Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Loki's Giveaway, White Dwarf Buildings and updates

If you haven't heard, Loki is doing a year long series of giveaways to celebrate 2014 and the growing success of his blog. You can read all about it here. Be sure to get you entry in before 0900 GMT on February 1st.

I almost let this post slip through the cracks, but over at Realm of Chaos 80's he has built one of the Warhammer buildings that had plans published in White Dwarf. You can see his here. I think I still have the plans somewhere and I actually built two back in the 90's. You can see mine in a post here. I'm considering redoing the thatched roof as it was never really fixed down and has been constantly shedding for 20 some odd years.

I'll also have to dig up the barn and forge project. I started it but never got it past gluing the foam core to the base.

Painting has fallen victim to lagging energy levels, but on the plus side I survived two workout sessions and a return to full contact in San Soo. Of course my next technique would have to be a throw. The general rule is you have it done to you first before you get to do it to someone else. It certainly makes you want to be as gentle as possible because these things hurt, a lot.

But I have been organizing those pesky 1/72 forces. For Treyine I'm going with a white and red color scheme (I know real original)and to break up the monotony I figured out how I want to vary things. One group is solid red, the other quarterly and the last halved vertically (per pale). This will add some visual interest to the army and be less boring to paint. I still need to work on the Stygustan army but I may steal Loki's idea for his Nubians and color code the breach clouts.

I also need to work on the Hero entry for the challenge. I'm going small and achievable. Seems like my general course of action for the challenge.

And thanks to Joakim of The Miniatures Man I won the Chainmail Heroes set in his giveaway. Very cool and thanks again.

*Edited to put in links I forgot. Doh!*

Friday, January 24, 2014

A new banner, and a lot of half finished stuff.

You may have noticed that I changed the blog banner a little. I think changing things up once or twice a year are a good way to keep things fresh on the blog. I also find it a useful distraction when I'm not getting other things done and that fact is stressing me out.

If you've ever wondered how I arrive at the images I choose to put in the banner the selection criteria is quite simple. They are all images used in the top ten posts on this very blog. As you can I've had a slight shift in what is popular.

As for blogging I am still having a lot of trouble keeping up. Some of you may have noticed my newest method. I wait until your blog reaches a critical mass of unread posts and then read them all and comment on one. It's a sucky way to manage things, but it's the best I can manage for now. Sorry if you've written some gold that I have missed or passed on.

As for the challenge, I'm in the final detailing on the Plastic orcs. My special mix of Raw Umber, Burnt Umber and Black Ink washes makes them look nice and grungy. I did finally receive my inks from Dick Blick and I will report on those shortly. The Gobbo's are the same, but I've gotten flesh done on some of the Gob Bows. And I painted some of the clothing on the Treyine guys I've decided to slip into the challenge, a lot of red. It seems to be my favorite color.

I also updated the figures finished page and need to add to the games played as we did finally finish Eldritch Horror and played a game of Munchkin Deluxe.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Vehicles and Video Games

Hi All,

So my latest entry is over at the themed bonus round on Analogue Hobbies here. What I wrote to Curt follows:

"While most clung to the dying husk of the the old world, others became nomads scrapping for fuel to take them away from the chaos. One such vehicle was the V-8 interceptor.





For the vehicle round I had been keen to finish the Maxwell car from Aberrant Games. I bought it awhile back when I was thinking a lot about post apocalyptic games and hope to also use it in an upcoming games about P-A car racing.

As usual, I spent a lot more time hand wringing than actually painting. In the main I like how it turned out although I was concerned that it was starting to look overworked. I tried to use ground up pastels to weather it, but they essentially washed off when I tried to fix the dry powder on. So I stippled paint. The rusty fuel tank in the back was also a first. Anne really got me thinking about rust, so I figured I had to try. I also tried to mimic an oxidized paint look on the hood and roof of the car. It doesn't show in the photos because of the angle I took. I included the gun because it came with the kit and because my conception of a Post Apocalyptic Deth-Mรถ-Beel is bristling with armaments.

Those of you with delicate constitutions may wish to brace yourselves, but I have a second (GASP) set of vehicles to add to this entry.




These are two Studio Bergstrom Sing-On Pocket Destroyers. Again, I would have a whole fleet of these painted if I would just knuckle down and decide on a color scheme. These painted up quick once I decided.

I have no idea what scale these would fall under. I included a group shot with the Warrior of the Wasteland for scale. He stands 27mm from bottom of base to top of head and was a 1/72 (20mm) scale entry."


