The mission: Paint all my current Brushfire minis
The deadline: July 20th or so

This mission, that I have chosen to accept, is to finish all my current Brushfire minis. I have a whole additional passel full coming due to the Kickstarter, so now is the time to move these babies out!

I currently have 4 armys: Aquitar, Ribenguo, Mare-Civitas, and Vandalands

Here is where we are as of today!

Vandalands (top) and Ribenguo (bottom)


Mare-Civitas (top) and Aquitar (bottom)

You may note that some appear to be painted... a few have some paint, but all need improvement.

The goal for today is to get everything fully primed and prepped, and possibly start finishing the partial painted guys!

Edits- Grammar and such

Looking forward to this! Are there some lancers in the mix, it's hard to see from this angle? Those, and obviously the hamster models since that's what I play , are some of my favorites that I can't wait to see you paint.

Are you going to go faction by faction, all the way to completion, or some other method?

Yes, Lancers are included. I had mixed up who was who for Aquitar and Mare-Civitas on the initial post, but all should be straight now.

Vandalands is a ton of Rat Raiders and five Hamsters!

I haven't thought about the plan of attack quite yet... but now that you mention it, doing a faction at a time would be a good idea. That way I can keep my palette and techniques consistent.

So once I figure out who will get attention first, I'll go into more detail on the minis etc.

I actually just found a few more models!

Adding: Axony starter box, Rat Lord (Vandalands), and Kunoichi (Ribenguo)...

And Subscribed

Gymnogyps wrote:Yes, Lancers are included.

Excellent

Gymnogyps wrote:I haven't thought about the plan of attack quite yet... but now that you mention it, doing a faction at a time would be a good idea. That way I can keep my palette and techniques consistent.

Well, you know my vote (Vandalands, or whoever the Lancers belong to). But I'll watch with interest whichever you choose

OK guys, here is the first I decided to just go ahead and get Axony done, since I only have 4 guys to paint. RiTides, Vandalands is calling, so I think they are next!

But first, a little about Axony (Cyp please feel free to add if you like!)... Axony is an alternate UK, populated by anthropomorphic dogs and cats. The warband starter comes with a Heavy Brigadier, 2 Bulldog Regulars, and 1 Kernish Terrier.

I started with the Heavy Brigadier because he looked like he needed to be standing on an elevated vantage, pondering the battle to be. I placed him on a nice big cliff-stone, sparsely covered with heather and grasses, with a thick leather coat slung across his shoulders. His clothing is inspired by British royalty, with a red jacket and blue sash. The bottom of the base needs some final touches (it is still drying), but he is pretty much done!

Is the model supposed to be a total rip off of Creed? Great paint job though.

Awesome work. Great paint and, you know, brushfire.

Thanks, Vitruvian!

So, I am going to have to re-do, or add to, the fur on Mr. Brigadier. I read my rulebook last night, and he is of the feline persuasion, which is ambiguous with the current paint.
I thought the ears were weird for a dog... But for some reason I was convinced he was a dog, and went for a look like a miniature schnauzer. But, no biggy, I just need to decide how to paint him!

May I suggest this scheme?



As its the basis for the Heavy Brigadier's sculpt

LOL he (or she?) is adorable. Yours?


Edit- I uploaded my photos and Dakka went wonky, so here we go.

I had a heck of a time taking the pictures... Shadow and flash were rough, and then my camera battery died!

But now, he definitely looks more feline.

Looks great!

The cat came out of a Google Image Search, and was too adorable to not use

Yeah, that mustache is killer!

So unfortunately I got stuck late at work tonight, and will be stuck late again tomorrow. I'm in the process of base coating the Bull Regulars... and I did some research on Bulldogs.

I really like this guy


And this little thing...


Similar, but different enough, and most important... to me they are classic English bulldogs!

So after a long week at work, tonight I finished a Bull Regular!

Coming along nicely

Thanks, Cyporiean!

The second Bull Regular is now complete, and I've also included a group shot. One more to go, and the starter box is done!

Very nice basing

Yeah I'm having a lot of fun with the basing.

I'm now pondering Mr. Kernish Terrier. "Kernish" of course made me think of "Cornish", so I wanted to give nods to the inspirational real-life stuff. But at the same time, I didn't want to exactly copy the OTL version. So I googled, and I Wikipedia'd, and found this image of a Cornish warrior.



I love it, so this is what I'm going to use as my inspiration... and if my end product looks like the OTL version, this is why!

Great work, very realistic looking!

Agree on the bases, great work.

The fur on the cat looks so much like the picture, well done!!

The "dogs" are looking great, too and the basing is superb.

Vitruvian, RiTides, thank you so much for the encouragement. It really does help motivate me!

Speaking of, here is the Kernish Terrier, and (shortly) the fully complete Axony starter box.

And now we return with our regularly scheduled programming!

Came together rather nice, just need to get some Devon Brigadiers now

Which set are you working on next?

Thank you! Yes, Devon Brigadiers are on the shopping list. I really want to do an orange tabby, and a calico. I'd have to also to a black cat, and a gold tabby to match my kittehs.

Next will be Vandalands. I just touched up the priming on all of them, and am doing research on hamsters and rats. One of my facebook friends has many fancy rats, so I will be using those for inspiration. And hamsters in general are so adorable, it is really just a matter of picking!

I'm also thinking the basing will need to change up a bit... Vandalands wouldn't have the heath and such that I've done for Axony. Any suggestions?

I'm really looking forward to getting the studio models back of the Devons, Gavin Thorne is the process of painting them, the Sand Guard, and Amamimoto The Ronin up for us. I plan on eventually building up a large Axony force of mostly Calico and Tortoise Shell Devons in the office.

For the Vandals, Snow Drifts/or late winter/early spring (touch of snow and grass) would probably be fitting for them, they are the most 'Of The North' of Brushfire's current factions. It'd also allow for a great contrast if you pick up some Scyzantium stuff, and do hot desert/sand basing for them.

OK, here we go! The first Hamster Berserker... with a nod to that crazy guy from Neverwinter Nights game who had the hamster, Boo. I loved that character...

Very nice

Wonderful work, man!

You have successfully psyched me up for painting my own stuff!
Blog incoming July...ish, Cyp care to clarify?

Cyporiean wrote:I'm really looking forward to getting the studio models back of the Devons, Gavin Thorne is the process of painting them, the Sand Guard, and Amamimoto The Ronin up for us. I plan on eventually building up a large Axony force of mostly Calico and Tortoise Shell Devons in the office.

For the Vandals, Snow Drifts/or late winter/early spring (touch of snow and grass) would probably be fitting for them, they are the most 'Of The North' of Brushfire's current factions. It'd also allow for a great contrast if you pick up some Scyzantium stuff, and do hot desert/sand basing for them.

Ooh, calicos and torties would be excellent! Gavin Thorne does great work. I'm excited to see what he does with the minis.

I do have some Scyzantine guys from the kickstarter, so yes, desert theme will be fun. I'm thinking more of a red desert, and adding little cactus and scrub... I really need to visit a train store for all this landscaping!

Casey's Law wrote:Wonderful work, man!

You have successfully psyched me up for painting my own stuff!
Blog incoming July...ish, Cyp care to clarify?

Lol, thanks. I always get psyched, too, when I see the progress of others.

So, uh, whats going on in July? Inquiring minds, and all....

Gymnogyps wrote:

So, uh, whats going on in July? Inquiring minds, and all....

I think thats when he is hoping to get his Kickstarter+ Goodies..

Unless he is visitng Dakkacon?

Yeh, kickstarter. Thinks it's due out sometime in that month?

Loving the hamster! I hope I can do mine justice, if not to the same level.

Will you paint the other hamsters different colors, or the same?

Oh they will all be different colors... MWA HA HA!





I keep singing the Berserker song from Clerks... this has to be their theme.

Edits- better photo

Very cool! Painting them all different is the best call i think.

Yep, different colors... here is a new one, more golden in color. I think he has the cutest face so far. I think I'm getting better as I paint more of them.

