Don Qui Hotep wrote:Mera looks badass! My brother was very into the Green Lantern, he had me read Blackest Night and I was blown away. Mera going red and Luthor going orange were the highlights. Nice light touch on the transparent blue.
Cheers chief! Yeah I was never a GL fan till I came across Geoff Johns's run. Totally transformed my feelings on them orange Luthor was one of the other highlights for sure.
Viterbi wrote:Glowy bits of Cyborg are very cool focal points and as Don Qui Hotep says, Mera is badass. Great sculpt with a wonderful paintjob!
Thanks buddy. If I'm being honest I do prefer my Cyborg paint job, but partly because I wasn't sure how the print had turned out.
aku-chan wrote:Angry Mera is awesome!
The Star Wars stuff is continuing to paint up nicely, particularly Maul and his tats.
Thanks man. There is (tiny) progress on Ahsoka and a couple of others but nothing worth sharing. I've got Atrocitus and something to convert into Bleez on the go too, so just need to find a good STL for Dex-Starr to really get my Red Lantern Corps done I have an Arisia Rrab printed also but I'll hold off and compare her to the official one first and go from there.
Fifty wrote:K2SO looks really good. Like you said, you've caught his sense of ennui.
Looking forward to seeing more Japanese stuff.
Thanks. Well, I'm in the process of writing a wee Hellboy scenario for my kids based loosely on Sword of Storms. I reckon I've sorted the various cards, not 100% on the difficulty curve / enemy choice. Here's the scenery piece for the final confrontation:
Artisan's guild Oni shrine. Lovely piece, about 80mm
I did manage to fail to print the round ends of the tiles on one side, but I've tried to paint them instead. You'd never know IF I have time I'll paint up the big Akuma for Thunder also.
Little miss had good birthday, cake was awesome and tomorrow we'll crack open My First Carcassone What has been extensively productive over the last couple of days is my first attempts at cold weather priming. I've got around of my built SoB primed in 2 large batches (one dark brown, one dark grey) and no primer shock yet! So, more stuff to paint on the way! Hey ho
Graven
That shrine looks really nice. I always baulk a bit at resin printed terrain just based on how much it uses, but even then, I suppose that's a couple of quids' worth or thereabouts, certainly cheaper than buying it!
Mera looks fantastic, really striking in that scheme. Impressive work on Cyborg as well, the light really add to it. I really wasn't keen on my print of that mini (though it was one of my first, I should probably give it another go),
Don Qui Hotep wrote: Oof, that cake is huge, must have taken hours for you to print out! How much resin did it take?
Must have been printed in pieces, so it's likely hollow; so not as much as you'd think. Maybe 1 bottle, unless each of the colours was a separate print?
On a slightly more sensible note, the cake looks brilliant! My wife would kill for a cake like that. Or a Space Mom one.
I may have to give it a go nearer her birthday... not baked a cake before though, so it could be interesting
Don Qui Hotep wrote: Oof, that cake is huge, must have taken hours for you to print out! How much resin did it take?
Must have been printed in pieces, so it's likely hollow; so not as much as you'd think. Maybe 1 bottle, unless each of the colours was a separate print?
On a slightly more sensible note, the cake looks brilliant! My wife would kill for a cake like that. Or a Space Mom one.
I may have to give it a go nearer her birthday... not baked a cake before though, so it could be interesting
If it's hollow you can eat more Right? Or is it what they call "Empty Calories"? Either way it is brilliant.
If you are going to bake her a cake, make sure you also have some special cupcakes ordered and hidden away....Just in Case
Paradigm wrote:That shrine looks really nice. I always baulk a bit at resin printed terrain just based on how much it uses, but even then, I suppose that's a couple of quids' worth or thereabouts, certainly cheaper than buying it!
Well, it's not huge, is hollow and has a couple of drain holes dug in so really wasn't as much as you'd think.
Mera looks fantastic, really striking in that scheme. Impressive work on Cyborg as well, the light really add to it. I really wasn't keen on my print of that mini (though it was one of my first, I should probably give it another go),
Very kind sir. Yeah I'm genuinely surprised how well Cyborg turned out, and the stl designer is pleased with it too - bonus!
Slinky wrote:
Mmmm, sweet, delicious resin
Totally heard that in Homer's voice
endtransmission wrote:
Must have been printed in pieces, so it's likely hollow; so not as much as you'd think. Maybe 1 bottle, unless each of the colours was a separate print?
On a slightly more sensible note, the cake looks brilliant! My wife would kill for a cake like that. Or a Space Mom one.
I may have to give it a go nearer her birthday... not baked a cake before though, so it could be interesting
It was actually a pretty easy cake tbh. And the chocolate cake recipe we use is foolproof (I cannot bake, and even I can make it ), lasts brilliantly and can be frozen. Feel free to hit me up for the recipe
Theophony wrote:
If it's hollow you can eat more Right? Or is it what they call "Empty Calories"?Either way it is brilliant.
If you are going to bake her a cake, make sure you also have some special cupcakes ordered and hidden away....Just in Case
All sounds perfectly reasonable lol.
So in anticipation of our custom Hellboy: Sword of Storms scenario, I painted the Akuma / Thunder also:
I really enjoyed this.
I got a bit carried away, tbh. Just felt like doing green osl for contrast.
The pinkish neck gems, purple robes and cream cloth are a bit of an homage to Akuma from streetfighter Alongside the shrine
And with Lightning. So all in all we had an excellent time playing Sword of Storms:
We barely survived it (I feel I have rather got this down to an art and it felt very cinematic, right down to us inadvertently splitting the party at the end - just like the film. My general feelings about Liz being over-powered notwithstanding, it worked really well using the big 3 (and Kate Corrigan as backup, to be accurate to the story), although it was VERY enemy heavy. It was nice to play HB again, it's a very different kind of game to SoB despite surface similarities of co-op crawl. I'm glad that I took the time yesterday to build the scenario from the BPRD Archives expansion, and it required very little on the fly modification.
I also painted up my Jargono Gateway set
I don't really see the point of these in game, but they're lovely scatter terrain. Spent way too long on them Proof that cold weather priming is absolutely viable if you're VERY careful - these were primed outdoors whilst it was snowing. Plus, we got a couple of games of My First Carcassone with little miss. It's very good, actually; it would be a great pub game in a tin as it's fast, easy and stupidly competitive What's next? Well, I have a good amount of SoB primed, and got to keep those 2021 number up Till then
Graven
Well, despite remote learning and snow, got a fair bit done today. I got a whole lot of void spiders finished
These are the Ancient Spiders (ice world version, basically), I enjoyed them more than I expected and particularly like the slightly shiny blue sheen to the carapaces. I'll be doing the regular Void Spiders brown with purple carapaces, I think.
I also got a mail drop of technical paints, and alternating Armageddon dunes and dust (though actually I struggle to differentiate) meant everything primed so far has now got its desert/mine base done (more than 60, certainly). Base colours got blocked in on half a dozen tentacles and the Goliath (mini Cthulhu) too. Very productive.
Oh I do hate me some spiders. Was bitten by a brown recluse spider once. Pro tip; if getting bitten by a venomous creature is on your list of 50 things to do before you die, go ahead and make it item 51. You can thank me whenever.
Love those gateways. Very nice for any sort of dungeon decor. I find having 'tiles' to set down when playing D&D is a lot easier, and quicker than trying to describe everything.
I see there's a Western-themed Zombicide coming, could provide useful SoB fodder, perhaps?
Cheers yeah, so I see. Tbh I don't YET need another game and I'm not crazy about Zombicide but a bit of variety in the available undead is very tempting.
Don Qui Hotep wrote:Look at those gribbly spiders! Love their thorax-maws. Keep your eye on them - I'm not sure they won't scuttle off your table and nest somewhere...
Gribble gribble gribble
Red Harvest wrote:Oh I do hate me some spiders. Was bitten by a brown recluse spider once. Pro tip; if getting bitten by a venomous creature is on your list of 50 things to do before you die, go ahead and make it item 51. You can thank me whenever.
Love those gateways. Very nice for any sort of dungeon decor. I find having 'tiles' to set down when playing D&D is a lot easier, and quicker than trying to describe everything.
Yikes. I am not averse to spiders - they are the scourge of the wasps that have repeatedly tried to nest in our house (encase nest in web - spider larder!) - but then in this country they're rarely bitey. Still, in your honour, I shall paint the other 12 brown Yeah I love a bit of dungeon scatter. I see this as a step up from the Hellboy stuff, really.
Fun! My next step is to bite the bullet and get a mantic mine set, probably.
So what's next?
What indeed Scourge rats. Horrid things. It's really interesting that it's the horde enemies that cause us the biggest problems.
Speaking of hordes...
A mix of official and printed tentacles.
And as an Ancient Horror.
Wait.
You want more Tentacles?! Fine...
There, happy?
No?
Ok?!
Alongside Tentacles, which it can summon:
And a group/scale shot
Large scale painting was also done yesterday, as the wife decided to paint the living room. Amusingly (she's tiny) she did the big jobs of the walls and I did the fine detail of the glosswork etc (granted I did the ceiling too).
Red Harvest wrote:Oh I do hate me some spiders. Was bitten by a brown recluse spider once. Pro tip; if getting bitten by a venomous creature is on your list of 50 things to do before you die, go ahead and make it item 51. You can thank me whenever.
Love those gateways. Very nice for any sort of dungeon decor. I find having 'tiles' to set down when playing D&D is a lot easier, and quicker than trying to describe everything.
Yikes. I am not averse to spiders - they are the scourge of the wasps that have repeatedly tried to nest in our house (encase nest in web - spider larder!) - but then in this country they're rarely bitey. Still, in your honour, I shall paint the other 12 brown Yeah I love a bit of dungeon scatter. I see this as a step up from the Hellboy stuff, really.
Don't forget to paint the fiddle on their backs. They're also called fiddleback spiders.
Sound like you have some pretty wimpy wasps. Check out this Tarantula Hawk
Love Akuma, so much colors that work really well together, great job! And scrolling through the rest of the pics, one H.P. Lovecraft is lying smiling in his grave
Theophony wrote:"And just because there are not enough tentacles around, I'm going to barf up more of them on you." Said every Cthulu monster ever.
Hey, it's better than Hentai
Red Harvest wrote:Don't forget to paint the fiddle on their backs. They're also called fiddleback spiders.
Sound like you have some pretty wimpy wasps. Check out this Tarantula Hawk Ah tentacles. Not just for Chaos marines anymore
not painting a dozen and our wasps are irritating enough, thanks
Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:Those are some great monsters! I love the tentacle-vomit worm especially!
Ah, thanks! Yeah the Burrower was a lot of fun. I'm going to need more crimson now for sure, its mouth used up a lot.
aku-chan wrote:That's a lot of tentacles and tentacle related things!
Tentacular Spectacular So, a little bit of scatter terrain for the mine:
By my Byzantine self imposed rules, 2 pieces of scatter count as one painted thing. So that's my printed stuff done, plus one base of "real" stuff.
Played the first part of the BGG "One Way Ticket" campaign with the kids.
We did ok, partial victory, oddly satisfying not to trounce the scenario.
Train crashed through the void and now we're stuck in the Swamps. No bad thing What's on the paint queue? Well, part painted/primed right now are the Order of the Crimson Hand - great old one cultists. The Harbinger and Hellbats, seen on the train above, another set of tentacles and 2 sets of Stranglers. All ready to go, but I'm out of sepia so won't be able to finish up bases. The technical Armageddon paints are great for the basing but it eats sepia ink. The weather is due to turn mild next week so I might try to rattle (ha) through the rest, almost all monsters are built now, just need to accessorise a few bases.
Hey ho
Graven
Those tentacled critters are a scary looking bunch, l really like the color scheme. Great job on the mining terrain did you make that from the printer?
Yorkright wrote: Those tentacled critters are a scary looking bunch, l really like the color scheme. Great job on the mining terrain did you make that from the printer?
Thanks mate. Speaking of Tentacles..
Squiggly. And more!
Oh, yay, horde enemies; dark stranglers and desert stranglers. Just cranking them out. At the end of the day it's just a board game and the early plastics are characterful enough but not fantastic, so I'm happy enough. Hand is slightly bothersome, and I can see all the flaws, but these aren't luxurious bits of resin or showcase army.
Hellbats likewise, as wife was working late. I'll spend more time on the giant bat Daemon, the Harbinger, however.
We started the Finale of our Imperial Assault campaign today:
It's a big, multi-part scenario which lends itself well to the occasionally limited attention span of small people. We may finish tomorrow, maybe Weds. Tyrants of Lothal expansion came today, so we now have all the core campaign sets for the game
Other news, well, I quit Facebook as I found I am doomscrolling too much - my wife's slightly unconvinced that's any different from lurking in Dakka but at least there's a PURPOSE to that, you know? still rather despondent about work but trying to rumble on. Little miss is due to return to school next Monday so hopefully that will ease the homeschool pressure, at least. Trying to feel positive, trying bit to be a crabbit old man Graven
It’s so hard on educators and kids with homeschooling. Educators like you and my wife thrive on that in person contact with the kids and get that feedback, much like Dakkadakka, and not so much like Facebook.
The one nice thing that may come out with everyone learning how to virtual learn is weather days. We have been hit with a freaking nasty storm this weekend through Wednesday/Thursday. Temperatures in the single digit Fahrenheit and we have around 6” of snow right now and expecting another 3-4 still. School may be cancelled in person, but the kids could learn online still. Which will be great once the pandemic ends and things return to “normal”, instead of snow days we can just have learn from home days, and kids that are contagious with colds can still learn from home without falling behind. So bright sides .
As for the new models painted.
“They can FLY?”
So much better than hentai , plus not as much squeaky girl voices .
Theophony wrote:It’s so hard on educators and kids with homeschooling. Educators like you and my wife thrive on that in person contact with the kids and get that feedback, much like Dakkadakka, and not so much like Facebook.
The one nice thing that may come out with everyone learning how to virtual learn is weather days. We have been hit with a freaking nasty storm this weekend through Wednesday/Thursday. Temperatures in the single digit Fahrenheit and we have around 6” of snow right now and expecting another 3-4 still. School may be cancelled in person, but the kids could learn online still. Which will be great once the pandemic ends and things return to “normal”, instead of snow days we can just have learn from home days, and kids that are contagious with colds can still learn from home without falling behind. So bright sides .
As for the new models painted. “They can FLY?” So much better than hentai , plus not as much squeaky girl voices .
It's very tough, and lacking that contact that we depend on to support young people is really challenging.
I'm fairly sure the critters cause a few squeals here and there
Gitsplitta wrote:Love all the little wormy dudes!
Well, there's certainly lots more wriggly, squiggly goodness to come
endtransmission wrote:Those additions all look great! Oh, hold off on the Mantic mine set
what ARE you up to?
Despite a busy teaching day, got some nerd done. Threw some paint on the other spiders:
Inspired by Red Harvest's brown spider troubles. No fiddlebacks here I got a lot of the other stuff primed for Brimstone, or at least everything under a black or brown.
Oh wait, there's more.
Ultimately, all very quick work, easily doable between classes. Actually painting the figs is another matter...
Light greys are a job for tomorrow, hopefully. Then, I'll need to get the resin character models built and prepped - though the dark stone shaman figs are the top priority, as they feature as upcoming Ally and Enemy in the next SoB campaign mission. Still not quite sure how to store everything nerd-world problems eh?
Did have a cracking finale to our Imperial Assault campaign:
Built up to an impressive last stand...
Though the Dark Lord took out two of the heroes, they were ultimately able to force him to retreat, collapsing the building behind him... Perhaps they might meet him another day... Not only was it an excellent end to the campaign, the boys are keen to try a new set of characters and start over. I think the plan is to play something a bit more complex, introducing the spy mechanics from Return to Hoth and infiltrator missions from Bespin Gambit (and a certain dude in a Super Sweet Space Cape), to make a full length, twisty, espionage-heavy campaign.
With younger primary going back from next week, I'll no longer be teaching little miss alongside my actual job, so that should alleviate some of the pressure. Feeling ok-ish, but still have mixed feelings about not being back anywhere near my classroom for at least another month.
Ah well, for the greater good :tau:
Graven
The HORROR! Here's their boss:
He's a lovely big bugger, the Harbinger. And I'm rather pleased with the end result.
I really enjoyed doing this fella. But if you like your tentacles more grounded...
Mmm, fruity. Or veggie. Squash?
Big pumpking and baby pumpkin. Loved doing them both. There's some progress been made also on other critters but, most importantly, feeling satisfied with the painting of a couple of things makes me feel like I've not lost my mojo.
Continued our swamp campaign for Brimstone. Got eaten by a raptor... It's ok, I got better . First time we've really, REALLY struggled. Me, the dog and my cowgirl sidekick all got fatally wounded, we ALL nearly went mad... It was AMAZING we've managed to survive to the swamp village, albeit burning Revive tokens. Very impressed with it. Kids are absolutely loving it, and tbh that's all that matters. However, the icing on the cake is that the lovely people at flying frog have very kindly agreed to let me buy the KS exclusive stuff I'm missing direct from them. Bonus!
On the subject of lovely people, one of my Transformers buddies, Mal, is a filthy world eater and whilst restocking happened to get the 14th legion badge and coin... Result!
So, on we go,
Graven
(Yes, I'm shouting at my computer screen loud enough for graven to hear me in Scotland!)
Aw thanks buddy. I know you love your Hallowe'en monstrosities
Don Qui Hotep wrote:Oh your mojo is doing just fine, by all appearances! Love the linework on the Harbinger's wing membranes, must have taken ages.
Audrey III looks great. Does he throw pumpkins that turn into more evil pumpkins?
Thanks. More patience than I'd care to admit I've been eaten by that plant (as Mr Mushnik). This one's pumpkins explode, but it can also enslave people and use them as armour. Fun!
Theophony wrote:Those Pumpkins look smashing .
Wing definitely came out nicely as well.
I never mind getting destroyed in the game as long as it is an EPIC death
I've been introducing my kids to the Pumpkins actually Yeah, death by epic megaboss is much fun. Swamp Raptors are by far the most potent boss in the game, so running into 2 of them was NOT fun
Yorkright wrote: Oh my! Those are some impressive paint jobs Graven, definitely have not lost the mojo.
Most kind sir.
Right, next? Thursdays are busy, lots of classes. So, I have been production line basing with armageddon dust/dunes, or snow for a couple of winter ones, as this requires neither thought nor concentration. 57 bases done in a day 61 to go That then leaves swamp bases to detail (12) and, oh, the 29 unbuilt characters' bases What it does mean is that the 3 night terrors I painted yesterday are now done also:
As are the 3 snow terrors:
Based on my take on the Wampa. A little a day, eh?
Graven
Also, nice work on the Harbinger, the details on those older SOB minis ain't great, but you've really brought them out.
what can I say, I love Charlie Brown think Linus would be in for a shock there. And, you're very kind I didn't even realise the sworls and icons were on the flesh of the Harbinger until I saw the revised version of the fig,!
Slinky wrote:Harbinger is v nice, the blue wing membranes stand out nicely
Cheers I was a bit scared of the red/brown base but I think it's worked well in the end. I'm going to be taking it up to a green chitin on the stalkers, might go horribly wrong.
