The browns are working out nicely

Glad you approve. She is 50 shades or so

Other news, 2016 really sucks. One of my colleagues, and indeed friends, died at the weekend after a long deterioration post childhood cancer. Nasty 1970s drugs meant an end mired in dementia and decay in his early 40s. Bloody horrible. Still, we shared a love of brownies, whiskey and music from Grant Lee Phillips to Muse, and a passion for improving the lives of young people. A good soul.

So, anyway, Hawkgirl is done, I think:











Back to using Oakland graffiti for backdrops. Think it's an improvement?

Also, carrying on with terrain. Getting a bit zenithal (coo) with my tattoo parlour


Also, father-in-law was clearing out tat and found this:

The car obviously, Bat for scale it's 1:48 but not bad, a 1936 classic (and the toy itself is from 1978, so is the same age as me). I'll leave it unpainted for now but irrespective it's very Gotham style-y

Not sure what shelf of shame week 4 will be. Currently it has:
Damian Wayne
Huntress
Green Arrow
Red Hood
Penguin thugs (2), Arkham inmates (2) and titan thug
Scarecrow militia (2) and Gatling militia titan
Blackgate prisoners (4)
Borj (ivy plant)
Plus black manta, black canary and black flash unbuilt
Any suggestions gratefully received!
Cheers
graven

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Hawk is looking good.
Not very colourful for a superhero (?)

The problems with backgrounds is when the object of the photo (the model) gets lost in the background's details.
I'll elaborate (because I tend to about simple matters... why use one sentence when 5 will do...);

A scenic background does make for a very atmospheric photo. Which is a good thing. Sets the scene and the tone for the model.

However, when the background is very busy, with lots of contrasts, bright colours, harsh lines, etc. the model is more difficult to make out clearly. the outline of the model is broken up and lines of the armour/clothing can merge into the lines of the background.

This is made worse when the model is painted in a more realistic manner: Cartoon-y, bright colours, etc. make the model stand out more.

You can draw your own conclusions about your photos from this.
But all is not lost, there are ways to paint your cake and post it.

You could just avoid busy backgrounds. But where's the fun in that?!
Take the majority of the photos in front of a plain (and appropriately toned) background and then one or two immersive photos to set the tone; this gives the best of both worlds.

It the background is just a printout, fade the picture (probably more than you think is necessary), both brightness (up) and contrast (down). This allows the model to stand out by being the brightest and sharpest and clearest object in the photo.
This is the method I use for my final photos. Check through my gallery for examples. You could even go further than what I've done, but I've not had any (many) complaints about my photos.

Distance and focus. This works by placing the background a long way behind the model and only keeping the model in focus for the photo, creating that "break" between the object you want us to look at and the background that just adds flavour to the photo. Being blurred, the background doesn't interfere with the lines of the model.

Car's a good find too.

Damn man, every time I pop in here it seems like you have more bad news :( I am not sure if that means I need to check in more or less...

Seriously though, I am very sad to hear about your friend. You seem to know a lot of awesome people and that speaks highly of you and how you live your life. I can't help but think you have made all theirs better as well.

*sniff*

Ok, back to man toys.

Your Hawk Girl mods look really nice. She was always one of my favorite characters in Justice League. Not for any particular reason, just because. I think there are two pretty easy paint things you could do to punch her look up a bit, so she stands out a little more.

1: Alter the brown just a bit. She is a very one temperature model right now, a medium warm brown. (Not exactly technical terms.) It makes her more cohesive, pulling the wings in nicely, but I think it also makes her less dynamic to look at. Less alive feeling. I think that adding some yellow highlights, mostly to the helmet, left knee, back of the right boot and any hard edges on the tops of the arms towards the wrist would really add some action and draw the eye. Not a white or pale yellow, but a thin yellow. That will add heat.
Next, I would add a little purple wash in the shadows. Not much, and pretty thin, just under the armpits, the underside of her boobs, the front of the right knee and left shin, and a bit by the belt/crotch region there. Mostly to add some cool color to mix it up without darkening it too much.

2: Maybe add a pale grey/blue wash to the tops of the wings, just to add some tint to the grey you have going. Might just be me, but I kind of hate flat grey on thing unless the object is supposed to be dead metal. Even then I like a hint of tint.

That's a lot of words for pretty minor suggestions! She just looks so good, I can't help myself
Plus, it has been a while since I have gotten to paint anything, brown or no

OMG! I could scale that thing RIGHT down to a proper yet still ridiculous vehicle! Think League of Extraordinary Gentlemen! }
Big Hood/Bonnet. That tattoo parlor is amazing! Everything going on here is exciting!

50 Shades of Brown?!?! I'm confused. I thought that it was WonderWoman who is into tying things up. As far as the backdrop goes, it makes it hard to see details on her. I prefer a standard all white/all black background for model pictures. (or seeing them in game, which is even better!)
Love seeing what you'll do with that coupe!
There is a special heaven for those who work the tough cases... because the rewards down here on earth a few and far between people like that. Thoughts and prayers are headed your way again, Graven.

Sorry for the loss of your friend. As having cancer myself I tell you it is hard on the folks around you as well. It's good to remember the good times and that helps keep those folks in our hearts and minds.

looking good on Hawkgirl. Next I'd like to see Scarecrow and such. I think the character is right up your painting style.

Thanks for all your kind words team.

@DrH - really help notes my friend. I'll keep working on finding better backgrounds; I think the answer may be to use actual terrain.

@Wehrkind - Definitely check in more. Awesome notes, really helpful, and have applied them all. She's looking better, here's a quick pic:

And by quick I mean trying to ifnd somewher in my house where I get enough light without glare to show the various yellow highlights, violet shading and blue washing. Having rewatched the "Legends" 2-parter I realise (and the internet does not show this) that the recessed areas on the front of her helm have a greenish tinge, as in the classic Hawkgirl colours, so I'm going to use a green wash (maybe thraka, maybe camoshade) there and on the strips running down the legs, just to break up the brown further. I'm debating doing it to the boots also, whatcha think?

dsteingass wrote:OMG! I could scale that thing RIGHT down to a proper yet still ridiculous vehicle! Think League of Extraordinary Gentlemen! }
Big Hood/Bonnet. That tattoo parlor is amazing! Everything going on here is exciting!

Cheers matey. Yeah, it's gotta a very LOEG vibe actually, I love the daft engine. I think the plan with the parlour is do the tiling dark green and keep the brickwork fairly neutral/stone. Then I just need to do all the logos and inks

Anpu-adom wrote:50 Shades of Brown?!?! I'm confused. I thought that it was WonderWoman who is into tying things up. As far as the backdrop goes, it makes it hard to see details on her. I prefer a standard all white/all black background for model pictures. (or seeing them in game, which is even better!)
Love seeing what you'll do with that coupe!
There is a special heaven for those who work the tough cases... because the rewards down here on earth a few and far between people like that. Thoughts and prayers are headed your way again, Graven.

Thanks man. Yeah, I'm increasingly thinking in-game As for the car I'm seriously considering using Black Auto-spray on it to get the real glossy sheen.

Solar_lion wrote:Sorry for the loss of your friend. As having cancer myself I tell you it is hard on the folks around you as well. It's good to remember the good times and that helps keep those folks in our hearts and minds.

looking good on Hawkgirl. Next I'd like to see Scarecrow and such. I think the character is right up your painting style.

Cheers matey. Anyway, what, this guy?

Arkham Scarecrow converted (slightly) into Brother Blood from Arrow. But, yeah, I need a regular scarecrow too. He's my youngest's favourite Batman villain (well, this week) so he's got to make an appearance I reckon.

Meantime, as no-one made any suggestions (well, from the list), I started the Bat-Brat:

Yeah, I know, but just blocking in yellow and, as a test, adding a low level yellow base to give the red and green some zing. An experiment; we shall see.

Also, on to these 2:

Time to get inking and weathering properly! Love the Arc fighter, beautiful model. TIE/Sf is just another excuse to go pewpewpew. I actually sorted my Imperials last night. I now have 6 TIEs, 3 Interceptors, 2 phantoms, 3 bombers (1 as shuttle), 1 Advanced, 1 Advanced Prototype, 1 Punisher, 3 Defenders (1 as x/7, 1 as /D), 2 TIE/fo and now 1 TIE sf. Oh, and Slave I and the Gozanti.That's a fairly decent imperial fleet Time to sort out some rebel scum (next week, hopefully )

And a good news/bad news: after succesfully coercing my parents into getting me X-Wing for my brithday, they've latched on to buying me geek toys (hey, it's only taken 30 years) and so are getting me the Suicide Squad for BMG for Xmas. The Bad news? Well, now I have to get other Joker stuff
Cheers y'all
graven

Those ships are looking good. The ARC-170 is probably one of my favourite SW ship designs, I need to get that mini at some point.

I'd hazard a guess that with Harley in theSS set as well, you'll have 300-odd Rep of Joker stuff, so there's no need to get more! However, the Arkham City Joker model is one that every Bat-fan should own, still one of the best KM have ever released...

Nice work on Hawk Girl, the extra armour is pretty cool.

Gotta love the Arc in X Wing, such a cool looking ship. Hopefully flying mine on for the first time this week.

EDC

I'm a wave behind on my X-Wing purchases, and it looks like wave 10 will be here before I buy what I want from wave 9!
Love the weathering and washes you do. The FFG models really respond well to a little attention, and your work is some of the cleanest I've seen. Keep it up!

 inmygravenimage wrote:
@DrH - really help notes my friend. I'll keep working on finding better backgrounds; I think the answer may be to use actual terrain...

Glad it helps (and therefore made sense). Keep experimenting with backgrounds until you find something that you like.

It is a tricky thing to judge, photos, you know what the model looks like and can then fill in the details in what you see in the photo.
You have to put yourself in the seat of your audience; we can only judge/comment on what we can see in the photo.
There's a knack/skill to judging a photo and truly telling if it represents the real world... and yet it needs to go beyond the real world: As you hold a model in your hand you don't sit and stare at it from one angle with the light from one angle (this is what we have in a photo), you will move it about to see into shadowed areas and to bring parts into focus.
For a photo to do a good job it needs to avoid the issues that would mean you'd just move it a bit IRL: Shadows, focus, background.

Harsh lighting, from one angle, casts strong shadows on and behind/below the model. These do the same thing as I mentioned about the busy background; it breaks up the shape of the subject (model) making it more difficult to distinguish the details.
Solve this with "soft" diffuse lighting, all around the model. Front and top at a minimum, positioned to minimise shadows.

If you want your audience to look at something on a model, make sure that part is in focus. This may mean taking many photos and selecting the usual few for overall views and then some additional photos to show the weapon that sticks out, for example.

And that brings us back to the background. It needs to be distinct from the subject of the photo; this is important in all photography, not just models. Next time you come across a photo that makes you think "that's a nice photo" try to think about what is the subject of the photo (easier for photos of people and things, rather than landscape photos) and how it is distinct from the background; is it colour, focus, lighting, or something else. Take note and use those in your photography.

All the same advice for a photo backdrop is true for a "real" terrain background. Keep it distant from the model and slightly out of focus to make the model distinct.

Yeah yeah, I went off on one again. Not all relevant to you personally, Graven, but all useful information together in one place (something that keep me happy).

Looking good. Could she get a splash of colour somewhere? Maybe a purple on the mace? Don't know if that diverges from the "official" colour scheme? Just a thought.

Good work on the little ships.

Wehrkind: Highlighting brown with yellow? I like that idea, I'm going to have to give that a go sometime.

If anything, it's the way you're taking the pic I'll bet. With the ships pic, the ships should be in macro focus, while the paint pots, and Robin should be fuzzy and out of focus. Same with Robin's close-up, play with the macro, and manual focus if auto isn't doing what you want it to. I'd bet you rivets that's most if not all of your pic issue.

