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Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/02/26 20:35:53


Post by: Wirecat


Yep, there is more to fantasy than Hordes, and I am interested in too many things to keep count of. The Circle will always be a separate project, and maybe bigger scale skirmishes too, but all the rest will go into this thread, so if You are interested in weird beastmen from multitude of manufacturers and systems - welcome!

I'll start with Alkemy, almost forgotten but recently kickstarted to a smaller scale skirmish. New resin range (in these photos, Escapee) is arguably better than previous offerings, but still have some problems - it is thin, small and brittle! Handle with extreme care, everyone!





Wonder if these will see more use in Frostgrave and RPG than Alkemy... Probably, much more use!



(Edited to make tags work...)


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/02/26 21:55:32


Post by: Warboss_Waaazag


It's very strange seeing a tiger in a t-shirt, but the paintjobs look nice.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/03/04 21:08:58


Post by: Wirecat


 Warboss_Waaazag wrote:
It's very strange seeing a tiger in a t-shirt, but the paintjobs look nice.


Trust me, it happens with all fashions of beastmen more frequently than some think, and then it quickly gets mundane and uninteresting.

OK, so, moving forward, this time to archers and diplomats. My first naga-like in a long time, tried not to fail too hard. Reasonably good casts, but very brittle, precluding cleaning of some details. It already lost a finger...





Nagas are useful for anything from summoned creatures to monsters to characters! Feline archers... not so much, but OK. Kadjits, my tail...



Now, next should come some real monsters!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/03/12 21:21:32


Post by: Wirecat


Time for some Kings of War stuff. Miniatures are from Eden (Tsar, left) and Hell Dorado (Jaws of the Deep, right). Tsar is... a sad beast. His rear needed lots of greenstuff, his spikes were gone, his snout had to be straightened, not even mentioning his hand-paws and dog-like genitalia sculptor felt were needed for this miniature. Never again will I have anything to do with that line. Jaws, on the other hand, was much better. Well cast and sculpted (perhaps in one part too much) it suffered from slightly wonky mould. Its legs that came separately from the main body had really miscast peg-and-hole, needing some effort with file and resin. Alloy was very hard, adding to the time, but otherwise OK to work with. Bases made from thin cork, painted with various sand effect acrylics. Overall, I guess, it's fit for tabletop?




And a "preview" of the entire stampede unit -



Next is either a beastlord or some really silly stuff. As weather warms, time for glue and resin approaches!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/03/13 03:07:43


Post by: Shrapnelsmile


These minis have a lot of character. I look forward to more.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/03/18 22:12:36


Post by: Wirecat


And more will definitely come. I am currently unable to "batch-paint", so it will be one miniature at a time, though. This week I've started basecoating my future beastlord and since it is taking way too much time, finished this little fellow. This is a minstrel from Mantics Kings of War kickstarter, representing Ronnie himself? I am not sure of this, but he was very fun and fast to paint., even though not without errors. Single piece miniature, well sculpted but almost miserably cast - a big mould slip runs over his left wrist almost up to the face. Little way to repair even with greenstuff at my skill. Put him on a round base to use in RPGs and skirmishes, my KoW units already have all music they neet for theur ears, yea!



Always wanted to try making a coat in the theme of rabbit of the Wonderland!



Now, that beastlord is starting to growl at me from the back of the painting rack...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/03/19 01:02:49


Post by: kestral


That fellow is plenty jolly. : )


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/03/19 01:14:21


Post by: Saturmorn Carvilli


I must resist...

"They're Ggrrrreat!"


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/03/25 10:16:06


Post by: Wirecat


Finally, the beastlord! I've meant to build and pain 'im for so long I actually forgot where he is from. The entire wreck that was End Times came and went into AoS with him still locked in a nameless blister, me having to make do with a twin HW beastlord alone. But no longer!

OK, so the sculpting, casting and all is typical French. Excellent sculpture, not too difficult to clean and assemble (contact surfaces for arms were significantly off, but nothing a bit of smoothed greenstuff can't help. Cast in that same awfully smelly PU resin as more recent Alkemy, reasonably sharp features and thankfully not eager to break at every tumble. No bubbles at all, but a slightly malformed muzzle, as if something like saw dust fell into the resin mix. Painting fun but longish and the result is here.



Two more views.. but none from the butt-side, because that makes it too obvious his tail protrudes straight through his pants/trousers with no apparent hole! I've considered fixing this, but failed at the design stage. :(



Should I call him Silvermane? Hm... Anyway, what next - I do not know. Grifon-riding lady-knight from Titan forge will take a month or so at my current speed and all the rest are at too early stages of painting to be finished in a week.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/04/01 09:19:09


Post by: Wirecat


Nothing finished indeed. Not much painting, but some rebuilding instead. I've got some horse bits from GW kits, mostly elvish - heads, bodies (some damaged) plus a few riders from the glade rider kit. Just enough to make 4 complete miniatures. Two will go to the "river glade detachment", two will become "characters" in case I decide to have an elven ambush scenario. After close inspection there was one complete glade rider horse, two had to be sculpted from putty and sprue bits and one had to be "moderately fixed" - new tail and leg as well as a "foreign head"...



Next - some Burrows and Badgers! Finally...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2000/01/03 01:39:03


Post by: Wirecat


What can I say? Oathsworn produces excellent miniatures, although in case of Burrows and Badgers in a scale of their own, not really compatible with other ranges. Unique sculpts, excellent casting with only a few quirks, single-piece (!!!) metals, what to add? Of these two only the ferret had anything to fix - his side had a weird double-mark from recasting mould slip, going across his tunic and up to the bottle. The fennec fox was excellent straight from the bag, even an air pipe entry at the end of his tail looking as a natural part of the miniature!


I think I'll stay with these guys a bit longer, dedicating next week to badgers. Elves taking more time in preparation...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/04/16 17:20:26


Post by: Wirecat


As promised, its badger time! Yep, I'm in love with miniatures from Oathsworn. Great sculptor with competent caster - what else to want? Miniature range is expanding, each of three KSes to date providing a new badger sculpt, so I've decided to paint them all together. Good casts, very clean, except a single weird thing - one pauldron has a mouldline running deeper than the surrounding surface. Filing down would have removed too much metal, filling with greenstuff would not be very clean unless, again,covering almost entire detail surface, so I've left it as is. So, one Army Painter undercoat and some AV layers later...

Most likely not the top of my abilities, but close. Black fur is the pain in all parts of the body as is mixing of many small details of different material. Brigand badger is the oldest of three sculpts, providing plenty of rather flat space to practice leather or iron effects. In contrast, the latest badger knight has so many busy things goin' on... leather, solid armour, scalemail, pouches and belts, clothing... Largish scale saves the day, to a certain extent.

Enough ranting, it was a great week. Next one should see elven riders finished. Oh, and the same badgers on a brighter background too -

Till next week...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/04/24 20:25:31


Post by: Wirecat


So, elves... Not much to add to what was said previously. From bits and pieces and putty arise.. four elven riders, two to complement my, ahem, glade swimmers and two more to use as characters. My camera is not really cooperating (again), so the color is slightly off, not that anything can ruin this half-assed paintwork (and misaligned photos too!).


And a look at the complete detachment -



I'd guess these are the least useful miniatures I've painted! Zero idea where to use them, unless in some combat-oriented RPG episode... Next - something almost equally useless, Sphere wars. Or Sci-Fi, I haven't decided yet.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/04/25 06:01:37


Post by: evildrcheese


Cool badgers. I really like the armoured one.

EDC


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/04/30 13:59:44


Post by: Wirecat


 evildrcheese wrote:
Cool badgers. I really like the armoured one.

EDC

Well, I do like her, but maybe... there were too many details. Thanks!

So, the Sphere wars. A very mixed bag of a game that is. Cool models and mismatched rules, awful marketing and lackluster kickstarter. Or was it an iGoGo campaign? I don't remember. Anyway, for me it is one of these old forgotten gems. Not on the scale of Confrontation, but really close. Miniatures are soft metal, some of them darkening quickly after being cleaned/filed. Not the best fit of parts, but at least everything is keyed so with a bit of pinning and greenstuff miniatures can be assembled without undue frustration. Painting is straightforward, nothing to complain about except meself.



I've tried not to overdo with wash, as is my usual fault, maybe I've succeeded, maybe not. This lynx was fun to paint and at least currently he is making me a little bit happier when I look at him.

And a headshot -



I've finally took out of the forgotten pile yet another griffon, this time a GW one, from the Isle of Blood set. As You can see, he is lacking his rider, thus I'll have to fix that damage, refeathering void spaces. Unless something improbable happens and I crank my skill to over 11, this will be a long process. In the mean time - back to Infinity, I think...



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/05/14 18:29:39


Post by: Wirecat




Griffon got his feathers, gained a bit of weight, but now I want to make him a helmet or hood! It's a feature creep, I'm telling ya!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/06/04 19:49:19


Post by: Wirecat


It's time to get back to fantasy side. Griffon is going to wait a good deal, so this mont it will be Alkemy! Some more Naashti, including their alchemist, are primed and ready for the paint!



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/06/10 18:41:32


Post by: Wirecat


Finally some finished figures! Naashti constructs were Kickstarter-funded figures. Interesting design, the usual bad PU, some fiddly joints (seriously, it's stone snakes - how hard is to cast flat contact surfaces?). This frustration has spilled into the painting stage, unfortunately. I should have done better, but they are done now.




Still a lot of them to paint and, unfortunately, to build too...



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/06/18 22:22:11


Post by: Wirecat


Lying down with uncertain sickness at the beginning of a real summer - terrible stat eof things. Nothing finished but some minimal progress here...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/06/25 19:12:39


Post by: Wirecat


I'm done with this cobra. Not going to repeat what is already said about Alkemy at its present state. Good, but not anything beyond that. My painting, on the other hand, is getting worse.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/07/02 13:25:47


Post by: Wirecat


And this month batch is finished. Two more Naashti for Aolkemy, alchemist (caster) and swordfighter. Everything said in previous posts holds true in this case with an extra detail - alchemists cape was actually miscast and should have been replaced, but I've chose a quicker way of building damaged part with putty. Otherwise, these were good. Picture spam...






Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/07/02 13:53:01


Post by: Da Boss


The cheetah woman and the dude with the huge cobra hood are awesome. Loving the weird and wonder minis on show here


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/07/06 19:56:15


Post by: Wirecat


 Da Boss wrote:
The cheetah woman and the dude with the huge cobra hood are awesome. Loving the weird and wonder minis on show here


There will be more, more as quantity and more as weirdness goes. That I promise! Thanks for comment, Da Boss!

The first half of 2017 was good, let's see what the second one brings! Alkemy is on track to 10 minis per year with only one remaining, but I'll extend that pledge to 3 more. I hope this is doable. Kings of War and random things - one left, but two is rather likely. Badgers and Burrows... I will try to do the remaining five in five coming weeks. Weather and health permitting, of course!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/07/15 22:36:04


Post by: Wirecat


Ohm Milady de Vixen... here You come. I like BnB rules, but she is perfect with En Garde! rules from Osprey. Poisoned dagger and beguiling - perfect combination! very good sculpting, not so much - casting. I've no idea how to split mould for such a complex miniature in a better way, but as it is, mould line and a slight mould slip edge run across her dress, making any repairs next to impossible. I may bitch and moan (SM), but this is the miniature I've had lots of fun with while painting, am fairly satisfied with the result and look forward putting on a gaming table!




Alt views, if needed or wanted...



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/07/23 22:53:17


Post by: Wirecat


Oathsworn has just finished another kickstater - and a very successful one. And I am continuing with miniatures from their earlier endeavors. Two bunnies and a fox, and a fox is clearly outflanked! Very fun to paint, I am trying new recipe for doing less crazy eyes...



And a rear view...



One hare knight is left to be done for this year pledge. Hopefully, next week!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/07/29 13:10:45


Post by: Wirecat


One-eyed knight of a hare... And that concludes what was set as a 2017 target for Badgers-n-burrows. It was asking for two-colour paint with wash, but I've tried to do a bit more than that. Tried to coat shiny armour with even shinier lacquer, somewhat succeeding. Lots of fun in process, kudos to Oathsworn!




Next - I should probably sit and do something about griffins. Lots and lots of feathers...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/08/06 21:29:56


Post by: Wirecat


Griffons are stalled. No idea about the colour scheme for a long time. Meanwhile I've decided to return to green stuff. Let the jack-assing begin!



Maybe I'll even finish it in a month... not.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/09/03 15:40:59


Post by: Wirecat


Full month without posts, most of it without PC as well. Oh, this happens and that comes to pass. Very little painting in that time, but hopefully life is slowly turning back on track, so... a vey small update, I am currently working in parallel on that jackass and a much smaller lynx viking.



No promises!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/09/10 20:55:54


Post by: Wirecat


Slow progress is continuing. Maybe by the end of the month they will take a better shape to judge the final outcome. Definitely not to be finished this year, but hopefully next spring they will be cast... in something. Spoilered due to a full frontal nudity...

Spoiler:


No painting in a long time, sadly. :(


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/09/17 21:49:55


Post by: Wirecat


Hopefully their bodies will be finished this week, but hopes fade quicker than greenstuff is curing, so - not more than hopefully. And even then there is a question of their arms, hands and, well, arms. Lynx may not have options, so just an axe and a board, but maybe I'll add another axe in exchange for a shield. It is still mildly NSFW, hence spoiler...

Spoiler:


In other news: I've caught a bit of good weather and briefly returned to assembling stuff. Something for Alkemy, something for Sci-fi and even something for long forgotten Circle Orboros.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/09/27 20:28:52


Post by: Wirecat


Poor health can and will put a lid on many things... and hobby is not excluded.

But, excluding a few details still requiring attention, like that loincloth, their bodies are indeed ready. Their hand and weapons, however, will have to wait. I am not sure about any further timeline, but definitely not prepared to do any casting before coming spring.



Back to bed now...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/10/15 19:36:45


Post by: Wirecat


This image is intentionally left blurred. Hopefully I will replace or remove it soon, but it is a sign of at least some progress.



I've dug out two last figures from On the Lamb Games. Sad to learn they are no longer in business, they had some fresh ideas going on...

Resin, of very average quality. Needs work and putty, but result should be "not bad" on my scale of things. Just today I was looking at Flames of War vehicles - now THAT were the poor bits of resin!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/10/22 18:52:26


Post by: Wirecat


I should really sit down and finish something, but instead... Instead I make this -



That should become a griffin, similar to Privateer Press Circle Orboros ones, or just a roaring up beast... owl, and not lion based.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 0023/03/25 20:58:50


Post by: Wirecat


As warm period draws to a close, it is time to draw some line.

First, I've finished sculpting that raiding viking lynx to use in "expanded Badgers and Burrows", codenamed "Prides and Plains". Obviously, my poor raider is in the middle, surrounded by white metal pieces from Oathsworn Miniatures I've used for scale reference. After all, lynx should be larger than wildcats but still go on 50mm base (or 40 mm if really wished). Had he been standing upright it would be exactly 54 mm to the eyes, which I consider a good match.




I will try to cast him in some sort of resin coming spring, when pouring smelly compounds would be possible outside...

That jackass (or zebra, I am reconsidering him to be passable for a zebra) will have to wait too. Regarding much further plans I've had some scribbles lying around.





Going easy route, some even bigger cats are natural. How many mice it would take to topple a lion? Hmm... that would make a messy scenario. OK, so that's a lioness hunter and some lion whelps. Next, for an equal opportunity, some zebras, female with a sort of totem pole, doubling as a really big club, and a colt yearling slinger. Not sure about posing here, slinger can be kneeling. Finally, some more "civilized" plains dwellers. Cheetah gal could be styled after Persian or Hvarasmian middle (IX to XI) ages while white wolf can be Scythean or Pagan Rus.

And now - painting!!!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/11/12 23:09:28


Post by: Wirecat


My next to last tribute to the On the Lamb Games. Brushfire was good, but this lioness embodies everything that was underwhelming about it. Obscure line with very little representation, good idea with mediocre execution, lowish quality resin with higher range prices. And the fact that it was dropped as a line.

Muzzle was miscast as well as left hand. Putty and hot water treatment and my feeble skill... At least I am done with her and even almost like the result. At arms length she looks about right and rather bright, for a change.



At least I've found an eye-pleasing mountain lion colour scheme. Now to apply it to other beasties!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/11/12 23:38:45


Post by: kestral


Neat stuff. Love the jack.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Great sculpting - I like the mix of subjects too.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/06/18 21:39:41


Post by: Wirecat


Another little bit for a stampede unit for KoW herd. I've added some of my earliest painted miniatures to it, slightly updating them in process. These GW lions were Nr. 2 and 3, I believe...



Alternative view...



