Malific time's Luz

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys well with a lack of a proper title i just had to pick something
And again i will be building and painting a figure from the Malefic time series that Nocturna makes
I will be building the main character Luz

This her on the box art

A bit of background information about the story
It is set in the near future but combines old and new post apocalyptic influences
Because i don't own the actuall books it is a bit hard to get a grip on the story but there is some information online
In the story society fell apart and the world is roamed by demon like creatures
These where sent out by Lilith a character found in several ancient writings and she is portraited as the first woman but she was banned from heaven after some bad behavior and found her way to the underworld amongst all kinds of other nasty characters
After society collapsed the story of Luz begins as she travels the world to stop what ever that tries to stop her

And because that is just about all i could find about the subject i will stop there and focus more on the actuall build
So once again this is the box art

And it is all packaged in a nice metal tin for safe keeping during transport


Every thing that is in the tin
The figure , a base , 2 big sponges for protection and a small card for inspiration i guess
The illustration is made by Luis Royo ,the same artist that does the art work for the books


A better look at all the parts


The head
It looks pretty good but the hair had a lot of flash in and on it so that took a while to clean with the point of a hobby blade
Allthough to be fair most was loose resin debris and with a whipe of a big brush most was gone


The body had some big casting lugs but those can easily be removed by cutting them with a hobby blade


The other leg with some positioning pins for the base


The arms


The cape


The base ,wich for once looks rather good

After some clean up i put the figure together

The head is placed with some white tac for now
It will be painted seperate feom the body as it block the access to the collar







The figure so far
Before it was preparred for priming

As for the idea
I want to build a corner of a church using foam sheets
The gargoyle base will be used aswell on the top of the corner all i need to do it to cut off the edges and blend it in to the wall
I will also add a bit of pavement to it with a orc patrolling the area
I have the orc on order and it should arrive in the next couple of days
So i will post a second intro by then showing the orc and some of the artwork from the books to set the stage for this build

Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Take care and happy modelling
Cheers
Mark

[Tiger213]

Good look, mate. Good start.

Nocturna makes splendid figures. Superb cast, nice idea with the church corner.

What scale is the figure?

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks Tiger
The figure is a 70mm or 1/28 scale
I thought about having a car on the street but that would be too big or the girl too small depending on your point of view
But to be honest i have no idea what size the orc is going to be
He is in the same scale though

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
Just a tiny update for now
The orc i ordered for this build arrived so now i can show it


It is from Tartar miniatures
A company that is new to me but the owner of the shop where i go for all my figures suggested it to me and even ordered one as this is a new brand for them aswell
It is in a weird scale though ,i haven't seen a 1/30 scale figure before


All the parts
It comes with 2 heads wich is a nice touch


While i was building it i made a couple of minor changes
There is a big squid in the kit that i didn't use and i had to remove a piece of the spear
It works fine on the base from the kit but i want it on fairly level ground so it was too long





In the end i decided to put a skull on the hook on his back
The squid is supossed to go there but for the scene i want to make a skull would look better
Maybe i will add a few more
As for the 2 heads you gey a fairly friendly looking one and a mean looking one
I picked the mean one as this will fit my idea a lot better

And as promised i looked for some of the art work from the Malefic times books so here they are


The main character Luz with her bloody tears
I didn't have that detail on the bust and other Luz figure i painted but i want to try it on this one


This shows one of the demon like creatures from the books



Some scenic idea
I could be wrong but if i paid some attention while playing "the division" i would say this is 5th avenue


More demon like dudes


Some more Manhattan scenery

In general the art work is pretty dark to make the apocalytic feel a bit more present
So i hope to get that in the build aswell
At the moment both Luz and the orc are primed and dry so i can start painting them as soon as possible
So hopefully i will be back with a new update soon

Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Take care and happy modelling
Cheers
Mark

[Lysus]

Figures are something I've yet to try but would like to sime day. For now I'll just watch yours

[Chelsea]

Oooh now this is cool, I'm interested how they will turn out

[SergioSolo]

Wow, amazing figures! I'll be watching

[MarkVerploeg]

Figures are something I've yet to try but would like to sime day. For now I'll just watch yours