Not masses of progress this weekend, the wife decided on Saturday morning we were painting the dining room.
However, I did get the Order of The Crimson Hand done
Cultists. Everyone loves a cultist.
And the payoff of the redecorating is some comics and games migrating...
I think I need to switch the games to the top simply for stability. Still, looking good
Hey ho, little miss back to school tomorrow, might get a bit of a breather Graven
Not sure who the Crimson Hand are, but I think they should stop before they need glasses . They are nice dressers though. Nice paint job to boot.
Yeah, when you have books on a shelf they need to be low, the weight of paper will stabilize the shelf. All my CMoN boxes are up top, even the shear weight of the plastic is no comparison here.
Gitsplitta wrote:The Crimson Hand looks fantastic Graven. I love your idea of not getting much done.
Says the man who churned out all that terrain over the weekend I will need to be careful, actually, once all of this is over (coronacoaster I mean) that I don't end up in a slump as my output decreases.
Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:Everyone loves a cultist.
Or else!
Theophony wrote:Not sure who the Crimson Hand are, but I think they should stop before they need glasses . They are nice dressers though. Nice paint job to boot.
Yeah, when you have books on a shelf they need to be low, the weight of paper will stabilize the shelf. All my CMoN boxes are up top, even the shear weight of the plastic is no comparison here.
They're the Cthulhu cultists in Brimstone. I think priming them in the mahogany worked well, all in all.
I'm going to split the difference, two low shelves of books, 3 of games, 1 of books. Seems to be an acceptable compromise.
Well today has been cursed and furred: Brimstone werewolves, couple of reposes in there and the packmaster distinguished by a pale scheme and bulked up with more GS. Speaking of feeling furry (steady...) Raging Wookie Avenger! For Kashyyyk! and bold Wookie Warriors. Lovely figs. Looks like they need shown who's boss: "Fun" with highlights I don't usually do much to SW bases but these guys were grey-on-grey so a bit of astrogranite used to bring them up. Head feeling better post the FB purge, so now instagram's gone as well. Whilst there's a lot of good ideas on insta, it's also the pressure that it imposes. I realised I was getting stressed about updating it, hashtags, followers... what a load of bollocks. Spent last night reading rulebooks instead and text-chatting with old buddies. Much healthier.
Plans moving ahead: decided to crack open Cynder and Trederra (the hellscape and not-40k otherworlds respectively) as I'm running out of things to build lol. Not paint, mind you Got a massive terrain drop from endtransmission of the mantic mines set and some lovely modular dry stone walls... That's a job for the kids if ever there was Sitting on my desk part-painted are the swamp Raptor and Trederran raiders, both of which may or may not get finished today. There's countless other bits in various stages... but that's ok. It's my hobby, after all. Dakka (and to an extent Discord, though that's mostly for playtest stuff) don't impose nearly the same kind of mental pressure, I find. Cheers Graven
Slinky wrote:Nice Wookies!
Playing through Jedi: Fallen Order at the moment
Ooh, nice. I always enjoyed a bit of lightsaber action on the Wii, myself.
Gitsplitta wrote:"Fun with highlights"? Is that like "Friends with benefits"?
Steady, we're married men
Today, a trip to the frozen city of Targa.
Don't fancy the Trederrans' chances much. Trederran raiders can be found across the Otherworlds...
I'll do two more, perhaps in this scheme, perhaps for another Otherworld - which was the original plan, but they always turn up at least 3 at a time. I might end up doing another set in a rival Trederran faction. Ah, decisions, decisions...
Custodians. Aren't they cute?! Definitely won't eat your faces. Had to sculpt one a new head after it rolled off under the floorboards, but pretty happy - not sure even I know which one it is Guardian, pillars (the real ones, not my printed ones) and the scuttling little menaces. They're sure to give you a... frosty welcome. And, an arrangement of shelves has been made:
This pleases me mightily it's far from everything, but it's everything we regularly play as a family (apart from Dreadball, which is relegated to mini games cupboard with the ccgs )... except ZOMBIES!!! which we've never played, and I got for the figs for Gaslands. But hey, it fits in the gap, right?
Not sure what to do next. Where the whim takes me, I guess. Trun Hunters (Lizardmen a la Predator) stalk the halls of Targa, and Harvesters from beyond stalk the Otherworlds, so they're both quite likely. I might even take a break from Shadows, though there's such an appealing variety of figs and styles that I doubt I shall get bored any time soon
Anyway, another 10 done, pushing me over 200 figs for the year so far. Not bad, eh?
Theophony wrote:Cute little custodians. Nice little parts for Necrons .
If only, they're like fecking gold dust to get hold of. However, I do have a decent stl for spider drones - lmk if you want it.
Slinky wrote:200 is some good work Custodians are creepy, I think it's those little arms. Shudder.
Yup. Very creepy little buggers.
Gitsplitta wrote:200 figs?? I think I'm more like 20...
Yeah, but 10x the quality.
Meanwhile, still in Targa...
Trun Hunters. Somewhat inspired by trandoshans (like Bossk) from star wars. Almost impossible to repose, so a bit of neck chopping went on. These guys are BIG, 60mm high on 40mm bases. Some folk, meanwhile, like to get around...
Harvesters from beyond. Love that these guys are more poseable that most. They've been all over, so they have. Even to the swamps, where they might run into these guys.
Slashers/Swamp Slashers. Turn up in mines, turn up in swamps. But then there's this big fella:
He's done in the same way, broadly, as I approached Beast Boy in dino form, so he can be used as a Young Swamp Raptor and the big one as the adult. And, a scale shot...
Handy 28mm Lost Soul (spectral hungry dead). Here's the first set of 6:
The lack of variety in these is a bit irritating, so there's some reposing and chopping gone on. The other 6 will be more conventional zombies. As for other progress, I have started the various Outlaws - Bandits, Undead, and Mutant - but might tackle another big beastie. Swamp slugs are also on the go, but I may get crackin' with the Sand Kraken We're approaching the end of our current campaign, and I'd like to try to move towards having painted models for at least the [i]some[/i of the ]next one lol. Then again, got paid today so ordered all the Imperial Assault figs that I don't own which weren't at ridiculous prices (Bantha Rider, Jawas, Greedo, Hondo, Thrawn, the Inquisitor, and the Rebels heroes other than Hera and Chopper) - all of which were at least 10% off rrp, so a happy nerd bargain. I definitely have STLs for female Twi'lek so I can make a stop-gap version of Hera regardless. I've also tracked down the Dark Stone Scorpions for Brimstone, which are the last enemy I'm missing from the core worlds Lifestyle game indeed Clearing social media is helping head space . Interesting that a lot of folk are taking the time to text instead (Yggdrasil, for one, who's still about, but been eaten by MTG - another one bites the dust )
All the best, mes amis,
Graven
Theophony wrote:Your making the SOB stuff look enticing , I need no further money soaks.
I really like the swamp slasher, looks like a T-rex mated with a Japanese fighting fish
For extra custodians you could probably use Warlord Games/BtGoA Ghar, they look similar
Do it! DO IT! you're in the US, you can actually GET the game Glad you like the Slashers, they were much fun.
More swamp horror:
All fleshy and natural and awful lol.
These are swamp slugs, and they are very, VERY nasty.
And along with the theme of undead, they need some spawning points:
Cardboard ones in game are rubbish, and I'm not about to pay $15 plus shipping and tax for 3 plastic ones that don't even come with any extra goodies. So, printed up these nasty corpse piles. Technically, these are enemies, not tokens, so good for 3 And on the subject of spawning points:
The huge rats' nest for huge rats this is 60mm, a delightful, awful thing. And, finally, some scatter:
This is mantic mine terrain, and lovely it is, too. The Minecart is separate from the track piece, so these together are two tokens/one "thing", and then there's the two crates for another. It all balances out in the end Painting on a different scale this weekend, doing the last bit of house restoration with the hall, both upstairs and down Cya on the other side...
Graven
Viterbi wrote:So much nasty and gribbly stuff Love the harbinger, those wings are ace and the dino form of beast boy is so cool, because... well DINOSAUR!
Lol thanks man. I have a really big DC order just now from km - all the green and yellow lantern sets - but it's stuck in customs damn you Brexit
IGtR= wrote:Love the eclectic and prodigious output on display here. The fur and objectives are particular standouts.
Thanks for the update
Thanks for swinging by old son, and the kind words!
Slinky wrote:More good work.
The rats nest is giving me flashbacks to cleaning out under the old shed. Nightmarish stuff.
Yeuch. Thanks... I think
endtransmission wrote:And you call *me* a bad influence
you're a bloody troublemaker I've been looking at Forbidden Fortress again... and painting a LOT of scenery thanks to you
Don Qui Hotep wrote:Man those spawning points remind me of playing Gauntlet Legends in the Arcade. Yellow Sorcerer has entered the game.
Those swamp slugs! Erm, keep an eye on them, would you? They look like they're about to slither right off the base!
Ha, yeah! And the slugs are horrible things, incredibly dangerous blighters. Swamps generally is a very nasty place designed to drive you crazy, fast, and full of poisonous, tough enemies. Fun!
24 hrs later, our hall is finished... And by that I mean 15 hrs decorating Saturday, 7 hrs decorating Sunday, and 2 to put everything back. but with chilli and beer, all is well with the world plus leftover nachos for lunch, bonus
After all that, I can barely hold a brush BUT I managed to finish off the Sand Kraken (I did the eyes on Friday, so everything else was relatively straightforward).
He's a big bugger.
Aw. All friends together I also got a bunch of Drystone walls from the mighty endtransmission (BLOODY TROUBLEMAKER)
He's a good egg. These lovely modular walls are perfect for Moonstone, AoS or any fantasy really. Just done with lots of washes and drybrushes, not too consistently to give variety.
I'm having a nice evening of building, trying to get everything playable for whatever otherworld we end up in next, so the last bits of the Derelict Ship (Gastral Tyrant, somewhere between the Alien Queen and a giant centipede) and all the Trederrans (plus scatter terrain are on the desk tonight whilst rewatching Enterprise from the start. Good times!
Graven
Gitsplitta wrote:I choose to believe that's not a sand kraken... just to top bits of Great Lord Cthulhu rising from his slumber in R'lyeh. ... or... perhaps a new mutation of Graboid. Whatever will we do now that Burt's dead?!
That is not dead, which can eternal lie / and with Strange aeons even death may die... Cthulu, I mean The Ancient One is one of the XXL figs for the game (along with Belial, who's somewhere between Lucifer and Hastur). Yeah, as for Graboids, there's an AWFUL lot of tentacles in this game - and no Kevin Bacon in sight!
It's funny you mention Cthulhu actually, as building is very much on my mind at the moment. With schools returning on 15th (which I'm honestly delighted about), my output will be decreasingly significantly - indeed you may have noticed it's tailed off a bit already - so I want to get as much stuff built and primed as is humanly possible in the time left. Currently sitting on the unbuilt pile are: Trederran Mutants (there are 6, all monopose, so they'll need a bit of sculpting work also) Trederran Legionnaires (6, 2 poses, so some variation in kit, pouches etc) Trederran Lieutenants (3, monopose but with hand variants) Trederran Battlefield Scatter - 3 crates, 3 tank traps Resin Heroes + Alt sculpts
Spoiler:
Gunslingers - Female, Male #2 (Variant Mini) ; Ranchers - M/F #2 (Variant Mini); Bandida / Bandidos #2 (Variant Mini) ; Piano Player, Saloon Girl #2 (Variant Mini); Law Men - Female; Nun; Indian Scouts - Female; U.S. Marshals - Female; Outlaws M/F; Prospector - M/F; Orphan -M/F; Drifter - M/F ; Darkstone Shaman - M/F, Bear , Wolf Gambler - M/F; Jargono Tribal Human - M/F; Frontier Doc - M/F; Cowboy - M/F; Wandering Samurai - M/F
- 29 figs to build and base though I've washed them all at least. The Ancient One XXL Belial XXL AI: Avenger Strike Fighters (4) Armada: Orc Fleet for (5, 4 from Starter, plus Large Ship - Smasha); Basilean Fleet (5, 4 from Starter - 2 built entirely, 2 hulls assembled - plus Large Ship - Abbess)
There's some odds and ends I printed up also, mostly for Star Wars: Bodhi, a Jawa, plus a plague Doctor I'm going to turn into a second Flesh Stalker for Shadows, and a tiny cowgirl for little miss to paint (well actually, she can paint the one that's already based and primed as it's 25mm, whereas the new one I've printed is closer to 28mm for SoB).
Painting wise, the priority is the Derelict Ship set. I want to have the full set "done" so we can completely explore it as an Otherworld - and I think, going forward, this is going to be my approach with painting. Doesn't it look like a fun place? Necronauts. Decided that I wanted to use gold for the helmet visors for a proper Apollo space vibe. BEACON drones. Helpful little fellas. Flesh stalker, one of the creepiest and most dangerous bosses in the game. He can biohack your characters mid fight. I really enjoyed the many monochromatic layers. And alongside my printed one, who'll get GS skirts down below the mdf base line to match the "real" one, and then mounted on a 40mm printed starship base. Speaking of which, I'm very pleased how the little deck details and stripes have turned out on everything also So aside from the Gastral Tyrant, that's everything I own for Derelict Ship done. I don't have the gun turrets (pop-up gun fun!) or Flesh Drones (failed Stalker experiments) as they're coming sometime from the US - they were KS add-ons, so I'm lucky to betting them at all, really. Who's up for a game of Cowboys & Aliens? Graven
Gitsplitta wrote:The necronauts remind me of Marvin from Hitchhikers Guide...
More of a vashta nerada vibe I think, from Dr who, but - somewhat sacrilegiously, for someone who was raised on HHGttG - I rather like the movie version (*ducks in nerd*)
Warboss_Waaazag wrote:Nice little warband you have there, graven. Looks great.
Cheers mate. I can just imagine them skittering about the underhive, now you mention it...
Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:I want those necronauts. "Hey! Who turned out the lights! Hey! Who turned out the lights! Hey-"
They are pretty cool, and though monopose fairly easy to resculpt a bit.
aku-chan wrote:Love what you've done with the necronauts, they were my favourite SOB minis.
I really love them. They're so evocative.
So a quick head-count reveals I have about 100 SoB figs to paint that's actually not awful, really. Just so long as I don't look at the pledge manager for SoB adventures and ALL THE PRETTY THINGS Coming to the end of our current campaign, confronting the Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath:
3 of our beloved henchmen died pretty horribly (it's called the Gruesome Fate table for a reason): Chastity, our soiled Dove, got spontaneously frozen and shattered, Faith the undead sexy cowgirl Preacher's daughter got finally eaten by tentacles from beyond, and Sparky the dog consumed by a Night Terror, leaving only Hope the Donkey (who also got smashed by tentacles, but miraculously survived with the aid of a Revive token). Good times lol It was rather good that it introduced some real peril to the kids experience without them losing their characters they've been working on throughout lockdown. Small fry even wrote a "book" of our ongoing adventures yesterday, bless him... Not sure what his teacher made of it mind you now we just need to escape back to our world, race along rickety railroad tracks and... Out... Into the barren canyons of the old west, cos I'm not done with them yet older boy has twigged, at last, that I manipulate the adventures we play to create an overarching story, but as he says it means it all "Makes Sense". It's a game that lends itself to the grand narrative, for sure.
Another weekend of decorating beckons, porch and front door this time.
Send help. Or at least beer Graven
Hello again chums.
Well, been very busy between work, planning for the schools returning (up here, next weel) and another weekend of decorating. Basically shattered.
So, without energy to paint, it's that time, yet again, when I try somewhat in vain to take stock of my to-paint pile. Having seen others doing this, it's a bit grim, but there we go, it's the nature of the hobby. Still, it has motivated me to build my remaining SoB stuff. I was very unimpressed that the mutants were monopose, and the mutant lieutenant basically identical to the other variants, so...
Tentacle time! Got to love them.
The grenadiers, on the other hand, are a bit more modular (even if the lieutenants are not).
I may still add some more ww2 German pouches for variety. What I've done for now is placed their breathing apparatus differently (along with rebuilding the ones on the helms, as they're idiotically designed and half snapped during despruing), as I've decided that I will paint up at least two different Trederran factions, and though I'm not absolutely sure what the second one will be, it's likely to be the yellow of the Rebels or the purple of the Order. I like the grey/greens of the main faction but I fancy a change. Going to added some barbed wire to the bases, and use Stirland Mud for the mucky goo.
What? Not enough tentacles? MOAR tentacles you say? Fine.
Yes, the Ancient One itself, Cthulhu by any other name. He's a big fella, standing 16.5 cm to the top of his wing. A very well-designed, stable kit - the FFP plastics are really good builds. However, even he is dwarfed by Belial, Lord of the Pit, demon of fire and shadow, yellow king... Belial is mahossive, nearly 21cm high and just extraordinary. The fact he even has fully poseable arms is a huge bonus - it's just an extraordinary thing. To really bring out the best in him, I may add printed a ring of fire around the base. The blacksmith in front is there for scale, he's about 35mm, printed him the other day.
Speaking of Belial, we ran into him (well, the Shade of Belial, his weakened form manifesting in our world) as the culmination of our lockdown campaign.
It did not end well
A mate has convinced me to go halves on a warlord pledge for SoB adventures ah well, at least it'll keep me busy Later
Graven
endtransmission wrote:So fully posable you seem to have exactly the same pose on your Belial as I do
FFP are getting better with their plastics. The Tredarans were not great; though still much better than the single piece bandits in the town expansion
Oh, those bloody bandits! I have got a set of really nice STLs, however - the good, the bad and the ugly - to deal with that, so I have a bit of variety if I am so minded. It's very noticeable how good, say, the new XLs are (Magma Giant, Gastral Tyrant) compared to an early plastic. OTOH, some troublemaker gave me a bunch of the plastics free, so I shouldn't really complain. Not really
endtransmission wrote:You can still complain if you want... there's a reason you got them for free Just you wait til you get your hands on Sho-Riu, the dragon. *that* is a nice model
It does look stunning. FoFo excites me in troubling ways
You are driving me nuts with the quality of the resin printer and with all these SoB models. I have such little time right now even to surf the DakkaDakka and then drool over the possibilities.
Don Qui Hotep wrote:Surely not Sparky the Dog! I don't think I can bear it.
All the work you've been doing on the SoB stuff is great. Love to see some Cowboy v Aliens action shots!
I know! but it's ok, we found another good doggie down the mine.
I think part of the allure of SoB is there is such a variety of minis and aesthetics. You can just totally channel hop to a different era - almost like a different game entirely - and still be working towards the same overall goal.
Theophony wrote:You are driving me nuts with the quality of the resin printer and with all these SoB models. I have such little time right now even to surf the DakkaDakka and then drool over the possibilities.
Well you're most kind. Your work just now is excellent indeed. I have had to give the LCD a very thorough, very gentle clean with alcohol wipes. So here's hoping the next batch of prints works just as well as the rest have after the general disaster of last time. At some point I'm going to try printing the APC from ALIENS, which a guy on BGG has designed for printing on the Elegoo, so that's fairly exciting also.