And all of them together (so far) -



Some more Mantic panthers to add to the staircase, and, maybe, something from Reaper? What is a bit unnerving is the sense that my painting is getting worse. I wonder if this is due to a long time away from the brush "or else"...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/12/10 18:56:17


Post by: Wirecat


A bit of wrap-up of the year 2017, last two Naashti automatons (or golems) from the previous Alkemy kickstarter. My gripes are not worth repeating - smell, fiddly bits, brittleness, but these are excellent nagas to use in RPGs. Ant they are fun to quickpaint too




I've tried Vallejo's runny (airbrush-ready) acrylics for metals and really like the result. Definitely will get more of them for a decent variety of effects. Now, one more naga... err, Naashti, and that Kickstarter is done for... Oh, no, it is not! There are still unpainted tigers in pajamas! Run for the hills!!!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/12/16 21:41:56


Post by: Wirecat


Again, something completely unexpected - skaven warlord from IoB set!



He turned up during one of these rare cleaning sprees, when I try to throw away as much modeling junk as I can. Why not finish him insteadŲ after all, there aren't many skaven I've built and painted over the years, perhaps no more than 5... Very simple paintwork, just enough for tabletop, IF I find a place for a rat as tall as a man!



Maybe I should stop looking around and finish something sitting in front of me?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/12/24 22:54:43


Post by: Wirecat


Finally, something is really finished, and this time - the last of On the Lamb Games, Brushfire.

It is festive season and she brings some presents! A-and - my camera is once again behaving funny! See?




In the end flash did fire properly, so that's the (possibly) best shot of her nasty rear!



I know her ears are much closer to the spotty 'yena, but I wanted to make a striped one for far too long. Took some effort to reposition all her limbs in the way I wanted. Fun miniature, but at the same time sad. On the Lamb, You will be missed!

Hey... I still have a full week of this year ahead. maybe I can finish something more?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/12/24 23:29:11


Post by: RiTides


The hyena looks excellent! Bummer about the camera issues though =/

And Merry Christmas, as I think it already is there



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2017/12/30 23:07:51


Post by: Wirecat


 RiTides wrote:
The hyena looks excellent! Bummer about the camera issues though =/

And Merry Christmas, as I think it already is there



Thanks, RiTides. I've really enjoyed modding and painting that hyena and am glad You liked the result. Regarding the camera issues... well, this good old D40 has served me well for ten years, I think it should be allowed to show some perkiness now and then.

The final item for a good year - the very last naashti for my Alkemy warband!



Have a great New Year, folks of Dakkadakka nation!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/01/06 11:49:41


Post by: Wirecat


A new year is like a new sentence, I know... so lets start it with escapees from the dreaded prison of the Tooth!




This kajiit in dirty pants has kept a close ties with the grate of his prison cell, so when he got a chance to go AWOL he took that old iron with him. It will protect his hide in return somehow, he hopes...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/01/06 17:13:47


Post by: Syro_


Looking good Wirecat. I especially like the patterns on the hyena's fur, the naashti's scales, and the leopard man's fur. Did you free hand the patterns?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/01/22 21:53:42


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
Looking good Wirecat. I especially like the patterns on the hyena's fur, the naashti's scales, and the leopard man's fur. Did you free hand the patterns?


Thanks, Syro! Yes, they are freehanded, although even to my eyes they are more random blotches than a true freehand. Some say its dirty, some say it's impressionism.

Anyway, once again I am taking time away from wonders of life in a bed of sickness. Almost two weeks, and the first thing I do when taking up a brush and a miniature? I drop them! And miniature, being a brittle French resin, promptly shatters to the corners of the room... back to pinning.



Another of the desert catfolk and another idea long in waiting. To make her a black panther, a blind sword dancer came instantly once I held that mini in my cursed hands over a year ago. I even knew all the paints I will be using, it just too so long to sit and do it. AV royal purple for overall coat, clear blue for a wash, then another pass with purple for highlight, smoke for trimming and again purple to clean up. PP menoth white for overal clothing, bone white to highlight then menoth white highlight to blend things in. Her headdress is AV dark orange, then Japanese uniform yellow then dark sand. Blades are AV airbrushing silver and bronze, dirtied up by a mix of reds and browns, as are stones on the base. I would add matt warnish... but now I am afraid to even breath in her direction.



Time to move on and try to pick up the speed...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/01/22 22:31:38


Post by: Syro_


Cool looking mini, and I like your idea behind it. That hurts about your mini exploding, I feel you. There's something about minis that they are really hard to hold onto. I don't normally drop anything, but when I'm working with bits and minis I'm constantly crawling around on the floor with a flashlight
Sorry to hear you've been sick, hope you're 100% soon.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/01/28 20:30:26


Post by: Wirecat


It'll never be 100%, but I am better, thanks!

But while health is improving, my painting speed is... not so much better. Managed to finish two Khaliman cats this week in moderately simple scheme. I think they still need some even brighter spot to stand out at the table top, or at least a more contrasting spot.



Hadn't dropped either one, but came really close to doing just that!



Liking these two well enough, but no time to pause and reflect - convicts are calling!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/02/04 23:28:08


Post by: Wirecat


Speed is back to one mini per week. Unfortunate it is... but here's another convict, or escapee, for Alkemy or whatever game is currently in the need of barbaric catfolk.

This one has really gotten on my nerves. Nice sculpt, dynapic and emotional. Heinous mould slips over his satchel, both legs, armpits... all with no way of fixing them without removing a lot of detail. I will try to forget about them.


Maybe I am getting somewhere trying to find a high contrast schemes, maybe not. My previous blue-purple recipe got extension - after painting blue and highlighting purple I've added a wash of smoke before returning to another purple highlight. All colours are AVs.



Last of convicts/escapees next week, hopefully...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/02/11 22:24:57


Post by: Wirecat


Yes! No more escapees to be found anywhere!



I don't know what stopped me from drilling out his chain links, but that was a blessing - no chance I would have done that without ruining everything. Now he is just a cartoony snow leopard in torn pants that I really like to put on a shelf, in the case or, eventually, on the table top. Flash brings out worst, at the table, under less than optimal lightning and with me in a good mood he looks so much better! Hmm, perhaps I should do something about too glossy paint. But that can be fixed in a day or two.



Now - to finish off some more decent cat-people, or, at least, those who have managed to stay on the better side of the prison walls.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/02/20 23:24:14


Post by: Wirecat


Cat-folk nobility is proving to be more difficult. But now that I have a new brush and more ideas they should be finished sooner rather than later. First - the diplomat from the Alkemy KS. Nice cast, on par with the best of them. Fiddly bits - I've immediately replaced the pipe mouthpiece with brass rod even though it was cast flawlessly. If only all the rest was like that...



Lions are next!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/02/25 19:00:47


Post by: Wirecat


The end is insight and I even managed to finishe these two in one week! Alchemist and a combat hero. Again, all the same problems as the rest of the current resin Alkemy. I even didn't bother with her staff, removing air gates would break it into pieces too small to reassemble. Actually, this staff, having bubbles and her somewhat blobby right foot were the only problems original cast had. Her right hand connection is of entirely my making - I haven't noticed a drop of glue until it was too late. Sigh. Lion came together just fine.



Still playing with hide colours that aren't hideous with my skill level. This time it is AV orange brown and P3 heartfire. A bit difficult to mix - very different pigment grade, but OK to my eyes. Mixing P3 menoth white, menoth white highlight and AV dead white (game color line) works ok over blue-gray undercoat.



Two more to go...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/02/25 22:14:13


Post by: Syro_


Impressive work with that right hand. I like the color choices too


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/03/04 19:56:46


Post by: Wirecat


Thanks, Syro!

Well, I was hoping that this would be the last Alkemy installment, but.. accidents happen. I was painting two cats and one has decided to disassemble on the floor impact. As usual, I know... But with all the pretty snow outside it will have to wait a few weeks to be reassembled. Sigh...



His backside was somehow "too flat" for a camera to focus. Oh, well, I'll shoot him in the back next time when doing photo session of an entire crew. And now - to decide on the proper base edge colour!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/03/04 23:59:25


Post by: Syro_


The newest alkemy cat is looking good, that's a real pain about the other one exploding on the floor, I hate when that happens.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/03/11 22:08:07


Post by: Wirecat


I am quickly running out of things to paint and the weather (and health) still show no sign of letting me out! So... this is THE most boring thing I've painted in two years time, I think... Asura by the Imbrian Arts of Jody Siegel, if I remember it right. What I don't remember is why I've got this tiny weird thing... but it was based and undercoated for quite some time and having no other options I've painted her.



Briefly pondered painting her green and gold like golden saints or Morrowind ordinators from TES universe, but decided against it. She is alien as she is. Bo-oring. No idea what will be next, I probably should be unpacking and building something new...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/03/12 00:37:57


Post by: Syro_


I think a lot of people will be jealous of hearing you're running out of things to paint, until they get to the part of why you are. I hope things improve for you. If you have the supplies, I'd love to see you sculpt some amazing new minis, that will give you something cool to paint


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/03/18 23:10:54


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
I think a lot of people will be jealous of hearing you're running out of things to paint, until they get to the part of why you are. I hope things improve for you. If you have the supplies, I'd love to see you sculpt some amazing new minis, that will give you something cool to paint

The problem, unfortunately, is not running out of things in general, I already have enough unpainted plastic and metal to last two years. The problem is to last that long to see it all finished and on the table... And don't event talk about sculpting! It makes me more stuff to finish! But thanks for the encouragement.



There are more things in the pipeline but not yet enough to show. And for as long as I can finish something, I prefer doing just that... What was that? Oh, look, a hedgehog I've completely forgot on the window having undercoated sometime last autumn. Great!



I should make some comparison photo for the next week, to get some laugh out of my "skills"...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/03/19 00:51:50


Post by: Syro_


Congratulations! When I first came onto dakka a minute ago, your blog was on the homepage


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/03/25 20:04:07


Post by: Wirecat


Getting to the project logs homepage is simple, earning the place on the gallery homepage- that is difficult! So, a week with nothing finished, no hedgehogs to save me this time! Argh!!! Well, the good news are (in random order):

- I've been finally able to undercoat a few miniatures from Hasslefree and Oathsworn, so there should be some progress in Badgers and Burrows and Infinity departments.

- Some minor progress with owlynx griffin, but that will go to the Hordes side of things.

- I've started on transpanther/displacer beast to finish off my stampede unit. Displacer beast from Reaper is beautiful thing, but not next to Mantic panthers. I need something stubby and ugly here!



Wonder if I'll be able to finish "Rackham antipodes" next week...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/03/26 01:01:04


Post by: Syro_


That's great detail on the face of the one you're sculpting


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/04/02 06:49:53


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
That's great detail on the face of the one you're sculpting

Not yet... but now its better! With tentacles... (a little tutorial on their making is here)





Sculpting is slow, this week I'll probably have some Badgers and Burrows mice finished instead.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/04/07 19:37:12


Post by: Wirecat


Let's add some more weird happiness from Oathsworn! Badgers do not own all the burrows, mice do!



Neat sculpts, very well sculpted and cast, nothing worth fixing or mentioning. Fun to paint, but I think I'll try to switch to some more serious subject for a week or two now.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/04/07 20:07:13


Post by: Syro_


Wow that shield looks amazing! Could you explain how you did it? Both minis look good


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/04/07 20:51:24


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
Wow that shield looks amazing! Could you explain how you did it? Both minis look good


It is Angel Giraldez recipe, adapted to P3 paints. Basecoat with Umbral Umber (any dark chocolate brown color would be good). Paint upper half of the shape with something brighter (beast hide). Add some weathering marks with something sand-colored (menoth white) and paint any details with metallic paint and what not. Now wash everything with dark earthly or smoke (dark tone by Army Painter). Finally I've restored metallic glimmer with some more paint and added black wash in the recess of the rim. This was repeated for his sling but there I've used much more menoth white.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/05/01 16:34:25


Post by: Wirecat


No, I haven't forgotten the fantasy stuff, it is just that I want to roll other projects while rolling is good - or at least somewhat decent. I promise to have something finished on this side already this month, but for now - prepare for a WIP flood!

Transpanther is finished, well, sculpting him is finished, at least. Now I plan to undercoat him with polyurethane spray, polish it with Tamya paper and then try spraying him in the most eye-bleeding greens and blues I can manage.




I have also finished my owlynx "kit". No plans to actually cast it, too many parts would have to be cut out, but I do plan to assemble, paint and base it on 40mm round. It will serve both a bearowl and Warmachine-Hordes Griffin, whichever needed. Not the best, but extremely fun to sculpt beastie, I hope not to damage that impression of him while painting...



To celebrate the glory that is Rackham Confrontation (and mark the disaster that current Kickstarter is...) I've pulled my "wolfen" out of the bag and will try to finish at least something in the coming week or two. Poses are heavily inspired by Eclipsantes, both standing and charging versions, but they will be of less Devourer-BDSM looks. The coat of arms piece will be closer to the original... if, IF I will be able to pull that off.



Finally, I think Oathsworn is taking too long with their latest Kickstarter delivery. I want more and now, hear this!!! Anyway, this will be a wolfhound executioner, see, how frendly he is smiling? That is if You are not a bad, bad wolf...



That's it for now. End of flood, back to the paintbrush mopping.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/05/02 00:42:29


Post by: Syro_


Woohoo! This is what I've been waiting for. I'm loving the sculpts I'm especailly impressed with the detail of the paws on the transpanther. And wow that's a lot of detail on the bearowl/griffin, that must have taken a long time.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/05/13 21:23:04


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
Woohoo! This is what I've been waiting for. I'm loving the sculpts I'm especailly impressed with the detail of the paws on the transpanther. And wow that's a lot of detail on the bearowl/griffin, that must have taken a long time.


Thanks! I am trying to keep pushing for more and more details from miniature to miniature, they just not always work. Paws are almost easy, but these wings... Ugh! My choice of sculpting method was essentially a row of feathers after row... waiting for greenstuff to fully cure before starting a new one, which meant over two weeks just for them. Boring. Will try stamping method when I forget this one.

I am currently trying to finish some more Oathsworn beasties for the Badgers and Burrows campaign in June, so here are cats... well, one cat, the second is still very much in progress. I call him Prince, maybe he is Danish? Or maybe he is just a Prince of Thieves, who knows?




My usual attempt to make miniature to look bright even in low light gaming room. Plenty of metallic colours and whites. We'll see how it plays later on.

Oh, and I am very close to finishing the first "wolfess"...



... this week, probably...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/05/14 00:34:11


Post by: Syro_


Prince looks good, and I'm excited about Wolfess being so close. One of these days I want to try to sculpt a custom Sanguinius for the Blood Angels in 40k, so I may be calling on your experience with feathers to beg advice.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/05/20 14:28:59


Post by: Wirecat


Thank You for encouraging words, Syro. And do not beg for advise - experience is something that has to be shared, that's how it grows and matures. I'll bne happy to help.

Meanwhile, the second cat. I was thinking about him as a bill (Bill Sikes, perhaps) but he turned into Grumpy so fast that I didn't even noticed. So he will be Grumpy Bill, not really a meanie, just not a someone You will be all too happy to hang with.



No idea why, but he is a dust magnet of unnatural proportions. You can literally watch dust particles being drawn to him. No iea, why, I've used all my usual paints and varnish, nothing special.



He had his share of mishaps, but I am somehow sure he will be luckier on a gaming table than on the painting one. I'll spend next week finishing something smaller. More mice or another rodents, perhaps...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/05/21 02:02:54


Post by: Syro_


I really like grumpy Bill, he has so much character.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/05/21 23:09:24


Post by: Meer_Cat


What a cool figure- the possible stories going on around him are myriad:

1) What is he contemplating (you caught the expression perfectly)?
2) Why is he carrying an axe?
3) Where did he get that cool waistcoat?
4) Why is he a discharged FIFA scoring official? (Okay, I made that last one up.)

Really good job all around on Grumpy Bill!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/05/27 19:30:28


Post by: Wirecat


Thanks! I'm afraid it is not much of my own part - Oathsworn makes such a wonderful animalistic personalities... I'm just trying to give them justice and paint them as best as I can.

Speaking of Oathsworn and Badgers - our campaign starts this Friday and this is the last critter I am likely to have finished before then, squirrel druid. A bit overdone with basing - all that stuff is obscuring little but very well sculpted feet. No idea how Michael sculpts them so sharp, mine always end up plain stumps at this size.



I've tried to make it look like a coloured light on his hand holding that crystal, but it came out more like dirty paint job. When not so enlarged (that squirrel is barely 30 mm tall) it looks a bit better, but not by much. Sigh. Well, at least it is rightfully dirty in all other places too.



And, just to put victims of some painting accidents to rest (and back on the table), here is the last of the last Khaliman guard. His spear was so mangled by my awful handling (more like my awful dropping) that most of it now is a solid brass rod. I swear - one more drop and that pretty spear tip is being replaced by something steel-sharp too, like a syringe needle.



This means no more Alkemy for me in the foreseeable future. Sigh once again. They were very fun to paint - when not falling to the floor.



Since I will try to shift more of my hobby time towards gaming, I am likely to slow my painting drive. There's not enough hours in a day!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/05/27 20:56:37


Post by: Syro_


I hope you have a great time with the campaign! The squirrel druid looks great. it looks like you spent a lot of time on the fur, face, and hands. I'm also impressed with the way you did the stripe pattern on the shorts of the Khaliman guard. Followed the folds of the fabric really well, looks realistic. It is annoying how models at this scale, and especially certain models seem to have a need to constantly throw themselves from great heights. The way you replaced and fixed up the spear looks really nice.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/04 17:06:51


Post by: Wirecat


Campaign had a good start. Home-pack for Badgers-n-burrows was well received except for one sad moment. Small mobs are really too deadly when encountered in numbers. This is all good and fluffy but a normal, sensible party having a mixture of creatures in it stand almost no chance of surviving. Will be thinking more...