You should give it a try ,they are good fun to paint and making a custom base for them can really add a lot to the figure itself

Oooh now this is cool, I'm interested how they will turn out

Well hopefully they turn out good
I never painted a orc before so it could be intresting to see how i can make it look
But i haven't decided on what kind of colors i will use for him
Green is a bit of the standard color but i think red tones can make him look a bit more demonic

Wow, amazing figures! I'll be watching

Both look pretty good but i haven't started them yet
I forgot i put my pallets in some degreaser and they still aren't clean
Hopefully i can start tomorrow

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So here is the first update for this build
I painted the orc so that means i have enough for a update
It was the first time i painted something like a orc but painting green skin was fun to do

So here is the orc

I started with the eyes
I used a yellow base and red for the iris


For the skin i used the green color set from Andrea
That has 6 green paints ,a base ,2 shadows and 3 highlights
At the point of taking this photo i used the base and the first shadow (wich i used as the base color)
I want it to be fairly dark so i won't be using all highlight colors but also skipped the darkest shadow


The first highlight color was applied
By using highlights on a smaller area each time it gives the impression that musscles are larger


The second highlight color from the set was used as the final highlight


For the clothing well rags ,belt and spear i used Vallejo's English uniform as a base color


I then used some flat earth for the belt and straps on the spear


To get some shadow on the rags i used german camo black brown
This was thinned quite a bit
And some Khaki as a highlight color


The belt was finished with a coat of thinned smoke
I also used it before thinning it to get a woodgrain effect on the spear
I used a pretty stiff brush and dragged the paint over the wooden parts of the spear


There is this shell like part on his arm wich looks like it is used as armor
I decided to try something new
I used a black base and will add red tones over this base
To be honest i didn't know what to expect but a nice little experiment from time to time is fun to do


So the first color was vallejo black red mixed with a bit of black to make it darker


Then some black red


A third coat was made by mixing dark red with the black red

and finally some dark red for the final highlight
I quite like the result of the experiment and have decided to use this on another build aswell
Black offers a different effect when used as a base
Not like the grey that i an used to


More skulls where added and they are painted in a light sandy grey


The teeth where painted in ivory


The skull where dry brushed with white
I did the same with his teeth


A wash was applied
I simply thunned black paint with a lot of water
Unfortunatly i came out too dark


So a second wash was applied this time with white


The metal parts where painted with steel from andrea


Some blood stains where added
I used vallejo dark red and dark vermillion(formerly it was called "red" on the bottle) for this


The same was done on the knife

all the little balls on his legstraps where painted black

And then it was finished
So here is a little reveal of this figure








So that was the orc
I have finished the skin tones on the Luz figure aswell so i hope to get that one finished today or tomorrow and get back with another update
Because there are only a couple of weeks left (thanks Si for reminding me ) i will put all other builds on hold and finish this one as soon as possible
Luckily i have a 2 weeks of vacation starting next week so a lot of modelling time is guaranteed


Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Take care and happy modelling
Cheers
Mark

[Lysus]

Some fantastic highlighting/shading work there, especially his loin cloth. Outstanding.

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks Lysus

[Les]

These figures are very cool looking Mark!

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks Les
The figures are both finished so the painting update for the Luz figure should be up tonight
And then it is time to make a base for them

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So it is time for the second update
This time it is about the painting of the Luz figure
A nice figure but some creases and details are a bit soft wich makes it harder to add the shades of the colors
But never the less a nice challenge

So here is what i have done to paint it

I started out with the base color for the skin
For this figure it will serve as the shadow aswell


The second color was added
This covers the majority of the skin


The highlight color was added
I think i need to mention i used a airbrush for the skin colors
In my case a H&S Evolution Silverline with a 0.15mm needle and nozzle setup
I would like to share the compressor pressure but i have the FPC valve on the AB and that isn't on the fully open setting so i can't tell but i would say about 18 psi (rough estimate)


Then the other basecolors where added
I went for a black base for the coat and part of her clothing
English uniform for the brownish khaki parts and bright silver from Andrea for the armor plating on her knee and gloves


I then started on the coat
I want a really dark brown
So after the black base i mixed some black and german camo black brown
Then thinned it and applied it in a thin layer


