Reaper Bones Kagunk Ogre Cheiftan

This is the first Bones miniature i've painted from the recent Reaper Kickstarter reward (in fact the first in several months).  It was sculpted by Tre Manor and the level of detail was, as usual, really good.

I wanted to step away from the usual flesh tones I use for Ogres and I've been toying with the idea of a game in an Icewind Dale setting so settled on my version of a Frost Ogre.  He should fit in well with the Storm Giants I have and the other Tre Manor Black Orcs.

I also approached the skin in a different way to usual so didn't use any washes and built up with heavily thinned paint from Vallejo Luftwaffe Uniform Navy into Vallejo Grey Blue with a final highlight of 50/50 Grey blue and White.  It takes longer but seems to have worked pretty well and on larger models the effort is certainly rewarded.

Another thing I did differently this time was to work on one area (like the skin) all the way up to practically finished before even starting the other areas.  I normally try and get some colour on all the parts of a model but this does mean I sometimes don't give each area the kind of attention to detail that I do when i'm concentrating on say the shield until its finished.

Finally I based him on a Tiny Worlds resin base and added some Army Painter snow to help him look frosty.  

I'm particularly pleased with the skin, Hunting horn and the shield on this one although the eyes didn't turn out as well as I wanted.

If you want to know more about how I painted him, which paints I used and why I chose the colours I did just leave a comment below and I'll do my best to explain.

Back with a bucket full of Bones!

I've been away for quite a long time as regular (if I still have any) readers will know.  I've been waiting for the Reaper Kickstarter rewards to arrive since April.

Yesterday they finally arrived.  Was I tired of waiting? Was I getting more and more annoyed with Reaper's refusal to tell international backers what was going on? Was I well and truly fed up with the constant disappointment? Yes to all those.

Am I happy now?  Am I satisfied with the miniatures now they have finally arrived? Have I forgotten the problems and forgiven the mistakes?  I hate to admit it but yes to all of those too.  When a woman gives birth they go through some very intense pain, but once the baby is born good old mother nature generally wipes away the memory of that pain.  Its just the same with my Bones delivery.  

I was ranting on the Reaper forum (sometimes with good reason) and complaining about a company I really like for its god awful communication.  But once I had the Vampire box in my hand and all those Bones miniatures came tumbling out everything was right with the world. 

There are a few issues with some of the sculpts, the Townsfolk Mom with Kids seems to have had a relationship with a potato.  This is the only reason I can think of to explain her potato faced offspring. Ellen Stone, a miniature I was really looking forward to has a face that's oddly similar to Pikachu's and Juliette the female Sorceress seems to have had her fingers burned (off!) casting a spell.

But casting problems are to be expected and with over 240 miniatures to paint i'm not going to lose any sleep over a couple.

As usual, Bones miniatures look like they're a little short on detail but in most cases that's just perception and once the paint is on the detail is excellent.

My next post will be my first paint job, Kagunk the Ogre Chieftain.

1930s Nightclub Singer

I got a call from my regular GM's significant other last month, she wanted to know if I could help her find some female miniatures for Mubaris' 1930s Pulp game as a Valentine gift...aww how romantic is that?

So I looked around and found a few contenders but the PGJ12 Femme Fatales set from Bob Murch's Pulp Figures was by far the most suitable.  This is the first with a party socialite and a Marilyn Monroesque character coming up soon.  Watch this space.

I painted her in the same way as usual with the notable exception of her makeup.  Just a really thin wash of rose over her cheek bones and blood red lips with a dot of white to make them look like they are shiny.  The microphone was also a NMM attempt which worked out ok, high contrast between the darkest and lightest shades make it look reflective which seems to be the secret.

As usual the Pulp Miniatures have solid bases that have to be cut off so I could use the Tiny Worlds resin floorboards one,  not the easiest job in the world but it was worth it.  Another complication was the microphone, its very thin so I couldn't drill too deep but pinning was necessary, just using glue wouldn't have been strong enough.  

I hope you like her!

Pirates!

I decided to take a bit of a break this week both from painting Gangsters and from painting in general.  I feel its important to me that painting never starts to feel like a job even if I am getting paid for it.

So with that in mind, i've only painted two things this week, and one isn't finished.  The first is a brilliantly sculpted resin Skeletal Pirate from Black Scorpion Miniatures and the second was a set of barrels for scenery from Renadra.

The first pirate is a bit of a mix as far as i'm concerned.  The sculpting is excellent and the pose is good, the detail is clear.  In fact there's nothing wrong with the miniature at all.  But my approach didn't work out quite as well as I had envisaged in my mind.  I wanted a grimy, dirty look which I got but it wasn't easy.  In fact it took a lot longer than I expected and still isn't quite what I had in mind.  