What I neglected to mention in my blurb for the challenge was the composition of the models. The Maxwell car was two part resin with the blower, gun and stowage made from white metal. The metal bits cleaned up fairly easily. The body of the car had one sprue connection that needed filing and one imperfection in the body that I ended up leaving along the right quarter panel. There were also some weird surface striations that I ended up leaving as I didn't feel like the effort of sanding the entire vehicle smooth was worth it. I don't really understand why this wasn't just a one piece cast, or why it doesn't have tail lights. Overall though it's a fun little car.

The Klingon ships are straight up white metal. I don't recall cleaning them up much. Primed gray, boltgun metal on bridge and canons. Two dry brushes with grayish greens, pick out the wing detail in red, orange then yellow. My home made wash was then applied. I have to say I'm embarrassed that it took me so long to get around to painting these.

Back to the car for a moment. I think it will be great fun for use in the new game from Two Hour Wargames called Machinas. I joined the Indiegogo this morning. You can see it here.

<iframe src="http://www.indiegogo.com/project/440776/widget" width="224px" height="486px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

As for video games, well I probably should be painting instead. I've downloaded The Walking Dead Season 2 ans State of Decay to my Xbox. I've already completed the first episode of Walking Dead and will have to wait as they are releasing the upcoming episodes piecemeal. State of Decay is cool but there is a lot of stuff to manage and, since it's a download, not a lot of explanation on how to do it. There are reams of websites and videos with game tips though.

Well off to see to the needs of children on this holiday here in the states. Have a good one.

PS - That 49er game last night was annoying. The Niners didn't choke. They lost the game on a great play by Sherman in the final seconds. Too bad he doesn't realize it.


Thursday, January 16, 2014

Wet Palette 2.0, and I really am painting. Honest.

Pottering along in the challenge and what not, but it isn't at all apparent from my output. While others are painting up complete armies I have been lucky to eke out a figure or two just before the looming deadlines every two weeks. So I'll give a brief update on what I've got going and how far off my schedule I am, for those of you playing along at home.

Those 10 plastic orcs are about 80% completed, but I hit a snag with the wash and am waiting on some acrylic inks I ordered to make up some usable Orc Flesh wash.

The goblins and Half-Orc have not progressed since I put the slightest amount of paint on them over the holidays. So maybe 10% done.

The Gobbo Bows have not been touched. So 0%.

My Vehicle entry is about 70% complete. I'm just trying to decide what color to paint the windows and lights on it and muster up the courage to try some weathering techniques. I've also added a couple of small vehicles that I've been daubing paint on while things dry.

I've also set myself the task of painting the Stygustan and Treyine armies for the battle I should have fought. I have separated the figures into groups based on their compliance with the rules of the competition. I may submit some for partial credit. I have documented their state at the start and will submit that with my finished pictures. I trust that fellow competition members will trust Curt to judge them accordingly.

Wet Palette 2.0

I had read about anothr version of the wet palette over at Creative Twilight here. I needed to change mine for a couple of reasons. First, the tupperware i was using was too damn big. I just don't have the room on my cluttered painting desk for it any more. Second, I was having trouble getting the hydration level right. I apparently lucked into the first time and had some trouble repeating it.



Right off the bat I can see that I've got the hydration right again. So I'll give you an update how it weent after today's painting session.

Materials Used:

  • Plastic photo case 4" x 6"
  • Reusable foam kitchen towel, cut to size
  • parchment paper, cut to size
  • Distilled water, to thickness of sponge
I hope that's clear.

A hearty welcome to new follower head head, please let me know if you have a blog. I don't see one linked to you profile.

Happy painting everyone.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Battle mat score!

I made what I think is a huge score today while doing my weekly shopping at Costco. I was going on a different route through the store because I wanted to pick up another 4' x 2' table for gaming. I haven't mentioned it before but I have a plan to buy these plastic tables to be able to easily set up and take down a 6' x 4' table, so i just need one more. They seem to be more manageable, and make discrete wargame size tables easier than the 6' banquet tables.

But that is not the find. As I was walking down this aisle i saw these "Clean Green" Indoor/Outdoor Area Rugs. They are 6' x 9', apparently made from recycled plastic bottles and come in Green, Tan and Gray. It had no price but I figured I'd take it up and see how much it was. Imagine my surprise when it was $19.99.

Spear and Door for size reference.
I also saw this book on the Whiskey Rebellion at our local public library and thought that I'd give it a read. I was completely ignorant of this conflict and thought it might be a fun scenario for some 18th century gaming.