And then there were 3!

Loving it . Will you be doing any black colored hamsters, or sticking with shades of brown?

They are coming along rather nicely, I'm looking forward to seeing more & more tutorials

I actually ended up going in the direction of these guys (cue cute SQUEE!)







I changed the warpaint color to blue. I think it contrasts a little better on the fur.

Now, I'm moving on to the Rat Raiders. I think this will be my inspiration for painting them... Edit: paint will be per the 'Official colors' of Green shirt, Yellow cloak/hood, brown pants, and grey/black boots.

Yeah, that blue warpaint looks really nice.

Another possible touch to add would be throw some Norse Runes onto the Axe Blades.

Gymnogyps wrote:

They look so fantastic together, the variation of fur colors is perfect! And I love the blue warpaint... it didn't really connect with me before what it was, but this color now screams "warpaint" and I got it instantly.

Man! How long did each take you, roundabout?

Cyporiean, RiTides, thanks again for the support!

For how long it took... I was surprised at how quickly I was churning them out. I think each was maybe 3-4 hours off and on, leaving time for washes to dry and such. Brush to model time was probably half that, as an estimate. The basing actually took about as long as the minis due to dry times needed.

Fantastic work yet again! I agree that the blue warpaint was a much better choice, it pops better because of the contrast and it's instantly recognisable as what it is.

It'll avoid any confusion for those heathens who don't know Brushfire!

You don't have any of the Shrew Hussars, do you Gymnogyps? Would love to see a tutorial on one of those although seeing a rat raider come together will be sweet, too.

I definitely think the hamster and shrew hussars are better sculpts- I believe the rats were a bit earlier and the details is a little softer. But in your hands I think it will look great!

RiTides wrote:You don't have any of the Shrew Hussars, do you Gymnogyps? Would love to see a tutorial on one of those although seeing a rat raider come together will be sweet, too.

I definitely think the hamster and shrew hussars are better sculpts- I believe the rats were a bit earlier and the details is a little softer. But in your hands I think it will look great!

Shes got some heading her way soonish

and yeah, the Rats were around the 4th sculpt Daniel did for us. They could use an update along with the Lancers and Weasels...

I am dying to get my grubby little fingers on the Hussars. I already have plans how I will paint them, too, technique-wise.

I was pondering the rat sculpts last night, debating how to approach them. I think I will need to do a couple for practice before photoing a step-by-step. The clothes and stuff will be fine, I just need to get the ratty face expression right. I was going to be all ambitious and paint them fancy colors, but now I think a simple grey or brown (or greyish-brown) would be best.

And yes, I will need to watch Ratatouille and Secret of NIMH while painting them. Research, I swear!

Gymnogyps wrote:I am dying to get my grubby little fingers on the Hussars. I already have plans how I will paint them, too, technique-wise

Soon!

I'll likely do yours as two shipments, since you got so much stuff, and aside from the Assassins its all current releases.

How soon

Looking forward to it, Gymnogyps!

And Ratatouille is great

RiTides wrote:How soon

Expecting our Restock (+June Releases) this or next week, so shortly after that..

You both are cracking me up... I'm very, very happy to hear about my imminent kiwi-ing. Thank you, Cyporiean for the update!

Base coats are down on the first Rat Raider. I need to do some washes before I know for sure if I'm happy with it.

PS Casey's Law, thanks for your earlier comment.

I'm thinking I need to go back and add more warpaint to the rest of the Berserkers... but later. Now, the rats!

I was thinking that, too! Best to let it simmer, though, while doing rats, and then circle back to it later when you've had time to consider it. It's something you can't take back

So 'ere we go, WIP Rat Raider. I've base-coated, washed, and one round of highlights. I need to smooth some of the transitions. This was mostly to get the colors mapped out. I like it so far, but I'm not 100% convinced. Please give suggestions for improvement!




Edit - I really need to figure out how to add whiskers... like actually stringing a bow. Hmm... Fishing line maybe. My cat wouldn't appreciate it if I borrowed hers.

So, RiTides, when we gonna see any of your painted critters?

I need to figure out an easier way to keep track of this thread- I keep finding a post of yours in the DCM Brushfire thread, clicking on the link in your sig, and getting here...

I like the model... trying to think of some constructive criticism, the hamsters "pop" a lot more to me, but I just love the models. It could be the skin-tone... not totally sure about it. Also the shield color looks rather like the cloak.

But I do like it- it's just not my favorite sculpt, and I think you're making the best of it.

I'm going to go for assembly first, let alone painting . Living vicariously, here!

Given that I'm also in MD, we should totally get a game of Brushfire in at some point

Super Sub'd.

The Rat looks good!

RiTides wrote:I need to figure out an easier way to keep track of this thread- I keep finding a post of yours in the DCM Brushfire thread, clicking on the link in your sig, and getting here...

You could friend me so you can just click my username and go to my threads. This one will be at the top. At least you won't have to find one of my sparse posts!

RiTides wrote:I like the model... trying to think of some constructive criticism, the hamsters "pop" a lot more to me, but I just love the models. It could be the skin-tone... not totally sure about it. Also the shield color looks rather like the cloak.

But I do like it- it's just not my favorite sculpt, and I think you're making the best of it.

Yeah I'm struggling a bit with this one. I did incorporate your suggestions, see below, and thank you!

For sure all of these Raiders will be painted, but I don't want to do a tutorial on them. I think I'll do a tutorial the Rat Lord instead. Now he is a super cool sculpt!

RiTides wrote:I'm going to go for assembly first, let alone painting . Living vicariously, here!

Given that I'm also in MD, we should totally get a game of Brushfire in at some point

Build build build! Paint paint paint! Yeah I devoted quite a bit of time to assembling everything. Zip kicker saved me. However, and I only realized it after I built everything, my glue was really old and wasn't holding well at all. Zip kicker just gave the illusion... I had to get new glue and re-do a lot of them.

As for gaming, weekdays are rough for me because of my commute, but yes we should get a game in! We should plot via PM so all of Dakka doesn't crash it, though.

Zygrot24 wrote:Super Sub'd.

Awesome, thanks!

Cyporiean wrote:The Rat looks good!

Thank you!

I've gone back and added some more... he's looking better. Shield was brightened so it contrasts more with cloak, face cleaned up, and WHISKERS! I'll need to refine the whiskering process (bit too much glue) but I really like what the whiskers do for him overall, especially the non-painful-close-up range. I need to fix some wild paint specs and do some highlighting on the tunic hem and I think he'll be done.

One question... should the shield be red? I chose this orange because its in the same tone / intensity as the other colors, but red might be better. I was also debating painting some runes on the shield, and I have to add some faux lettering to the horizontal band...





(Edits - formatting, clearing stuff up)

The whiskers came out great! Matt squealed alittle when I showed him the picture

One thing though, I think the little bit on the back of the hand is supposed to be fur, or at least that's how I always painted it.

Looking forward to seeing the Rat Lord and its Tutorial, one of my favorite models in the range.

Ratty looks good man! Whats next?

Cyporiean wrote:The whiskers came out great! Matt squealed alittle when I showed him the picture

One thing though, I think the little bit on the back of the hand is supposed to be fur, or at least that's how I always painted it.

Looking forward to seeing the Rat Lord and its Tutorial, one of my favorite models in the range.

Fur! I thought the frou-frou poets blouse was a little out of character... That is an easy fix at least.

As for what is next, now that I have colors for the raiders, I'll start working on the rat lord, writing the tutorial as I go.

Edit for phone posting problems....

A single day without pics ...

You're slipping

LOL I know. I had to rebase the rat lord. He really needed to be standing on a rock.

Yesterday / today I blocked in the colors. These are basecoats only so far, to see how the color selection looks...

Inspiration:


And my blocked in colors:

Colours look good together. When layering up i'd say darker on the red and purple...r on the armour. Maybe find a way to differentiate the whites? Actually you might have done that already or it could just be the photograph.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing it finished!

