Vice Scrutator Vindictus

The biggest change I've picked up on is how I layer cloth.  In the past I've started with the darkest shadow color and slowly worked up from there layer by layer.  But recently I've switched to basecoating with my mid-tone and shading down from that in thin coats, falling back to wet blending occasionally just to smooth out some of the larger surfaces.

Vindictus in particular only took a few days for me to do, and for me that's faster than it usually would. If it weren't for the filigree around the armor plates, I expect it would've gone even faster.

I've also spent some time on a reaper figure lately, using this technique primarily on her cloak. A lot of the rest of her is quick-work, but all in all, she'll make a good RPG figure once complete.

Reaper Miniatures #2834 Deladrin, Female Assassin

I'm still refining the techniques, but for now I'm satisfied with how the figures are turning out. Soon I'll be moving on from my recent string of Protectorate pieces to try out the wintery blues of my Legion. Between that and a few side pieces I'm working on, I should have ample opportunity to perfect the new technique.

The change of pace has helped me keep productive, but the subject matter isn't really helping the problem I mentioned previously of not pushing my skill.  It seems like a lot of my RPG figures tend to get rush jobs - especially the plastic ones.  But at least it's still painting; I'm building momentum.

The first couple miniatures are the Unit Attachment for the Blighted Swordsmen of the Legion of Everblight.  They've been sitting on my desk in an almost-complete state for ages but I finally got back to working on them the other day.  I'm down to the last few final details and I'll be able to seal them.

The black-robed figure is a speed paint job for an RPG character.  It's an old plastic Games Workshop wizard figure I got years ago.  He's pretty basic (and way too rosy cheeked at the moment) but makes a good pompous little wizard.

The last figure is one that I've actually painted before, but I've gone back and rebased.  I'm thinking on starting to do this on more of my figures as I get time.  Since their tabs are already glued into the base it's just a quick series of tasks:

1. Paint watered-down PVA glue on the base
2. Dip the base in sand
3. Paint watered-down glue over sand
4. Paint
5. Seal
6. Add static grass

It's something that should be easily done while I'm waiting for other other figures to dry, and will help make some of my older figures look more 'finished'.   They never see table time other than in role-playing games where it doesn't really matter, but I'll be happier with them.

I spent a few evenings with Hulu on the laptop near my painting desk working on the models' armor and made some decent progress.  I'm still working on some more detailed shading at the moment, but I'm going back and forth between wanting to take the time to do some really detailed shading and getting burnt out working on them.

This has me thinking - I wonder if army painting is causing my abilities to stagnate.  It seems like there's less motivation to push my skill to the next step when in the back of my head I can always fall back to "Well, this just has to look as good as the rest of my models."  Might be time to shake things up a bit.

I also have to clean up a few models and finish assembling my Exemplar Errant Seneschals in case I want to use them later in the weekend.  They definitely won't be painted for Hardcore but I might toss 'em in another list to give them a go in one of the other formats.

Despite being behind, I'm looking forward to the event.  Last two years have been fantastic, and this year promises to be no exception.

Base WIPs

The most difficult aspect of working with the concrete patch is that in order to attach models, you have to clip the pewter tab from the base of the figure, give it a quick filing, and pin it to the base.  I've always preferred that method anyway, so it's no big deal. But if you're used to just gluing and slotting the figure, then switching to concrete patch is going to involve some extra steps.

Usually I'll glue the pin to the miniature and drill a hole on the base, cover the base in concrete patch, and before it sets, press the miniature down where it'll ultimately stand, and remove it.  Once the concrete patch dries, the indentions left by the miniatures feet will cup them in place securely.

If you want add accessories to a base - things like small rocks, gears, or the like - the patch itself will hold them in place if you press them in before it dries.  For the most part this has been all I'll need to do, but occasionally if a piece is loose I'll pop it up after the patch dries and glue it back down into the same divot, making it very secure.  For tiny rocks made from cork I'll just put a drop of glue over it while attached, and that is usually sufficient. I prefer superglue over craft glue for these steps.

As for painting my bases, I picked up a recipe for craft colors a few years ago that I use for all of my bases.  I can't remember the source anymore, but the combination works great.  One note though, before going into painting - make sure you have an extra old brush.  Drybrushing over concrete patch will ruin a brush like nothing else.

I use craft paints for my bases because frankly there's no point in wasting expensive model paints on them.  Once they're thinned slightly, they dry brush on adequately for any base and are far cheaper than higher quality alternatives.  I purchased a set of 2oz. bottles of paints over two years go just for basing and I still have plenty left.

Basing Paint Range

The recipe is pretty basic.  Just lay down a solid layer of Burnt Umber (or Dark Burnt Umber) and drybrush with successive layers of:

• Brown Oxide
• Autmn Brown
• Golden Brown
• Maple Sugar

If I feel I need a final layer of highlights, I'll add a little Satin Cream to the Maple Sugar for just the lightest of dustings.

You could easily get away with buying less bottles of paint and mixing up midtones, but I don't think it's worth the time.  Each bottle is less than $1 US, so for $5 you can buy enough shades to be able to work straight from the bottle - no wasting time mixing midtones or trying to match previous results.

After you paint the bare earth, you can add flocking and/or paint whatever additional accessories you're adding to your base.  It's nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.

Hierophant WIP

I have a few lists I'm tossing around to play, but I haven't even really settled on if I'm playing the Protectorate or Legion.  The Legion models I'd want to use are already painted, but there's still a few key Protectorate ones - like the Hierophant and Covenant - that I needed to get to.

It's been a while since I last picked up the brush; maybe even a couple months.  Painting has always been an enjoyable hobby for me, but lately it's always seemed like there's something else I rather do with my free time.  Still there aren't many chances to play in a Hardcore event, so it's time to buckle down and get to work.

After assembling and priming my Hierophant and Convenant, I spent a day trying to see if I could make some progress on the former.  I tried a method similar to how the Forces of Warmachine: Protectorate book talked about doing their reds.  I use a little different color so I had to switch up my shading colors but in general the technique is still the same.  I still need some tweaking but overall it's coming allright.

