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Mantis Mercenary - Clan War

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  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Philippines
Posted by Dwight Ta-ala on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 11:17 PM
Great work and cool tips, too. Thanks.

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 27, 2004 10:50 AM
NMM is an application of the way traditional artists and illustrators depict metal objects in their work.

On this very figure, you'll notice that a single blade presents two opposing gradients, going from a very dark blue up to white. The trick is to get as smooth a transition as possible between the two of them.

Specific execution depends on the paints and tools you use, but the real kicker is to figure out how the reflections are supposed to look.

Although, there are some basic principles I consistently try to follow:

1.- Always go from very dark to very light. Color choice doesn't matter, as long as the contrast between the darker and lighter end is very dramatic. Be wary that for the illusion to work, you should always pick colors that have the same base (like, you could do the smoothest gradient using blue and red on opossite extremes, but since those are practically different hues, you'd end up with a convincing "magical sword" instead of a regular NMM one)

2.- Treat each plane with a separate gradient. A plane is a surface that faces the same direction. On this guy, again, each blade has two planes on each side, one pointing slightly up, and one pointing down. Therefore, it has two dark/light gradients per side, running in opposite directions. The directions were chosen more for aesthetic considerations than real physics, but as long as you are consistent throughout, there should be no problem.

3.- Cilindrical shapes always have the reflections painted lenghtwise. It is a common mistake to treat curved shapes the same as flat surfaces. Curved surfaces require observation of real world examples, and then some imagination to adapt that info to the model at hand.
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: A Spartan in the Wolverine State
Posted by rjkplasticmod on Monday, September 27, 2004 9:38 AM
Excellent painting. Great detail on a small figure. Thanks for sharing.

Regards, Rick
RICK At My Age, I've Seen It All, Done It All, But I Don't Remember It All...
  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Perth, Western Australia
Posted by madmike on Monday, September 27, 2004 2:39 AM
NMM style Question [?]

can we have some info on that please, as my wife would love to add this technique to her methodology!

cheers

Mike
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei
  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: South Australia
Posted by South Aussie on Monday, September 27, 2004 1:46 AM
Another fine fiqure Errex, you have began stirring my motivation to try the NMM method of painting. may need some more info on this at a latter date.
Wayne I enjoy getting older, especially when I consider the alternative.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Mantis Mercenary - Clan War
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, September 26, 2004 5:33 PM
This is one sculpt from the Clan War range from AEG. I used sand and cork to decorate the base, and some tiny dry flowers tinted with inks.

The figure is painted with acryllic paints, and done using the NMM approach.
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