Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Hac Tao Inspired by Brom

I finished this Hac Tao Heavy Infantry trooper a couple weeks ago but never got the chance to take good photos of it. Looking at him now through these photos, I already notice a few areas I need to touch up. But that's not going to hold me back from showing him off on Remote Presence. 

He's one of the models in my Yu Jing collection that I rarely go to battle without and so I wanted him to look really nice. The model actually isn't all that ground-breaking for a sculpt but there are some lovely shapes here and there across the model, places like the chest, and thighs, the head. Corvus Belli's stock model has him in a very dark color scheme that hides these shapes, so I wanted him much brighter to accentuate those great curved lines and shapes.

In game he is a beast, but like all things Infinity, fragile when exposed. I like setting him up in Hidden Deployment and sneaking around as a camo marking before popping up to make a kill. I call it the way of the croc...being all stealthy and barely visible on the surface before leaping up in a fury of teeth and claws, before disappearing again under the surface. 

Not sure if I got the OSL effect right on his eyes, they don't quite look they are glowing but I'm still satisfied. For now it'll do, besides you gotta learn to walk before you can run, right? Is it just me or does his head look like a Pokemon?

The blue on the "energy ports" (or whatever they are) was a quick off-the-cuff splash of paint that yielded a pleasing result. Most of the time I plan out my color schemes well before painting, but I always allow myself to do little things like this to bring the model to life. 

Speaking of the color scheme, would you believe it was inspired by this piece of artwork from Brom. 
Image used without permission, so sue me. 
Hard to explain how but I think you might be able to see the connection. Brom's work actually influences a lot of my miniature painting. His work is great place to start when searching out a good color scheme. Although it's pretty dark subject matter, he often uses vibrant colors in interesting combinations that you don't often see while looking at miniatures. 
What's your favorite source of inspiration?

Hope you've enjoyed getting a look at this guy. Next on the docket is my Su Jian Immediate Action Unit..,more to come



4 comments:

  1. Oooh, I really like this guy, and the subtle muted armour plates really contrast nicely with the yellow helmet.

    Stonking bit of inspiration too :)

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  2. The OSL looks alright, I prefer my source to be alot brighter but it looks good.

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  3. Loving the subdued armor tones. Though the head is a sniper magnet ;P Regardless it looks great :D

    Much prefer your take on Infinity to most painters who emulate the producers style.

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