Looks like you're off to a good start

I was just kidding, but it's awesome that you actually were making progress on a near-daily basis, anyway

Looking good . I agree about putting him up on a rock, and a lighter skin/fur color is an interesting (good!) idea, although I'm thinking you will darken it up somewhat.

Casey's Law wrote:Colours look good together. When layering up i'd say darker on the red and purple...r on the armour. Maybe find a way to differentiate the whites? Actually you might have done that already or it could just be the photograph.

Great suggestions, thank you! The whites are indeed a little washed out... IRL they are bone-ish on rat and palest grey on cloak fur. I'm debating adding the ermine-tail effect on the cloak fur, but ermine tails in an anthropomorphic animal world, is that weird? LOL

Cyporiean wrote:Looks like you're off to a good start

Thanks! I'm trying to take lots of photos but I'm finding myself diving in and naturally blending up paints and such. Writing tutorials is hard!

RiTides wrote:I was just kidding, but it's awesome that you actually were making progress on a near-daily basis, anyway

LOL I know. Thanks for the encouragement! It really does light a fire under my too sedentary ways.

RiTides wrote:Looking good . I agree about putting him up on a rock, and a lighter skin/fur color is an interesting (good!) idea, although I'm thinking you will darken it up somewhat.

Speaking of darker... I officially love army painter strong tone ink. I picked one up, and wow this is good stuff.

I'm going to have to do some actual work before posting more photos, though... That ink is like cheating!

The ermine tail pattern might be a little messed up in their world, yes.

Is that seriously just a wash over what you had done in the last photo? That's a great effect for so little effort!

Casey's Law wrote:The ermine tail pattern might be a little messed up in their world, yes.

It'd hardly be the worst concept when you think about it...

Ouch, i'll never see that model the same way again!

Back to painting...

I really love AP's washes, best things since Devlan Mud.

Gym, I'm hoping that the big box of Army Painter stuff I've ordered will show up today, so I can get yours out to you on Tuesday.

The wash really did wonders! I'm considering using one of the Army Painters on my trollbloods. I stockpiled some GW washes, though before they went OOP, so I haven't decided. In your tutorial, you mention both for reference, but what you actually used was Army Painter's stuff, right?

Edit: I don't see a Dullcote step in the tutorial, did you not have to spray them to make them matte? I'm thinking in the above pic the rat lord is still wet so won't look quite as glossy when done.

Casey's Law, yes, that was just a wash. Crazy, isn't it? I was like, whoa, I need to take a pic because that is so cool!

Cyporiean, thanks for the update. Now that I've seen what that wash does, I can't wait to see the rest of the AP stuff!

RiTides wrote:The wash really did wonders! I'm considering using one of the Army Painters on my trollbloods. I stockpiled some GW washes, though before they went OOP, so I haven't decided. In your tutorial, you mention both for reference, but what you actually used was Army Painter's stuff, right?

No, the tutorial was actually using the old GW paints. But they are OOP so it would be kinda uncool to use their name as primary, I thought... And since the Army Builder stuff is nicely color matched to the old GW range, I used their names prominently so if folks needed to buy, they would be able to. That sort of thing would drive me nuts if I were trying to use a tutorial and didn't have the paints!

RiTides wrote:Edit: I don't see a Dullcote step in the tutorial, did you not have to spray them to make them matte? I'm thinking in the above pic the rat lord is still wet so won't look quite as glossy when done.

Yes he was still soaked when I took the picture... I was just so impressed, I couldn't wait! He dried matte so no worries there.

I've been highlighting this morning and he is looking really good. I want to get him finished and I'll post in a bit!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
About 90% done... I just realized I forgot his fingers! I'll have to set up my photo-tent and try to take some super pro-photos.

Wow You've made that model look great! It's another one I wasn't positive about from the sculpt, but you've really made it pop.

My favorite part is the head . Makes a great profile pic, too!

Thanks, RiTides! Here are some different shots, but I'm not sure if they are any better. I'm having a hard time with getting the lighting right.

Love that blue! Amazing effort there

That's insane, he'll look great on the table! (...and as a profile picture. )

Easily the best paint job I've seen on that model.

I cant help but feel the contrast on the fur (especially the cloak trim) is a bit too sharp though. It almost goes directly from black to white.

Whose fur is it, come to think of it? Hopefully not another rat's

Bleached Kiwi Down... or Albino Rat hair, whatever.

I think it's your best paintjob so far. Not sure I've seen that model before either, but I really like it.

And the latest... 7 complete Rat Raiders! I admit that I did a bit of a rush job on these guys because I'm going out of town next week and wanted to complete the Vandalands models. When I get back, Mare-Civitas!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Vitruvian, Casey's Law, Cyporeian, Zygrot, thanks so much for the compliments! It really means a lot to me. I am very hypercritical of my own work so it balances out nicely to hear positive responses!

Vitruvian XVII wrote:I cant help but feel the contrast on the fur (especially the cloak trim) is a bit too sharp though. It almost goes directly from black to white.

Hmm, I think it might be an artifact of the auto-adjust when I upload to Dakka. I think it has a tendency to increase the contrast, and these subtle gradations of white all just get turned up to 11. Looking at it in hand, there are lots of greys on the fur cloak trim and pale browns on the rat. That is something I definitely need to keep in mind for the future, though, when taking pics, so thank you!

BTW, I tried to pull off the ermine tail thing, and it didn't work. Just looked weird, like black flecks of paint... Maybe when I'm feeling more bold when I go back over everyone I'll try again.

So, when I get back from my trip, I'm going to work on the following Mare-Civitas minis...

1- Capybara Capitan
3- Mouse Lancers (the awesome jumping mice IIRC)
7- Mouse Conscripts (cutest little things)
1- Juan de Brisica - I'm going to have to look into getting a scenic flying base for him... he really needs to be mid-air.

Down time during the trip I'll work on the next tutorial. I have all the pics, so I just need to write out the step-by-step.

The Raiders look great!

The Lancers & Juan are my favorite group* in Brushfire, so I'm always excited to see them painted... No Pressure!

*Totally biased.

These are nice miniatures and the painting is coming along nicely. Keep it up

Drum

Brilliant stuff! They look great.

Rat raiders look great together... I can't believe you powered through 7!

Ah i see.

Personally hate dakkas auto adjust

Rats look great, especially in the faces.

Thanks for the tutorial on how you painted the rat lord, Gyps!

Very good tutorial with great pictures.

Well, I have partially failed in my task to lure Gyps away from doing her own stuff and to paint mine . But I will get to see them in person later in the month, so that will be cool!

And who knows

Looking forward to more, what are your next models to paint going to be? If you want to stick with Vandalands (YES) I could either ship or drop off to you however many Shrew Hussars you've ordered from Cyporiean, and you can just give me yours when they come in.

This would be very cool from my point of view, because then I would get to see them painted up before you move on to other factions, thus giving me a blueprint for how to paint / have painted / etc all of the types of models I have

You two should goto the Dropzone soft opening next weekend and show off Brushfire.

I think we may end up playing there! But it will probably be the third weekend from now, as I'm helping a friend move this weekend, then have family visiting the next.

Looking forward to having another independent store to game at!

So I've been recovering from my trip. Friday at noonish my training location was evacuated because of a massive gas leak. Then I was trapped at the Providence, RI airport Friday night... all those tornadoes in Maryland meant I was camping in the airport instead of traveling home. But, I got home safe finally, though I was exhausted. I can't wait to go back up to RI for maybe a weekend away, this time minus evacuations and weather SNAFUs.

Zygrot24 wrote:Very good tutorial with great pictures.

Zygrot, thanks, I'm glad you liked the tutorial! It was fun to take the pics, then scroll through them to see the progress.

RiTides wrote:Well, I have partially failed in my task to lure Gyps away from doing her own stuff and to paint mine . But I will get to see them in person later in the month, so that will be cool!

