Congrats on finishing the NS crew, the last three minis you did are my favorite from the set. That Shade design is great - if virtually never seen in KOW - and the Mind-Screech as floaty death brain is quite solid as well. Banshee is a win too, glad they kept the body horror going with her.

Oh, I've been meaning to give props on the round basing for the Vanguard dudes, for whatever reason it helps me appreciate the sculpts and game even more. Something about squares that detract from the end result for skirmish dudes, like they're simply a part of a regiment somewhere and shouldn't be appreciate in themselves. Whatever the reason, they look better that way, good call.

Great work on the Nightstalkers, they are a bit rag tag in terms of the model design but the choice to use this sort of meat colour for the fleshy ones with the ectoplasm for the ghostly ones is a really good one and ties them together nicely.

Great work on the objectives as well, I am so lazy when it comes to that stuff and never go the extra mile on them. Especially love the lit beacon.

Boss Salvage wrote:Congrats on finishing the NS crew, the last three minis you did are my favorite from the set. That Shade design is great - if virtually never seen in KOW - and the Mind-Screech as floaty death brain is quite solid as well. Banshee is a win too, glad they kept the body horror going with her.

Oh, I've been meaning to give props on the round basing for the Vanguard dudes, for whatever reason it helps me appreciate the sculpts and game even more. Something about squares that detract from the end result for skirmish dudes, like they're simply a part of a regiment somewhere and shouldn't be appreciate in themselves. Whatever the reason, they look better that way, good call.

Thanks. It's very rare in this hobby to be able to say "I have finished." And I agree that round bases look better for skirmish games, and really in general-- 20mm square bases result in a lot of overlap for a lot of models. Of course, Vanguard is designed around square bases, with rear arcs and no corner-to-corner engagment and what-have-you, but that's been easy enough to house rule so far.

Da Boss wrote:Great work on the Nightstalkers, they are a bit rag tag in terms of the model design but the choice to use this sort of meat colour for the fleshy ones with the ectoplasm for the ghostly ones is a really good one and ties them together nicely.

Great work on the objectives as well, I am so lazy when it comes to that stuff and never go the extra mile on them. Especially love the lit beacon.

Thanks for the kind words. I enjoyed painting up this scatter terrain-- it was a nice change of pace.

And speaking of changing pace, I managed to stay somewhat productive whilethe family has been away visiting relatives. I decided to stick with Vanguard for the time being. First, some Lower Abyssals:






One sprue of five models came with my KS pledge. There aren't as many weapon options as I thought, but that's fine, as I don't like having lots of mostly empty sprue lying around. Between these guys and the ones I painted for Dungeon Saga, I have more than I will ever need for Vanguard. Next, some succubi:






Lots of boobs, butts, and thongs-- these models would work pretty well as Witch Elves if you don't mind the tails. Like the Lower Abyssals, a lot of these models have dynamic, running poses. Unlike the Lower Abyssals, the contact point on the bottom of their foot is about a square mm, meaning I had to drill and pin them to get them to stay on their bases. They would have benefited from the older style integral base Mantic used to use. Next, some Abyssal warriors:






In Vanguard, the Lower Abyssals are Grunts (easy to kill cannon fodder), while these guys are Warriors, tougher and more likely to stick around. The retail version of this set comew with two of each of the restic models, while KS backers got three. I decided to vary them up a bit. I gave the guy on the left a spare head from the Lower Abyssal sprue, while the guy in the middle got some spare arms. I like that they are all unique.

Finally, something so mind-blowing that I have to put it behind spoiler tags:


Finally, here's everything I painted this week:


And now I'm tired after all that painting, and I will be taking a couple of days off to rest. As always, comments and criticism are welcome and encouraged.

Infernal are looking excellent, another round of great minis.

The Base.....however you spell them....best paint job you can do to them.i just never saw the drawings as attractive, I didn’t like the forced wings everywhere and had no desire to get any and I’m glad by all the accounts that I didn’t. It’s all part of that Mantic, we have half of a good idea, so let’s chuck it out and see what sticks and we’ll revisit It later plan.

The Abyssals look awesome, so fun to paint with that traditional red skinned devil look.

I cannot believe how much effort you put into those Men At Arms given what you had to work with. You deserve some sort of medal. That was a bad phase with Mantic of releasing some really fugly HIPS minis and hoping no one would notice. The quality control seems better now.

Thanks, guys. The Abyssals were fun to paint, but I got tired of all the red pretty quickly.

Personally, I don7t mind the Basilean aesthetic per se-- they're no worse than any other fantasy human type (Men of Gondor, for instance). These particular models are moe the fault of the half-assed Chinese contractor Mantic used. They've since changed, and quality has improved as a result.

WOW fantastic catch up, wonderful work all round.

Been quietly lurking for a little while as time to comment (let alone do much of anything else) has been in short supply.

But your consistent progress and quality output it often a source of motivation to keep plugging away.

Plus your Noghstalker scheme is really inspired love the way they have come out.

Out of curiosity Josh what colors were you using for the Abyssal fodder skin tones? I can't ever decide on one and would really like to get mine finished and out of the painting cue.


My daughter was more impressed by the randoseru in the photo than your handiwork sadly. She's been nagging for me to get her one which serves no real purpose in the states like it does in the Japanese school system.

Camkierhi wrote:WOW fantastic catch up, wonderful work all round.

Thanks. I'm a little burnt out after that last burst of painting, but I'll have some more to show soonish.

Archer wrote:Been quietly lurking for a little while as time to comment (let alone do much of anything else) has been in short supply.

But your consistent progress and quality output it often a source of motivation to keep plugging away.

Plus your Noghstalker scheme is really inspired love the way they have come out.

You flatter me. It's been a while since I've really pushed myself, but I end up with usable gaming pieces, which is my real goal.

highlord tamburlaine wrote:Out of curiosity Josh what colors were you using for the Abyssal fodder skin tones? I can't ever decide on one and would really like to get mine finished and out of the painting cue.

My daughter was more impressed by the randoseru in the photo than your handiwork sadly. She's been nagging for me to get her one which serves no real purpose in the states like it does in the Japanese school system.

My abyssal recipe is: black gesso primer -> Delta Ceramcoat Dark Chocolate base coat -> AP Chaos Red -> 50/50 Chaos Red/Dragon Red (also AP) layer -> Dragon Red layer -> AP Pure Red spot highlights. Army Painter paints are pretty thin, so I'm not sure the 50/50 layer really shows, but the jump from burgundy to red seemed to harsh when I tried it.

Can you get randoseru in the US? I suspect they're really expensive if you can even find them.

The abbysals look great Josh, thanks for the big update

I've not been posting much here on Dakka, but I have been reading everyone's pblogs. Lots of great stuff, it makes me just a little ashamed to be going so slow. That said, I have finished a few things:



Three restic gargoyles for Vanguard. I bumped these up the queue at the request of my son-- the last time we played, I kicked his butt because I had flyers able to grab objectives before his much slower troops could. I pretty simple paint job, with just a couple of splashes of red to tie them in with the rest of the Abyssal warband.




More Vanguard models-- Basileans this time. These are much better than the original Basilean plastics, despite not having the grumpy sourpuss faces. I really wish that Mantic did assembly guides, though, as the pieces aren't labelled, and the arms aren't in the least universal.



And finally, an undead minotaur from Bear's Head. I picked this guy up on a whim along with a Beholder model that I've yet to paint. The sculpt is pretty rough, with a lot of bumps and divots that probably aren't meant to be there. Also, the hands don't quite match up with the wrists. That said, it's a nifty model to use for Frostgrave/Rangers/Whatever.

I'm currently working on some plastic dwarfs from Mantic for my son's warband (technically, they're his project, but he hasn't shown much interest past the assembly stage), and couple of terrain pieces for a LoER competition. I hope to have something ready to share by the end of the week. Wish me luck.

I was just thinking the other day that you hadn't updated in a while...

3 more winners there, Josh

Those Basilians are definitely a huge improvement over the original plastics, which I was unfortunate enough to own some of briefly.

Good to see you back Josh! And no worries about speed, we all hit different patches of times where it's hard to find time to update (I'm in one myself). Good luck on the LoER terrain!

Welcome back- particularly like the polearm guys!

Slinky wrote:I was just thinking the other day that you hadn't updated in a while...

3 more winners there, Josh

Those Basilians are definitely a huge improvement over the original plastics, which I was unfortunate enough to own some of briefly.

Thanks. I still have one more sprue's-worth of the ugly Basileans that I will probably turn into webbed-up spider victims. It feels better than just throwing them away.

Syro_ wrote:Good to see you back Josh! And no worries about speed, we all hit different patches of times where it's hard to find time to update (I'm in one myself). Good luck on the LoER terrain!

Glad to be back. Looking at all the other WiP LoER entries, I'm way out of my league this time, but at least I'll have some updated terrain to play on.

Meer_Cat wrote:Welcome back- particularly like the polearm guys!

Thanks!

As promised, here are some dwarfs:


During fulfillment for the first Kings of War kickstarter, Mantic would reopen their pledge manager before each wave of shipping. Naturally, I added on a lot of stuff each time. I think it was in the third wave that I picked up a dwarf starter army. Shortly after they arrived, I painted up ten troopers as an experiment in Dipping (using AP strong tone), wasn't entirely satisfied with the results, and sort of shelved to project. Since then, my son has sort of claimed the dwarfs as his own. After our third or fourth game of Vanguard, he decided that it was time to start painting dwarfs, and together we assembled, filled gaps, and primed about a dozen models. He then lost interest, leaving it up to me to finish.

The models themselves are very much of their era-- full of character, but somewhat difficult to assemble and requiring quite a bit if gap filling. That said, they paint up well enough for a rank-and-flank game, and I'm a fan of this style of dwarf. They remind me of John Rhys-Davies as Gimli-- all giant beard, broad shoulders, and no neck. Their shields a kind of lame, but I'm no really sure what to do with them. I think they need some sort of transfer, but I haven't decided on (or really even looked for) a good design.

I have another half dozen of these guys started, along with two throwing mastiffs and also the last three Mantic ogres I got in and earlier wave of the same KS. Progress is slow but steady. As always, comments and criticism are welcome and encouraged. Thanks for looking.

Wow, some fantastic stuff here just on the last page. I'm gonna have to set aside some time to see what else I've missed out on.

Here are some more Dwarfs for my son's Vanguard warband:




That last photo is a group shot of all 11 I painted this month. Combined with the 10-or-so I have had in the Big Box of Frostgrave models, we have all the troops and leaders we will ever need. I have a number of models I can use as the various specialists, but they're a ways back in the queue.

I also finished the caves/hills I was making for the LoER competition:










Given the quality/ambiition of the other entries, I have pretty much zero chance of winning, but I think these will be a nice addition to my battlefields. That's reward enough, I think.

The dwarves are great, Josh! I keep finding things on this blog that get me excited to add 'just one more army type' and I have too many odds and sods going on already!

That terrain piece is very well done- the tones and textures are perfect. You put some good time into crafting _that_.

A nice collection of dwarves Josh, and nicely painted. I think your terrain piece turned out nicely.

Terrain is super, Josh, well done!

Winter starts early here in northeastern Japan, making waking up before dawn much less appealing. Nonetheless, I've gotten a few models finished since my last update.

First up, a unit of Mantic ogre shooters:


These guys come with bits for either blunderbusses or crossbows. Having done the former, I went with the latter this time around. I assume that no one reading this remembers, but this is the second time I tried to make a unit of ogre crossbows. The first set only came with two crossbows for three models, so I ended up giving them guns instead. This pack also only came with two crossbows, so I assume that this was a chronic issue. Luckily, I kept the unused parts from last time, and was able to build the complete unit. This unit marks the last of my unassembled Mantic ogres. They are not, however, the last ogres in my Closet of Shame, so sometime in the future I'll be adding to the army. For now, though, I feel like I can call them "complete."

Next up, some more Mantic Dwarfs:


My son and I assembled these guys about a month ago, but it took a while for them to move to the head of the queue. For the riders, I wanted to try washing/glazing over a white basecoat, just to see if I could do it. Ultimately, though, I couldn't-- I kept finding little patches of white in hard-to-reach areas. They ended up taking far, far longer than my usual techniques. The badgers were quick, though. I have another five, but I'm not quite ready to tackle another pile of fiddly restic models just yet.

Finally:


Dwarf throwing mastiffs. They come one to a sprue with the dwarf troops. My son likes to include animals in his armies/warbands, but he hates for them to get hurt, so mostly they hide in the background. It seems like a waste of points to me, but I can't fault him for being concerned with animal welfare.

Next update, I hope to share some Frostgrave wizards that have been sitting primed and ready to go for months. Thanks for looking in, and as always comments and criticism are welcome and encouraged.