Working all the metallics reminded me how much I hate painting them.  I always look at each miniature as I paint it and think "I'll just bother learning how to paint metallics on the next figure" and rush through it, but I always put it off to the proverbial next time.

Still plenty of work to do, but right now my biggest sticking point is what color to paint the trim on his jacket-ish clothing.  It's the white stripe in this picture - maybe I'll mimic that and make it the same color as his lower robe.

And that's not to mention the Covenant, which has little more than a basecoat on it.  That's a lot of work for me to do in the coming month with as slow as I paint, but here's to trying.  Just gotta try not to get distracted by my other hobbies.  :)

Rhoven & Honor Guard

First up is Rhoven and the Honor Guard.  I posted some initial WIPs of the Honor Guard a while back and since then I've made some pretty good progress.  The Honor Guards have actually been sitting mostly done for a little while now while I worked on Rhoven himself.

I'm most happy with the lower portion of Rhoven's robes so far, but there's still some work that needs to be done.  I'm going to repaint the stole for starters; the highlights were pretty borked when I did them the first time.  That and some more general cleanup work should make him ready for sealing.

Blighted Swordsman UA

Next up is my Blighted Swordsman unit attachment, which isn't near as complete as Rhoven and the Honor Guard.  I've spent a fair amount of time trying to clean up their leather armor and make it really pop but I'm really happy with the skin tones on these two.

The release of MkII has pushed these guys away from the table a little bit compared to some of the other options in the Legion army.  I've been known to paint models only to have them never see the table again - we'll see if that happens again with these guys.

Reaper 60001: Valeros, Iconic Human Fighter

After the Swordsman UA is Valeros, Iconic Fighter, from Reaper Miniatures' new Pathfinder line.  I wasn't as happy with this model once I got it assembled as I was when I saw it at first, though it makes a good representation for my character in my current Earthdawn game.

I'm still trying to clean up the mouth a little bit so it looks better, but overall he turned out fairly well.  I think I'm going to need to weight the back of the base if I can - the leaning pose makes him want to tip over sometimes if I'm not careful.  I'll be using enough sealant on him to stand up to roleplaying use though so he should be fine.

Dark Elf Corsairs

Whenever we have to hold off on a roleplaying session, my Sunday gaming group usually plays board games to occupy the time slot.  Recently we've turned to Mordheim, which has been a lot of fun.  Back in '01 I started painting a Dark Elf warband but never finished my Corsairs here.  Even though I'm running Reiklanders this time, I decided to get my Dark Elves finished so I could field them as a cohesive force, even if it was standing in for another army.

I'm going the speed-over-quality route to try and get them to the tabletop (they're still being worked on).  It's also an attempt to rely heavily on the Games Workshop washes (Badab Black and Delvin Mud) to see if they can speed things along.  So far those two washes haven't been anything special, but they do save me time in mixing my own so I feel like they've been worth it thus far.

Dwarf Warriors

Last up is another GW sampling from my Mordheim days.  A friend of mine left his plastic dwarf boxed set with me when he left the game.  They have been sitting around for a while now and I finally decided to paint up a collection of them with different weapons for use in various roleplaying or miniature games.

The dwarves painted here are only a sample - there are three of each weapon combinations and a few "officer" types all done in a similar paint scheme.  I went muted for the color scheme on these guys, and it seemed to turn out ok.  The beards, though were a fun shortcut.  I basecoated all of them (except those that would be black) with Reaper Master Series Bleached Bone and then used washes to tint and shade them the desired color.  It was a nice time-saving technique for tabletop-quality dorfs.

I've been asked a few times how long it takes me to paint a model.  Most of the time I don't keep track of how much time I spend on a given model - I usually don't want to know how many hours of my life I've spent on this hobby.

Usually I listen to podcasts, music, or DVD's while I paint, and the length of one of the podcast episodes I was listening to happened to correspond to a painting step that shed a pale sickly light on how long I had been at work on my exemplars.

First, a little setup.  Painting exemplar armor is a fairly complex process because I prime in gray.  I tried priming in white on my Knights Exemplar Errant, but the time I saved on the armor plates was quickly lost in the recesses of the model.  From prime to finish, my process goes something like this:

1. Base coat the armor Reaper Master Series Yellowed Bone (usually multiple coats).
2. Two light coats of Applebarrel Goosefeather.
3. Wash the white areas with a thinned 2:1 mix of Goosefeather and Territorial Beige.
4. Blackline the edge of each plate where it has a border that will be metallic.
5. Base coat the metallic areas in GW Boltgun Metal.
6. Paint the metallic areas in a 1:1 mix of Vallejo Game Color Glorious Gold and Vallejo Game Color Polished Gold.
7. Highlight the metallic areas with Vallejo Game Color Polished Gold.
8. Was the metallic areas with a mix of P3 Armor Wash and GW Brown Ink.
9. Touch-ups & final highlights (plates and edges).

The time I spent on step 6 for all 5 Bastions and the Honor Guard pretty much corresponded with the running time of the podcast I was listening to: about 1 hour.  That got my models to this point:

Exemplar WIPs

Unfortunately, I've been able to estimate roughly an hour per coat to get this point; so roughly 8 hours so far.  And there's still plenty left to do, including all of the purple areas after I finish cleaning up the metallics.

Aren't you a little short for an Exemplar?

As a side note, I've found working on the Bastions and Honor Guard at the same time to be mildly humorous.  As medium based models, the Bastions are far and away the largest models in the exemplar ranks of the Protectorate of Menoth, far huskier than any of their compatriots.

On the other hand Juviah Rhoven's supposed Honor Guard are vertically challenged even by Knights Exemplar standards.  Yet as pewter miniatures, the two Honor Guardmen weigh far more than the five Bastions.

Gius and Cassian sure have been packing it away.

First up are a couple of Reaper figures that I picked up for two of the players.  The first for a hammer-wielding fighter type.  As our "knight in shining armor" I went with bright plate armor accentuated with a bright regal blue.  The stock figure (Reaper 3324, Stern Kestrelmen) is armed with a sword but I swapped it out for a hammer from the Games Workshop Mordheim Mercenary Sprue.