And who knows

Looking forward to more, what are your next models to paint going to be? If you want to stick with Vandalands (YES) I could either ship or drop off to you however many Shrew Hussars you've ordered from Cyporiean, and you can just give me yours when they come in.

This would be very cool from my point of view, because then I would get to see them painted up before you move on to other factions, thus giving me a blueprint for how to paint / have painted / etc all of the types of models I have

LOL let's see how I'm doing for branching out into painting your stuff. If I keep powering through things fast like this I may be done faster than I thought. I didn't mention, but if I do paint yours, the basing wouldn't be a problem. I have so much basing junk whatever I did for you wouldn't even make a dent.

Hmm, I'm not sure when my Hussar/Cabineers are due. I know some goodies from Florida should be coming soon-ish IIRC. But if the Hussars end up being a little while, we may just need to do a trade like you mentioned (brilliant idea, BTW)

Cyporiean wrote:You two should goto the Dropzone soft opening next weekend and show off Brushfire.

Yeah I'll probably go to the opening. I was able to get my other half to play some Brushfire using the quickstart rules this weekend. We were able to throw down a 2' x 3' flocked mat and some terrain, and played Vandalands vs. Axony warband boxes. We were arguing about the rules until we realized I actually have two different variants of the quickstart rules.... and the book I was using is first printing, so we may not have the most up to date info. Either way, we found it fast and fun to play.

As for what I have been working on... all 7 Mouse Conscripts at once. I didn't get far today, but here is a WIP shot

This is just the red and some Shadow Grey for base coats... I had to pick out the colors for the mice themselves, and I think I'm going to paint them like the little field mouse I caught and had as a pet a couple years ago. His name was Fergus, and he looked like this guy...

You find some great pictures for inspiration . Progress is looking good!

Just let me know if you end up wanting me to bring the Shrew Hussars when we end up gaming . Cool that you got a game in with your husband, I'm hoping my wife might get interested once I paint mine, too (i.e. because the models are adorable / etc).

A local player also just emailed the warmachine group about Dropzone, so there's starting to be some buzz. Be sure to post up how it is if you do get to go check it out.

@RiTides, will do for Hussars and Dropzone.

Back to painting! Here is a test model for the Mouse Conscript paint...



Of course I need to base him, but I like how his face turned out. The hands are a little weird looking, so I was thinking about scrounging up some arrows-in-hand from my Goblins or something...

1) The face is amazing! Looks just like the inspiration picture

2) I totally agree about putting something in the "carebear" hand.

Other than that, I think it's the best mouse conscript I've seen. From my few demo games, they also seemed devastating in-game.

RiTides wrote: From my few demo games, they also seemed devastating in-game.

Like the Otter Ashigaru, they are fantastic until a gentle breeze hits them.

Thanks RiTides!

So I pulled out my night gobbo bits and threw this on. I had to chop off the arm and glue on the hand. Sorry about the poor pic, I wanted to get this up before crashing for the night.



I'm still working on base coating the rest of the conscripts. I think my tutorial will be of the sword-and-board configuration...

Brilliant paint job! And i really like subtle conversion.

Thanks Casey! So it took longer than I expected, but I finally completed the paint on the Mouse Conscripts... basing to be done!



Here is a detail shot of a swordmouse

They look quite disciplined! Adding the quiver to the mouse' hand was a nice touch, and mixes them up a bit. The real challenge would be to make a left-handed archer, or a right-handed swordsman

I think this was still quite fast! Do you have a faction and point level in mind for when we play in 2 weekends' time? I had assumed Vandlands vs Vandalands, but at this rate you might have a few options to choose from for your own.

Looks great!

RiTides wrote:They look quite disciplined! Adding the quiver to the mouse' hand was a nice touch, and mixes them up a bit. The real challenge would be to make a left-handed archer, or a right-handed swordsman

Yes, true.

RiTides wrote:I think this was still quite fast! Do you have a faction and point level in mind for when we play in 2 weekends' time? I had assumed Vandlands vs Vandalands, but at this rate you might have a few options to choose from for your own.

I have no idea! I've only played once, and that was using the starter rules and warbands. If you have a preference, I'm good with anything. Really I could just bring everything I have, and hey, if other people want to try it out, well...

Edit - And, thanks Cyporiean!

These keep getting better. The face on that sword mouse is A+.

Thanks Zygrot. They turned out better than I expected. The painting was really surprising... I'll write up the tutorial and you'll see what I mean.

Basing, done! I did paint around the base rims, but not until after I took these pics.

Lancers!


Next is either Juan de Brisica or the Capybara Capitan.

I've been reading the RPG and I think I'm going to try to freehand a white rose onto Juan's shield... And also include white flowers on his base.

Basing looks great, nice and varied... looks like they just marched out of a forest.

The lancers are probably my favorite models of the entire range, other than the hamster berserkers... that'll be a really nice group together with the archers.

Did you have to do any pinning for the long tails or the like?

No pinning at all. Things seem to hold together really well. I actually have been carrying the lancers around by their tails with no problems. I'm not sure how long that will last!

Here are some more detailed shot of the lancers... and also the rose on Juan's shield. I was going for the classic iconographic English style rose. But I'm not sure if this is coming through correctly. If it is no bueno, I can start over and do a modern blooming white rose bud...






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After further review and input, the previous rose was looking more daisy like. Here is take 2!

I like the take 2 rose much better! It looks great

Thanks RiTides! I put some blue behind it to try to make it stand out more. I'm not 100% on the execution. I wanted a bit more depth, but I think for now I'll need to leave it be.

Well, it has been a long week. I've finally completed Juan! Now that I'm looking in these pics, the helmet is not translating well. The helmet is an animal face shape with some frills on the head. I painted the frills gold. But they just aren't clear. I'll have to go back and turn them steely, that would be better. The helm has eyeglass / safety goggles so I painted the lenses green to make them contrast a bit.



Next is the Capybara Capitan, then on to Aquitar!

My Aquitar warband was one of the first things I bought for Brushfire. I primed them white because I wanted nice bright clean colors. So I painted them with basecoats, then washed with Devlan Mud... but the mud was bad, or my rinse water was. The wash turned whitish-grey in the pool areas where it was supposed to be darkest. Plus, paint wouldn't stick well to the flat areas. The whole models looked dingy, ugly, poor. I was so upset I actually had to walk away from the models. I got sidetracked, and now here we are! So I am now soaking the poor things in my stripping stuff. Hopefully by tomorrow they'll be ready for re-priming.

Juan looks great, and not just saying that because he is one of my characters.

He is a PITA to photograph though with that pose, you did a great job getting him on film

Thank Cyporiean! I'm debating another scheme altogether for colors on him. I like green and white for some reason... Probably that white rose thing sticking in my head.

Today I finished El Capitaine. I was going for eye-popping bright on the red/yellow stripes. My special task was to differentiate the yellow of the pants/shirt from the leopard fur. Let us see if it comes through in the photos!

Well, if you want to go for the 'Official' colors for Juan, it'd be mostly White Armor and Shield, with black under that and Red on the boots.





The Capy Capt looks good, very the very bright stripes will end up standing out from his troops. You might want to darken his hands and snout a bit to match Capybaras.

Hmm, White armor on Juan would be very easy. I could also paint the red areas white, especially on the shield. And red shoes are just awesome...

Those are a lot better capybara pics than what I found. I will definitely revisit El Capitaine's fur colors!

Edit- stupid autocorrect


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I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on progress to date... we're about half way to my original deadline. Here is where we are as of today!

Axony - Complete
- Warband (Heavy Brigadier, 2 Bull Regulars, 1 Kernish Terrier)

Vandalands - Complete
- Warband (rat lord, 1 hamster berserker, 3 rat raiders)
- Hamster Berserkers (4 hamsters)
- Rat raiders (4 rats)

Mare-Civitas - Complete
- Warband (Capybara Capitaine, 3 Lancers, 2 Mouse conscripts)
- Mouse Conscripts (5 mice)
- Exemplar - Juan of Brisica

Aquitar - in progress
- Warband (Mole Tactician, Badger at Claw, 3 Weasel Fusiliers)
- 5 mongoose legionnaires
- 2 gopher engineers

Ribenguo - not started yet
- 1 Kunoichi
- 5 Otter Ashigaru
- 5 Fox shinobi
- 5 Tanuki Samurai

The reason I'm doing this... this weekend I got more Brushfire goodies! For the new stuff, I'll have to set another target date. Probably end of August so I can be ready for the (as currently expected) September Scyzantine release. I'll want to be all clear with mammals when the reptiles arrive!