Still here, plugging away. First up, I finally finished these Frostgrave wizards, designed and assembled by my son many months ago:





The guy on the left has my favorite head from the FG wizard sprue. I plan to use the other one (still on sprue) for a Ranger model for RoSD. The guy on the right is based on the results of a GIS for "hindu mystic." My son really, really wanted to give him a rat, which is why he's on a flagstone base-- the rat is so small that he would get lost if I used my normal white glue-and-dirt basing. Also he's supposed to be holding a plasma ball, but I'm not sure it comes across that way on the model.






I'm really happy with the face on the guy on the left, but not so much with the potion bottle. Like the rat, my son really wanted to use the owl, and he designed the model around the bird.

I also painted up a few dwarfs from Bad Squiddo, but for some reason, not all of the photos made it into my gallery. Here they are with the wizards:


Finally, a model I painted for the Secret Santa event on the 'eavier Metal FB group:


There are two variants of this model, one with the demonic face mask (shown here), and one with a plain eldar helmet. Way back in the day, I hated this particular model, and loved the plainer one, mostly because it seemed to fit better with the rest of the army. Now, I like this one a lot more.

It's Christmas Eve here, and I suspect that I'll not have much time to paint for the next week or so, but I'll be staying behind to take care of our very old dog while my wife and son are off visiting her relatives, so I'll have to see if I can't get some large project done in the week I'm alone.

Nice batch of wizards, I really like the guy in the turban.

Great stuff, I wonder when my girls will be able to build models... The FG female wizards would be perfect.

Well been a while, but awesome is still here I see.

Lovely work on those Dwarves! Your hills look fantastic as well, love how rounded they are and the rock effect is really nice.

Frostgrave wizards are wonderful, your Frostgrave stuff always looks great. Especially like the Blue Turban and the little magical orb.

Your painting is really consistently great. Lots of models done, but a really high standard for all of them, and excellent photography.

aku-chan wrote:Nice batch of wizards, I really like the guy in the turban.

Thanks. Like I said, my son designed and assembled him. I was a little leery at first, but he's a pretty neat model.

Kid_Kyoto wrote:Great stuff, I wonder when my girls will be able to build models... The FG female wizards would be perfect.

I have a set of the wizards, but haven't assembled them yet. The female soldiers are nice models-- fully clothed and well equipped. They fit alongside my Bad Squiddo models quite nicely.

Camkierhi wrote:Well been a while, but awesome is still here I see.

Thanks. I've slowed down a lot in the last year, but I'm generally happy with the quality of my recent work.

Da Boss wrote:Lovely work on those Dwarves! Your hills look fantastic as well, love how rounded they are and the rock effect is really nice.

Frostgrave wizards are wonderful, your Frostgrave stuff always looks great. Especially like the Blue Turban and the little magical orb.

Your painting is really consistently great. Lots of models done, but a really high standard for all of them, and excellent photography.

Thanks. The hills turned out better than I thought they would-- I generally followed the Craggy Hill tutorial here on Dakka. I want to do more terrain building this year.

I had big plans for the new year-- I usually have to stay behind to take care of the house and pets while my wife and son go to visit her family. But my son got sick, and had to spend five days in the hospital between Christmas and New Year's,, and then stayed home with me. We watched a lot of movies, played a few games (not as many as either of us would have liked), and put on a few kilos of vacation fat. That said, I did get some stuff done:



I assembled a sprue of Frostgrave Soldiers II right before I started the dwarfs I shared last time. For whatever reason, I decided that I didn't want to paint them, and stuck them at the back of the queue. This one is kind of drab, or businesslike, if you prefer.



When I assembled these, I decided to use parts that I hadn't used on the previous set. Thus, this archer with the leather cap. This one was a little more Robin Hood inspired, but still rather drab.



To make this treasure hunter, I had to cut the hand off of one of the arms and add the hand wielding the dagger. I kind of wish there was just a left arm holding a dagger already on the sprue, as I dropped the hand at least twice while assembling the model.



A little more color on this one, plus some freehand on the shield. My gallery page blows up my photos to ridiculous sizes, and this model looks terrible there, but it's much more acceptable in real life.



Another freehand shield. It also looks better in real life. Here are the soldiers all together:


But wait-- there's more! Frostgrave (also GA and RoSD) are my favorite games of the last ten years, but Dreadball is a close second. To this day, I regret not backing the first DB kickstarter, but I did get in on the DBX KS. That's where this team is from:



The Koris have the same stats as the basic human team, but their Jacks can create portals on the pitch, allowing players from either team to teleport around. Of course, non-Koris players have a higher chance of getting lost on the way. I started working on these guys probably sixm onths ago, but Restic Frustration kicked in, and they got shelved until this winter. Far from my best work, but they'll do just fine on the DB board.

I'm currently working on a Z'zor team for Dreadball, and I probably need to start on my LoER entry as well. Hopefully I can update more often. As always, comments and criticism are welcome and encouraged.

Those Koris look great. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen them before. I got burnt by Mantic and it’s hard to look back at their stuff now, but models like those are just so different that I gets me thinking.

Hope your son isn’t on the mend.

 Theophony wrote:
Those Koris look great. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen them before. I got burnt by Mantic and it’s hard to look back at their stuff now, but models like those are just so different that I gets me thinking.

Hope your son isn’t on the mend.

Thanks. He's back to his old self now, but the first couple of days in the hospital were pretty darn scary.

Mantic has had their share of near-misses and downright failures, but the games themselves have been good enough for me to tolerate substandard models, especially since I don't have to use them. Their most recent releases has all been pretty solid.

It's been slow going this month, but I managed to finish the Jacks for a Z'zor team for Dreadball:


The three on the left are identical, and the other two, er, are not. For whatever reason, the photo looks washed out-- IRL you can see the shading work I did. These models won't win any awards, but they'll work just fine as gaming pieces. Also, I'm starting to put together my entry for the latest LoER entry. Here are the raw materials:



In Rangers of Shadow Deep, there is a monster called a Dark Root, a sort of immobile carnivorous plant. I envision it as something like a Triffid. The Orangina bottle will be the trunk, and the palm fronds (not all of them) will help cover the neck of the bottle.

In addition to the Dark Root, I have the Z'zor Strikers assembled and basecoated. Hopefully they'll go faster than the Jacks did.

Nice looking bugs there sir! I may be slightly fond of Dreadball...

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Nice looking bugs there sir! I may be slightly fond of Dreadball...

My favorite game of the last ten years is Frostgrave and its variants, but Dreadball is a close second. It plays fast, it's pretty well balanced, and you don't need a ton of models. What's not to love?

Wow, that's high praise. I try to stick to a small number of game systems but a lot of people here on Dakka (yourself include Josh) make that hard

Dreadball is my absolute go-to, easily my favourite new game of the last 5 years certainly.

Are you on the Facebook group, the Dreadball Fanatics?

Syro: Dreadball is less of a wargame and more of a boardgame with miniatures. It's not quite as time- and resource-intensive as most other games.

graven: I am a member, but I don't think I've ever posted anything. I should probably at least share what I've painted.

Just finished my "skim" through. The nostalgia is thick for those old Chaos models Looking forward to keeping up with your more recent endeavours.

 Arakasi wrote:
Just finished my "skim" through. The nostalgia is thick for those old Chaos models Looking forward to keeping up with your more recent endeavours.

Thanks for looking. I have a lot of love for those old Chaos models as well. They were my first WHFB army way back when, and I still have a soft spot for models of that era. That said, here are some much more recent models:


Here we have the strikers for the Z'zor dreadball team. Rules-wise, the jacks are actually superior to these guys, but the strikers are more reliable for scoring. Next up:

The guy on the left is a guard, the guy on the right is a keeper. Keepers only appear in league play, so I'll most likely only ever use this guy as a guard. Here's the whole team together:



I have two more jack bodies, but they didn't come with the appropriate arms. Instead, I have a couple of sets of claws like the guards have. If/when I get around to them, I'll paint them up as bugmen to go along with the Mi-go models I've had lying around. Next up, some models I got in a Kickstarter a few years back:




These four are Maidens of the Dragon, which is also the title of a KS project I backed a few years ago. The finished models look pretty good at arm's length, but quite terrible in these extreme close-up photos. Also, here's a Bad Squiddo modlel:


This is Jarl Latherga, from the Shieldmaidens line. Again, the model looks much better IRL than in these photos. Finally, a little WIP for my LoER entry:



I put down a layer of filler on a CD, and started adding roots made of air-dry clay. I hope to use the texture of the bottle, but that's dependent of getting the clay to transition smoothly. Also shown are two plastic flowers that come packaged with thin-sliced beef for Korean BBQ. They have a sort of Georgia O'Keefe look to them, which seems appropriate for a Triffid.

Next up, some models which I didn't know that I needed until I saw them. Until then, comments and criticism are welcome and encouraged.

Lovely, lovely colours on your Z'zor there. Just a thought, you'll want prone markers, why not use the spare bodies as those?

I have a couple of prone markers that came with the team, but I got tired of all that green. I'll have to knock those out soon.

Also, aren't prone markers only really needed in DBX? In regular DB, I just lay the model on its side.

wow, I really like those ladies. Nice old school fantasy.

If you consider those ladies terrible looking, I hate to hear you unfiltered comments about my work .

Tree is very clever work.

Polonius wrote:wow, I really like those ladies. Nice old school fantasy.

Thanks. They'll fill a number of roles in Frostgrave and/or RoSD.

Theophony wrote:If you consider those ladies terrible looking, I hate to hear you unfiltered comments about my work .

Tree is very clever work.

If you click over to my gallery, you can see the ugly layering in all its glory. The camera is unforgiving.

I really like how your fantasy ladies turned out Josh. I also like your idea for the Orengina tree, I'm looking forward to seeing it progress.

Nice batch of ladies.

Syro_ wrote:I really like how your fantasy ladies turned out Josh. I also like your idea for the Orengina tree, I'm looking forward to seeing it progress.

Thanks. The tree is taking a little longer than I thought it would. It's a good thing the deadline is still a month away.

aku-chan wrote:Nice batch of ladies.

Yeah, I'm happy with them. I think they'll work in a few different games.

I have a few different things to share this week. First up, Blemmyes:





I have been vaguely aware of stories of these guys, but had never imagined that anyone would make models of them. Then, these guys popped up on a FB group (Ghost Archipelago, I think), and realized that I they not only existed, but also that I absolutely had to have them in my collection. The scultping on their extremities is a little sketchy, but their faces are really, really well done. I actually read a couple of tutorials on painting busts so I could do their eyes justice. Alas, I had to Liefeld their feet with tufts.

Next up, half of a Dreadball team:


The Tsudochan are itenerant religious fanatics with telepathic powers. Naturally, they play future sports. I was pretty happy with their paint jobs until I saw the oversized close-up photos in my Dakka gallery. I wonder if my photos are being pixellated when I upload them? Anyway, there are four more in the set (two each of four different poses). They paint up pretty quickly, so I should have these guys ready to play this weekend.

Finally, BattleJack!:


This dog came with the Nickstarter for the FG Soldiers 2 set, along with all the metal models. Although the face looks more like a Bull Terrier, I based his paint job on our Jack Russell Terrier, who wears a winter coat that looks a lot like this model's armor. I suspect that this guy will show up a lot when I play FG.

I also did a little work on the Triffid, but didn't take any photos. I'll try to rectify that soon.

I am envious of your skill doing the eyes and the tone/texture of the skin- the Headless Men (Voynich Manuscript achetypes?) display it well.

Great Bloodbowl line and the dog is perfect!

Meer_Cat wrote:I am envious of your skill doing the eyes and the tone/texture of the skin- the Headless Men (Voynich Manuscript achetypes?) display it well.

Great Bloodbowl line and the dog is perfect!

Thanks. The eyes are really big, which made them a lot easier to paint. For normal 28mm infantry, I'm lucky to get the black dot in the right place.

All super snazzy. Tsudochan are VERY nasty in 2nd - a finesse team, but still. The headless things are extraordinary, and the pup is fantastic.

The Tsudochan look fun to play and irritating to play against. I hope to give them a spin this weekend.

JoshInJapan wrote:The Tsudochan look fun to play and irritating to play against. I hope to give them a spin this weekend.

You can use them to "block" the back field, which is slightly counter-intuitive but very nasty. Prevent your opponent getting into your strike zones; it's a war of attrition. That help?

I feel like I remember headless dudes from like Greek myth even? I don't think Odysseus met any, but they might have popped up in that whirlwind of islands he blew through.

Anyhoo, yours look really good! Like unexpectedly solid for such strange sculpts, nice work

inmygravenimage wrote:

JoshInJapan wrote:The Tsudochan look fun to play and irritating to play against. I hope to give them a spin this weekend.

You can use them to "block" the back field, which is slightly counter-intuitive but very nasty. Prevent your opponent getting into your strike zones; it's a war of attrition. That help?