The non metallic metal work on his sword came out well despite needing a lot of work to get it right.  I repainted it twice before getting a look I was happy with and if I wasn't committed to improving my NMM work I probably would have thrown in the towel and pulled out the metallics.

But in the end it came out well I think.  The wooden floorboard resin base from Tiny Worlds Wargaming came out really nicely and shows off the model to great effect.  I can't recommend those bases enough!

Now the Barrels were much easier.  I started with a base coat of US Field Drab from Vallejo Model Color (70873) on the wooden parts and Lufftwaffe Uniform (70816) on the hoops.  The wood got a wash of Agrax Earthshade to pull out the details and the hoops got a Nuln Oil wash.

Thats as far as i've got though.  The plan is to finish off with a Grey Blue (70943) highlight on the hoops and to glue them all to a base so they can be used for lots of different games.

I'll put up some photos of the finished work soon.

New Painting Table

I mentioned in my last post that I set up a new painting table and that i'd share it with you, well here it is.

I paint in my living room, this isn't a perfect solution but does have the main benefit of me being able to be sociable with my wife.  So when she's watching soaps (which I can't stand) I can occupy myself without having to endure them.

But painting in the living room does have some drawbacks.  First the painting table needs to be mobile so when we have company over it can be cleared away.  Second the level of noise has to be low so no electric drills or dremelling allowed. Third the amount of space is limited so the workstation has to stay organised and tidy.

I'm using a small computer desk with a pull out draw. It's on wheels so can be moved around easily and has plenty of storage area underneath for my basing materials, spare brushes, and the paint colours I don't use very often.  The pull out keyboard draw is the perfect place to keep my palettes.

Its a big improvement on my last table as the storage shelves mean I can keep the work space clear.  My angle poise magnifying lamp fits on one side and my little bench vice on the other.  

Both these tools are excellent additions to anyone's painting table in my opinion.  I don't use the magnifying glass too often, mainly for eyes, but the extra light is invaluable.  The vice comes in handy for all kinds of things including drilling miniatures so they can be pinned and holding them still while I file or cut them.

On my right I have my computer so I can reference photos for inspiration and listen to music, especially when Eastenders is on!

When the table needs to be cleared the paints and miniatures get packed away in plastic boxes and go onto the shelves the lamp gets unplugged and the whole lot gets wheeled into another room.

On the table at the moment are five of Bob Murch's Pulp Figures to finish for my regular DM's Pulp game, four Undead Pirates from Black Scorpion that I have no real need for but couldn't resist buying and two sets of barrels I picked up for £2.50 at Clifton Road Games this week.  They should come in really handy for all kinds of games.

Say hello to my little friend!

In what has started to seem like business as usual I've had another busy week.  What with new staff to supervise at work, Valentine's day and helping my mother move home I didn't touch my brushes until the weekend.

However, mainly due to my wife being wonderful I ended up with some free time this weekend to get some painting done.  I also set up a new painting table but i'll cover that in another post once i'm all settled in.

I finished five more of the miniatures Mubaris needs for his 1930s Pulp game, they're a rather diverse bunch. One is from Bob Murch's Pulp Figures the others are all Copplestone Castings models from the Gangsters range.  

All of them are good models but I have to admit I find the Copplestone figures much easier to work with and I think they have more character.

The Spy is supposed to be wearing a Cashmere coat, I think it worked out quite well and I like how the battered suitcase turned out.

I hope you, and hopefully Mubaris, enjoy them!

Games Workshop, Overprice much?

£8.00 for 4 figures

During my recent visit to Clifton Road Games I picked up a set of four Resin Undead Pirates from Black Scorpion Miniatures, they cost me £8.00 which is in my opinion excellent value for money.

£45.00 for 4 figures

So you can understand perhaps why I had a bit of a jaw dropping moment when I went into Games Workshop the same day and saw the White Council set.  Four Resin Miniatures for £45.00!

So are the Games Workshop miniatures worth nearly six times as much as the Black Scorpion ones?  Are they made from the Resin of the legendary Tree of Life?  No, guess again? Then perhaps they were hand sculpted by Leonardo Davinci, hidden in a secret vault for 500 years and finally unearthed by Games Workshop Archaeologists? Nope wrong again. Well at least they must be in dynamic poses and have complex levels of detail.  Um...not so much.

So in fact, they are reasonably well sculpted but simple miniatures in very prosaic poses priced at £11.25 each but not sold separately (in those poses/outfits).

Well the Black Scorpion miniatures must therefore be in comparison really badly sculpted? Nope, they're really well sculpted actually.  Well maybe they're made of the toxic death poison known as lead? 'fraid not, they're high quality resin too. 

So why do they cost £2 each then, there must be a reason they cost nearly 6 times less than Games Workshop miniatures?

Anyone?   

-crickets-

Anyone?