Actual background isn't as important, but once you get the hang of this...you'll be a pro.

A picture says a thousand words... I used words, Dave used picture. :(

Thanks once more chaps. I shall of course ignore your suggestions for now no, seriously, I'm going to spend a bit of time and effort on some proper, better pics - but in the mean time, she has been retouched!

And in natural light

And Robin, who's mostly done apart from his face (which, frankly, is proving a nightmare)

His whole mouth is badly cast, which wasn't really apparent till. Primed. Short of gs-ing a bandana over it I'm a bit stumped.
Been struck down with sickness bug the last couple of days. Feel like crud. Probably in part cos just run down, but still. Now I can eat, just bloody sore. Extreme workout for the abs, that one.
Next on the painting front is likely to be the ruined chapel walls m doing for a mate. The arc and tie can wait I guess. The tattoo studio and fast food joint colour schemes are taking shape in my head though, as are my billboards, finally. Who knows where the muse will strike, eh?
Cheers,
Graven

HG looks awesome now, I honestly wasn't a fan at first but that slight touch of green makes the whole thing so much more lively!

Damien looks great as well, can't really see the face. It's so tiny that unless the issue is major, I'd just leave it.

Thanks man, I appreciate that. Good advice.

Looking after my nephew today, so got only a wee moment during his nap.

Banksy inspired. Not sure what to do on the reverse yet.

Equally, this one has yet to be graffiti'd on front:


But has stuff on the back

Wish I done this lower though, could've done green hahaha eyes. Never mind.

And some more regular signage


...


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These are the MDF signs from Knight, though the posters, hahahas and Bang! are mine. They were primed silver when I acquired them - not reeeeeeally my style but still. Nice for adding height, flavour and colour (sounds like a cake) chapel walls have been washed with black, nothing interesting to show yet...

And more on the reverse


Settled on this for the back of the banksy

May add in more rows or graffiti. Haha bat will get a ripped strip of these along the bottom I think. We shall see...

Those signs are looking very cool Graven

Yeah, sorry to hear of the death of a friend.

Minis look good, that car windfall should make a great gangster vehicle.

Thanks guys. Test for the back of the other:

Very nice touches to your collection.

Cheers mate. Next step:

I think that along the bottom of the ripped one I'll tag every other Arkham 'A' with a bright green 'H' to hahaha the bottom line - does that make sense/sound good?


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Like this:

The signs are inspired graven. Really love them!

So you're a Petula Clark fan then... explains so much. Although I do not think those are the signs she sang about. They have a nice urban gritty something to them. Perfect for Gotham.

Gitsplitta wrote:The signs are inspired graven. Really love them!

Thanks old chum. It's good to add some roof cover, for sure.

Red Harvest wrote:So you're a Petula Clark fan then... explains so much. Although I do not think those are the signs she sang about. They have a nice urban gritty something to them. Perfect for Gotham.

More Prince than Petula. and Batman '89 is my jam. I'm sorely tempted to pick up Harley and her Arkham crew just to paint them up as the mimes from it, actually. But that way madness lies...
Meanwhile, I think the signs are about done:

I'd planned to add tags the front of these but, actually, I think I'm happy with this.

Likewise, I had planned to add a few more posters to the back of these but, I think, less is more.

Played Spearpoint 1943: eastern front last night. 2 player card based wargame, seemingly very simple, very strategic - really excellent, and had an aboslute blast despite losing as Russians to the Germans on the last roll of the game. Well worth a look for something a bit different, if that's your sort of thing or even if not.
Hey ho
Graven

Oh, and current wip:

Plus some quick air vent tokens

Those are some nice vent covers.

Everything else looks brilliant as well.

Wow, fantastic signs there sir. Those will make for a great table

Those signs are really nice Graven

Good work on the advert boards. Look great.

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Hmm, something weird happened there, Firefox ate my last post. Any way, new pics in lighting tent, albeit with camera phone. These were a commission, but given that I haven't been paid yet I'll happily hold on to them if need be Thanks for all the support on the boards, I loved doing them, considering a deadpool one just to be a bit meta

Those boards are great. Graffiti's nicely done not too much not too little.

I was watching DC's Legends of Tomorrow on Netflix, and I saw the Hawkgirl in all bronze and browns, Egyptian Priestess version is where you went, not the alien variant from the animated stuff Netflix has been getting. Cool. Woman playing Hawkgirl is a hottie.

 inmygravenimage wrote:

Spoiler:

Thanks once more chaps. I shall of course ignore your suggestions for now no, seriously, I'm going to spend a bit of time and effort on some proper, better pics - but in the mean time, she has been retouched!

And in natural light

And Robin, who's mostly done apart from his face (which, frankly, is proving a nightmare)

His whole mouth is badly cast, which wasn't really apparent till. Primed. Short of gs-ing a bandana over it I'm a bit stumped.
Been struck down with sickness bug the last couple of days. Feel like crud. Probably in part cos just run down, but still. Now I can eat, just bloody sore. Extreme workout for the abs, that one.
Next on the painting front is likely to be the ruined chapel walls m doing for a mate. The arc and tie can wait I guess. The tattoo studio and fast food joint colour schemes are taking shape in my head though, as are my billboards, finally. Who knows where the muse will strike, eh?
Cheers

,
Graven

Very nice work on Hawkgirl! Glad to hear the yellow and such worked out. The green on the helmet is really is a nice addition too! That's one nice thing about super hero comics, they do some nice contrasts with cool and warm colors to help them pop off the page, and that translates well to minis.
Hawkgirl is going to look badass flying over those signs too!

Excellent work on the bill boards, the posters and graffiti on the back make them really interesting pieces.

EDC

Llamahead wrote:Those boards are great. Graffiti's nicely done not too much not too little.

Cheers! I am always tempted to go a bit crazy with tagging, was worried that the Penguin and Vicki Vale boards were lacking, so that's reassuring

shasolenzabi wrote:I was watching DC's Legends of Tomorrow on Netflix, and I saw the Hawkgirl in all bronze and browns, Egyptian Priestess version is where you went, not the alien variant from the animated stuff Netflix has been getting. Cool. Woman playing Hawkgirl is a hottie.

Thanks man. I really like Hawkgirl as depicted in the JL/JLU cartoon persona-wise, but the look of the LoT one for me was just spot on.

Wehrkind wrote:
Very nice work on Hawkgirl! Glad to hear the yellow and such worked out. The green on the helmet is really is a nice addition too! That's one nice thing about super hero comics, they do some nice contrasts with cool and warm colors to help them pop off the page, and that translates well to minis.
Hawkgirl is going to look badass flying over those signs too!

Yeah, reflecting that in muted mini terms can be a real challenge thanks bro.

evildrcheese wrote:Excellent work on the bill boards, the posters and graffiti on the back make them really interesting pieces.

EDC

Thanks Dr

So here's my Month 1 update (minus billboards) in the light tent:

And indeed, Robin scrubs up much better seen semi-properly (macro and everything!)


But, still there's the shelf (well, shelves) of shame for month 2:


Look empty? Nah...

Because I've started this:

And these:

Ugh. Batch painting
Yup, the Court of Owls are on my desk for next. I really should get something together for the current LoER contest but I'm just not feeling it right now. Also, I'm going to need to start thinking about Xmas - one of my friends is going with a whole circus theme for his board (he also plays Malifaux) and is using the Plastcraft terrain (got him some for his birthday); he doesn't really paint (he was the one who I did Black Canary and Huntress for last xmas), so am thinking of doing some TTCombat circus wagons (along with a set of 3 smoothie lid air vents). Yup, building and painting, in other words. I have 2 other geek Xmas presents to plan, one will get a set of 3 Air vents but probably unbuilt terrain (his board is dock-themed; boaty mcboatface time...), and one for a non-bmg'r who likes x-wing and pocket games (no clue what to get him )
Such is life

Off to my folks for a few days, enjoying our mid-term holiday. Might even manage to relax for 5 mins
Later peeps,
graven

So after a pleasant few days with my parents which featured a lot of meat (various cows mostly) and a pleasant day in which my children were eaten by paddling pools of Lego and the wife and I did very little, I am returned, revived, renewed and a little bit reinvigorated.

When I last left you, the Court of Owls were sitting on my desk. I believe they needed attention for a number of reasons, principally that I really like Owls (my return to gaming was, after all, with classic mentor legion). Also, however, I bang on about them being the most self contained faction in BMG, so I really should have mine painted and playable.

So much subtle, patient highlighting and blending of greys later:

Continuing to not use any metallic paints (I won't go so far as to claim nmm) all of the "gold" - electrum in canon - plus the weapons is done with browns and yellows. The eyes are variously depicted as orange or blue - I'm going with the latter for contrast (learning from your comments on hawkgirl, see?) although they're so dark I may have failed there :( . I had planned to make just a tourney list - statistically they have 3 of the 6 most deadly henchmen in the game - but then thought (as mentioned previously) I would batch paint them for consistency's sake.
Shading the black with purple ink is next.

I've also started the Gotham butcher, who's vast

Again, the black needs shading.

And I've started the court leaders also:

So definite progress. Orchard, on the left, will have a blue suit, green lining, Black shirt and grey tie. The generic, on the right, will have a brown suit, red waistcoat, and other colours tba.

So there we are
Cheers chaps
Graven

Looking good, the 'metals' on the Butcher especially!

Did you get a Suicide Squad set in the end?

OMG Graven! Those signs are fething amazing! Absolutely fantastic job man!

And Jungle-reclaimed ruins have ALWAYS been a mental wish of mine to do It's like you pulled it out of my imagination with the composition and colors.

The Shelf of Shame sounds like a good idea... I have a box of shame... and a tray of shame... and another box of shame all hidden in a cupboard. Really need to sort that at some point!

That Butcher is looking great so far

Paradigm wrote:Looking good, the 'metals' on the Butcher especially!

Did you get a Suicide Squad set in the end?

Thanks matey! I have coerced my parents into picking it up for me for xmas hopefully the old man will have gone direct...

dsteingass wrote:OMG Graven! Those signs are fething amazing! Absolutely fantastic job man!

And Jungle-reclaimed ruins have ALWAYS been a mental wish of mine to do It's like you pulled it out of my imagination with the composition and colors.

Cheers bro. Really appreciate it. If those ruins help your mad brain so much the better. recipe is yours for the asking

 endtransmission wrote:
The Shelf of Shame sounds like a good idea... I have a box of shame... and a tray of shame... and another box of shame all hidden in a cupboard. Really need to sort that at some point!

That Butcher is looking great so far

Oh I have a garage of shame but by laying stuff out it's forcing me to confront it and thanks bud.

So let's a take a look at these guys.
Gotham Butcher is giant, Hulk sized - bigger really than in the comics (12' rather than 18'-20') but I don't think that's a bad thing.

I've repositioned mine as if landing heavily, and I've added some torn up slabs also.

Here's a different view just so you can see up the way.

I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out. He is now much more useful in game also as he can be given equipment - still a points sink (81, so just under 1/4 of a standard 350 tourney list) but a distracting target that tends not to stay dead.

Of course the oddity of the court is their dirt cheap (and all too human) leaders:


I was really worried Orchard's elaborate mask wouldn't work this way. I'm still not sure about the black shirt/grey gloves but I think the green lining of the jacket works.

As for the generic:

I do love Owls I like his brown suit and let's face it they're so fragile anyway you're as well taking the guy without the flashy sword.

Cobb is one of the absolute killing machines of the Court, as you may have guessed by the plethora of knives

I was tempted to add some blood to the knives in hand but still not sure.

