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As mentioned in my last update, one of the things I'm now working on is a dungeon-delving party that's slightly more up to scratch than some of my previous Fantasy stuff, that, on getting it back out a few months later, looks decidedly sloppy. There will something of a mix of minis and ranges, though mostly LotR and WFB, and first up is the second Josef Bugman.

I've tried to change him up a bit from the one I did earlier in the year, most notably in the armament (a barstool is hardly dungeon-crawl material unless you're very, very good) but also in the palette and tone. To that end, the areas of gold and silver have been largely reversed on this one, and I've gone for different colours on the clothes and beard. The flesh method is also slightly different, but I tend to develop those on a model-by-model basis anyway. He's still technically WIP as I haven't decided where I'm going base-wise yet (possibly putting him on a slightly larger one with a suitably angry hunting hound mini), so feel free to suggest any changes!






That's it for now, let me know what you think! Ta for reading!

That is excellent Para, think it is one of the best miniatures you have done. The beard, skin, cape and metallics are all really top work. Well done Sir.

Wow, high praise indeed. I will admit there are some areas I'm particularly proud of, most notably the NMM on the axe and the beard (which the camera isn't being kind to, actually). Thanks!

In other news, I ordered a load more Batman yesterday after finding a great deal (about 50% off RRP). Coming some time this week I have Nyssa Al Ghul for the League of Shadows, Black Canary, Huntress and Batgirl for Batman/The Birds of Prey (they don't have their own list, but all work together in a 'Batman' crew), a Court of Owls starter, and the Joker and Harley Quinn sets to give me a full Joker team right off the bat (pun most definitely intended).No idea how soon or in what order I'll tackle them in, but expect a lot of Gothamy goodness!

Awesome!! The face and the hair particularly stand out to me. Excellently painted, made even better by the fact that dwarfs are a lot smaller.

Oh man, that's a lot of Batman things! I would imagine Harley and Joker are first (They are your entries to the monthly comp, right?).
Do you watch the TV show Gotham?

50% off retail? Sounds very good to me, great find.

I like that Bugman quite a bit. For a dungeon delver, consider a minimally intrusive base, perhaps just a flagstone floor?

Thanks guys!

@Zambro: Yeah, Harley and Mister J are up first, after that though it'll be whatever takes my fancy on any given day. It's a lot more than I'd normally buy at once, but I wasn't going to let this deal pass me by! I think the guy in Swap Shop still has a few bits if you want to grab a bargain!

I started watching Gotham, but gave up after about 6 episodes as it didn't seem to be going anywhere. I hear it gets better in the later episodes, though, so I may try it again at some point.

2nd season now. I'm loving it. The guy playing 'The Joker' (or is he?!) is cracking. Give it a good try Para - worth it. Loving that Bugman fig - absolutely one of your best. cracking job

oh here - while I'm at it....Para, you have good colour sense - the helemets of the dead termies at the feet (and in the claws) of my 'stealers........which chapter(s) do you reckon. I'm stumped

Good to know. If I see the DVD set cheap or it pops up on Amazon Prime (or Netflix when I get that renewed) then I'll give it a go!

Personally I have gone for BA helmets on Stealers I've done so far, just to tie them in with the boys in red when it comes to actually playing SH. For your almost monochrome Stealers, I'd definitely go for something pretty bright like BA or Ultramarines, just to add a spot of colour that should contrast nicely.

Aye. Thinking a browny red BA scheme. Don't want it to pop out too too much and distract from thheeeee hoorrrror lol. Was thinking of SW for personal satisfaction but the colours just don't go. BAs it is then!

Yeah, I think SW colours would be too 'cold' for the Stealers and get lost. Something along the lines of the scheme you used on the BA Sergeant would add a spot of colour without distracting from the models themselves.

Agreed. Cheers man

Here's the finished article. I've uploaded and deleted about two dozen pics today trying to get some that do him justice and I'm still not 100% pleased (with the pics, that is, I am rather proud of the mini itself). As far as basing went he's just on a standard round with a section of the tiled scenic base he comes with attached for some context.







Any thoughts welcome, hopefully the pics are all right. Up next will probably be either a High Elf Swordmaster (to double as a Paladin for D&D) or a Space Hulk Genestealer.

Bugman looks pretty good! Was he hard to paint?

Looking great! Love the job you did on his whiskers.

Thanks guys!

@ZS: There was nothing too complicated on him; the edging on the cloak and tunic were a bit fiddly but that's about it.

Good to hear you're getting your bat on again!

Looking really good. Love the colours. The cloak is my favourite part.

I vote for a genestealer next have always loved those models.

aweosme - so so many captions that could go with that wee fella! great job Para

Thanks guys!