Talking of both SoB and prints, a little (well, not-so-little) something:
Second plastic Goliath, painted as The Terror from Beyond the Stars, on a printed "summoning" base. This was entirely at the kids' request and hey, who am I to argue? I am working on a new photo set-up, far from there yet, but better than previous.
Finally tracked down the Dark Stone Scorpions for SoB, which means that I've pretty much got everything for the base / Old West game that's been released so far no Skitarri Nomads or Deluxe Depth Track yet, but that's it, I think. However, I'm not going to full-throttle into the next KS, as I'm less interested in the Conquistador/Swamps stuff than the Vikings (because I mean COME ON! Vikings! Trolls! GIANTS!) Vikings in Space sounds like a muppet show sketch, come to think of it... That being said, I've picked up a couple more Reaper Serpentmen, just to add some pose variety. There's a bit of a lack of good free serpentmen STLs - especially archers - and the continued joy of being able to turn Nectar points (supermarket loyalty points) into eBay vouchers for odds and ends is a revelation. It's LITERALLY free toys
Back to work Monday, and feel like I've never been busier it's a bit mental, but ok. Cannae wait Graven
Viterbi wrote:The necronauts are glorious, sclupt- and paintwise. And I love the eyes on the sand beasty, very spooky!
Many thanks, and appreciate the comment about the eyes, spent a long time on them
Sooooo...
A little progress, yes?
The serpentmen of Jargono and Shaman. Wanted them to be cohesive yet show a mix of tribes also. I really love these models, but I'll be adding to their ranks with Reaper Serpentmen for variety - plus they scale perfectly (Serpentman with the spear is the reaper one). And they're not the only unit done:
Undead Outlaws and gunslinger. Just battering through the hordes at this stage. As I say, a little progress. I realise that this is the oddity of how I work, it looks like sudden bursts of activity. There's lots of stuff in stages on the go and it's really just a case of rattling through the shelf of shame:
Next will be the regular outlaws (nasty horrible monopose plastics, we hates it HATES IT) and then... Who knows lol. One piece of jolly news is that my Green Lantern Corps and Krypto have finally cleared customs (although bizarrely Sinestro corps have not) so they'll be with me soon, hurrah. In case I need a super-break from the cowboys etc.
Did some printing today, having replaced the FEP for the first time (now that's a bloody time-consuming job), a T-800, Nightcrawler, Venom and Carnage for a mate. The first one I went to remove was carnage... And sliced straight into my hand how very fitting Hey ho
Graven
That all looks mighty fine graven. Lots of good painting ahead! You did a good job on the snake men. Have you considered doing the belly scutes a slight different color for a bit of visual contrast?
A like pre-return update.
Outlaws done. I have no great affection for them but it's another box ticked These, on other hand:
Void Hounds, aka Hounds of Tindalos, one of the scariest mythos gribblies ever conceived. I'm very happy with the blue skin tone... Now I just need to figure out how to do their masters (Illithids, to all intents).
Back to school tomorrow. It's a good thing, but not without some trepidation. Plus, got a mountain of painting to do Still, on we go,
Graven
Working away, it's pretty hectic and deeply odd. Kids are generally quite muted.
Well now, in our ongoing campaign, we confronted the Shade of Belial the Shadow King, so have decided that - despite barely escaping with our lives and sanity intact, and all of us mutated horribly - it is our duty to track him down in his realm and wipe his scourge from creation. There's a great scenario which ends with the apocalypse - if you lose, your characters get transported to another realm (Blasted Wastes) but I may even have this happen to our characters regardless (epic heroic send-off). This means a quest to the Caverns of Cynder, aka Daddy needs to paint all the denizens of hell. First up, hell vermin:
I've gone with a regular colour scheme, to match the mutant scourge rats, rather than the hellhound variant as they can be encountered all over. The rest of Cynder's inhabitants, or at least that I own (magma fiends are stuck in import/export hell, carrion Phoenix hasn’t had a retail release yet) are the Lost Souls (done!), and...
Hellfire Succubi. I enjoyed these more than I expected, but I had a very specific plan for them (yay Vallejo heavy dark red). The hellfire witch proxy is a 3D printed tiefling sorceress, and I’m pretty happy with her too. Yes, she’s not nekkit, but I’ll live Lava Men. Ah, lumpy fellows. The joy / terror of reverse drybrushing I actually rather love them, I think the lava effects really worked on them. And, the big daddy...
The Magma Giant, big brute that he is. Happy with the hands in particular, less so with the central eye.
Which just leaves Belial himself, of course. I'm aiming to focus my attentions on him but, who knows... I am creature of whimsy, after all. I need to plan out exactly which scenarios we’re going to do, I want it to feel like we have to explore to find a route to Cynder first, culminating in the Belial mission, followed by the seal the cracks in reality. The characters are about halfway to level 7 (characters cap at level 8, basically), so that translates into about 4 games to get to the finale double, and I want at least one of those to be finding a “way in” to Cynder as a realm. Decisions, decisions lol. I’m tempted to have them find a rumour of a way in only to find themselves in Blasted Wastes, the alien other worlds, and have to find a gate from there to somewhere else again first, maybe the derelict ship, and literally escape to hell. Libera Tutame Derelict Ship stuff is all painted bar the Gastral Tyrant (xenomorph centipede... thing ) but no wasteland stuff is done. Suggestions on story nonsense gratefully received no knowledge of SoB required, just think old west and horror tropes. The worlds are Old West mines, Old West canyons, frozen alien city, mythic meso American swamps, abandoned spaceship, Krieg style warzone, post apoc wasteland, and hellscape. I'm thinking about them tracking keys down across different realities or something. Interested to hear your thoughts, mes amis.
Cheers
Graven
Loving all these updates. Glad to see that your slight injury did not prevent you from getting the Magma Giant kitted out. Nice linework on the base too.
Theophony wrote:He doesn’t look happier . Better, much better, happier....no .
Lots of fun models here.those rats are neat, Cerberus rats with multi heads. .
Very true, he is an angry chap. Yeah despite being monopose there is a huge array of sculpts in the game.
Don Qui Hotep wrote:Loving all these updates. Glad to see that your slight injury did not prevent you from getting the Magma Giant kitted out. Nice linework on the base too.
Well, Carnage had his fun and gets bored easily thanks, yeah, I enjoyed that, wasn't sure as I'd printed bases for many of the smaller ones.
Warboss_Waaazag wrote:Nice elemental? magma man? Whatever it is it looks cool. You certainly play a lot of stuff with minis.
Both the Lava Men and the Magma Giant are essentially elementals, yeah. Not "cool" though they spew lava and leave hellfire in their wake. Bloody nuisance. I do indeed play a lot, or at least try to and SoB works well for hobby ADHD as it's so varied.
Gitsplitta wrote:There's an eye?
Speaking of which, I have planned out (mostly) our second big SoB campaign, "Through the Gates of the Cynder Key", which gives me a clearer paint-queue to attend to:
1) Void Sorcerers (3) and Void Magus
2) Black Fang Tribe (6) and War Shaman
3) Trederran everything (20 plus scatter terrain)
4) Belial I've gone about things in a slightly bassackwards fashion as the Cynder stuff I've painted won't really see play till the second half of the campaign (the missions after Trederra but before Belial himself), but at least the Void Hounds are painted, leaving just their dark masters to do, and the various monsters to be encountered alongside Black Fang are likewise all done. There's no regular figure for the War Shaman, only yet another resin promo (shady, FFG, shady) so rather than printing something (like I did for the Void Magus, Vampire Lord, Hand Inquisitor and Hellfire witch - though fun side note, turns out the official model for that isn't nekkit either, magic negates the need for nudity it seems) or converting (like the Werewolf packmaster and Lost Army Generalissimo) I'll use this as motivation to paint the Hero Dark Stone Shaman figure. After all, I need *some* reason to paint the other characters So without further ado (or, a-don't)... Masters of the Void!
Yeah that'll do and the printed Illithid Sorcerer with GS hood fits right in as a Magus.
So just got to chip away now at the pile. Black Fangs next, and then to trudge through Krieg, I mean, Trederra!
Onwards, mes amis,
Graven
I'm once again amazed by your production. You must have a warehouse somewhere to store all these completed minis.
Excellent work as always. I particularly like the succubi and the lava men/magma giant.
Briancj wrote:Dear Graven,
Stargrave is coming.
Love,
Your Wallet
Oh lord, I know. Nightmare lol. But again, that's the thing with SoB, it's stuff for, well, anything and everything
DJJazzyJeff wrote:I'm once again amazed by your production. You must have a warehouse somewhere to store all these completed minis.
Excellent work as always. I particularly like the succubi and the lava men/magma giant.
Thanks kindly sir! Just a lot of boxes and a pragmatic attitude to plastics
The saga of Shadows of Brimstone continues...
This weekend we played the coda of our first campaign, escaping out of the canyons from the mines: we just played the standard Escape the Mines scenario, but with canyons tiles/decks - really great fun, again a very differently experience as you can shortcut through streams to tiles that aren't connected, and actually wanting to get "passage" tiles rather than "rooms" (essentially the reverse of normal) - plus we found a gate and the Serpentmen we'd encountered in the swamps ambushed us ! We also got attacked, randomly, by Void Hounds which is just perfect as they're part of the first Campaign 2 mission. Plus, we rescued a Blacksmith who also happens (quite coincidentally) integral to the new campaign story. Of course, now the kids are itching to play the new Campaign.
So, another big push! First up, the Black Fang Tribe:
These are a corrupt tribe of warriors, infused with dark stone, but I wanted to keep them fairly system agnostic. 2 basic poses so boiling water to the rescue! Does the job, I reckon. I have switched to a different base skin tone for them, VJ Medium Fleshtone (as opposed to my usual Flat Flesh) and I think it's rather better, certainly for their skin colour (used it on the Mexican Bandit also, and plan to use it on the likes of the Rancher and other outdoorsy heroes).
And of course, we need the posse!
A 3D printed blacksmith to accompany Flash Harry, Marshall Mac and Dandido the Bandido, our characters! All set for defeating evil and saving the west. I am actually rather reminded of Moss in the IT Crowd: "I'm here to kick arse and drink milk. And I'm all out of milk."
Inspired in part by Fifty's fab oldhammer chaos hounds, I also got these wee helpers done:
Who's a good dog? Who's a good dog?! This was a very good dog, but sadly the escape from the mines proved too much and he went mad from staring into the abyss. Still, we shall no doubt get another, dogs are extremely useful in game, scavenging for stuff and sniffing out trouble.
Hyah mule! This wonky donkey has done us very well, having survived where no other henchman has, a proper Iron Mule. And, to finish off, scatter terrain for Trederra:
Simple tank traps and storage crates. I've slightly rejigged my scheme for Trederrans themselves, so the other two raiders are nearly done - it doesn't really matter, there's so many different factions that there can easily be differences in uniform - and then, onto the Grenadiers, Mutants, X-4 heavies and Officers. Oh, and the Dark Stone Shaman I'm using as the Tribal Shaman for Black Fangs. Once they're sorted, that pretty much everything we can possibly encounter in the short term done, bar Belial himself - we could in theory run into the Gastral Tyrant aboard the Derelict ship, so that's got the beginnings of a paint scheme, and there's the unfinished Old West stuff in theory also, which is less of a priority but still in the queue. Got a short day today, might get a game of something different with the boy, he's working on his Chainrasps we're thinking either Moonstone or something aerial - AI, Wings of Glory or maybe even Tripods and Triplanes.
Onwards, and upwards also, it seems,
Graven
Havent had much time to chime in on all the work your getting done here. A few things that popped out at me are the magma clan and giant, outstanding job on them. The Illithid hounds look great, and I do love the old west stuff. Reminds me of some of my parents favorite shows when I was a little fella.
Yorkright wrote: Havent had much time to chime in on all the work your getting done here. A few things that popped out at me are the magma clan and giant, outstanding job on them. The Illithid hounds look great, and I do love the old west stuff. Reminds me of some of my parents favorite shows when I was a little fella.
Thanks mate, I have a lot affection for classic westerns from afternoons with my grandparents.
Gitsplitta wrote:You are just insanely productive graven... at a good standard too. I just can't process it.
** Data Overload... CPU Meltdown in... 5....4....3...2...1...**
Tolerable standard, hopefully. And certainly insane Better live up to expectations then, eh? Right, next up, two new heroes join the fray!
Jargono Native (female) - had to have her built as an NPC for a previous game. Lovely, if skimpy, sculpt; my daughter loves the fig and has already claimed it as "her" character for Brimstone (she's 5). Printed a plant in a similar style to the gate I'd made to preserve that continuity. And, the Dark Stone Shaman, to double as a War Shaman for the Black Fang. Both of these are resin and it's remarkable to see the difference in the quality of the sculpts. Speaking of old sculpts...
Ah, crappy monopose plastics. Yay! I shouldn't really complain, they were very generously donated by endtransmission ... But they're pretty crappy so a bit of cutting to get a crawling dead and variation on the prospector. Fungus the zombie man is a print, just to mix things up a bit. Oh, and talking of prints...
Flesh stalker #2, the scaled up printed plague doctor with the variant head and hands from the stalker kit.
Best buddies. Most dangerous large enemy in the game: teleporting, torturing, time travellers. Maybe need to dial up the blue in the grey on the printed one but other than that very happy. And continuing the alien theme:
Wasteland warriors, somewhere between tusken raiders and a lobster. Painted whilst bingeing Futurama. Woopwoopwoopwoopwoop!
I am clearly avoiding doing my Trederrans Graven
Gitsplitta wrote:Wait... you painted 17 figures in one night!!
Well, not really... Finished is more accurate. Stuff is always sitting in various stages on my shelf, so it's just a question, usually, of paint a bit here and there, and then finishing things off as I see fit. Anyway, it's 16, not 17, I painted one of those Flesh Stalkers a while ago
Slinky wrote:SoB stuff is going very well as usual - Love the pink dress zombie
Cheers chum. It's very fetching, isn't it?
Not much to report or site. Work continues to be unrelenting. Bits here and there are getting done, but it's mostly legwork, basing and so forth. Still, you know what they say, go big or go home. And sometimes it's good to break up the monotony of hordes with something more substantial.
The Gastral Tyrant - definitely not the alien queen. A very satisfying model to paint, these more recent plastics are far more impressive in terms of assembly (gapping, posing, detail, everything).
I decided to pick up the blue I use on the bases as deck plating for the spaceship on the skin tones of the Tyrant - not exactly camouflage but blending in with environment. It's a big beast, standing around 12cm, really imposing.
As I say, other stuff is starting to come together: the next big "rush" will be the Trederrans and feral Vampires, hopefully tackle them at the weekend. Going to try to get some more Moonstone in tomorrow afternoon, though, and get that primed if possible also.
C&C welcome always,
Graven
Don Qui Hotep wrote:
I dunno, I look at that Gastral Tyrant and I say, "poke at your own risk." Really like the like choice to tie her skin tones into the base, and her belly's skin-crawlingly perfect.
definitely risky. And thanks!
Something a bit different (albeit still Brimstone):
This is the depth track, which is used to track your descent into - and struggle against - the Darkness. Given that this is used in every single game, it's nice to have a pretty one, and the cardboard one is really starting to get tatty. Plus it comes with a cool pack of extra cards for the game, so that's a wee bonus.
And some more critters
Dark Stone Brutes, humans that have become corrupted and started to merge with rock and the mystical dark stone in the mine. Big lads, 40mm bases - fun with texture paint.
Trederrans are progressing, they're at the detailing stage, but there's 19 of them to do and they're getting done as a batch to keep the uniforms... uniform That being said, if I can get them done this month, that's me one shy of 365 this year by the end of March, which isn't bad at all. Not much else done nerd-wise, cut down a tree in the garden today so that took up much of my time, and no doubt the cleanup/followup will continue through tomorrow.
On we go
Graven
After a weekend of chopping down trees, demolishing a trampoline and moving a playhouse, I somehow managed to squeeze in completing my Trederrans. First up, Raiders:
3 are repaints, or at least touch-up to fit in with the revised scheme.
Legionnaires:
You'll notice a couple of different "levels" of the grey uniform. This is deliberate, to convey different factions whilst still being the same if needed. In theory it works well for environmental differences etc too. There's 6, but one seems to have deserted...
Z-4 Grenadiers:
Despite being dreadfully monopose, I love these chonky boys and their Hurt Locker vibe. I think - to my surprise - the palest base colour has worked best generally.
Lieutenant and Field Marshal:
Very similar, but I'm kinda ok with that. The Marshal is the only one in an "official" Trederran colour scheme, and it's what has informed the whole look. And, yes, that's an IG helmet I've added a 3rd eye too Mutants and Mutant Lieutenant:
Tbh the total lack of variety in these sculpts is maddening, the lieutenant only differed from the other choices by having a single tentacle arm and the mutants just two poses with the same pseudopods. Still, a little bit of nurglry, some Dreadball mutant bits, and a lot of gs have really rather dealt with that It was lovely painting a bit this weekend, especially as the girl joined in with some of the Reaper figs:
She did a battle between a monster hunter and goblin, a witch, a kobold, a cowgirl, and was rightly very proud of herself.
I've reached an important decision. I think I should take a bit of a break from Brimstone, so I don't burn out. Granted, I need to do Belial, but I need to want to do it justice. So I think a little break may be required. Plus, I can't help but wonder what mini 365 of 2021 will be. Admittedly, given what I've been working on, it should be something Brimstone perhaps, but I think possibly something with a little more pizzazz is required. I've got some Dreadball, some 2000AD and some DC supers(villains), plus an awful lot of Imperial Assault, all primed and ready. Currently, in my head at least, it's a toss-up between Cthulhu and Obi-wan, but happy to take suggestions Moonstone is going to jump up the queue once the rest of the figs arrive (enough fairies and goblins to make a full troupe of each of them, and a mercenary Ettin, plus some basing grass tufts).
Nearly the end of term. There's not enough coffee in the world, alas.
Graven
Yorkright wrote: Great updates as usual Graven, those mutants and other gribblies are looking good.
Thanks Yorkie!
Gitsplitta wrote:Love that last photo. Way to pass it on dad!
Well, I learned from the master
Big decision made. And I mean BIG.
Now, obviously, this is a WIP. And despite the fact that I should be working on Belial, the other XXL, I felt, well... The Call of Cthulhu he's obviously got a long, long way to go but it's a really great challenge. I'm thinking of taking the tentacles up on the same way I did the Harbinger's wings, from reddish brown to electric blue to a pale cream highlight. The sword is likely to be bronze/verdigris, and the eyes red, or mayyyyybeee purple. The base is going to be challenging, I want it to be split into sections representing the various Otherworlds as he fragments and rearranges reality around him.
This is not to say that I haven't painted anything.
WooOooOooo spooky trees! Not much, but they're a thing. Or 3, by my Byzantine rules. Yes, it's vaguely ridiculous that Cthulhu will only count as one model but it all comes out in the wash, I reckon. Still, useful for all sorts of games Also, I found the missing Trederran, he was hiding in amongst the Lost Army of Santa Anna, and doesn't even have more than primer on him. Tsk. Nevertheless, the trees push me over the 365
Who knows, maybe I'll paint something different in April?? Till then
Graven
Well, that is not dead which can eternal lie, and so forth.
