Which is lucky when you consider i'll be getting around 250 new ones in March thanks to Reaper's Kickstarter offer! I think i'm going to need a bigger brush.
Saturday, 29 December 2012
Reaper Bones Minotaur
Thursday, 27 December 2012
Games Workshop Blood Angel Terminators
Click to zoom |
As I mentioned in an earlier post some of the painting i've done recently has been as presents so I couldn't share them.
Click to zoom |
Well those presents have been given and now i'm free to post pictures without spoiling my nephew's surprise. Here for your enjoyment are the Terminator squad I painted for him.
Click to zoom |
Unfortunately the photos didn't come out that well and they look a bit washed out. The claws are quite a bit brighter in real life.
OSL is quite hard to get right, the idea is to only have the light show on the surfaces it would hit if it was coming from the source. I'm pleased that these came out well but I think I need some more practice to get the effect I want.
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Reaper Miniature's Dr. Ervin Friedman, Mad Scientist
In a sharp contrast to the Mason Thornwarden miniature this one gave me very little trouble.
I spent a little time deciding on the colour scheme, I knew I wanted the test tube & flask to be colourful and I wanted him to be wearing a white lab coat and felt that this kind of dictated the other colours. I toyed with the idea of giving him beige trousers, a pale blue shirt and crazy red hair but it just didn’t feel right. The idea of giving him a white shirt seemed to be a problem considering the white lab coat and I didn’t want it to all blend in together.
I was very sparing with washes on this model, modern fabrics are generally very uniform in their colouring and people are generally much cleaner so used successive light layers of colour to build up the shading. The flask, test tube and sunglasses got a light layer of gloss varnish but the rest of the model was left matt. The model is destined to be used as a tabletop figure so the base is simple, just a tuft of dried desert grass on a sandy coloured base.
I’m happy with how he turned out and can see him being used in several different types of games, he’d be useful in any Pulp setting from the 40s to modern day and would also work in a Superhero game.
Saturday, 15 December 2012
Reaper Miniature's Mason Thornwarden
I'm sure that if your like me you've painted a miniature and half way through its just a disaster. None of the colours are coming out the way you wanted, the model isn't looking anything like you imagined it would and the details you thought were going to be great just...aren't.
Well have faith, or trust in the Force whichever floats your boat. I can tell you that its never too late and no paint job is too far gone to save. I had to repaint this miniature almost from the base up. The brown I chose for the legs just looked like he'd waded through a swamp and the bow was so dark it practically disappeared with the dark tunic behind it.
I took a bit of time, counted to 100 and took a good long look at what i'd done and what the model needed to save it. In the back of my mind I was thinking of a character from a Raymond E Feist book, Magician (read it if you haven't its fanstastic) and wanted a woodsy looking ranger with a red undertunic, it just wasn't working. The model needed contrast badly.
The first and most obvious change needed was the bow colour needed to be lighter, so I went for an Elf Bow look and painted it with a bone/off white colour, the arrows got the same treatment. Second the red undertunic was changed to blue and the leggings/boots became a dark buckskin. I think it worked pretty well in the end despite the problems it gave me.
If all else fails, and the paint job you have worked on is just not working, pop it in a tub of Fairy Power Spray for an hour and start again.
Thursday, 13 December 2012
Spotlight on....Black Scorpion Miniatures
Sorry
there haven’t been many posts recently but this is a busy season for work and
the painting projects I’ve been working on are destined to be Christmas
presents so I can’t share them until after the holidays.
But
what I can do is introduce you to some new miniatures suppliers. I think its pretty apparent that I’m a big
fan of Reaper, especially what they are doing for the hobby with their Bones
line but I’ve spoken about them on many occasions (and will no doubt speak
about them in the future a lot too). So this post will be all about…..BlackScorpion Miniatures.
'Copyright Black Scorpion Miniatures' |
I
want to have a look at four of their lines, Pirates, Old West Tombstone, and
their modern day US Marines and Iraqi Militia.
Please be aware that none of these miniatures were painted by me.