Meanwhile - another flood! Transpanther is finished and with it - the stampede unit, the last item I really wanted to add to the options. Ork army list has no equivalent, it is specific to the Herd in Kings of War.




Could I have done it better? Maybe, but one thing I've learned over the time - do it now instead of dragging on indefinitely. These miniatures can be revisited again and again to try new tricks or just to fix inevitable tear and wear. Another picture with more focus on legs...



Mantic panthers, as pathetic as they are, are a nice filler. Easy to paint, but a total pain to clean and prepare and I still have plenty of them... The full insert (10x5 cm footprint):




And a complete unit, basically a big scary fire-and-forget missile to be launched at enemy horde. Not really survivable, not even to a dedicated shooting, but opponent will have to dedicate these efforts - or suffer the consequence. Instead of having just one unit with a big target painted on it get more of them!



There is also sort of "alternate layout" for it...



... and "parts" of the unit can be used as individual monsters too!

Speaking of repairs... time to fix and finish more things, feathery and random.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/05 00:19:12


Post by: Syro_


That unit of big cats looks like it would be intimidating to see charging down the field. Are they a fire magnet to make sure they are taken out before causing too much damage?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/10 19:25:16


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
That unit of big cats looks like it would be intimidating to see charging down the field. Are they a fire magnet to make sure they are taken out before causing too much damage?


Well... they are - sort of. Lets see. The Stampede costs as much as a very good horde. It has less attacks, but these wound most things on 2+, so You can expect 15 wounds on whatever has been charged. Not certainly, but enough to weight it seriously. Considering many things (read - hordes) in KoW become wavered at 18 and dispersed at 22, it only takes a 2D6 morale roll of 3 and more to have Your expensive horde to stop for a turn or 7 to lose it immediately. The Stampede is also faster than most things and with a special/magic item in can easily get movement of 8", making sure it will get its charge. It also has a very small footprint compared to any horde, making its placement and maneuvering easier. Of course it is possible to lead it astray with chaff and shoot it to pieces from afar, but this means other things will advance unmolested. And if You let the Stampede to turn the flank, doubling its attacks... Well, You better be the player controlling that unit.

OK, another random thing is finished - necromancer from Kings of War. Strange miniature. I liked the concept enough to get him for RPGs and Frostgrave, but it is really on the bigger side of "28mm" scale... More at home with Hordes than Frostgrave. Other aspects are also mixed. It is a resin, and a rather brittle one, meaning his outstretched hand had to be resculpted. Most surfaces bear layer marks of 3D printing. Good thing - it somewhat imitates cloth texture. Bad thing - it really interferes with washes. And it has had really bad affair with Army Painter undercoat despite all the soap and rubbing.



I think I need a new set of skin tone paint. Mine is showing its age... Despite that it was good experience to paint something very different from my usual tropes. Fun, bright and straightforward. Than - and the fact that I've finally found a place for that dragon hand I've had in my bits box for at least 10 years.



I need to finish some other accident repair jobs before moving onto Hordes...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/10 19:51:30


Post by: Private Benjamin


Sveiki! I have tried to sculpt with Milliput and Green Stuff myself but not much... That is some wonderful work sir!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/10 21:17:54


Post by: monkeytroll


Some lovely sculpting here. The transpanther and wolfen in particular catch my eye.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/11 04:17:26


Post by: Yorkright


Great sculpting, painting and ideas! How have I missed seeing this blog. Will be checking in to see how the wolfess’s turn out.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/16 20:01:31


Post by: Wirecat


Thank You for kind words, everybody. I really love sculpting, but lately there are so many new things on my table that it is very difficult to show any actual progress. A bit here, a nibble there, You know, this kind of things.I do try to keep the promise to have something finished every week, but those are mostly pickings from "the time before", projects I've already started long ago.

Like this one. It is the "Griffon Lady of the Realm", a resin miniature from the Titan Forge. Possibly some kind of alternative for Bretonnians or the Empire of the WHFB, gone but not forgotten. Got it long time ago, assembled.. two years ago? Started painting last year, broke his front leg this winter, repaired about a month ago and now, finally, am done with it.



An unexpectedly crude kit, I must say. This is "officially" (or so I hereby claim) the ugliest female face I have painted, rat-like Chinese recast Kaya included. Forehead, sharp nose, sharp chin and nothing inbetween. Eyes? What eyes? Well, I took it as a little challenge and tried to paint in on.



Birdie bits were not much better. Wings went on with a generous greenstuff application and pinning. Tail had to be fixed. I've started reworking his hindquarters but luckily stopped before scrapping it altogether. Broken risen front leg is my usual unluck... Originally this miniature should be mounted on a 40 by 40 or 50 by 50 square, but with a bit of fiddling and tilting it went onto 40 mm round with even better balance than intended.



Painting was slow. I am still learning to do feathers, both in sculpting and painting sense. Here flash has eaten most of the washing and highlighting... On the table it is much less white and grey and more ash-brownish. I gave his rider a mix of leather and steel armor, a bit tweaking mixes. Stone base is a usual for me Menoth White with highlight, Dark Sand and various greys.



So, what will be finished next? Something really new or something really old?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/17 00:50:57


Post by: Syro_


Wow, that griffon's front legs are super skinny, no wonder one snapped. Your love of sculpting payed off with how skillfully you had to piece this guy together. I think the feathers look good, but if you want tips on painting feather, you should try asking Gitsplitta. He just recently painted some eagle minis and blew everyone away with how he did the feathers.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/18 23:14:33


Post by: Meer_Cat


Agree with Syro- consult Gits for feathers and alrge avians.

I love this figure though- despite the difficulties you describe (and have overcome) it has tremendous animation and power. You've done very well with it!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/23 17:36:25


Post by: Wirecat


Syro_ wrote:Wow, that griffon's front legs are super skinny, no wonder one snapped. Your love of sculpting payed off with how skillfully you had to piece this guy together. I think the feathers look good, but if you want tips on painting feather, you should try asking Gitsplitta. He just recently painted some eagle minis and blew everyone away with how he did the feathers.


I try to follow his one monster of the thread. Definitely not through all its almost 600 pages, but there are many inspiring pieces and helpful advice for sure.

Meer_Cat wrote:Agree with Syro- consult Gits for feathers and alrge avians.

I love this figure though- despite the difficulties you describe (and have overcome) it has tremendous animation and power. You've done very well with it!


Yes, I was hoping to get this figure just for painting ever since it was announced. One of the best griffin miniatures of the time. The more of a disappointment was the box that arrived. Anyway, it will stay on my painting table for a while before being moved onto a showstuff shelf - its wings make a beautiful paintbrush stand!

And - another project is finished, the Sphere Wars.Wonderful sculpts, good casting quality, all metal, not mental, but faded into obscurity due to not enough interest from community. This is Mihaulo, an owl-man, a magic user for Adepts of Malesur faction.



He outlasted his brethen due to the most silly feature - his constantly bending and breaking tree branch. This winter I have finally snapped, cut it up, drilled everything and stuffed all holes with brass pins. So far it is holding its weight...



Almost good fit of parts, almost good cast. Some things to file, some things to fill, some things to clean up - all the usual stuff. His pose is a bit difficult in access sense - some parts are nearly impossible to get to and they have to be painted first. And, being an owl... My eyes still hurt from all the striping! Ouch!!!



He looks disapprovingly. Weird thing. No matter how long I shake my bottle of skin tone ink, it always leave some creepy white dusting in the deepest places. But if I use it straight from the bottle, neither stirred nor shaken, it gives what it is supposed to give - a nice shading, although with glossy surface. And painting skin with dry pink pigments may be all the hype in 1:35 and larger scales, but in "28mm" it is just pain and no win.

Anyway, it was a fun project to pull through, maybe even educating a bit. And look what I've found!



A marauder horse, some bits and a... ork boar rider torso, probably? With a resin goatman head from then Maelstrom Games, may they forever be remembered in a Gunpowder plot sense. I think I've put all these things together back in the age of 7th edition of WHFB hoping one day to assemble an alternative Ghorros Warhoof, always drunken centigor champion - with hooves! 8th edition came and go, End Times came and went off with a fizzle of beginning Age of Sigmar, and all these bits of plastic waited patiently. Should I return them to their dusty resting place or finally give them some spotlight and paint?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/24 17:37:21


Post by: Syro_


Wow, beautiful painting on the owl wing pattern, I can see why your eyes were hurting after staring at that so long. I hope the model finally holds up under its own weight after all the work you did.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/30 12:53:03


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
I hope the model finally holds up under its own weight after all the work you did.


Heh! Three months and holding strong. I should have done it long time ago, perhaps even before assembling it. When You see a solid white metal horse standing on a single hoof or this owl (all 30 grams) on branch of a tiny cross-section - pin at once and do not hesitate. Tin will bend, no matter what, now or a month later, but it will bend.

Now, to some totally useless critters, shrews. Again, Oathsworn miniatures, again very good quality. At this size You can't really argue over lack of details, but Michael overloaded that shaman to the brim, making it easy to miss something and then go back painting in back in.



I've tried to make them brighter and bigger with some basing help, but... the idea to make shrubs out of steel wire is my worst patented idea of the year. The rest went OK. They overhang their 30mm bases a bit, but with facing not important in B-n-B (and You can always agree on that in other games) it is not a problem. Now, when I'll get to doing even smaller moles and mice... that will be a problem alright.



I've also started working on that centigor. One thing I remember too well - these marauder horses have really thick asses (to put it bluntly), so out comes a saw and 3 mm wedge of plastic is gone. Now to weld it together with a proper glue and start smoothing things over...



This closes out the first half of 2018. A very productive by my usual standards, over 30 miniatures finished. However, this brings up a dilemma. Considering I have recently finished everything there is from Sphere Wars (unless I get really insane and sculpt a huge 80 mm bull) and Alkemy (them not leaving resin production is sad), with Kings of War nearly finished and not much to add to my Circle Orboros despite honest effort from PP side to intrigue me - should I start a new project?

Or, to put it other way, should I start a new project NOW and work on it for a month or two, considering that I will not touch it next year and the year 2020 is so far away that I may not even be around by then?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/06/30 16:07:16


Post by: Syro_


I always enjoy your sculpts, so my vote is for that 80mm bull

I'm glad to hear the owl has been holding up strong for 3 months now. All of my minis have always been plastic, or made by me with apoxie putty, so I luckily don't have any experience trying to get metal minis to work right. The Shrews look good, by the way.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/07/08 22:02:08


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
I always enjoy your sculpts, so my vote is for that 80mm bull

I'm glad to hear the owl has been holding up strong for 3 months now. All of my minis have always been plastic, or made by me with apoxie putty, so I luckily don't have any experience trying to get metal minis to work right. The Shrews look good, by the way.


An it is still standing without any sagging. Will check after a year has passed. But that bull... Unlike other brands like GW or CMON or Rackham, it was way too realistic. It will take a lot of learning to try and reach that, if it is at all possible for me.

Ironically, now that this mini was mentioned, I've checked and Battlefield Berlin lists it as "available in a few weeks". Hmm... either they have some secret stash somewhere, or they just didn't update their page in ages! Check it here!

In other news - I've finished B-n-Bs for this year... unless I too dig some more when running out of stuff - or get inspired! This time more recent miniatures and... they actually have flaws! Breaking news! Quite a few double mould lines, a tell-tale of the casting process used. First a master is produced from the hand-sculpted "green", then a production run mould is pressed from the metal master. Because rubber mould is always cut by hand, these pesky mould lines never coincide and... But this time double mould slippage happened, making material between individual lines recessed. Filling it with putty would be a very difficult task for me, I struggle to make my own stuff smooth enough. Filing it down would remove a lot of metal - and detail. So, I chose to do minimum filing. It shows mostly on mutt-in-arms cuff and witch-hunters sleeves. They may not be very eye-poking, but they are there. :(



Painting was quite fun and easy, unusual for me. Knight and his squire were just asking for white cloth of crusades, even though Michael has overloaded them with cross-bows and lots and lots of pouches. Witch-hunter was very obviously brown leather through and through, but the recipe somehow didn't work exactly as planned. In case somebody prefer white background...



And now I need to return to some really old unfinished pieces I've found...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/07/15 00:10:16


Post by: Syro_


Wow, that bull mini is quite an intimidating piece, and I can see what you're talking about. Very fitting choice of crusade white for the knight and squire, I like the look. So what's coming up next?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/07/16 15:21:32


Post by: Wirecat


Next come bout of stormy weather, deteriorating health and cat-girls. Lets start with cat-girls and stay with them!

I think these two predate my involvement in tabletop games by a few years. Good, old Reaper models, sculpted by Julie Guthrie who always had a special hand for animal-folk figures. They are still available from the Reaper catalogue (cat-a-logue) as 02140 and 03495. Marvelous single piece casts, but really, really on the small scale, 25mm scale, perhaps, if You really want to believe tem to be weretigresses. If not for the trouble ordering them directly from Reaper, I would like to get a full set of everything Julie has sculpted for them... but I digress.

Got them for RPGs, when moving to WHFB re-purposed them for beastmen ungor raiders... Sort of. Basically, just put them on big bases to make them seem taller next to GW plastics, gave them bows and undercoated red enamel (that still shows no sign of giving up to any thinner). Then forgot about them because harpies/gor-whatevers were much better at war machine hunting. They have stayed in the box for at least 5 years until I've dug them up and decided to give them another try.



I have more than enough big tropical cat themed miniatures for now, so these two are dedicated to a pair of local "feral" cats of my neighborhood. On a photo they look terrible, but that is the only thing I've finished last week and I am sure I can't make them look any better. So, back to the boxes for these cats, in hopes I will need them for RPG, Frostgrave or another attempt at Alkemy.

Achievement unlocked - making cat-girls sad...

If everything stays as it goes, I will switch from painting to terrain or sculpting. Or just stay in bed, hoping for something to improve...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/07/21 13:07:07


Post by: Wirecat


Nothing finished this week. I have been dabbling in several things but nothing came even close... Perhaps the most progress was with the second wolfess. With her I've tried to depart further from Confrontation - Wrath of Kings style. She is less skinny, longer legged, but what will be the final result remains to be seen.

If nothing else she will be more at home with the B-n-B crowd...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/07/22 03:40:53


Post by: Syro_


It's great to see some more sculpting, I'm looking forward to seeing how the new wolfess turns out.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/07/29 19:27:27


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
It's great to see some more sculpting, I'm looking forward to seeing how the new wolfess turns out.


Thanks, Syro! She is slowly taking her shape.



Having sculpted more of her body I've came to the conclusion that the head made to the proportions of the Rackham/CMON wolfen would be too small and thus decided to "upscale" the same design. From bottom up: the same scale of my first effort to match Rackham wolfen female, upscaled to better match what I would consider 54 mm anthropomorphic body and an even bigger head that would fit something closer to 70 mm (Privateer Press warpwolves and such).



This should look on her body like...



I will try to finish something more Sci-Fi next week but also to continue with her at least at _some_ slower pace. Too many unfinished things on one table start looking depressing.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/07/31 22:42:51


Post by: Meer_Cat


Your sculpting skills are improving in leaps and bounds, Wirecat! This latest piece is extremely well done (and I have a better idea now how hard greenstuff can be to work with like that)!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/08/11 11:29:34


Post by: Wirecat


 Meer_Cat wrote:
Your sculpting skills are improving in leaps and bounds, Wirecat! This latest piece is extremely well done (and I have a better idea now how hard greenstuff can be to work with like that)!


Thank You for encouraging words, Meer_Cat. I am not really satisfied with her but can't do anything about this. Painting in 5 minute "sessions" can be done but sculpting - not so much. As soon as I am able to sit for half an hour or more straight, I'll show her "progress".


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/08/18 19:17:49


Post by: Wirecat


OK, so her body is done. Or mostly done, I am waiting for some suggestions about her left hand, whether it would be possible to sculpt it at the sword hilt or it has to be done separately to allow the ease of casting - if it ever gets to that. The usual collage of several views almost in scale...



... and a separate picture to show the possible root problem...



Actually finishing things is the real problem.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/08/18 20:35:32


Post by: Syro_


The sculpt looks great! And very dynamic pose. I can see why you are worried about casting her if the sword is in place. Is she drawing her sword, or swinging it? If drawing her sword, the added bulk of the scabbard might allow you to cast it in one piece, swinging it and I think you should probably do it separate. I'm not expert on casting though.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/08/25 12:55:37


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
The sculpt looks great! And very dynamic pose. I can see why you are worried about casting her if the sword is in place. Is she drawing her sword, or swinging it? If drawing her sword, the added bulk of the scabbard might allow you to cast it in one piece, swinging it and I think you should probably do it separate. I'm not expert on casting though.


