I have had the Forgeworld Horus Heresy Abaddon vs Loken diorama kit for a few months now (think I ordered it for release, whenever that was) and have finally gotten around to working on it recently.
Both figures in this kit are very dynamically posed and loaded with fine details, as tends to be the case with Forgeworld figures. Abaddon is the best of the two sculpts however - the pose, arms spread wide in challenge, just seems to have more appealing lines, making him the better stand alone figure of the two.
For this reason he was the obvious place to start. After a couple of evenings cleaning up and filling/correcting/re-sculpting any casting flaws, I had him ready to paint. There were a couple of areas in need of work which I suspect will be the same on most versions of this cast. Namely, the topknot, the arch detail above the head recess and the inside of the rims on the shoulder pads. All had some form of casting defect, typically from mould slip. The top knot was by far the worst, with the small metal band piece holding the hair being so bad I ended up just sculpting my own to replace it.
Like most of my projects, I am painting him in sub-assemblies - the head, arms, sword, body and base. I have started on the body, making reasonable progress so far over a few hours or so of work.
I'm aiming for a fairly reflective looking black with a hint of turquoise (to tie in a little with the Sons of Horus green - important for when I get round to Loken), with reds in the shading to add some contrast. At the moment the left leg is the furthest along, but I do intend to go back and add more shading and an overall contrast to the whole piece once everything else is nearly done to focus the eye on key areas - mainly around the face.
I am thinking of trying some source lighting on the face similar to the classic piece of Horus Heresy artwork of Horus facing the Emperor. It's not something I have tried before though, so there will be a lot of trial and error - think this is a good plan? Let me know in the comments if you have an opinion.
He looks excellent thus far! It is a fantastic model like you said. I too find that most of these newer character models (Simon Egan's in particular) have so much fine detail that invariably a few things are broken or there is a slight mold shift that requires some careful cutting a greenstuff work. I just got Fulgrim, and a lot of his little leather straps are broken.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of trying the light-source around his face, it should make the model even more epic. And it is always good to try to branch out of ones comfort zone! Good luck; I can't wait to see more!
Dante I think some light sourcing would look solid on him. It is hard to say though ATM as it is still very early.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you back on the paint mate,Abbadon is looking very impressive, the smoothness of your blends make me very jealous.
ReplyDeleteWell, you might not be updating this log very often, but when you do, it's always worth the wait! Love the bluish black of Abaddon's armour and the nice contrasts achieved with the much warmer reds and golds. I will be following this!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Monsterzonk
Cheers guys?
ReplyDelete@Godwyn - not sure about the Fulgrim model. The head doesn't fit right for me. But then maybe that's just the FW paint job?
@Alex - yeah I think I will go for it. As Godwyn said, it's good to break new ground on a personal level from time to time.
@Sheep - cheers mate! Good to be back :)
I know you have written that article in july but i just got my hands on it an i love the blending on the black armour...would you mind sharing your recipe?
ReplyDeleteI would love to know the steps you took for that blending...tks
Sure.
ReplyDeleteI used:
- Vallejo black
- P3 Coal Black
- Vallejo Pale Flesh
- Vallejo Hull Red
The base is a mix of mostly black and coal black and a touch of pale flesh. This is then progressively lightened with pale flesh before the transitions are glazed back with highly thinned versions of darker mixes and adding a little hull red to the last few dark glazes in the shaded areas.
Finally some edge highlights are done with almost pure pale flesh.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Andrew