Pirates
'Copyright Black Scorpion Miniatures' |
There
is a tendancy for sculpters to make models on a ‘heroic’ scale, 28mm miniatures that look great but are about
as realistic as a cartoon character.
They have their place and I’ve painted a lot of them but for some games
a realistic look is more appropriate.
They do make models with a full complement of parrots, wooden legs and eye patches but they still look like real people and not like Arnold Schwarzenegger in a tricorn hat. Their weapons are realistically sized and the proportions are very
accurate.
'Copyright Black Scorpion Miniatures' |
Now these are a treat, especially the bearded model on the left
which I am just going to have to paint at some point. Overall they look great and the models
available would contribute well to a Deadlands or generic Old West game.
'Copyright Black Scorpion Miniatures' |
The only obstacle to me is I couldn’t reuse
any of my existing models for this kind of game and there isn’t an easy (read
cheap!) way to bulk out your collection of Old West models. I’d have to buy something like 50 models to
run my first Old West game (Cavalry, Indians, Cowboys & Townsfolk) and get
all the scenery made.
Despite all that,
I suspect that an Old West campaign may be on the horizon in the future, these
are just too good to pass up.
US Marines
'Copyright Black Scorpion Miniatures' |
My regular DM has run some really successful modern games, mainly
D20 Modern and Stargate games and if I’d known about these models I would have
snapped them up. My only criticism of
these models is they lack character.
'Copyright Black Scorpion Miniatures' |
Although the proportions are great and the attention to detail is
impressive they lack the individualism that would make them great player
character models.
Now I’m pretty sure
these were designed with Skirmish games in mind so its not really fair for me
to be too critical about them but I’d just have loved them to have the same
individuality that is such a highlight of the Pirates or Old West models. Black Scorpion does however do an army deal of 32 US Marines for £50 which is real value for money!
Iraqi Militia
'Copyright Black Scorpion Miniatures' |
These are my least favourite of Black Scorpion’s models. As generic Iraqi bad guys they are good enough but not quite what I was looking for.
The proportions are as consistently accurate as the other lines with the minor exception of the white shirted insurgent with the blue headband who seems to have a pistol that’s almost as long as his whole arm. That's not really a big deal though and I do understand that pistols tend to look too small if they're scaled accurately.
The faces are obscured by masks or beards
which limits their expression and for some obscure reason they’re all barefoot and or wearing ripped off shorts.
Conclusion
Overall
I’m hugely impressed with the Black Skorpion miniatures and can’t wait to get
my hands on some. The quality of sculpting is excellent and the character that they show will make them a favourite around our games table.
At just £3.50 for a single resin figure and £8 for four they represent incredible value. Resin miniatures from Hasslefree , which I think are pretty good value, are generally between £10 and £20 each.
Bear in mind you can get a single plastic "Finecast" figure from Games Workshop for the same price. But talking about "Finecast" is a whole different post, one hopefully you'll see soon.
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Weird War Adventure Game Report
![]() |
The Evil Mastermind Stahl-Mask with Hitler and his aides in Paris 1940 |
Hi everyone, as promised here are some more pictures from the first Weird Wars Episode which we finally played two weeks ago.
![]() |
Pvt Skoneiczny lies in wait for the Zombies |
The game session was six hours long with a break for pizza half way through. Overall it went really well but I was concerned that it felt a bit rushed despite the players telling me it was fine. In hindsight I think I should have split the game up into two sessions and let the players figure out more for themselves and find their own solutions.
As it was I ran the game like a car chase, the action carried on from one scene to the next without much time to draw breath, it was exciting and kept the tension high (as did the the background music and sound effects).
If your think you might play this game please stop reading now!
Deep
in occupied France
Professor Ulrich Von Samstagg is trying, under the supervision of SS-Sturmbannführer (Major) Stahl-mask to create immortal Nazi Super soldiers. Stahl-Mask intends to use the twisted genius
to gain immortality and invulnerability for himself and invulnerability for his
trusted minions and to then overthrow Hitler.