I thought about accenting his armor with a brass or gold color but the character really isn't one for embellishment.  I'm pleased with him overall, thought he needs a little touch up before his final sealing.  I also used Stern here to test the "Advanced Faces" painting guide in issue 23 of No Quarter Magazine.  The technique turned out ok for a first attempt but I need to experiment some more before I'm comfortable with it.

Reaper 3324, Stern Kestrelmen

Next is our party arcanist.  For this figure I went with a bright fantasy-esque fiery theme to match his flavor of magic and his temper. I had initially painted his inner robe yellow but it looked too much like a rain slicker.  I repainted it in the gray you see here to try and evoke a little smoke to the robe's fiery color.

Valdarynn probably needs the most work out of all of these models before getting "finished" - his hands need highlighting and I have to clean up his fire and smooth out his robe.  I'll probably also add a few highlights to his outer garment.  The blond hair turned out fairly well though - I used Reaper Master Series Yellowed Bone (similar to GW Bleached Bone) as a base coat and washed with a thinned down mix of a yellow paint and GW Brown Ink, adding a little more ink in for successive washes to do the deeper shadows.

Reaper 2591, Valdarynn, Arch Mage

After Valdarynn we have the Mercenary Assassin from Confrontation.  I picked this figure up a while ago and was holding on to him until I got inspired enough to paint him.  When I dug him up while searching through my bare pewter collection for a good figure for my rouge/assassin type character I figured now was as good of a time as any.

I really wanted this figure to have an overall shadowy feel to him, hence the various grays that were used as the primary colors.  Even the browns for the leather were done in a  muted tone so as to not stand out.  I realized that I needed something to make him pop, though and decided to paint the cloth mask a bright red as an accent.  Once I clean up a few areas and paint the lantern on his back, the merc assassin will be ready for his final sealing.

Confrontation Mercenary Assassin

Even though I'm posting my merc sprue soldier last, he's actually the first of the models I did for my game.  We had a few of my older figs that stood in for everyone except the axe wielding hedge mage in our group.  Before I knew I was going to be picking up a couple Reaper figs, I dug through my bits box for pieces from the Mordheim Mercenary Sprue to put together this model.

I did a quick 2-day speed painting job to get him finished and on the table as quick as possible.  The result wasn't as high of a quality as my other work.  If I knew I was going to be painting new figures for most of the party I would have taken more time but he was already completed and sealed before I made that decision.  Still, he's a solid tabletop-quality piece and works well for us in our RPG campaign.

Merc Sprue Soldier

I'm including the last two characters of the group below, even though they're not new paint jobs.  I painted this first figure back in 2003 to use as a priest-type character, the same type of character it's getting used for now.  This was back before I started cutting the broccoli-bases off my Reaper figures - I hate those things.

Reaper 2720, Inquisitor of Malvernis

The archer is another GW Mercenary Sprue figure I put together for my friend's archer in an Earthdawn game I ran back in 2004.  That same player is playing another bow-wielding character in our current group so it seemed fitting to re-use the same figure.  He's from my pre-basing days, so he's just on a plain black base.  One of these days I'll go back and add some basing to him.

Games Workshop Mercenary Sprue Archer

So that's it for my current gaming group's party of characters.  We're trying a few things different this time around with regards to the game itself which are working out for us.  I want to talk about them some time in the near future but I'm going to wait until after we get a few more sessions in first.

Fire of Salvation

First up is the Fire of Salvation.  One of my biggest complaints of the Guardian warjack is the engraved metallic shoulder plates.  When I saw the Fire of Salvation shared that design I was disappointed - I just don't like the way it looks.  I thought about greenstuffing over them and smoothing them out but decided against it at the last minute.

My other issue was with the fire that was sculpted on the top of the mace.  I'm not a big fan of painted fire, so I got rid of it, but that left the mace looking like it was missing something.  After digging through my bits box I decided that since the Fire was Kreoss' jack I'd take a cue from that warcaster's epic form.  I found an old Temple Flameguard spear and clipped the head to attach to the top of the Fire's mace, making it look like it was designed to share aesthetics with its master's weapon.

I still need to do a little work on the Fire.  On top of a little cleanup, his rivets and the Menofixes on his shoulder need painting.  I also have to decide what to do with the "orbs" attached to his collar above his head.  Then it'll be time for sealing.

Blessing of Vengeance

I've also made a lot of progress on the Blessing of Vengeance, who is closer to completion than the Fire is.  The only real change I made to Blessing was to leave off the banners which affix to the bolts on his shoulders.  I'm not a big banner fan, so I tossed them in my bits box with the banners for my Seneschals, Avatar, Guardian, Harbinger, and Epic Kreoss.  Sense any trends there?

I'm not completely happy with the posing on this model.  His spear doesn't hang below his base but I can see it potentially being obnoxious on the table.  I'm not sure how much I can reposition it without breaking the small pistons that attach his wrist to his forearm though.

Last up is Typhon, who I took a little break from for a while.  He's mostly complete now but I'm not happy with him yet.  His mouths just don't look right and I'm contemplating repainting the stretched skin areas around the bone circle at his cheeks blue like his flesh as opposed to red like his gums.

Typhon

I'm looking into a new photography set up so I can get caught up on documenting my finished works, so hopefully I'll have some better lit shots of these models soon.

Typhon WIP

After I finished Epic Thagrosh I took a bit of break from miniature painting. I'm not sure if it was the culmination of the burnout I had been feeling or the stomach virus I had caught but I pretty much put down the brush about a month or so ago.  It wasn't until just a couple nights ago that I finally sat back down with Typhon to try and get back into the swing of things.

Last time I worked on Typhon I had applied the initial wash to his skin but I hadn't gotten any further.  But when I sat down to try to smooth out the base coat, before I knew it I had flown through a majority of the layering and the clock was telling me it was an hour past when I should have gone to bed.