I envisioned using the Push to move a teammate carrying the ball downfield without using actions. Your idea sounds interesting as well.

Boss Salvage wrote:I feel like I remember headless dudes from like Greek myth even? I don't think Odysseus met any, but they might have popped up in that whirlwind of islands he blew through.

Anyhoo, yours look really good! Like unexpectedly solid for such strange sculpts, nice work

Thanks. The faces were really nicely done, even if the bodies were a little off. I remember reading about Headless African Tribesmen as an example of European (or possible Greek) historians writing about places they had never visited.

Aww, nice little doggy.

GET OFF, GET OFF, GET OFF!

 Slinky wrote:
Aww, nice little doggy.

GET OFF, GET OFF, GET OFF!

I'll have you know that BattleJack is a friendly dog who only attacks birds and squirrels who try to invade is yard. Also, humans who have food in hand.

Wonderful. Love it all bud.

Love those headless men, so wacky and weird, you've done a great job on their faces.

Camkierhi wrote:Wonderful. Love it all bud.

Thanks, Cam.

aku-chan wrote:Love those headless men, so wacky and weird, you've done a great job on their faces.

These are quite likely my favorite models that I've painted so far this year. I wouldn't want to paint a whole army of them, but this little warband was just right.

Omg, I can't believe someone actually made Blemmyes minis. That's so over the top. Great job painting a model that's entirely face!

 Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:
Omg, I can't believe someone actually made Blemmyes minis. That's so over the top. Great job painting a model that's entirely face!

Thanks. Before I saw the models, i never even imagined someone would make models of these guys. Once I saw them, of course, I suddenly couldn't live without them.

Coronavirus/covid-19 is spreading all over the country, and schools were ordered to shut down two weeks early, meaning that my son is home a lot more, which in turn means that I'm spending more time looking after him and less time hobbying. I'm not complaining, mind you, as family time is precious, and I've still managed to find a few minutes here and there to finish these guys:




This brings me up to nine fully-painted Dreadball teams. I should start a league or something.

I also started working on some mechs, and even managed to finish this guy:


I bought a set of these clunky PVC mechs from some ebay seller in Russia, then put them in a box and forgot about them for at least five years. I got to thinking about them when I picked up the Starbreach rules and saw that every faction gets some sort of walker. I really need to up my game for vehicles and weathering, but fortunately I have several more walkers just waiting to be assembled and painted. In fact, I have another one that I hope will be ready to share within the week.

 JoshInJapan wrote:
Alas, I had to Liefeld their feet with tufts.

Josh, while I've always loved your work, now, I must say, I love your mind. Have you considered pouches? Might be hard to do shoulder pads on a model with no neck...

bbb wrote:

 JoshInJapan wrote:
Alas, I had to Liefeld their feet with tufts.

Have you considered pouches? Might be hard to do shoulder pads on a model with no neck...

I knew something was missing on these guys!

Josh, is your son old enough to get in some table-top gaming together while he's home?

 Syro_ wrote:
Josh, is your son old enough to get in some table-top gaming together while he's home?

During the week, he goes to his after-school center so we can work. When we're home together, I try to get in some gaming, but there's also a honey-do list that eats up a lot of my time. I think we need to hammer out a concrete schedule, but that feels a little weird on a day off.

I hope you find some gaming time, but I totally understand not having the time. When you're forced to work from home you can't really escape your work at the end of the day, and time constraints aren't really respected. I've never worked such long hours as I have since having to work from home because of Corona virus.

I'm not actually working from home. Classes and club activities were put on hold a week ago, but teaching staff still have to come in for end-of-the-year work-- meetings, sending out grade reports, make up classes and so on. My son is going to his after-school center (it feels weird to call it daycare, but that's what it is). So even though school is out, no one in my family is really out of school. I've been saving my time off, and will probably take the last ten days of the month off so I don't lose it before PTO resets in April.

While there are, as yet, no reported cases of COVID-19 in our area, that doesn't mean we can relax entirely. Despite all the schools being closed, and despite all the handwashing, my son managed to catch the 'flu. While staying home to watch him, I did manage to get some hobby work done:



These are the Brokkr team for Dreadball. Much like the Deadzone versions, I think of these guys as blure-collar, working class type who strap on the armor and hit the pitch in their off time. Accordingly, I painted them in jeans and T-shirts (except the strikers, who are barechested), with simple black armor. As usual, the extremely zoomed-in shots in the gallery show off every flaw, while they are pretty good IRL and at arm's length. Here's the whole team:


I also finished off this 'mech:


On the last 'mech I shared, I went a little overboard on the chipping and weathering. I think I went a little too light on this one. Time to watch more Youtube tutorials, I think.



This one is big enough for a hatch the opens and a detailed interior. The pilot is a Bad Squiddo model, with some legs I had left over from a failed conversion, and pants sculpted on. Again, the model looks much better in real life. Finally, a scale shot with one of the Brokkrs:


As you can see, it's a pretty large model.

Next in the painting queue, I have some RAFM models that I got in a Kickstarter some years back.

Lovely weathering on the mech, that would transfer well to the Brokkr "Captain" or either of the big Forge Father mechs if you've got them? Really like your Brokkr scheme, I picked up a couple of Deadzone Brokkr to add variety and also use as experienced guys with "illegal" weapons.

More good stuff, Josh. I like the weathering on the first mech, I think you're being too hard on yourself there.

2nd one looks great too, and the crewwoman fits in perfectly, good conversion job!

Hope the boy gets better soon

inmygravenimage wrote:Lovely weathering on the mech, that would transfer well to the Brokkr "Captain" or either of the big Forge Father mechs if you've got them? Really like your Brokkr scheme, I picked up a couple of Deadzone Brokkr to add variety and also use as experienced guys with
"illegal" weapons.

I have a couple of the FF walkers still unpainted (one finished), but Deadzone has been pretty low priority recently. I'm trying to get into Starbreach-- that's what these 'mechs are meant for-- so maybe I'll go back to the many, many unpainted DZ minis that continue to taunt me from the Closet of Shame.

Slinky wrote:More good stuff, Josh. I like the weathering on the first mech, I think you're being too hard on yourself there.

2nd one looks great too, and the crewwoman fits in perfectly, good conversion job!

Hope the boy gets better soon

My son spent the first day in bed, then the meds kicked in and he's mostly been bored. Today is his last day of 'flu isolation, then it's back to corona isolation instead.

I've been watching Youtube tutorials on weathering, and have been thoroughly impressed by the results some of those hardcore modellists get. I've been wanting to up my hobby game for a while now, and armor/mechs is my current focus. It looks like oil paints are the key, but I've yet to jump into those. Maybe over spring vacation...

 JoshInJapan wrote:

Syro_ wrote:I really like how your fantasy ladies turned out Josh. I also like your idea for the Orengina tree, I'm looking forward to seeing it progress.

Thanks. The tree is taking a little longer than I thought it would. It's a good thing the deadline is still a month away.

aku-chan wrote:Nice batch of ladies.

Yeah, I'm happy with them. I think they'll work in a few different games.

I have a few different things to share this week. First up, Blemmyes:





I have been vaguely aware of stories of these guys, but had never imagined that anyone would make models of them. Then, these guys popped up on a FB group (Ghost Archipelago, I think), and realized that I they not only existed, but also that I absolutely had to have them in my collection. The scultping on their extremities is a little sketchy, but their faces are really, really well done. I actually read a couple of tutorials on painting busts so I could do their eyes justice. Alas, I had to Liefeld their feet with tufts.

Next up, half of a Dreadball team:


The Tsudochan are itenerant religious fanatics with telepathic powers. Naturally, they play future sports. I was pretty happy with their paint jobs until I saw the oversized close-up photos in my Dakka gallery. I wonder if my photos are being pixellated when I upload them? Anyway, there are four more in the set (two each of four different poses). They paint up pretty quickly, so I should have these guys ready to play this weekend.

Finally, BattleJack!:


This dog came with the Nickstarter for the FG Soldiers 2 set, along with all the metal models. Although the face looks more like a Bull Terrier, I based his paint job on our Jack Russell Terrier, who wears a winter coat that looks a lot like this model's armor. I suspect that this guy will show up a lot when I play FG.

I also did a little work on the Triffid, but didn't take any photos. I'll try to rectify that soon.

I know I am quite late to the party on this, but just to say this is some of your best work I have seen. Long-time lurker on this thread, but the headless men and the rendering of your dog in armour are just top-notch. I would love to play an RPG with minis like this on the tabletop.

Thanks for sharing, really inspirational stuff

For weathering, I like acrylic ink washes and pastels/chalk.

--Brian

IGtR= wrote:


I know I am quite late to the party on this, but just to say this is some of your best work I have seen. Long-time lurker on this thread, but the headless men and the rendering of your dog in armour are just top-notch. I would love to play an RPG with minis like this on the tabletop.

Thanks for sharing, really inspirational stuff

Thanks for the kind words. I really had fun with these models-- I'm still not sure what game I'd use them for, but that's actually quite refreshing-- painting something for fun rather than as part of an army or whatever.

Briancj wrote:For weathering, I like acrylic ink washes and pastels/chalk.

I guess that I should say "chipping" rather than "weathering." I already use washes/glazes (artist acrylics thinned with glaze medium and water). I've tried chalk in the past, but it's been hard to get the effects I want since I don't use spray fixatives-- it's pretty much cold, wet, or cold and wet year round where I am, and brush on sealers smear the powder.

I'd suggest the 'salt weathering' technique, then?

--B.

Doesn't salt weathering only work with airbrush/rattlecans?

I've been able to work with brush on, using sea salt, after the application of hair spray. However, it sounds like sponge chipping/weathering might be a better way to go?

If you say it works, then I'll find a scrap model to try it on.

You still have to spray hairspray, so that may rule it out for you.

--B.

I can get hairspray in pump bottles, so that should be doable.

So, the way my current contract is written, my PTO resets on April 1, at the start of the new school year. I try no to take a lot of time off when school is in session, just in case someone in the family gets sick or has some toehr sort of emergency. Since any unused vacation days disappear at the end of March, I usually just take the last 7-10 days off. COVID-19 continues to spread, but it has yet to appear in my prefecture. Nonetheless, we are trying to avoid crowds, meaning I have had more hobby time than usual. Thus, I cranked out this lot over the last week or so:


All but one of these models is from RAFM's Airship Pirates line. I backed the Kickstarter many years ago, and when the models finally arrived, I didn't have any real use for them. The models were packed away in the Closet of Shame until quite recently, when I started playing around with Starbreach (there's a thread in the Misc. Games section). Specifically, I decided that these guys would work pretty well as a Continuum Syndicate warband.



These first two models are airship marines. I based their uniforms on 19th century royal marines, based on a couple of seconds of googling.



These guys are airship pilots. I decided that, unlike the marines, they should be a little more individual, thus the different colors for their jackets and scarves.



These are Titus Munteanu (L) and Dan Cederman (R). RAFM apparently licensed the images of/parntered with Abney Park, a steampunk-themed band. I'm listening to them on YouTube as I write this. Not really my preferred style of music, but not terrible, either.



Josh Goering (L) and "Mechanical Airship Engineer" (R). Josh there, armed with pistol and machete, reminded me of Charles Manson for some reason, but I ended up not trying for the crazy eyes or the swastika tattoo. The engineer looked a lot like Sigmund Freud, so I gave him a staid grey suit. After painting him, his fave looked more like Mark Hamill.



Automaton prostitute (L) and Constance Bashford (R). I'm going to treat the automaton as a psyker in Starbreach-- the main psyker for this warband has Plasmid abilities, which affect machines. Constance is a steampunk-themed model. I didn't find any photos of her in this particular outfit, so I ad-libbed it.



This steam-powered robot is a "peeler." I'm guessing that name makes more sense if you have the Airship Pirates RPG, which I do not.



This last one is actually a Reaper model: Ape-X from their Chronopia line. I've had it sitting in a box with all the other Bones models I got from the first KS. It seemed weird enough to fit the time-travelling pirates theme of the Continuum Syndicate, and I figured that was a good enough reason to finally get this guy painted up.

I don't know when I'll actually play Starbreach, but thinking about it has gotten me on a SF kick. My next project will be Ghosts of Gaia, from Bad Squiddo.

Nice group.

Wow, really love those airship pirates, really am a sucker for that steampunk aesthetic. Nice job!

Peeler is an archaic name for a policeman. The police force was found by Sir Robert Peel, which gives us both Bobbies and Peelers as a name for them, but the latter rapidly fell into disuse.

Also, nice Victoriana! It's not really my story of thing, but I love your take on the models!

Thanks, guys. I'm not really into steampunk myself, but this particular line of models sort of fills a gap in my collection, and they were pretty fun to paint.

@graven: Thanks for the explanation, The term makes a lot more sense now.