Thank You, Syro. Having canvassed my informants I am now a bit more confident she will cast decently, although not without problems, in resin. YUCK! Hate this stuff, and now I am about to bring more of it into the world. :( She is swinging her sword, or axe, and there will be no scabbard, although I will sculpt the remaining part of her left hand. Should work, should...

You want to know what real problem is? This -



Yep. I've started another one.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/08/25 20:10:44


Post by: Syro_


That doesn't sound like a problem to me, I'm looking forward to seeing the new one get created
I'm glad to hear that the casting should work. I've never worked with resin before, but best of luck.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/08/25 23:02:17


Post by: Meer_Cat


It is incredible to me how smoothly you guys work in greenstuff. I'm just getting started, but still, the gap twixt me and thee is _w_i_d_e_! Great sculpt, good luck with the resin (will be curious to hear how it comes out).


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/08/26 07:01:55


Post by: Geifer


Good stuff. Great work on all those sculpts!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/09/03 21:19:58


Post by: Wirecat


Thank You all for Your comments! Autumn starts in the most chaotic way. No time to finish anything, so some WIPs will do...

 Syro_ wrote:
That doesn't sound like a problem to me, I'm looking forward to seeing the new one get created
I'm glad to hear that the casting should work. I've never worked with resin before, but best of luck.


She went quite smoothly to an "almost done" stage by now. Some belts, rings, a bit of tail fluff and her sword, obviously, are still needed. This obviously postpones shipment for the casting by another week or so.



As a "scale match" is another of my "almost completes" - kit-bashed Ghorros the centigor that will serve as a centaur hero in KoW Herd or Nature army. He needs a prettier base with some grass and moss and possibly a little rust on his shoulder armor. Maybe even red wine, spilling from his horn, if I feel that adventurous.... Anyway, he is still unfinished and I hope to rectify that by the end of the week.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/09/03 22:48:43


Post by: Syro_


Wow! It feels like you've almost finished her very quickly. Looks great! Definitely worth holding up the casting.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/09/04 22:48:10


Post by: Meer_Cat


Ditto what Syro said- it seems like you just started this sculpt, and here you are getting ready to cast. Very nice work, and a realistically dynamic pose!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/09/09 19:19:18


Post by: Wirecat


Thanks, Syro and Meer_Cat and whoever else is looking at these greens!

Well, that "very quickly" still equates around two week time. Looking back, I can say from experience that, under the condition that neither health nor other worldly problems arise, I can work in parallel on three sculptures, finishing them in about 10 days time. It is best if at each point one is "basically done", one is at preparation stage (sculpting weapons, head, hands separate from the body) and one is heavily "in progress" (joining limbs, forming the body). But that is happening very infrequently. :(

But now she is really done.



There are still a few things that need to be done - three weapons to finish and fit, and then it is off to the post office. Hopefully this week.

In other news - I've finally finished (hurray!) everything I was planning for Kings of War 2018. The most recent kitbash - Ghorros and the unnamed shaman from the depths of the Warhammer Fantasy I've got... 10? 12 years ago? I no longer remember, possibly at the very start of 8th, after the release of the Isle of Blood set, when I was still involved in GW universe. Well, not much else to say.



Shaman is pretty uninspiring sculpt, but I have been told a few new tech-tricks - rough cloth, edges and I've tried them. Centigor I am actually sort of proud of, so here is another view of him -



If only the flash wouldn't wash out the details to white... This puts a lid on my fantasy projects for the rest of the year. If there are any new developments - stuff coming back from caster or me sculpting something else or finishing some terrain, I'll post it, but otherwise - see You all in the year 2019!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/09/09 19:41:23


Post by: Syro_


Wow, congratulations on finishing your goals for 2018 with the majority of 4 months that spare. That is impressive. I find it really hard to moderate how many sculpts to have going at once, and at least one often gets ignored for much longer than it should in my work area. it's good that you have it pretty worked out what works well for you. It's a shame you don't usually get to do it that way. It will be weird not seeing you around until 2019, so hopefully you'll be feeling inspired to start lots of sculpts


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/09/17 18:41:10


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
Wow, congratulations on finishing your goals for 2018 with the majority of 4 months that spare. That is impressive. I find it really hard to moderate how many sculpts to have going at once, and at least one often gets ignored for much longer than it should in my work area. it's good that you have it pretty worked out what works well for you. It's a shame you don't usually get to do it that way. It will be weird not seeing you around until 2019, so hopefully you'll be feeling inspired to start lots of sculpts


Thanks, but... As my signature manifests, there are still some things to be done for this year, it is just them being very specific projects for Privateer Press games rather than generic fantasy or sci-fi. I have ignored them for too long.

Yes, I also do have a several sculpts in progress, some of them already appeared here in bits. How and when they will turn out - only time will tell.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/11/25 13:03:14


Post by: Wirecat


Slowly working through my backlog of terrain, I think I've found the reason it moves so slowly - scale creep! There are things that work with 25-28 mm miniatures like Infinity or Alkemy or Frostgrave. And there are things that work with 32-35 and larger stuff. Between them it is very difficult to combine these "scenery sets" on a single table without it looking ridiculous. Surely, there are scale "agnostic" games like Burrows and Badgers, where smallest figures are sub-25 mm and largest in 54 mm ranges, but these are an exception.This week I've finished the "broken temple entrance" tile.




Cork base, some resin scatter and fake acrylic sand, marked with 25mm squares (RPGs and Deadzone). I was doing these tiles at the time of Alkemy resurgence, thus the scale and theme is "almost Khaliman"...



Unfortunately, with larger 32 mm miniatures from Hordes these are already too small.



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/11/25 15:58:22


Post by: Syro_


Wow that is extremely fancy and nice, especially for a 4x4 dungeon tile. Looks like it took a lot of time. Do you have a lot of these kinds of tiles?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/11/25 17:35:40


Post by: aku-chan


I think it looks great, especially that little bit of painted mural.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/12/01 22:57:37


Post by: Wirecat


Syro_ wrote:Wow that is extremely fancy and nice, especially for a 4x4 dungeon tile. Looks like it took a lot of time. Do you have a lot of these kinds of tiles?


The original (not really original, but that got me working) idea was to have a variety of cave-desert-town tiles to completely cover about 3 square feet of table space, which is 30 or so tiles like this one. Having cut all that cork and amassed some scatter I slowed down. Then there was some living space moving and lifestyle changes that left about half of these broken or missing. Since then I've started to slowly rebuild and repair where possible, making new tiles so now I am back to about 20 in different stages of neglect. But i am still working, err... almost working, back again on a sick bed, unfortunately.

aku-chan wrote:I think it looks great, especially that little bit of painted mural.


Thanks! I like doing these small things that keep me from working on more miniatures. But this time it is something simpler - mine entrance.

Cork base, broken cork bits and fake acrylic sand for walls, resin planking for braces and a doorway. The base is 10x6 cm, the entrance is just wide enough to push 50mm base through it.



The basic idea was to have some roll of cloth to represent the outer extent of the mountain while inside it will be all walls, tiles and corners, hence nothing above and to the sides of the doorway. I still don't know how to make it look less "torn out" and more like a finished piece of terrain. :(



The lantern on the inside is really big for a 25-32 mm figures, unfortunately. I have a smaller one as a replacement, but it lacks... certain functionality. Some comparison - white tiger is from Alkemy, which is smaller 28 mm, woodcutter cat is from Burrows and Badgers that is about 54 mm.




And, speaking about functionality, these wires are not just from my laziness, they actually have some use. With and without flash...




Again, the cat is from Burrows and Badgers and sits on a 40mm base. A single battery lasts for about 2 hours... That's it for another week.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/12/03 02:00:12


Post by: Syro_


Cool mine entrance. I personally have no problem with the size of the lantern, don't they come in all different sizes? I like that it lights up. I hope you recover quickly.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/12/09 21:09:23


Post by: Wirecat


Being sick does not stop the world. Maybe it's for the best? Anyway, here are some more cat-people in larger scale. Definitely bad cat-people...



I wonder if they move any closer to being finished before the year comes to the end...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/12/10 02:50:32


Post by: Syro_


Awesome! Great to see you doing some more sculpting. I'll be watching with interest


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 4219/12/15 17:42:12


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
Awesome! Great to see you doing some more sculpting. I'll be watching with interest
I am sculpting things, i just skip showing them frequently, giving priority to other things. This time, however, they progress slower. I need to use harder stuff like Milliput to sculpt shoulderpads, blades and cloak, but I don't have it with me.



Hopefully in a week at least one of these bad cats will be finished.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/12/24 11:08:37


Post by: Wirecat


I am inclined to say "they are done" even though technically they are not - the warlord still lacks his cape and the left (shield) arm, but... Both other shield arms fits his shoulder and I can't think of what to do anyway. Leave that hand down with clenched fist while his shield goes onto his back? Can be done easily, it's just a couple of sculpting sessions, but than his cape will not fit other miniatures. Shield in the hand held low? This is not very different from other shield arm variants, except the shield itself is obviously bigger. Hand propped on an empty sword scabbard? Again, can be done but I doubt it would produce a veri inspiring pose...



So... probably that's it... except, maybe, some small terrain ventures.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/12/24 13:40:20


Post by: Syro_


It's cool that the pieces are interchangable, I can understand not wanting to mess with that. Sculpts look great as always, and on December 24, I'm much more ok with you possibly being done for the year than I was back when you first posted it. Still hoping for those terrain venture tho


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/12/29 21:35:03


Post by: Wirecat


So... it is time to wrap up the year - in fantasy.

For my lynx raiders I've finished the basic kit. It is not yet ready to be cast, but if I'd be inclined to just assemble them as they are and paint them, it would be only the usual for any resin pin-glue-fill the gaps procedure. More lynxes and their opponents, wolves, to come some day - health permitting.



And I've went on the path to the greater terror, from where there is no return. I have two unholy hand grenades and a mocking monkey head, now I need to sculpt the rest of the monkey... (the other head is the lynx head that got voted down as warrior head, it will probably be one of berserker heads).



Speaking of terrain, I've made, perhaps, the most successful restoration of the cave tile - a narrow tunnel ending with unlocked door, 3x2. Cork, resin door, almost everything except the door handle came from the original tile that was totally flattened in an accident long ago. Now it is painted too, and has an option for lighting, sort of...



I'd say this time it works with pretty much every miniature scale from 25 to 54 mm, examples being Alkemy...



... and Burrows and Badgers...



An example of how it will look like together with other pieces -



And that light option... It will have to wait until more tiles are finished to make some sort of unified, central power system. Can You see the light coming from behind that door? It's.. New Year!



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2018/12/29 22:48:09


Post by: Meer_Cat


Very nicely done, all around! That's quite several threads neatly drawn together and finished for the New Year. Very much like the terrain pieces, and the sculpts are absolutely perfect!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/01/06 19:59:24


Post by: Wirecat


I am taking a few weeks break from paint and pincel, err... brush! So, let's just recount the past and plan the future.

In year 2018 I...
- posted on my Dakka blogs almost weekly, probably counts as a success
- finished 80 miniatures of 60 planned, great
- sculpted 8 miniatures - probably as good as it gets, within error bars
- started a new army long in planning, only to shelve it immediately, not good
- went to a tabletop miniature painting masterclass, learning something hopefully
- made some more casting experiments
- kept the number of painted and procured miniatures as close to 1:1 as possible - New Year gifts were bad in this regard

Now, the bad... I wasn't been able to significantly (as much as I'd like to) reduce my unbuilt stuff pile. At the same time push to finish at least two miniatures every week has led to more anxiety and less productivity. Worst of it - this year I have drawn only half of what I did in the year 2017. My writing took similar hit, although it is harder to quantify.

The remedy... also known as New Year resolutions. Having glanced over my stockpiles, I've found amount of sprues and boxes quite disturbing. Therefore...
- keep Dakka blogs running weekly, obviously that means DOING something tabletop-game-related stuff every week
- assembling every HIPS miniature in my possession and getting rid of anything I do not wish to eventually finish
- paint at least 35 fantasy miniatures (again, HIPS getting priority service)
- sculpt at least 8 miniatures
- put together as much terrain as possible

This translates to:
- 20 Frostgrave gnolls (Yay!) to be built as a small Herd unit for KoW and whatever is left over - as Convicts skirmishers for Alkemy
- 20 Mantic elves, dwarfs and orcs for random encounters
- 10 scaven (I believe there should be 10 of them) from IoB kit, so far I've been able to find 4 clanrats, 2 weapon crews and 1 engineer, but I remember there was at least another one somewhere...
- 5 Mantic Men-at-Arms for Sphere wars or random encounters
- 1 poor forgotten griffin...

There is also stuff I do not want to keep. Anyone wants 5 High elf reavers from IoB set and a Tiranoc chariot? Still on sprue? Next week they are coming to Dakka trade section!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/01/09 00:49:42


Post by: Syro_


Thanks for the retrospective Wirecat. I'm glad you'll still be posting regularly on Dakka. Finishing 80 miniatures is impressive, but those 8 amazing sculpts are more exciting for me. I'm glad to hear you're planning on 8 more sculpts for 2019. Good luck, and I hope you have a productive and enjoyable year.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/01/20 19:16:15


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
Thanks for the retrospective Wirecat. I'm glad you'll still be posting regularly on Dakka. Finishing 80 miniatures is impressive, but those 8 amazing sculpts are more exciting for me. I'm glad to hear you're planning on 8 more sculpts for 2019. Good luck, and I hope you have a productive and enjoyable year.


Thank You, I'll try my best. Therefore I should start somewhere... Let's start from scaven. Another deep dig through nooks and crannies, and here they are - 11 of them! Found a slave driver and an ratogre without a head. No matter how much dust I've turned over, no head... so I've sculpted him a new one.



I will be putting them on round bases, 30mm for single small miniatures and 50 for ogre and weapon crews. These scaven scale quite well with Burrows and Badgers mice and rats (see below) and fantasy can go quite well with some steampunk.



I've also found 4 (thought I've put aside only two to be used as musicians) beastmen gor bodies from GW witha lot of their bits and kit like weapons and shields. If I decide what to do with them, they will be next in line.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/01/21 03:05:57


Post by: Syro_


That rat ogre really lucked out


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/01/26 20:26:47


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
That rat ogre really lucked out

Whether he has lucked out or in remains to be seen. So far I just hope colors will blend his new head in with the rest of his body better than the greenstuff.

Staying with the remains of the IoB kit, I've finally given my poor griffon his scarf. It was hard to make with flat styrene, it will be harder to paint a good freehand on it. I am also picking bits and pieces of Renedra terrain. Tot good, neither bad - average. Good for saving time, actually. Clip off the sprue, glue, cleanup and it is actually OKeyish in detail...



So, what do I do with 4 GW beastmen...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/02/03 20:27:18


Post by: Wirecat


I've said "four", but so far only three of them found their place around the big drum. My beastmen frequently appear on Kings of War table as orks, so I needed a substitute for War Drum. Mantic model (http://www.manticgames.com/mantic-shop/kings-of-war/orcs/product/orc-war-drum.html) was way too orky and single musician (or even several of them) on a single base wouldn't make the cut. Unfortunately GW provided only horn blowers for their gor and bestigor kits...



Now that should be good enough for a good drumming - or a unit filler if I need it.

Now, Frostgrave gnolls. There were so many great examples of these critters painted on Dakka that I couldn't pass them and grabbed a box... Well, it seems that will be my only purchase of Frostgrave plastics in a long time. Soft details, soft styrene, not every pair of arms well fitting every torso. They are "just good enough", about on par with older Mantic models like elves and orks. Definitely below current Mantic standard. But that will have to do. On the bright side they fit quite well with Alkemy Khaliman, which was half the reason for me buying them. Now these will enlarge my Prison of the Tooth escapees/convicts warbands and generally provide some baddies to fight with (with like in together or with like against, whatever happens). That guy with an arbalest will stand for Hakan (https://alkemy-the-game.com/shop/product.php?id_product=471)...



Finally the second wish was to have a small unit of foot fodder. Think beastmen ungors or goblins... In KoW small units usually fall in three categories - chaff, chaff hunters and opportunity flankers. This will be my chaff for soaking some shooting before main armies come into contact and to force enemy into unfavorable exchanges. Who said tertio?



Who said Alatriste?



I'll need these corners free for some scenery...

Now, to find what i want to do with the remaining two gnolls that didn't fit into the unit as I wanted. Maybe I should make a casualty, on the unit base or as a marker... or more free ranging bandits. And that last gor body...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/02/10 18:25:46


Post by: Wirecat


And - that's enough unpainted fantasy plastic to last me half a year. Maybe some more crappy terrain here and there, but I do not think there will be much to report here until weather allows basecoating stuff (sometime in April, I hope). Till then - last two gnolls and a single gor.



Oh, and there is some slow sculpting too... so maybe I wouldn't leaving this thread completely cold.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/07/13 11:59:35


Post by: Syro_


Oh, and there is some slow sculpting too... so maybe I wouldn't leaving this thread completely cold.


