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Introduction:
Hey everyone, so after going back and forth with some posters in Dakka Discussions, I've bit the bullet so to speak and I'm starting up a Painting and Modeling Blog, with emphasis on the painting and the blogging part. I've never been one to really track my work in a public setting as I'm terrible at accepting criticism, but with everything I do, I try to get better at it. So this blog will be my project log for anything hobby related I'm working on. Most of the time this will be figures for a game I helped write called Endless: Fantasy Tactics. For those of you that don't know, Endless is a world created by On the Lamb Games, a small game company here in the states that also have their official forums here on Dakka! EFT is a tactics based game that uses 40mm 'boutique' miniatures. So, you might be saying, "Alf, wtf is a boutique miniature?" These miniatures stand a little taller than your average GW, Reaper, or Privateer Press figure and are more characterful than your average game piece.

What Will I See?
Hopefully painted models! Like I said in the introduction, I hope to use this as a log for anything hobby related. I will attempt to post an image here in the opening post with a logo of what I'm painting, that way you can follow along when you want to, and can ignore me when you don't! (Though I hope you don't). Occasionally I might have an actual blog post written about things I'm thinking about and it might not have pictures, for those posts, I am truly sorry. So without further ado, let's get on to some content!

What am I Currently Painting?



Completed Works
Endless: Fantasy Tactics - Human Gunsmith:

WIPs:


Endless: Fantasy Tactics - Cleric:

WIPs:


Dwarven Gunsmith:

WIP:


Human Squire:

WIPs:

I love that Dwarf model. No body just a head with arms and legs.

However, you did a great paint up on him so at least he looks good

Looking good so far, I will be watching along

Great work so far Alf, never realized endless was boutique scale, don't own any yet.

Will be keeping an eye on this blog, good luck.

Glad you decided to create the blog

I love how much the cleric looks like a Final Fantasy's White Mage. All it needed were some more triangles.

I can't believe they aren't getting C&Ded already with that logo

Rolt wrote:Great work so far Alf, never realized endless was boutique scale, don't own any yet.

Will be keeping an eye on this blog, good luck.

Yeah 'boutique' is a weird way to put it, but it basically just boils down to "not rank and file" They're 40mm models (measured to the head) most models are measured to the eyes, so they're still in scale with everything else. Like Kingdom Death models are considered boutique, but Poots is still making a game using them.

TheDraconicLord wrote:Glad you decided to create the blog

I love how much the cleric looks like a Final Fantasy's White Mage. All it needed were some more triangles.

That was the plan, but I feel like there is too much red on her already, so I didn't do it. I've got another one to do, and I might try it on that one, but who knows!

Quick update:
Last night I was working on a Squire model. She's nowhere near done, and I was having some issues figuring out where to go. She's nicely detailed, but I was having some issues with her sword and scabbard as well as some spots that the primer missed and it wasn't taking paint at all.



Also, if anyone has been down to the On the Lamb Official Forums, I think I'm going to drop w/e I'm doing and paint up one of these once they're released:

Please do. The model is gorgeous Nothing against the squire, but wow, they are a world apart when it comes to "cool factor".

 TheDraconicLord wrote:
Please do. The model is gorgeous Nothing against the squire, but wow, they are a world apart when it comes to "cool factor".

Yeah, it was one of the first models we got designed for the game. We had Brother Vinni do the work for us in a 3d sculpt (seen below), but when he sent it to us, it was far too thin to actually use as a cast. So we ended up hiring a man, who I'm fairly certain sculpts the best female models ever, Patrick Keith (his Bombshell Babes Kickstarter had some awesome sculpts), and the result is what you see above.

Damn some of those minis look like itd be fun to paint! Specially that dwarf Hilarious

And not to derail too much, how does endless fantasy tactics play? You can PM me if you want

 KingCracker wrote:
Damn some of those minis look like itd be fun to paint! Specially that dwarf Hilarious

And not to derail too much, how does endless fantasy tactics play? You can PM me if you want

It's not derailment, anything to keep the conversation going

Endless plays really easy, but still pretty decent to master tactically. There is a lot of interaction with the position of the minis on the board, the height above other minis, whether you're attacking from the front or the back. It's really simple to play. Each model has a stat card with the art work on it (that matches the mini since we used the art work as the concept art for the models).