Adding to the queue:
Terrier Squad (5 terriers)
Devon Rex Squad (5 Devons)
Bull Reg Squad (5 Bulls)
Fusilier Squad (5 weasels)
Hussar Squad x 3 (9 kiwis + their shrew riders)
Civitan Marines Squad (3 capybara)
Badger-At-Claw Squad (5 badgers)
Vandalands warband #2
Aquitar Warband #2

Phew that is a lot of minis. Fortunately I am arranging them all on my bookshelves as I complete them.

I hope you might consider slipping a shrew hussar or 2 in ahead of some other models... really looking forward to seeing what you do with them!

Juan is fantastic, although I think your comment about making the frills of the helmet silver is a good idea.

My wife is going to come for our game this weekend . I may actually have her play and just coach her through / act as rules guide (I've only had a few demos but will try to go through the rulebook later this week).

I'm afraid she has to do some Aquitar next, as they will be on display at Gencon.

Aquitar is coming along very quickly... I may be done Weds unless I totally choke.

RiTides I do have a Hussar built and ready to paint next. I couldn't resist. I mean, technically I can't call him a Carabineer, but he's still Aquitar-ish enough. Then I'll move over to the Aquitar Mongoose Legionnaires...

I'm looking forward to meeting Mrs. Tides! Mr. Gyps is planning on helping and/or playing, too. BTW, we won't be able to make it to the store till around 2ish (Sat morning errands, ugh). I hope that is OK?


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Here is WIP of the Badger-at-Claw... I've only been detailing the face so far.

So I got nothing done last night. I have really been flummoxed by these Aquitar models. If I go too bright, the colors look flat. If I overshade, the colors look dingy. Ugh.

I've decided I'm going to wetblend in all the shadows and highlights for the blue areas. That will take longer, but may get me over this hump. Since the blue seems to draw the eye the most, I'm hoping it will do the trick. I am also going to do some weathering on the badger claws... Make 'em look mean.

You Badger makes mine look like Gak!

Beautiful minis man, top notch work.

Agreed these look fantastic. I wish money wasnt so tight, so I could afford to jump into this game with both feet

KingCracker wrote:Agreed these look fantastic. I wish money wasnt so tight, so I could afford to jump into this game with both feet

Only $35 to get started

Dont remind me If I didnt have summer taxes lingering around the corner Id probably hop to it.

Don't forget you get that spiffy DCM Discount on the models... and the rulebook is only $1 as a PDF...

Thanks Alf and KC!

Alf we need moar Brushfire! Your warmachine stuff is great, I'd love to see how you painted the Brushfire stuff.

KC, speaking of "hopping to it"!*

LOL the game really is fun. We are finding the warband+quickstart to be very quick and exciting to play. I recommend getting the big rulebook too, but that is only a $1 so not too horrendous. I just got the new pdf and its really nice, with color images and such. But yeah when the tax man comes calling, what are you going to do, right?

I decided I need to change direction tonight...



*Not my paintjob... Gavin_Thorne painted this one!

Edit- grammar suxxors


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Quick update complete on the Capitaine. I really like it.

Cyporiean wrote:Don't forget you get that spiffy DCM Discount on the models... and the rulebook is only $1 as a PDF...

Ive already got the rulebook, I got it for xmas

Gym,

My most recent stuff in my blog is Brushfire It's some Weasel Fusiliers and Badger-At-Claws

Alf I don't know how I missed that big banner link in your sig, but somehow it never clicked that it was a link to your blog! I visited, finally!

Tonight, I had to take a detour out of Aquitar and back north to the Vandalands...





I had to do a bit of greenstuffing on the legs connection because of a massive gap. As it turns out, I didn't glue it in correctly. But fortunately the kiwi's hair-like feather texture made it super easy to fill the gap. I love kiwis!

That is a great Hussar!

Going to do a Tutorial for it?

Thanks, I really like how he turned out! But I didn't take WIP photos. So no tutorial, unless I just kinda do a thought-bubble type version... it would be more what colors to use to achieve this effect, as opposed to a step-by-step. I'd have to see how I could pull it off.

I actually like the brighter green and yellow on this guy as opposed to the more subdued rat raiders. Like, to the point where re-doing the raiders might be merited... maybe.

But I'm now painting Aquitar again. I changed up my normal order of operations, and started basing them before being completely done... and wow it made a difference. I think the Aquitar colors were so jarring against the black base that it was throwing me off. With just the initial brown color down, it made a world of difference.

Oh, and since they are "French", I'm covering the base in flowers. Mostly lavender colored (because French lavender is awesome) but also anything else I have around.


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In between Aquitar minis, I re-did Juan's armor.

Looks great with the White armor

I'm glad you like him!

Here is the WIP shot of Aquitar

looking good, that blue and white came out really well.

I'mma go burn my models... that white is really crisp, totally jelly.

I got to see these models in-person today, they are fantastic!!! Next time, I will get some good close-up in-game shots, unfortunately the ones I took were mostly from behind my silver horde . Also, I don't actually know how to use the "subscribe" feature (or at least, how to have it alert me that there are new posts). I totally missed the commentary on the last page for a few days, and repeated some of the same questions already addressed here via PM- so sorry about that!

A few thoughts:

1) The shrew hussar Gymnogyps did looks fantastic in-person, but it's clear that she sculpted thighs to cover the HUGE gap between the body and legs that the model has, and even sculpted a tail. I will try to emulate this, but it's a bit discouraging. I took in-progress pics showing how I dremelled out the center of the legs to let the body sit more flush, but there is still just a giant gap. Major bummer :-/ but well worth fixing on such a cool concept of a model. However, I think this should be addressed with the mold if at all possible, there is just NO way that it lines up appropriately.

2) Back to painting thoughts, the red and yellow on Gyp's Capitaine is electric in-person. Just crazy bright and looks great.

3) If Brushfire ever goes to a "pressganger" system, Gyp's should be one . It seems she has 4 of the factions painted up with starter armies already?? And was giving a game demo to a friend after I left the store! Awesome

Yeah, I'm not too happy with the issue of requiring putty on the Hussars, but I don't think its any worse then the issues Privateer's metal warbeasts have had in the past.

The Lem Han and other 'Proper' Cavalry units should be better in the future.

Cyporiean wrote:looking good, that blue and white came out really well.

Aw, thanks. It took a lot of layering to get it to work and have any depth. It is actually a warm white in person which is contrasting against the blue.

Alfndrate wrote:I'mma go burn my models... that white is really crisp, totally jelly.

You totally lose English street cred for using the word "jelly".

But thanks, really, it means a lot to me. These have been the hardest Brushfire minis for me so far. I had to layer the white up and then go back in an re-blackline. Now I'm having a rough time with the weasel faces..

RiTides wrote:I got to see these models in-person today, they are fantastic!!! Next time, I will get some good close-up in-game shots, unfortunately the ones I took were mostly from behind my silver horde . Also, I don't actually know how to use the "subscribe" feature (or at least, how to have it alert me that there are new posts). I totally missed the commentary on the last page for a few days, and repeated some of the same questions already addressed here via PM- so sorry about that!

Thanks RiTides! No worries about the PMs. My posting got relatively sparse, so I figured you just hadn't had a chance to return.