@Archer: I'm afraid it's probably going to be the elf next, I've got a few techniques I want to try out and I want to get him done for Friday night's game session.

@Graven: When am I not? Only when I run out of minis and funds to buy more! At times I start to think about how much I've spent on BMG in the last couple of months, but then I stop... It's probably quite a scary number! And I don't regret a penny of it. Joker and co were shipped today, so in theory I should be clowning around at some point this weekend.

And that new Scarecrow crew set... I WANT! And even better, Deathstroke can now lead that crew as a Sidekick! Part of me was hoping nothing amazing would come out between now and about Christmas, as I had almost got my immediate wishlist down to something manageable with my last purchase. Now, I 'need':

Speedy to fill a gap in the Arrow crew
The Gotham Butcher to finish the Owls
Scarecrow Crew
The Arkam Knight
Probably the Arkham Militia Brute
Maaybe some more Joker stuff, kind of want the Titan Clown and the Elite Clown set looks fun.

Bugman looks fantastic! I love the NMM style you've down on his axe. Much better than my attempts. Do you have any tips other than the blue wash you mentioned?

Lovely model and you have really done him justice.

Cheers!

First off, a quick apology for the lack of updates, I'm still waiting for this Batman stuff to come in and as often happens I don't really have the motivation to be painting much else while I wait. Hopefully tomorrow, although then I probably won't have a great deal of time until the weekend... we shall see.

As for the NMM (which in hindsight definitely looks better in the unbased pics, I really need to redo those!), other than the stuff I mentioned in your blog, here's my tips. I don't really have a recipe as I generally make it up on the fly.

- Lots of NMM guys say go from black to white, and while that's true if you want a shiny look, for a more muted look like I go for you want to go from dark to light grey (usually with a blue tint all the way through) for silver/steel and dark brown to cream/off-white for gold.

- THINYERPAINTS! Obvious, but the thinner the better. If possible, you also want to slow the drying slightly (I just use water or Lahmian, no drying retarders or anything fancy) so you can blend each layer slighting into the last. A wet palette really helps for mixing as you go, but it's perfectly possible without one.

- You don't need a dozen layers or colours, even as few as 3-4 and a wash or two can still get a decent look. The shinier you want them, the more layers you need as you need to go from darker to lighter.

Hope that's of some help. With any luck, I'll have some actual progress for you all soon!

Ok, time for another almost-update! My Bat-parcel finally came in, so time for some more Gothamy goodness! Nothing painted yet, but I'll be making a start tonight. Sadly, I was sent the wrong Harley Quinn (I ordered the crew set and got the solo version. A nice mini, but not what I paid for) and the Court of Owls set is missing a fair few parts, so no pics of those for now. However, I do have the Joker crew and the Birds of Prey done, along with Nyssa Al Ghul.

The Clown Prince of Crime himself. Lovely mini this, so full of character, motion and attitude! As far as character-to-mini transitions go, he's up there with the best of the BMG range!



And his thugs. From left to right, Contra-Auguste, Ringmaster and the imaginatively named Clown (Knife)



Next, the Birds of Prey: Batgirl, Huntress and Black Canary.

Batgirl. Another one with amazing motion in the pose, and what an awesome cape!



Black Canary. I do prefer the version from Arrow, and my scheme will probably be influenced by that.


Huntress. Again, I'll be going with the more sensible Arrow version of the scheme rather than the 'half dressed' comic book version. Cool mini, though.



And finally an entirely unrelated mini, Nyssa Al Ghul. She means I now have the full Al Ghul family, although sadly they can't all be played together without house rules (which to be honest, I'll probably do anyway!)



As far as painting goes, Joker is up first. He (and maybe Harley once I know what's going on there) will be my entry into this month's painting challenge, but after that I've not got a particular order in mind, So if there's any mini in particular you guys would like to see jump to the head of the queue, do say!

Right, off to slap some paint on Mister J. More soon!

Been busy, haven't you? I'm also tackling the birds of prey next, once I get other stuff (and cops) out of the way.

How's this for busy? One down already!

The Clown Prince of Crime, The Man Who Laughs, The Joker:





And then this happened...




Not sure who I'll tackle next. I've heard back from the seller about the missing crew, it's being sent, so that's good. I kind of want to crack on with the Joker guys, but at the same time I've been wanting to work on that Batgirl mini ever since I first saw it. Won't get any more done tonight, but hopefully I'll get some time tomorrow afternoon/evening to paint something.

As ever, any thoughts welcome! Thanks for looking!

Nice one puddin'! Yeah, get cracking on that yellow!

Great joker! The base really works well too.

Cracking Joker there Para, love the classic colour scheme and the base, splendid work.

Great paint job there Para

Very nice. Do you find yourself laughing maniacally more after painting him?