The trees are from the Forest of the Dead, the Asian (ish) Otherworld, populated by Goryu (mindless masked ghouls), Nure-onna (vampiric serpent women, spectres, undead versions of heroes and the Jorogumo spider queen. Good stuff lol.
JoshInJapan wrote:I don't think I've ever seen Cthulhu carrying any sort of weapon.
A fair point, though this is the Ancient One for Brimstone - not Cthulhu per se but then he doesn't wear clothes, either *shrug*
And whilst the ancient one has progressed, I ended up having a bit of a brainwave about how to tackle Belial.
Belial, Last of the Shadow Kings
Just noticed that a bit of the ink has pooled weirdly in a recess (or rather, not) So much gap filling He was primed Kobra Shadow (dark grey with a hint of brown) and then reverse-zenithal (nadir-al?) sprayed pale grey (with Kobra Platform). I'm absolutely thrilled with him, I shan't lie.
The Ancient One is next, and I've been building Moonstone today - ah, new hobby distraction Hey look, a bunny!
Graven
youwashock wrote:Loving the Big Bads from Brimstone. Not'thulu is one of those models I should really get around to painting.
He's an absolute cracker of a model, I quite agree. And many thanks old son.
aku-chan wrote:Belial is looking snazzy, love his 'Ring of Fire' base.
Thanks old son! I printed the fire, it's for a Balrog I believe, and Belial is most definitely a demon of fire and shadow.
So in a funny turn of events, I discovered that I had some old, old air miles about to expire, not enough to go anywhere (not that you can go anywhere ANYWAY) but enough to turn into an eBay voucher. A nice windfall to get some more Moonstone, for sure, enough to get started with Leshavault, the neutral/nature faction.
Meanwhile...
That is not dead, which can eternal lie...
And with strange aeons, even death may die
The idea behind the base is the fact that he strides across the Otherworlds, crossing the void and rearranging them at will.
Hopefully, there's some sense of that: Swamps of Jargono, frozen Targa Plateau, Derelict Ship, Mines of the Old West, Trederran battlefield, Blasted Wastes, Caverns of Cynder, and I've even tried to a work in a bit of the new ones I haven't got yet (because I'm a realist about my own self control ) Forest of the Dead, Haunted Castle, and Belly of the Beast.
This is VERY satisfying, as it doesn't leave THAT much left to do for SoB: the Ghost Warriors (another corrupt tribe), the Lost Army of Santa Anna, the Scafford gang, Feral Vampires, Dark Stone Hydra, Dark Stone Scorpions, Wasteland Terralisk, and of course the other heroes... ok, still quite a lot
Easter is a long weekend; having already taken down another tree (and cracked myself in the head with branch loppers), aside from a trip to the dump I'm looking forward to not doing much else other than some gaming with the kids, building lego with little miss, and all that jazz.
Might even paint something Graven
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn and all that. Dread Cthulhu is damn impressive. Belial is grand, great sense of movement on that model.
Gitsplitta wrote:He looks great graven, nice work.
Cheers old son!
Viterbi wrote:Those are some big updates, Belial looks amazing, as others have said, the fire ring is so cool! Old one looks suitably scary too, torn clothes make it look like it posessed some human or other creature that then "hulked" out.
Thanks buddy. The printer certainly has its uses but doing basing details is particularly handy. I hadn't considered that about the big fella, maybe I shouldn't given him purple shorts
Don Qui Hotep wrote:Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn and all that. Dread Cthulhu is damn impressive. Belial is grand, great sense of movement on that model.
Many fthangs And much obliged chum!
Apologies for the quiet. Took a bit of breathing space. I'm aware of being slightly on edge, and feel like my middle kid is getting the brunt of it in particular. So a change of focus, and just spending a bit more time with them. Kaiju movies have featured heavily Also done lots of house stuff, garden, bit of rewiring - RL and all that.
Anyway, we started our second SoB campaign, Through the Gates of the Cynder Key. Belial, Lord of Shadow, has begun to seep through the cracks in reality. First, with the help of the local blacksmith, our posse attempted to seal the cracks appearing into the Void in the mines outside the town. Then, we travelled across worlds to stop a twisted tribe using Realmkeys, ancient artefacts that can be used to summon Belial, before helping defending the local town, which we're helping rebuild, from a marauding gang of undead bandits.
When not hanging with them, have been doing busy work and building instead. I got myself a pack of metal Alamo Mexicans for a fiver as I refuse to pay £20+ for a resin undead mexican standard bearer. Little on the short side but there's a solution to that... Tada! Green stuff boots, tattered flag and zombie paintjob to follow. You may spy there that I did some prints too, some oddments for friends, a little japanese shrine to add Cthulhu's base and more scatter for Moonstone. Talking of Moonstone, been building more: They are truly stunning figs, and going to need a lot of very... focused painting lol. The game is absolutely superb, and have been playing more with the boy: We're definitely hooked, it's so quick and portable which makes an enormous difference - as well as beautiful figs (although the fae are terrifyingly delicate) and deceptively simple mechanics. I'll be doing a full review, got some more figs coming from the company, and a discount code for y'all too cos I'm super-nice
Got on with the resin Heroes for SoB also. I really dislike the fact that these models have no base tabs or anything - which would be fine if they were steady enough to base on flat bases, or not so skinny that any attempt to pin them would just destroy the legs - and some of the first wave alt sculpts are a bit shaky. There's also some very poor casts in the mix, though at least I can work that into mutations the female gunslinger is definitely getting a... makeover That notwithstanding, I now have a substantial old West miniature game. Time to find a copy of Legends of the Old West! Ta-ta Graven
Ooh, that crystalline tree is cool. I just spent a bit looking through some Moonstone miniatures, super characterful and impressive. Glad to hear the game is good too, excited to hear your report!
Gitsplitta wrote:No one can ever accuse you of being stuck in a rut my friend. Wonderful to see the diversity that you work on every day. Very inspiring!
Well, you're very kind indeed. To be fair, Brimstone promotes diversity with its sheer range of settings. But it is good to mix things up. And now my kids are yammering for more Star Wars
Slinky wrote:Be'lial be'rilliant! Very nice.
Unbe'lievably nice of you to say so, sir
Viterbi wrote:Really excited for the Mexican undead army (a sentence I never thought I'll utter)!
Me neither lol!
Don Qui Hotep wrote:Ooh, that crystalline tree is cool. I just spent a bit looking through some Moonstone miniatures, super characterful and impressive. Glad to hear the game is good too, excited to hear your report!
Cheers, yeah the figs are lovely. Way beyond my painting skills though
Gearing up for Mrs Graven's birthday, so that's a distraction The weekend has been a lot of socially distant family catch up - plus, I am not going to let my nerdself get guilted into painting. It's been good to take a wee while away from it, but also painting is largely relief from work stress, and being off just now means I'm not especially stressed
But anyway, next for the paint queue is Imperial Assault. We're starting our new campaign, which is Tyrants of Lothal - basically the Rebels TV show. So, that means I have to paint them all plus the damn kid wants to use the Clone Commando character from Heart of the Empire, which means I have to paint that as a priority We spent a chunk of Saturday afternoon reorganising all the game components (and it's FFG, so it's token/card fetishism), and built our campaign decks, so we're good to go. I have managed to pick up all the remaining bits for the game, so aside from a few custom figs, that sort of thing), we're good to go.
Converting an ISB agent into Agent Kallus, to run as an elite Agent. Extended the stock, added a blade to the barrel - and of course, those mighty mutton chops! Still needs a secondary underslung barrel but nearly there.
On the subject of future gaming, I finally got round to building my Strontium Dog scenery from Sarissa.
Lovely, but fiddly. Never quite sure that Sarissa stuff is worth the price tag but this was an eBay cheapie so not complaining.
Well. Having said that... The generator kit that it also comes with is maddeningly complex, and who makes a post apocalyptic wasteland home without shutters (I made some out of offcuts)? Madness.
It's not all magic space future though: I picked up, and built, the Rusty Blade Tavern from TT Combat.
Detailed interior, removable roof... What a ridiculously good thing for under a tenner.
I do think I might still add some rickety beams to the corners, but coffee stirrers are hard to find these days I have their Briar Rose cottages (£12 the pair) en route to review also, very quirky, designed for Moonstone but useful in any fantasy situation. 3 buildings is explicitly the most you "need" for the game (some of the scenarios use multiple small buildings), and whilst I have the two cottages I made during lockdown these will round things out nicely, especially as you need to get break into the houses in one scenario.
Just taking things at a gentle pace. Bear with me team Graven
Slinky wrote:Kallus is looking great! Sideburns agogo
Cheers buddy. I'm pleasantly surprised with how he turned out. You know as a kid I thought they were called sideboards, like the furniture, which made much more sense to me the build on him is done, painted pic to follow anon.
I tidied up Cthulhu, and added a Japanese shrine to the base for Forbidden Fortress... Not that I own a copy of FoFo yet All in all pretty happy. Need to get back into taking proper pics though, the boy has stolen the light box as he is trying to break into Lego blogging.
I have been playing a whole bunch of Moonstone with the lad. Really love the game, and the whole Henson look. We played one of the scenarios
"Go Home Fritz, You're Drunk" from the main rulebook - pictured are Agatha and Fritz from the Tumbledown Street Commonwealth Box, Dim& Dimmer the mercenary giant, and Doug the Flatulent and the Vicious Midget from the 2-player starter.
Great fun, but poor old Fritz sadly didn't make it home from the pub. Article will be going up on bigcomicpage.com Saturday with review, discount codes for the game, discount code for gamemat.eu and chance to win some TT Combat goodies. Go get the shiny!
Much Star Wars a-happening with the kids; this has been a holiday of gaming more than hobbying. Tyrants of Lothal is proving to be a fun campaign: it has a branching narrative structure and lots of choice leading to all sorts of things happening - plus, the kids really feel like they're in-universe.
Yes, I know I am breaking my rules with unpainted minis. I don't care lol. Well. Obviously that's not strictly true. I'm just not going to feel guilty about it.
I really haven't done very much painting this last week. But I'm just taking it easy, spending time with the kids, enjoying the garden, that sort of thing. I am back on Instagram, but not stressing over daily posts and myriad hashtags. Lots of scenery has been primed, and colours blocked in on Santa Anna's Army of the Dead, but I'm not rushing.
Just chillin like a villain Graven
Gitsplitta wrote:I don't understand how you can paint a thousand models in a year but still end up playing your games with unpainted models...
Don't rub it in!
Viterbi wrote:Star Wars campaign sounds fun and love the first pic of Moonstone. Excited to see more of the board!
Well, the scenery is now primed, and so are the figs, so more to come. So, I have done a wee review of Moonstone over at bigcomicpage.com - check it out if you're so minded:
https://bigcomicpage.com/2021/04/17/geeking-out-ill-met-by-moonstone/ There's a 20% off code for direct orders, a 10% off code for gamemat.eu and TT Combat goodies to be well!
So come support a fantastic small game from an indy game supplier (and more!) - the whole game is print and play for free, but who doesn't love crazy Henson style fantasy?!
Cheers
Graven
GiraffeX wrote:Loads of cool things going on in your blog Graven as always, looks like the backlog hasn't gone down much!
Well let's be honest, there's always something new on the Shelf of Shame It's funny to think that this time last year was the most productive I've ever been, and this year it's been the least. However, RL has a habit of intruding. Wife's birthday and lovely weather combined to not much paint time, and now back into the most demented teaching period on record.
Nevertheless, proof that I am working on stuff:
The fabled Lost Army of Santa Anna. Undead Mexicans (muerticans?) - I really hate painting historicals, even undead ones. Notable in his absence is the modified standard bearer, as he was part of the primer shock incident. They are sat on a neat elbow platform my dad brought me, rescued from his garage:
Relaxation of lockdown has its advantages, eh?!
Lost Army should be finished this week, along with dark stone scorpions at the very least.
Trying not to look at the shelf of shame, it's not too bad...
Granted that doesn't include Moonstone, scenery or the rest of the Armada fleets, but still... Instead, I shall remain calm by celebrating what shall become the Shelf of Splendour!
Graven
I think your problem is that you build everything without really having the time to paint it... then it clutters up the "shelf of shame", making you feel bad while it all waits to be painted. I tend to leave my stuff boxed and stored until I'm ready to paint it... then I build & paint in one go. Thus no shelf of shame... just hundreds of models kept safely out of sight in boxes and bins!
Gitsplitta wrote: I think your problem is that you build everything without really having the time to paint it... then it clutters up the "shelf of shame", making you feel bad while it all waits to be painted. I tend to leave my stuff boxed and stored until I'm ready to paint it... then I build & paint in one go. Thus no shelf of shame... just hundreds of models kept safely out of sight in boxes and bins!
I'm the same as Gits I tend to keep most things boxed before and also after painting
My shelf of shame remains about 20 models and if it gets too many they go back into boxes again, I'm not a great fan of assembling minis though and really struggle with some with small parts, man I'm getting old! .
I honor the courage that Graven exhibits in sharing his shelf of shame in the open. Long live the Shelf of Splendor, long live Krampus, display Batman, and Cthulhu!
Thanks for sharing the Moonstone kick, super tempting to get into. Sadly we're still locked down fairly well, might see if there's a module for Tabletop Simulator!
Gitsplitta wrote:I think your problem is that you build everything without really having the time to paint it... then it clutters up the "shelf of shame", making you feel bad while it all waits to be painted. I tend to leave my stuff boxed and stored until I'm ready to paint it... then I build & paint in one go. Thus no shelf of shame... just hundreds of models kept safely out of sight in boxes and bins!
Yeah maybe my friend. I'm trying to clear stuff but I think you may be right.
GiraffeX wrote:
I'm the same as Gits I tend to keep most things boxed before and also after painting My shelf of shame remains about 20 models and if it gets too many they go back into boxes again, I'm not a great fan of assembling minis though and really struggle with some with small parts, man I'm getting old! .
Oh, I know that feeling lol. My frustration at the faerie miniature is such that I may never play them just out of spite
Don Qui Hotep wrote:I honor the courage that Graven exhibits in sharing his shelf of shame in the open. Long live the Shelf of Splendor, long live Krampus, display Batman, and Cthulhu!
Thanks for sharing the Moonstone kick, super tempting to get into. Sadly we're still locked down fairly well, might see if there's a module for Tabletop Simulator!
I thank you sir! Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting more Hellboy, second KS starts the end of this month and I'll be so all in on that bad boy.
Don't know about TTS, but Moonstone is free to print and play, remember. I would still roundly recommend picking up the starter as it's great value and highly accessible as a game.
So in attempt to clear the shame, I have cracked on!
Dark Stone Scorpions, nasty big critters on 60mm bases. I've modelled them on bark scorpions, loosely. Don't much fancy running into them.
Feral vampires, and a vampire lord that I printed to match. Almost entirely done in washes, mostly as an experiment. And, at last...
The Lost Army of Santa Anna, with Generalissimo and Hell Cannon. I hate painting historicals, as I say, so I'm glad they're done (tick!)
What's next? Well, with relatively little Brimstone left to do, I am going to have a breather and do some more Star Wars. This will gear me up nicely for the more individual, detailed paint jobs of Moonstone. So I'm going to work my way through the Rebels crew and antagonists first, and then see how I feel.
Adiós
Graven
Gitsplitta wrote:That is an excellent offering. You did a great job on the historicals mate, don't sweat it.
Most kind, I'm certainly pleased i took my time with them.
GiraffeX wrote:The all look really good as Git's said you really nailed the historicals not something I've dabbled in myself.
Love the scorpions, the white makes them really pop.
They were great fun, so thanks buddy!
Anyway, as promised, we move to the stars!
As our current campaign is Rebels themed, we begin with 2 antagonists, duplicitous Weequay Hondo Ohnaka and fallen jedi The Grand Inquisitor.
Love the poses, but need to hit the Inquisitor's lightsaber with boiling water I think.
An aside: Green Stuff World paint remover is an absolute godsend. Primer shock recovered!
Such a relief. Everything survived, although there is a slight rubberiness to the Moonstone resin now. That was a one hour soak. The really gummed up stuff (wolf and bear forms for the shaman) got an overnight soak and the paint just fell off under the tap. Rest of the Brimstone is going in next. Highly recommended, well worth £10 a bottle.
On the painting table right now for IA are Loth Cats, Kallus, Wildfire (rogue clone trooper), Thrawn, Ahsoka, Obi-wan and of course the crew of the Ghost. So, keeping busy lol.
Till next time
Graven
Slinky wrote:Are there official models for Loth cats? I know a boy that would love that Hondo is v good, but yes, the Inquisitor needs a little bit of perking up Thanks for the tip on the paint remover, I have used fairy power spray before, but it's not very satisfactory.
There are indeed, they come in the Tyrants of Lothal box. To be fair there are some pretty decent ones on Thingiverse though. Dettol is better than power spray but this stuff is amazing.
GiraffeX wrote:Oh GS world do paint remover in a bottle, that sounds great, is that plastic or metal minis or does it do both!
Loving some star wars minis!
Plastic, metal and various resins. Breaks down superglue a bit. Very impressive nonetheless. There's a little bit of pockmarking on the older Brimstone resins, but it's not the end of the world tbh.
However, this weekend I've been at the Moonstone. Having stripped the 3 faeries I decided to tackle one of them, first, The Fencer:
Entirely done in gw washes, apart from the tree which is done in Vallejo model air and with green stuff world tufts.
I think I can consider that saved! Provisionally the plan is to tackle a variety of Moonstone minis this week. I'm feeling it. Graven
aku-chan wrote:Looking forward to you painting up some more Moonstone stuff.
The minis look amazing, but my stupid, sausage fingers don't work well with resin.
Well, I sympathise, I don't have sausage fingers just clumsy crab claw hands. I'm basically Dr Zoidberg...
DROWNING in marking, so to relax I decided to tackle my favourite of the goblins (possibly my favourite sculpt in the game): the Vicious Midget:
I say favourite, in game I hate the little swine! But I love the Brian Froud/Jim Henson Labyrinth vibe of the Goblin City minions, and him especially
I'm rather proud of the nasty little bugger. Need to work on my macro photography (you cannot see the red eyes) but still.
Just working to whim right now.
Graven
Great updates Graven, Belial and the cthulu swordsman are really cool. The flame effect is very well done, looking forward to all the new soldiers you've got lined up.
Vicious midget is amazing, such a lovely sculpt and great paintjob. Love the scorpions and yeah, that lightsaber from the inquisitor seems to be a Spaceballs reject, hope hot water could fix it!
Yorkright wrote: Great updates Graven, Belial and the cthulu swordsman are really cool. The flame effect is very well done, looking forward to all the new soldiers you've got lined up.
Thanks amigo yes, trying not to think about the various armies of the Republic...
Viterbi wrote:Vicious midget is amazing, such a lovely sculpt and great paintjob. Love the scorpions and yeah, that lightsaber from the inquisitor seems to be a Spaceballs reject, hope hot water could fix it!