That last part is good to hear. Seems to me like the perfect opportunity to do more sculpting while you wait for the weather to allow priming


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/02/15 18:21:55


Post by: Meer_Cat


Make hay whilst the sun shines; weather too cold to prime in is Nature's way of telling you to sculpt more! Looking forward to seeing what comes along.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/02/17 21:32:56


Post by: Wirecat


Well, I *DO* have another 70+ Sci-Fi figures to assemble before that painting season, so it is not just hay and sunshine... In fact, I must confess - this week for me was mostly lying flat, waiting for fever to recede.

Nothing to show, haven't even got the camera out of the bag to show You what has become of that monkey terror. But at least I've made my mind.

To assemble and paint
- 16 Mantic dwarves (RPGs)
- 10 Mantic elves (RPGs)
- 5 Mantic basilean men-at-arms (also for skirmishes)
- 3 Mantic orcs (RPGs)
- 1 GW mounted barbarian (just because I have him).

To sculpt
- monkey bomber (I still need a few sessions with him)
- wolfhound executioner (really overdue)
- wolf warband (3 figures)
- bad cat
- good cat
- something big, maybe even Loki replacement for my druids

To get rid of
- 5 GW High Elf reavers
- 1 GW High Elf chariot


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/02/18 14:07:13


Post by: Meer_Cat


Ambitious plan but do-able Hope you're out from under the weather soon!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/02/18 14:15:49


Post by: Geifer


Hehe, love the Beastmen drum group. Nice.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/02/24 17:11:29


Post by: Wirecat


OK, here is the bomber/powder monkey. He's so far the smallest thing I've sculpted and actually ended up being content with the result. Jaguar statue was smaller but... meh, it is OK for a scenery piece. I'll keep that monkey on my working tray for a while - to make some more dreadlocks, fingernails and patches out of excess greenstuff left from other sculpting. Obviously, there is no chance this little guy will cast without extensive cutting, so he will stay unique.



I am planning having a mortar and a demi-cannon so he may double up as a loader, not just a grenadier!



I really need to start sculpting more... but the grey plastic is calling me.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/02/25 00:36:35


Post by: Syro_


powder monkey looks really great. A very dynamic pose with a lot going on. Great details also
I'd love to seem him posed next to a huge cannon, so I hope you do make the mortar.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/02/26 02:12:09


Post by: Meer_Cat


The powder monkey is a terrific sculpt! The detail is amazing- the fur alone must have taken quite a lot of effort. I can see where this piece would be difficult to cast, but what about making a 3D scan, converting to an .stl file and resin printing it?

_Love_ coming here to see what's new!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/04/07 20:06:11


Post by: Wirecat


Since I still haven't painted anything, let's show some more sculpting. This is the first of two executioner dogs, delayed solely due to my undecidedness. Should he have a sword or an axe? Should his leg be posed on something gruesome or just the first step of the ladder, leading where-every-bad-badger-knows he will end? Should he be putting or removing his hood or just holding it in his hand? Decisions...



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/04/08 01:11:19


Post by: Meer_Cat


Oooh, oooh, pick me!

A) Bearded Axe
B) Foot posed on step or block of wood
C) Hood held in hand



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/04/08 13:54:39


Post by: Da Boss


Great work on the sculpting. The ape is fantastic and I love the expression on Poochies face.

It is from a while ago, but great job on the griffon from Skull Pass as well. That is a tricky one to do.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/04/09 01:25:16


Post by: Syro_


Woohoo! Sculpting! The first executioner dog looks great, a lot of expression on his face.

For weapon, I'm with Meer_Cat with an axe over a sword (although at first thought I wanted a greatsword).
For foot, I was thinking the chopping block or a bloody tree stump
And again i agree on hood in his hand, the face is too good to obscure, but for executioner dog #2 if you haven't made the head yet it would be cool to see him fully wearing the hood.

I'm hoping to see more sculpting


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/04/14 20:53:02


Post by: Wirecat


Meer_Cat, Syro_ - thanks for the input. You almost mirror the final version I've arrived at myself. Yep, a huge bearded axe is the right thing, I'll save a greatsword for barbarian. But it will also double as a foot rest. Wood blocks and ladders are a bit too specific, limiting basing options. Hood in hand is perfect - it will bulk the standing foot to a decent crossection.



He still needs quite a bit of work even in already sculpted parts. Cleanup on axe, thicker/bushier tail, details on shirt and some pouches on the belt. But generally the end result is somewhat close. The second dog is still nothing more than a partly done head and a wire-frame skeleton. In other developments - I've managed to undercoat (badly) some sci-fi miniatures, so it is painting time at last!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/04/15 20:48:00


Post by: Syro_


Nice progress on the executioner dog, it's cool that our ideas were all pretty in line with each other


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/04/17 00:47:12


Post by: Meer_Cat


I agree with Syro- either great minds think alike- or all y'all need to worry that you think like me.

Being an Executioner with an axe, I assume the breed is a Lop-rador?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/06/30 20:19:57


Post by: Wirecat


Long time no update, so I'll sweep some dust from here. All that plastic building has left me a lot of empty sprues, and when I have lots of empty sprues, I usually get some weird ideas. Must be from all the plastic glue vapors...

I need more small and medium scatter terrain that works for 25-54 mm range... Easier said than done, but considering 54 mm is for Badgers and Burrows, which has smallest figures at about 20 mm... it is doable - to some extent. There are very few things from GW I really miss, one of them - goblin town, because if You have ruins and mines, You really need sheds, planks, walkways, platforms and ladders. Well, I'll do them myself, very slowly...



Also a great opportunity to try various recipies for freehand wood grain.



As tall as Renedra broken walls and arches, wide enough to support 2 models on 50 mm bases on the upper level and a single 40 mm base on the lower level.



Too rough for dwarfs, but will do for others.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/07/01 11:46:52


Post by: Syro_


The newest walkway looks very nice. I like the wood grain on it, and how it comes out on the side in places gives it a nice appearance of having been where a tree branch was.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/07/01 12:59:43


Post by: Geifer


Very good work on the wood!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/08/04 17:01:12


Post by: Wirecat


Time to add some actual miniatures. That drum crew - I actually like them finished! Not a fan of pink-skinned beastmen (usually), but this time they came out quite well, thanks to - or despite to my fight with Scale 75 paints. Still can't get my head nor hand with them. Nice coat, very matte, but so many problems trying to ink or wash them! It seems easier to mix ink with the paint on the palette and just paint recesses separately than to gloss varnish, wait for it to dry, apply wash, fix the pooling, fix the highlights etc...



I have also tried to do colored reflections on metal - sort of. It does have a tint of color now rather than plain gunmetal or steel, but nothing worth bragging about. Will try it more, on bigger stuff, like men-at-arms shields.



My camera behaves oddly, missing focus in shooting modes without the flash. It is sad because I really prefer using sun - when it is available. Maybe it is age showing, maybe something else. I have swapped to faster lens and shot them again with and without flash (flashed image is on the right).



Now - to sculpt something before turning to gnolls...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/08/09 08:34:15


Post by: Wirecat


Maybe I got tired of painting? Well, I still have a lot of things to build and sculpt. I may even get back into scale modelling...



Anyway, now I plan to waste a week or two on this second dog and see what comes of it. A-and the second set of "scaffolding", and then it is back to space dwarfs.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/08/09 17:02:23


Post by: Syro_


Woohoo! Back to sculpting! I'm looking forward to seeing it progress


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 3019/02/17 07:20:17


Post by: Theophony


Your sculpting work always impresses me. Great job on the beastmen drummer unit, I like your mixed race beastman army, had a similar idea with some of the alkemy models and my new Pigataur.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/08/19 17:08:25


Post by: Wirecat


Thanks for encouragement, but... things go slow. I'm finding some relief in procrastinating. Right now it is an empty discussion with myself about where his left arm should go - fist to the side, gripping short sword hilt or holding a looped up rope. Last option is much more likely - I don't need yet another hole in the model complicating the mold making. But still I like to "slowly consider other options".



I should also start moving with a second piece of scaffolding that must also double as a small dock and a base for a crane...



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/08/24 21:12:11


Post by: Wirecat


Sigh. I've made a bad decision - I've ordered bits and pieces and tools, that should come by the slow boat from the China direct. Hopefully in a month or two... Meanwhile I am doing some small sculpting tasks, like spawning more and more "little-green-gators", pushing forward with a dog and preparing some scenery.



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/08/24 22:22:58


Post by: Da Boss


Lovely work on the beastmen, and your scenery bits look excellent as well.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/08/25 21:55:03


Post by: Syro_


I see you went with the looped up rope option. I like it, it looks much better than I had imagined it. It's exciting that you'll be getting some new bits and tools. I hope the wait isn't too bad. I'm curious about those "little green gators"


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/08/28 22:00:12


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
I'm curious about those "little green gators"


It is a... sculpting slang? I guess. It is used to jokingly name tips of toothpicks, smothered in greenstuff with attached eyeballs, used as a starting point in sculpting the head. You may be able to see some semblance to the actual baby gator head in these images -




If it is intended for a beastman, the pointy tip will become a nose, for a human it would be a top of the head. The size and spread of eyeballs define the size-scale of the miniature head.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/08/30 13:47:14


Post by: Syro_


Thanks Wirecat, I didn't know that term. And I appreciate the visuals, the term makes sense thanks to your pics and descriptions


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/08/30 14:25:20


Post by: Meer_Cat


Gotta tell ya, in the upper phot, the one furthest left looks like Scrat, from the animated movies Ice Age.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/09/01 17:52:51


Post by: Wirecat


 Meer_Cat wrote:
Gotta tell ya, in the upper phot, the one furthest left looks like Scrat, from the animated movies Ice Age.


* Wirecat oh-noes and tries to hide. There are distinct sounds of tectonic plates cracking, magma rushing out and water flowing in. *

Well, maybe I should sculpt some small insane critter... but not this time. I need an even smaller "gator" for that and currently I am out of bith greenstuff and time. Where did the greenstuff go? First, I've finished both executioner dogs - aren't they a jolly pair? Well, before things are cast they aren't actually finished, I may add a neck chain to that medal on lop-rador, for example...



And that herald-hang-dog alone -



He is 43 mm from the base level to his eyes thus being almost exactly the same height to the top of the head with monkey grenadier. Now, they need a witch to hunt, but that cat-lady will be delayed to the end of the year (two of her, actually), along with wolf warband (I yave already started assembling some parts for them).

I've also sculpted some fallen gnolls to finish my "Alatriste" diorama-unit for Kings of War. Frostgrave gnolls kit has left me with so many bits, heads and arms that I've decided to put at least some of them to better use. They are slightly smaller than the actual plastic Frostgrave gnolls - I was hoping that will help with top-down perspective we usually have when playing... didn't work as I've imagined it would. Oh, well, the difference is small enough to handwave it away.



It is unlikely I'll have time for anything "hobby" in the two coming weeks, so - till then!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/09/23 00:19:59


Post by: Syro_


Sorry to hear you won't have any hobby time for two weeks, but what you've getting done is very nice. It's good seeing the Dog executioners again. I hope you get more green stuff soon


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/09/22 21:03:52


Post by: Wirecat


Stalemate continues. Worse still, I have no desire to break it. I pass by the shoebox with my incomplete gaming stuff in the evening - and nothing moves inside me. Toys remain in the toy chest. I hope it is not the onset of depression.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/09/23 12:22:17


Post by: Syro_


Hang in there Wirecat, I hope things improve for you


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/09/23 23:20:23


Post by: Meer_Cat


Guys like you make working in greenstuff look so easy- which is a great reflection of your skill! Me, I could hold my breath and try to use this stuff under freakin' water and it would still get sticky and ball up on me.

That's why 'tarps' are my favorite thing to make out of extra greenstuff- very hard to mess up rolling out flat sheets (again, with enough water tossed onto it!).

Toujours en avante, Wirecat- always out front- and on to the next. I sat down for 'just five minutes' tonight, didn't want to work, get stuck in and all the attendant mess and sorting and remembering what I intended; when I looked up again, two hours had gone by.

It helped that YouTube for some reason decided to groove down an early 80's track and was playing songs by Company B, Expose, Dead or Alive, Mr Mister, etc. My favorite era. Although,as a Gael, I have to watch out that nostalgia doesn't become maudlin!

That's where you Dakkanauts keep me on the beam!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/09/24 01:46:58


Post by: CaptainWaffle


Keep up the great work, Wirecat. Take your time - it's a hobby, not a job, but do give it a go even if you don't feel motivated. Motivation is a fickle feeling that can be brought about by just sitting down and working for five or ten minutes. My wife tells me to sit down at the hobby table at least a couple times a week so I stay sane and don't crumble under being a workhorse. Very often I have to force myself to do it (and listen to my wife) for my health. I never once regretted forcing myself to do it, even if it was only for 30 minutes.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/10/27 19:09:17


Post by: Wirecat


This is exactly why I am trying to make the hobby look and feel like work - inner workings... Thank You all for Your kind words, but... Psychopathology rant incoming.

Spoiler:
The longer I spend away from any activity - the less important this activity appears on my "priority list", it is literally being pushed away from conscious mind. I may dream of it, I may allow some wishful thoughts "how great it would be", but the reality is - it goes away. The further it goes away - the more difficult it is to return to it - other things have taken its place of providing me with little bits of joy. This circle (or spiral) will continue, if unchecked, until there is only one thing left, like my primary job or taking care of health issues. And now the real trap - these thing one day will stop being rewarding, work will hit a particularly nasty brick, health will require something more than a visit to a doctor, thus producing only more of anxiety and... and with nothing to switch to - welcome to depression bout. "You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike"

OK, sometimes purchasing joy is easy - I've got a game mat from Deep Cut Studio and it is amazing! 4' by 4', rubber padded, Northland style. I've unrolled it on a wrong table (my own gaming room is still a long effort away) and played with some scatter and BnB figures - as I've hoped it easily accommodates almost every kind and color of base. I've promised some preview of my table for a convention - well, here is a preview of the preview!




And, if You remember a sketch from some time ago (a forum page back) of another set of scaffolding I wanted to make out of empty sprue - here it is. A bit different from the initial design, I've decided that a crane should be a completely separate piece, but close enough. A bit different way of painting wood this time, maybe a little more contrasting, can't decide if this is a good or a bad thing. You can squeeze a 50 mm round base on it, but it is really made for 30-40 mm bases. If someone wishes to put a badger on it - I'll have some fitting dice ready for support.



I am making these things more or less compatible in size to Renedra ruins and other plastic terrain. If needed, both scaffolding pieces can be joined together - they are quite sturdy in this configuration.



In other news - I am working (although very slowly) on my gnoll troop that is still some weeks away from completion. That's it...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/10/27 21:54:26


Post by: Meer_Cat


I like how the wood scaffolding turned out- the weathering/fading is very realistic. Hard to believe that is leftover sprue though- did you use a steel brush tp scribe the wood grain onto the flat surfaces?

And the battle mat is ace.



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/10/30 11:54:49


Post by: Syro_


Here's hoping that our enjoyment of your work will always bring you back to to sculpting and modeling/painting
Your stuff looks good as usual, but I am more interested and ecited to find out why and where you are in America (USA).


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/11/03 21:56:55


Post by: Wirecat


Meer_Cat wrote:I like how the wood scaffolding turned out- the weathering/fading is very realistic. Hard to believe that is leftover sprue though- did you use a steel brush tp scribe the wood grain onto the flat surfaces?

And the battle mat is ace.


No, it is a simple excuse to train some freehand, so no physical texturing. There will be some more, more fitting to the dock/pier desription... I would really like to make a few pieces for naval theme, boats, probably ships too, both as pure decorations and as scenario map for landing/boarding action. So many ideas - and not that impossible, it is actually doable... but I already have too much on my table and in the box under it. Unless someone buys at least my elves I am not adding anything any time soon.

Yep! DCS are that good!

Syro_ wrote:Here's hoping that our enjoyment of your work will always bring you back to to sculpting and modeling/painting
Your stuff looks good as usual, but I am more interested and ecited to find out why and where you are in America (USA).


You mean the little flag icon? Sorry to disappoint but I am still in Europe, Lithuania. Me in USA - not in this life, even though I like to never say never. This is probably the result of me switching EVERYTHING off in my browser after being peppered by a highly disturbing adverts. And I ain't turning it back for some time still. :(

Last time I forgot to put up the image of gnoll tertio - here it is. Haven't worked on them in a week so no loss...



Also, to report something somewhat new - here is a sketch of market boot / bakery, for BnB and Alkemy, most surely. Would be OK for Hordes, but too "rustic" for Ariadna. They are not that much backward!



Some weirdness with posting.. hopefully it will work. Anyway - till next week!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/11/03 23:05:41


Post by: Vejut


Would be OK for Hordes, but too "rustic" for Ariadna. They are not that much backward!  


I dunno, I could see Ariadna being totally into Renaissance Fairs . More seriously, that will be an interesting building when its done, and the gnolls look to be coming along nicely.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/11/04 19:34:47


Post by: Captain Brown


Wirecat,

So are those platforms made out of excess sprue frame?