I'm a sucker for a pith helmet! Nice work

Great stuff as usual, Josh.

Ape-X is from Reaper's Chronoscope line. Chronopia was a Heartbreaker Hobbies/Target Games property.

Hey, since you're in Japan, just curious, but have you heard of a band called The Lethal Weapons?

Slinky wrote:I'm a sucker for a pith helmet! Nice work

Thanks. I'm pleased with how they turned out.

bbb wrote:Great stuff as usual, Josh.

Ape-X is from Reaper's Chronoscope line. Chronopia was a Heartbreaker Hobbies/Target Games property.

Hey, since you're in Japan, just curious, but have you heard of a band called The Lethal Weapons?

Oops, you're right. In my defense, I don't really collect either range, so they're easy for me to mix up.

I'm not familiar with that band. I'll check them out.

I'm digging those Airship pirates. They would look nice hanging out with some of the models from Twisted! by Demented Games.

The mech gives off a major SF3D vibe, especially with the exposed pilot. It's not one though, is it?

ザ・リーサルウェポンズ are pretty catchy stupid fun, especially as an English speaking expat who probably hears all sorts of weird English phrases inserted into random songs.

The Lethal Weapons are officially not being added to my playlist. They look like they are having fun, but their music just doesn't grab me.

I honestly don't know where the mech is from. I got a set of like eight or ten (two each of 4~5) off of an Ebay seller in Russia. They mangled the box when they packed the models for shipping, and Ebay apparently doesn't keep records going back far enough to me to check what they are supposed to be. I actually have another mech scraped and washed, and it looks like a cheap Space Marine Dread knockoff, so it wouldn't surprise me if the other ones were ripped off from other designs, but I suspect that I'll never knwo the truth.

Is the mech from Robogear maybe?

 JoshInJapan wrote:
The Lethal Weapons are officially not being added to my playlist. They look like they are having fun, but their music just doesn't grab me.

No prob, I'm just incredibly amused by them. The singer is a friend of a friend. He moved to Japan and has been living there for a bit. Then last year he releases an album and I think it hit #1 on iTunes. Now they're performing in front of hundreds if not thousands of people. Kind of a crazy story. But, musically, not for all

Fun little airship crew. Now you need a scifi blimp for them to ride the timestream on.

 Theophony wrote:
Fun little airship crew. Now you need a scifi blimp for them to ride the timestream on.

That's an interesting idea. If our area goes into lockdown, I may have to try that.

After the airship pirates I posted last time, I was inspired to keep with the sf/Starbreach theme. I decided to go back to the Ghosts of Gaia, this time the set from the second KS.



The color scheme is loosely-based on Team U, with gray/black body armor over orange jumpsuits. The whole Ghost of Gaia range has a kind of '90's feel to it, so most of them get unnatural colors for their hair.



As you can see, I'm still a novice when it comes to painting camo.



This model has stubble on her scalp, and I tried to paint it that way, but it doesn't really show.



I painted the boots on this model white in honor of Nancy Sinatra.



The coat gave this model a lot of broad, flat surfaces, but I didn't want to do another sub-par camo scheme. I opted for a rank insignia on the shoulder instead. Also, I ran out of tufts, so I'm experimenting with different materials, Here, I used bristles from our broom, cut down to a nearly unmanageable length.



Most of the models in this range don't have sculpted eyes, but rather "pits" where their eyes should be. And that's fine, those are easy to paint. For this one, though, I think the sculptor tried to up his game. Sadly, instead of fabulous Jes Goodwin eyes, the model ended up with weird, unbalanced protrusions. I decided to hang a lampshade on them and paint them as glowing bionics.

Here's a group shot:



Overall, I'm pleased with how these models turned out. I have another six to complete this set, as well as some plastic Mantic dwarfs that my son assembled and then abandoned. Were not in lockdown, but we are staying home most weekends, so I hope to have something else to share soon.

They look great. And your camo is ace!

Very nice, and the camo coat is a real treat!

Don’t sell yourself short on the camo... It looks great!

Valete,

JohnS

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. Sadly, in real life, as well as the super-sized images in the gallery (as opposed to on this page), the camo is weird and splotchy. I'll have to keep practicing, I guess.

Sorry to argue, but I think your camo looks good too. And "weird and splotchy" is kind of how camo is supposed to look, right? It's meant to be irregular, and look like a concealed body is instead many smaller unrelated pieces of vegetation and background.

By "weird and splotchy," I mean "you can see the brush lines where I dabbed the paint on." Still, thanks for the encouragement. If/When I next try camo, I'll try to clean up the edges of each splotch.

Welcome to lockdown, build that airship!

--Brian

Hm, airship...

Before I tackle something like that, I need to clear some room in the painting queue. These fellows, for example:


My son has always been a builder-- he still pulls out his Duplo blocks once in a while-- but he doesn't enjoy painting the models he builds. As a result, I've had ten Mantic dwarfs sitting on top of the printer, staring at me, for about three months. These two have battle standard icons on their hammers, which apparently designate them as elite soldiers.



The standard that comes on the orc command sprue has a severed dwarf head, so in retaliation, my son insisted we build this guy. As you can see from the side view, almost all of the Mantic dwarfs have their left hands open so they cen be armed with either two-handed weapons or shields, depending on which right arm you choose. This makes attaching shields kind of a hassle, as it's best to leave them off so you can paint the models' torsos. I superglued them on, but two snapped off when I was putting the models away after photographing them. I'll have to get some more contact cement.



Some dwarf dudes. Ranking them up is somewhat of a hassle.

Finally, a group shot:



Next up, the last six ghosts of gaia models, and then the dwarf artillery that my son assembled but doesn't want to paint.

Lovely crisp colours. Great job.

Wow, not a lot of love for the dwarfs this time around...

While we're not on lockdown, the family and I are spending pretty much all of our time at home. This gives me a little more time than usual for hobby stuff, including three more Ghosts os Gaia models:



Like all Bad Squiddo models, these come with integral bases. I mount them on Mantic round bases for stability, and if the integral base is small enough, I trim it to fit into the hole, requiring less filler. Unfortunately, this model now sits so far forward that she falls over easily. I will probably go back and add some sort of coutnerweight.



Seeing this model up close in these photos, I realize that I need to go back and line the grenade a bit. I'm pretty happy with how the stubble on her scalp came out, though.



I like the clunky, low-tech bionics on this model. I'm also happier with the camo than on the model I showed last time.

Here's a group shot:


I have three more GoG to go, then it's back to dwarfs-- my son assembled a couple of war machines, but as usual it's up to me to paint them.

These are excellent, particularly the pink haired lass. They'd be extremely good for Dredd methinks...

Nice work on those minis, the camo cloak is really nice. Love the bright orange on them.

That is an excellent scalp.

Hey Josh, these are looking great!

One hint on powder weathering. If you use brush-on matt varnish as a liquid medium, you can dab or even wash the powder on.

Doesn't give the same effect as putting it on dry, but has its uses.

inmygravenimage wrote:These are excellent, particularly the pink haired lass. They'd be extremely good for Dredd methinks...

They got some use in a game of Starbreach over the long holiday. I don't actually have the Judge Dredd rules-- are they worth looking into?

Viterbi wrote:Nice work on those minis, the camo cloak is really nice. Love the bright orange on them.

Thanks. I'm not 100%satisfied with it, but I'm getting better. The orange jumpsuits were inspired by the Earth Defense Force uniforms from Ultraman Saga.

bbb wrote:That is an excellent scalp.

Thanks. It pays to take a little more time on these little details.

Momotaro wrote:Hey Josh, these are looking great!

One hint on powder weathering. If you use brush-on matt varnish as a liquid medium, you can dab or even wash the powder on.

Doesn't give the same effect as putting it on dry, but has its uses.

I haven't been using weathering powders, but I'll give this a try.

From the end of April through the first week of May, there are four national holidays, plus a weekend. This period is called Golden Week, and is usually one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Right before the start of Golden Week, PM Abe declared a National Emergency, and everyone was asked to stay home. Between walking the dog, working in the garden, and trying to keep my son entertained, I managed to get in some painting. First, the last of the Ghosts of Gaia:




Not much to say about these that hasn't already been said. I really enjoyed painting these models, so much so that I ordered a couple more to round out the collection. They should be here in a week or so. In addition to these, I started on some Alien Bounty Hunters from Antediluvian Miniatures. I got them in a KS many years ago, and then left them packed up in their box and forget about them until last week or so. They are all unique sculpts, which was a nice break from the GoG models and their mostly-identical colors. First, Side Eyes:


His skin colors were inspired by the naked mole rat. I originally painted him with just the overalls, but it looked weird, so I went back and added the shirt.

Here's Buckland Rogers:


I'm not sure where the name comes from-- possibly an in-joke from the sculptor?

Finally, Macaria:


I went with an off-white armor, highlighting up from dark chocolate brown to nearly-white. At arm's length, it looks like I hit the model with a sepia glaze over a white basecoat, which would admittedly have been much faster.

Here's a group shot of everything from this week:


There are a few more models from this set in the pipeline, as well as my entry for this month's Dakka Painting Challenge:

Looking good. I can certainly appreciate Macaria . I’d assume Buckland Rogers is a play on Buck Rogers, but I’m afraid that is where my assistance on that ends...

 Arakasi wrote:
I’d assume Buckland Rogers is a play on Buck Rogers, but I’m afraid that is where my assistance on that ends...

Yeah, that's as far as I got as well. He doesn't look anything like Gil Gerard, much less Buster Crabbe.

Love the hillbilly mole rat bounty hunter, his paintjob and pose is just great.

Yeah, no idea why Buckland Rogers is a lizard, loved the show as a kid.

Really cool models. I’m really enjoying seeing alternates to the big companies. Really looking forward to more of your ghosts when they arrive. Awesome paint jobs on the ladies as well.

Why, when I look at Buckland Rogers, do I sing in my head:

“Slicey slicely
Once-y Twice-y
Fang and Claw will
Kill Dredd Nicely!”

Great looking figured as always. Keep up the amazing work. Your volume and quality continue to put 99% of us to shame.

Now, if you and Bruce would just go skiing, maybe I’d have a chance!

Valete,

JohnS

Buckland Rogers is indeed excellent. Yes, the Dredd game is a lot of fun indeed. Intuitive with some really interesting mechanics. Judges basically ignore being shot at, whereas perps quake in fear; judges (or particularly lethal perps) can take multiple actions so feel like, well, judges.

Viterbi wrote:Love the hillbilly mole rat bounty hunter, his paintjob and pose is just great.

Yeah, he's a delightful model.

Theophony wrote:Yeah, no idea why Buckland Rogers is a lizard, loved the show as a kid.

Really cool models. I’m really enjoying seeing alternates to the big companies. Really looking forward to more of your ghosts when they arrive. Awesome paint jobs on the ladies as well.

Thanks. I haven't bought any GW models since the first SM Heroes set. Everything is just too big, too ornate, too expensive, and various combinations thereof. Thankfully, I have enough unpainted models to last me the rest of my life.

cygnnus wrote:Why, when I look at Buckland Rogers, do I sing in my head:

“Slicey slicely
Once-y Twice-y
Fang and Claw will
Kill Dredd Nicely!”

Great looking figured as always. Keep up the amazing work. Your volume and quality continue to put 99% of us to shame.

Now, if you and Bruce would just go skiing, maybe I’d have a chance!

Valete,

JohnS

Oh,yeah, I'd totally forgotten about those guys. Is Bruce still alive? He seems to have fallen off the radar.

inmygravenimage wrote:Buckland Rogers is indeed excellent. Yes, the Dredd game is a lot of fun indeed. Intuitive with some really interesting mechanics. Judges basically ignore being shot at, whereas perps quake in fear; judges (or particularly lethal perps) can take multiple actions so feel like, well, judges.

I'm a little leery about getting into a game with essentially two predetermined sides (Judges v. Perps, Empire v. Rebels). I've been leaning toward more universal rulesets for this reason.

Golden Week is over and I'm back at work, so I've slowed down a bit. I did manage to finish one more Bounty Hunter:


This guy's name is Gunther, but his weird hair and ratty clothes remind me of Taserface from Guardians of the Galaxy v2, so that's what I've been calling him. I've also put in some work on my entry for the lastest Dakka Painting Challenge:


Usually, centaurs are depicted as having fully human torsos and fully equine bodies, but that didn't feel quite Chaosy enough. To make them feel more like mutated animals, I decided to give them the same horsey colors all over, with the human parts a little bit lighter to imply a thinner coat of hair. While working on these guys, I remembered reading somewhere that horses are extremely difficult for artists to draw because their anatomy is so different from ours. Apparently, it's just as difficult to sculpt horses, because their horsey parts are so weird. I did my best to imply some musculature on their shanks (or whatever you call the hips/buttocks on a horse), but I'm not convinced it worked. Anyway, I should have these guys finished by this time next week.

