the skin. Unusually for me a white undercoat was the primer of choice. I knew that the tone of the skin and the vibrancy of it would make or break this paint job. The method for the skin was the same as the 54mm Ninja and seems to have worked nicely. Essentially adding some Vallejo Bronze Fleshtone to your normal skin tone knocks the skin colour that step sallower needed for oriental flesh. Hmm, that was a complex sentence...
The various scars and scratches are easy these days, just give them a basecoat of Bugman Glow and highlight with a little bone added, simples. What was less simple was the tattoo. Now, I cannot give you a blow by blow of what I used, how and when as it was one of those organic processes. I can however tell you the philosophy behind the process. I started by laying out the orange carp in roughly the right positions. Every paint colour used had a little flesh colour mixed in. I then blocked in the dark turquoise water and started adding abstract splashes and swirls in a whiter shade of the water colour. I then added the yellow-ey fins of the carp and the darker details of their faces. The scales were hinted at with a stippling of lighter shades of the carp base colour. Finally I added some lotus-ish flowers floating in the water as there wasn't enough colour by that point. The last stage was a bit of a "squeeky bum time" as the Doctor would call it. I glazed the whole thing with a couple of VERY thin layers of the basic fleshtone. This knocked down the vibrancy of the colours and seemingly pressed the design beneath the top layer of skin. Turned out alright in the end.
It's easy with tattoos and the like to try to put too much detail in and loose the overall sense of the design in a mess of lines and details. Instead I went for almost an "abstract" version of the classic carp sleeve, something that gives the impression of the design and allows the viewer to fill in the blanks.
Turns out there isn't much more to tell on this fella. The skin and tattoo are pretty much the whole story! With the Oriental Adventures party complete I am a step closer to having my mad plan of possessing a model for every single class in the Pathfinder rules set! The workometer looks like this:
Need to decide which party to paint next really. I'm drawn to Group 2 as that means that I will be working on the stunning Studio McVey Seraphine model as an Oracle. Sounds like my mind is made up folks! Until next time,
TTFN
Sumo Wrestler + Slow Fall = LOL
ReplyDeleteSumo Wrestler + Flurry of Blows = E. Honda from Street Fighter
The math does not lie. Your idea is awesome. The tattoo came out really well too. I have a couple of models with sleeves coming up, and you've give me another idea for how I'll paint the wind bars.