I do like Secret Weapon bases

Talking of killing machines, how about the deadliest hench... woman in the game?

Strix is terrifying, and the fact that she can be used with Birds of Prey makes me extra happy

Love the throwing pose. I always wonder if extra ammo is worth her.

There's like 7 pins in this

Xiao Loong is one of those figs - love the model, not great in game, but hits a sweet spot in points.

I find he's really good at killing cops so decided to honour that


The O'Malleys come in the second court starter with the generic leader - they are supposed to be the "basic" Talons, though still more expensive than regular goons.
Father, however, makes it into my 350 regardless as he's vicious especially when loaded up with equipment.



Son and grandfather are the alternative to running Butcher; yet to be convinced.





So there we go! If you want an "in" to bmg the court are a relatively cheap buy, self contained and fairly generically ninja-y also. And, y'know, OWLS!

The shelf of shame challenge has really helped as a motivator (there's a couple of other folks on bmg fb doing it) - I can't quite believe I got that done in a few days off work. Even managed some quality time with the kids! Saw Trolls today. It wasn't... Awful. Kids, and wife, loved it. I appreciated the Dune reference better than Hop, Shrek 3, Angry Birds... I have seen many worse kids movies to be sure. For example, boys are watching Age of Extinction just now

Not sure what's next. Remaining on the shelf are
Green Arrow
Huntress
Red Hood
Blackgate prisoners set 2
Rest of my Penguin Crew
A unique poison ivy plant
Arc fighter
Tie s/f
And various terrain.
Haven't built black Manta, canary or flash yet of course...
Thoughts? What do y'all want to see?
Later gang
Graven


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Oh, wait, I have 3 more deathstroke goons to do too like world war one, it'll all be over by xmas

Awesome work, they all look amazing!

Really need to sort out my own Owls at some point... 3/4 of the original starter is done, but I lost Cobb's arm down the sink while stripping him and never got around to making a replacement or buying the other set.

My vote goes to Flash and Arrow next, with the shows coming back next week!

Cheers buddy, much appreciated! It's black flash, not regular (black Manta, black flash, black canary...) But yeah getting some CW done sounds good.

 endtransmission wrote:
The Shelf of Shame sounds like a good idea... I have a box of shame... and a tray of shame... and another box of shame all hidden in a cupboard. Really need to sort that at some point!

That Butcher is looking great so far

pretty sure that mine is room-sized.

They are all looking really good Graven, Xiao is a bit weird though with his claw!

I vote for Huntress next for reasons....

What a busy boy you've been! Great work graven!

Anpu-adom wrote:

 endtransmission wrote:
The Shelf of Shame sounds like a good idea... I have a box of shame... and a tray of shame... and another box of shame all hidden in a cupboard. Really need to sort that at some point!

pretty sure that mine is room-sized.

Toy tardis

GiraffeX wrote:They are all looking really good Graven, Xiao is a bit weird though with his claw!

I vote for Huntress next for reasons....

I know he is a bit daft the model is very cheesecake. I've done one before that I CW-styled but mine is... Fleshy. Still, I suppose I should embrace it

Gitsplitta wrote:What a busy boy you've been! Great work graven!

Cheers mucker! Got to keep at it, want the shelf clear for xmas treats
Plus, to make my life harder, I've decided I'm doing Hawkman and Hawkgirl, classic style, for a mate's Xmas. Because I don't have enough to do

On the subject of treats, this came today from the mighty Camkheiri-

Yup, that would be a wall mould very excited nod:

And started the next phase on the desk

As requested, Arrow, Huntress and (via FB) Blackgate prisoners.
Slightly distracted by an Ewok costume for Kid 1 (2 is going as Draco Malfoy) - ah, tis the season!
Later peeps, many thanks for ongoing support,
Graven

I would like to point out that I never said how *big* the boxes of shame are

I do love the Court; both your work on them and in the comics. But 7 pins for that one model?! wow... That is why I gave up on Infinity...

Remind me why I bought the Suicide Squad starter again?

 endtransmission wrote:
I would like to point out that I never said how *big* the boxes of shame are

I do love the Court; both your work on them and in the comics. But 7 pins for that one model?! wow... That is why I gave up on Infinity...

Remind me why I bought the Suicide Squad starter again?

Possible slight hyperbole Speaking of heavily pinned things, I packed up my Hawkgirl in my case. Terrifying! Thanks for kind words. I'm really pleased with the court overall.

Anyway the wife was out at a Bake-Off party (which she won with a chocolate roulade), leaving me with a couple of hours to paint these guys for a game next Tuesday:

So that's the Deathstroke crew done, I'll try to get a pic of them all soon.

And got through my Blackgate prisoners also:

Turns out I really like painting orange. I'm not sure why but there we are.


Despite the pins through both wrists, I loved painting this guy. Particularly happy with the metal cuffs.


Slightly overexposed image, sorry fun with etchmaster basing


Not sure if I needed the blood on High Security Henchman here, but it's done now.


Went for a violet mohawk on this guy as a little TMNT nod (work it out... )

Huntress and Arrow still sitting on my desk though, fear not
Cheers
Graven

Ugh. Totally strung out on no sleep. Damn small people.
Anyway, Hallowe'en is coming, which means...

Blondie is going as Draco. Apparently it's not appropriate to dress the baby as Harley?!
Also did some work on my tattoo parlor finally



Still a way to go, out of printer ink, more posters to do and window dressing to add.

Sleep now...

Damn nice work Graven! Orange is fun to paint. I like it too. The tattoo parlor is looking nice and grungy. Was this a commercial kit?

Big thumbs up on the Ewok!
My family was Star Wars last year (Halloween and the Premier). This year? DC Super Heroes (adults are innocent bystanders).

Nice job on the Ewok costume.

The prisoners are looking great too, can't go wrong with an orange jumpsuit

EDC

dsteingass wrote:Damn nice work Graven! Orange is fun to paint. I like it too. The tattoo parlor is looking nice and grungy. Was this a commercial kit?

Cheers! Yeah, it's from Multiverse, they make awesome terrain.

Anpu-adom wrote:Big thumbs up on the Ewok!
My family was Star Wars last year (Halloween and the Premier). This year? DC Super Heroes (adults are innocent bystanders).

we did DC last year for a Hallowe'en wedding - kids were Batman and aquaman, wife and I were Star Sapphire and Green Lantern

evildrcheese wrote:Nice job on the Ewok costume.

The prisoners are looking great too, can't go wrong with an orange jumpsuit

EDC

Yeah I considered making half blackgate and half iron heights, micron penning the insignias.

Got another commission client wanting a falcon and potentially a lot of star wars painted. Tempting but don't want to get overwhelmed, especially as I'm doing Hawkgirl and Hawkman. We shall see.

Meanwhile, working on signage:

The blanks will have some stylised writing and there will be a sign for Kraken good deal

Frontage is looking great bud, nice work.

Thanks Cam, and came home to a big box of plaster to play with big shout out, this guy is awesome

Your welcome, Look forward to seeing results

Building is coming along nicely! "Squid Inc" nice pun there!

The heroes and villains also coming along nicely, "Gotham Butcher" Hmmm, DC: "Let us mix Wolverine and Hulk and make him a new villain for our universe!"

Marvel: "Hey why didn't we think of that?"

Nice work on the orange chaps, and that shop is coming along nicely.

Camkierhi wrote:Your welcome, Look forward to seeing results

Well it's much appreciated my friend and I look forward to experimenting!

shasolenzabi wrote:Building is coming along nicely! "Squid Inc" nice pun there!

The heroes and villains also coming along nicely, "Gotham Butcher" Hmmm, DC: "Let us mix Wolverine and Hulk and make him a new villain for our universe!"

Marvel: "Hey why didn't we think of that?"

Well, I try I know, the Butcher is daft

Dr H wrote:Nice work on the orange chaps, and that shop is coming along nicely.

Cheers. I wish they made more crims! Although joker gang are in prison orange also. Hmm...
So anyway my tattoo parlour is now done to my satisfaction.



The standard Multiverse kit just with its sign mounted on the roof (mdf offcut leg), a cthulhu statue from black cat bases and a gs binbag, plus various printed pics for added signage.


I just decided, arbitrarily, that I wanted an elder sign on the roof. Seemed fitting. I blame John Constantine

And the tag is just cos, well, I thought I'd sign this one myself.


The smiley face is actually a kid's size 11 shoe label. It is weird where I find inspiration. Sometimes I worry...


Multiverse like it and have asked to use on their page which is really nice, too.



In the process of doing this I've finally worked out how I want to paint my fast food restaurant also, not quite to match but a similar core palette (more cream though).

Good weekend. Mountains of food including a triple jalapeño burger, carving pumpkins (jack skellington rather more successful than my Decepticon logo) and general hanging. Long dark march ahead, November is a killer in teaching starting with parents' night tomorrow. But, we shall sally forth!

Hey ho
Graven

Cracking stuff! Full of character!

Wonderful job graven. The Old Ones would approve!

Paradigm wrote:Cracking stuff! Full of character!

Cheers! Multiverse kits have tremendous details.

Gitsplitta wrote:Wonderful job graven. The Old Ones would approve!

Well hopefully they think it's... great

Did a wee TIE s/f repaint, just cos.


Once my ARC fighter is done, I think that I'm all ready for Wave 10

Finally made a start on my Cantina, too

It may or may not be a hive of scum and villainy...

Tagged Ink parlor is looking great!

Like the work on SW stuff, and that eatery promises some opportunity!

What shas said, except in my voice. It all looks great. Love the elder sign on the tattoo parlor's roof.

Hey... scum & villainy have to eat too!

shasolenzabi wrote:Tagged Ink parlor is looking great!

Like the work on SW stuff, and that eatery promises some opportunity!

Thanks mate. The arc fighter creeps into a pic of my desk, below.

Warboss_Waaazag wrote:What shas said, except in my voice. It all looks great. Love the elder sign on the tattoo parlor's roof.

lot of fun to do. Tried to make a slightly glowy, too.

Gitsplitta wrote:Hey... scum & villainy have to eat too!

Indeed, bantha fodder ain't cheap!

So I toddle along. The restaurant proved a pleasant distraction from the shelf of shame (even if it is technically one of its inhabitants )


Fun to do, do like Multiverse's kits.


I added the internal doors and hatch to the kitchen but there's still plenty of lovely details, especially the little hot plates.

The counter top soda machine is also cracking.


I couldn't NOT have at least one poster on it, so I made one for the Tattoo parlour


Also goes well with armoured Syndicate stuff (these are from the cuervos muertos faction, hence the crow perched on the sign also).

There's no graffiti on it which I thought I was happy with. Then ... I saw an amazing piece BLACKHAND put on Facebook of the Decepticon logo with "you are being deceived". Tempted.

Or might just put a Decepticon logo on the toaster.

And next on my desk, an act of sacrilege - converting my promo black flash to CW zoom (oh, and an ARC fighter)


Got a pick up and play game of bmg planned for demo/casual purposes Tuesday. Should be fun. Starting to gear up for the hell of November (parents' nights, eldest's birthday, mother in law's, sister in law's, nephew's...) BUT am determined to keep on with the shelf of shame. I want to be fully painted by xmas. We live in hope
Cya
Graven

Those buildings are looking excellent Graven, may I ask which glue you use for the mdf kits?

Good old kids craft pva. Pennies from Morrison's. Nothing better


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And thanks should I add a deadpool poster to this or would that be too weird?

I think you might be able to pull it off!

Nice work on the buildings.
Good job on the graffiti and posters.

Building look great.. nice additions.

GiraffeX wrote:I think you might be able to pull it off!

Well, I shall try, anyway.

Dr H wrote:Nice work on the buildings.
Good job on the graffiti and posters.