The following night I did some initial work on all of the carapace areas.  I still have a lot of detailing and more highlighting to do on the skin though.  The mouths also need a ton of work but overall things are progressing rapidly.  Before long I should be able to seal and base this multi-headed monstrosity.

I haven't decided what I'm going to paint after Typhon.  Neither the Fire of Salvation nor the Blessing of Vengeance have been touched in nearly six months.  I just haven't been able to bring myself back to painting warjacks since then.  Half of me really wants to get them finished and off my workbench but the other half remembers how un-fun jacks are to paint.  Painting beasts is so much more fun.

Fire of Salvation and Blessing of Vengeance

I'm also considering switching to Rorsch & Brine.  I basecoated Brine's skin a while ago but he he's virtually unstarted.  Rorsch is just primed but if I paint him I'll probably paint my Bone Grinders at the same time just to make sure that all of my Farrow have a consistently colored hide.  There's also a Stannis Brocker that has been in-progress for a while now that I wouldn't mind working on either.

Stannis Brocker WIP

That's just my models that are in progress, too.  One of these days I should make a list of my unstarted models to try and prioritize them.  Damn figmentia!

Orin Midwinter

As work on my Legion forces progresses I've also been putting some work in on the Mercenaries I'm painting to be given away at Privateer Press Weekend this year.  I still have a lot of detailing and a little bit of re-working  to do but things are looking good as far as meeting my deadline.

First up is my Orin Midwinter, who I think is coming together well.  I shaded his robe by adding black to P3 Skorne Red and left him on the dark side to fit his fluff.  The trim, sash, and shoulder pads still need some work but I went with black to keep a sinister feel on the model.  Orin's staff is P3 Brass Balls shaded with brown and black inks and highlighted by mixing in just a tad of GW Mithril Silver.

After I finish the the rest of the model I think I'm going to do some source lighting on the end of this staff and his left eye.  I have some P3 Arcane Blue that I'll probably use - it's an interesting greenish blue that looks like it's good for this sort of effect.  I've tested it on some other models and I think it would look good applied to Orin.

Dougal MacNaile

I liked the way that Orin's robe turned out enough that I decided to duplicated the red on Dougal's sleeves and the dark gray on his vest. I've only blocked out a few more areas of the model but there are a lot of details on the model that will need finishing before he's done.  I think I'm going to change the color of his sash though to be something other than the same color as his vest.  I'm not sure what color I'll use yet but I just don't like the current look of it.

Dougal has an issue similar to the Idrian Skirmisher models do - a variety of leather accessories on him.  Painting them all the same color would look too uniform and very un-piratey.  That means trying to find a few shades that work together well.

Thor Steinhammer

Last up is Thor, the model I'm probably the least happy with at the moment.  His armor plates look ok but still need cleaning up.  The biggest issue is the dark gray - I just don't like it and I don't think finishing the highlighting is going to make it look any better.  I want to switch to a different color but I'm not sure what yet.  I could use the same red that I used on Dougal and Orin but I think that would wind up looking to neat and clean for this dirty little dwarf.

After I repaint the dark gray areas I'm going to have to do detailing which will include painting the flame and giving him a 5 o'clock shadow.  I've painted fire before and if this goes anything like my first attempt it will be a long, frustrating experience.

Nyss Skintones

The past few weeks I was able to finish up my War Chiefs and get an initial sealing on them.  I have a handful of Legion models that need to have snow put on their base before a final sealing but for now on the Legion from I've switched gears to work on my Strider models.

Once I got started things progressed pretty quickly.  By now I have my Nyssian skin recipe down and it's just a matter of going through the steps.  My leathers are pretty much the same recipe as I've always used as well but decided to switch it up.  Usually I do my highlighting by lightening the Midnight Blue I use with Dutch Blue eventually with a little white.  This time I went from Midnight Blue to Cape Cod Blue, which is a blue/gray.  The end result was a much more realistic look and I think it turned out well.

Unit Attachment

The biggest obstacle so far has been the bow arm on the Strider unit attachment officer.  I didn't like the stock pose so I decided to change it.  But after determining the new position for the arm I realized that the new pose would obscure a lot of the model.  I couldn't attach the modified arm to the body or I wouldn't be able to reach a large portion of the model with my brush.  That meant a post-painting assembly which normally isn't a big deal.  However because I had to sculpt leather straps around the model's bicep I was going to have to do my greenstuff work around already painted areas.  I'm not overly confident in my greenstuff abilities to begin with but I managed do a passable job.

Deathstalkers

All in all things are progressing smoothly with my Striders.  My biggest complaint so far is that I'm probably going to have to at least partially repaint my Strider unit to match these models.  My Striders were some of the first Nyss I painted and my skills have improved since then.  The armor of the original unit in particular was done in a different style and while it was functional then IMO it was a lesser quality job than the models I'm painting now.  Other than that the models are painting up smoothly and I'm looking forward to getting them done.

I had really hoped to finish these models by Wednesday when Epic Thagrosh was released but it doesn't look like that's going to happen anymore.  Looks like I'm going to have to find an evening I can just sit down and put brush to metal.

Speed-Painted Shredder

I've mentioned Luke here on this blog before.  On top of being a fellow Legion of Everblight player he's also one of the hosts of The Podge Cast, has guest hosted on the Iron Agenda, and is a former member of my weekly rpg group (and played in our Deadlands and Earthdawn games).  Needless to say Luke's a busy guy and that's kept his budding Legion force unpainted.

I did a little research and found a few products and after picking them up, invited Luke over after work one day to hang out and test a possible method to speed paint his Legion beasts in the color scheme that he had implied he wanted to use.  While the results  aren't anything that will win a painting competition the process was extremely fast and the results are more than sufficient for the table top.

The key to finding a way for Luke to paint his Legion quickly was to draw from two speed-painting sources - washing over white primer and what is referred to as "the dip method."  Now I'm not a big fan of the dip method as it's traditionally used.  Usually one would basecoat a miniature then dip it in a can of MinWax Polyshades and shake off all of the excess stain.  The painter lacks subtle control over this method, it's messy (as you shake the miniature), and the stain requires mineral spirits to clean up after.