The stats are ATK, DEF, MAG, MOV, JMP, and ITM. ATK is what you use for melee or ranged attacks, DEF is how you defend against them. MAG is used for magical commands (attack or defense), MOV is how many squares on the grid you can move, JMP is how many levels you can go up in a single move, and ITM is how many items you can equip.

The cards also feature hearts for HP, mana pots for MP, and then the model's commands on the back (you can choose 4 to use during a game). So you build a party of 5, 10, 15, 20 crystals, etc... place them on the table and duke it out or play a scenario.

Basics go like this:
Set up an initiative order using the stat cards in your party and set them out, left to right, top to bottom, however you want to do it, as long as you know the order. Each player rolls a number of d6 equal to their MOV value and you're looking for a success (4+). Whoever has the most activates their first model first. You then alternate back and forth until a turn is over, then you can move one model one position in the order. and you re-roll initiative.

During their activation a model can do the following:
1) Movement Phase
2) Action Phase
---- Attack Action - roll a number of d6 equal to your ATK value, looking for a success (4+) defender looks for a defensive success (5+) any left over successful attacks deal 1 point of damage per die.
---- Item Action - Use an item
---- Command Action - Use one of the commands on the back of the card.
3) Resolve status effects.

it's quick, easy, and fun. Though I think it's more fun when there are a bunch of things on the board

Hmm that sounds easy enough and fun as well. Not to mention from the minis Ive seen, they look really charming. I actually chuckled when I saw the slime wizard and warrior or knight whatever it was on their site

 KingCracker wrote:
Hmm that sounds easy enough and fun as well. Not to mention from the minis Ive seen, they look really charming. I actually chuckled when I saw the slime wizard and warrior or knight whatever it was on their site

The Slimes are fun, I've got a slightly miscast King Gel and like... 18 gels (9 of each)... I will rule the realms with my gel army (I can field 16 gels and the king in a 20 point game... but that's considered extremely large... at least until I start pushing for those point sizes

Well, you guys aren't kidding when you say:

ENDLESS: Fantasy Tactics

A Tactical Fantasy Miniatures game played on a grid, inspired by console RPGs of the 80s & 90s

It sounds a lot like it... and considering my favorite game of all time is a TRPG (Shining Force III) this intrigues me a lot. I have to find some time to at least read the quickstart rules.

P.S: When are we getting a photo of said slime army?

Yea no kidding! Super slime army for the win

 TheDraconicLord wrote:
Well, you guys aren't kidding when you say:

ENDLESS: Fantasy Tactics

A Tactical Fantasy Miniatures game played on a grid, inspired by console RPGs of the 80s & 90s

It sounds a lot like it... and considering my favorite game of all time is a TRPG (Shining Force III) this intrigues me a lot. I have to find some time to at least read the quickstart rules.

P.S: When are we getting a photo of said slime army?

They're quite far down my list to paint, because I'm not entirely sure how I want to do them yet. I'm thinking of priming them white, and just doing washes on the bodies and then hit everything with a gloss varnish. Alternatively, I'm also thinking I might want to do one for each of the flan colors in FF games

That would be awesome. I think casting one or two in clear resin would look awesome as all get out too

 KingCracker wrote:
That would be awesome. I think casting one or two in clear resin would look awesome as all get out too

I had been thinking about this, I wonder if it's possible to cast clear resin with a little bit of food coloring in it to give it some color.

Well on to some WIP updates! I'm having a bugger of a time with this Squire. The primer didn't take two well (this is why I don't use the cheap primers from Home Depot anymore. But here she is:


The skin needs some work, I've got to do some touching up in places, and I need to do another layer or two on the silvers (especially on the sword), but she'll be done soon. Too bad I have 2 more to do! I think after the squire, I might take a quick break from EFT to work on the Trollbloods Character Unit - The Sons of Bragg, as warmahordes is picking up at my flgs, and I've had these guys for over a year.