Cheers,

CB


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/11/09 23:07:22


Post by: Syro_


Sorry to hear you're not in America right now, and yeah, I was guessing that because of the flag icon. Hopefully someday
Good choice turning those settings off if it's giving you peace.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/11/10 16:04:47


Post by: Wirecat


Vejut wrote:
Would be OK for Hordes, but too "rustic" for Ariadna. They are not that much backward!  


I dunno, I could see Ariadna being totally into Renaissance Fairs . More seriously, that will be an interesting building when its done, and the gnolls look to be coming along nicely.

You have asked for this:



- Get off this sidewalk, fuzzy butt. Your dwarf fantasy friends are this way! We are having a civilized party here.

Unfortunately, I've erred, overestimating available plywood pieces. And since a slow boat package still haven't arrived, I had to make a generic "roof on 4 posts" instead of bakery. Next time...

Captain Brown wrote:Wirecat,

So are those platforms made out of excess sprue frame?

Cheers,

CB

Yes, just like that:



When I have a byte of free time, but no courage to bit the brush, I add some plastic glue fumes to the room air. In the end it produces very sturdy things that are easily prettied up with all kinds of bits from kits themselves.

I've also put together some more small things lile trading stalls for our "renaissance fair" And a tent for a camp. Probably that's all I have time and energy now... Next week blog entry will be late. Thanks for watching!



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/11/10 17:31:22


Post by: Vejut


Came out looking pretty good (and I definitely laughed at the captioning). Is that tent plywood? Really kinda impressive how you got the bends if so...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/11/18 21:32:50


Post by: Wirecat


Vejut wrote:
Came out looking pretty good (and I definitely laughed at the captioning). Is that tent plywood? Really kinda impressive how you got the bends if so...

Yep, it is plywood. It is not really hard to do... But the real trick is having place, patience and peace of mind (because there is no way to be sure the thing will end exactly as You have planned).

Spoiler:
Get a sheet of pressed rather than glued plywood. Well, technically plywood IS the glued variety, so look for thin (1 mm at most) sheets of soft white wood. Hobby stores carry it from time to time, You can order sheets of pressed balsa from other places, but You can as well try a grocery store next door. It may carry some "organic" fruits and berries in little baskets made of just the right wood. Select a clean but damp place away from the sun and a few bricks (dumbbels are heavier but You need some flat surfaces. Soak the wood in water (no need to get boiling water) - drop it into any container for a hour and then press it under and between bricks in such a way as to prevent it from expanding in all directions except one. Leave it to dry slowly, again pouring water over it to get more wrinkles. There is no definite recipe, just trial and error and experience, because every piece of wood reacts to the treatment in a slightly different way. When You are more or less satisfied with how it looks, smear the surface that will be hidden from view with PVA (white wood and paper glue) and press a few sheets of toiled paper or a paper towel into it as a backing and to fix wood grains in place. It should still be soft enough at this stage to change the shape slightly, just don't try to cut or sand it until it is completely dry, this time indoors but not under a heating - it may bend the wood more than You wish to. Good luck!


Suddenly a dragon appears out of nowhere!



This is a gift so it does not count for the yearly plan. The first miniature of the new DnD primed PVC line that I've actually finished. Not exactly marvelous, not a perfect - more than a fair share of mould lines and bad joints. Liquid green stuff and Vallejo water effects did some wonder, but haven't made these cracks disappear completely. Some mould lines I had to cut off with a knife, others I had to leave The general rule of PVC, be it Warmachine/Hordes or Reaper Bones or even Schleich still stands - the bigger miniature is, the better it is as far as quality/significance of defects goes.



So - lots of AV signal red (metallic) for scales, washed with AV carmine red, second wash in deep places and the "ground-facing side" with (again AV) royal purple, light red (AV, semi-transparent) for highlight, protruding bones and horns with bone (it is all AV, so I won't bother), then a light wash with orange brown here and there and done. Skin membrane is flat earth, gradually dry-brushed into almost pure light sand then given a wash of a very diluted chocolate brown. Brighter spots here and there to represent wear and folds, eyes, tongue, base and done completely. Base was painted with a mixture of greys and sands, then painted marble texture with water pooling method. Didn't went very well due to very irregular shape so required quite a lot of cleanup afterwards.

The gift was well received (I hope), experience painting such a big stuff with a small brush was... hard won, so maybe I will do some more of these "miniatures" some time in the future. Not a "dragon person", but these beasts do look good when painted.



Convention was a blast. Not enough time, too much of everything else! Showed my stuff around, made a demo. BnB plays better with cards, but home-rule-pack still needs some adjustment. Will do. The most horrible moment (apart from unpainted scenery) - see that rabbit knight staring at a barrel on a left edge of this picture? That is where a badger bandit, carrying this treasure, stood a moment before. Rabbit attacks too bold badger (they all are), gets an outstanding roll, badger fails its save miserably, gets a ton of wounds - exactly the number it has and is no more. Ouch! In other news - drunken ferret was totally drunk, making 4 attacks against hedgehog highlander (center) and making no damage. So much for ferrets... Badger knight (right) managed to maul the wildcat rogue, who nevertheless has made it out and away on half-life and with a piece of treasure. His retreat was covered by a valiant mouse with a big sword the badger had real trouble dispatching. Meanwhile the squirrel druid has killed that annoying hedgehog (with poison!) and a shrew pirate grabbed the last of the three pieces of treasure to be found here.

Back to gnolls, back to gnolls!!!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/11/19 07:22:49


Post by: Vejut


Game sounds like a thoroughly enjoyable mess. I do like the scale work and membranes of the dragon, and I agree with you about them being a bear to do by brush.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/11/19 12:25:06


Post by: Syro_


It's great to hear that you had a blast at the Con! Thanks for the batrep also. Sounds like a wild battle.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/11/24 18:18:48


Post by: Wirecat


The main source of messiness comes from a simple fact - it is totally unclear, what kind of game this should be. If this is a game of "my turn - Your turn", then the wide range of abilities (and different kind of dice, and varying movement over difficult terrain, and complex movement in general, as in first version) make the game unbalanced in WM/H or Frostgrave way. Get an alpha-strike/first turn and seize objective, then there will be no retaliation. If You alternate activations between players playing one figure at a time (version 1.2) it feels less one-sided but also much more clumsy (when does the turn ends, did this figure already took its turn) leading to the desire to go for jugular first, for objectives second, resulting in the "same problem, take two". Basically, this game needs reaction, and needs them quite badly. One idea - at the beginning of a turn all cards are shuffled and placed as a single pile face up. This speeds the turn, allows for "passes" (if You want activate another figure first just put the current one to the end of the pile), allows reactions (if the next card in a pile belongs to the opposing player he can take a "reaction test" and activate first) and keeps both players constantly in game.

Enough ranting, gnoll time.



They are slowly taking their colors. Maybe not in a week but in two week time the unit will be finished. Now that I've spent a lot of time over it, I regret not making another figure to level out the ranks. Despite having 5 different bodies/legs Frostgrave kit is quite limited in terms of posing.



Now I'll go and mix some more shades of brown. Sigh.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/11/24 23:13:33


Post by: Vejut


Your sacrifice to the brown gods has been noted. You do have some nice bits of spot color like the kilt, and the passed out and submissive ones came out as pretty cool uses of the kit. Would not have thought of that.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/11/25 11:21:54


Post by: Syro_


Shame that the game is having some balance issues, though most do. You said each unit has it's own card? Like a stat card? I wonder if in the 1.2 version you were talking about with the back and forth if once a unit goes the start card can be turned 90 degrees to the side, like tapping in Magic the Gathering. That could help knowing when the round is over.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/12/03 00:09:18


Post by: Wirecat


Vejut wrote:Your sacrifice to the brown gods has been noted. You do have some nice bits of spot color like the kilt, and the passed out and submissive ones came out as pretty cool uses of the kit. Would not have thought of that.

I am trying! Actually, I've run out of possible brown combinations, hence some bits are impossible to distinguish from others, like a few wraps and belts here and there. By the way, they are not submissive, they are ready to fight to the bitter end so that friend and foe alike will remember the last stand of a tertio. I had an Alatriste for an inspiration. Left flank still stands orderly, even though taking casualties (likely from incoming fire) while right flank is a complete mess, defenders pick up enemy weapons having broken theirs, going into messy close quarter fight (knife to the guts!)




And - done. I'll add a thin coat of varnish as soon as the air dries a bit. 14 from the kit, two home-made bodies with kit heads and hands/arms/weapons. I should have sculpted another standing body, or maybe even two to make their right flank look more dense. One thing about frostgrave kits I don't like more than a smallish scale - even though they have 5 body/legs combinations, they are very hard to rank without cutting at the waist and repositioning halves. Old Mantic MaAs are better...





Syro_ wrote:Shame that the game is having some balance issues, though most do. You said each unit has it's own card? Like a stat card? I wonder if in the 1.2 version you were talking about with the back and forth if once a unit goes the start card can be turned 90 degrees to the side, like tapping in Magic the Gathering. That could help knowing when the round is over.

It is not so much of a balance issues, Syro, as gameplay issues. Balancing is actually easier. And this is why I went for making my own cards, original game has just stats in the book and wounds/equipment on roster page. To keep tabs on who goes and who passed. Some more testing (including virtual) and it will get somewhere.

Now, 6 more gnolls for other uses!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/12/08 15:00:34


Post by: Wirecat


Hurray! No more gnolls for awhile! I am sure I will sculpt some more for RPG/Frostgrave/Alkemy uses, but that will be quite some time in a future, IF I ever get there. Meanwhile - here is the free company of gnolls who, most probably, are survivors of the previous unit.



Now, since the Nutcracker is (one of) my favorite winter tale, it is a good time to get these skaven moving! I wonder if I can get the right coppery color for that rat ogre headfur...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/12/09 06:51:33


Post by: Vejut


Looking good, especially like the plaid.

Not sure the exact reference for the hair, going for more of a red-orange/red brown, or a tawny like the gnolls?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/12/10 13:00:39


Post by: Syro_


The knolls look good, I'm looking forward to seeing your skaven. Will there be a mouse/rat king leading them?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/12/15 20:29:52


Post by: Wirecat


Vejut wrote:Not sure the exact reference for the hair, going for more of a red-orange/red brown, or a tawny like the gnolls?

Syro_ wrote:The knolls look good, I'm looking forward to seeing your skaven. Will there be a mouse/rat king leading them?


I don't know whether a rat-ogre can qualify for a king, but he sure can have his own agenda. Here is Your reference for the hair:



Way too political, but there is so much being thrown out of every news page and TV screen that noone can escape it. :( Well, rats are survivors, can't take that off them, whether one likes or loathes these little scheming beasts. I am still waiting for small basing things to arrive (I've ordered several kinds of gratings for my space dwarfs and scenery and would like to test them as a sewer grates also) so the skaven band is still WIP, although in an advanced stage. If etchings do not show up next week, however, I am going to switch tj dwarfs that I can do without them.

And - the last GW beastman finished. I still have enough hands/heads to build a few more with home-brewed bodies to make a full rank of them or even two, but not any time soon. My camera is once again behaving badly, forcing me to consider getting one of these LED sets for shadeless macro photography... Sorry for the quality here and now. :(



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/12/16 01:41:15


Post by: Vejut


Seems like you got the hair down well enough! Beastman looks good as well. Hope you can get the camera working the way you want.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/12/22 22:46:16


Post by: Wirecat


Nope. It preflashes, detecting the level of light - and then fires the flash at full settings, regardless of how close the target is and which mode is set. Well, this old piece of hardware has every right to be picky and blind-sighted, but... sigh.

Skaven band is finished. Finally. No complains here, I've enjoyed them in the end - and SO glad I've traded most of the IoB stuff long ago! No way I would paint all these rats!




I have tried to make them as bright and varied as I could, after all they are most likely to be next to Burrows and Badgers miniatures. BTW, I've finally got all the basing I've ordered months ago, so expect a lot of sewer gratings in all the possible and impossible places.



I've tried to give more attention to metallic colors, even going back to AV gold and bright brass I've almost ditched in favor of copper which I still find the most rewarding of the yellowish paints. Maybe not everything is lost, but getting that gold to smoothly cover everything and then washing it with pre-made washes is still a pain for me.




Well, probably this is it for this year fantasy stuff. Stay tuned for debriefing - and space dwarfs.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/12/23 14:10:08


Post by: Meer_Cat


The Clan Rats look great- the en masse pics are particularly good. The Rat Ogre- wow!

And next: Dwarves in Spaaaaaaaace! can't wait.

Rock on!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/12/23 16:46:43


Post by: Vejut


Rats came out nicely, and yeah, the pink for the skin does brighten them up quite a bit, amd I like the veins on the rat ogre.

Stupid thought on the camera, could you just tape a cover or something over the flash?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/12/24 11:53:49


Post by: Syro_


Cong-rat-ulations of finishing them Wirecat Thanks for another enjoyable year of reading your blog. I'm looking forward to next year.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2019/12/30 15:04:51


Post by: Meer_Cat


Here's to looking forward to a great new year of painting and sculpts, Wirecat! Truly, a font of inspiration in coming to your blog to see what the newest and bestest project has been. Many more to come!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/01/12 18:43:37


Post by: Wirecat


Thank You all for Your comments and encouragement!

New year has started in earnest, so here are plans for it. Basically, I'd like to finish what has been started - terrain, wolf warband, griffons, and move onto finishing what remains of the Warmachine and Hordes. I would like to assemble and paint all PVC stuff I have in house and not to get any more of it. Considering I've failed to finish off all the HIPS stuff last year, this sounds unlikely, but a goal is still better than no goal at all.

Circle Orboros: sculpt Loki, finish substitute mannikins and waystone, maybe finish (or just throw away) PVC warpwolf, make something like a couple of minions.
Convergence of Cyriss: build two infantry units, lots of simple solos (flying clockwork eyeballs!), three (or four?) vectors (warjacks with a twist) and maybe make some more of my own - I'd like to try wiring and illuminating them.
Wrath of Kings: assemble remaining "wolfen" for Kings of War army and vampires - for RPG needs.
Burrows and Badgers: at the very least finish wolf part of the story and add an "evil" NPC - witch.
Misc - finish terrain and other pieces laying here and there and screaming at me in my dreams.

Go!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/01/23 00:29:56


Post by: Vejut


Good luck, and remember, small bites.

I'd pick that warpwolf up off you, but I shudder to think about shipping cross Atlantic.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/02/22 17:18:14


Post by: Wirecat


So, the warpwolf made it across the pond, hooray! Hope to see it painted one day, Vejut!

And I've rummaged through some bits to produce enough dust for two heroes - or, maybe, monuments to heroes. First is the command sprue for mounted chaos marauders from GW, sans some bits. I've used the torso for my centaur/centogor project long time ago, so now I'll have to sculpt a new one. Probably it will be a standard bearer, but maybe I'll give him a great axe instead.



Next one is a boar rider, again without torso that went into centaur, Ghorros from some time and pages back.



This time I have a possible donor - last five orcs I've bought off some school kid 10 years ago, still carrying all the paint he dipped them into!



Oh, my... I've forgotten what was the current sort of crap we have played back in 6th (I think...) edition of WHFB. Maybe sculpting a new body instead isn't that bad idea having looked at these...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/02/22 17:41:35


Post by: Meer_Cat


Hey- I think you could make a very realistic "suburban dad superhero mythic miracle worker" out of these- a little pot-bellied, frazzled and prematurely grey!

I have the advantage of not having looked at much GW stuff between 1ist and 7th edition- I have no low expectations to surpass!

Convert or sculpt, I'm looking forward to following this along and learning a thing a two. Rock on!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/03/01 17:55:14


Post by: Wirecat




As usual - I don't like mixing greenstuff with plastic bits, therefore I build a chassis/skeleton out of sprue, attach to it all the bits I plan to use (or just leave enough plastic sticking out to connect them later) and then wrap everything in greenstuff. That's a plan for a week to come. Cheers!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/03/15 13:26:28


Post by: Wirecat


Yeah, plans... If this was a preview for a CoViD-19 - I want no part of it anywhere close to my body and wish this pandemic start finishing its course before the summer. Two weeks out of my life. Shudder.

Past few days I've felt OKish enough to actually take some greenstuff and remember how to work it. Call me stupid - but last year I've bought another chinese recast thinking "oh, well, original HellDorado is becoming impossible to find at any price" and "I get it that it is easy to screw resin cast, but it is impossible to screw the metal copy of a metal object, surely".

Well, call me stupid twice - Yes, they can! They can screw recasting metal miniature in metal! How? I do not know. Overall it was a rather average miniature. Original HellDorado are at times a major pain to assemble - pegs in wrong place, shapes do not match. I grew accustomed to that, sanding all contact surfaces flat and pinning everything, preferably double-pinning everything. Unnamed chinese recaster actually did his job fairly well with small details - no loss of texture on separate pieces - tail, both hands. In fact they were much crisper than I would expect from HellDorado _on_average_.

But then came the head. How did... Apparently an entire left side of the head bulged out, leaving in place a bit of an eye socket, and everything between the eye socket and a neck got pressed inward. Instead of throwing the miscast back into the melting pot that "expert" pulled out a dremel (tm), most likely of equally chinese origin. and brought the head "back into shape" by cutting excess metal away. Part replacement service? Yeah, right.