Water-Based Stain

Then I found this at the ReStore, Habitat For Humanity's discount surplus building material store.  Yep, a can of water-soluble blue-tinted MinWax.  Given the color that Luke wanted for his Legion, it was perfect.  I dropped the massive sticker price of $1 for this 95% full can and asked Luke to bring some of his Shredders that had been primed white over for some testing.

We tried three different methods for dragonspawn flesh over the white primer on Luke's models.  First was to paint the stain on with an old brush strait from the can.  As expected the stain was drawn into the recesses of the models to shade them but also tinted all of the white areas enough to give the shredder the pale blue look Luke wanted.

I wanted to try to see if we could add just a little depth to the model so Luke stained a second shredder, then I washed it with P3 Armor Wash (a black paint wash) thinned 50/50 with water.  The results were even better.  The blue tinting still worked perfectly while the thinned Armor Wash darkened the deepest creases just that little bit more to really make everything pop.

Finally we decided to see if the reverse order would work - we washed Armor Wash over a freshly primed Shredder and then applied the Stain.  The results were far less successful than we had experienced so far.  The Armor Wash over the white primer turned it into a dark dark gray that didn't take the stain nearly as well as the white did.

Method Comparison

Luke and I both agreed that the second method (the left shredder in the picture) was by far the best.  As quick as we finished the skin I went ahead and showed Luke the recipe I usually use for bone with a little tweak.  While I usually use Delta Ceramcoat Goosefeather to basecoat bone I had recently been toying with using Reaper Master Series Yellowed Bone because of its superior coverage.  Combining this my usual brown shading wash Luke was able to finish off the bone areas on one Shredder in about fifteen minutes.  Given that this was Luke's first experience with this recipe that's quite an achievement.

Once Luke finishes the mouth and adds some basing this little guy will be complete.  When it's all said and done the entire process (sans basing) will be:

Wood Stain Coloring

1. Prime White
2. Stain flesh
3. Wash flesh with P3 Armor Wash thinned 50/50 with water
4. Base coat bone Reaper Master Series Yellowed Bone (or P3 Jack Bone)
5. Wash bone with a wash made from Delta Ceramcoat Brown Oxide & Delta Ceramcoat Dark Burnt Umber 50/50
6. Clean up gums with white
7. Wash gums with a dark pink to give them the right hue
8. Pick out the teeth with white

With the proper assembly line set up I can see Luke cranking through his beasts... if he can just find the time! 

Fire of Salvation

I worked pretty hard on the models for about a month, making some pretty decent progress.  I decided to use the models to test two new things.  The first was trying a different base color for my off white areas.  I really like the Applebarrel Goosefeather color that I normally use on my Protectorate stuff but that paint's coverage is horrible.  Normally I spend a lot of time putting down countless thinned layers of this color.  This is a very time consuming process on a small model, let alone something as large as a heavy warjack.

This time around I gave Reaper Master Series Yellowed Bone a try.  There's a little more yellow in the color than normal but the coverage is superb.  After laying down a base coat I did a single thinned coat of Goosefeater which helped re-tint the areas more to my liking.  The end result was ever so slightly different from just using Goosefeather but was infinitely faster.  Basecoat completed, it was on to shading as normal.

Blessings of Vengeance

And shading was my second experiment for these models.  Once again I varied my recipe, mixing in some P3 Greatcoat Grey into my usual brown shading mix to add a little more depth to the shadows.  The first results had a bad tint to them that wasn't what I was looking for (nor did it match the rest of my army) but I glazed the shadows a couple times with my usual brown shading mix and that was all the fix that was necessary.

Once the experimentation was over it was on to the usual of jack painting - metallics, my royal purple, and other detailing.  And it was at that point where my motivation started dwindling again.  After trying to rekindle my efforts on these models, I realized my lack of motivation is due to the fact that I just don't like painting warjacks.  The only thing I can think of that it's the big open spaces and the chassis that at this point are just so repetitive that working on them more of a chore than a joy.  And painting shouldn't be a chore.

Added to that the fact that I don't even use too many jacks to often in Warmachine and I wind up preferring to work on something that will see more use like a solo, warcaster, even something from my Legion of Everblight army.

I really want to get these models finished but unless I decide to use them at Privateer Press weekend this year I'm not sure how quickly I'll get back to them.  I still have the scroll-work on Fire to do as well as the weapons (and some edge-work) on both jacks and they should be done.

Now if I can just get motivated to get back to work on them...

OttLite Floor Lamp

Last night as I was working on some models my work light started flickering.  I took a break to do a few things on my computer and when I came back it was completely dead.  I hadn't really noticed how spoiled I had been by my OttLite until I tried painting without it.  I'm going to have to see if I can find an old desk lamp to use until I can get a replacement bulb. 

I suppose it's due though.  The lamp is probably about eight years old at this point and hadn't gone out yet.  It's been fantastic to paint by though.  If I were to go back and change anything I might go with a desk lamp instead of a floor lamp but this one has served me wonderfully since my fiancee gave it to me years ago.  The untinted white lite it puts out is perfect for painting by and I'd highly recommend one for anyone else looking for a painting light.

Wash Experiment

As I mentioned before, the local Warmachine community held Privateer Press Weekend at DieCon 8 last year here in St. Louis.  This year we're going to be doing it again.  And like last year I've been tapped to paint some miniatures to be given away as door prizes to attendees.  Last year I painted up a Broadsides Bart but this year I signed up to do a trio of Mercenaries - Dougal McNaile, Thor Steinhammer, and Orin Midwinter.  Given how much of my own stuff I'd like to have done by the convention it may be a tall order but I'm going to give it a shot.

So far the work I've done on Dougal and Orin has been mostly preliminary stuff.  I basecoated their skin with P3 Midlund Flesh  and washed them with a diluted mix of GW Brown Ink, P3 Flesh Wash, and some glaze medium.  From there I'll start highlighting the skin back up, but before I do that I'm going to get Thor caught up so I can do all three at once.  Dougal also got his pants based in Reaper Master Series Yellowed Bone, then I washed them with the same shade I used on both models' exposed skin.  With a little cleanup I think it's going to look pretty nice.