Yeah, saved by boiling water and many thanks. The Goblin City figures are so much fun
Gitsplitta wrote:You did an excellent job... and Labrynth is exactly what I thought of when I looked at the mini.
Job done then! I'm chipping away at the denizens of the city, although I still need to build my trolls (with a not-Ludo). Meanwhile, we have the next Goblin: Doug the Flatulent!
This is possibly the most versatile character in the game, certainly for Dominion and perhaps entirely. Long range weapon, relatively fast because of base size, good at digging AND has a fart attack.
Who's a good boy?!
Painting the shield freehand was definitely out of my comfort zone, but glad I did so.
What's next? Most likely Beaky Bobby, the last of the Goblin City set, but I might turn my hand to a giant, or (shock!) one of the Commonwealth humans (in other words, my faction, rather than my son's!)
Headspace is pretty good, I feel like I'm getting a decent finish on these and am just about on top of work and life. Long may that continue! celebrating by backing the new Hellboy KS, 4 expansions and dice game, very exciting. There's a proper big dragon and everything.
Hey ho
Graven
Thanks buddy! They're a far cry from your kind of Ork
Don Qui Hotep wrote:Henson indeed!
Love it I have a Hoggle STL I plan to print out to use as a citizen
endtransmission wrote:Doug is definitely a good boy! I do like the look of those figures
They are excellent indeed, and it's a small UK company so it's good to support them - plus you can use the discount code from my Big Comic Page review till midnight Sunday.
amazingturtles wrote:I was drawn in by the word "pug" and i have no regrets!
Ambrosius!
I may also have an STL for sir didimus cheers buddy
To prevent Moonstone fatigue, however, I decided to finish off some things I've had sitting around for ages. First, the Dark Stone Hydra:
Big snakey snake snakes.
Great big annoying regenerating beastie (as all hydra should be) from Brimstone.
And, some star wars stuff for our Rebels campaign:
Loth-Cats! As my 5 year old daughter declared, "Awwwwww they're so cute... And evil!" The white ones are force-sensitive in the show so work well for the elites.
Utinni! The paler Jawa is a print, and is clearly off to Lothal for its holidays. Again, another elite variant (which makes sense, as the elite is less zappy and more barter-y). Speaking of desert inhabitants ...
Old Ben himself. Trying to remember my human skin recipe and, on that note...
ISB Agent and converted Agent Kallus.
Work is managing to be even more stressful, which I didn't think was possible. Thank feck for paint and dakka!
Graven
Thanks buddy! They're a far cry from your kind of Ork
Don Qui Hotep wrote:Henson indeed!
Love it I have a Hoggle STL I plan to print out to use as a citizen
endtransmission wrote:Doug is definitely a good boy! I do like the look of those figures
They are excellent indeed, and it's a small UK company so it's good to support them - plus you can use the discount code from my Big Comic Page review till midnight Sunday.
amazingturtles wrote:I was drawn in by the word "pug" and i have no regrets!
Ambrosius!
I may also have an STL for sir didimus cheers buddy
To prevent Moonstone fatigue, however, I decided to finish off some things I've had sitting around for ages. First, the Dark Stone Hydra:
Big snakey snake snakes.
Great big annoying regenerating beastie (as all hydra should be) from Brimstone.
And, some star wars stuff for our Rebels campaign:
Loth-Cats! As my 5 year old daughter declared, "Awwwwww they're so cute... And evil!" The white ones are force-sensitive in the show so work well for the elites.
Utinni! The paler Jawa is a print, and is clearly off to Lothal for its holidays. Again, another elite variant (which makes sense, as the elite is less zappy and more barter-y). Speaking of desert inhabitants ...
Old Ben himself. Trying to remember my human skin recipe and, on that note...
ISB Agent and converted Agent Kallus.
Work is managing to be even more stressful, which I didn't think was possible. Thank feck for paint and dakka!
Graven
Copied over for the break. Steady on, you'll get through this yet. For what it's worth, this is midterms season and I'll get a crop of essays to grade over the weekend, hooray! Painting helps me through that as well.
Loth-Cats!!! I don't get why Disney doesn't do a huge merch range just around these critters. They'd sell millions! Or like only one, to me, and they actually know what they're doing. Thanks for sharing
endtransmission wrote:I hope the stress eases up your end soon!
Nice work on all those bits and pieces. Your daughter is spot on with the Loth cats too
Cheers bud. The reality of it is the next 6 weeks are going to be pretty horrible, tbh, but I'll get through it, as ever.
Certainly feels like I have infinite amounts to paint lol.
Don Qui Hotep wrote:
Copied over for the break. Steady on, you'll get through this yet. For what it's worth, this is midterms season and I'll get a crop of essays to grade over the weekend, hooray! Painting helps me through that as well.
Cheers buddy, very kind of you it's pretty intense but you're quite right.
MobileSuitRandom wrote:Loth-Cats!!! I don't get why Disney doesn't do a huge merch range just around these critters. They'd sell millions! Or like only one, to me, and they actually know what they're doing. Thanks for sharing
Absolutely! Just look at the reaction little miss had to them!
endtransmission wrote:No, I'd buy a loth-cat as well
New series of toys with Grogu riding a Loth-Cat!
Lol I'll say to Hasbro They definitely missed a trick there, especially as you can get purple/pink/blue Loth Cats. On the Hasbro note, the boy has actually pretty much taken over the toy reviewing from me now, he really impressed them with his reviews of Studio Series Hot Rod 86 and Marvel Legends Thanos over at Big Comic Page (he wants to get into toy design generally in life). Proud geek dad.
Thanks all for the continued support. Whole lot of love for my nerdlings.
Couple more Star Wars characters today. First up, Wildfire:
Clone Trooper gone rogue, he's one of the characters from Heart of the Empire that the kids are using in the campaign. He's definitely not Captain Rex Wanted a really aged look to his armour.
And what campaign would be complete without its villain?
Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Empire's most brilliant strategist.
And a group shot of the current push:
Next is the Rebels themselves - the crew of the Ghost, plus Ahsoka - in the build-up to May the 4th. But might skip back to Moonstone, I'm a creature of whimsy after all 400+ figs done in the first quarter this year, not bad, not bad
Nice to see Thrawn in there. Some of these days I need to get and re-read the old Zahn books. I read them when I was 12 or so and know I enjoyed them back then.
And I'll echo the others on the Loth-Cats Congrats to your boy regarding those reviews. Really cool and hope he manages to make his toy designing dreams come true one day.
Viterbi wrote:Nice to see Thrawn in there. Some of these days I need to get and re-read the old Zahn books. I read them when I was 12 or so and know I enjoyed them back then. And I'll echo the others on the Loth-Cats Congrats to your boy regarding those reviews. Really cool and hope he manages to make his toy designing dreams come true one day.
Yeah, he can keep his old man in the toys he's become accustomed to
aku-chan wrote:Loth Cats! Woot! Love Doug the Battle Pug, especially the face.
thanks, I really appreciate it. Humans get a boar rider, not quite as cool there's plenty of comedy sculpts in the range though.
So, counting down to May 4th... Spectre Cell! Painted together, albeit in stages and colour blocks to make sure the colours matched. Front row: Chopper, their faithful rust bucket. I love that he's an ally (so a fully playable character) and not just a gameplay/token mechanic. Ezra Bridger, with short hair and new lightsaber. And, by far the most stressful, Sabine Wren. Checks? Unit number? Golden chest bird? A tiny owl?! What is this - a space marine?!! Back row Hera Syndulla, with impossible skintone. Zeb Orrelios, who I ended up enjoying as a paint more than I expected. Kanan Jarrus, with some ramped OSL for reasons. If Kanan's helm and Ezra's hair/saber weren't enough of a clue, the minis are season 3 rebels versions. This is the May What's going to be the mini tomorrow? Ah, patience, young padawan... Graven
Toy designer huh? That'd be very cool indeed... I'm very jealous! A friend used to run a site dedicated to action figure previews/reviews and did really well at it, getting lots of advertising, invites to the toy fairs and to secret previews from the toy companies (including flights/hotel over to the US), so the reviews are certainly a great way for him to make contacts and learn more about it
Gitsplitta wrote:Nicely done graven, they look great! Filling out the ranks nicely you are.
What you did there, I see.
endtransmission wrote:Toy designer huh? That'd be very cool indeed... I'm very jealous! A friend used to run a site dedicated to action figure previews/reviews and did really well at it, getting lots of advertising, invites to the toy fairs and to secret previews from the toy companies (including flights/hotel over to the US), so the reviews are certainly a great way for him to make contacts and learn more about it
Well, here's hoping he can keep his old dad in toys in his dotage Ha. Typical. Forgot to post this yesterday!
Ahsoka Tano
Well, at least she's finished Next, back to Brimstone we go, with the remaining plastic first ed characters. My aim is to get at least all of the Brimstone plastics painted before the end of the month which is just the Swamps of Death characters Ghost Warriors, Scafford Gang and Wasteland Terralisk. That sets me up nicely for Forbidden Fortress (the feudal fantasy Japan version) which is coming for my birthday at the end of June. Glorious!
Got a mahoosive delivery of Moonstone also, so my Leshavault cultists and Faeries are viable as full teams of 6, plus the trolls and pirate goblins for Dominion (for the boy) and the rest of the Commonwealth humans and 2 giants for me. Whilst they won't all skip to the front of the queue, there are some priority figs (let's be honest - more goblins).
Gah, how to the heck did you get so much painted so well! Love all these star wars mini's you've been painting up, those stripes on Ahsoka look great. Glad to hear you keeping it together with work.
Yorkright wrote: Gah, how to the heck did you get so much painted so well! Love all these star wars mini's you've been painting up, those stripes on Ahsoka look great. Glad to hear you keeping it together with work.
Thanks mate. I really don't see them as well painted, but more traded off rush jobs. We had a cross-marking meeting today and it was great to just hang out with other teachers from outside my usual school bubble. Teaching media can feel a bit isolated sometimes as we're a small subject. Plus we're all COLOSSAL nerds.
Got some Brimstone finished up. First, the last big bad, the Wasteland Terralisk
This is a blasted wastes (alien desert) enemy, hence the martian soil / russet colour scheme.
I was going for angry prawn. And more enemies, my 3D printed Crimson Hand Inquisitor and Undead Mexican Standard bearer
Plus finally got on with the remaining characters.
Tidying up to do but won't take long. Which just leaves 15 figs! 6 Ghost Warriors (really scary corrupt natives), 7 mutant outlaw gangers and a couple of Reaper Serpentmen to flesh out the snakey ranks.
Wife thinks my collection is starting to get too big again. Think it's time to focus on building the pile of shame Hey ho
Graven
How can anyone say your collection is too big Lovely work on the Terralisk, cool sculpt and fitting paintjob! And fast progress on all those characters, the rest of the minis should be finished in no time.
Crustaceans feature heavily on alien desert planets... Apparently. The Wastelanders are very exoskeletal and the most common enemy is Sand Crabs. I actually have some really good wasteland terrain STLs that are crustacean and coral themed. Hmmmmmmmm...
Viterbi wrote:How can anyone say your collection is too big Lovely work on the Terralisk, cool sculpt and fitting paintjob! And fast progress on all those characters, the rest of the minis should be finished in no time.
Thanks buddy! well, they're at wip stage already, so I'm broadly optimistic. Pretty tough weekend. Very short fuse :fire: because full of rot and general work stress. Just got to keep ploughing through though. Still. Positives: Another great game with the kids, first through the mines... Then onto the wartorn alien streets of Trederra Minefield. Joy lot of fun to play, very different again as you're mostly trying to avoid patrols and the detritus of war. We're now stuck in the Wastelands, as it turns out the Trederrans sent a doomsday device through to wipe out half a dozen worlds including ours, so, that sucks We destroyed the doomsday device, but the portal collapsed behind us. I died, but it's ok, I got better now I'm an undead gunslinger. with a tentacle moustache. I'm basically Davey Jones at this point.
Meanwhile, started to finish up the ghost warriors Highlights (esp on the skin tones) need done but really pleased, particularly the purple skin and blood soaked hair. Charmers. Once they're sorted, that just leaves the Scafford gang, and we'll be done with all the plastics! Result.
Realised one of my Moonstone faeries was missing a hand, sent them a wee note... And they sent a whole new fig great customer service there.
Anvildude wrote:You know why crustaceans are so common?
It's because Nature might abhor a vacuum, but it LOVES crabs.
Carcinerization- the tendency of species, over time, to evolve into crabs.
Crabs are awesome. We're the best I have a fantastic pirate goblin riding a crab, Crusty Balboa, who is going to be fun. I'm also going to make a King Crab Wasteland warlord. Why not Zoidberg?
aku-chan wrote:Continuing to do a great job on the Brimstone stuff, the Ghost Warriors in particular are looking really good.
Thanks man. I really enjoyed them, actually. More colours got blocked in on the Scafford gang today, so very real progress there, too. However, my attempt to nail all the Brimstone has been subverted by a mate who is giving me his Magma Fiends - mine are stuck in transit from the US, and he's happy to wait for them as he's not on a Brimstone kick atm. So definitely good news/bad news
It never ceases to surprise me how good 3D printing can be. One of my frustrations with Shadows of Brimstone is that group-boss enemies and variant characters are only ever expensive resin promos - hence my printed Inquisitor and Hellfire Witch, and converted Mexican Banner and Generalissimo. So I'm thrilled to have printed a Naga that works as a Nure-onna Sorceress.
Also in the mix we have more moonstone scatter, a Ronin for the wee man (another Brimstone character that only exists in promo form) and a bit of a repair job on Atrocitus Lord of Ysmault.
In other news, a big pack of stuff got sent away to the exam board today, so it's another check off the list.
Tbh despite the madness, the stress, I feel surprisingly ok. Vaccine Friday, so that's another bonus.
Onwards
Graven
Good news everyone! (Watching a lot of Futurama just now ) Two more Reaper Nagendra:
I love this range from Reaper; I'm quite fond of Serpentmen as a theme generally. I slightlyregret not backing the new Brimstone Serpentmen at ks... But it's not like I'm short of stuff these are Yellow Tails, the most numerous of the Jargono tribes; I've added in the archer in anticipation of when I get the rules for them, and I've another one in the post Ah, future proofing! Next, at last, the Scafford Gang:
Mutant ex-Confederate outlaws, they only come in two sculpts, plus Col. Scafford himself (tentacle legs), so there was much chopping and changing. Dreadball mutant parts proved VERY useful my favourite is the one that's started to turn into a Dark Stone Brute. And finally, Magma Fiends!
Horrendous horde monsters: they turn the floor into lava, collapse walls and spew fire. And you encounter LOADS (6-12 at a time) Now these were primed with a fresh can of paint and before I knew it... Primer shock AGAIN. A little digging reveals that Kobra have changed their propellant now it doesn't really have a negative impact on these wee rocky fellas but it's damned irritating in the big picture. Going to have to start buying actual model primer, at actual gaming price, again.
And, well, though I generally dislike posting wips, I'm loving how this mantic Simian is going
Pimpin he's getting used as support staff for Dreadball.
On a side note, that's every current brimstone plastic that's not part of feudal Japan painted since January. 400 or so figs, and over 460 this year total
Busy busy Graven
Your numbers never seize to amaze Love those undead gunslingers and nice conversion work to make them look different. I love the guy whose left side is turning completely into tentacles
Viterbi wrote:Your numbers never seize to amaze Love those undead gunslingers and nice conversion work to make them look different. I love the guy whose left side is turning completely into tentacles
Cheers man. There's a whole of lot of pseudopods, for sure.
Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:Aye great conversion work on the mutant confeds, they look great!
Lol cheers. I'm now using the one with a chest portal as my character model as my gunslinger has mutated AGAIN. He's also got a conjoined mutant twin now. Happy days!
Right, so what's next? A little break from the old, weird West... Faeries!
The Enclave, Teetoe and Fraya, just done in washes.
I'm particularly happy with Teetoe's wings.
And some Moonstone accessories:
A reaper villager, for scenarios, and another fallen tree, with more intact web.
Plus, a little Mantic orrery, for Hellboy - it crops up in a couple of scenarios. Didn't want the full Terrain Crate but managed to snag this from eBay.
More Brimstone shenanigans, in the Blasted Wastes.
Much fun, we tracked down another key, fought in gladiator pits and scavenged much loot. Oh, and bought a rusty bus! Excellent nonsense. Back to Earth, and thence to Cynder's pits of flame!
It’s all very nice Graven, those faeries are really cool the orange one is my favorite. Hard to believe you’ve painted over 400 models already, that’s very impressive.
Briancj wrote:That's very unfortunate about Brimstone (re: limited edition figures), but I'm glad you found a solution!
Yeah, joy of printing! I wish I'd planned my mutants slightly better so that the conversions match the special character mutant outlaws but *shrugs* what can you do? I have other cowboy STLs so I may print and tentacularise further.
Yorkright wrote: It’s all very nice Graven, those faeries are really cool the orange one is my favorite. Hard to believe you’ve painted over 400 models already, that’s very impressive.
Yeah mine too cheers bro.
In the meantime, and for variety, something sci-fi!
Big Grey Vinnie. He is here to teach you to punch harder.
The new Dreadball expansion adds in the rules for coaching assistants that give you rerolls on a particular stat, and I just love this Star Saga promo fig. I reckon he's a washed-up Simian guard who never quite made it to the big time so now coaches the next generation on how to hit harder, better, faster. And, another member of the Townsfolk:
Which means that I have 3 painted, of the 5 needed for the scenario (because I also have the fig I painted as Mad Hettie). I have another reaper dude, a little grumpy goblin porter, but I'll probably print something as number 5.
On the subject of goblins, I am progressing with the rest of them; I'm loving paint these goblins, so more Moonstone to follow.
But for now... Beaky Bobby!
Take yer medicine!
I love this fig
Not going to lie, quite proud of this dude
That's the Goblin City set finished. More to come!
Till then
Graven
Gitsplitta wrote:The conversions on the mutant Confederates (are there any other kind?) show a lot of creativity and skill. Love the puking lava things!
too true. The south will mutate again! The Magma Fiends are great fun, quite a simple paint job but I had a clear idea in my head how to tackle them.
Anyway, I warned you I was on a goblin kick.
Boom Boom McBoom! He's a redcap, and he likes to make stuff go boom, funnily enough.
A good support figure, quite tough to play as his range isn't great, but interesting with a good buff ability
Shabaroon, Goblin Wizard. Bit too fond of the shrooms He has one of the best abilities in the game, a magic attack that's lethal, but he's fragile.
And Grub, another slightly mutant Goblin. He's in the process of turning into a goblin faerie hybrid, and can be played in this or evolved version.
He's a really complex piece, hyper mobile, really built for scenarios and board control, but like any bug can easily go squish. I really enjoyed doing the wing casings.
And finally, the reaper porter and my spare tree base as a piece of quirky scatter. Poor little chap. Quite likely to get kicked, if you ask me. Another citizen for scenario play. Speaking of which...
Had a great game with the youngling, who's being forced to self-isolate and is generally miserable. So some Dominion on Dominion action!
We used the new Sidebar, which really helped stay organised - a great buy.
