Aragoto Senkebutai! My very own bôsôzuku!!
Really happy to be back painting my Infinity miniatures! I actually started on the Aragoto Senkenbutai in September last year but only painted the rider. For some reason I put off painting the bike and got started on my Su-Jian instead. I had decided to make it bright red and since that has always been a difficult colour for me (give me dirty reds anytime!) I think I was a bit daunted at a subconscious level. However, after having been inspired by mine and Anders' painting meetups I decided enough was enough and tackle the miniature full on!
I really wanted a nice bright "Honda red" that didn't go into orange or pink highlights so I scoured the internet for different painting formulas and found a few pertaining to Blood Angels that seemed to do the trick fairly well. They usually involved inks though which is not something I usually work all that much with (at least not in this way). It's a technique I've been wanting to practice though, so inspired by Spacejackers guncrabs I gave it a go. I used Vallejo's Carmine Red mixed with a little bit of grey on a black undercoat and after a couple of coats it looked pretty alright. Then it was time to break out the inks. This was pretty much me just experimenting and seeing what worked and what didn't. Although the initial impression was a bit dirty, a combination of red, brown and black inks worked best. Here's the initial result:
As you can see it looks a bit darker and "dirtier" than I was aiming for originally but this was mostly due to lack of contrasts. I did add a few additional highlights here and there, but what was really needed was some contrasting colours to bring out the brightness of the red.
This miniature has a lot of detailing that might not be apparent at first glance.
It took longer time to paint than I thought initially.
Love the look of the Yu Jing Spitfire! I really hope we get some more releases
using it in the near future (Shang Ji anyone?).
As you can see the colour scheme is pretty much copied straight from the official CB miniature. Normally I try to avoid this as it feels a bit boring. But sometimes it just looks too good not to do it! The next one will be blue though, and if I get a third it'll be green. I think of Aragoto riders as very individualistic, almost rivals on the battlefield, so giving them that kind of racing vibe is the way to go. :)
Overall I'm really happy how it turned out and that I managed to beat the red into submission! It's fun working more with inks although I really need to practice the technique. This miniature holds a few firsts as well; my first 40mm-based Infinity mini, my first Spitfire and my first properly based Infinity mini! I really need to get my hands on some regular 25mm bases so I can start rebasing my infantry. However next up is the half-finished Su-Jian!
Oh, and on a completely different note, here's a thing:
Fantastic painting on the biker and the Crusty! I am sorely tempted to get into Infinity, or just buy some for use with Throwdown.
ReplyDeleteThanks Spacejacker! It means a lot coming from you especially. :)
ReplyDeleteI really can't recommend the Infinity minis enough! Easily the best on the market today, in my opinion. I think the game is great as well, but even if you don't play it the miniatures are worth getting on their own merits.
Awesome! I don't love the way my guns come out, they look too flat and black. How did you get yours to look so good?
ReplyDelete@JMW23 - Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe guns can be tricky, especially when you're not used to painting NMM (like I was when I started Infinity). All I used was black, grey and white in about three levels of highlighting.I've found that being liberal with your dark grey base colour usually works better than trying to keep a lot of black in the guns.
Don't know how helpful that was but it's usually how I do it. :)
Man, Infinity models are so cool. Especially when painted this nicely. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mik! Give the game a try if you get the chance, you won't regret it. Although I imagine you're rather busy with your new HUD. Hehe!
ReplyDeleteLovely work on the Aragoto Martin... almost makes me want to paint mine. Almost! :P
ReplyDelete