Von Samstagg had in fact accidentally created a Zombie
Serum and one of his Test Subjects (a 14yr old French boy, Pierre) escaped
and started infecting a horde of Zombies.
They are classic Rage Zombies with rudimentary intelligence and a pack mentality and Pierre
wants revenge on the Germans.
The heroes were an odd bunch.
![]() |
A small selection of Lars Lukas' (fictional) movie posters |
The leader, half Scottish half Norwegian Captain Lars Lukas was a big name in Norway's film industry and although practically unknown outside his homeland is convinced he is as heroic as his film roles despite comprehensively failing to have the necessary skills.
His second in command, Lt. St. John Smythe followed the more traditional route to command, he went to Eton, Sandhurst and was commissioned an officer. He has the all the skills for leading men in combat except for the charisma to actually make them want to follow.
![]() |
The Heroes and their Resistance allies prepare to hold off the Zombies |
Next was Corporal Ken Cambell, a Tank driver without a tank. Most of the British Army's tanks were abandoned at Dunkirk and Ken was rather resentful of having to join a 'normal' unit.
![]() |
The Zombie horde gets closer |
Private Garath Evans is somewhat predictably a Welshman. As the Units sniper he was equipped with the superb De Lisle silenced carbine, and a terrible welsh accent.
![]() |
Captaion Lukas leaps onto the wall to inspire his men |
Private James 'Jimmy' Dobbs, a tough man from the East End of London, despite being a good soldier he has secrets that he takes care to keep quiet.
![]() |
The Heroes fall back just before being overrun. Leaving Pvt Skonieczny cut off and surrounded! |
And finally, Private Aleksander Skonieczny, a rather vicious Polish soldier who had seen Steel Mask order his family's murder, he had tracked the evil mastermind across Europe and joined the French Resistance for the chance of revenge.
![]() |
A German patrol is ambushed by the Horde |
![]() |
During the chaos Pvt Evans leaps aboard the Halftrack and opens fire on the Horde and the Germans with the MG34 |
The adventure started with the group getting a dressing down from their CO for getting involved in a punch up with some Canadians in the pub. Another officer rescues them and they're sent to RAF Tempsford for special training and a mission. After their briefing at the Airfield they are parachuted into occupied France and join up with the resistance (cue the obligatory pretty french Resistance leader) and they head cross county through a forest to Chateau Montbrun.
On the way one of the Resistance members goes missing and shadowy forms are seen from the corners of the heroes eyes. Once they reach the edge of the forest they realise they are being stalked by 30 or so Zombies and they engage in a fighting retreat to a nearby farmhouse where they hold out till morning.
With the dawn comes a German Patrol who get jumped by the Zombies and the heroes take the chance to grad the patrol's half-track and race the the Chateau. They infiltrate the castle (my group dressed up in the patrol's uniforms) and neutralize the guards.
Doktor Von Samstagg before and after he injects his super-serum |
On the first floor they encounter Von Samstagg and who injects himself with his latest Super-serum which doesn't work as well as he hopes, the heroes fight and kill Von Samstagg only to find that Stahl-Mask has escaped in his rocket powered escape ship.
The full adventure is available on request.
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Weird War Adventure - The Comic!
![]() |
So I just ran my Weird War adventure for my regular role playing group and I wanted to show you how it worked out.
I'm waiting for some photos of the game so a full game report will follow soon but in the meantime one of the players, my good and talented friend Roy has put together a Comic of the game.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
Weird War II adventure final preparations
With my eagerly anticipated (at least by me!) Weird War II game imminent I finally got my act together and finished off the last few miniatures I had taking up space on my painting table.
I had three French Resistance soldiers (from Artizan Designs) to complete and one of them is to represent a player character. The kneeling figure with several days stubble will be Dave's Polish soldier. I also painted another British Commando bringing the full complement of player character models to six.
Not much more to say at the moment, I want to share the details of the characters and the plot they'll be facing on Sunday but I don't want to spoil the surprise for my players so you'll just have to wait!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)