Looks pretty cool. You could probably put a thin wash over the clear too.

 GrimDork wrote:
Looks pretty cool. You could probably put a thin wash over the clear too.

Clear?

it's looking mighty fine so far. I'd say all it's missing is a few face touch-ups, highlight the hair, and take care of the shirt. From this angle, the sword looks good.

GrimDork wrote:Looks pretty cool. You could probably put a thin wash over the clear too.

Grim, you and your smart phone posts!

Over the clear resin for your slimes? As opposed to mixing in food coloring. I realize now that it was someone else's suggestion so that may be why it didn't make sense.

Thats how I took it. A wash over the clear mini. But yea, some experiments with food coloring in the gel could give out some cool results

So bit of an update, my blog has a shiny new banner in my sig, but that's not really worthy of an update, so I've got some pictures of the Squire, who has had some touchups, but I'm not happy with the pictures of the model >_< It's too bright, and as such her skin looks pale as a mother fether.

Everything else is right about where I want it to be though, gloves, pants, weapons, etc... All look good, but her dang arms are just pale! Squire needs more sunlight


And for those of you interested in the art for my banner, it's of Zebolg, the Crystal Knight. He's one of the villains from Endless: Fantasy Tactics, but I did some fiddling with his white balance and got an image that I thought was a little closer to old Final Fantasy art

GrimDork wrote:I can't believe they aren't getting C&Ded already with that logo

We don't actually use that one, it was thrown together in like 20 minutes for the initial announcement since the actual logo wasn't done yet.

These are the proper logos:

KingCracker wrote:That would be awesome. I think casting one or two in clear resin would look awesome as all get out too

I plan on doing a few of these at some point, but the Clear Resin rips apart our molds so I gotta make separate ones just for doing that. We already use a dye in the resin, so it wouldn't be hard to make it a translucent color.. I've actually got one that will make it look like Orange Soda...

Hmm cool beans, those do look much less likely to cause problems

Sweet closeup, I can't get that close to my models or my weak painting skill fall even further apart

 GrimDork wrote:
Hmm cool beans, those do look much less likely to cause problems

Sweet closeup, I can't get that close to my models or my weak painting skill fall even further apart

I should avoid these closeups, as I'm finding things that I dislike about the model and I'm like, "ugh I AM THE BADS AT THIS!" Like there is some flash I missed on her foot, I could have smoothed the sword out better, her arm is too pale, all these little things that I don't see until the pic is up on my computer. Which is why my motto is, "Good enough at three [feet], good enough for me"

Yeah, we can be our own worst enemy when it comes to looking at what we've done, and taking hi-res photos of our work is like giving that inner negativity a gun for a knife fight. Some things I want to do better than 3 ft rule, but overall that's the distance that is going to matter when I play, which is the driving force of why I paint.

Close ups like that are good though, to force yourself to get better and beat out your inner criticism. But only if you are actively trying to get better by doing that piece, and not just passively allowing your skills to sharpen while you build your force or army

Look at my blog, there are all kinds of minor things on my models I probably won't be going back to. I like to treat an army as a learning experience

Uff, lots of new stuff.

Yes, with so much white it really looks like an old-school FF artwork. Are you going to paint said Crystal Knight once it's available? It looks badass!

The Squire looks good, but if I'm allowed to nit-pick: The shirt strings. They are begging for a different color! Leather-ish, maybe, to provide yet another contrast. And maybe a bit of extra highlight near the tips of her hair, to provide that extra-stylish feel. Everything else, damn cool.

The first logo is cool because it isn't TOO close to FF, but at the same time it still gives a slight nod to it. Like the Crystal, too many FF with the "Crystal MacGuffin". Regardless, looks sweet!

Finally: Yes, I too always get a bit frustrated when I look at my pictures when I'm editing them. It just looks so horrible, the layers and color transitions looks so bad up close, urgh, I always remember the camera is very different from the human eye but still I get a bit bummed down.

Keep up the great work

Oooh yeah I second TDL on the strings, I hadn't noticed them before (I'm a bad looker!).