He is a fitting fill in for taserface .

Wow, almost forgot about those centaurs. Great work on them.

Bounty Hunter looks good. Doesn't scream "Taserface" at me at all. Centaurs are coming along nicely. Interesting take on the skin colouring. One of the advantages of using a different colour is for the contrast, but I'm sure the other details will make up for it. I take it red skin was out of the question / not Chaos-y enough . Looking forward to seeing them finished. Might even do mine this year...

One vote for, one against. At the very least, he's closer to the film version than the comics version: link

I'm treating the centaurs as mutated animals rather than mutated humans, much like my other beastmen and beastmen-adjacent models. I prefer natural colors for those, while more outrageous colors are for human followers of Chaos-- in my collection, at least.

And a good thing too! (IMHO)

Apparently I've been through your thread, but not your gallery. Even more old school goodness . I have the same knights, but not the steeds unfortunately...

Makes sense to maintain your existing colour scheme and theme - don't let upstarts like me sway you from your vision!

 Arakasi wrote:
And a good thing too! (IMHO)

Apparently I've been through your thread, but not your gallery. Even more old school goodness . I have the same knights, but not the steeds unfortunately...

Makes sense to maintain your existing colour scheme and theme - don't let upstarts like me sway you from your vision!

That's one of the coolest things about Old School Chaos-- there is no wrong way to paint them.

I love the old metal Chaos Steeds--they're heavy enough to brain someone, and they are big enough to look like horses instead of little petting zoo ponies like so many other Citadel horses from that period.

Taserface looks great, and you are right, he looks quite like him!

Beautiful stuff dude

I think these guys are finished:


Of the three chaos centaurs, I'm most satisfied with this palomino dude. The golden hide with the off-white "mane" and tail really pops, IMO. I'm not wholly satisfied with the armor plates, but that's an ongoing challenge that I'll keep working one



I'm happier with the human parts on this bay fellow than the horse parts. His back muscles were really easy to paint (I'm guessing he's not a natty), but as I complained previously, whoever sculpted these guys didn't know much about horses. I went back over the mane and tail and did another round of highlights, which helps a lot. I also rather like his one white sock.



Of these three, I like this guy's sculpt the best-- a two-headed cyclops is very Chaosy--, but the black hide and hair lack something. I'll almost certainly redo his wristbands to make them stand out more.

A group shot:



I did a lot more with the bases than I usually do. The tall grasses are from bristles that fell out of the broom, the shorter plants are bits of vegetation that is mixed in with my basing sand plus some model rail foliage. The tufts are a little too bright for the rest of the base, but that's all I had to work with. Once the glue is dry (they aren't self-adhesive), I'll hit the tips with a drybrush of something to help tone them down.

Next up, I have finally found a use for some old Mars Attacks! models. Stay tuned.

Lovely retro centaurs. Ooh, Mars Attacks! I keep debating looking for the old Martian team for Dreadball.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Lovely retro centaurs. Ooh, Mars Attacks! I keep debating looking for the old Martian team for Dreadball.

I have lots and lots of Mars Attacks! stuff. Not as much as Deadzone, but still a lot. I even have the entire first "set" painted. Naturally, I have never played.

JoshInJapan wrote: I have lots and lots of Mars Attacks! stuff. Not as much as Deadzone, but still a lot. I even have the entire first "set" painted. Naturally, I have never played.

always the way, isn't it?! If I ever get around to picking up the team, I'll need to get a set of VIM just to use as coaching assistants

Lovely centaurs, I really dig the two headed one, but the palomino one really is the best/ most natural colors out of the three.

See...

This would have been a perfect place to use some of your more, uh, interesting horse colors from back in the day!

But very, very nice! Lovely work on those old Centaurs. I totally forgot about the two-headed centaur. Very nice job, but I’d agree the bracers could stand out a bit more. Some nice steel/silver would work well with the palette he’s (they’re?) in.. And I agree that the palomino looks great.

Great work as always.

Valete,

JohnS

 cygnnus wrote:
See...

This would have been a perfect place to use some of your more, uh, interesting horse colors from back in the day!

JohnS

For what it's worth, I considered going that route. Speaking of which, I'm calling the centaurs finished:



Feel free to vote for me in the Dakka Painting Challenge poll.

A couple of weeks ago, my son and I played a game of Starbreach. It's very much a first edition game (it needs some polish and clarification), but I enjoyed it. After, my son and I spent some time "snooping," which is his word for diggin through my unpainted models. We pulled out Mars Attacks!, and I realized that I could actually use a lot of the models for SB. I decided to paint up the Tiger Corps dudes as Interglactic Marshals. The paint scheme was inspired by 宇宙刑事シャイダー (Space Sheriff Shaidar, an old Tokusatsu series). Since all of the Space Sheriffs have gleaming metalic suits, I decided that this would be the perfect time for me to try my hand at NMM:


Naturally, they look better in real life than in these huge, blown-up images. I feel like I'm getting the hang of the lighting, but I've still got a lot of work to do on my blending. I still have seven or eight more of these guys to practice on, though, so I hope to show some improvement. And I'll have another playable warband and a few less unpainted models taunting me from the Closet of Shame, so it's a win all around.

I'm still really new to this technique, so any pointers and feedback would be much appreciated.

They look very snazzy. Great choice of figs and lovely blues there.

I was not expecting Uchuu Keiji references to show up here on Dakka!

If you're painting guys up like Shaider you realize you need to do Gavan and Sharivan right?

The world needs more tabletop tokusatsu!

inmygravenimage wrote:They look very snazzy. Great choice of figs and lovely blues there.

There were a lot of nifty models in MA!, but they kind of suffered from the material. They're not quite a squishy as Bones, but the details are a little soft. Later generations of board game plastic seem to have overcome this. That said, higher contrast between highlights and shadows makes up the difference.

highlord tamburlaine wrote:I was not expecting Uchuu Keiji references to show up here on Dakka!

If you're painting guys up like Shaider you realize you need to do Gavan and Sharivan right?

The world needs more tabletop tokusatsu!

I do my best to expand everyone's horizons. I expect that Sharivan will make an appearance once I a) get sick of blue and b) research red NMM a little more. Gavan is all silver, and so a little less interesting visually, but I may go that route with the commander.

Centaurs look good. I like the silver bracers on the grey centaur(s?).

Oh, and you inspired me to start up my own thread. In the P&M Forum as well. Hopefully, I can keep some momentum.

Valete,

JohnS

Josh, the minis you paint are always enjoyable to see. I like the centaurs and your "Mars Attacks" guys that will be in Starbreach. I haven't heard of that game, I'll have to look into it.

cygnnus wrote:Centaurs look good. I like the silver bracers on the grey centaur(s?).

Oh, and you inspired me to start up my own thread. In the P&M Forum as well. Hopefully, I can keep some momentum.

Valete,

JohnS

Really? It's not even ski season. I'll have to check out your thread and keep you honest/productive.

Syro_ wrote:Josh, the minis you paint are always enjoyable to see. I like the centaurs and your "Mars Attacks" guys that will be in Starbreach. I haven't heard of that game, I'll have to look into it.

There's a thread in the Misc. Games forum. The PDF of the rules is free. Like I say, it's a work in progress, but being miniatures-agnostic is a big plus in my mind.

Well, I think you’ll appreciate the thread title then...

Great work on the centaurs, good look in the comp! And I love the look of your MA minis, great scheme and excited to see more of them in the near future!

Viterbi wrote:Great work on the centaurs, good look in the comp! And I love the look of your MA minis, great scheme and excited to see more of them in the near future!

Thanks. Here are some more:


This first guy is another unnamed Tiger Corps trooper, this time with a different gun and a face like a hammerhead shark. He looks pretty good in real life, I think, but the super blown-up photos in the gallery make him look horrible.



This guy is a named character in MA! Shadow is apparently second in command of the Tiger Corps, and carries a sniper rifle. I'm pretty happy with how his visor turned out.



This last guy is "General" Jed Jaret, the only human member of the Tiger Corps, so naturally he is the leader. I was getting tired of all the blue, so I modeled this guy after another Space Sheriff: Sharivan. The face is tiny, and it took me a couple of tries to get it as good as it is (which isn't really very good). He's standing on a severed martian head, but it blends into the base--I will probably go back and redo it at some point. Here is a group shot:



Finally, here are the models I'm entering in the Dakka Painting Contest for June:


The theme is In A Supporting Role, so I went with this Wrenchmouth and its handlers, from Bad Squiddo's Ghosts of Gaia line. I may or may not post WIP photos of these guys-- my painting is pretty sloppy pretty much until the end, and I'm not usually keen on showing unfinished models as a result.

Love the blue! Really looks like it belongs in a sci-fi setting. And the streaks of gray in General Jaret’s hair is awesome! I’m always impressed with the diversity of models that you are working your way through.

Valete,

JohnS

 cygnnus wrote:
Love the blue! Really looks like it belongs in a sci-fi setting. And the streaks of gray in General Jaret’s hair is awesome! I’m always impressed with the diversity of models that you are working your way through.

Valete,

JohnS

Thanks. I'm pretty pleased with how my NMM efforts are turning out. I'll have to try it on steel or gold or some other actual metalic colors.

Jaret's tiny little face reminded me of the pre-MCU Nick Fury, so the streaks of grey just seemed natural to do.

Finally, diversity is (in this case) a lucky happenstance stemming from years of buying New Shiny Things and then not having time to paint them all until now. It does help stave off boredom, though.

Stop making me rethink Mantic stuff.

Love the hammerhead guy. He’s not a trap expert is he? He doesn’t go around constantly saying “It’s a trap!”

They are looking pretty good from where I'm standing .

Awesome, gleaming SF troopers, very nice!

Theophony wrote: Stop making me rethink Mantic stuff.

Love the hammerhead guy. He’s not a trap expert is he? He doesn’t go around constantly saying “It’s a trap!”

Mantic's stuff, while still hit or miss, has improved dramatically in recent years. I suspect your 3D printer will keep you busy enough to resist the temptation.
Also, I imagined him being closer to Momaw Nadon than Admiral Akbar.

Arakasi wrote:They are looking pretty good from where I'm standing .

Arm's length is the ideal distance for these models. They really break down up close.

Slinky wrote:Awesome, gleaming SF troopers, very nice!

Thanks!

Consistently great stuff!

Other MA models look great too! And arm's length as viewing distance for painted minis should be made a law, don't trust anyone who can paint a mini that could be photographed with a macro lense

Loving the tiger corp dude

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I have just a few more nodels in that set, but I decided to work on my entry for the Dakka painting comp first. I think they're finished:



This a wrenchmouth and its handlers, all from Bad Suiddo's Ghosts of Gaia line. 'I've enjoyed painting all the models I have from this line, but I think I'm getting tired of them. I only have one more to go, and then I'll call this project complete.

In addition, I threw this together today:


It's going to be a transporter pad. The base is a container for camembert cheese, glued to an old data DVD for stability, and with some various plastic bits added. I've been wanting to use the cheese container off and on for years, but finally got around to it when I read the Warp Gae Control scenario in Starbreach. I remember getting all sorts of ideas for terrain from the d1000 tables in the original RT rulebook, and once this thing is finished I might have to dig it out and read through those sections again.

Dude, I hope you washed the cheese container thoroughly. The Ghosts of Gaia figs look great.

Valete,

JohnS

I like your entry for the painting competition Josh, nicely painted as always. That's a cool transporting you're making too, I can see why you saved that container.

 JoshInJapan wrote:
I have just a few more nodels in that set, but I decided to work on my entry for the Dakka painting comp first. I think they're finished:



This a wrenchmouth and its handlers, all from Bad Suiddo's Ghosts of Gaia line. 'I've enjoyed painting all the models I have from this line, but I think I'm getting tired of them. I only have one more to go, and then I'll call this project complete.

I've enjoyed seeing your work on the Ghosts, some neat sculpts that I would have never seen otherwise. The trio here are solid as well - just noticed that the one dude is holding up a baby whatever!

cygnnus wrote:Dude, I hope you washed the cheese container thoroughly. The Ghosts of Gaia figs look great.

Valete,

JohnS

Crap! I knew I forgot to do something! At least it'll be easy to determine where the skaven sneak attack will happen.

Syro_ wrote:I like your entry for the painting competition Josh, nicely painted as always. That's a cool transporting you're making too, I can see why you saved that container.

Thanks. I'm going to hold off on submitting my final photos for a little longer, in case inspiration hits.

I've actually saved and thrown away containers like this one dozens of times, but I was never able to decide exactly what to do until this time.