RiTides wrote:
A few thoughts:

1) The shrew hussar Gymnogyps did looks fantastic in-person, but it's clear that she sculpted thighs to cover the HUGE gap between the body and legs that the model has, and even sculpted a tail. I will try to emulate this, but it's a bit discouraging. I took in-progress pics showing how I dremelled out the center of the legs to let the body sit more flush, but there is still just a giant gap. Major bummer :-/ but well worth fixing on such a cool concept of a model. However, I think this should be addressed with the mold if at all possible, there is just NO way that it lines up appropriately.

I know we were able to spin the body about and get it to sit a little better, but the gap would still need filling. I am going to be particularly anal about making sure the birds look right because I love birds. I would die if they weren't as perfect as I could make them.

RiTides wrote:
2) Back to painting thoughts, the red and yellow on Gyp's Capitaine is electric in-person. Just crazy bright and looks great.

3) If Brushfire ever goes to a "pressganger" system, Gyp's should be one . It seems she has 4 of the factions painted up with starter armies already?? And was giving a game demo to a friend after I left the store! Awesome

Again, thank you. I do have 4 starter factions but two are being sent to Cyporiean. I'll have to re-do Vandalands and Aquitar. But yes we're going to try to make it down to Dropzone as much as possible to try to suck our other friends into Brushfire. At least one wants to get his fiancee to try it, and she loves animals, so...

Cyporiean wrote:Yeah, I'm not too happy with the issue of requiring putty on the Hussars, but I don't think its any worse then the issues Privateer's metal warbeasts have had in the past.

The Lem Han and other 'Proper' Cavalry units should be better in the future.

Yeah, I am very happy with the final after patching, and the greenstuffing is pretty easy.

Anyway, here is the latest WIP for Aquitar. I've highlighted up the blues a lot, but I don't think its coming through in the photos. All that is left is the little weasel faces... and some weathering on the badger claws.

THEY WERE ONLY WORKS IN PROGRESS?!

Yup... melting down my models lol...

I like how (maybe it was you) that commented on the whites I used for my pants, etc... And I didn't want to tell you, but it was just white primer...

I didn't have a good white color, so we'll have to see how this new gw stuff adds up...

Grab the Army Painter box Alf.

The badger looked really nice in-person! Wish I'd gotten to see your original "surfing badger" though

LOL Alf I said you had a good start. Which you do!

IMO the Army Painter white is really good. It is a pure white that covers quite well. The lighter red and bright yellow Army Painter warpaint are both... weaksauce. The yellow looks fab when cut about 50/50 with the white then glazed with straight from bottle yellow! (yes the yellow straight from bottle is very thin.)

Edit- RiTides, the oldschool badger is in the queue!

I have a question on the Aquitar warband, for Cyporiean or anybody. One of the heads on the Weasel Fusilier has a more square-looking hat with a larger brim over the eyes. What is that brim? Leaving it black doesn't look right, and I just cannot figure out how to address it! Any suggestions would be great!
Edit- adding pic so it is clear WTF I'm referring to


In the meantime, here is a shot of my office at work...

I had one visitor today who looked at them, and did a little double take, but didn't ask. LOL I'm going to hang them, eventually, but for now at least they are there!

Aquitar is done!



Now I'm working on some of these guys... mongooses, or is that mongeese?

Mongoose, Mongeese, and Mongooses are all correct.

Remember Red Eyes


Looking forward to seeing the Vandalands and Aquitar stuff in person

Tell me what colors you're going to use on their uniforms... I'm not happy with my current colors...

You should definitely do some Aquitar tutorials


Are you going to do the Napoleonic Blue for the AFL, or the more modern Tans?

Since I'm going for a yellow mongoose as the critter (and I love him, no way I'm changing that!), I didn't want to do all tans for the uniform. It would be too monochrome. I did quite a bit of looking on uniforms for legionnaires. I really like these guys:

And there is also mention of green being worn in Crimea, so I decided using green was a must.

Several times, too, I found mention that legionnaires kind of end up wearing what is appropriate for the climate, and also what is available. The epaulettes seem to be consistently green and red, and with white hats, like these guys:

That will definitely be done. So this is what I came up with for the major colors... This is the WIP of the basecoats on the major areas. Details will be brown pack and straps, green and red epaulettes, and white hat!

Completed Legionnaires

I've been working on my Gopher Engineers the last couple of days... I needed to play around with the new Army Painter inks a bit. For the first time I actually used the Soft Tone on the lighter colors, Strong Tone on mid-colors, and Dark Tones on dark colors. It made a HUGE difference. Now I just need to go in and highlight/ correct a few areas and these guys will be done!

I also decided to put them on scorched ash type basing.

I think the Shoulder Pads could use a bit more color to them.

The scorched earth basing fits rather well though.

Well, here are some highlights... I'm not sure I like the grey noses. I might need to brown them up. Heh, brown noses.

Yeah, I agree, there is a little too much black. I was debating going a metallic on the shoulderpads, maybe bronze...

I may need to pull the green lichen off the bases, too. I was trying to brighten it up, but it just ends up losing the scorched earth effect.

Hmmm....

They look bloody brilliant! Really got that dirty infantry look nailed.

I for one love the lichen, but ymmv.

LOL thanks Vits. I'll look them over in a couple days. I think my eyes need to refresh a bit.

These are my last Aquitar models, so starting tomorrow I will be working on Ribenguo. I've really been looking forward to painting these guys!

Gymnogyps wrote:These are my last Aquitar models

For Now....


Muhahahahaha

This is all inspiring stuff!

In fact I bought the rulebook via mail yesterday. Been shipped already. I can't wait!!

Zygrot24 wrote:This is all inspiring stuff!

In fact I bought the rulebook via mail yesterday. Been shipped already. I can't wait!!

You'd likely have it tomorrow if it wasn't a holiday

The aquitar and weasels look awesome, Gymnogyps! Did you already ship the aquitar / vandalands down to Cyporiean?

Cyporiean wrote:

Zygrot24 wrote:This is all inspiring stuff!

In fact I bought the rulebook via mail yesterday. Been shipped already. I can't wait!!

You'd likely have it tomorrow if it wasn't a holiday

Dag nabbit. The ship tracking is mildly depressing Palm Coast > Orlando > DeLand. It already passed me once, and now it's sitting at the post office. Next time, I take the time and make a drive.

Cyporiean wrote:

Gymnogyps wrote:These are my last Aquitar models

For Now....


Muhahahahaha

Oh dear god I know. I should have said these are the last Aquitar for Round 1.

RiTides wrote:The aquitar and weasels look awesome, Gymnogyps! Did you already ship the aquitar / vandalands down to Cyporiean?

Thanks RiTides! Yep, everything was received yesterday.

Zygrot24 wrote:This is all inspiring stuff!

In fact I bought the rulebook via mail yesterday. Been shipped already. I can't wait!!

Thanks Zygrot! The rulebook is some fun reading.

So just to show some progress, here are a couple WIP of Otter Ashigaru. I am thinking these Ribenguo models are some of my favorites so far...

Those Ashigaru are looking great, like the Conscripts, you can't have too many of them

Yeah, I'm seeing from playing around with some list building today...

So the models are done! I just need to figure out what I'm going to do for basing.



Crap, just realized, I forgot to detail the eyes.

Edits- grammar

Someone likes the topknot head

LOL yeah I don't remember why I did that. Just means my next batch, as yet to be acquired, will be all hats.


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Complete models! Squad first

And a face detail

Great basing on them

Loving that red, really rich good job.

Thanks again, guys!

I've had a little bit of difficulty focusing, so I've been working on the Kunoichi and a Samurai. Once I get them done, I will have a warband to play with this weekend!

So just to show my progress, here they are as of tonight


I love the flower in her hair... eventually there are going to be grey flowers on her kimono, but we're not there yet.



Tanuki is looking a little rough, but this is just a color selection study... I was wanting something bright, and I looked at a lot of very elaborate samurai images before choosing these colors. I'd like to do some freehand on him, too. I kinda have to on his jacket.

Looking good Gym!

I can't wait to see your Zabar and Gerbil paint jobs

Yep, I actually started building them using some of my current bases. I'm just waiting for the 50mm for Ms. Lioness.

