Lord General Coleman Stryker Commission

This figure was finished a couple weeks ago but I kept stalling on posting about it.  I was originally waiting to post about this one until after Strategies held its annual Immortal Brush Painting Comp to ensure nobody saw it until the actual judging!  I think this is a safe way of getting the best results in a competition where the judge doesn't know what to expect.  You're more likely to get sick of something the more you see it!


The first comment I'll make on the figure itself is I underestimated its complexity.  Complexity is something I've been debating and getting better at judging lately.  I intuitively know complexity by picking up a model and painting it but explaining it to a customer interested in a commission is a completely different ballpark.  The best explanation I've come up with so far is "I price models based on complexity, quantity, and overall size where complexity means how many surfaces I have to be CAREFUL about basecoating and blending."  An example of super complex would be ANY skorne infantry figure or beast where I would first paint the red armor and then need to carefully coat the gold trim without "going out of the lines" on to where I've already finished.  An example of simple would be a Space Marine or Retribution of Scyrah figure.  These models both have large smooth surfaces without much detail on top of the armor itself.  A Chaos Space Marine, however, has trim EVERYWHERE and would drive me bonkers!

That being said, take a look at this figure now and tell me if it's simple or complex:

Most have probably already guessed complex as hell.  I think I got excited about how much blue there was without gold trim (when I'm used to painting Skorne I was pretty damn happy) but then after the blue was finished I realized how many other odds and ends were scattered all over the model including things like leather straps, lightning nodes, silver gears and details, etc.  Needless to say it took me a lot longer than I expected.

As for the finished product, I'm pretty happy with it.  I entered it in the competition at Strategies as I mentioned earlier and came out with 1st place in the Fantasy/Historical large category.  I particularly enjoy the facial expression that Stryker is sporting.  My favorite part has to be the flag and just the pose itself.  It's a really cool sculpt that I otherwise would never have painted for myself so I thank my client for the opportunity.  Of course the client is happy as well as he now owns a competition winning entry!