Thank ye kindly! More to come

Solar_lion wrote:Building look great.. nice additions.

Everyone loves a well-made wall

Anyway, meanwhile:



Weird angle on that last one. Oh well. Very pleased how the simple gs mouth conversion, and leaving on the "flash", has worked.

Next up, need to crack on with Hawkman & Hawkgirl - not part of the Shelf o' Shame, but rather xmas goodies (not baddies)

Cheers
graven

Great work on the building graven. Looks really cool! Nicely done.

Super job on the buildings, the lighting on zoom is cool too

Those buildings are fantastic. I love all the little details in there

Hey gang.

Gitsplitta wrote:Great work on the building graven. Looks really cool! Nicely done.

Cheers mate! Last one for a while.

JoeRugby wrote:Super job on the buildings, the lighting on zoom is cool too

Thanks! Got what I was aiming for.

endtransmission wrote:Those buildings are fantastic. I love all the little details in there

helps that the kits are lovely.

Sorry for brief hiatus. It's mid November, which means birthdays, notably kid A. So that means cake.

Taught the wife how to weather (at her request). I'm very impressed with her efforts (believe me, this was a beast to do!)

This came in the post:

Lovely box of stuff. And with solo play, for us sad lonely old dads.

Did get my ARC fighter done. Nice wee ship.




Have cleared off my shelf of shame - not because I'm finished, but to force be to concentrate on Hawkgirl and Hawkman for xmas gifts. Not entirely sure how, or if, I'm going to redesign them. I'm considering gs armour, similar to my use of brass etch on my hawkgirl, but even closer to the CW look. I like the muscle bound comic Hawkman even less than Hawkgirl's mighty midriff.

Ran a big BMG demo on Tuesday for a couple of mates : green arrow vs flash vs joker vs swarms of goons. As a demo scenario it was great fun, fairly quick and a good learning curve for them. I do like the game very much

Anyway, after birthday shenanigans, need to do a Walking Dead review, and then onto hawks and beyond!

Later
Graven

That cake looks too awesome to cut!

Lovely work on the ARC, such a cool ship.

Cake is amazing, like the ship too, but that cake steals the show.

Good job on the ship.

And nicely done on the cake/helmet... cakemet... helmake... Mrs Graven.

When does Mrs. Graven appear on the Great British Baking Show? A local Public TV station has been showing episodes of it over here.

Solo play? It is a cooperative game? Those generally have a solo play aspect.

That cake is amazing.... wow.

Beautiful little ship you have there my friend. Nicely done.

Another awesome cake.

love the colors on the taco stand. I was not expecting that.

That's a fething cake??? Holy bakingbahoogajooga batman!! That's friggin awesome!! Seriously talented Mrs. Graven.

Nice Cake! Interested to see your take on the Zombies.

Cool cake!

Minis look good as well.

Hey gang

Paradigm wrote:That cake looks too awesome to cut!

Lovely work on the ARC, such a cool ship.

Yeah, but sooooo tasty. The ARC is exactly why it bugs me when folk rant about prequel design - fantastic aesthetic.

Camkierhi wrote:Cake is amazing, like the ship too, but that cake steals the show.

Cake thief! Noooooo!

Dr H wrote:Good job on the ship.

And nicely done on the cake/helmet... cakemet... helmake... Mrs Graven.

She is supremely talented

Red Harvest wrote:When does Mrs. Graven appear on the Great British Baking Show? A local Public TV station has been showing episodes of it over here.

Solo play? It is a cooperative game? Those generally have a solo play aspect.

It can be solo, co-op or versus. See below and I've suggested Bake-off to her (her bread is actually, IMO, better than her cake), but she says she does it for fun, and that would destroy the joy.

Gitsplitta wrote:That cake is amazing.... wow.

Beautiful little ship you have there my friend. Nicely done.

Cheers mucker!

Solar_lion wrote:Another awesome cake.

love the colors on the taco stand. I was not expecting that.

Thanks! A lot of fun to do, if a bit silly.

Januine wrote:That's a fething cake??? Holy bakingbahoogajooga batman!! That's friggin awesome!! Seriously talented Mrs. Graven.

She is indeed. And, delicious (cake, not wife, you saucy bugger...)

dsteingass wrote:Nice Cake! Interested to see your take on the Zombies.

Ha! Might be a while till they get painted. Bloody shelf of shame

shasolenzabi wrote:Cool cake!

Minis look good as well.

Why thank you bro!

So, here's a little review of Mantic's new Walking Dead game, that I was lucky enough to get a preview copy of.

Designed by industry legend Mark Latham (interview coming later this month), it features a host of iconic characters from the comic/show - Rick, Carl, Luke, Sandra, Derek, Patrick, Liam - beautifully cast in decent, mould-line free plastic, cracking bunch of walkers, a 2x2 playmat for post-apocalyptic Georgia, and a host of tokens, game cards etc on high quality stock, all for a very reasonable £35.

Which is fine, but how does it play?
Really well, is the answer.

This is a remarkably accessible game, which will speak to fans of comic/show and general gamers alike. It's pretty simple to wrap your head round, but is a bit more complex than a basic, pick up and play, beer and pretzels game. It's definitely a bridge game, a transition between regular board games (well, regular geeky board games) and miniature gaming per se.

The quick start rules are excellent, taking you through with added complexity step by step, so that once you get into the full rules it doesn't feel like a huge jump. It also lets you get a sense of the game as both a co-op and a versus game, both of which are differently fun.

Because the boxed game contains everything - counters, scenery, ruler, dice, templates - it feels like pretty good value for money. One of the biggest pros is that you do feel like you're playing the series. The walkers are run by "AI" rules responding believably to the various sound levels you make - and because they're AI driven, the game can be played solo. This is a major selling points to me, for a game that's in direct competition with the likes of Dead of Winter.

On the other hand, there's just one scenario. This is frustrating - yes, it's part of how they sell the expansions, but it would have been easy enough, surely, t little at least one extra, alternative play mode, or even a download link, on top of what came in the box. And, at the end of the day, it's a 2 (or 1) player game. I'd like the chance for more players out the box, really, though you could take one survivor each.

However, this is a pick up and play game with real depth. I can play it with my kids or dedicated fellow gamers, or anything in between. It'll go well post turkey dinner, especially in family teams, and I can likewise see myself getting hold of at least one of the scenario expansions (besides, who wouldn't want the governor's tank?), and certainly the amazing plastic versions of the scenery. As a fellow geek parent said, what point is a board game if you're bored by the time you've got through the rules? That won't happen here. So for some fast (not too fast, or they'll hear you) fun, never mind an accessible way into the wider hobby, this is a cracking buy.

So what else am I up to? Well aside from general decluttering, slightly enraged by not one but two commissions falling through AND a mate backing out on a trade. Just - irritating. Not out of pocket, but, annoyed nonetheless.

And on with the CW hawks:

So they're armoured up. Better get some paint on!

Reorganised my BMG into a giant army bag today, with [gulp] room for more. Ah well, in for a penny...

Cheers, I'm off to eat cake,
Graven

Thanks for the game review graven, sounds like a very promising game.

Interesting on the zombies game.

Gitsplitta wrote:Thanks for the game review graven, sounds like a very promising game.

Yeah, it's a cracking wee thing.

shasolenzabi wrote:Interesting on the zombies game.

Got an interview with the game designer too, I'll get a link up when done.

Odds and ends done.
Firstly, the Hawkman and Hawkgirl, to their new owners' specification:



Very muted, with CW stylings but classic colours incoroporated.

And Borj, Ivy's unique henchman:


A Standard plant with additional gs tendrils as he's particularly vicious Really happy with the violet shading.

And the state o' the shelf:

Yup, started my remaining penguin horde


Cya
graven

Great work on the Hawks! The plant looks good too!

Nice work my friend.

Hawk couple looking closer to the show, and Borj, reminds me of a cabbage-kid gone bad

Daft question what sets the Walking Dead apart from Zombicide?

Nice work on the Hawks on the plant-thing.

Paradigm wrote:Great work on the Hawks! The plant looks good too!

Cheers! Does mean I now want a Hawkman for myself, mind.

Gitsplitta wrote:Nice work my friend.

Ta

shasolenzabi wrote:Hawk couple looking closer to the show, and Borj, reminds me of a cabbage-kid gone bad

Grand , good to hear! And I was absolutely going for a cabbage vibe with the plant, so I'm very pleased now

Llamahead wrote:Daft question what sets the Walking Dead apart from Zombicide?

Not daft. Zombicide is a game of mass carnage Walking dead is a stealth-em-up in board game form- just 2 very different things.

Dr H wrote:Nice work on the Hawks on the plant-thing.

Cheers mucker!

Have just realised I've not done any work on my giant boat dang.

Tootling along. Finding painting a penguin horde surprisingly enjoyable.

Horde includes 2 Arkham Inmates, Meatman (cleavers) and Mezz (big triangular knives), who fit right in with the crew's aethetic. Given that they are my original crew (and still my go-to), about time they were done, they've been clogging up the shelf of shame far too long. 1 month till xmas - after this, just 3 miniatures left!

In other news, really stoked for the news that the big marvel game (fast play, big supers) now has a dc ruleset and cards for appropriate characters FREE! So I now have another, full game. Interesting marketing.

Oh, and I scored an interview with industry legend (and former WD editor) Mark Latham:
https://bigcomicpage.com/2016/11/21/geeking-out-exclusive-interview-with-mark-latham/
He makes some really interesting points generally about game design.

Onwards, and only forwards,
graven

Love the cake, great progress on the various models and terrain, but LOVE the cake... I want one for my birthday

Nice progress graven, looking good.

Nice start. More Cake!

Ruglud wrote:Love the cake, great progress on the various models and terrain, but LOVE the cake... I want one for my birthday

I know what you mean I get tasty cakes but nothing as cool as this

Gitsplitta wrote:Nice progress graven, looking good.

Cheers. I know that they're far from perfect but they are derviceable

Solar_lion wrote:Nice start. More Cake!

Today's cake was baked peanut butter and dark chocolate cheesecake. Happy Thanksgiving and then some!
Have some juicy penguins...

That's a mean looking crew, nice job tying in the Arkham Inmates in there as well.

Who's up next?

Cheers, though they're far from done - in fact here is a much better pic:

After this I have Green Arrow, Huntress and Red hood (built and primed, though huntress may get a redone midriff) and black Manta, black canary, speedy and killer frost, but they are all getting converted first in one form or another.

Hunh? I was promised marching penguins. The Times will be receiving a sternly worded letter about this.

Borj turned out well. No, I have no idea how to pronounce it.

Come to think of it, some miniature penguins would be kind of cool...

Shocking, indeed.
No, me neither
And made myself a penguin already.

Ammo token


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, and -

Getting there

Love the penguin

The penguin crew are coming together really nicely Graven

Looking good Graven.

EDC

Nice job on the interview and the miniatures.

Love Pingu.

Thanks chaps. Yeah, that penguin was a lot of fun to do. I've just bought an over priced 28mm jack in the box for when I inevitably start a Joker crew

In the meantime, the crew are done.



Need to get a shot of the lot of them together with Mr C


Started working on the shelf of shame. The home straight! So of course I change stuff.



Huntress was just too cheesecake, and I say that with her front and centre with her midriff on my nerd cave wall. A simple conversion to try to reconcile the flesh.

And on the subject of CW-ing, working on CW Arsenal - new head, new pose. But not 100%. Getting there though. Going to move left arm.


Went on a night out with my comic blogging associates. Very enjoyable but but MY GOD you forget the madness of town on a Saturday night and of the train. No man is safe from marauding hen parties and random drunks talking at you.[/Rant]

ANY-way...

