Tale of War: The Diggin

Occasionally I pick up a figure just for the "rule of cool" rather than from an expectation of using it in a particular game.  This weekend I finished on such figure from the Tale of War line:  The Diggin.

First Look:  In one sense, the figure speaks for itself - it's a genie (or should I say the Genie) in hip-hop gangsta attire and boombox (aptly named since this one doubles as a rocket launcher).  I knew I wanted to get this figure upon first seeing it online, and it's been sitting on my desk for several months after I cleaned and primed it.  The figure is metal, and did not present any issues during cleanup and assembly.  The casting detail is solid with good details overall (though nothing too intricate).

Painting:  As I imagined this is patterned off of the Genie from Aladdin, I knew that I would be going for a similar color scheme of light and dark blues, black hair, and gold accessories.  The boombox was painted black, with silver speakers mainly to provide some variation and detail relief.  The missile is red-tipped to draw attention, and also to duplicate that hat's color (I try not to have a single instance of a color on a figure, as it can often stand out).  I opted for a gold hookah (emulating the Genie's lamp) and a purple cushion, which contrasts nicely with gold and was linked back into the shading of the smoke.

I wasn't sure what color to paint the jacket at first, except that I wanted it to contrast with the large amount of blue on the figure.  I decided to go with orange because it's the complementary color of blue, as well as being a nod to the University of Tennessee colors (my father and grandfather were both big fans).  I used a very light gray for the jacket sleeves, and used a warm off-white for the undershirt for further variation.  Since the orange part of the jacket was already warm, I wanted to use the cool white for more contrast.  A few washes were used (gray, brown, and blue) to help bring out details.

Conclusion:  I'm really happy with how the figure turned out, especially since I didn't have a clear idea of the final colors when I started the piece.  Overall I think I have a good amount of contrast, especially considering that orange is a difficult color to work with (I'm glad to see that the red and orange didn't blur together).  I tried to limit my use of washes, but there are still a few areas that I think look too "dirty" (like the jacket sleeves and undershirt).  One area for improvement is practicing non-wash shading so I have better control of the color transitions.

- M:M