The best part to this story - I am getting more confident that if I survive a few more years, I should be able to sculpt anything that captures my imagination. Maybe not in "28 mm" scale, but larger...



Left to right - "original", drilled and cut and blobbed. First I took 0.8 and 1.5 mm drill bits and drilled some holes into the irreparably damaged part of the head, this would make more surface for greenstuff to cling to and also ensure it wouldn't slide when I start pushing it around. I've also made some deeper cuts with hobby knife to be sure that all metal parts are below the future "skin level", so I wouldn't need to remove anything later, only add. Then I've added a lot of greenstuff over that area, about twice more than necessary. Made sure it is in as much contact with white metall as possible, then left it over for almost an hour to cure.

Then came a hard part. I had to constantly remind myself not to start anning any relief and small details before getting the overall shape right. Shape was not particularly complex, but making the upper jaw, the lip corner and an eye to be more or less symmetric with the other side took about an hour (probably less). Thankfully I've got reference pictures of the original miniature from the net. By that time greenstuff was no longer sticky and I've replaced my usual "rubber fingers" with a pointy hobby knife and started to add details by pressing the edge and butt of the blade into the greenstuff. One thing - I still can't make shallow details like the original teeth on this miniature. I need depth to actually see things.

Sorry, haven't taken any mid-step photos, but there were plenty of "scrap this and start anew", especially at the corner of the mouth. I just couldn't bend that line like I wanted. The end result looks like this:



Yep, eye is too flat against the side of the head, but still visible from the front. I should have filed it down or cut off completely, but felt that without a reference point that is impossible to accidentally move (greenstuff is not an option) I will screw more. Teeth are too bold, but this hopefully I can fix with paint later on. Otherwise... here is his "better half" for comparison:



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/03/15 15:23:29


Post by: Vejut


Looks like a reasonable recovery. Always did regret not picking up Ashoka myself while they were still being made


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/03/16 10:51:52


Post by: Syro_


I'm glad you're at least feeling a little better, I hope the recovery continues.

I don't ever think you're stupid to buying things that may end up and miscasts, since you have the skills to fix any mistakes in a mini. I cant imagine you not already having the skills to make any mini you can imagine, but I'm looking forward to the sculpts of Wirecat in a few years now.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/03/22 23:42:27


Post by: Wirecat


So, the boar rider is almost done. Few bits here and there... I am not really happy with his... backside, but then it is an ork, why should anyone be happy about his green backside? Speaking of the green - I still cannot make my mind whenther it will be a sculpture on a pedestal or a gaming miniature on a base. I don't need a boar rider for an RPG, much less for a display shelf...



Chaos marauder is progressing slowly but still needs quite a few sessions for armor, handsand probably a cape too. I had a neat cape from somewhere, but can't find it now. :(



Still can't get that pesky cough out of my system. It is moist and fairly tolerable one day - and then dry and lung-blowing the next one. Still, I'm ticking and moving on.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/03/23 05:45:31


Post by: Vejut


Take care of yourself, that cough sounds like serious bad news. Both look pretty good. I always default to "mini on a base", but with the pose you've got set up, I can definitely see how giving him room to breathe on a stand of some sort would sell the mini.
Maybe trim down the pancake the hoof attaches to, run a mount wire to lift him off the base and split the difference to put him in a classic "bucking bull" kinda pose? I dunno, suspect it'll look solid either way.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/03/24 12:42:59


Post by: Syro_


Looking good Wirecat, and I can understand being disappointed with an ork's backside. Ork posture makes things look a little weird. I remember sculpting a large warboss that I was quite proud of, and tried to keep the anatomy accurate to other models. A friend told me the ork looked like he was wearing a diaper.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/03/30 19:34:23


Post by: Wirecat


OK, so I was strong enough to use some stinking cold weld and greenstuff with milliput this week -


Now I need to make some fitting stones for these sculptures. Diapered orc is still hanging in a balance between "Orc Revere's Ride - Chaos is coming" and just some mad ride with no political context while standard of chaos is just that - a standard of chaos. We all see what it means now.

Health is slowly getting into "the usual discomfort zone", still getting a two or three fits of 5 minute cough per day, but it is improving... receding. This week I plan to get to that Convergence box! And a new brand of plumbers glue.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/03/30 23:24:37


Post by: Vejut


Looks good. That orc almost feels like he's playing an ancient Thracian, though I'm not sure why--I think its the poofy shirt with the flat brimmed hat.

Good to hear you're on the mend, or at least something like it!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/03/31 10:27:50


Post by: Syro_


I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better than you were, and I hope for continued improvement. That ork boar rider has a lot of personality.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/04/06 17:41:48


Post by: Wirecat


Vejut wrote:
I think its the poofy shirt with the flat brimmed hat.


Unfortunately these are horns of his helmet, I've failed to remove it and couldn't find a suitable alternate ork head.:(


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/04/06 23:30:21


Post by: Vejut


I should probably be better with the object permanence. Still looks good, like syro said, he's definitely got a good arc of motion and life to him.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 0021/02/17 00:28:20


Post by: theCrowe


Lots of great work on display as ever. Sorry to hear you've been unwell. Hope you continue to get better and keep working on these for us all to enjoy.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/05/10 20:16:36


Post by: Wirecat


Having picked on a whim of the moment a box of Basilean sisters from Mantic KoW while in Prague, I couldn't think of a place or project for them. I don't need that many for RPG, they are sorry models (being first generation "restic" which is Mantic word for PVC) and not really fitting to other systems, being either too small or too special. Well, since I've went into terrain building, I've went through some photographs from my journeys, and German Gothic gardens plus sdome of the Northern Italy provided a bit of inspiration. Behold - Basilean sisters, in stone!



That is, If I find a way to under-and-base-coat them sooner rather than later...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/06/14 09:36:59


Post by: Wirecat


I should be working through my overstretched queue of unpainted miniatures, trying to get as much enjoyment from this senseless "investment" as I can in what little hobby time I've left. Instead... I am making more of them. :(



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/06/14 10:08:50


Post by: Vejut


On the plus side, its a got some very nice fur texture going on there. Giving me weasel vibes, I think?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/06/14 13:09:42


Post by: Theophony


Is it wrong to want to rub his belly?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/06/15 06:31:48


Post by: Viterbi


Well, if that is the alternative to painting, I think you are fine, the sculpt is already looking great!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/06/15 12:48:34


Post by: Syro_


I'm always happy seeing you sculpt a mini Wirecat. I enjoy seeing the master at work. I honestly credit some of my improvement in sculpting just from watching your WIP photos progress.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/06/15 20:53:22


Post by: theCrowe


New sculpt is Looking great so far. An anthropomorphic Llama?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/06/22 22:19:13


Post by: Wirecat


You aren't alone who thought this is llama, theCrowe. Maybe this is a sign and I really should try doing a llama, a drama llama? Not for any specific game but "just because"? Maybe...

But Vejut was closer to the correct answer with his guess - its an otter. Able sea-otter Fritz and young deckhand Whistle, at Your service!



Since settings of Burrows-n-Badgers revolves around creeks, fords, rivers and crossings, I've decided to make a less-combatant-crew for a boat or a raft that may participate in some action but mostly for a fun and fancy. Civilians are not exactly canon in the game, but if a shrew berserker can get on with a pan and a roller - why not an otter with a mop, defending his life and those dear to him? Fritz takes his duties very seriously... but still, he is just a very young otter -



He likes to play. And it is not inappropriate to want to rub his belly, Theo - if You are polite and well-meaning otters consider it good manners.

Again I am trying to push myself where I haven't gone before. These two are small, Fritz 37 mm to the eyes and Whistle 32. I've tried embossing their faces instead of building them outwards - didn't like it too much. It is more difficult for me this way to ensure both eyes sit at the same depth. may try it again with more preparation, but for a time being I am back to "little green gators". You may notice that Fritz may be too similar to one certain copyrighted bear cub... I assure that it was not intended but gave me a good chuckle!

In other news - I've wrapped a reed stem in paper tissue, rolled in milliput mixed with water until runny and - this will be a very proper cat lady, probably waiting for a transfer to another river bank by boat. She has no name or face at this time, but I'll make a pledge to have her done before September.



However, my good wolf company is still in a very, very early stage, not much to report here.



Instead I am making chaos -



And, Syro, if You would like, I may try to get some more WIP photos of otters from my fathers phone...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/06/23 14:07:03


Post by: Vejut


Looking good wirecat, a lot of character on that otter. Look forward to seeing the others as well.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/06/24 23:37:17


Post by: Syro_


Thank you Wirecat, I'd love to see more WIP photos. It's really enjoyable for em to see you doing so many sculptures again.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/06/27 11:26:36


Post by: theCrowe


Creeping down the scales and bringing the detail and character along for the ride. Nice smooth uniform on Frizt and I love the little boat.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/07/05 22:39:08


Post by: Wirecat


Syro_ wrote:Thank you Wirecat, I'd love to see more WIP photos. It's really enjoyable for em to see you doing so many sculptures again.


Heh. My parents, when they go into my "sad cave", say that it is WIP that is more interesting than the finished piece. Anyway, here are promised photos. Not much, but I hope they will be entertaining -



theCrowe wrote:Creeping down the scales and bringing the detail and character along for the ride. Nice smooth uniform on Frizt and I love the little boat.


Thank You! Smoothing over becomes a little bit easier with just two tricks - adding more greenstuff than You really need and then cutting the excess after You've pressed it into shape and waiting for a right moment into curing process.

Oh, and I've forgot to post these last time - wireframes of witch-cat, prowling and captured. They will take more effort to bend into shape - they are still too large. :(



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/07/06 00:10:20


Post by: Vejut


Haven't done much sculpting, so can't say I know exactly how that feels, but given the obvious amount of work you've put into them, yeah, can't imagine de-biggening them while keeping the pose won't be annoying. Good luck, expect it'll look nice once you finish!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/07/06 04:11:52


Post by: Syro_


Thanks for the WIP pics Wirecat
I don't don't know if they are more interesting than the finishes sculpts like your parents say, your finished sculpts are always very interesting to look at. Like I said before, I feel like I have learned a lot, and improved as a mini sculptor from looking at your WIP pics and asking you questions.

Also I don't know if you use Facebook, but I am part of a miniature sculpting group called "Miniature Sculpting Noobs". Even though it is called "noobs" there are quite a few professionals. You would fit in quite well and be very welcome, if you have any interest.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/07/13 10:40:59


Post by: Wirecat


 Syro_ wrote:
You would fit in quite well and be very welcome, if you have any interest.


I do have, Syro. But with all ongoing troubles I don't think I'll have time to for a few months at least. :(

I know this is just a Chinese recast with a full set of problems, but still - out of fascination with Hell Dorado I've tried my best to repair and paint it. I've based it for Hordes, maybe it'll have some use as a mercenary.



It is funny how pooling of pigment with AV metallics affects the "luminance" of the resulting layer. With ambient light only this is especially prominent. Don't know whether I'll repaint that iron belly...



Tune in for the next week when I try not to stop...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/07/13 15:07:58


Post by: Vejut


Looks quite solid. If the belly plate bothers you, possibly use a layer or two of black wash, maybe go in with some rust weathering, make it look used? Granted, could also just full repaint.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/08/02 22:28:54


Post by: Wirecat


In the end I've just added more of the same on the other side. You can never have enough chrome on Your belly plate.

I am very slowly moving back towards my miniature addiction. Got some pretty uninteresting but well done PVC from Wrath of Kings lined for a painting - but hit yet another block. How to paint them less vampyric and more courtly?



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/08/03 16:00:02


Post by: Vejut


I'd consider emphasizing the trim, and maybe painting the horns up like a set of wimples? Granted, ever since stoker, vampires and the court kinda go together...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/08/16 20:33:24


Post by: Wirecat


So, I've tried all the tricks for cloth I've read about lately. Even floor is done according to one of them - cross-stroking with dry brush over pooled watered down paint. Liked the process, do not find the result too disappointing either. The idea of red metallic eyes without whites, on the other hand, didn't work out just as good as I've thought it would. Anyway, four PVC miniatures done for the years goal. And if I start playing, maybe someone will meet these vampires and find them appealing?






In other news - the pizza was good.



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/08/16 23:25:51


Post by: Vejut


The carpet effect came out fairly well, I'd say. I also kinda like the slight purple in the gold.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/08/17 05:19:30


Post by: Syro_


I like the look of your vampires.
And I'm glad the pizza was good, that's a sacrifice we have to make as crafters when we need some cardboard


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/08/17 05:41:54


Post by: Viterbi


Nice work on the cloaks!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/08/23 19:53:22


Post by: Wirecat


Thank You all for kind words, I hope to keep things at least as decent. More PVC now, a totally ununspiring Basilean sisters on battle cats. Mixed their heads with other Mantic kits of the same batch for variety, reposed some arms... Will see where they go from here.



In other news - I like when a project does not require a 1 mm tolerance except the flatness of the bottom.



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/08/24 00:26:24


Post by: Vejut


Yeah, I do like the cats themselves, but the rider sculpts are a bit uninspired, aren't they? (or possibly just a bit less than the sum of their parts) And always nice to have an undemanding fun build to go.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/08/30 21:25:36


Post by: Wirecat


Vejut wrote:
Yeah, I do like the cats themselves, but the rider sculpts are a bit uninspired, aren't they? (or possibly just a bit less than the sum of their parts) And always nice to have an undemanding fun build to go.


They are, Vejut. Mantic problem with most Basilean kits is non-existant attention to proportions. As a result most of them look more wrong than most "28mm" humans. Plus (or minus...) this particular sculpt features terrible, unfixable (unless resculpted and rider legs are adjusted under hot water) saddle. I just can't bring myself to spend even more time with a unit that at best will be an occasional filler for KoW army.



I am experimenting with washes for fur and leather again. Not much remains, just capes, weapons and small metallic details. And a good weather. It is so cold now that it is impossible to work with resin outdoors, so... I've cut cardboard for another wall.



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/09/01 01:25:49


Post by: Meer_Cat


While the riders may have their idiosyncrasies, the mounts are possibly some of the best dynamic feline poses I've seen- and well painted to boot! An interesting unit to have for those battles when you need something a little out of the ordinary. We;; done, Wirecat!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/09/06 20:44:18


Post by: Wirecat


 Meer_Cat wrote:
While the riders may have their idiosyncrasies

What a careful way to spell "failure". I like it! Reminds me of one NSFW accident that by accident occurred in a work environment.
Spoiler:
As quite a large group of students, assistants and other junior staff were waiting for a workgroup meeting in a corridor next to a restroom (WC) a friend of mine came out of it with another coworker. I have no idea what they were discussing in such a place, but the first thing everybody in a corridor heard was "Now that was one gross under-performance!"

I will use "this project may have its idiosyncrasies" next opportunity arises.

But I did what I could with these without spending a full month on them.

I've tried a novel "multi-basing" method with them - cast their PVC bases into a solid block of jewelry resin, the same Chinese used reproducing my "wolfen", The idea was to make a transparent base for a see-through effect (since I am getting gaming mats and want to show off)...

It is indeed transparent. And heavy. "Heavy is good", right? And it lets me get funny pictures.

In other news - with weather giving me three warm days and not so cold nights the courtyard project moved forward. I think it may be time for another pizza...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/09/07 02:39:52


Post by: Vejut


Cats came out nicely in the end. The casting block idea is interesting, though I'd think it might work a little better with the plastic bit cut off and the mounting to the block done by a pinning wire, so there's a bit less blockage of the see through bit. Still an idea to maybe try at some point if I do clear bases.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/09/16 18:46:59


Post by: Wirecat


Vejut wrote:
Cats came out nicely in the end. The casting block idea is interesting, though I'd think it might work a little better with the plastic bit cut off and the mounting to the block done by a pinning wire, so there's a bit less blockage of the see through bit. Still an idea to maybe try at some point if I do clear bases.
Probably. Even likely - You are right. But that was more of a "what if" experiment - to leave those large plastic blobs with the black undercoat to serve as a shadow under these cats. Not exactly working, indeed. I was better as an idea, but I will show how it looks, sooner or later.

Meanwhile I still need yet another warm day and the weather is likely to withhold that from me. I wanted to fill the insides of cardboard walls with plaster and sand, but in the end decided that resin and cheapest deco stones would be less hassle. Now these pieces are about 350 grams each, quite bottom-heavy and with upcoming locks and wooden tops that will bring their weight to 500 grams or more, just enough to be safe from accidentally knocking them over during the game.



If I can bring myself to do some 3D modeling they may even be ready before the end of the year. But... just when You think that everything is back on track, something new happens and... and now I have an entire new tabletop game to paint.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/09/19 14:45:32


Post by: Syro_


Ooh, I'm curious what your new tabletop game is.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/09/20 07:13:20


Post by: Viterbi


Congrats on finishing and basing the cats, that's a fun unit. Good luck on getting the courtyard project further along!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/09/28 21:02:15


Post by: Wirecat


Since every courtyard needs a central point - and if these walls are arranged in "T" formation, they make two of them, I need to invent something in that department. One is obvious, a raised platform for special events like wedding, beheading... and any possible combos.