GW Foundation Red

The red on Orin is from a pot of GW Foundation Red that I was given a ways back.  It's a little thick but even watered down the paint has excellent coverage and really helped get him started.  I plan on washing his coat with a dark red/black to help define the shadow areas before I start doing any actual blending.  I plan on blending over the wash but it'll help give me a reference point on where to start.

I've already mentioned the GW and P3 paint lines that I use, but they're not the only paint lines I use.  My paint organizer has bottles from both Vallejo's lines, Reaper Master Series, some artist paint additives and even some craft paints that still see use on my models.  Some painters will  swear by a single line and stick with it but I'm a big fan of picking and choosing to find the tools that best work with your style and your palette needs.

My current project is a pair of Warmonger War Chiefs that I'm painting to match the Blighted Ogrun Warmongers that I painted back in 2007. I've included a couple of picture my my photography rig probably won't be up for another week or so so the quality is pretty lacking.  I really wanted to get back to posting pictures though so it's a start.

There's still plenty of work to do - attaching the right arm for instance.  There's also the bone spines on the back of the left arm which haven't been shaded yet and are still base-coated in Reaper Master Series Yellowed Bone.  And the Ogrun's talons and the claws on his pelt that need some work as well as some more general touch-up and detailing.

As I worked on my warmongers my biggest concern was being able to match the colors on models that I painted almost two years ago but for the most part that's been relatively a non-issue.  I had written down the flesh colors and the armor is very strait forward; the only real issue was the fur on the boots/back but I was able to match that fairly closely to my existing Warmongers' boots.  My recipe for doing so used a few washes with P3 Armor Wash though, which reminded me how much I hate some of the paints I also think are the easiest to use - the shiny finish.

The effect I see usually happens with either hobby paints that use liquid pigments (Reaper Master Series, Formula P3) or certain washes - that being a shiny finish on the coat of paint after applying it to the model.  The problem is easily solved at the end of the painting process during final sealing when I use Testors Dullcoat but until that time the areas that are painted with these paints are pretty reflective and can obscure detail.

These reflections make it difficult - for me at least - to pick out my own highlighting as I work which has been extremely frustrating at times.  It can be very annoying to seal a model and then realize that the paint job doesn't actually look like I thought it did when the reflected highlights are are removed.  Even with the glossy finish good paint is good paint so I'll stick with using the RMS and P3 lines.  The paints apply and blend too smooth and easily for me for it to be worth switching.

Although I'm concentrating on my Legion, I plan on switching gears for the next post.  I'm hoping that alternating between the groups of WIPs will help prevent burnout.  So next post I'll provide some pictures of a different project I'm working on for DieCon, and with any luck my photo rig will be set back up and they'll be much higher quality!

Even thought I'm still netting a positive painting-to-purchased ratio my output has been pretty abysmal.  In September I finished up my Legion of Everblight Incubi and my Vassel of Menoth.  There's not much I can say about the Vassal that won't be said when the pictures get posted.  It was a quick and simple model - robes, shoulder armor, mask, and a few chains - but I'm particularly happy with my Incubi.

For the Incubi I wanted to use the skin tones that I normally use on my beasts and Nyss for the respective portions of the models, but they were so close in tone I was worried that they wouldn't be different enough.  I was surprised how well the subtle differences showed up though. Initially I was going to gore-up the models but at the last minute I decided against it - without the added effect it looks like the beast portion of the Incubi were wearing the Nyss portions like Edgar Suits.  I really liked the effect so I kept it.

The past month or so I've begun working on the two Protectorate character 'jacks - The Blessing of Vengeance and the Fire of Salvation.  I've made quite a bit of progress on both, but I've also rediscovered how much I hate painting warjacks.  On the up side I did try out using a Reaper Master Series Paint (Yellowed Bone) that I had in place of the goosefeather that I usually use to see how it worked out.  The results are close enough that I may be able to use it in the future to basecoat my white(ish) areas to help speed painting.

With the new year comes DieCon, and with DieCon comes the Hardcore tournament and painting models to be given away as door prizes again.  There will be more details on that going forward.  I might try and use the models that I'm going to be working on to see if I can combine smaller posts with pictures and do them a bit more frequently.  It's taken me forever to get my camera out and get caught up on my gallery so far, but I'm still going to try.

I have added news feeds from Diminutive Denizens, my miniature gallery web sit, to try and make sure that I can keep producing some content, but when my camera got borrowed for a couple months even that slowed down.  I'm working on getting back into the swing of things... we'll just have to see what sort of progress I can make.

While I didn't complete any models in February, I did get a fair amount of work done. So by the mid-March I was putting the finishing touches on almost twenty models - a monthly high for me. I finished three warbeasts I had sitting around - a Seraph, Carnivean, and a Raek to start. I also finished up my second Seneschal and the last two Knight Exemplar Errant I had to do.

That alone would have been a good month but I decided earlier to try to speed paint some generic models for use in roleplaying games. I had a box of plastic GW Dark Elf Warriors that had been sitting around since my Mordheim days about six years go. I figured they'd make workable (if a bit spiky) common soldiers or guardsmen.

The dark elf box came with enough parts to make sixteen models armed with either spears or crossbows. I wanted some variety but also wanted to leave a few spare parts for conversion purposes so I assembled four spear wielders and four crossbowmen. I then took a couple of the officer swords and made two sword wielders. I wanted two more models with swords but didn't have any left. Luckily the dark elf spear blades are long enough that I could snip off the blades and pin them directly to a couple models' hands to be used as larger barbed swords. They're not something that your average town guardsman would use but they'd work as an abstraction. I speed painted them between warbeasts and they were done in no time.

There's no WIP pictures this time around - all the miniatures I was really working on are completed. My plan is to photograph them in the next couple weeks and will update Diminutive Denizens by the end of the month.