Introduced my pet Texan to The Walking Dead game today, teamed up with the kids. Much fun, and then my eldest managed to get the zombies to attack his little brother's Carl. I don't know whether to applaud his deviousness or not... Total tactical gamesmanship.
Yeah.

Anyway, on we go
later
graven

 inmygravenimage wrote:
... No man is safe from marauding hen parties and random drunks talking at you.[/Rant]...

Best way to "avoid" that is to be the random drunk talking to people.

Sooooo true

Right, mini-mini project. Getting my last few bmg built, and I'm on to the stuff I've been putting off.

So, first Black Manta. I don't like the pose, he looks like he needs a pee.



However, I do get it, it would make sense in water.



So, I had the idea of him coming out of the water onto the quayside.




I pinned the tab through the lip of the existing paving. Now in process of making raised slabs. Getting there I think, roughed out, needs some carving though.

Also working on Killer Frost. This is a nightmare of a conversion, as she is all corset, tassles and big boots (quiet you!) and again I'm going CW. Add to that the fact that her arms are separate (why, for the love of God, why?!) this makes for some stress. However, I did manage to safely clip down some resin crystals for the base.

She'll be fine. Going to go dark purple rather than comic violet or full CW black because boring otherwise.

I was going to head swap my green arrow comic for a TV show bare head but now can't be arsed, frankly. Besides, he always has his hood up in the show, right?

Then it's build Black Canary - again, need to decide if she gets CW look or not, maybe not here though, but may gs her a jacket, for more of a 52 vibe.

Nearly there, though.

In other news, the big bad boat has had its upper hull painted grey/white gradient so we might get some evidence of that appearing too. Must - finish - shelf of shame!

Later
Graven

Dark purple will be good on her! I was figuring for Huntress, why not have her midriff colored like she is wearing some form of body suit?

Maybe, maybe

Meanwhile...

Some bleed through the mask but pretty happy.

That's really REALLY cool graven! OMG.... I love that.

Holy McBoatface Batman~ The blue grey came out nice.

Good choice on the basing of the black manta. Better to think of him stepping up, rather than needing to visit the little comic-boy's room.

Good basecoat on the boat. Needs more boxes.

Gitsplitta wrote:That's really REALLY cool graven! OMG.... I love that.

thanks man, means a lot.

Solar_lion wrote:Holy McBoatface Batman~ The blue grey came out nice.

Trial and error with dirt-cheap car primer.

Dr H wrote:Good choice on the basing of the black manta. Better to think of him stepping up, rather than needing to visit the little comic-boy's room.

Good basecoat on the boat. Needs more boxes.

Absolutely always more boxes required

And have started the encrusting:

Wife says I've not to go... overboard


Trying to find a balance. Aged, but not derelict.





Need to pick out the wording next and start marking the hazards

And Killer Frost is now redone, with bolero jacket and boots:



And Black Manta... steps up!

Still debating a sword for that left hand.

Life continues. Played Pandemic: Contagion for the first time - seriously good.

Advent - wife got me a "calendar" of beer. I have done well here

Later peeps

Graven

That ship is awesome, do you have crates to put on the deck?

Why yes, yes I do.

Which neatly brings me to my next question: leave the deck stripes yellow, or as hazards?
Here they are in full:

Yay/nay?

Hazards IMO, I think it will add a good break up of colour to the ship

That's an awesome boat.

EDC

Hazards, agree with Knightley. Looks awesome by the way.

Right, right, curse you all...

Yeah, that works I guess done with ink rather than paint
And crusty progress too


And even some work on the stern
Getting there. Purple, blue and green washes have been added.
Smoke, and window effects, to go.

Looking good planning on giving her a load of cattle?

Yeah, hazard stripes.

Nicely done too.

Thats looking really nice, its a lot bigger than I thought it was. Hazard stripes are looking good

Good zized transport barge!

That boat is soo crusty and ugly... I love it . Great job dude

Llamahead wrote:Looking good planning on giving her a load of cattle?

. Funnily enough I have started collecting the little Spanish bulls off wine bottles as they are to scale only got a couple. Must drink more.

Dr H wrote:Yeah, hazard stripes.

Nicely done too.

Cheers! Bloody tedious. Could never do Iron Hands!

GiraffeX wrote:Thats looking really nice, its a lot bigger than I thought it was. Hazard stripes are looking good

Cheers, yeah, it's pretty much a table edge in game.

shasolenzabi wrote:Good zized transport barge!

Thanks, yeah. Multi level terrain, too.

JoeRugby wrote:That boat is soo crusty and ugly... I love it . Great job dude

Thanks matey.

So here it is, merry Xmas... Wait, the Serenity 2, I mean:


Very pleased overall. Glad I pushed it with shading and general crustiness.




A better shot of the bridge, and a penguin... Crew



I'll need to get some proper action shots, and get some with containers on, but hopefully that'll do you for now?
Shelf of shame update - killer frost primed, black canary built - repositioned arms so they're thrust back, more like she's screaming. I've decided not to gs over her fishnets but treat them like padded leather, biker style, instead. We'll see. 3 weeks, 6 minis. Nearly there!

Later,
Graven

Great work, the boat looks fantastic!

Brilliant, boat looks fantastic, got me thinking, stripes and crustyness looking perfect. Great work.

That does look like a boat owned for nefarious reasons and jobs

Excellent work.. I like the hazard stripes. Though I think the actual deck needs a darker wash, and scuff marks from all the containers. My 2 cents.

Have you seen the Heresy not Serenity crew? How hard would it be to stat them up for Batman?

Beautiful work graven. Pat yourself on the back for that one.

*insert Borat voice* It's very nice!

Catching up on all my followed dakka blogs - great projects of late graven! really like the boat -ship - thing!

Paradigm wrote:Great work, the boat looks fantastic!

Cheers mate. But it did take 6 months to get my head round

Camkierhi wrote:Brilliant, boat looks fantastic, got me thinking, stripes and crustyness looking perfect. Great work.

Means a lot of from such a LOER legend as yourself. If I were doing Iron Hands, it's where I'd go. More generally I feel like my dockside is really coming together.

shasolenzabi wrote:That does look like a boat owned for nefarious reasons and jobs

Indeed! Shady dealings ahoy. I am considering making a wall of containers...

Solar_lion wrote:Excellent work.. I like the hazard stripes. Though I think the actual deck needs a darker wash, and scuff marks from all the containers. My 2 cents.

That's a fair point. There are scuff marks but the whole thing could be down a tone.

Llamahead wrote:Have you seen the Heresy not Serenity crew? How hard would it be to stat them up for Batman?

No, I hadn't! That's a really interesting idea. Doable, is the answer, though not sure what faction. Probably the Deathstroke militia, using Arkham Knight for Mal, Medic for Simon, Gatling Brute (just cos) for Jayne, Milita Sergeant for Zoe... Not sure about the others. But yeah, doable

Gitsplitta wrote:Beautiful work graven. Pat yourself on the back for that one.

Thanks mucker

Knightley wrote:*insert Borat voice* It's very nice!

Yaskemas!

TerrainWalker wrote:Catching up on all my followed dakka blogs - great projects of late graven! really like the boat -ship - thing!

Thank ye kindly!

So we're getting close. 18 days till Xmas, and 7 minis to go!

Decided (edgy, this) to do my Black Canary as, well, Canary (Legends of Tomorrow) - so, ivory. Lots of black to paint and it's nice to have variety. Speaking of which, Black Manta is Grey with a black wash, which has given him a really nice, subtle depth (not sure how apparent that is); he'll also be getting a red wash and weird OSL from his eye beams. Killer Frost is going to be deep, rich purple mostly, with alabaster skin and pale hair (more CW than 52). Up the back, I've got Arsenal, Green Arrow, Red Hood and Huntress waiting. Huntress is definitely getting a Ed Brubaker/Scott McDaniel (late 500s) look - no cheesecake skin, blacks and purple, white trim (also seen in start of New 52). Arsenal and Green Arrow are going to be very dark shades, CW style. Red Hood - not sure, probably dark browns, leather etc.
Madness? This is Shelfy!

graven

Cool stuff. Are going going to give Canary a sword or anything?

Loving that totally-legit cargo ship!

A clear shelf of shame . Well just in time for a Christmas haul .

Paradigm wrote:Cool stuff. Are going going to give Canary a sword or anything?

I really thought about it, but I want to run her as RAW so no weapon

dsteingass wrote:Loving that totally-legit cargo ship!

Yup, nothing to see here officer, move along

Theophony wrote:A clear shelf of shame . Well just in time for a Christmas haul .

Well here's hoping anyway
On that subject, I seem to have got involved with a new terrain company http://www.redbeamdesigns.com/ who you should totally buy stuff from I'm part of the design team, at the idea/commissioning end. If there's a particular gap in the 28mm (mostly) terrain market you think needs filled, lmk, and we'll see what we can do obviously there's going to be a lot of urban terrain coming, but any and all thoughts welcome!

Thats a good start Graven, I've just ordered Huntress but I'm going full cheesecake

Cool! containers of all sorts and in different states of repair sounds good!

GiraffeX wrote:Thats a good start Graven, I've just ordered Huntress but I'm going full cheesecake

I'm sure she'll be delicious

shasolenzabi wrote:Cool! containers of all sorts and in different states of repair sounds good!

Yeah. Good shout!

Progress on Black Manta, mostly:

Need to start adding ivory to all the raised areas on Canary. Oh, and started Killer Frost's ice crystals, as you can see. She's actually quite far on too, but not pic worthy yet .
Think I'm happy with Manta's weird glow...


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And... Done. Black (ish) Manta's back!

And front:

Think I'm pretty happy with how all the light effects have come out in the end, and the base step definitely an improvement.

I like what you did with Manta thats very cool on the light effects and the water base.

Really like his eye lenses, nice work on those.

GiraffeX wrote:I like what you did with Manta thats very cool on the light effects and the water base.

Why thanks! I'm not 100% sure if the effect is right but i like it well enough.

Theophony wrote:Really like his eye lenses, nice work on those.

Cheers! They were fun to do.

Meanwhile, working on the girls:

I love the rich colors on Black Manta's body. Great contrast with the helmet. Nicely done graven.

All looking fantastic, work on the Manta is excellent, I am really not sure on the model, just looks a little too silly for me, mind you that helmet could easily go to Git's for a Mantis Warrior!

Gitsplitta wrote:I love the rich colors on Black Manta's body. Great contrast with the helmet. Nicely done graven.

Thanks buddy. I must confess my baseline for any model now is, Will Gits find it acceptable?!

Camkierhi wrote:All looking fantastic, work on the Manta is excellent, I am really not sure on the model, just looks a little too silly for me, mind you that helmet could easily go to Git's for a Mantis Warrior!

Thanks, and yeah, definitely trying to make the best of a questionable sculpt! Really glad I just went for it with the red.
The helmet was always ridiculous but New 52 (New Suicide Squad notwithstanding) gave me a fresh appreciation of the character.

So 2 down...
Canary

Obligatory Butt pic

Much happier that I just went for it here. The model just isn't right for Black Canary, and whilst I feel that Sarah should have weapons, her Takedown ability is a really nice way of reflecting Sarah's madskillz without compromising WYSYWIG/RAW.

And - don't call me Caitlin, aka, Killer Frost.


And... Butt


I'm pleased that the extensive gs work and resculpting isn't really noticeable, and that she looks the part. The resin crystal wall I cut up for the ice did the trick, though attempt to use GW Cracked Earth to do ice on the base, not so much. Unusually, I've not redone the lip on the base in gloss black, as I think it looks better slightly... frosted

So 4 to go: Green( Arrow, Arsenal, Huntress and Red Hood. I suspect Huntress is next, I've got lots of reference pics from the Brubaker era (excellent Penguin also) sitting on my phone so I can get the scheme down. Although I'm using the comic Arrow mini, definitely going dark dark green for him (dreading the dark red for Arsenal). 2 weeks left!