He ran goblins as usual, I tried out faeries along with my favourite munchy troll. It was... Terrifying. Faeries are crazy fast and very finesse to play... and I tabled my poor kid in 2 Turns. Oh, the guilt. It really was no fault of his tactically, tbh, I just didn't anticipate how scary they could be. Still, now he knows how to beat me with them he's already planning his tactics plus I'm not allowed the two headed goblin guzzling giant anymore which is fair. We do have several other giants and trolls, I really should build them... Pirate goblins next, I think.
In exciting news, my Flying Frog order has finally shipped! That's the 7 card pack expansions I don't own for SoB plus Flesh Drones, Auto-Turrets, Sand Crabs (woo! more crabs!), Wasteland Heavy weapon teams, and an extra set of peril dice (to stop the kids arguing over them). If it gets here in the next month, that'll be a lovely early birthday present. Of course, now I regret not getting the feudal japan card packs as well More Brimstone! Just what I need Graven
Slinky wrote:Those goblins are very fun, I particularly like the ones that evoke Labyrinth, but the others are great too
Cheers mate! I know what you mean. The pirate ones also have a good Froud/Labyrinth vibe, as do 2 of the trolls (one IS Ludo, and the other is a goblin with a cannon on a troll's back). There's a couple more Goblin city ones too. The shroomy ones appeal to the kid in me that used to play WH Orks.
Theophony wrote:I love the beaky goblin guy . Much catching up to do....soon.
Also just ordered a Anycubic and wash machine for myself after seeing your resin figures....so jealous.
Ha. You fool! Beaky Bobby is great, and there will be more goblin city denizens anon. Good to see you back, brother, too.
In the meantime, first of said pirate goblins, Seasick [strike]Steve [/strike] Stu:
Fun fig, drunken goblin pirate
I've always liked the idea of goblin pirates since the old confrontation ones
A sneak peek: a WIP of that pesky giant:
Dim and Dimmer, with their tendency to snack on goblins (look at his bag!)
And, an experiment, playing with glues
Going for a bubbling blood base, which I'm also thinking about using for belly of the beast, the alien... interior Otherworld for Brimstone. Done with PVA layer, and droplets of superglue on to make it shrink and bubble.
Picked up the Strontium Dog metal figs for a steal off eBay, so now have the full starter box contents for half price. In a moment of weakeness I may have also picked up the various Brimstone card packs I'm missing, however. Hurrah for the internet!
Faeries next, along with the above Ettin - just chipping away at the pile...
Graven
I find it weird, in an interesting way, what gets attention on t'internet. Dim & Dimmer blew up on my Instagram (insta.graven ). Here, not so much different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Anyhoo, with the first wave of Moonstone Dominion figures (Goblins and Faeries) painted, before starting the Commonwealth Humans my little whimsical fantasy adventure continues with somewhere to live, with the two TT Combat Moonstone cottages:
Freehand *shudder* Rather pleased though. Although as a set of two they’re referred to as Briar Rose Cottages, that’s no use to distinguish between them. So, because one on the right handily has the Commonwealth compass symbol on its little… porch? Verandah? Well, whatever - it shall be known as Compass Cottage!
They’re not quite finished yet, though. The plan is, I think, to mount a flickering LED inside the roofs.
Whilst the wall colours may seem… off just now inside Compass Cottage it’s to try to create a convincing warm glow when viewed from outside. The interiors are not necessarily to be playable, but do need to be accessible for a couple of scenarios (stealing moonstones, going home drunk from the pub, that sort of thing) – hence I’m not going crazy with the detailing. The pub itself will likely get a bit more attention, however, as it’s a much larger footprint, and everyone likes a barroom brawl
Moonstone: Dominion first push done (and a couple of townsfolk lurking at the back there)! Definitely need to get better photos of the faeries. They're Glass ninjas, they kinda play like eldar. Wasp (left-hand end) is every bit as deadly and annoying as his name suggests. He can remove the innate weakeness of any Faerie within 6" (including himself), has a decent ranged attack and - if he pulls it off - one of the deadliest crits in the game, easily capable of taking out anything short of a giant. Nasty bugger. Silvertongue (right-hand end) can mind control opponents with no chance to resist, which is all kinds of awful, but he has to be nearby and is super squishy. I've yet to try the faerie Queen but she's on the build list, as she powers them all up, along with the other 3 Faeries, 6 goblins, and 3 trolls for Dominion – never mind the 2 giants and 6 humans for Commonwealth, a fifth citizen (Mantic barman with a bulldog), oh and 6 Leshavault cultists. But hey, new expansion Kickstarter in a week
Next, to the pub! (if only :’( ) and then onto the first Commonwealth push: 7 highly detailed fantasy humans to paint! Oh, the fear.
Warboss_Waaazag wrote:I love how prolific you are. So much stuff!
I totally agree! Not only so much but all the fun models you are painting up. If I had time to play more I would be grabbing some of the game systems you display here on your blog.
I'm really enjoying your Moonstone models. They're in a genre one doesn't normally see on Dakka, and your earthy take on them really elevates the models to the next level.
Warboss_Waaazag wrote:I love how prolific you are. So much stuff!
too much stuff
Yorkright wrote: I totally agree! Not only so much but all the fun models you are painting up. If I had time to play more I would be grabbing some of the game systems you display here on your blog.
Well, there's a Ks coming for moonstone and old stuff will be available for cheap...
endtransmission wrote:The houses are looking great, especially the freehand rose
Many thanks, in the end I enjoyed the challenge.
Gitsplitta wrote:As a builder and painter of buildings for Bushido... I absolutely love the job you've done on those cottages graven. They look just right!
Thanks kindly mate. There will be some feudal japan elements heading this way soon, actually, for Forbidden Fortress - I've got a set of Torii arches glowering at me demanding paint right now! And, knowing me, that means scatter won’t be far behind
JoshInJapan wrote:I'm really enjoying your Moonstone models. They're in a genre one doesn't normally see on Dakka, and your earthy take on them really elevates the models to the next level.
Thanks buddy. "Earthy" yeah I'll take that compliment!
Made progress on the Rusty Blade Tavern:
Wanted it to be a bit more playable, a bit more detailed. The inside surface of the doors is flat, so I roughly painted in the planking. I have various bits of furniture which I’ll add, and the bar is in two pieces for access/general throwing about. Of course, then my son said, “Shouldn’t it have a fire?” So then, this happened…
This was relatively simple, reusing some MDF A/C ducting left over from the Brutal Cities buildlings. I also decided to jazz up the shields on the walls and add a (painted) hatch behind the bar. Of course, you can’t have a :flame: without a chimney…
This was… considerably less simple More A/C ducting, some plastic bases for depth and blister packaging to shape the sides. Last time I did something like this was for the LOER! The next step was to GS over this and brick-roller it.
Realised part way through painting it I'd forgotten to take a picture. You get the idea though.
And the finished brickwork. It's obviously a smaller pattern than the rest of the tavern but, hey, it's fantasy architecture *shrug*. I’m impressed, generally, with the brick roller; I did have to mark out a couple of bits again but even so, a real time saver. It’s going to make a big difference to basing generally, as is the wooden one (for Forbidden Fortress, primarily).
Finished Rusty Blades Tavern, with interior. And, every tavern needs a barman:
This is a Mantic Dungeon Saga promo, he's a bit wee (even for a dwarf!), 25mm rather than the 32mm of Moonstone, but it's a great fig and it's fine for the final member of the townsfolk. Plus, he has a little bulldog pup oh yes ohnonononono (sorry, very British reference). I’ve not gone nuts with the furniture, just what I had spare/unfinished lying about; yes, I could maybe use another table or two but if I feel that’s the case I’ll print something, most likely. Then again TT make a full set of MDF bar furniture for £4...
For scale purposes, that's a Reaper fishwife, Moonstone Giant, Mantic Dwarf, Carnevale human and Moonstone Goblin
All in all, I’m pretty happy with it, and it’s really going to make our Moonstone (and indeed AoS) games feel more authentic. For the town as a whole, I want to print a few creepy trees, like the ones I did before (which went to metropolis as a birthday gift, tree-hugging hippy that he is), and maybe make a wee rivers.
Also got a maildrop today, Shikarri Nomad Crusaders for Brimstone & Forbidden Fortress: world travelling zealots who hunt down anyone using dark stone, or reward PCs that don't. 6 figs, 2 body and 4 different head sculpts per sprue of great generic post apocalyptic warriors? Hell yeah.Now I'm just waiting on what I ordered in the Presidents’ Day sale. Damn you Brexit! That stuff will pretty much completes my Shadows of Brimstone collection, beyond the various promos and lumps of overpriced resin. Lifestyle game indeed :~8 I suppose I should get the other heroes and alt figs done too… Still, Moonstone (and the terrain) has been an excellent palate cleanser generally. Who knows, there might be something… super headed this way
JoshInJapan wrote:I'm really enjoying your Moonstone models. They're in a genre one doesn't normally see on Dakka, and your earthy take on them really elevates the models to the next level.
Thanks buddy. "Earthy" yeah I'll take that compliment!
"Earthy" is very much a compliment. All of the best fairy illustrations are in subtle watercolors (c.f Froud and Lee), and you've really captured that with these models.
That tavern looks like it would be a blast to play in.
I knew i had the most catch up to do in this plog Lovely work all around, those goblins are great and enjoyed all the pics of the tavern, really comijng together, fireplace is looking great!
JoshInJapan wrote:
"Earthy" is very much a compliment. All of the best fairy illustrations are in subtle watercolors (c.f Froud and Lee), and you've really captured that with these models.
That tavern looks like it would be a blast to play in.
Well I appreciate that very much, I've actually asked my wife for a book of Froud troll illustrations for my birthday.
And, I'm looking forward to playing through the Tavern still debating more scatter though.
Viterbi wrote:I knew i had the most catch up to do in this plog Lovely work all around, those goblins are great and enjoyed all the pics of the tavern, really coming together, fireplace is looking great!
Many thanks old son. Need to get some more goblins
Well today had some making and some gaming, which was lovely. Yesterday was the first really, really bad mental health day I've had in a long time; the missus reckons that, ironically, because I wasn't at work I had too much time to think.
First of all, decided to make some Acid Blobs for Forbidden Fortress, in anticipation of the cardstock token version that comes in the game. Used the superglue droplets onto Pva method, cheap and effective. Also, Temple dogs arrived today, so everything's coming up FoFo (or perhaps Foo!) Then, had a great game of Dredd with the lad.
My mutants tried a raid on the big meg
It was a big time rumble; poor old Anderson got stuck back in Boing! Meanwhile, citizens went about their... Legitimate business In the end, the senior Street judge proved why they're so feared (and so much more valuable than a robot!), taking out almost all the perps himself.
Great to break out the full set of Brutal cities terrain. It was also ace to see the boy playing much, much more tactically, neither too defensive nor aggressive but using healing, moving with cover, picking them off steadily - definitely improving. Not an easy win for him, so a good one on many levels. From my perspective, it was my first outing with the mutie gang and I LOVED them, they're a brutal swarm with lots of action manipulation. Going to make his life a misery definitely need to paint up my stront muties, both for variety and to add some special characters with funky rules.
Working on the cowpokes, nothing much to show, but it's all progress, right? More to come,
Graven
Those city streets look amazing. Glad to hear the boy is learning. Keep up the mutie pressure and he'll rise to the challenge.
Looking forward to what comes next.
DJJazzyJeff wrote:Those city streets look amazing. Glad to hear the boy is learning. Keep up the mutie pressure and he'll rise to the challenge.
Looking forward to what comes next.
Many thanks! Oh, paralysis of choice here with what to do though.
Gitsplitta wrote:Fantastic looking gaming area! Really enjoyed hearing about the game and the fine win earned by the spawn.
Cheers! Would more detailed reports be of interest to folk? I appreciate I tend not to play gw, don't know if there's the appetite?
Well now, it's a long weekend here in the UK and the weather has lent itself to BBQ (by which I mean cook-out), beer (too much beer at that) and building with the kids.
That's the rest of my Brimstone built apart from the Nomad Crusaders. More crabby goodness!
And spent some time painting and colouring with little miss (because, after all, Friendship is Magic).
Hungry Ghosts for Forest of the Dead (forbidden fortress expansion). Mostly, this was a test for the forest basing as I continue my texture paint adventures. Agrellan, green wash, khaki highlights, and cotton wool wisps.
And finally, my nasty little goblins won a painting competition patmocon ran a #moonstonemay and I'm delighted that I took my time with the horrid little critters. Got a box set of my choice, so picked up the Dawn, Day and Dusk witches. I don't need them per se, but I do want them, and hey, I think I earned that Graven
Gitsplitta wrote:I'm always interested in any kind of battle report!
You are shameless I shall bear that in mind.
Sorryfor the general lack of content this week. Work continues to be an unmitigated hell. Professionally, I don't think I've ever felt less confident in my abilities. The exam board has been deemed not fit for purpose, and everything and everyone is at odds with one another. Needless to say, that's more work for teachers. And, let's face it, it's all our fault, isn't it?
I've not been entirely idle, however. All my remaining bits for Brimstone turned up from the US (card packs for expanding threats, themed adventure decks, some extra snazzy dice) so I'm now maxed out lol. There's something perversely satisfying about NOT feeling one has anything else to get for a game (gotta catch em all!) Nevertheless, I am finding the last batch of Brimstone heroes fairly tedious... So I painted another little reaper snakey Printed a bow and quiver to add to the dude. Just steadily building up the ranks and on the subject of printing, a little progress on Atrocitus, Lord of Ysmault:
He's... bloody nasty with Sinestro Corps finally on their way from Spain, my lantern war is hotting up!
Where real progress has been made is assembling Moonstone.
Hurrah for the green stuff roller! Nice mix of goblins, trolls, a giantess, cultists and HUMANS! Madness. Just in time for the Kickstarter launch tomorrow...
Graven
Slinky wrote:Always best to change tack when you get bored, lest the mojo desert you
Goblin in boat looks suitably bonkers
Believe me buddy, that's NOTHING compared to the rest of the Pirate gobbos and indeed, wouldn't want to lose my mojo
Gitsplitta wrote:I think that's a wheel-barrel... and yes, totally bonkers! I'd figure out a way to use that model for Bushido!
It's a boat AND a wheelbarrow
Right, so, my little dakkanauts, what next? Well, it's been a weekend of beer and friends as we slowly unlock hereabouts, and work is still monstrous, but I found away to channel the fury. So, feel the rage of dread Atrocitus, Lord of Ysmault.
Blood for the blood god! Skulls for the throne of... Well anyway Meanwhile, whilst painting up my Acid Blobs I realised I wasn't happy with them. They'll be dandy as bases for Belly of The Beast critters (Flesh Mites and Bone Eaters) just not... quite... right for blobs. Back to the drawing board
On the subject of Brimstone generally, there has been some time for a short spot of project catch up... next push of character models done.
Just done piecemeal. Fairly quick and dirty tbh but quite happy with them in the end, especially the bear and wolf forms for the skinchanger shaman.
Talking of bits and bobs
Modular mine tracks and carts, for Brimstone ostensibly but general layout fun. Many thanks to the legend that is endtransmission .
I also painted up a little, printed lantern and chopping block for my Moonstone scenery
To go with the next push of figures...
Wife was building Lego, so I got to build my toys. Happy times And the rest. Not built Crusty Balboa (goblin riding a crab) or the witches three yet, but very nearly there. Did get my Skitarri Nomads (post apoc warriors) done for Brimstone/Forbidden Fortress also, great generic sci-fi figs. This leaves on the build pile just DC stuff (green lantern corps, Sinestro Corps, krypto), Mantic Armada (human and orc fleets) and a set of avenger strike fighters for AI. Which is not bad... Till the birthday hits in a couple of weeks
You know, you say too much stuff, but you're getting it done. I also have too much stuff and work at a snail's pace by comparison to you. Too much is all relative. As long as you're having fun, there's no such thing as too much. At least I don't think so.
Warboss_Waaazag wrote:You know, you say too much stuff, but you're getting it done. I also have too much stuff and work at a snail's pace by comparison to you. Too much is all relative. As long as you're having fun, there's no such thing as too much. At least I don't think so.
Well you're most kind. I agree with you about fun, it does have to be that way, or what's the point?
Gitsplitta wrote:So busy...
It's all just a desperate attempt to preserve what little sanity I have left So with that in mind, some nasty wee critters!
Flesh mites, burrowing through the belly of the beast. The abortive attempt at acid blobs make excellent bases, as hoped. I am sneakily stealing a march on Forest Of the Dead and Forbidden Fortress.
In theory, the hell-time is now over. All marking done, all grades uploaded. Now the final fortnight beckons...
Graven
Wow, Khorne would be pleased with that guy if he wasn’t too busy hiding from him . Nice bloody work on him and the base.
Good to see productivity hasn’t slipped at all, and glad to hear summer is here for you. This is the first year my wife wasn’t in a classroom as a teacher, it has been liberating for her, so I understand where you are at mentally.
They are rather gribbly thanks yeah we're getting away for a week at the start to the country for walks and bikes and swimming and that, and I'm looking forward to some general gaming goodness over the summer with spawn through July.
Theophony wrote:Wow, Khorne would be pleased with that guy if he wasn’t too busy hiding from him . Nice bloody work on him and the base.
Good to see productivity hasn’t slipped at all, and glad to hear summer is here for you. This is the first year my wife wasn’t in a classroom as a teacher, it has been liberating for her, so I understand where you are at mentally.
Bugs , get me the newspaper.
Yeah Atrocitus is a lovely beast. I need to figure out how I'm going to do the rest of my red lantern corps and how to stat them I have plans though.
endtransmission wrote:
You're gonna need a bigger newspaper for those critters!
Send for Quint!
Gitsplitta wrote:Make those things smaller and skinnier and you've got the ear worms from Star Trek, the Wrath of Kahn.... Kahhhhhhn!
Ah, the Ceti eel. Freaked the hell out of me as a kid.
Warboss_Waaazag wrote:Those mites look downright horrifying. I love them.
Thanks kindly. They are horrid little buggers and they were quite a lot of fun. Acid Worms are going to be done in similar style, as are blobs once I figure out how I'm going to do them.
Solar_lion wrote:Awesome .. lots to get caught up on.
so much progress..
Good to see you again buddy
Speaking of gribbly, let’s… get ... sticky…
Ew. Doorways for Belly of the Beast
Good for and or even nids I suppose. All things fleshy and visceral and squirty.
With the lovely little grubs Various other parasites to follow; I almost wish I’d done my Gastral Tyrant on this style of base too, rather than Derelict Ship. Oh, speaking of which:
Auto Turrets, nasty pop-up defence systems (which is why I’ve used the deck plating colour scheme I’ve used on bases elsewhere)
And finally, a very satisfying practical project underway:
I have an awful lot of GREENSI realise how very fitting for my goblin delights! These are nail polish display stands, which fit perfectly in my Ikea shelving. I need to now go through decanting and checking before moving the various inks and technical paints (only other thing I really use from GW) in situ. Still, very positive – even the wife approves
Coming out the other side of work madness, and supers are beckoning me…
Nice job on the bugs and gribbly doorways, they look quite gross in a very good way. The green glow on the turrets is excellent. If possible can you drop by my place and build me a nice shelf for paints? My wife is tired of them sitting on the counter.
aku-chan wrote:Great job on the mites and gooey doors!