Since Privateer's release schedule has been a bit slow lately I only picked up a few models: Reznik, two Shepherds, the Blighted Archer UA, and a Gudrun the Wanderer I got with some store credit won in a tournament. Still with the completion of the twelve plastic dark elves my March total was bumped up to eighteen and my net total has gone to +5, positive for the first time in six months. I know no one really cares how many models I get out the door but me, but it does feel nice to be making progress once again.

Blighted Trio

I'm pretty happy how quickly I was able to get some painting done in January. I started my Blighted Legionnaires early on and was able to finish them in less that two weeks. While I was working on them I also completed my Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew. After that I took about a week or so off and before deciding to break into the big stuff. I've had a few warbeasts sitting around primed - a second Carnivean, a second Seraph, and my Raek - that I decided to try to do all at once. It's slow going and the process is pretty monotonous but they've been sitting in my miniature case primed for long enough.

Raek Flesh Details

I haven't finished the warbeasts yet but I hope to in February. I'm taking my time and trying a slightly different color scheme - doing something a little more gray and a little less blue. I'm also adding a little bit of texture to the beasts' musculature to give it some additional visual interest. I still have some shading to do on the skintones - especially on the Seraph - but I'm making pretty good progress. I finished up the dirt and stone on their bases and now just have to do the wrecked warjack on the Carnivean's base, the Seraph's wings, and the bone and mouths on all the beasts.

Angelius Tail Repose

On top of the painting I've also started work reposing my second Angelius. I hacked apart the end of its tail and repositioned it using an paper clip armature. I've added some bulk with greenstuff already but haven't gotten any detail work done on the top layer. I'm looking to finish the sculpting and assembling the rest of the model by the end of the month. That way I can have both Angelii primed and ready to paint so I can do them both when the mood finally strikes me. Given how much I like using these beasts I hope the mood strikes me sooner rather than later.

I did pick up Aiyana and Holt as well as a box of Incubii and a Feralgeist in January. I also had a few gift certificates that let me get a second Angelius and a box of Farrow Bone Grinders. Thirteen models in and twelve out left me one in the whole for the month, dropping my running total to a negative seven - definitely not the direction I was hoping to go.

At least there's only about 7 models from February through April that I'm interested in getting, so I've got a good chance of pulling back into the positive pretty soon as long as I can keep up a decent pace. With any luck I can be in the black by the end of March.

Trollkin Fell Caller

Part of what I've been working on the past couple months have been miniatures for other people, so I couldn't post progress at the end of November without giving away what I was working on. But now that the holidays are past I can actually talk about what I've been painting again.

November was about as bad as expected for miniature throughput. I picked up a full unit of Idrian Skirmishers and am glad I made that decision. I've played the a couple of times with Kreoss and once with the Testament of Menoth now and have been happy with them together - Protection of Menoth makes them very survivable and Pathfinder, Coordination, and Intercept give them a nice tactical flexibility. I want to paint these guys but have a lot on my plate at the moment. And since their UA has just been announced I'll likely postpone the models until I can do the UA along with them.

Nephilim Soldier

I also went to an event at Fantasy Books and Games over in Illinois in November and won some store credit. Unfortunately they didn't have a lot of stock in and I don't go out there often enough to warrant saving it so I wound up buying Bosun Grogspar. I'm not sure how often I'll use him but at least he should be fun to paint up.

On the upside I was finally able to get a handful of miniatures done for the month. I finished up my Nephilim Soldier and Kell Bailoch for myself as well as a Totem Hunter and a Reinholdt model I'll be handing off to their respective owners.  But that still left me 7 models in the hole for the month - and an even dozen in the hole cumulatively - but what are you going to do?

Browncoat Kell

When December rolled around, things looked promising for my throughput. The only model that came out that I wanted to pick up was a Raek, which meant I had a chance to get ahead. I started the month finishing a couple more gift miniatures - Morvahna and a Fell Caller - then decided to try and paint my Reindeer. It took right up through the 31st but I was finally able to complete all 5 of my Raptors, putting me up 6 models for the month and cutting my running deficit in half.

Morvahna

Looking forward I'm going to try to do my Blighted Legionnaires in January, as well as one or two more individual models if I get time. I really need to get the unit done - I'm already looking at picking up Lady Aiyana & Master Holt and a box of Incubi later in the month. I have some assembly that I want to get done as well. My Raek is still in its blister and I need to get the Neren the Scary I mentioned being asked to do a couple months ago based and primed so I can start on that as well.

WIP shots have been hard to come by lately - this update just has some finished shots. I haven't had time to stop and take pictures as I paint and all of my current WIPs have either not had any progress made on them since last posting (Alahel) or are completed and will be up on my web site soon. I did get a mini tripod for my camera for Christmas so I'll try and make more of an effort to take WIP pictures in January.

Kell and my second Hawk are pretty much in the conditions they were in at the start of the month - I took a break from them when to do my Warmongers. I did finish Kell's gun and Hawk's base so they're just a couple hours (each) away from being finished. Still close isn't the same as complete, and since I did pick up 10 Legionnaires as expected leaving me in the 2 in red again for the month. But really... who's surprised by that?

Looking forward, the good news is that after assembling the Legionnaires I've come to the conclusion that they're going to be pretty quick to paint. Most of the models are either plate armor or their swords, and metallics don't take too long once you have a system down. I think the hardest parts are going to be their skirts/robes where I'll be doing some wet blending but even then there's not that much surface area I'll need to cover.

I think for November my goal is going to be completing Hawk, Kell, and a Neran the Scary that I was commissioned to do. I'm also going to try to do my Nephilim Soldier. Unfortunately Privateer Press keeps feeding my habit - the Idrian Skrimishers come out this month for my Protectorate army so that's 8-10 more models that are going to get counted against me this month. I may try to squeeze my Legionnaires in this month to help offset them but I'm not sure I'll be able to get to them with my newest non-orange time sink.