Boss Salvage wrote:

 JoshInJapan wrote:
I have just a few more nodels in that set, but I decided to work on my entry for the Dakka painting comp first. I think they're finished:



This a wrenchmouth and its handlers, all from Bad Suiddo's Ghosts of Gaia line. 'I've enjoyed painting all the models I have from this line, but I think I'm getting tired of them. I only have one more to go, and then I'll call this project complete.

I've enjoyed seeing your work on the Ghosts, some neat sculpts that I would have never seen otherwise. The trio here are solid as well - just noticed that the one dude is holding up a baby whatever!

Yeah, the baby wrenchmouth is adorable, isn't it?

Oh my god, hadn't really seen the baby, until you pointed it out (doesn't speak for my eyesight ), it's adorable. Great entry!

After a couple of weeks of SF models, I decided it was time to get back to fantasy for a while. As long time readers of this P&Mblog may recall, my son has claimed every dwarf in my collection as his own. While he doesn't enjoy painting models, he enjoys assembling them, which is why these war machines have been sitting in the back of the painting queue for a couple of months:



The dwarf starter army I got way back in the first KoW KS came with these two, which could be built as either cannon or organ guns. I magnetized the weapons so that they can be switched out. I also cranked this guy out:


The Dwarf Steel Jueegernaut (also from Mantic) was my son't Christmas present last year. I tried some TMM shading, but it didn't turn out so well. Did you notice the big chink missing from the barrel of the cannon? My son kind of lost control of the clippers druing assembly, and that was the result. Ah, well, at least he's happy to have it finished.

I'm going to enter the transporter platform in this month's Dakka painting competition;


along with some pieces from the Sedition Wars terrain pack that I've been sitting on for however many years it's been. Also, I'm working on some dwarf berserkers for my son't dwarf army, so I have plenty to keep me busy for the next couple of weeks.

Oops, I forgot to include a group shot:

Lovely dwarf artillery, gives me a real nostalgic feeling for WFB

Very nice! I’m always impressed with how well you’ve mastered working in earth tones and a subdued palate. Those dwarves just ooze an earthy realism. Very nice indeed!

Valete,

JohnS

Excellent painting!

And, as earlier mentioned, very evocative of WFB and the old Marauder Renaissance dwarf miniatures. Well done indeed.

Lovely weathered metals

Very nice work with the dwarves, Josh. I'm getting Warhammer Fantasy Battle vibes from the gunners too, and the Dwarf steel juggernaut reminds me of a meganob from 40k The paint jobs on them are very smooth.

Thanks, everyone. The WHFB esthetic of these models likely stems from their original use as cheap filler for WHFB armies. That said, I do like Mantic's dwarfs, even if they are decidedly outdated.

Late to the party, but yeah, the dwarves look great. Although I wouldn't want to be the guy to have to reload the organ cannon

I knocked out a few more dwarfs last week:






These dudes are dwarf berzerkers from Mantic. They are pretty old models, but like most Mantic metals, they are actually pretty nice, if a little small compared to the plastics. My only real complaint is the lack of variety, but I figure I can make up for that by mixing in a few models from other makers (they'd scale well with Reaper or Ral Partha, for instance). I have another identical set assembled, with gaps filled and sand on their bases, that I should have ready to show by the end of the week.

Nice dwarves Josh! You paint jobs look very clean as usual, and gives them a look of having more variety than they would otherwise.

Those upset rejects of the hair club for men (cause they are dwarves ) look amazing . Great job on the hair and skin.

Your skin tones are excellent. Knocking out dwarves is illegal in many states, however

Yup, those look like berzerkers Lovely sculpts and great paintjob!

Dwarf berserkers look way better without ridiculous mohicans. Good job!

Syro_ wrote:Nice dwarves Josh! You paint jobs look very clean as usual, and gives them a look of having more variety than they would otherwise.

The only real difference is in their beards and their pants. Beards being roughly 50% of the model sort of magnifies the effect.

Theophony wrote:Those upset rejects of the hair club for men (cause they are dwarves ) look amazing . Great job on the hair and skin.

Thanks. The skin turned out a little darker than I'd intended, but we can chalk that up to these fellows getting so tan from walking around topless all the time.

inmygravenimage wrote:Your skin tones are excellent. Knocking out dwarves is illegal in many states, however

Standards of conduct are different in Japan, I guess.

Viterbi wrote:Yup, those look like berzerkers Lovely sculpts and great paintjob!

Thanks. Despite the size difference, I rather like these guys. I just need to find some filler models for the rest of the unit.

Fifty wrote:Dwarf berserkers look way better without ridiculous mohicans. Good job!

The GW Slater aesthetic works well enough in context, but wouldn't fit in with the rest of Mantic's dwarf range.

So, for some reason, I deleted all my "subscribed" threads, and haven't been keeping up with everyone's p&m blogs. I've been going to the P&M forum and commenting everyone other day or so, but if I've missed anyone, I'm sorry.

In the last week or so, I finished another five berzerkers:


There is a little variation in the colors of their beards and trousers, but the models are identical to the set I shared last week. I'm planning to find, buy and paint some dwarfs from other makers to add some variety to the unit, which looks like this so far:



I need to detail their movement tray, as well. In addtion, I did some work on my Dakka Painting Contest entry:


The teleport pad is mostly finished-- I need to decide what to do on the wires at the base of each pylon. The number 45 is molded onto the cheese container, and rather than trying to conceal it, I decided to lampshade it.



These are supposed to be Teleport Controls, at least according to the box, but they look more like plasma generators/power sources to me, so that's how I painted them.



And these are Life Support terminals. The touchscreens and displays were inspired by Star Trek TNG. Here's everything all together:

Dwarves are coming along nicely. I like the idea of using lots of manufacturers to bring variety. I think Luke from Luke's APS on Youtube did this exact thing with his dwarves a few years ago and it came out great.

Nice glow effect everywhere.

Very good, especially the LCARS terminal.

Your contest entry looks amazing, love the TNG screen and as Theo has said, great glow effect!

How many dwarves total do you plan to have in the unit eventually?

You nailed the TNG effect on that terminal. I was scrolling through the pics, but stopped and was like "ooh a tricorder!" when I saw that orange and purple display.

Theophony wrote:Dwarves are coming along nicely. I like the idea of using lots of manufacturers to bring variety. I think Luke from Luke's APS on Youtube did this exact thing with his dwarves a few years ago and it came out great.

Nice glow effect everywhere.

Thanks. I'm not entirely happy with the OSL, but it will work well enough on the tabletop. I'll have to look into that video for inspiration.

inmygravenimage wrote:Very good, especially the LCARS terminal.

I didn't know that term before you posted this reply. You, sir, are a king among nerds.

Viterbi wrote:Your contest entry looks amazing, love the TNG screen and as Theo has said, great glow effect!

Thanks. The screens were both fun and easy to paint.

Syro_ wrote:How many dwarves total do you plan to have in the unit eventually?

I'm building a KoW unit, so it will be 20-strong when finished.

brushcommando wrote:You nailed the TNG effect on that terminal. I was scrolling through the pics, but stopped and was like "ooh a tricorder!" when I saw that orange and purple display.

When I saw that particularly hideous combination of colors, I knew that I would have to use it on these pieces.

Dwarves look good but i love the scoff terrain the Trek terminal displays are ace

I've decided that my summer project will be finishing my dwarfs for Kings of War. Here are five more:






They're not going to win any awards, but they'll fill a movement tray nicely. As I think I've said before,I like the aesthetics of Mantic's dwarf models, but now that I'm trying to get them up to army strength, I realize how difficult they are to rank up. Their broad shoulders make their shields stick out over the edge of the base, so getting them in ranks and files is not unlike a jigsaw puzzle. I'll have to be careful when assembling the next set.

Good job with them. I Was initially put off by their dwarves, but over the years I’ve softened on them, but the preview of the dwarves from Oathmark and Wargames Atlantic are just miles ahead of them. If you can’t make these form up nicely the others are both decent price alternatives.

 Theophony wrote:
Good job with them. I Was initially put off by their dwarves, but over the years I’ve softened on them, but the preview of the dwarves from Oathmark and Wargames Atlantic are just miles ahead of them. If you can’t make these form up nicely the others are both decent price alternatives.

I got these guys dirt cheap, way back during the first KoW Kickstarter. I don't have quite enough for a full army, but I want to get the models I have on hand finished. After that, I think I'll try some other manufacturer's models.

 JoshInJapan wrote:

 Theophony wrote:
Good job with them. I Was initially put off by their dwarves, but over the years I’ve softened on them, but the preview of the dwarves from Oathmark and Wargames Atlantic are just miles ahead of them. If you can’t make these form up nicely the others are both decent price alternatives.

I got these guys dirt cheap, way back during the first KoW Kickstarter. I don't have quite enough for a full army, but I want to get the models I have on hand finished. After that, I think I'll try some other manufacturer's models.

Totally understand . Your a stronger willed person than me though .

Good and clean job on the dwarves, but I got to say compared to the berzerkers the sculpts are a little lacking. Hope you get them all out of the way soon and fill the ranks with Theo's suggestions

In the end how many dwarves will you have painted up in total when you finish?

Lovely. And crisp shield work!

Theophony wrote:

 JoshInJapan wrote:

 Theophony wrote:
Good job with them. I Was initially put off by their dwarves, but over the years I’ve softened on them, but the preview of the dwarves from Oathmark and Wargames Atlantic are just miles ahead of them. If you can’t make these form up nicely the others are both decent price alternatives.

I got these guys dirt cheap, way back during the first KoW Kickstarter. I don't have quite enough for a full army, but I want to get the models I have on hand finished. After that, I think I'll try some other manufacturer's models.

Totally understand . Your a stronger willed person than me though .

You wouldn't say that if you saw my Closet of Shame..

Viterbi wrote:Good and clean job on the dwarves, but I got to say compared to the berzerkers the sculpts are a little lacking. Hope you get them all out of the way soon and fill the ranks with Theo's suggestions

These are some of Mantic's oldest models,and they really do show their age. They look good enough at tabletop distances and all bunched up in a unit, so I can live with their slightly substandard quality.

Syro_ wrote:In the end how many dwarves will you have painted up in total when you finish?

About 100 or so. Not really enough for a full KoW army, but it's a start.

inmygravenimage wrote:Lovely. And crisp shield work!

Thanks. I'm copying the Mantic studio army, at least for the time being.

Covid-19 continues to spread, although not to the same degree as in the US, meaning that my wife and son's planned trip to visit her family has been called off. On the plus side,I won't lose my voice from not talking to anyone or leaving the house for ten days, but it also means that my plan to finish the dwarfs has been cut back to working on the dwarfs. That said, I have made some progress:



Only ten of these guys are new, but I spent a long time fitting them onto their movement trays and I don't want to take them off if I don't need to. Four more and I'llhave two regiments or one horde.



Only eight of these guys are new, but the unit is finished. The leader type was kitbashed from left over war machine crew parts.

I have a couple of heroes in the works for the current Dakka painting challenge, then eight more shieldcreakers (with double handed weapons), fifteen more HW/Shield dudes, and then five badger riders plus a badger rider hero. That is all that I have left of the Mantic dwarfs. I have a few miscellaneous models here and there that I plan to plug into units, and then I have to figure out what(if anything) I want to pick up to finish off the army.

Very nice, great faces there

Thanks for sharing Josh, it's fun seeing the full units together like that.

Nicely done sir , love the subtle tones of the different beards.

YES!
Finest warriors in all the lands!
I kinda want to get a group of them for me self now

inmygravenimage wrote:Very nice, great faces there

Thanks. The faces were remarkably easy to paint, being so craggy and exaggerated.

Syro_ wrote:Thanks for sharing Josh, it's fun seeing the full units together like that.

I agree, the models aren't that great individually, but they look good all ranked up. Seeing them in units reminds me why I got into WHFB in the first place, so many years ago.

Theophony wrote:Nicely done sir , love the subtle tones of the different beards.

Thanks. That's about the only variation between models, so I'm glad the beards stand out.

Mothsniper wrote:YES!
Finest warriors in all the lands!
I kinda want to get a group of them for me self now

I'm painting these mostly for my son, so he can fight my orcs, but the little guys are growing on me.

Great stuff as always, Josh(e)!

Love those dwarves. I agree 100% about the Mantic models. They tend to look a lot better en masse, but for an army they look great!

Valete,

JohnS

_Really_ nice painting, and excellent choice for color scheme- it really pops. I miss the old Marauder Renaissance dwarves, but these Mantic ones are decent. Rock on!

Those dwarves look cool and like they won't hold a grudge for long... because the shoot you dead in an instant. Great work!

Absolutely loving your work on the Dwarves.

As they are older Mantic Sculpts for what ever reason I had to shelve them (Orcs i get on with, for some reason not there dwarves) as I just couldn't quite paint them to my liking but you've given them the paint job they deserve!

cygnnus wrote:Great stuff as always, Josh(e)!