Thanks! I'm likely Belly as an Otherworld, the aesthetic is very cohesive. Gross, but cohesive.
Gitsplitta wrote:Man, those portals are good!
Cheers buddy. Hopefully I can do the torii arches (the other portals from the same set) as much justice!
Yorkright wrote: Nice job on the bugs and gribbly doorways, they look quite gross in a very good way. The green glow on the turrets is excellent. If possible can you drop by my place and build me a nice shelf for paints? My wife is tired of them sitting on the counter.
lol glad you approve.
I have to say I was really impressed by these, it was a chat on another p&m here that they were mentioned and they're just perfect. There's a lot of choice but I just checked dimensions and went to Amazon. Damn you Bezos! As the Mrs says, now I just need to get the crap off the floor.
Theophony wrote:I love those gates. I have them somewhere, can't wait to see what you did with the samurai gates from the same box .
Summer is here, Graven is showing off his Guns again
The torii arches are zenithal primed and ready to go. And the brushes are set for summer. Boom!
I am very much working in fits and starts at the moment, little bursts of activity. RL has a habit of getting in the way somewhat: my father in law is increasingly unwell and immobile at the moment, which is a further source of stress - just as the kids become more independent, so one's parents become less so.
However, there was at least sunshine, beer, garden, tasty food, and family. And a little bit of paint:
Acid Blobs are done! Much happier with this version.
Exciting other news, potentially, is that Asmodee UK, the main distributor of US games over here, have reached out with a view to me reviewing Crisis Protocol. I've generally avoided it - very expensive, some rules I'm not sold on - but can't argue with free supers. Fingers crossed Graven
Good luck with Crisis Protocol, it seemed fun, but just another money soak for me so it was cut. Then they came out with x-men , glad I had left when I did.
ooooh lucky you with the Crisis Protocol stuff! I really like some of the figures, but can't be doing with the price... or another game setup!
As for your greens, when I sorted mine I seem to have about 15 greys and about 10 yellows. I don't even use yellow much, but apparently I've been hunting for a decent one for a while and failed so far...
Theophony wrote:Good luck with Crisis Protocol, it seemed fun, but just another money soak for me so it was cut. Then they came out with x-men , glad I had left when I did.
Acid blobs look great.
Sorry to hear about father in law.
Cheers, yeah it's not great news but we'll get through. Glad you like me blobs!
Gitsplitta wrote:Hoping the bad news gets better and the good news turns great! Those are some gnarly looking bases my friend.
Belly of the beast is a gnarly place
DJJazzyJeff wrote:The shelving looks great. Yeah, that’s a few greens there. I have two that are actual mini paints. You could say I’m green with envy.
endtransmission wrote:ooooh lucky you with the Crisis Protocol stuff! I really like some of the figures, but can't be doing with the price... or another game setup! As for your greens, when I sorted mine I seem to have about 15 greys and about 10 yellows. I don't even use yellow much, but apparently I've been hunting for a decent one for a while and failed so far...
I have very few good yellows. Averland, the gw base, is surprisingly good, though deep and mustardy. To get bright yellow I tend to use pink with yellow wash, but my quest for a yellow that meets my needs out of the bottle continues...
Work is the weird twilight zone of end of term, very few kids and all kinds of strange shenanigans. Sigh.
More progress, and more tests. First, a test Torii arch.
Pretty happy with it; 3 more to go. Quite time consuming but really enjoyable. Still, should really get regular Brimstone finished ...
These are the Sand Crabs for Blasted Wastes, which were among the ks bits I was missing that Flying Frog sorted me out with. Big nasty buggers. They'll be great for Strontium Dog too. Speaking of which, for everywhere, everywhen... Nomad Rangers!
They can appear in any world, so I've tried to reflect that in the basing and the caped ones for the worlds with severe or dangerous weather.
Lovely sculpts, nice poses and head choices for variety. Plus a chance to test my wooden board roller for the fortress Wee group shot. Great kit, very cheap and useful. They'll be a great stargrave warband if I fancy it (glares at Briancj in nerd )
On we go
Graven
Theophony wrote:I really like those Nomads, they would be a nice start for a Stargrave (N) crew. Just add a couple robots, dogs or other things.
Torii gate looks great as well.
I am so, so sad I didn't make the Stargraven pun first total dad fail
Right, anyway, remaining Torii gates
Much quicker than the first, as I had a clear idea of what I was doing
Wasteland heavies and Warlord, and another Reaper Nagendra (nice pose on this one, very… tall). I may build some other Warlords from bits and leftovers, we haven't really explored it much as a world yet. Whilst I'm really, really looking forward to working through forbidden fortress (the feudal Japan version of the game with the 24 or so new scenarios) the real fun starts when everything starts crossing over from, well, everywhere Then there's the minor issue of finishing our current Brimstone Campaign - though to be fair there's only a couple of games left in that anyway (travel to Cynder and defeat Belial, then return to our world and seal the realms). However, whilst I don't expect us to be playing FoFo fully painted, I DO want to make a start on it beforehand - hence the work on gribbly inhabitants of Belly of the Beast, and of course the various gates.
But then again, there’s Moonstone:
Just a wee early tease of Crusty Balboa, one of the Goblin Pirates.
As the world slowly unlocks, so the reviews are starting to creep up again. We got a copy of Honeycombs from Gibson Games, a wonderful little hybrid of Dominos and Dobble.
It's got various game modes, including solo and team variants, and can also be treated as a giant puzzle.
Mrs G really doesn’t play games but even she was instantly hooked – we had a game at ten to 7 this morning before she left for work! And the kids are likewise right in there. Instant classic.
Gitsplitta wrote:Lovely work on those Tori gates. You should pick up a game like Bushido or something.
Thanks, and no
shasolenzabi wrote:Those are cool little gribblies
Thanks kindly. There are many gribblies to be had out there.
JoshInJapan wrote:Those torii look swell. Now you need to build four shrines to go with them.
Well, possibly. I want to have some scatter to use as scavenged markers, just as I do with Mine scatter in regular Brimstone. Wee shrines would work.
Funny old weekend, we spent it acquiring animals. Having lost our aged moggy in January, we somehow ended up with a kitten and a puppy in the space of 24 hours. I'm not really a dog person, though the wife is, and after 20 years I've finally caved. Well, there goes my summer of hobby Although I'm a bit wary, I think the long term benefits for us as a family far outweigh any negatives. And as an avowed cat person, it's lovely to have a tiny purring thing again (currently perched on my stomach, contentedly rumbling away).
Father's Day brought Stormtrooper beer, a toolkit encased in Thor's hammer, and Lego - no geek per se, but hey, that's what my birthday on Thursday is for I did spend a chunk of the weekend building Shadow Clan Ninja, Goryu, Shadow Wraiths, Bone Eaters, Nure-onna (Naga,) Jorogumo (Spider Queen) and a Kabuki *hmmmmmmmm* the Shadow Clan kit is a really good generic ninja set, if anyone's interested: 6 ninjas (2 poses, Sword or Scythe), Kosugi leader (polearm) and great accessories (hats, mempo etc) for variety or scatter. This means all of Forest of the Dead is ready to play, along with a selection of other denizens of Forbidden Fortresses, Haunted Castles and Bellies of Beats.
As part of my father's Day demands we also started the final section of our massive, sprawling Brimstone Campaign:
Confronting the Shadow King Belial in his realm, along with his Succubi cult, magma fiends, and...
Meowthra! Well, Harley the kitten.
And, some post apocalyptic scenery from the Strontium Dog starter set'
Fun set, Sarissa, but very fiddly.
Added some extra details, making a sign from an mdf offcut. No Norms!
Not sure what's next. Supers, maybe?
Graven
While all the models are nice and lovely, I am drawn to the cat . Cute little kitten.
So is the Bar a representation of DakkaDakka in Miniature? No Norms allowed.
Also Superheroes is an itch I feel needs to be scratched. Has Knight Models basically given up the ghost? I haven't seen any newer releases from them in a while, surely they haven't run out of DC characters to portray.
Theophony wrote:While all the models are nice and lovely, I am drawn to the cat . Cute little kitten.
So is the Bar a representation of DakkaDakka in Miniature? No Norms allowed.
Also Superheroes is an itch I feel needs to be scratched. Has Knight Models basically given up the ghost? I haven't seen any newer releases from them in a while, surely they haven't run out of DC characters to portray.
KM are mostly pushing BMG 3rd ed just now, fleshing out the different factions (and finally updating Freeze next month, but you didn't hear that from me). They do seem to discretely be trying to resurrect Multiverse, the supers game, with new display-type reissue sculpts (read: Crisis Protocol style) for Zod and Black Adam next month, along with Saint Walker (Blue lantern). I've picked up the other recent box sets - Wonder Woman 84 (Asteria Armour), Hal Jordan Emerald Knight, Sinestro Lord of Fear, Lantern Corps and Sinestro Corps - but I've also got a stack of new Supers Unlimited figs as they've just opened their Etsy store (https://www.etsy.com/shop/KitbashGames). I've been cleaning up the lanterns and need to start on the others.
Gitsplitta wrote:"Harley"... clearly named after Rutger Hauer's character Harley Stone in "Split Second".
Indeed My dad's reaction was priceless, "Why would you name a cat after a motorbike? Isn't that a boy's name?" My parents are emphatically not geeks (well, that's not strictly true, they love fantasy, especially LotR)
endtransmission wrote:
Theophony wrote:
So is the Bar a representation of DakkaDakka in Miniature? No Norms allowed.
How very dare y... oh wait, no. No. You're right
Yeah, embrace the lack of normality Meanwhile, the attempt to sprint through what I already own of FoFo continues with Bone Eaters:
These disgusting blind critters reside in the bowels of the beast so I went for an intestinal colour scheme. Eww. my time serving has not been in vain Speaking of FoFo, the birthday nerd drop was...epic.
Temple of Shadows plus expansions (Temple dogs, corrupted riflemen, Thunder Warriors and tongue demons) and a tonne of great books. Plus a trek TNG command zippy and an excellent star wars t shirt. neeeeeeerd. Got a big Amazon voucher from my father in-law so likely that will go on a couple of beer and pretzel board games I've got my eye on.
I've topped 500+ figs in the first half of the year, I doubt the second half will be as productive, but no doubt good times ahead. Thanks for sticking around - this is now year 11 of this blog and some of you weirdos have been around the full slog, but whether you are a recent, frequent or occasional visitor, you're always welcome in my weird little corner of the dakkanet.
Best to you all
Graven
Looks like a pretty fantastic birthday! My recent Father's Day drop (US Holiday) included a really nice set of wireless Razer headphones, grilling supplies and a back-pack bar so the wife and I can go get potty in the woods. Huzzah!
Syro_ wrote:Those bone eaters look truly disgusting. Nicely done That's some nice loot you got for your birthday. Happy (belated?) birthday Graven.
Thanks. Very pleased with the scheme, they're "supposed" to be yellow with green heads but I want to go more visceral. Not belated at all, many thanks.
Gitsplitta wrote:Love the eyeless ones. Excellent job on them.
Looks like a pretty fantastic birthday! My recent Father's Day drop (US Holiday) included a really nice set of wireless Razer headphones, grilling supplies and a back-pack bar so the wife and I can go get potty in the woods. Huzzah!
Yeah unlike mother's Day our father's Day is the same as yours, I got a Thor's hammer toolkit. Sounds like you got a good haul from your boys. And cheers! You of course have been here since page one, you madman!
endtransmission wrote:Fantastic work on the bone eaters!
Aw thanks mate. They're gross aren't they?
Theophony wrote:Happy B-Day Buddy!
Those guys look like they could really slow down on the Supersizing at McDonalds, I know from experience .
to be fair I'm the same, I've put on a stone over lockdown and most of that is beer didn't stop me having a few today mind you, birthday+ teachergeddon (end of term) is a dangerous combo
Yorkright wrote: Those eyeless ones are disturbing to look at.. perfection! Happy Birthday and that is an amazing haul of goodies.
Cheers mate. Yeah, I'm a very lucky nerd. I also have the big FoFo box coming from my folks (along with whiskey) and boardgames from the wife's siblings so there's more geek shiz to be had I'll wager
Viktor von Domm wrote: man... it could have been a cool double feature... page 375 and your birthday... but you just had to mess it up due to productivity...
happy birthday old meister!
Don't call him old , He alreay calls me old and that would me I'm REALLY old then .
Viktor von Domm wrote: man... it could have been a cool double feature... page 375 and your birthday... but you just had to mess it up due to productivity...
happy birthday old meister!
Don't call him old , He alreay calls me old and that would me I'm REALLY old then .
Viktor von Domm wrote:man... it could have been a cool double feature... page 375 and your birthday... but you just had to mess it up due to productivity...
happy birthday old meister!
Lol how careless of me
Theophony wrote:
Don't call him old , He already calls me old and that would mean I'm REALLY old then .
Well, too true ..
aku-chan wrote:The Boneaters look suitably disturbing.
And happy (belated) Birthday!
Thanks, and thanks!
Viktor von Domm wrote:
Theophony wrote:
Don't call him old , He alreay calls me old and that would me I'm REALLY old then .
credit where credit is due...old chum
I'll just leave you two to it.
Viterbi wrote:Those Nomad Rangers are perfect for Stargrave, cool paintjob. And the Strontium Dog terrain looks cool!
Thanks on both counts! I love the nomads and the fact that they're relatively cheap too is a real bonus
So somewhat extended birthday, spent Friday with parents - bottle of excellent whisky (lagavulin single 16 yo, very peaty), coffee, lovely grub out (normality!) AND forbidden fortress (they're well trained, it's only taken 40 years )
In the meantime, a little hobbying done also These are the Spectral Beings from Forest of the Dead, and though it's an Asian-setting expansion, as the pistol suggests it can be crossed over with the old West. However, you can't have Asian fantasy without... Ninjas!
And finishing off the last of the Otherworld enemies:
Flesh Drones, for the Derelict Ship of Otherworld. My favourite base is the one where I've use a toy car wheel as a fan.
And on a whim...
Uroourrurrurrurr!
Fun bits and bobs to do. Got the urge to get on with stuff, though who knows what will be next? Graven
Briancj wrote:Could you let me know if that Flash Gordon book is any good? Thanks!
--B.
Oh, it's a glorious romp! The model shots and concept sketches alone are fascinating, along with all the background information - really interesting to see how DiLaurentis wrestled with the US system, for example. Well worth getting if you are a fan.
Slinky wrote:Ooh, I like the bantha! Good whim
Lol cheers. I am a creature of whimsy I do keep meaning to get my sw stuff finished. Very poor of me, terrible hobby ADHD.
Theophony wrote:Ninjas and Banthas in the same post, I must have wandered back into the world of Graven, ever eclectic, ever excellent .
Well I suppose that's one way to look at it
On we go into FoFo! A productive couple of evenings were spent building most of the models from Fortress, Temple and various expansions. The plastics are generally very impressive, much better quality than the old plastics or indeed resins. Quite a lot are however disappointingly monopose, though the Oni and tengu at least withstood a little reposing with a minimum of effort. First up, a character model, the Kabuki:
He's the alt sculpt for the Geisha (an eBay cheapie score) rather than from the core boxes per se.
A little freehand cherry blossom. Need to sort my photography out.
I should really clear my SW backlog, my printed Bodhi and Dr Aphra have been sitting on my desk for an age. Good to keep mixing it up
Other news, well, Mantic have officially announced OVERDRIVE, which is their new giant monster smackdown game that I helped playtest. It's a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to seeing it in the flesh.
Gearing up to go away Friday for a week, staycation but much needed. Hopefully get some games in. Also hottub Graven
Nice freehand on Mr kabuki there. I think Brimstone suffers from great ideas, but variable implementations in the sculpts. The spirits and bandits for example are terribad, but the fofo dragon is fantastic. Not gw quality detail, but fun to paint
Yorkright wrote: I came to see all the new projects but staying for the hot tub. That geisha is lovely, looking forward to seeing some monster mash.
Phwoar
Gitsplitta wrote:Love the freehand.
endtransmission wrote:Nice freehand on Mr kabuki there. I think Brimstone suffers from great ideas, but variable implementations in the sculpts. The spirits and bandits for example are terribad, but the fofo dragon is fantastic. Not gw quality detail, but fun to paint
That's very fair. Not seen the bandits yet (assuming you mean japanese ones?) but spirits look poor - assuming that's the ones with the undead phoenix. Looking forward to that and the dragon getting retail release, that I might get ALL THE TOYS!
Theophony wrote:I like him, he reminds me a lot of old Scooby-Doo Villians (In a good way). The colors worked out great and the blossoms are well done.
Clearly you have a good memory Cheers on all counts. I would've got a way with it if it wasn't for you meddling geeks!
Flapjack wrote:Nice little dude. I like how his robes turned out.
why thanks, and welcome!
JoshInJapan wrote:Nice work on the Kabuki dude. I'm especially pleased by your visible brushstrokes. The harsh, impressionistic highlights really pop.
Much appreciated mate, that was a deliberate choice but I was really unsure if it worked. I like it but understand it won't be to everyone's taste.
At the halfway point of the year. Hobbying has kinda stalled, at least in terms of finished product, for a number of reasons: building all the FoFo, getting ready for holiday, getting house sorted for puppy. Despite this, I'm aiming to enter not but two painting contests this month Rise to Resin's 50 Shades of Lass (buy a mystery box, get assigned a colour, paint!) and Dark Elf Dare's As Above, So Below (paint either something flying or demonic or both - good excuse to get a Goblin Airship!)
I'm nearly at 600 figs for the year, though, so I reckon I can have a wee breather Still, hoping for much board games antics in the coming week Anon,
Graven
That's very fair. Not seen the bandits yet (assuming you mean japanese ones?) but spirits look poor - assuming that's the ones with the undead phoenix. Looking forward to that and the dragon getting retail release, that I might get ALL THE TOYS!
Oh god no, I mean the bandits from the original settlement expansion... those are some terribad figures. The undead phoenix is a really nice model as well, as are the spirits that come with it. I mean the ghosts from the forest expansion and the spirits with lanterns... both are just *chunky* and look like they should be metal, rather than something that can be achieved with plastics these days.
Oh god no, I mean the bandits from the original settlement expansion... those are some terribad figures. The undead phoenix is a really nice model as well, as are the spirits that come with it. I mean the ghosts from the forest expansion and the spirits with lanterns... both are just *chunky* and look like they should be metal, rather than something that can be achieved with plastics these days.
where are those two painting challenges?
Oh, yes, they're dreadful. If I didn't have so many things to paint I'd print some better bandits, I have a good stack of STLs saved for that very purpose. I agree about the spirits but I don't mind the ghosts as much. My other gripe with Forest of the dead is there should be more scope for encountering other types of undead. Oh, and that you don't get a Nure-onna Sorceress model. Cheapskates. I really want a carrion phoenix. Damn you flying frog and your erratic release schedule!
Painting challenges both on Instagram, as I avoid the book of face these days.