I can loan you a 50mm if you need one. I love the unit of Ashigaru!

Thanks so much for the offer, RiTides, but my bases just arrived so I'm good.

Here are the completed Kunoichi and Tanuki Samurai! Well, OK, complete except for the designs and such to be added to the clothing later on...

Fox Shinobi are DONE! All I have left for Ribenguo are 4 more Tanuki Samurai. They, however, will have to wait until I'm done with Zabar and a couple of very adorable little guys...

Hmm, my camera seems to be not quite in focus. I'll have to watch that since I'll be using it tomorrow for the epic battle against RiTides!

Those Shinobi are great

Looking forward to Zabar & the HR models

The Ashigaru squad and the lone Samurai model were great in our game! (With the Samurai slaying my Hedgeknight with his dying blow...)

The Shinobi, not so much, but they seem like they'd be deadly against backfield artillery and the like with Ambush...

I also love that a D10 acts as both the number and direction indicator for artillery / ambush scatter, since it has a pointed end. Very cool game mechanic

Great looking stuff Gym! Really loving your take on the otters.

Yet I find your lack of Zabar disturbing... I know for a fact you have had them for at least a week. A WEEK! GEEEZ

Batrep is up for Saturday's battle!

So painting and modeling... I've needed to go back in and scrape mold lines, then re-prime, and all sorts of jazz... but finally I've started laying down paint! Here is the WIP:



I have to admit, we took these bad boys and lady out for a spin on Saturday during the demos... wow this is a tough warband to crack! They are going to be really nice looking when I get done with them, though. I picked this up to base them:



Edit - This week, I HAVE to work on my Japanese course. So I'll be working on these models for an hour or two each night.

Looking great Gym, nice basing choice.

RiTides wrote:The Ashigaru squad and the lone Samurai model were great in our game! (With the Samurai slaying my Hedgeknight with his dying blow...)

The Shinobi, not so much, but they seem like they'd be deadly against backfield artillery and the like with Ambush...

I also love that a D10 acts as both the number and direction indicator for artillery / ambush scatter, since it has a pointed end. Very cool game mechanic

LOL yeah your comments on the battle are two of the things that stood out to me the most, along with the Hamster shenanigans. I have to agree that the D10 being the pointer is absolutely brilliant because of its simplicity. I could throw the die down right where I had indicated the entry point, so the actual landing spot was super easy to plot out.

Wehrkind wrote:Great looking stuff Gym! Really loving your take on the otters.

Yet I find your lack of Zabar disturbing... I know for a fact you have had them for at least a week. A WEEK! GEEEZ

Thanks! I really like the way the otters turned out, too. They look a little bit angry. The fox shinobi are so cute it is hard to fear them... I'm sure that is just how they like it!

Cyporiean wrote:Looking great Gym, nice basing choice.

Yeah, I saw it, and was like, whoa. That is so perfect, I must have it. I also found some very tall standing grasses, too, so I'll add a few pampas grass like tufts here and there.

I agree on the Foxes, Dan did a fantastic job on them.. cuteness of a Fox with a realistic Ninja getup.

Though Heath's Art is pretty awesome too, going to have to get a model of that version as well at some point.

Oooh, yes, that Shinobi from the art would be great!

Here is WIP 2 of Zabar. There is quite a bit of subtle highlighting on the Warhog Skin. Still quite a bit of work, but since I'm doing them all at once, I'll hit a critical tipping point and they'll get done all of a sudden like.



Damnit front row is out of focus. OK, look at the BACK row!

We've got a huge thunderstorm band bearing down on us right now. I'll try to keep painting but I'll probably get distracted but the storm soon enough!

Edit - that Hyena in the back... he has a scar over the eye facing us. I HAVE to make that eye all milky white! How freaky will that be?

Looking great!

One concern is that that the Left-Most SWH might have trouble holding his Shield.

Man the Zabar models are great.

The skin on the boars is very well done!

Thanks, Zygrot and Cyporiean! All of these models have been very fun to paint. I have tried to use that purple color on every model to tie them all together. It really pops on the necklace the warhog is wearing! His lil' skirt will have purple beads, too!

Yeah, Cyp, I was eyeballing that Warhog, too. I built him trying to add variety compared to the other arm positions, and also with a greater focus on the shoulder joint. I was trying to get a guy with the shield pulled in, close to the body, but yeah it may have gone too far. Here he is with the shield dry-fitted in. Do you prefer the arm more open / rotated out? Let me know and I'll make something happen, whether I pop the arm off and re-glue or cut the lower arm off and rotate it that way. If you have any doubts at all no problem, I'll make changes. I want you to be 100% happy!


And here they are, all together, with shields dry fitted

The shield looks fine like that, thanks

Uhm... just a note, that little black bit on the bottom of that guy's spear? That's just a little bit of sprue there.... Might wanna clip that off

I am loving the skin tones on the boars though! Ever so slightly pinkish and fleshy... well done!

Great now we have to credit you as caster AND sculptor....The flash actually looks like it belongs.

Wehrkind wrote:Uhm... just a note, that little black bit on the bottom of that guy's spear? That's just a little bit of sprue there.... Might wanna clip that off

I was actually wondering why ONE guy didn't have the little spear-butt... Now I know!

miskatonicalum wrote:Great now we have to credit you as caster AND sculptor....The flash actually looks like it belongs.

LOL well if you put it that way... naw, I'll nip it off. Now I'm not going to be able to see it without knowing its just sprue!

Wehrkind wrote:
I am loving the skin tones on the boars though! Ever so slightly pinkish and fleshy... well done!

Thanks! Yeah this color is hard to highlight up without it turning weird. Once I get all the light colored basing material in place, they are going to stand out really nicely.

Update!
OK, here they are as of tonight. I decided to go ahead and base them to see how the colors all look with the lighter basing.


Lioness. I looked to National Geographic for a nice lion face, and voila




I'll post more tomorrow!

Looks great Gym! Can't wait to see them in person

Yeppers, I'm going to try to get them finished today!

All I have left are various highlights and fixes, the jars and pouches on the Hyenas, and the Warhog shields. All very do-able! So, anyway, here they are as of this morning!

Some alternate views of the Lioness:



Warhogs, various shots:





Hyenas! I really like these guys...

I've been following for a while and just realized that I haven't posted here yet!

These look great, Gym. I especially like the skin tones on the warthog. The bit of colorful detailing on the witch doctor are a nice touch, too!

I'm looking forward to seeing more - and thanks for posting the Amamimoto pic a few pages back, it was so fun to paint!

Ferris Bueller wrote: It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.

Thanks, Gavin Thorne! I have an Amamimoto on the way... I am pretty sure Ribenguo is going to be my go to faction so I must have him.

So I need some assistance. This is driving me nuts. On the Hyena back, there are a bunch of gourds which I assume hold the Poisonous spores. There is a lot of really cool detail on these.

So, the problem. Just above the loincloth, in the upper right and left corners, is something. Can't tell what it is. They kinda look like fur tufts, but are a bit too exaggerated. Please, help me out... what are these things? Edit- Or, how should I paint them? Fur tufts, or something else? I have to say, the more I look at them, the more I'm leaning to fur, but please assist!

Context shot



Detail



Question 2... should this be my new profile pic? I need to fix his workin' eye, but his expression is so creepy, I love it!




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I decided to just paint the weird things on the Hyena's back as fur...

I got nothing on the mystery furs, but I do really want to see a picture of those hyena's dribbling basketballs with their left hands.

Also, get some warpaint/warmud on those piggies!

Awsome work! I also hear that the warpigs have the power.

Well here they are, all done except the final review (need to look at them with my eyes refreshed so I can see any boo boos).


LOL yeah the hogs are a bit clean... but the shields look like barely cured cow hide! I'll have to post a pic of all the shields.

Edit- Yeah, Catyrpelius, I'm now scared to get into it with the warhogs! Plus the hyenas can poison enemies, yet cure their own when collateral damage inevitably occurs. They are pretty bada... pig.