(Now admittedly I haven't done the nuclear waste container or my air vent tokens but shhhhhhhhhhh!)

In other geek news, excited/maddened at the prospect of a new Emperor Penguin allegedly coming for Mr Cobblepot (how dare they!), especially when I'm about done! psyched for Rogue One and ALL THE TOYS!

Xmas all sorted, at least. Now, to a fine hostlery for a night of excess with my work!

Later gang,
Graven

Nice work on those two. I do hope we get a CW Black Canary at some point, I do like the regular one but it's very comicy and just wouldn't work in black really.

For Arsenal, dark red should be easy enough if you work up from black/brown, and if need be just use a black wash to bring it back down.

What's this about a new Penguin?

Good job on Black Manta. Like what you did with him.

Good work on the ladies too.

Cheers!
Incomplete links in the km web store
Evidence of possibly soon to be announced releases.

Some blank pages on their website have turned up appearing to hint at next possible releases..

REAPER
THE EMPEROR PENGUIN
ELECTROCUTIONER
AARON CASH AND QUICK RESPONSE TEAM
HARLEY QUINN THUG SET II
MR, FREEZE THUG SET I

Good thoughts on Arsenal


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@DrH - sorry, missed your post much obliged!


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Then again...

Well they came together remarkably quickly.

New light setup. Not quite right but much better I think.
And Arsenal

and arse-nal

because not just ladies have shapely buttocks.
Took Paradigm's advice about layering over brown (done with sepia and crimson washes, followed by couple of red and flesh wash - very, very happy. The skin is only done with washes, also.


And the pair of 'em


Because I need a distraction (clearly), getting ready for next LOER, cardboard contest:

Cya
Graven

Look where your pointing that thing man! Could have someones eye out with that.

Hope ye ole staff party went well.

Figures are looking superb, and yes better lighting is helping lots!

Nice find on the cardboard.

Nice work! Any plans in the new year to get Starfire to complete the Outlaws set?

New lighting setup is good, much clearer pics.

Camkierhi wrote:Look where your pointing that thing man! Could have someones eye out with that.

Hope ye ole staff party went well.

Figures are looking superb, and yes better lighting is helping lots!

Nice find on the cardboard.

Thanks mate, all means a lot. Yeah, his pose is a little daft night out was cracking. Serious food eaten, good booze imbibed .

Paradigm wrote:Nice work! Any plans in the new year to get Starfire to complete the Outlaws set?

New lighting setup is good, much clearer pics.

I am not crazy about her as a character actually, though she's a beast in game and good for DCU also. Yeah much happier with lighting setup, and thanks for advice.

Speaking of which:
:
So much happier with new lights. This is a wip but, actually, he might be done?! Thoughts?

Got my first 2 Red Beam Designs buildings today. Very very very excited!

That's fantastic, I'd leave it to be honest. I can't see what more you'd do really.

I was never sure that model would work in the darker green which is why I went for the actual TV one for my own collection, but it definitely does, I may have to pick it up in future.

I'm not a fan of the very static pose of the TV one, though I did plan on hoodless head-swapping him with this one originally.
I'll leave him largely unaltered, but. tiny bit of touch up, added waywatcher to the arrowhead and fletchings.


Wonder if the quiver and straps need a bit of Coelia or Camo shade to add contrast.


And face still needs work, or at least the eyes do.


Still not sure about the eyes.

Ironically after my commments above, of course, Huntress is the one model I haven't touched yet Well, I've added a cross over her torso. No pics, not worth it. I'll do her the same way I did Red Hood's black, that worked well I think with the dark grey / light grey.

Playing new Dead of Winter expansion tonight, xmas shenanigans with my fellow geek crew. Will report back!
Cheers
graven

Sooo many models since the last time I was able to log on...

Your new set-up is much better. People tend to forget how important good photos are to getting constructive criticism that can help the artist improve.

I love the archer, but I think you're right... the quiver needs some detailing. I realize you might be limited to the hero's color scheme... but I'm guessing when you see this guy in a comic he still looks pretty dynamic. I'd go to the source and see what tricks the comic-book artists use to make him look cool, then try to replicate them on your figure.

All looking good!

shasolenzabi wrote:All looking good!

Muchas gracias!

Gitsplitta wrote:Sooo many models since the last time I was able to log on...

Your new set-up is much better. People tend to forget how important good photos are to getting constructive criticism that can help the artist improve.

I love the archer, but I think you're right... the quiver needs some detailing. I realize you might be limited to the hero's color scheme... but I'm guessing when you see this guy in a comic he still looks pretty dynamic. I'd go to the source and see what tricks the comic-book artists use to make him look cool, then try to replicate them on your figure.

Thanks, the set-up is very simple actually, just occured to me to re-jig the lights with my exisiting space and voila. My thought on the Arrow would maybe add chevrons on the quiver, echoing how I've done the legs? Just so it's not as dull and boring, but still very... green.

Not started on Huntress but in my head I now know where she's going, essentially purple straps and pads, purple cape (outer)/dark blue (inner) - will try to get her done today or tomorrow.
Also, got a massive Xmas/belated birthday haul from metropolis: Joker starter crew, the 2 Elite Clowns, all 3 sets of 2 clown goons, and Heather Ledger Joker

Apparently he's trying to mock my shelf of shame completion and set me up for 2017/force me to buy Suicide Squad boxset so 2017's not started and I've got 13 models already.

I have one more xmas present to do, also, which is a conversion of a Judge Dredd figure (Judge Minty, for those of you in the know) as/for erithromycin.

And the Chinese Restaurant.

Damn.


graven

Wow, looking forward to seeing these Joker guys!

bout Time~!

As requested... Sorta

And that's no joke




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New quiver detail.


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Huntress' cloak


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And Helena herself.
Sorry, tab being odd


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I have an idea for Loer, god help me. Think Xmas and batman...

Crikey that was speedy assembly!

At some point, can you grab me a shot of the Ledger J next to Arkham J? It's a superb mini but I've never got it as I'm worried it suffers from the same Big Head issue that some of the other DKR sculpts have.

Good score.

Good work. Additions to the quiver work well.

what can I say I'm excited? Jokers:


And a judge on a long walk:


Very excited by the announcement that Warlord have got the 2000AD licence and are starting with Johnny Alpha (Strontium Dog - mutant bounty hunters in the Dredd universe).


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@DrH many thanks

Not really fully up on my comic books so I tend to be a bit lost here, I do love it all and have been following, Huntress looks great, nice colours, the extra detail for Arrow is brilliantly done.

Always loved Batman's world, though I tried to watch Gotham and just could not get into it. But my favourites have always been the Bat and the Joker, and though Heath was amazing in the movie and stole the show, nobody captures it for me like the animated Joker, I just love him, probably the nearest would be Jack Nicholson, but I guess it is one of those age things. The gang look good and both the models look nice for the joker, but the Arkham Joker has the edge.

Cheers for the comparison pic, looks like Ledger doesn't have the same problem that Ra's Al Neeson has where he's a full head taller than anyone else, Tactical Rock Basing included! Damn, I'm going to have to buy it now... And the Killing Joke one, so I have the complete set!

@Cam: I couldn't get into Gotham at the start either, but I dropped back in at the start of the second season and it had got so much better, and was a fantastic series. It's all on Netflix at the moment, so if you find yourself in need of a good long series to get stuck into, I can't recommend series 2 highly enough!

Don't feel out there Cam. I know nothing of comic books. I read the Marvel stuff for a few months when I was a kid, between collecting baseball cards and beer cans ( yes beer can collecting was a thing, BITD) but the storylines were all the same, and they repeated. Not to my taste, the comic books.

The minis are neat. I hear the game is fun. That's enough for me.

Huntress has a cape that is cooler than the Batgirl's.

One suggestion would be to paint the fletching on the arrows a bright color, like red ( or yellow).

Camkierhi wrote:Not really fully up on my comic books so I tend to be a bit lost here, I do love it all and have been following, Huntress looks great, nice colours, the extra detail for Arrow is brilliantly done.

Always loved Batman's world, though I tried to watch Gotham and just could not get into it. But my favourites have always been the Bat and the Joker, and though Heath was amazing in the movie and stole the show, nobody captures it for me like the animated Joker, I just love him, probably the nearest would be Jack Nicholson, but I guess it is one of those age things. The gang look good and both the models look nice for the joker, but the Arkham Joker has the edge.

Thanks mate. I am a massive fan of the Burton and Dini/Timm Batman. I was raised on a diet of animated Batman, though I've yet to pick up any of the animated minis as I think they look a bit... Goofy. I'm considering giving Joe a hat.

Paradigm wrote:Cheers for the comparison pic, looks like Ledger doesn't have the same problem that Ra's Al Neeson has where he's a full head taller than anyone else, Tactical Rock Basing included! Damn, I'm going to have to buy it now... And the Killing Joke one, so I have the complete set!

@Cam: I couldn't get into Gotham at the start either, but I dropped back in at the start of the second season and it had got so much better, and was a fantastic series. It's all on Netflix at the moment, so if you find yourself in need of a good long series to get stuck into, I can't recommend series 2 highly enough!

A lot of folk have said to me to give season 2 a chance. Wife is on board, do that's a likely candidate for bed-telly post Luke Cage Killing Joke is a nice enough sculpt but I think an opportunity was missed for a Say Cheese Joker. Still debating whether to paint some or all clowns as Mimes!

Red Harvest wrote:Don't feel out there Cam. I know nothing of comic books. I read the Marvel stuff for a few months when I was a kid, between collecting baseball cards and beer cans ( yes beer can collecting was a thing, BITD) but the storylines were all the same, and they repeated. Not to my taste, the comic books.

The minis are neat. I hear the game is fun. That's enough for me.

Huntress has a cape that is cooler than the Batgirl's.

One suggestion would be to paint the fletching on the arrows a bright color, like red ( or yellow).

Beer cans in Scotland used to have sexy ladies on. True fact.
Cheers for comments. Lot of wet blending on cape!
I'm not a fan of Marvel comics as a rule but Tom King's recent run on The Vision was stunning. Dark and thought provoking stuff. Weirdly, his Batman was dire. I tend to read image, dark horse or small press these days, just finished The Legacy of Luther Strode which was glorious. I am enjoying Detective Comics though.
Interesting point about the fletchings, I'll consider that

The game is excellent, if very dense. The single biggest change I would make is the card layout. It can be counter intuitive and would benefit from having the special rules on them.

Right. So much for new lighting setup!

Really need to retake that pic.

Cloak looks fine though?!


But, shelf of shame is done for 2016!

I've started building Red Beam's Lo Phat Chinese Restaurant. Lovely kit, really solid. No fiddly holding required, even with the steps (which were fine once done against a flat surface)


However, I got overexcited by how quick it was to assemble and forgot to add window glass
So I might wreck it instead.
Maybe.
Thoughts?

And got myself a wee xmas present - a 28mm jack in the box to use as a loot marker for Mr J £6 well spent

Hey ho, on we go,
Graven

Great work on the pruple gal. kind of a reverse highlighting technique on the cloak. But it works! I approve.

Thanks bud! That was the plan, so glad it paid off

It's really nice to be building terrain again:

Really lovely kit from new outfit Red Beam Designs. Even nicer to be involved in the design process - not paid (tis a mate) but I get free stuff so I'm not complaining! Designing a bank next; I didn't design this kit but am essentially the product tester

There is still trim to go on in theory (corners and around bottom) but I have other plans, partly because it's worth adding Variety to the kit. So, like Ralph - I'm gonna wreck it!