Love those dwarves. I agree 100% about the Mantic models. They tend to look a lot better en masse, but for an army they look great!

Valete,

JohnS

I like a lot of their character models, but yeah, the troops work a lot better in a block.

Meer_Cat wrote:_Really_ nice painting, and excellent choice for color scheme- it really pops. I miss the old Marauder Renaissance dwarves, but these Mantic ones are decent. Rock on!

I've always been more of a wood elf guy, but I picked these guys up on a whim, and they are growing on me.

Viterbi wrote:Those dwarves look cool and like they won't hold a grudge for long... because the shoot you dead in an instant. Great work!

Thanks. Without the shields, the riflemen are a little plain, but I like to think that makes them more businesslike.

Dimebar23 wrote:Absolutely loving your work on the Dwarves.

As they are older Mantic Sculpts for what ever reason I had to shelve them (Orcs i get on with, for some reason not there dwarves) as I just couldn't quite paint them to my liking but you've given them the paint job they deserve!

As I wrote above, these models work a lot better en masse-- They are so short and stocky that you can't even see most of their feet.

After painting so many essentially identical models, I decided I needed a change:





Both of these models are from Dungeon Saga. The guy on the left if Gunn, dwarf engineer. He's resin, which is not my favorite medium to work with. He was supposed to holding a massive hammer in a gloved left hand, but the hand part broke off the resin "sprue," and I was forced to replace it with a hand and weapon from the Frostgrave barbarian sprue. The guy on the right is Legendary Rordin, who is one of the four heroes in the DS base game. I added a touch of red and yellow to tie them thematically to the rest of the dwarfs. I'll be entering these guys in the Dakka painting challenge for August, so feel free to vote for me there.

Next up, some Ironbreakers (dwarfs with double-handed weapons). As always, comments, criticism, and advice are more than welcome.

Nice change of pace, both look very cool. Wouldn't have guessed that the hammer is a replacement, good choice, it fits perfectly.

Echoing Viterbi's hammer comment. Excellent work.

These are the best Mantic dwarfs I've seen done this year, bar none. Congratulations!

And a dwarf horde is very hard to shift - almost as hard as it is to make them. Good luck with them on the table!

Viterbi wrote:Nice change of pace, both look very cool. Wouldn't have guessed that the hammer is a replacement, good choice, it fits perfectly.

These models were, indeed, a refreshing change from all the assembly-line painting I'd been doing.

DJJazzyJeff wrote:Echoing Viterbi's hammer comment. Excellent work.

Thanks. It wasn't a lot of work, per se, but I am happy with the results.

Wirecat wrote:These are the best Mantic dwarfs I've seen done this year, bar none. Congratulations!

And a dwarf horde is very hard to shift - almost as hard as it is to make them. Good luck with them on the table!

Thanks. I'm painting these more for my son than for myself, but I'm looking forward to seeing them on the tabletop sometime soon.

Dude...

Those are spectacular little buggers! Lovely natural palate and those skin tones are spot on.

Great stuff as always!

Valete,

JohnS

Love the lantern Dwarf Josh

cygnnus wrote:Dude...

Those are spectacular little buggers! Lovely natural palate and those skin tones are spot on.

Great stuff as always!

Valete,

JohnS

Thanks. It helps a lot that these models have such grotesquely exaggerated features-- one can't help but to highlight them successfully.

JoeRugby wrote:Love the lantern Dwarf Josh

Thanks. I was seriously debating adding some glowy effects to his face and hand, but decided against doing so because I'm not really good at it. I'll have to pull out some of the Bones models that I'll never paint otherwise for practice.

The lightbox I've been using for photographing miniatures came with a LED lightstrip on the top, which made some deep shadows on the lower portions of anything took pictures of. I ordered and attached a second LED strip for another source of light, but I think it's either too bright or too blue. I'll have to play around either with photo editing or else some sort of filter on the lights themselves. In the meantime, some more dwarfs:




Five sprues worth of Shieldbreakers, giving me ten essentially identical models. As always with these older Mantic plastics, they're chunky and have some weird blobby parts here and there that look kind of ugly when you look at them up close. Of course, they weren't deisigned to be looked at up close, but rather as part of a unit:



...for which they work just fine. I also cranked out this battle drill:



Next up, I have a Berzerker lord riding a giant angry badger, with a dwarf heroine from Bad Squiddo after that. At the same time, I'll be working on my entry for the September Dakka painting contest-- I'll post some photos of that later today.

That battle drill is adorable. Like he's pushing a vicious little lawnmower

That angry little dog in the ranks of dwarves cracked me up. Nice work on the newest set of dwarves, Josh. I hope the lighting sorts itself out.

The light really does look wonky. I think I like your previous lighting, dark shadows or not. But the Dwarves continue to look good. I’m with you on the Mantic models. Not a fan of single models, but ranked up they look decent. And your unit o Shieldbreakers, I think, proves the point. Very nice!

I tend to see the Battle Drill as the world’s most dangerous plowshare. But good on the Dwarves to plow the field before fertilizing it with goblin blood! Tonight we spice our meat with Goblin blood!

Anyway, great looking work as always. I’ll admit I’m really not a fan of Mantic’s Brock Rider models. There are some other nice Dwarven Cavalry out there (Scibor’s come to mind immediately) that I like a lot more, but they tend to be freakishly expensive (ditto).

I’ll see if I can’t pop a (Somewhat) related surprise on my P&M Blog over the weekend.

Anyway, keep up the great work!

Valete,

JohnS

amazingturtles wrote:That battle drill is adorable. Like he's pushing a vicious little lawnmower

I love how hunched over the driver is-- he looks like he's been pushing that thing for hours.

Syro_ wrote:That angry little dog in the ranks of dwarves cracked me up. Nice work on the newest set of dwarves, Josh. I hope the lighting sorts itself out.

Each sprue of dwarf infantry comes with a throwing mastiff, which are proving invalluable in ranking these guys up.

cygnnus wrote:The light really does look wonky. I think I like your previous lighting, dark shadows or not. But the Dwarves continue to look good. I’m with you on the Mantic models. Not a fan of single models, but ranked up they look decent. And your unit o Shieldbreakers, I think, proves the point. Very nice!

I tend to see the Battle Drill as the world’s most dangerous plowshare. But good on the Dwarves to plow the field before fertilizing it with goblin blood! Tonight we spice our meat with Goblin blood!

Anyway, great looking work as always. I’ll admit I’m really not a fan of Mantic’s Brock Rider models. There are some other nice Dwarven Cavalry out there (Scibor’s come to mind immediately) that I like a lot more, but they tend to be freakishly expensive (ditto).

The latest plastics from Mantic are much better all around, but these guys work fine for what they are.

I’ll see if I can’t pop a (Somewhat) related surprise on my P&M Blog over the weekend.

Anyway, keep up the great work!

Valete,

JohnS

Greenkeeper dwarf really is a standout, but the little mastiff is the more adorable one and good to know that every kit has one.

 Viterbi wrote:
Greenkeeper dwarf really is a standout, but the little mastiff is the more adorable one and good to know that every kit has one.

There is a unit in the Kings of War dwarf army list that allows dwarf players to use all the extra dogs they get when they buy a Mantic dwarf army...

Normally, I don't post WIP photos, but my entry for this month's Dakka Painting Challenge is taking a lot longer than I thought it would, and I don't want the P&MBlog to be completely neglected until the end of the month.

The theme for this month is The Long War. What could be longer, I thought, than eternal servitude long after death? Looking though my box of unpainted undead models I came across my old Throne of Bone from Ral Partha. It's still in production thanks to Iron Wind, but I got this one new way back in the '80's,and after an abortive attempt to paint it, it's been sitting patiently ever since-- which is another qualifier for the theme.

So far, I have finished the Necromance and his girlfriend:




I agonized over the skintones for a while, and decided to paint the necromancer as on homage to Marlon Brando as Dr. Moreau. The whole setup reminded me of a Frazetta painting, so the girl got a light glaze of AP barbarian flesh. I painted at least four layers on each of the skulls, despite knowing that they will be all but invisible when the model is assembled.

I also did the two side pieces:




I really like RP skeletons. They aren't as thick and chunky as Citadel/GW skeletons, so they look like they'd actually fit inside a heroic scale miniature's body. My original plan was to drybrush all the bone, but it came out a littel too grainy, so I ended up going back over the whole thing. For the remaining parts, I'm skipping the drybrushing. There is a lot going on in these pieces, with cloth, armor, equipment, belts and such, so each skeleton is unique. Don't look too closely and you won't notice the parts I missed. Before assembly, I'll give the whole thing the once over to make sure I didn't miss too many details.

FInally, here are the parts stuck together with a little blutack:


There are four more smaller piles of skeletons which I started yesterday. I also have to think about a base--I'm usually a sand-and-white-glue kind of baser, but I want to do something special for this model.

I love it! I remember that model from way back in the day, and you are absolutely doing it justice. Nice change of pace and good to see a work in progress account of how you are painting it.

I don’t remember, do you have an undead army for him to lead?

Valete,

JohnS

 cygnnus wrote:


I don’t remember, do you have an undead army for him to lead?

Valete,

JohnS

I do, indeed, have an undead army. It's big enough that I don't currently have the space to store any more, which is one reason I've not been painting undead models for such a long time. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a good way to field this model in a KoW undead army of either flavor...

That's impressively sinful.

 JoshInJapan wrote:

 cygnnus wrote:


I don’t remember, do you have an undead army for him to lead?

Valete,

JohnS

I do, indeed, have an undead army. It's big enough that I don't currently have the space to store any more, which is one reason I've not been painting undead models for such a long time. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a good way to field this model in a KoW undead army of either flavor...

Seems like there might be some “counts as” options... Isn’t there a Pharaoh on Chariot option? And the normal undead have a named Titan character, right? I mean there’s not a lot of “Necromancer on palanquin” options, to be sure, but i can’t imagine there’d be a problem using him as a chariot- or titan-based character.

If nothing else, the Rule of Cool should make him fieldable as something!

Valete,

JohnS

I also liked seeing that dog in the line up. Great work.

Bone throne is looking great so far!

 inmygravenimage wrote:
That's impressively sinful.

I can't pass without signing under that. Yes, it is.

Congratulations!

The piece is very impressive- most excellent work!

I'm especially impressed with how realistic the purple velvet covering came out, really top notch. The shading and contrasts are perfect.

Of course, with purple velvet in the room, I just know there's going to be a black velvet Elvis painting hanging in the background, or maybe one of those UV fluorescent Spencer Gifts type doper heavy metal posters......

Much painting goodness- much wow!

Great work on the bone throne! Hedonism bot approves that miniature

Excellent choice of model for the painting challenge. The Necromancers "girlfriend" is a spitting image of one of the Dark Eldar slaves from the Dais of Destruction. Wonder if a GW sculptor has this model in their cupboard?

Crossposted from the
Here is my finished Throne of Bone, in all its gory, I mean glory:


Final thoughts:
・This model was fiddly as heck to assemble. You can see that the platform sits unevenly on the frame. It probably needed a little putty work to even it out, but then I wouldn't have been able to reach all the little details.
・The "canopy" on top is just resting on the model, rather than being glued down. I'm still not sure which way it's supposed to point.
・Being lead, and having been stored quite ungently for many years, there are lots of broken parts-- missing skulls, arms, and whole torsos here and there. I ended up adding a few skeletons to the back of the model to cover some of the gaps.
・The base it's on has the same frontage as a Kings of War regiment, so if/when I actually find a game, this model will see the tabletop.
・The model looks much better in person than in the zoomed-in images in the Dakka Gallery. Really.
・This thing ate up all my hobby time for the month, and I seriously considered counting each skeleton individually in my yearly count, but I'll add it to the large projects/terrain count instead.

Next up, it's back to the dwarfs-- I'm in the home stretch, with only a couple more Troops (half-regiments), with some random filler models after that. Will I really finish an army?

Love the finished model, I can just imagine the Necromancer getting too hot and commanding his minions to shield him from the sun.

Top job and I hope you are happy it looks brilliant.

Great work, but I got to say, I couldn't sit very relaxed with all the "attachments" to the throne

That came out extremely well- great work!

Thanks, guys. After all the hours I spent working on the model, the flaws really stand out, but it looks pretty good on the base and will make a nifty unit if/when I use it in Kings of War.

I definitely wouldn’t focus on the flaws on a piece like that. It makes a great center-piece type model and has a great visual impact and character despite any (possible) little flaws or imperfections.

Valete,

JohnS

Excellent work old son. You can always pick holes in anything - celebrate the achievement!

Solid work on the Throne. What a massive and massively-cool piece.

