Red 'n rusty

In what will be a completely snail-free post, I wanted to show that Orctober is still going strong with the next two members of my orc warband.

I tried a couple of new things for these and I'm fairly pleased with how they've turned out, sticking to my newish painting mantra of "if I don't like it, leave it and move on, but do it better next time." With the ball and chain fellow, I've attempted rusty mail. Now, having taken part in a few re-enactments in the past, I've seen more than my fair share of rusted mail shirts and, unlike the rust that accumulates on exposed metal work, there's usually a lot of gunk on mail (woodsmoke, sweat and WD40, I suspect) which dulls that orange iron-oxide look to a dirty blackish-brown and, miniature in hand, I feel I've captured that look fairly well for a first attempt.



The other "new" technique is my second attempt at an 80s-style face-shield. It's not actually finished, but I had a moment to take a picture and just went for it. The crimson ink glaze is still drying and, when it is, I'll go back with some black ink to do a bit of lining, dot some white on the pupil, and re-emphasise the stippling on the highlighted bits of red that seem to have been flattened out of existence by the ink. Even without that, it's not too bad, but I think another five or so minutes will see it "pop" just that little bit more.

The shieldless orc must have been at an odd angle to the light because it looks almost ghostly. Odd. 

Won't look after his mail, oh no, but check out that snazzy purple belt!

While still not at publication standard, I think the photos are a slight improvement on usual, thanks to a couple of pointers from Sean on the witchcraft of "levels" in photoshop. On the downside, this means I can't blame the photo for my hurried painting. You win some, you lose some...

Rab