I've come too close to failure couple of times here. The idea was to lay out some flat stones on polyethylene sheet, press them down with toilet paper soaked in resin and when it becomes a hard enough backing to support them - turn it over, place in a round something and fill it to the brim with liquid resin to make a solid "brick" that can be finished with acrylic paste and some flock.



Well, stones are a little on a big size compared to usual scale of 28-32 mm miniatures, but they are passable. And for bigger stuff like 50+ mm B-n-B it will be just right. For the other accent I am planning a lower trunk of a giant tree with widely spread roots. Something between Yggdrasil and a Royal Oak. But I am not finished thinking it out.

It isn't anything special, Syro, and it isn't _my_ game, neither in ownership nor kind. It's "Doom".


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/09/29 05:25:38


Post by: Syro_


Thanks Wirecat, sorry to hear that it isn't anything special. I like how your raised courtyard turned out. With all that resin it must be really solid and heavy. That will be one long lasting terrain piece.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/10/04 18:22:38


Post by: DJJazzyJeff


The courtyard looks good.

Are you thinking something like the White Tree of Gondor?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/10/06 00:03:38


Post by: Meer_Cat


Nice work on the walls, Wirecat, and brilliant to weight the bottoms down with glued pebbles. It puts me in mind of the Chinese saying "The sea was great, the bird was small; the bird carried pebbles until the sea was filled". I would either have not anticipated the 'knocking over' factor, or would have tried to implement an overly complicated and frustrating fix. Your solution is elegant in its simplicity.

I like the stone paving base- very nice effect with the lichen/moss growing between the pavers.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/10/08 20:32:49


Post by: DJJazzyJeff


Lots of really cool stuff. I love the "sea" horses and the swan banner.

The cheetah is solid. Nice work on the snake dudes.

Like the progress so far on the horse guy.
Always a good detail to make them anatomically correct.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/10/11 22:30:52


Post by: Wirecat


Syro_ wrote:Thanks Wirecat, sorry to hear that it isn't anything special. I like how your raised courtyard turned out. With all that resin it must be really solid and heavy. That will be one long lasting terrain piece.

It is "Doom"... When I've got into that WHFB thing in 2008? I think... I chose Beastmen for primal-tribal-barbarian thing, not because of chaos. And chaos side of both warhammers never appealed to me. Sometimes great designs, nice plastics, but not something to have on my table. And now I have an entire box of these things to paint...



But I hope it will really brighten winter holidays for a good friend!

DJJazzyJeff wrote:The courtyard looks good.

Are you thinking something like the White Tree of Gondor?

Not exactly - but yes, close enough, if not for scale, at least not for a scale in the movie. If the yard itself will be about 45 cm per side, I need the root system some 16 - 20 cm in diameter to give a sense of scale but still allow for free placement of models around it. Up to the currently fashionable things on 12 cm base. Warmachine colosals and such...

Meer_Cat wrote:Nice work on the walls, Wirecat, and brilliant to weight the bottoms down with glued pebbles. It puts me in mind of the Chinese saying "The sea was great, the bird was small; the bird carried pebbles until the sea was filled". I would either have not anticipated the 'knocking over' factor, or would have tried to implement an overly complicated and frustrating fix. Your solution is elegant in its simplicity.

I like the stone paving base- very nice effect with the lichen/moss growing between the pavers.

Even back to the Confrontation/Warlord I've came to conclusion that a big piece of scenery on the gaming table should be either A - steady not to be knocked over and B - be at least as heavy as an average unit/regiment on its tray. Preferably both... And those metal models were heavy! This lesson is still dominating my mind.

The original idea was to make the outer (flat) side of the walls glued from actual stones like that platform - but I just stumbled after recognizing the effort it would take. So I went with easier way of acrylic sand over cardboard.

Now I am slowly working around the perimeter of the platform, sculpting stones out of milliput and making it actually round. Texture is final, colors - not so much. I'll be going over them with grey and pink washes to blend individual stones together and closer to the color of the actual stones on the top. Four smaller steps will be about half the height of the central part.



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/10/12 03:39:16


Post by: Vejut


Doom demon's look great, and some nice progress coming on the terrain!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/10/12 05:40:11


Post by: Viterbi


Nice update on the courtyard, really interested how the finished piece will look like.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/10/27 23:30:31


Post by: Wirecat


Sculpting and painting are very slow lately due to lots and lots of other things, but I was able to work on "table top architecture" a little bit. Not that raised platform thing or the great tree, but these cardboard walls. one of them, to be specific.

The idea is to make two outer walls with gates (solid stonework on one side, sculptures and smoothed over masonry on the other) and one inner wall (without gates but with doors to pass through with both sides smooth and pretty), as if splitting two inner courts or separating closed and open parts of the monastery. This inner wall should have Renaissance styled grottos with water source where the outer wall has a gate. Since I don't like working with small details on huge and heavy projects, I've decided to make them as separate inserts and glue them in just before the final assembly.

My inspiration would be Italian garden grottos as well as later imitations built through out Germany in XVIII-XIX centuries (Dresden, Berlin, palace gardens throughout Pomerania and Bayern). Deep recess into the wall with water basin partly hidden in it, walled by intentionally rough stone with place to sit and reflect (both metaphorically and physically - in the water) I've started with sizing parts, accounting for typical height of the base:

I hope I didn't screw it up already! Next I cut up the ring and the base of the insert, making sure everything is watertight

The inside of the ring is sculpted in acrylic sand and mortar artistic medium to imitate rough stone, with cardboard bottom painted dark to represent the depth of the basin. I plan adding some water plants so I have to add some green to the blue and black.

The half-dome of the grotto needs a base to sculpt on, so I add the rear wall from the same cardboard and round the top checking that it actually fits into the wall where it should.

Then it is time to mix the transparent resin and hope it does not make the mess seeping through the cardboard. I've also added water lily leaves to float on the surface of resin... The inside of the grotto is covered with the same mix of acrylic mortar to imitate stone.

And that is it for a time being. I will finish the outside part after gluing these inserts in place and paint it later to merge them with the imitation of wall masonry.

Now, will I finish something playable next? :(


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/10/28 01:28:59


Post by: Meer_Cat


Hey Wirecat! I think your little grottoes shaped up very nicely- bonus points that they fit in their assigned niches as intended! The whole project sounds like a lot of fun. It will be nice to see that courtyard divider finished up!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/10/28 12:14:00


Post by: Syro_


Those grottoes are interesting. And like Meer_Cat said, it's good they fit into their spots. I would be worried they would warp from the acrylic mortar.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2020/10/03 21:47:46


Post by: Viterbi


Nice grotto work (somehow that sounds wrong ).


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/01/17 08:30:17


Post by: Wirecat


One more feathered monster for the company, Another griffon, this time from Nolzur marvelous miniatures. Already undercoated, this soft plastic figure wasn't very sharp in detail, but I've got it anyway - a very classic looking beast, if a little small. Monster, not a mount. .



Quick-painted him with Scale 75 "instant" paints last fall, touched up now. Through a mix of factory base and excess of paint retarder it came up very glossy. Weird. And a coat of matt varnish didn't change things too...

Coming back to the castle-monastery, I've finally got the laser-cut kit for the walls and towers. Spend some time sorting through it (it's only about a third of it in this photo!). Expensive, but hopefully worth it in the end. I've already started putting things together and already see some problems with it. This will need some clever work-around to make it both good-looking and playable.



Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/01/17 10:32:41


Post by: Vejut


Solid feathers. Maybe a quick drybrush, either as a highlight or of varnish might rough the surface and kill some of the shine?

And isn't good looking vs playable always the balance to be struck...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/01/21 12:21:02


Post by: Syro_


I like the griffin
Share about the sculpt not having much detail, but I'm still tempted to pick one up after seeing yours.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/01/21 13:22:00


Post by: theCrowe


Must be the soft plastic reacting with the paints that makes them glossy, Ive had some Reaper Bones do the same thing. It is weird.

I have full faith in your ability to produces clever workaround for the castle-monastery. You can have your good looking cake and play with it... or something... you know what I mean.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/01/22 14:06:59


Post by: Wirecat


Vejut wrote:Solid feathers. Maybe a quick drybrush, either as a highlight or of varnish might rough the surface and kill some of the shine?


Unfortunately, now drybrushing is out of question. What little detail was there to begin this is smoothed over by paint and varnish. :( Unless at some very distant future I'll strip it down to bare plastic...

Syro_ wrote:I like the griffin
Share about the sculpt not having much detail, but I'm still tempted to pick one up after seeing yours.


Go for it, Syro! It well may be that my copy was not the best. I hear, the sharpness of details on these minis vary from one copy to another. Injection process or excessive basecoating by hand at the factory... no idea, but people do say so.

theCrowe wrote:Must be the soft plastic reacting with the paints that makes them glossy, Ive had some Reaper Bones do the same thing. It is weird.

I have full faith in your ability to produces clever workaround for the castle-monastery. You can have your good looking cake and play with it... or something... you know what I mean.


Could be. Or maybe my paints require a lot more shaking (or just a complete restock) after a long sit in a closet. It really is weird.

And regarding playable terrain - oh, please! My recent favorite is this video:




Just go to 1:16 and watch the beauty he has built! Huge, pretty and nearly unplayable. And the courtyard at 4:38!

The problem with a kit I am trying to stack on top of my scratch-built walls is that white it is well designed (it has good fit of all parts, comes together really nice and quite closely resembles some real-life local architecture), it is in somewhat strange scale. While being offered as "28 mm scale", it is only good for miniatures of exactly 28 mm in height and with no bases under them. If You put the usual 28mm (or worse - 32mm) figures next to it, You start to suspect that they... would not fit under the roof.



A cat from Alkemy (furthest to the left) would be good, if not for the height of her base, 35mm Privateer Press is obviously too big, Ronnie the bard from Mantic would be good too, but has a round-lipped base under him, and only Oathsworn mice are really at home there.

Even worse, if assembled as intended, the parapet would take up some of the walking space. On the left I have drawn the wall cross-section as it should be according to author. Red parts are to be glued to the lower wall with spacer between them and the gallery part (roof, columns and balustrade) should be inserted into the wall to stay in place without the glue to be removed when needed. Unfortunately, this leaves only 40mm out of 50 mm wall width, even though the top piece is nicely marked with two rows of 1" squares. So, I want to build it like I show on the right, with both balustrade and parapet being wider and lower than the wall itself.



This way I should be able to have a clean top of the wall when necessary, so that a defending regiment for a Kings of War can be placed directly on top of the wall. Or some swashbucklers or musketeers could have a 2x2 duel there.

The problem is, original spacer will no longer fit, the gallery will have to be glued to parapet and the parapet walls will be of different height. Right now I am just putting together everything that does not require a hard decision right here and now, but options are quickly running out.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/01/22 16:26:00


Post by: Viterbi


Cool comeback, griffin looks great even with little detail from the sculpt. And the castle project looks like a headscratcher. Excited to see what you will come up with!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/02/02 17:04:32


Post by: Wirecat


Nothing finished this time, just more progress. Actually, just enough of progress to stack things together for the first time. Now it will be lots of little steps - adding acrylic paste here and there and waiting for the summer to come so I can work with resin outside. These towers need their bases weighted. There are some things that can be fitted and glued in the meantime, but right now I would prefer to work on wall surfaces and actual miniatures.




Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/02/02 19:29:37


Post by: monkeytroll


The monastery is definitely coming together now. It looks like your fix for the gallery worked?


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/02/02 22:26:40


Post by: Vejut


Impressive bit of architecture there! Coming along nicely.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/02/03 16:48:50


Post by: Viterbi


Core building looks great! And summer will be a while


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/02/13 14:44:00


Post by: Wirecat


It worked, monkeytroll. Sort of. One of the tops fits the wall very tight to the point I am afraid it will crack, sooner or later. But now it all is safely stored in a dark place waiting for the month of May. I may still work on little things that came with the kit, like a broken bridge and a fountain, but resin and "pine syrup" require warm weather and until I am sure everything fits and aligns, what use is in trying to paint the walls or put statues in their places? :(




The super-mega-plan here is to finish everything by September, in time for a local convention, IF I go there, health and other conditions allowing. I may cut some corners, like not having tower tops by then - they need to be designed and printed, but all the rest should be of the presentable quality.

And now - miniatures... where did my inspiration go? :(


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/02/20 21:02:33


Post by: Wirecat


You may remember the greenstuff tentacles from the last page. Well , they got their use. These Goritsi have waited for a paint for too long. And now they are done. No more unfinished Wrath of Kings figures here. Would not call them a great success, but now it is a bit of "get it done or lose to the time".



And as a large infantry regiment for Kings of War. Unfortunately, they still miss two more figures in the middle, but this is not something I can do right now.



I will switch to the modern or sci-fi for awhile now. But then it will be more building some grey plastic. Nothing to see here, move along.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/02/21 01:13:25


Post by: Vejut


Nice plaid, and the muscles shaded up nicely!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/02/22 01:04:56


Post by: Syro_


Nice stuff, it makes me happy to see some Wrath if Kings figures.


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/06/06 20:04:43


Post by: Wirecat


Long time no fantasy make me sad. But these elves make me angry. Since I couldn't trade them off I had to paint them myself and... got reminded why very few paint these old elves. It's too difficult!




OK, the standard Isle of Blood starter set elves. Reavers. But I had to swap very few colors so many times it actually hurt. I better stay with brown beastmen...




And I still have a chariot to finish! Well, at least it is not much requiring finishing, but then I will have to confront Mantic elves. :(


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/06/07 17:18:49


Post by: Wirecat


The chariot is done too. Terrible kit. Lots of mold shifts. Not just the mold lines, but two halves of injection molds sliding against each other by half a mm. Airplane kit of such quality I'd have slowly nurtured back to good with tons of Revell "plasto" (their plastic filler). This one I've built as it is.




The irony is - this is the only kit I've ever purchased directly from GW webshop in year 2008. Apparently, it is the last their kit I'd ever build.




So much for GW elves...


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/06/07 18:22:53


Post by: Vejut


Sorry to hear they were a pain, but the paint job did come out nice at least!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/06/23 06:12:19


Post by: Viterbi


Gotta echo Vejut, at least they are well painted even if a pain to build


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/07/06 20:57:59


Post by: Wirecat


Thank You! A new experience is better than none, I think.

Summer is here and I can work with resin again, finishing bits and pieces of the castle kit I intend to finish this year. Of small pieces that came with the walls and towers I particularly like how this little fountain is coming out. Probably needs another coat of gloss on the water, but it is already quite bright.



Put together the plywood basin, then made a water with wax, wrapped it in silicone gum, left to cure and then melted the wax out by submerging everything in boiling water.



Then poured resin into the mold, cut the cast out and left it floating in more resin. Unfortunately, when curing this transparent resin contracts a little and it was enough to make a hole in the wall for an air to seep in, thus a little annoying bubble just under the surface...



Painted wood with a mix of cold grey and light skin pink from AV, varnished with matt sealant and added transfers I've got from this kickstarter - https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/802649.page#11337806

But the technology is good, maybe I'll finally repeat the process to make that stargate that keeps buzzing in my head.

And - two last towers from the kit. Labeled "lesser war towers", they are actually quite big structures, almost 10" tall! Not the best part of the kit, a lot of big details connecting to each other by the edge, but they have plenty of flat surface to try new materials or add more details... And they remind me of the Facing Worlds map in UT.



Unfortunately, I was about half way in building them when I realized there are two different ways to build the interior, and not all parts need to be glued it! Arrrgh!!! But a jewelers saw solves a lot of problems.



Hopefully next week I will be able to put the castle together to show some progress.

(Edited as I've messed up the pictures!)


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/07/07 01:54:33


Post by: Vejut


That fountain is a pretry cool peice, and a stargate that way sounds fun. Good luck on the towers!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/07/07 14:34:12


Post by: Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll


That fountain is great, well made!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/07/07 15:24:05


Post by: Captain Brown


Solid work there Wirecat.

Cheers,

CB


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/07/21 16:53:36


Post by: Wirecat


Thanks for cheers and good luck wishes! I really hope this update will bring some smiles.

Some of You may remember these two wolf-ladies of questionable attire from about 4 years ago... Well, I've finally got to paint their casts!



The idea was to have a unit filler for my Kings of War large infantry block to take up the central part of the movement tray. Yes, I do come back to really old plans!

Elder she-wolf kicks her younger relative in the butt to add some insult to acceleration -
"You go first, sister!"





Tried to paint them "black but not really black", ended up with AV extra dark sea gray mixed with white and black from Koch-i-Noor for one werewolf and AV blue and royal purple with some Scale75 huldra blue for another. As expected, the perceived color really changes with the light.

Also, I am adding some inside parts to the castle that have no gameplay purpose but still can be seen from outside. Here are the winding stairs for big towers. Side view...



... and top view (this is how players will see them)

.

And now - back to painting strange things!


Wire, cat and the whole bunch of fantasy (Badgers and Burrows and Prides and Plains too!) @ 2022/07/22 00:51:28


Post by: Syro_


I remember those wolf ladies, it's good to see them again.