The Throne of Bone was a large, rather fiddly piece, and I had to take periodic breaks while working on it. I finished this guy during said breaks:



This is Mantic's Berzerker Lord on Brokk. I got it a while back for my son as a Christmas present, and it sat in the box until I put it together last month. It's a fairly old model, and not particularly well sculpted, expecially compared to the berzerker infantry I painted a few months ago. It scales well with the brokk riders, though, and it passes muster at arm's length, so in the army it goes.

I also finished off the first couple of models for the October Painting Challenge:



These are Ral Partha ghosts from 198-something (a mold line runs right over the date on the underside of their bases). As always, the huge blown up images in my dakka gallery really bring all the flaws in my painting to light. The bases were inspired by Kevin Dallimore's work for Frostgrave, with a little glowy effect added. I'm torn on whether or not I should extend the green on the bases a little farther. What do you think?

Finally, I repaired and based this Angel of Death from RAFM:


The right arm was broken off at the elbow, so I pinned and superglued it in place. Originally, it stuck straight out the the side, but I repositioned it in a slightly less stupid position. For the base, I puttied in the recess, filed it smooth and hit it with white glue and sand. I then covered it with a generous layer of crackle medium, just to see what would happen.

I'm also working on a troop of dwarf crossbowmen, but they're not far enough along to share. Maybe by the end of the week...

The Bezerker is a magnificent model, nothing like an angry dwarf riding an equally angry badger......

Really like the ghost, I would perhaps extend the glow on the base but at a 50% saturation to imitate the light fading?

The Angel of Death is proper creepy.

 Archer wrote:
The Bezerker is a magnificent model, nothing like an angry dwarf riding an equally angry badger......

Really like the ghost, I would perhaps extend the glow on the base but at a 50% saturation to imitate the light fading?

The Angel of Death is proper creepy.

Thanks. I'm rather fond of the berzerker, even if he's not the highest quality model. I think I'll try extending the glow as you suggested, as well as adding a little more to the edges of the stones as well.

Recently rewatched the Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon recalls his uncle being killed by a badger. Now I know how it must have looked like Great model with a fitting paintjob! And nice start on the ghosts, already like the glowing effect but as Archer said a little more probably wouldn't hurt.

Lovely glowy ghosties. Excellent job!

I like the way you painted the glow effect on the ghosts, Josh. Your painting makes them look better than they probably actually are. Also nice work on the other two also with repairs and paint.

I really like that Brock Rider! If the rest of them looked anything like that, I’d probably get a unit vice trying to find some other second party option that’s not crazy expensive (looking at you Scibor!).

Great paint job on it too. The scheme on the badger is great and you really bring the dwarf to life. As always, I remain in absolute awe of your ability to crank out such volume whilst keeping your quality so high.

And, again, the natural palette looks great. It really works for the Dwarves and makes the glowing runes really pop.

Great job!

I think I’d blend out the glowing effect on the ghosts a bit. The termination line of the glow seems a bit too drastic in a couple of places. But that’s really a quibble. Having thought about, and then passed at, doing some similar effects with my Nighthaunts, I’m absolutely in no place to be casting that particular stone.

Valete,

JohnS

The Berserker Lord is great, really like what you have done with him. It also reminds me that I have the Brock painted and based but haven't even primed the rider....

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Every one makes me want to paint even more. Speaking of which:



I took your advice and extended the glow on the bases, as well as blending the green into the grey a little better and adding edge highlights on some of the stones. As always, the models look better in person than in the huge zoomed in photos on my gallery page. I also did some work on this guy:



His right arm broke off twice while I was primering the model. I ended up drilling deep into the humerus and ulna, to the point where the metal is a little deformed. That should hopefully keep it intact. The bone is finished in this photo, and I thought the wings were as well, but then I noticed the little spike-thumb things. I'll have to go back over those.

Finally, I finished another unit for my Mantic dwarf army:


The dudes in the center of each rank were painted at least a year ago, but the remaining eight were finished last Sunday. I don't have much to say about these guys that I haven't already said about the rest of the army to date, but it's nice to have another unit done. I have few more dwarfs in various stages of completion that I'll share as they are finished. Thanks for looking and commenting.

Ghosts look perfect. Really good job on the glow effect.

Not sure the angel of death does it for me as a model. But keen to see the finished paint job.

Love your dwarfs. Really dig the natural tones and your paint work is always so smooth.

The ghosts definitely look better with the new base paint jobs. Really nice!

I like the Angel of Death. The realistic palate really works. Death seems to me to be the most “blue-collar” of all the supernatural forces, and the plain scheme does that justice. No frills. No embellishment. I mean who does death need to impress? No one I tells ya!

And the dwarves look great. Again, the natural palate works great here and really seems to play to your strengths.

Great stuff all around!

Valete,

JohnS

I like those ghosts, the extra glow was worth it they look much better. Like Cygnuss said your use of colors is very realistic and not over done.

Thanks for the comments, guys. I forgot to mention that the Winged Reaper (which is the actual name of that model) is still WIP. I've pretty much finished it, but am agonizing over the shadows and basing.

Nice glow on the ghosts!

Thanks, aku-chan. I'm still very much a novice when it comes to lighting effects, but I like to think that I'm getting better. Speaking of which:


I posted this shot of the Death Reaper last week. The robe is painted in a solid coat of Vallejo shadow grey (I think, it's essentially Space Wolves grey with a different name). I took a couple of photos with some extreme lighting (sorry, I haven't uploaded those), and then did my best to mimic the shadows with blending and glazing:




The front view turned out the best, the sides not so much. Also, it looks better in real life than in the blown-up pixelated versions in my Dakka gallery. Overall, it was a good first step towards a more painterly style. Still have a ways to go, though.

I also finished this dwarf hero from Bad Squiddo:


She's on a 20mm base to plug a hole in the unit of Shieldbreakers I shared a while back. Aesthetically, she's quite different from the rest of the unit, but a little variation is never a bad thing. I have a couple more dwarf models in the works, but the muse has been quiet this past week, and progress is slow. I hope to have them ready to show after the weekend.

I like the Death Reaper. His(?) cloak keeps to a nice, plain, unadorned look that I really think works, but you did a great job of giving it enough shading to make it pop. In a restrained way.

I think it’s ready for its cameo opening up the Heavenly Hills Mall!

The female dwarf looks good. Again, your strengths with the natural, earthy, palette really shine here. Only thing missing his her beard.

I feel you on the muse. It’s been a while since I was able to get down into my painting dungeon for any length of time lately. Have to try to fix that, but the muse hasn’t been speaking to me...

Valete,

JohnS

 cygnnus wrote:


I feel you on the muse. It’s been a while since I was able to get down into my painting dungeon for any length of time lately. Have to try to fix that, but the muse hasn’t been speaking to me...

Valete,

JohnS

One thing that has helped me get past a lack of motivation has been the monthly Dakka painting challenge. I usually pick a model that is not part of whatever project I have ongoing. That little difference helps recharge my painting batteries.

Death Reaper and Dwarf Hero are looking very nice. I too need more practise on robes (as I discovered once again with my own entry...)

 Arakasi wrote:
Death Reaper and Dwarf Hero are looking very nice. I too need more practise on robes (as I discovered once again with my own entry...)

Yeah, painting cloth realistically is hard. I need a lot more practice.

Really like the bone work on the reaper, very evocative.

NIce work all around Josh. Really like the depth of red on the cloak of the dwarfette. The bone work came out great as well.

Nice work on the reaper, but I'm always partial to more painted dwarves and the hero looks great. The eyes came out very well.

inmygravenimage wrote:Really like the bone work on the reaper, very evocative.

Thanks. I think I could have taken the bone a little closer to white, but it stands out well against the grey.

Theophony wrote:NIce work all around Josh. Really like the depth of red on the cloak of the dwarfette. The bone work came out great as well.

Thanks. I'm pretty happy with that model all around.

Viterbi wrote:Nice work on the reaper, but I'm always partial to more painted dwarves and the hero looks great. The eyes came out very well.

You'll be happy with this post, then:


These are dwarf berzerkers from Stonehaven miniatures. Many months ago, I painted up a troop of ten mantic berserzers, which were nice models, but only come in two poses. I've been hunting for models from other makers to fill out the unit. The dude on the left with the clubs was painted entirely without washes, inks or glazes as something of a challenge for myself. I think he turned out pretty good. The female dwarf on the right is fully armored, which seems odd for a berzerker, but the unlikely weapon makes up for it, I think. Both models's feet are so far apart that I had to base them diagonally, which has them looking off to the side. I painted their eyes to be looking toward the front of their bases, but the gigantic browridge and/or bangs make them essentially invisible. Ah, well.

Over the weekend, my son and I assembled 10 Tribals for Ghost Archipelago, so I guess I'm working on those next. Also, for the November painting challenge, I'll be working on the Basilean Abbess and Abyssal Seductress, both from Mantic:

The resin Abyssals are really nice. Wasn't a huge fan of the earlier models - converted mine up for Dreadball lol. I probably still have some bits somewhere if you want, just drop me a pm.

Dwarves look great!

I kind of like the fully armored berserker dwarf. I like the idea that they seal the crazy inside the armor in preparation of the battle. Sort of transforming her into a walking bastion of carnage.

I really like the palette you are using on the dwarves, it is very well done. The skin tones and cloth are something I aspire to.

Some nice Dwarves there Josh.

Cheers,

CB

inmygravenimage wrote:The resin Abyssals are really nice. Wasn't a huge fan of the earlier models - converted mine up for Dreadball lol. I probably still have some bits somewhere if you want, just drop me a pm.

Thanks for the offer, but I have more than enough for Vanguard, and I'm not looking to start a whole KOW army of them. Also, I'm pretty sure shipping from the UK to Japan would be pricey.

Arakasi wrote:Dwarves look great!

Thanks!

Archer wrote:I kind of like the fully armored berserker dwarf. I like the idea that they seal the crazy inside the armor in preparation of the battle. Sort of transforming her into a walking bastion of carnage.

I hadn't considered that. Now I like the model a lot more.

Yorkright wrote: I really like the palette you are using on the dwarves, it is very well done. The skin tones and cloth are something I aspire to.

Somewhere along the line, I have become the master of browns. I should pull out some old harlequins or something to practice other colors.

Captain Brown wrote:Some nice Dwarves there Josh.

Cheers,

CB

Thanks!

Late to the party, but great work on those two dwarves, love the blond hair color, nicely done!

I wonder what you could do for Harlequins in a mostly brown scheme......

Viterbi wrote:Late to the party, but great work on those two dwarves, love the blond hair color, nicely done!

Thanks. For whatever reason, I'm getting pretty good at painting blond hair.

Archer wrote:I wonder what you could do for Harlequins in a mostly brown scheme......

And now I know what I'll be doing for the December Painting Challenge.

I'm still plugging away at the painting desk. Not as much as I'd like, but it's not like I'm getting in a lot of games these days. First up, my completed entry for the November Painting Challenge:





These are the Abyssal Seductress and Basilean Abbess, both from Mantic's Vanguard line. These are cast in resin (not my favorite material, BTW-- too flimsy and bendy for my tastes), and I'm 100% certain that they will break multiple times in multiple places. The Seductress' wings have both broken off and been repaired already because the contact points are so small. I really focussed on shading the white cloth, and am actually pretty happy with how it turned out. I tried NMM on the Abyssal, but it doesn't look very metallic to my eyes.

A couple of weeks ago, my son and I were "snooping" in my many boxes of unpainted models, looking for our (really my) next project. He decided that we would build and paint some tribal for Ghost Archipelago. We assembled two sprues worth, and I finished these five earlier this week:







I need to figure out a better lighting set up. These aren't my favorite FG/GA models, and I'm not entirely happy with how their faces turned out. I'll probably go back and add the masks sometime this weekend. I don't feel entirely comfortable using them as adversaries in GA, but I think they'd make an interesting warband for Ragnarok. Assuming, of course, that I ever get around to playing it.

I have a couple more Vanguard models in the pre-painting stage, and a Secret Santa project that I can't share until it's been received. After that, who knows? Maybe in January I'll put up a poll to decide my next big project.

Looking good. The gold nmm worked well, I like your white cloth and the frostgrave models came out nicely, even if they are as you note, possibly a bit problematic to use as mooks. Good to see what else you come up with

Love the Abyssal; all your hard work paid off. They're definitely my favourite KoW figs, great job though on the Basiliean cloth and skin for the FG stuff too.

Vejut wrote:Looking good. The gold nmm worked well, I like your white cloth and the frostgrave models came out nicely, even if they are as you note, possibly a bit problematic to use as mooks. Good to see what else you come up with

I'm still not convinced that I "get" NMM, but I agree that the cloth worked out well. I'll have to try the effect with other colors some time.

inmygravenimage wrote:Love the Abyssal; all your hard work paid off. They're definitely my favourite KoW figs, great job though on the Basiliean cloth and skin for the FG stuff too.

Thanks. As is usual for this type of model, I felt like a creep while painting her. Lots of boob and butt.