A little pre holiday WIP, working on some Rebel Scum:
Cerean Trooper, printed Bodhi Rook, Slicer (hacker) with vibro blades (hehehe), Cybered Brawler, and grizzled Smuggler. IA has some truly great, characterful sculpts, for star wars or Stargrave or whatever, really.
Off on holiday now... Forgot the firestick send help ...
Graven
Theophony wrote:We just resigned up for Disney+, watching Mandolorian season 2. Great work on the rebel scum.
Have a happy anniversary of the US Brexitting before it was cool .
This is the way Ain't nothing cool about brexit but we celebrated you colonials in the most appropriate fashion: Tex mex pancakes, beer and BBQ.
A quiet week, enjoying the rain of a British summer holiday So this week we've been playing some wee family fun games.
221B BAKER STREET
The venerable 221b has been around in various forms since the 70s but the current version takes you through 75 cases around Holmes's London. At its core, it plays like a slightly more complex - but less arbitrary - version of Cluedo, as you go round uncovering clues from various locations from the Newsagents to the Docks, Scotland Yard to the Locksmiths, and so on. Clues can be straightforward or cryptic, helping you gradually figuring out (typically) murderer, weapon and motive, before racing back to 221B to solve the case! With some genuine strategy, particularly in the endgame, it's great fun with older kids (my teenager does so enjoy beating me) but crucially also has a cooperative mode where you work together as the Baker Street Irregulars - meaning younger children, or those less inclined to be competitive, can be fully involved. Although sometimes the clues are a little vague, this nevertheless makes for a truly great, accessible family experience.
QUIRK
Quirk is a fun twist on Charades with a dash of Uno, where you try to collect sets of animals or people by doing impressions of them (lion, robot...) The grey cards are a bit harder (llama, yeti...) and the special cards allow you to steal, block or otherwise change the game. Great fun, and just as good for 5 year olds as 65 year olds.
ON A SCALE OF ONE TO T-REX
Continuing the Charades variants, this game from the makers of Exploding Kittens is less about the guessing and more about the performance: everyone knows what you're trying to act out, it's the Intensity that is being guessed. It's a good twist, especially for those of us who aren't quite as theatrical, and certainly lends itself to a casual drinks and boardgames vibe. The kids enjoyed it too, though, so it's good to mix things up especially if you don't mind feeling foolish. Quite noisy this one! On balance, Quirk is I think the better family game, but this lends itself well to grown up nonsense.
OK PLAY
This is an absolute staple in our house and goes everywhere with us - tiny, portable, comes with a handy carabiner for bags, extremely simple but fiendishly complex. It's essentially a take on Connect 4 minus the rack: you alternate tile placement on a table aiming to connect 5 before the other players - yes, you can play this with up to 6 (which frankly gets a bit bonkers, but still). With many different set colours available, and in 2 or 4 player versions, it's the king of travel games. It's worth mentioning that Big Potato, who make this, also have a ton of print and play games available free! Good stuff all round.
RAILROAD INK: CHALLENGE EDITION Railroad Ink is a roll and write where the dice feature train tracks and roads in various combinations and layouts, and you aim to make the most complete set of routes you can on the drywipe boards provided. Highly portable, the challenge not only comes from the routes themselves but also completing Goals that change every game as quickly as possible. There are two core editions of the base game, Lush Green and Shining Yellow, each of which contains an expansion for variety: Lush Green allows you to build hiking trails through the forests, whilst Shining Yellow runs routes across the desert. Both are a lot of fun, but we went for Lush Green simply because it appealed more. You can of course double up core sets, which increases from 4 to 8 players, and there are the two previous Core Sets Blazing Red and Deep Blue (volcanoes and lakes respectively) which are also compatible, although don't include the Goals mechanic which is a key highlight in the game's competition. Mini expansions from the conventional (such as introducing Underground networks) to the bizarre (invading Eldritch creatures) mean that you can tailor your game experience to your particular tastes. I'm not really sold on the weird expansions, for all my love of the mythos, but I'll most likely get some of the more regular ones. (I'm clearly lying )
More generally, in the absence of playing with toys, I've bought some stuff finally managed to track down some sables with triangular barrels, so that's a treat, along with some paint restocks, an Asian themed Gs roller (and yet more GS) and a couple of bits of scatter for moonstone: a town well and a cart pulled by a very large pig, just cos.
12" pancake with hot Sausage, spring onions and coriander (scallions and cilantro to you heretics) all in the mix along with jalapeños, salsa, sour cream, red chillies, ground chilli beef, nachos and cheese on top. Tell me that much food doesn't sound American or at least that much cultural appropriation and casual disregard for history isn't
It may be just me... but *think* you might have struck a raw nerve there Graven
I mean. Everyone knows that to make a proper american pancake you need to make the pancake batter from crushed up pop tarts and Mountain Dew, with a topping that is a mixture of Fruit Loops, Lucky Charms and Cap'n Crunch
(ooooooh my pancreas is hurting at just the thought of all that sugar )
endtransmission wrote: It may be just me... but *think* you might have struck a raw nerve there Graven
Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Lol I seem to have hit a very raw nerve I do kinda get Brian's point, I cook a lot of Texmex (and my bro-in-law is Texan, so I have a very critical audience); all I will say now on the matter was I didn't devise this heretical concoction, but it was tasty. Abominably tasty. Sacrilicious
Viterbi wrote:Sorry to interrupt the gastronomical discussion Lovely updates, Ninjas are of course the coolest and if one is being honest, they fit every setting. Everything is better with Ninjas!
Very true! Ninjas are always excellent I'm looking forward to doing the character ninja, she's very cool.
Well back from my holidays, surrounded by animals, starting to get myself back to some semblance of normality. Got my lovely new brushes, and got the next set of IA figs done:
Nice group of figs.
I also got a pre primed wooden bridge from javis scenics, which mostly do railway and military stuff.
Painted up very quickly. Pre primed feels a bit like cheating I've got a WizKids well that's pre primed too, we'll see how that turns out. Not quite sure what I'm painting up next, supers are still glaring at me. But lots to do, off for the next month so we'll see if I can't get a few models done in July Graven
I really like those rebel scum and bridge but going to have to pass on the Tex mex pancakes. Glad you had some time off, I’m hoping to take some time off this year. Been over a year for us to take a vacation.
Theophony wrote:We forgive the TexMex atrocity .
Glad you had a break, now get back to that painting desk .
Slight addendum to the atrocity: Jeff, my pet Texan, is now furiously planning his own Texmex stack Trying to get to the painting, though puppy interferes somewhat.
Yorkright wrote: I really like those rebel scum and bridge but going to have to pass on the Tex mex pancakes. Glad you had some time off, I’m hoping to take some time off this year. Been over a year for us to take a vacation.
more for me Thanks for kind comments. Yeah, we were lucky to get away at all. Way back in September the wife (who is a hospital microbiology lab manager) looked at the state of things and was fairly sure that the world wouldn't be open once more so we booked up early a week in Cumbria. And though teaching is brutal as a profession, the advantages from a family perspective are undeniable.
So I bought some new brushes, as I said, the Army Painter triangular barrelled detail and insane detail. And after only having used the brush once, for the eyes on the Rebels above, it wouldn't hold a point I am quite ok with cheap brushes not being great but when I've spent that much more than usual for a brush I expect it to do the job! [/rant]
The brush is very comfortable in hand - as I've said many times I generally need to use a triangular barrel because of my muscular difficulties - but I'm pretty darn cross about this. I painted up my Goryu for Forbidden Fortress with it:
These are ghoul-like creatures, and I tried to strike a balance between using strong contrasting colours and not being to bright and shiny. I'm pretty happy but they were more of a slog than they should've been.
Also got to have an excellent game of Moonstone with the boys, teaching the older some faerie trickery and the younger the basics of the game
The scenario is an asymmetric raid (6 attackers, 5 defenders) where the defender hides Moonstones in the buildings and sets up wherever they wish.
It was more about getting the older used to other Dominion figs he doesn't usually use.
He got a bit frustrated as he did well in the first turn, though he was distracted by taking out the giant (which he hates) and so didn't manage to steal my stones, losing the scenario.
The town well in the pics is another recent addition. Reckon that we're getting there at last with the scatter Anyway, more will hopefully follow this summer. It's a bit sporadic. Bear with!
Graven
Rubber pencil grips, old pencils, glue and fur from the dog (it’ll grow back ) you can start your own brush company, paying for more models, .stl files,and paints. Who knew dogs were good for things .
aku-chan wrote:Nice job on those stripey-haired fellas!
Why thank you! I'm happy with the colour scheme, ultimately, and the hair was not... Too... Bad to do
endtransmission wrote:you can get rubber triangular grips for pens/pencils. I'd be surprised if there weren't some for paint brushes
that... Is a genius idea
Theophony wrote:Rubber pencil grips, old pencils, glue and fur from the dog (it’ll grow back ) you can start your own brush company, paying for more models, .stl files,and paints. Who knew dogs were good for things .
very true, very true
It being hot enough to poach a crustacean alive, I finished up Crusty Balboa, the lobster-riding Goblin from the pirates' set:
Arr, and so forth.
There be no law on the sea!
Absolute nightmare to photograph.
Now, here's the thing, he was painted (mostly) with... The army painter detail brush. Having been used a bit, it seems to have settled into a point. So, we'll see, but less enraged than I was...
Also, little miss decided she wanted to paint some more, a soldier and Thing To Guard.
Bless her. Very cute... Until ...
"That's all the blood daddy. Some got on the house." I guess we know her allegiance There's a fair bit of Forbidden Fortress at WIP stage - the Nure-Onna (Naga) vampires, couple of Temple Dogs, other wee bits - so more of that next, I'll wager. When pup permits, that is Graven
Theophony wrote:Nice lobster, just saw the hook hand on the other claw . He best be weary of hobbits with butter churns though.
Your daughter is doing some good work there, that guard really taught that shoplifter a lesson.
Actually, in game, it's gnomes and their general obsession with cheese, scones and beer. But I suspect no-one's safe
So it's very warm, still, which further diminishes hobby time. That, and was very low over the weekend. It's a combination of things, RL, hobby paralysis, all that jazz. To give them their due, Mrs and older boy keep chivvying me to do some painting to forcibly give me a boost (not just so they could work on the Lego World Map) and I've been steadily working on a couple of projects that are best described as... Pending
So here's the first of them, the Goblin Airship for Moonstone:
As you may recall I loathe flight stands. Luckily, one of my Faeries was miscast and they sent me a replacement, so its tree has been repurposed.
I could hide the flight stand further, not sure if it needs it. It has had to be painted black
Certainly a characterful model
Yes, it has a butthole
I think, cautiously, I'm happy with that.
And for Brimstone/FoFo, the Ancient Statue
Fun with verdigris! and the reverse:
A little mempo and hat on the (60mm) base, just to add points of colour. He's a big fella.
Next up in the queue are Temple Dogs and various other FoFo critters, or maybe a couple of dewbacks for SW.
Ah, to be a creature of whimsy!
Graven
Thanks, it's VERY lazy: prime black, 3:1 nihilakh:thinner medium all over, selectively drybrush bronze, add some streaks with thin sepia, and stipple a little white on random places.
Ah, so the verdigris goes on before the bronze! That makes sense, never thought of doing it that way round. Now to print something I can practice it on...
That is a helpful hint with the Verdigris , never thought of doing it before the surface it was going on.
How hot is hot over there? The greenhouse effects were seeing are not pretty. I’m not looking forward to August, September and October (our usual really hot times).
Paradigm wrote:Ah, so the verdigris goes on before the bronze! That makes sense, never thought of doing it that way round. Now to print something I can practice it on...
Happy to help. The reverse method has been my go-to for at least a decade:
Spoiler:
Nihilakh just makes the process quicker
Theophony wrote:Nice work, even on the butthole .
That is a helpful hint with the Verdigris , never thought of doing it before the surface it was going on.
How hot is hot over there? The greenhouse effects were seeing are not pretty. I’m not looking forward to August, September and October (our usual really hot times).
Well it's nudging 30C here which is pretty brutal tbh. We often get weird warm spells, but this is unseasonable for sure. And many thanks
Slinky wrote:Verdigris is awesome, I will squirrel away that hint to do it first!
And the goblin airship is suitably bonkers, over-inflated frogs ftw
Cool, I'm so happy to have helped! Yeah, it really rocks the Labyrinth vibe.
Next, finishing up a set of Temple Dogs, one in each of 3 colour schemes they can come in:
Temple Wardog, Stone Lion and Soul Hunter. I don't normally do the various different colours schemes for the different Otherworlds but I really like these. I also made a woodland patch marker for Moonstone:
Various faeries can generate them, it's like a teleport pad, really, so needs 30mm base space also.
Other than that, and melting like the Wicked Witch on a wet weekend, been doing lots of building. All the other FoFo, green lanterns, that sort of thing. However, it's a full on few days, yesterday being the first anniversary of the mother in law's death and today being our 15th. Still, offspring are getting thrown at my parents for the next week (I'm on a course) so some semblance of peace & quiet and p&m, perhaps Graven
Lovely work all around Graven, hard to say which one is my favorite but the lobster is a stand out. The verdigris on the statue is excellent seems like it should have been harder to achieve that look but you make it sound easy.
Good to see another follower of Khorne in the making. ;-D.
Yorkright wrote: Lovely work all around Graven, hard to say which one is my favorite but the lobster is a stand out. The verdigris on the statue is excellent seems like it should have been harder to achieve that look but you make it sound easy.
Good to see another follower of Khorne in the making. ;-D.
Many thanks on all counts it is the easiest verdigris ever.
Gitsplitta wrote:That's a very silly thing... whatever it is.
silly things are best
Theophony wrote:I like all those Lions, but the center one reminds me of Jade, which is really cool : :thumbsup.
Enjoy your free time while you can.
Cheers old son. And many thanks Busy this week, no kids but doing a course Still, I am trundling through FoFo and its various expansions. First up, Akaname Tongue Demons
Licky Sticky demons. Monopose, so varied the bases, including the first test of the Chinese pattern roller.
And the Oni
Again, monopose, so fiddled about with the tetsubo arm. Very happy with these, and really looking forward to the giant one. He'll be getting a snazzy base, too.
What else is going on? Well, marvel stuff is coming, avengers, wakandans, Asgardians, guardians of the galaxy (a little treat to myself) and cabal of villains.
It's funny how July, typically, is my busiest month, and this year it's my quietest still, one more fig and I've done 600 this year. Not bad, not bad.
Till then
Graven
Lovely work Graven I really like your Onis. These are not for any specific game are they? My first thought was for Bushido but didn't know if you played that one.
I'm always impressed by the amount of colour variety you manage to work into even quite simple sculots, and these are no exception. I particularly like the bright tongues on the demons and the more earthy tones on the Oni as opposed to the primary red/blue you usually see on them.
Even your struggles to hobby are more productive than my hobby time. I guess each of has our own struggles and they appear real to us, even if someone else doesn't understand them. What I mean to say with all of this is keep up the good work, keep cool, and keep an eye on those kids. They grow up faster than you might think.
Paradigm wrote:I'm always impressed by the amount of colour variety you manage to work into even quite simple sculpts, and these are no exception. I particularly like the bright tongues on the demons and the more earthy tones on the Oni as opposed to the primary red/blue you usually see on them.
Thanks kindly chief. I wanted the tongues to pop so it's good to know that worked as for the Oni I used the same approach as Hellboy, very much focusing on the dark tones and building up - but I do slightly regret not doing one in blue tones for contrast.
Slinky wrote:Licky sticky dudes are nice - Is that the GW "Nurgle's Rot" on the tongues?
I am impressed by the mist on the first one's base as well, it's come out really well
Indeed it is! Just a little for slimy goodness. I am cheating a bit by putting a tongue demon on a Forest of The Dead style-base, as they're not an enemy for that set per se but given ANYTHING from anywhere can turn up as an undead version there I figured why not? Also I was fed up with the monopose by that point
endtransmission wrote:The Oni look good. I'm looking forward to seeing what you end up doing with the big one. From the size of the box he's pretty big!
He's going to be red. Big... And red.
Solar_lion wrote:Thanks for the weather bronze technique. That is a nice look. Stealing that... no.. borrowing that.
bad artists borrow. Great artists steal
Gitsplitta wrote:Love how those Oni turned out graven. Excellent.
Thanks *bows in nerd* I am very happy with them and knowing your love of all things Asian fantasy, that means a lot.
DJJazzyJeff wrote:Even your struggles to hobby are more productive than my hobby time. I guess each of has our own struggles and they appear real to us, even if someone else doesn't understand them. What I mean to say with all of this is keep up the good work, keep cool, and keep an eye on those kids. They grow up faster than you might think.
Wise words all round old son. And I've seen your output, your quality far outstrips my quantity.
Speaking of quality over quantity, finished up the Nure-onna vampires for Forest of the Dead.
I found these almost as frustrating to photograph as I did to paint. They're done. That's about all I have to say. At least the 3D printed Naga Sorceress fits well.
So things here have taken a turn for the dramatic with the missus, little one and my mum testing positive for Covid. Clearly it's a girl thing. We're all double jabbed, but it's not much fun, and of course it means we're all stuck in together again still, means I have time to look at this glorious box from Asmodee:
That's a lot of toys although naturally I've also ordered a couple of extra bits to round out factions: Shuri and Okoye for Wakandans, Angela and Enchantress for Asgardians, and Modoc for Cabal (and also just because who doesn't love a giant floating murder head?!) My kids are very excited about the game, so I need to get stuff built post-haste. We have, in the meantime, taken a stab at Champions. It's less intuitive than (say) DC Deckbuilding but it has some interesting mechanics and definitely has a distinctive character for each super. Back in the days of my hobby hiatus (aka university) I played a lot of CCGs, at a fairly competitive level, so card games do hold a certain appeal though I'm very aware that they can be a money pit like no other (yes, even more so than mini gaming) as well as how time consuming deck building can be. Still, this appeals as a casual game, and the kids certainly found it fun. I imagine we'll play about some more in the coming days with it Graven
Sorry to hear about your infected brood. I hope everything turns out for the best. On the bright side, that's an enviable box full of hobby wonder. Looking forward to seeing more completed stuff from you. You're always an inspiration.
That's an impressive delivery from Asmodee! Have fun with them both, I look forward to seeing some reports appearing for both. The figures keep tempting me, but the scale difference and lack of gaming group is currently keeping me away
orange Luthor was one of the other highlights for sure.
IF I have time I'll paint up the big Akuma for Thunder also.
not painting a dozen 
and our wasps are irritating enough, thanks 
.
, plus not as much squeaky girl voices 
what ARE you up to? 
thanks buddy. I know you love your Hallowe'en monstrosities 
What it does mean is that the 3 night terrors I painted yesterday are now done also:
.
I actually rather love them, I think the lava effects really worked on them. And, the big daddy...
rot and general work stress. Just got to keep ploughing through though.
with a tentacle moustache. I'm basically Davey Jones at this point.
great customer service there. 
definitely need to paint up my stront muties, both for variety and to add some special characters with funky rules.
or even nids I suppose. All things fleshy and visceral and squirty.
