Yea i think using metallics for me gives it a much darker feel and i wanted the cryx to feel much darker and more evil as such, plus it allows me to paint them fairly quickly to use in my games
Anyway as a little change from all the unit painting, i decided to paint a warcaster ! so here is Venethrax. Took me about 3-4 hours and i'm fairly happy with him, the sword took me the longest as i kept changing my mind but im happy with the end result.
I think part of the darker look is the colour choice, i've been umm-ing and arr-ing about the dark-ish blue colour and to be quite honest i'm not entirely happy with it, i feel perhaps i should go towards a similar look to my deathguard as it allows for me to do battle damage and chipping etc. Plus would give my models much more colour for sure. Definitely something i need to think about especially looking at the models atm. It shouldn't take too long to change if necessary.
Sword is just awsome, but i'm a bit disapointed with the rest of the body, he's not popping enough imo (but that's just me ) and it's hard to see the difference between the necrotite parts and the cloths
It's a double issue with me about the not popping part. I'm not happy with the armour colour and so i probably don't paint it as well as i like painting blue. Which is why i've been considering repainting the dark armour plates to a brighter colour which i do like more, but i'm not sure what colour would work well with the metallics. Suggestions are very welcome as this has been on my mind for a while now since i started this project. Considering everyone has said none of my cryx models really pop and it is an issue, plus i'd rather have an army i'm happy with so i will repaint stuff.
As for Venethrax, your problem might come from the blue you're using, you're either not highlighting it enough or shadowing it too much. The metallics on it are really nice, and not talking about the sword which is just superb, but the necrotite parts is what lacks poping. You might want to try to paint it not as hard plate parts, but more as some glowy immaterial parts, like the armor on a ghost. I see necrotite as fumes, energy, something that glows a lot but that isn't real, or that can be touched. Perhaps it'll help you painting it to make it pop. (At least I hope it will )
Maybe it's a photo issue because to be quite honest i think my trolls pop more than the ones you have shown me. But i am still not happy with the coloured parts on the armour on venethrax, my warjacks etc but i'm happy with my metallics i think mine work better than those ones as i have a lot more contrast and colour variation. Perhaps you're right about the shadows etc, as i do feel that i might not be painting it correctly too. Perhaps i'm out of practice
Well painting was a little slow this weekend as i hurt my neck actually, i think i strained one of my muscles. So i think we should all be weary of stretching and looking after ourselves when painting.
Anyway, i did manage to try out a colour change for my cryx which i personally particularly like. I painted one side with some weathering/damage and the otherside clean just to see how it looks. The colour choice i am happy with and perhaps i will try and make this pop more with some increased contrast similar to how i paint power weapons but this was just an initial test of colour.