The trim is probably going to be used to make shutters:

We may mark it on the actual kit in some way.

So this will then fit in my Gotham nicely as an Asian legitimate businessmen's social club

Having a nice old weekend otherwise. Took the kids into city centre to see the lights, go to the fair, eat Brats that were longer than their arms, that sort of thing.

Tomorrow, wrapping. Ho ho no.

I feel (Arkham, not Ledger) Joker needs a hat, in his right hand. My Vinyl Joker figure has a fedora but I'm thinking one like Nicholson's Joker. Thoughts?

Still not seen Rogue One. Monday, Monday...

Hey ho
Graven



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Oh, and...

And now with shutters!

Good job on the boarding up and shutter-ing down.

I really like that set up. Any zombicide figs nearby for scale?

The name is great too , now I want to make a Chinese massage parlor named Hung Lo massage

Now I'm hungry for Chinese food while telling everyone " I am da Law!"

Dr H wrote:Good job on the boarding up and shutter-ing down.

Cheers! It's now finished:

Even some broken glass

Theophony wrote:I really like that set up. Any zombicide figs nearby for scale?

The name is great too , now I want to make a Chinese massage parlor named Hung Lo massage

I'm totally going to suggest that to the designer. Or may just add that to the top.
No Zombicide ones, but here's a TWD one -

omnomnomnomnom Dead Outside

Solar_lion wrote:Now I'm hungry for Chinese food while telling everyone " I am da Law!"

That'll be this guy


Ink's still wet but you get the idea. Probably going to mark the bag "dice" Bringing the law of d6 to the cursed earth!

Joker's now got a fedora (apoogies for blur, holding a wriggling 10 month old at the time!)



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So plodding on. Need to weather up my set of 6 air vents made from baby smoothie lids, the very first thing I appropriated for scratchbuilding (baneblade wheels back in Oct '09)
Onwards!
graven

building looks fantastic! Now paint monkey-boy, paint!

Cheers - already on it!

Maybe you don't need a whole building for the massage parlor, maybe just a small sign tacked onto the lo phat sign saying hung lo massage around back

definitely a plan
Meanwhile, the other sample building - The Pale Moonlight nightclub:

I am considering not attaching the roof so I can add lights to the interior of this one (it is a club after all).
Must be crazy.

Boiler has packed in :( merry bloody xmas. Just the pilot light/ fan, and engineer will tend tomorrow; still, irksome. But, WOOOO school holidays so taking wife and kids to Rogue One in the morning so not all bad
Later dudes (and any dudettes, of course)
Graven

Merry Christmas brother from across the pond!

Thanks, and the same back at ya! Now that we have heating back things are certainly looking up here. You all set?

So. Family loved Rogue One, and we went to our favourite burger place which has relocated across town for vast and tasty lunch. Great day, all in all.
And just about done with the Nightclub.

Love the etched detailing.

Debating whether to do my Joker crew as mimes...?
Nearly Xmas folks, hope Satan is good to y'all?
Graven

"Satan"??

I think Christmas in the UK must be a bit different than Christmas in the US...

Good judge, good hat, good progress.

Happy Easter to you too...

I'm all ready to light up the Kwanza shrubbery here , Satan just better keep away from my harvest festival unless he brings s'mores

Buildings are looking fabulous.

Heres hoping Satan Claws brings you lots of naughty little gifts.

Gitsplitta wrote:"Satan"??

I think Christmas in the UK must be a bit different than Christmas in the US...

You say Potato, I say Tuber. It's what I say to the kids at school, very few realise

Dr H wrote:Good judge, good hat, good progress.

Happy Easter to you too...

Good good good merry robonukah!

Theophony wrote:I'm all ready to light up the Kwanza shrubbery here , Satan just better keep away from my harvest festival unless he brings s'mores

That's the spirit! In his excellent poem 'Trio', about Christmas in Glasgow (look it up, kids) Edwin Morgan perfectly, to me, encapsulates all the feelings of this time of year, and that friendship during the season conquers all the ills of the year. Definitely what I feel about dakkadakka (d'awwwww)

Camkierhi wrote:Buildings are looking fabulous.

Heres hoping Satan Claws brings you lots of naughty little gifts.

Cheers mate! Storage is decreasing, however!
And yes, yes he was:


Heroes of the Resistance from the kids. Suicide Squad boxset w. Batfleck and TT Combat abandoned building from parents (they are definitely learning!), TT Combat police riot truck and bus shelters from erithromycin. Oh and OTT light from the wife! (RiTides recommendation, I believe)
Not pictured are Obi wan dressing gown, star wars gingerbread men T-shirt, HC TMNT Batman and Gotham by Gaslight. Very geeky xmas indeed!

And generally a good get together, at that. Wife did awesome desserts (chocolate twist Xmas tree, panettone blackberry bread and butter), mum did starters (lots of salmon and prawn things) and my Bacon wrapped turkey is the way the truth and the light

Speaking of light, here's a test, on many levels:


Not tried to do this on dakkadakka before!
This is for my red beam nightclub, The Pale Moonlight, now with purple Windows (yay Decepticon packaging!)

So there's a Joker theme going on in 2017 to be sure I've been stealing all the tiny card packs out the crackers just in case

Merry Xmas gang
Graven

All you need is some heavy bass dance music.

Nice haul, and brilliant work on the club, can't wait to see it finished.

Said before Joker has to be one of my faves so looking forward to a year of it.

Thanks Cam, it's been fun, and more to come.

-So, a year in review.

Whilst it's been professionally frustrating, I've now got 3 kids, which is just perfect if unexpected. Keeping our heads above water financially, and feel pretty secure. Mrs Graven is tolerant of the geek and my general randomness, clumsiness and muddleheadedness, and rather lovely too (cake is added bonus).
I have had a great year in geek, with my column on bigcomicpage.com really starting to take off. I've got my kids playing x-wing, and my parents buying me geek gifts at long last. Plus, I've got an awful lot of stuff built (rebuilt in some cases) and painted.

130 - That's quite a few! So thanks to you all, gentle readers, for nudging poking prodding encouraging berating and generally being in my corner. I can't single out any one of you, so thankyou all once more. On to 2017, where the joke's on you...
Happy new year gang,
Graven

Love all the new Batman Stuff, long time since I checked your stuff out.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy new year! Mighty impressive 2016 you've had hobby-wise, the sheer volume of terrain work is amazing, the paintwork is great and if you don't mind me saying, there is a clear progression from the already-good earlier stuff to the awesome recent work!

One heck of a year Graven!

Very Impressive.. How do you top that!

tipios wrote:Love all the new Batman Stuff, long time since I checked your stuff out.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hey buddy, good to hear from you, happy new year indeed, and thanks.

Paradigm wrote:Happy new year! Mighty impressive 2016 you've had hobby-wise, the sheer volume of terrain work is amazing, the paintwork is great and if you don't mind me saying, there is a clear progression from the already-good earlier stuff to the awesome recent work!

means a lot mate, and much appreciated. And always a pleasure getting to know new folk hereabouts

Knightley wrote:One heck of a year Graven!

Cheers, but I've got a long way to go to match you in quality or quantity!

Solar_lion wrote:Very Impressive.. How do you top that!

Thanks - how indeed? Well... I guess... With...

HOBBY GOALS 2017 !

Okeydoke, what's bubbling up from the Depths?
1) BMG: Joker - obviously my main focus will be the huge Joker crew my friends and family have given me this season. As well as the built crew there's Laugh Gas cannisters, a jack-in-the-box, and all of the Suicide Squad stuff to build, base and of course paint also. I'm debating doing the more recent Harley crew ones as mimes from Burtons batman.
2) BMG: Suicide Squad - of course, there's the other half of the box, plus Batfleck to do. I'm going to TRY for no new BMG acquisitions till all of these are done.
3) Small terrain: shameful admission - I still have something unfinished from last year, the radioactive container. In my defence I'm still not 100% on the scheme for it. From the nerd loot, I also have more bus shelters and lampposts now, plus a riot van to do. I've been hoarding toy cars that have passed their best also from the boys, though whether I repaint them is another matter.
4) big terrain: technically, I know, I started the Chinese Restaurant and Nightclub before 2017, but still. There's also now an abandoned building to go with them, along with anything else we come up with in the short term - though we are looking at acrylics for BMG as a sideline.
5) X-wing - I'm not going into the year with much, just a falcon and Poe's xwing to do (well I might do a couple of TIE repaints also but still). More may materialise though I'm not going to go crazy with X-wing, I feel I have plenty tbh especially from the imperials (rebels are still my focus), so other than a U-Wing I think it's going to be quite quiet there.
6) The Walking Dead: All Out War - I am considering an odd idea: a monochrome paint scheme, as if from the pages of the comic. Actually what's stopping me is that all my terrain is obviously coloured - plus, it might look just weird?
7) Other stuff - I don't really have any other big plans, though helping Red Beam Designs off the ground and growing Geeking Out over at bigcomicpage.com are important. I don't do new year's resolutions as a rule but looking forward, not dwelling on the past, seems to me to be a good priority.

No doubt there will be other nerdery ahead but for now - that's all!
Cheers
Graven

Happy New Year Graven

Love the thread and look forward to seeing what comes in 2017

Cheers mate, really appreciated and great to have you along.
So, of course, my first hobby project of the year isn't even one from my list
that is all...

*sigh*

Turns out I'm in.

And I'm vaguely thinking of this



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(Alternatively, and equally it could be the daily planet).

Pesky inspiring cardboard. Once you geek, you just can't stop

Good luck with that, ha!

Well it's going to have to wait, because an idiotic idea has presented itself to me:

I love Burton's Batman. So, clearly, my Joker crew needs to consist of Mimes...
The other motivation for this is that I'm organising a 6-player (gulp) game to teach/reteach the game to some friends - one has never played, but wants to be a bat-chick, one has played once and is determined to be the Flash, and the other 3 have played twice.
The long and the short of it is, we're doing a Cops and robbers game (Flash, Batwoman, Black Canary, cops vs Harley, Hush, Capt Boomerang - who I also need to build and paint - and Joker goons). Madness
Joker's fedora is now a topper, looks better for it, and I've gsd his cravat a bit larger - that knife works for the lethal quill in the movie. Checked trousers though.


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And in other news, head over to Bigcomicpage to win some shiny goodies from Red Beam Designs:
https://bigcomicpage.com/2017/01/05/geeking-out-2017-preview-red-beam-designs-exclusives-and-giveaway-contest/


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This guy though:

Making that blob of gs into something... Special.
Later gang
Graven

Nearly there...


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IT'S SO FLUFFY!!!

Genius!

Unicorn and all.. nice touch.

Very clever

Thank you, one and all.

Meanwhile, blocking in base tones:

OOh... thugs!

Yup. Joker as a crew is all about hordes of expendable goons

Part 2 of the test:

I'm not entirely sure that the Master of Ceremonies works as a mime, and perhaps I should've gone with a more conventional circus look for him? After all, they don't all have to be mime-styled. Certainly the hoodie thugs (as the name suggests, hoodies and clown masks) won't be.
Wasn't sure about the red clown shoes but I'm actually very pleased with them. The buttons on the middle guy should be red too, I think, along with the Master's nose. Much happier with the spiral on the bottom (and top, though not pictured) on Borgon's strongman Hammer. The extreme highlighting of the black is freaking me out a bit but I know that black glaze medium smoothes it out nicely whilst (perversely) dealing with the residual glossiness of VJ Black. The scrappy flesh tone that I used for blocking is distracting and needs sorted just for sake of my sanity.
It's disconcerting to do the models together in stages like this. I think they look pretty rubbish just now but am reasonably sure that they'll come together :/


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Better.