Edit 2- Shields!


Oh, and the tails and such on the hogs... Totally in keeping with the fluff. Zabar had a big war with Axony, so I thought it would only make sense for them to have cat tails as trophies. Oh and yeah, one fox, because well, it just felt right.

They look great Gym!

Something smaller next, eh?

Yep, the little guys are about 75% done... can I post pics, or do you want me to keep them under wraps?


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Gavin Thorne wrote:

Ferris Bueller wrote: It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.

I totally got a laugh out of this, but forgot to respond... Bueller?

My favorite... "How do we get the miles off the car?"

"We'll drive home backwards!"

(Or something like that)

Sure, their existence is public knowledge at this point

OK, here they are! Still WIP, but they are already looking freakin' cute...

The shading on the Oil Can is looking really good!

Ah- gerbils!!

Yes, I get the most interested in models that I can take (as pilots for Valkyrs, I think... if the main Valkyr model gets sculpted).

The Zabar are great, although I also wished for a bit more muddy hogs! Or war-painted like the hamsters, instead. But a fantastic job on that warband

Catyrpelius wrote:Awsome work! I also hear that the warpigs have the power.

And Hyenas are poisoning their brainwashed minds....

(little slow on the uptake, d'oh)

Cyporiean wrote:The shading on the Oil Can is looking really good!

Yep, I'm liking it. I'm finding lots of little areas that need fixing, though. I had to patch some rough spots on the tails and fill in some shadows tonight. I did spend some time detailing the faces, too.

RiTides wrote:Ah- gerbils!!

Yes, I get the most interested in models that I can take (as pilots for Valkyrs, I think... if the main Valkyr model gets sculpted).

LOL yeah, the gerbils are pretty cool little models. But you know... you could take Warhogs as mercenaries.

RiTides wrote:The Zabar are great, although I also wished for a bit more muddy hogs! Or war-painted like the hamsters, instead. But a fantastic job on that warband

I'll still go over these guys one last time before sending them off. I'm debating whether to try for warpaint. What I could do... hmm. I could paint evil looking pig faces on the shields, like the official artwork. That would at least make them look a little more... more angry, more all that good stuff. Hmm...

I like the cowhide shields, was just thinking of the skin

They are great as-is but a little paint on the bodies would put them over the top, I think! Could make it orange instead of the blue you used on the hamsters?

White War Paint on the bodies/face could be pretty good.

Like a Mike Tyson tatoo?


(I kid!)

I'll do a little looking at warpaints.

If your concerned it won't come out right and don't want to mess up the skintone, you can do it on the next batch of Shaka War Hogs I send your way

Those look really fantastic Gym! Really, I am very impressed!

Thanks, Wehrkind!

I've been out of town, but I'm back! Today I completed a Sand Guard. He was based on this guy:



I did some general googling for Arabian and Turkish armor, and saw a lot of light colors, including blue-grey and whites, as well as reds. So, this is what I came up with:

The face chainmail is surprising and cool. Paint job looks nice, although the sculpt/pose is a little stiff, I think.

Yeah, I am debating if some conversions could give it some motion. Maybe a headscarf thingy that was billowing in the wind. He was fun to paint, though.

Yeah, and I love the head (sculpt and paintjob) in particular. Just feel the body/arms sculpt suffers a bit, but you've brought out the best in it.

So, you will be painting more Brushfire from the hotel room at GenCon, yes?

Take pics of your minis that they are displaying at the Brushfire booth!!

LOL no painting in Indy. I finished them all yesterday... I am gonna wait till I get them to Cyporiean before posting photos, though.

And yes I will take plenty of detail photos of the Brushfire display cabinet! There are some minis in the pic on the Facebook page that I can't quite recognize, that have a turquoise color, so I'll be sure to take detail pics of those.

Edit- spelling error
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Brushfire display at GenCon...



What is that kiwi-looking thing in the bottom right corner??? I'm dying, here! Need to see this stuff. Tomorrow can't come soon enough...

I just got home from GenCon. What an amazing con! So with no further delay, here are the Red Wu (they've already been posted in the N&R Brushfire thread, but I'm posting them here for the sake of completeness)



Edit- typo

So its been quite a while since I've updated... but I have some new WIPs to show!

Veiled Assassins... it has taken much longer to work through the skin than I expected. The texture is so fine and beautiful, it is very easy to go overboard and obliterate the visibility of the individual scales. I'll need to go through and refine the skin more, and base them of course!

As usual I did research on skin colors for the critter at hand, and learned a lot about chameleons. Evidently they usually are shades of green, with slight hints of yellow, orange, and blue, with striped or spotted patterns. They don't actually change color to match their background, like you see in cartoons (I was shocked, I tell you!). Generally, they more are trying to look like a leaf on a branch. Unless they get stressed out. Then, they get much more brightly colored. Really interesting stuff!

Anyway, so that is why I chose the colors I did.





Here is another WIP shot of the Endless: Fantasy Tactics sorcerer. This is a fantastic sculpt with great details... little mushrooms and flowers all over! So I've gotten through all the larger areas, just need to detail him up!

Nice, really digging the striped pattern on those Chameleons! Well done!

Those look great Gym!

Gym, something you might want to look into if there is a particularly mean looking sculpt is that chameleons and other color changing lizards of the same ilk (anoles, etc...) will also change a little color around their eye to shades of black when they're angry and agitated. I would know, my chameleon would be that way whenever my dad would try to feed him.

Thanks Wehr and Cyporiean!

Hmm, Alf, now that I'm thinking back, my anoles would occasionally make the areas around their eyes turn black... I found for the most part their color change was based on emotional state, temperature, or plain old stubbornness. I remember having one that never turned green, and years later, one that never turned brown (stubborn lizards!). That green one actually had scattered turquoise scales, really pretty! I love anoles and have actually been pondering getting some again, but its more of a passing wouldn't-it-be-cool thing, then I realize I don't want to commit!

As I'm looking at these guys, Orange-Spot-Guy may be able to handle some dark eye-rings. He is the angriest looking of all of them... I'll give it a shot!

Edit - very cool that you had a pet chameleon! Do you have any pics?

ya know, I kinda regret not having the eyes separate with a ball/socket connection..

I was thinking that, too!

Here's an action shot of the finished guys...

 Gymnogyps wrote:
Thanks Wehr and Cyporiean!

Hmm, Alf, now that I'm thinking back, my anoles would occasionally make the areas around their eyes turn black... I found for the most part their color change was based on emotional state, temperature, or plain old stubbornness. I remember having one that never turned green, and years later, one that never turned brown (stubborn lizards!). That green one actually had scattered turquoise scales, really pretty! I love anoles and have actually been pondering getting some again, but its more of a passing wouldn't-it-be-cool thing, then I realize I don't want to commit!

As I'm looking at these guys, Orange-Spot-Guy may be able to handle some dark eye-rings. He is the angriest looking of all of them... I'll give it a shot!

Edit - very cool that you had a pet chameleon! Do you have any pics?

No I don't, I had him when I was like 12, and all my research couldn't do much to prevent his death :( I took great care of him, but my dad put some weird level of stress on him when I was at summer camp, and he also didn't buy him the right cage (you need one with 3 screened sides so air flows instead of the normal aquariums you see lizards in...

Holy wow those herptiles look great.

Yea, anoles are funny. I had a few when I was young, and you would swear they were scaly rats. Those things managed to get out at least once a week, and would be hanging out on my mom's weeping pear tree without fail. I considered not putting them back a few times, but she wasn't down with just throwing crickets in their general direction to feed them...

After them and the iguana it was just Rommel the leopard gecko, and his sadly short lived, blind buddy Erwin until a year and a half ago when Rommel gave up the ghost at ~17 years old. If we get a bigger place in the future it will be tempting to get another leopard gecko; they are so chill and pretty much take care of themselves.

Plus Rogies misses watching the crickets running around, while Rommel tries to figure out how to eat him through the glass. He was always so optimistic.

That action shot is Awesome