Tuesday 28 March 2017

Fiddler Mech part 2

Well, this post has been a long time coming!



I started this model last year. You can remind yourself what I wrote back then by clicking on the following link: http://thecolourintospace.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/fiddler-mech-part-1.html

It started like this:


I always knew I wanted to paint something quite intricate on it, something like a cross between a writhing mass of stuff and a canal boat...

The first effort was disappointing. Too much fuss and not enough planning. I liked the name on the bodywork, but it had to go in favour of something simpler.


So I planned it out a bit and went for a tentacl-ish pattern that flowed better.
...and there it stayed for months as I slowly added details here and there and wondered what to do to finish it off. I liked the design but it looked to clean and flat.


Until I thought of a new way to weather the thing. A thinned mid-dark grey applied around the edges followed by successively lighter greys in really thin strokes. The idea was to make it look like years worth of wear and tear. It also meant I didn't need to cover the model in tentacle designs too.


The test on the leg looked ok, so I carried on with the rest of the model. It was a bit daunting at first, scribbling over mycarefully laid out designs, but it also served to hold me bac from weathering too much of the surfaces.



I tried to keep the wear to exposed areas with more inaccessible places just shaded. In several places I added darker lines edged with white to represent deepr scars.


Not too much weathering was applied to the weapons. I think they would get regular services.










I'm happy with that.

I have another with a different loadout, not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. I don't want them to be the same, I think the model has too much character that would be lost if it was too "production line".

Possibly green. Certainly tentacley designs, but different. I may try to pose the legs so that the fiddly arm parts can reach the ground. Perhaps have it lifting something. We'll see.

The fiddler is such a great model. A lovely blend of insect, alien, robot and the threat of imminent annihilation. WhIt's nicely poseable too, and it just looks like it means business.

If you fancy your own Fiddlers (and why wouldn't you?) you can get some here: https://whitedragonminiatures.co.uk/the-fiddler-mech/

8 comments:

  1. Great stuff. Cant wait for the next one :)

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    1. Thanks! Hopefully it won't be as long as this one!

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  2. It's lovely, truely. Throwing my idea into the hat I'd base the patterns upon the load out you give the mech. So if it's a close combat beast then razor sharp barbs on the tentacle design might do the job.

    Oh, and make it red!

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    1. Thank you!
      The other one is all guns too. Smaller guns, one looks like an energy weapon perhaps.
      I like the idea of barbs though, and I'll take one vote for red !
      :)

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  3. Bloody amazing freehand, even if you scraped most of it, it's still much better than I can do :)

    The battle damage is very effective too! A metric tonne of praise be upon thee.

    As far as the next Mech's colour scheme goes?.......mmmmmmm.....purple! You can't go wrong with purple :P

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  4. Thanks Mr Papafakis. It's always worrying when you start to paint over careful freehand. If the weathering didn't look right, I would have been left with a tricky tidy up job! Thankfully it went ok.
    Purple? Fair enough. That's one each for purple, red and green at the moment. :)

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