These look fun to do, nice work.

cool. are those freehand stripes?

Camkierhi wrote:These look fun to do, nice work.

self-inflicted torture more like

tipios wrote:cool. are those freehand stripes?

yup. Madness I tells ya! It's torment.

hi mate....i am finally able to comment ....not at least thanks to the summary of 2016 by you! i feel ashamed of neglecting your thread for so long... your way too busy workload made me shy... but boy...you have to be proud of your work...and not only in hobbydom but in family too...it seems you´ve fought a very good battle on all frontiers and came out packed and loaded too^^

since there is way too much to comment on the stuff i missed actively out, lets just say... your work is simply adorable...probably has something to do with the amount of sexy models compared to most other threads... Batman sure delivers some classy ladies^^

as to the only question you asked i am able to be of any help...while a TWD monochrome miniature set would be as an idea cool...i think due to the minuature sized nature of the models you would loose out on much eye candy...so i would opt for a gritty but fully coloured scheme... you´ll probably end up with a more brownish one anyways since the whole series (TV or book) is all wasted and sweaty looking...just my two cents^^


cheers, *bowing before your productivity* vik

Your free handed stripes are very impressive then!! well done.

Viktor von Domm wrote:hi mate....i am finally able to comment ....not at least thanks to the summary of 2016 by you! i feel ashamed of neglecting your thread for so long... your way too busy workload made me shy... but boy...you have to be proud of your work...and not only in hobbydom but in family too...it seems you´ve fought a very good battle on all frontiers and came out packed and loaded too^^

since there is way too much to comment on the stuff i missed actively out, lets just say... your work is simply adorable...probably has something to do with the amount of sexy models compared to most other threads... Batman sure delivers some classy ladies^^

as to the only question you asked i am able to be of any help...while a TWD monochrome miniature set would be as an idea cool...i think due to the minuature sized nature of the models you would loose out on much eye candy...so i would opt for a gritty but fully coloured scheme... you´ll probably end up with a more brownish one anyways since the whole series (TV or book) is all wasted and sweaty looking...just my two cents^^


cheers, *bowing before your productivity* vik

Hey buddy, lovely to hear from you. There's times we all go dark on dakkadakka, such is life. As they say up here, dinnae fash (don't worry about it, don't be daft). Glad you like the sexy ladeez, and that is after me toning them down. You cape-chaser, you.
Your walking dead points are spot on and much appreciated. Muted, gritty, grimy? That I can do (even if I'm out of camoshade )

tipios wrote:Your free handed stripes are very impressive then!! well done.

Thanks I shaded the white this evening with ivory, and immediately just wished I'd started with that. Never mind.

Ready to call my first 3 Miniatures of 2017 done:

Really pleased, especially with the hammer, has a good Burton vibe.


So glad I went for big red buttons wonder if I should have done clearer lips (black or red)?


This guy has grown on me actually, especially as part of the group:

Now that I have a clear idea of the scheme, I think the other mimes will be pretty quick.

And a bit more work on Captain Boomerang:

Given that I need him (and the clowns) done for Tuesday, doing not bad.

Wife and baby full of goo. Sleep is somewhat evasive. Even the other 2 are getting a bit strung out. January, bah.

BUT! Have huge 6-way BMG game on Tuesday, hope to do a chunky batrep, and should have some very shiny new goodies to show later this week.
Cheers gang
Graven

Top stuff! This is a great take on Joker's lads, very unique and impressively executed.

You continue to amaze me... even though your baby-induced haze you are way more productive than I.

' Baby induced' / food haze !!!

Like the new crew. Only suggestion would be to change the mallet to a yellow or green and not try to match the outfit. Make it stand out rather than blend in.

Those turned out really well graven. Fantastic start to 2017... bodes well for the future.

Paradigm wrote:Top stuff! This is a great take on Joker's lads, very unique and impressively executed.

Thanks mate. Now that I have a clearer idea of what I'm going with it I might try to batter through the rest of the mime-style goons. Not sure about the street thugs in their hoodies and clown masks. They do have baseball bats so I'm think some sort of bat-men

Anpu-adom wrote:You continue to amaze me... even though your baby-induced haze you are way more productive than I.

I'm just in a good place with the minis and developing a portable set up. The OTT light is amazing.

Solar_lion wrote:' Baby induced' / food haze !!!

Like the new crew. Only suggestion would be to change the mallet to a yellow or green and not try to match the outfit. Make it stand out rather than blend in.

Maybe, maybe. I was considering this myself. Cheers mate!

Gitsplitta wrote:Those turned out really well graven. Fantastic start to 2017... bodes well for the future.

Cheers Mucker!

And so, Digger is... Done!

Turns out, I hate painting pink! And his mutton chops were an absolute nightmare to paint, did them with Vallejo Smoke in the end. Glad I used washes to paint all his cloth.

The winter freeze has hit, so can't really prime. I've still got my 2 buildings built to work on, though, and my laffy daffy clowns.

Let's keep going - on with the shelf!
Graven

and food references.

I like the unicorn. just sayin!

Great year review. Good work all round.
I'm now caught up with blogs.

Villains, thugs, heroes, scenery! starships oh my! all looking good, and I do like the grim and grimey look for your city scapes for the heroes to battle the criminals in.

Pink turned out alright, even if you hated it

Solar_lion wrote:and food references.

I like the unicorn. just sayin!

Hey, I appreciate it. I'm very happy with the unicorn, actually, though now I want to do him a keg of beer as a custom loot marker because cultural stereotypes!

Dr H wrote:Great year review. Good work all round.
I'm now caught up with blogs.

:applause: well done you all these folk threadomancing old blogs, it's great but my goodness my unread threads get busy fast!

shasolenzabi wrote:Villains, thugs, heroes, scenery! starships oh my! all looking good, and I do like the grim and grimey look for your city scapes for the heroes to battle the criminals in.

Thanks. Gotham (and star city for that matter) have to be grim and unforgiving, if you ask me. I'm going to add some ruined walls I think, also.

tipios wrote:Pink turned out alright, even if you hated it

yeah it's OK.
Not much progress to report, I'm afraid, just blocking in -

Having done the first 3 I now have a clearer idea generally, so have done all the black and given it an initial set of highlights.
Asker, who's at the far end, has been doing my head in, but now I think he's not going to be stripes - rather, mostly white (well, the giant cloak), more like a pierrot. As for Joker's trousers, I'm going to start white, micron pen in the lines, and paint checks. Eep.

Life is busy but in a good way. Gradually putting the house back together again after decorators. Chilled out for brother-in-law's birthday with vast amount of curry. Quiet day yesterday, Mrs made stew and trifle (despite being an epic baker, she doesn't really cook). Caught up with friends for brunch and swingpark today, and did a kick-arse pulled pork joint which will feed us for days is the little things, y'know? Especially grub Kids are... Kids. Eldest smart and smart mouth, middle being a pain, tiny being cute and wobbly. Trying to stay positive, and embrace the joys we have.

Hey ho,
Graven

Am I the only one not getting the Unicorn reference here?

Loving the joker crew though

Captain Boomerang has a unicorn fetish, and has one hidden in his coat in the Suicide Squad movie. And thanks!

Ahhh, okay! Haven't seen Suicide Squad yet - guess it'll be out on Sky soon, so will look out for this.

You can use a brush on primer. The Weather is never an excuse.

The goon with the axe, his hat? What sort of hat is it. It's hard to tell from the photos. It looks oddly Napoleonic.

Cool stuff, loving the mime goons.

EDC

evildrcheese wrote:Cool stuff, loving the mime goons.

EDC

Cheers matey.

Red Harvest wrote:You can use a brush on primer. The Weather is never an excuse.

The goon with the axe, his hat? What sort of hat is it. It's hard to tell from the photos. It looks oddly Napoleonic.

This guy?

It's a beret that I added. Pierrots have cones or skullcaps, usually, but I like the jaunty and and weird wispy hair that makes me think of Quentin Crisp!

Still not sure how to do these guys:

I think I want these guys to be more conventional, styled after DK movie. Would that look odd against the mimes?

I think if there's one crew you can get away with mixing styles it's a Joker one! Bearing in mind you've got the cosplay guys from Suicide Squad to mix in as well, so it's going to be pretty varied visually anyway.

 Paradigm wrote:
I think if there's one crew you can get away with mixing styles it's a Joker one! Bearing in mind you've got the cosplay guys from Suicide Squad to mix in as well, so it's going to be pretty varied visually anyway.

Good advice mate, hadn't considered that. I'm going to try to channel a bit of the DK clown vibe for them.
But meantime, more Burton mimes:

Happy with how they're coming along. Shading white, such fun :/ but I do think that the Pierrot has worked for all that. I'm really, really fretting over Joker's checked trousers - so I'm going to do a practice on the taxi door intention is to sketch a grid with a micron pen and fill from there. We shall see! Either purple hair for all or a red one, a blue one and a-nother one for the 3 similar clowns.

Had a great big team game on Tuesday, good fun introducing/reintroducing friends to the game. The speed force rules are still in need of tweaking, Barry went full super speed in the first turn and promptly rolled a paradox fail, and disappeared from the timeline - funny for us, not much fun for the guy playing with him :/
Irrespective, we had a great game, very loot focused (we had taken secret objective - loot and Boomerang has primary objective loot also, which adds an extra one to the mix), although we had set up a 4ftx4ft board rather than 1msq so 2 turns end up wasted trudging. Excellent stuff nonetheless.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Black Canary, caught by clowns

Patrolling the mean streets

The city. My - the city.


Crucially, got folk hooked (even The Flash player )
Next on the list to build is a slightly strange idea, a giant clown with gatling gun - and balloons! Although I really should look at my LOER idea :(

Hey ho,
graven
graven

Love the city scenes... very cool.

Thanks matey. You know you've got someone hooked when they start taking photos

Getting there with the clowns:

hahaha that unicorn is great. also enjoyed the review

Those are brilliant! So unique, and executed really nicely!

That group looks really excellent graven. I'm impressed!

Good job. Checks look good.

Hang on a mo, is that a Lamenters-themed Riot Shield, or am I reading too much into it?

TerrainWalker wrote:hahaha that unicorn is great. also enjoyed the review

Cheers loved making it and stretching my limited sculpting skills

Paradigm wrote:Those are brilliant! So unique, and executed really nicely!

Cheers mate, appreciated. Glad I just went for it.

Gitsplitta wrote:That group looks really excellent graven. I'm impressed!

Means a lot mate, thanks. Spot the reference to a certain Warden?

And here they are, in all their stripey glory.


Hey kid - you ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?

Never rub another man's rhubarb!


Giggling clowns (although one seems to work for Lament-a-Cab...)


Ringmaster and Master of Ceremonies

I will never, ever use Ringmaster, as he's rubbish, but I love the mini (pointing one)

And Elite clowns (true, Mr Stabby isn't technically elite, but he seems to fit with them!)

I wonder now if Asker (Pierrot) needs cleaver blood?


I'm very tempted to take the Cosplay goons from the SS box in a similar style - panda guy is black and white anyway, goat priest is in a black coat, and the grin twins are b&w too (although I might give them very bright heads ) and that just leaves eyeball, who I'm considering an old fashioned 30s prison jump suit for. Leto Joker I think will get the purple jacket but pinstripe trousers, in a perhaps futile attempt to tie everything together.

However, there's terrain to do! I think that's next on the agenda. A break from jokering (although there's his nightclub to do), maybe even LOER, then fresh eyes for Ledger and his goons.

Now I rarely get political over here on Dakkadakka, but - bloody Barry Allen, messing with the timestream! I resent living in this new alternate reality!

Ahem.


Thanks as always for all the support gang, means the world to me,
Graven