Apparently I would know all about this if I watched the series Moonshiners. George Washington raised around 13,000 troops to stop the rebellion. Who knew.

I wish I could say I had more to show of my painting, but with a football game and party for my son, as well as watching the NFL playoffs this weekend I got the bare minimum done.

In a future post I'll try to show how I'm going to pull myself out of the doldrums and get back on top of my schedule.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Promoting a giveaway, my son's presents and wash woes

Hi All,

Just want to quickly promote Joakim's giveaway over at The Miniatures Man. He's celebrating passing 50K views and giving away some cool stuff.

As for my son's swag, first we have the snap together A-10 we put together.


A nice little mode, my son cut most of the model off the sprue. He also put together the large peices. the little stuff he needed me for. No glue or painting needed, a great kit for an aspiring little modeler. The bombs were a little fiddly for him.

Next up, Darth Vader. This dude is about 3 feet tall and awesome. Push a button on his chest and he says stuff. Not a lot, but enough.



Last thing you see before he chokes the life out of you.
I'm trying to get those plastic GW orcs done, but the GW Orc flesh wash worked terribly. It basically colored the high points and completely evaporated from the nooks and crannies. In the old days I used Winsor Newton Green ink, but that dried up long ago. I put in an order for  some acrylic inks through Dick Blick art supplies, following Les Bursley's suggestion in his wash guide.

Hopefully I can get this sorted. I've also decided that I need to finish painting up the forces of Treyine and Stygustan to fight my next battle. Many of these were started before the challenge so will be either ineligible or for less than full points. Either way they need to be painted.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Post Apocalyptic Villains break their silence

Hi All,

Sorry to have been so quiet. I had great plans for doing a year end review and then got busy and a cold. So to kick off my first post of 2014 I'll share my second themed entry to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge which you can also see here.

First I'll give you the fluff I wrote, just a bit of silliness.

My villains come to you from a dark future. After the big crash things became desperate. No one knows who was the first deploy the nukes, but as soon as one did it didn't matter anymore. In an instant, huge swaths of the once great super powers were laid waste. Out of the ashes a new society struggled to be reborn. In it you were either a viking or a victim and those brutal enough to eke out a living preyed upon the weak and the just. These are just a few.


Gargantua & Pantagruel and the Warrior of the Wasteland come to you from the Warlands range produced by Aberrant miniatures. They are 1/72 (20mm) scale. I was going for a grungy and, in the case of G & P, oil soaked look which I think I achieved. The Flesh wash on WW was too heavy but I'd like to think that it makes his skin look a little raw and burned. From radiation perhaps. Both of these models came in three parts. For G & P I just painted them and then super glued them together. WW I had to drill and pin, using some Testors contour putty to fill the gaps at the shoulders. This is really the first time I've really filled a gap as I always shied away from conversions and most of my previous pinning was standards and riders.


I essentially did all the work on them since returning from my holiday trip and all of the painting in the last two days. The method was base coat, wash, drybrush. I tried to add some color on the base, but I think I covered it with flock and static grass.



I hope you enjoy them, and I hope to incorporate them into some Post Apocalyptic gaming this year.

Obviously these guys represent Master Blaster and The Humongous from Beyond Thunderdome and Road Warrior respectively. The Humongous ( or Warrior of the Wasteland as I called him) was a right pain in the ass to put together. The arms came separate and they are very different in size. The right arm, with the big leather pad on it, looks atrophied. Again this works for the PA feel but was a little weird. I chose to give him pants as the sculpting of the legs did not look muscled at all to me. The leather diaper over the rolled up jeans and steel toe doc martens looks weird, but he'll shoot you in the face if you make fun of him.

The reference to Rabelais with the other guys makes me look far more literate than I am. I am somehow familiar with the characters, even before my father named his dog Pantagruel. However I can't recall ever reading the story.

Photography wise I just set up my black construction paper background and used flash and every light in the room on. I did use the Aperture priority setting on the camera and dialed it up to f16, but these guys were in the same plane and close together so I don't think that made much difference. I'll continue to experiment with settings and let you all know what comes of it.

Before I forget, I'd like to welcome two new followers to the blog:

Shaun McTague from Watching the Paint Dry. I haven't had a chance to look around his blog yet, but it appears he paints figures. Thanks for following.

Pulpcitizen from Pulp Citizen and Eclectic Gentleman Tabletop Gamer as well as Anima Tactician. I've come across your blogs before and am following 2 out of 3, not too bad eh?

And lastly, some of the silly things you find when seaching Google images for reference pictures: