My First Knock-off Miniature: Paladin Variant (Painted Later Nov, 18)
Disclaimer: I do not endorse knockoff miniatures of any variety. They take profits away from the hard working creators and lower chances of these creators realizing their dream. I do not knowingly purchase knock-off miniatures and my purchase of KDM knock-off miniatures was done before knowing what KDM was. I have since only purchased from the registered retailer or from those whom have purchased from said retailer. Now that that's out of the way...
By the time I grabbed my brushes again, Turkey Day had just past, and I just wanted to try something new. So after the Sunstalker, I wanted to do a bit of practicing without caring so much about mucking things up so I grabbed my knockoff Paladin Variant miniature and went to town.
Before I knew fully about Kingdom Death, I had been randomly searching the web for interesting miniatures to paint, and I ran across a few sellers on eBay selling really detailed, sexualized miniatures (sound familiar?). I saw the price tag, thought, "that's a steal" and bought a few, not knowing fully what I was doing. Long story short, I found out about KDM though the fakes. Before I even purchased my first miniature from the Kingdom Death Store, I had already ordered a few (although it took the nice folks in Hong Kong over a month and a half to actually get me my order).
The Paladin Variant was a decent exercise overall. I tried out painting eyes with some success for the first time, so I'm happy with that. The shield was an excellent exercise and I'm pretty happy with the results. I painted it with a gold metallic base then used darker washes to give it depth. I also added varying degrees for some accents (the cloth, the eyes, the teeth) and used dark washes and dry-brush techniques for highlights. Still, there were some notable shortcomings that aren't solely attributed to my limited skill.
As usual, I tried to mimic the artist rendition of this character, starting first with the skin tone. I'm fairly happy with the paint job, and my biggest gripe is with the shoddy creases on the miniature itself (I tried sanding them down when I first got the miniature but did a piss poor job; this was one of the first miniatures I ever put together). I did a better job than I've done in the past with the detail paintings. The bra straps on the back look pretty good, and I painted the thong with very minimal black splotches going into the skin coloring.
With what little armor there is, I went with a gold metallic hue and then did strong washes for the darker detailing (similar to the shield). The details came out surprisingly well, especially given that I wasn't expecting the details to pop out as well as they did (again, cheap knock-off model). Also, while I put in minimal effort for the sword - it's bendy for crying out loud - it could look a lot worse.
Lastly, I wanted to show off the custom base a bit. Again, this base was purchased from and Ebay seller Ordoshelican. This is the second time I've used the seller's bases, and I think it's worth taking the time to mention. Hopefully by seeing this, it will increase the sellers sales and provide incentive to create new and better custom bases for us KDM fans in the future.
So while I'm not completely satisfied with this miniature, I must say, it could have come out worse. I recently purchased an official KDM Paladin miniature from a third party seller on Ebay so maybe in the future I can do a comparison blog post. That will be pretty fun!
By the time I grabbed my brushes again, Turkey Day had just past, and I just wanted to try something new. So after the Sunstalker, I wanted to do a bit of practicing without caring so much about mucking things up so I grabbed my knockoff Paladin Variant miniature and went to town.
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| Presenting: my first KDM knock-off painted miniature! |
Before I knew fully about Kingdom Death, I had been randomly searching the web for interesting miniatures to paint, and I ran across a few sellers on eBay selling really detailed, sexualized miniatures (sound familiar?). I saw the price tag, thought, "that's a steal" and bought a few, not knowing fully what I was doing. Long story short, I found out about KDM though the fakes. Before I even purchased my first miniature from the Kingdom Death Store, I had already ordered a few (although it took the nice folks in Hong Kong over a month and a half to actually get me my order).
I've learned my lesson since then - never order knockoffs. Still, I was left with a few lower quality KDM miniatures. The end result of this painting session was pretty good, but I'm not as happy about the finished result as I have been with my other KDM miniatures.
The Paladin Variant was a decent exercise overall. I tried out painting eyes with some success for the first time, so I'm happy with that. The shield was an excellent exercise and I'm pretty happy with the results. I painted it with a gold metallic base then used darker washes to give it depth. I also added varying degrees for some accents (the cloth, the eyes, the teeth) and used dark washes and dry-brush techniques for highlights. Still, there were some notable shortcomings that aren't solely attributed to my limited skill.
As usual, I tried to mimic the artist rendition of this character, starting first with the skin tone. I'm fairly happy with the paint job, and my biggest gripe is with the shoddy creases on the miniature itself (I tried sanding them down when I first got the miniature but did a piss poor job; this was one of the first miniatures I ever put together). I did a better job than I've done in the past with the detail paintings. The bra straps on the back look pretty good, and I painted the thong with very minimal black splotches going into the skin coloring.
One other aspect that I'm pretty happy with: for whatever reason, I've been having a time with really giving good depth to the color of my miniature's hair. For the Paladin Variant, I went with a blondish base coat, and was able to do a decent enough job giving depth with washes and dry-brushing.
Lastly, I wanted to show off the custom base a bit. Again, this base was purchased from and Ebay seller Ordoshelican. This is the second time I've used the seller's bases, and I think it's worth taking the time to mention. Hopefully by seeing this, it will increase the sellers sales and provide incentive to create new and better custom bases for us KDM fans in the future.
Anyway, I wanted to go simple with the base, and so went with a dark gray gravel coat while going sandy tan with the stone faces. I did a bit of highlighting to accent the stone faces. I think that I did a better job with my previous custom base, but still, I'm glad to have had the chance to practice.
So while I'm not completely satisfied with this miniature, I must say, it could have come out worse. I recently purchased an official KDM Paladin miniature from a third party seller on Ebay so maybe in the future I can do a comparison blog post. That will be pretty fun!
So as always, I hope that this showcase is enjoyed and please feel free share any comments or critiques. If you find my blog enjoyable, be sure to follow or subscribe.
Thanks much!
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