Now that I've finished Portal I'm holding off on the rest of the games in the Orange Box while I work on the RPG game I'm going to be running (gasp!). Starting the campaign is proving difficult for me, but that's something I'll talk about when I write on the game's first session, which will take place later today (Sunday, Nov 4th). Hopefully I'll be able to get something posted in the next couple weeks about the new game, including some of the new challenges I'm facing running this particular game. Vague enough? It'll have to do; I'm saving the details until next time.

A few months ago I decided to set a goal for myself of painting as many miniatures as I bought each month. That certainly flew in the face of my figmentia but I figured it would at least give me something to work for. And since I had mostly caught up with purchases for my Protectorate of Menoth and Legion of Menoth forces, my purchases were mostly going to be limited to new releases. Still, I soon realized that keeping up was going to be much harder than I first thought.

July worked out pretty well. I finished up my second Forsaken and my unit of Striders (6 models) and only purchased an Angelius. It helped that there was only one real release for my factions for the month. In August some new Legion miniatures came out and I picked up Saeryn and a unit of 5 Raptors. Fortunately I was able to burn through some painting as well, churning out the Harbinger of Menoth, 2 Harriers, Rhyas, Saeryn, and Vayl.

Things went a bit down hill in September. I had decided to do a "Merc Month" and began working on some of the Mercenary solos that had been on the back burner for some time now - First Mate Hawk, Doc Killingsworth, Kell Bailoch, and Alten Ashley. On top of those I had a second Hawk and Doc that a local player commissioned me to paint. I also spent a hefty amount of time assembling my Raptors, which required a lot of gap filling and sculpting on the ulk. Finally I stared a couple of non-PP models (gasp!) - a necromancer by Reaper that I was using as a test piece for some colors and a Confrontation piece, Alahal the Messenger, that I have had for years. Unfortunately with the combination of the time spent sculpting, getting tired painting multiple copies of the same model, and moving back and forth between the various detailed sculpts I didn't actually complete any of the models I had started. On top of that I picked up 8 Bog Trog Ambushers and the Testament of Menoth, putting me 9 figures in the hole for the month.

However October 1st I finished half the Mercs - both Docs and the commissioned Hawk. It was just too late to count for September but I got off to a good start in October. My Hawk and Alten are very close as well, which is good. Kell's about half done as well so I have a good chance of getting them all finished relatively soon before moving on to my Warmongers, the 5-man unit that's next on my list. Unfortunately the Blighted Legionnaires and Farrow Bone Grinders are going to be released later this month, meaning I'm going to be picking up (and wanting to assemble) between 10 and 14 models. I have a bad feeling I'm going to stay negative, we'll just have to wait and see.

As for my current WIPs, I'm starting with Alten Ashley. As a byproduct of my Merc Month I was able to break out some of the non-craft paints I had acquired over the last few years but haven't used. These solos aren't in my factions' standard color schemes so I was able to try new colors without having to worry about matching something I already had. For Alten in particular I got to play with a lot of my browns - Reaper Master Series (RMS) Driftwood Brown for his trench coat and RMS Yellowed Bone for his scarf. The coat was washed with a mix of P3 Armor Wash and Delta Ceramcoat Dark Umber then highlighted back up with Driftwood, eventually adding a little RMS Yellowed Bone for the highest highlights.

Alten Ashley

The pants under his chaps (not visible below) were Basecoated in P3 Idrian Flesh and washed with the Armor Wash again then, cleaned up with Idrian Flesh and left like that - they are a deeply recessed portion and I didn't want to highlight them any further. The rest of the brown areas - the hair and boots - were done with craft paints I had used before. The gun stock was a mix of Delta Ceramcoat Golden Brown and Territorial Beige that was then stained with a dark brown wash. It (as well as the rest of the gun) still need finishing but it gave a good blond wood color for my base. The gun and gloves still need work (gloves are still just primer) and he'll be done.

Kell Bailoch

Next up is a weaponless Kell, who's the least complete of the PP models. I did his basing while I was doing the others then basecoated most of the model. Some folks may recognize the color scheme as that of a certain TV character who's dressed similarly, sans hat. Speaking of which I'm not sure I like the color of it, but I haven't redone it yet. The hat and coat are based in Idrian flesh and then washed with P3 Armor Wash and Ceramcoat Dark Umber. I haven't done any clean up or highlighting yet, but that should come soon. I need to do some layering and a little wet blending to add some better shadow before I do any highlighting. The shirt is painted in P3 Skorne Red and the pants are RMS Driftwood Brown. The pouches slung across his chest will probably be the same color as the pants when all's said and done.

First Mate Hawk

After Kell is my third Hawk, and I can definitely say I'm getting sick of painter her. The first was a blue and tan scheme and the second was the red scheme that was used on the studio model. For my own version I kept the red bandanna and skirt and went with a black vest and dark brown leathers. Pretty much everything on this model still needs cleaning up, but I haven't been able to force myself to work on it any more - I'm too burnt out on the sculpt for now.

I'm also working on a scenic base for her that's in a few pieces on my painting desk. It'll be a slight variation on the decking style that a lot of people seem to be using on the new Privateer solos but I think it will stand out as different. I just need to do a little assembly and decide what to use to fill in the relatively empty areas on it.

Alahel the Messenger

The last model here is the Confrontation Alahal the Messenger. I've had this model for ages - it's always been one of my favorites and I've finally decided to try to paint it up. His robes are base coated in P3's Coal Black and the flesh in P3 Medium Flesh. Coal Black is a very dark blue intended for use in highlighting black. I'm going to try it out as my basecoat here. I've also been playing with P3's flesh colors for all the models I've done since the start of Merc Month, trying them out. So far I like them better than the Vallejo Model Colors I've been using - the P3's are nowhere near as thick and easier to use. VMCs were even thicker than my craft paints. Granted they're more pigment intensive but they're still a pain to work with on the pallet.

Anyway I'm still finalizing the scheme for Alahal but I'm using the Reaper necromancer mentioned earlier (no pics here) as a test piece to see how some colors look next to each other. Alahal should start coming together more as I work on him as a break from Privateer Press models.

That's it for now. If all goes well I'll post another update after the end of October to see how my painting commitment is holding up.