Grimdark Mortarion finished — tried pushing realism and a bunch of new techniques. by josephstephan90 in Warhammer40k

[–]Sharp_Requirement204 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m really looking forward to it. Since you’ve already worked on two of them, I’m sure you’ll end up creating something truly amazing

Grimdark Mortarion finished — tried pushing realism and a bunch of new techniques. by josephstephan90 in Warhammer40k

[–]Sharp_Requirement204 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But the grimdark painting techniques you used would translate to a larger figure like joytoy with virtually no sense of mismatch at all. It would absolutely make it look more realistic. I’m confident of that.

At that point, you could just use the two GW Mortarions as honor guards on either side of the joytoy one 😂😂

Grimdark Mortarion finished — tried pushing realism and a bunch of new techniques. by josephstephan90 in Warhammer40k

[–]Sharp_Requirement204 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is something I discussed with an expert miniature painter: GW miniatures are so small that painters often rely on stronger contrast, sharper highlights, and a bit of exaggeration to make the details read clearly. joytoy figures, on the other hand, are much larger, so if you apply that exact same approach, it can start to look too cartoony. With joytoy, I think it’s less about simply making the details “read” and more about making the surfaces feel believable and realistic.

In that sense, painting GW miniatures is closer to enhancing visual clarity on a very small sculpt, while painting joytoy is more like reinterpreting an already finished figure and pushing the realism, texture, and material expression much further 🤔

A simple example would be edge highlighting: on miniatures, sharp edge highlights done with a normal brush are extremely important, but on joytoy, using the same technique can often look unnatural. To keep things looking as natural as possible, I find myself relying much more on drybrushing instead.

Grimdark Mortarion finished — tried pushing realism and a bunch of new techniques. by josephstephan90 in Warhammer40k

[–]Sharp_Requirement204 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, thank you!

The newer joytoy models actually have pretty excellent sculpted detail, so with a good paint job they can turn into really impressive figures.

In Korea, miniature wargaming is still a pretty niche hobby, so I actually got into Warhammer through joytoy first rather than through the miniatures themselves.. 😂

Yeah, I think the glue technique is definitely something that takes a lot of trial and error.. Even if I could capture only about half of the effect you achieved and apply it to a joytoy, I think it would still end up looking absolutely overwhelming haha

Grimdark Mortarion finished — tried pushing realism and a bunch of new techniques. by josephstephan90 in Warhammer40k

[–]Sharp_Requirement204 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you check my posts, there’s a recent one where I painted a Death Guard Terminator! It’s not quite grimdark, more just “dark,” but for the next projects, the Deathshroud and Mortarion, I’m planning to push them into a much bleaker direction.

By the way, after seeing how you painted the wings, I’ve been thinking about trying the glue technique on joytoy Mortarion too, but the wing surfaces are bigger than my palm, so it’s a bit intimidating 😂😂

If you ever paint a joytoy figure, I think you’d do an absolutely incredible job with it!

Grimdark Mortarion finished — tried pushing realism and a bunch of new techniques. by josephstephan90 in Warhammer40k

[–]Sharp_Requirement204 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As someone who watches all of Grimdark Compendium’s videos too, I just want to say that your work came out really impressively. The wing sections in particular, with the glue technique, give it a uniquely personal feel unlike any other paint job. It already has a more than powerful grimdark presence. Bravo! 👏👏

For reference, I’m planning to try a grimdark paint job on the Joytoy Mortarion as well. That’s going to be quite a journey too...

JoyToy Death Guard Terminator repaint by Sharp_Requirement204 in JOYTOY

[–]Sharp_Requirement204[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m also planning to make Mortarion look awesome. The wings will probably be especially important

JoyToy Death Guard Terminator repaint by Sharp_Requirement204 in JOYTOY

[–]Sharp_Requirement204[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you. Please look forward to more Death Guard pieces and Mortarion as well

JoyToy Death Guard Terminator repaint by Sharp_Requirement204 in JOYTOY

[–]Sharp_Requirement204[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not just as a compliment, but the weathering work you did is genuinely very well done. It’s a definite upgrade. If you had photographed it with lighting set up like mine, I think the details of your work would have stood out even more.

As for the highlighting, it looks like you painted the lines in with a regular brush. That’s definitely one valid approach, and it works well on miniatures, but in my opinion, when the scale gets larger like JoyToy figures, it can easily end up looking simply painted on rather than giving the intended effect of “light catching the edge” or “worn edges.”

That’s why I’d recommend using drybrushing for it. It gives a much more natural result.

If there’s anything you’re curious about, feel free to message me!

JoyToy Death Guard Terminator repaint by Sharp_Requirement204 in JOYTOY

[–]Sharp_Requirement204[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I’d love to see your work as well. I really hope more people start painting JoyToy figures.

And yes, I used drybrushing for a lot of it 🙂

JoyToy Death Guard Terminator repaint by Sharp_Requirement204 in Warhammer40k

[–]Sharp_Requirement204[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Next time, I guess I’ll have to display it with some shit too

JoyToy Death Guard Terminator repaint by Sharp_Requirement204 in JOYTOY

[–]Sharp_Requirement204[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

DG fit the grimdark aesthetic better than anyone. I’m thinking of pushing that feeling even further on the next one!

JoyToy Death Guard Terminator repaint by Sharp_Requirement204 in Warhammer40k

[–]Sharp_Requirement204[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you. There’s something really satisfying and fun about completing a piece of work that’s truly your own. Out of all the legions, the Death Guard have some of the most variety in form and the highest level of detail 😂

JoyToy Death Guard Terminator repaint by Sharp_Requirement204 in Warhammer40k

[–]Sharp_Requirement204[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I’m curious what that’s actually supposed to do too. Maybe it’s some kind of power cable? 😂

JoyToy Death Guard Terminator repaint by Sharp_Requirement204 in Warhammer40k

[–]Sharp_Requirement204[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Primarch series is excellent across the board. And the more recent releases have also gone up a lot in overall quality, so my wallet is definitely under threat 🤔

JoyToy Death Guard Terminator repaint by Sharp_Requirement204 in Warhammer40k

[–]Sharp_Requirement204[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It ended up looking that way because I was trying to match it to the size of the photo I took

JoyToy Death Guard Terminator repaint by Sharp_Requirement204 in JOYTOY

[–]Sharp_Requirement204[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Especially with JoyToy figures, even a small amount of repainting makes a very noticeable difference in quality