To start the highlighting i then used the black brown again but without adding black to it
To get the highlights i use it on the raised parts and in a smaller area then the previous color


The next color was flat brown mixed with a drop of the black brown
This was added on the highest parts only
And because of the black base the shadow is already there so the coat is done



So i moved on with the khaki colored parts
I started out by adding a highlight with khaki wich is lighter then the english uniform


For the shadow i used smoke by Vallejo
It was thinned and brushed on in a upward motion
This way it piles up in the creases and you avoid streaks because it is thinner then usual


The smoke was added in 2 steps
The first time for the shadows and the second to add some depth to the shadows but also to give a leather like sheen


A bit hard to see but i used some colors fron Andrea's black paint set to add a highlight on the black suit she has under the rest of her clothing


I then moved on to her hair
In the Malefic times books Luz has white hair
But i think that just painting it white would look bad
So i painted a base color using a off white and layered it with several layers of white but that was thinned to make sure it wouldn't cover everything


Final facial details where added
I used black for her bloody tears and in hindsight i should have used something else
Sadly a moment after this i damaged the paint beneath her left eye
So if you see a small stripe of a different color there it is the repair work in progres (i hoped it wouldn't show on the pics but it did)

And then the figure was finished
So here is a small reveal of it as this part of the build is now finished








And that is all i have for now
Next step is the base wich is ofcourse the biggest part of the build
But i am still working on the design at the moment
As it will be a church coner it means it is high but at the same time i don't want the 2 figure being too far away from eachother
So that needs some thinking for now
But i have enough materials to build something so once i have a design i can start building it

Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Take care and i will see you next time
Cheers
Mark

[Twokidsnosleep]

I dont tend to focus on anything male loincloth wise at all , but his eye and that sword are superb
Now the girl's loincloths are great!!!
You are just giving a clinic on figure painting skills

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you Scott

[Tomcat64]

Beautiful work as always, Mark - just stunning.

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you very much Neil

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So just a small update for now
I made the base for the figures today
I kept it fairly simple because i don't want the base to be a distraction from the figures
Usually that isn't a problem as there is only one figure but now i have two and they are a fair distance away from eachother so neither of them is in the middle of the base
But i forgot to make a bunch of pics during the construction so i only have a few


I used isolaation foam as the primary building material
To make the base i started out with a rough version so i can see the dimensions and plan some details


After the rough version i started to add some details
Like drawing in the stones and adding some arches above the door and on the rear wall
I won't cut them out though ,just to save a bit of time
I also chopped the Luz figure's base and glued that to the side
When all the parts where finished i applied some putty in all the places that needed it
Wich where quite a few
But i am not the best at this so i can live with that


And just to see how it would look i added the figures

So tomorrow i will be priming it wich i guess will take 2 sessions and then i can start painting it on Sunday
I expect to have it done in time for the end of the sig but time will tell
But i guess i can do a lot in a week if i don't get distracted by other builds

Untill next time.
Cheers

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So as it is the last day of the sig and i actually finished building it last night it should be time for the final update
Last time i showed the base before priming so today it will be a update about the painting and the minimal amount of weathering


This is the base after priming it in grey Ultimate primer


I then brush painted it in neutral grey from Vallejo
Not covering it evenly to get the first step of the shades


Then by using a piece of sponge i applied the second color
This is buff from Vallejo
It seems like a weird color to use on a grey building but it actually works


I then switched over to the airbrush and Vallejo's sky grey grey
It was applied in a highly random way picking out some stones that where left darker and some where made lighter
But mostly using the buff as a guideline for where the lighter patches go


A better look at the walls


I then used Ultimate concrete wash
Straight on to the foam walls ,no clear coats or anything
Just applied a drop of the wash with a small brush and then i used a big flat brush to drag the drop of wash downwards to resemble rain streaking and the streaking effect from the modern worlds poluted air
Something that a old building like a church suffers from quite regularly


I then added the last skull and the orc to the base


And Luz was glued in place on the gargoyle


And finally the 2 segments where glued and pinned together
Wich completed thid build
The rest of the pics can be found in the final reveal section once i posted the final reveal (won't take long)

Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Take care and untill next time
Cheers
Mark

[Les]

Congratulations on your finished project!

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks