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Well, since you did ask for ideas...

How does the spit turn? You need some sort of handle to it.
A few details, like a pot with some sort of fluid for basting, and of course a fork, for poking it to see if it is done.

I'm calling this finished:






Based on your advice I added a (very crude) handle, and also some nearly-invisible static grass. Overall, I'm pleased with the coals, but not so pleased with the carcass. I don't think I've ever imagined that I would have to paint a piece of roasting meat, and I'm still not certain how to go about it. Also, here's a scale shot:


I worked on the Thegn and Ice Queen (for Vanguard) alongside this piece of scatter. Lots and lots of browns. Here are a couple of better images of those two models.



These are both resin (as opposed to restic), a material that I'm not rally used to working with. The detail on these models is very fine, and was obscured by my gesso primer. I tried something a little different on the Ice Queen's shield thingy-- I used a white Colored Pencil for the edge highlighting. I think it worked well enough to try it again, if I get a chance.

I'm currently working on the Frostfang, the last resin model from this set, and then I plan to start the NIghtstalkers. They look weird and gribbly and will make a nice change after all these earth tones.

Great work on the beast feast . Likethe charring effect you did around the neckline, and I think a simple handle was the way to go to add a little back woods cred to it.

The Mantic figures look awesome, you did a great job with the browns on their cloaks and her dress especially.

Looks tasty!

Love the fires glowy effect too.

My son and wife both transferred to new schools this spring, which has put early morning painting schedule out of whack. I did manage to finish this Northern Alliance Frostfang for Vanguard:



I had to sculpt some fur to cover the gaps around the left shoulder and hip, and I think it turned out well enough, although you can still see the line. As with all of this Northern Alliance stuff, I used lots and lots of browns. I have two more of each of the Warrior-class models (the infantry I posted photos of oh-so-long ago), but between my Frostgrave Barbarians and Bad Squiddo Shieldmaidens, I have more than enough to field these guys if/when I get around to playing the game. Here's a group shot of all the Northern Alliance I've painted so far:


After all those earth tones, I'm ready for something different. I'm currently working on some Mantic Scarecrows (from the Nightstalkers line). I hope to have them ready to share in a week or so. As always, comments, criticism, and feedback are welcome and encouraged.

Wonderful animation in that figure, and you've really done it justice with all the careful layering- very subtle variances in your use of browns. I like the horn effect you've carried off too- and the rider is well executed. If you hadn't pointed out the shoulder line, I wouldn't have seen it!

Well done.

These guys are snow-joke really great .

I like the various furs you have done on them, plus the ice effect I see still top notch.

These Vanguard models really look kick-arse, Josh. I like the spit - I'll have to steal that one as well.

Really love those figures, and great job on making them look uniform without looking samey.

It's like the techniques I used to use to make all the Warhammer Quest minis look different. Monopose modeling for the win!

That Northern Alliance looks really great. I like seeing them all together. Very nice work on both sculpting and painting the fur on the new guy

Wonderful stuff as usual.

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words. I'm blushing from all the compliments.

After all those earthtones, I decided it was time for something different:


This is one sprue's worth of scarecrows from Mantic's Nightstalkers like. I remember there being a lot of complaining during and after the KS about the models' not looking like scarecrows, and having finished them, I guess they really don't. The illustrations make them look more like ghosts than animated scarecrows, and that's the direction I took with them. The "skin" is AP alien purple, highlighted with a mix of purple and white, then hit with a wash of GW Leviathan Purple. Remember that color? It came with the GW wash set, and it's one of only two (the other being Seraphim Sepia) that I still have any of. In retrospect, I should have gone more white on the ectoplasm/tentacles, but I have five more of these guys to try that with.

These models suffer from the same problem all mulit-part plastic models do-- ugly visible joins on the shoulders and necks. 40K models get around this problem by giving everyone gigantic shoulder pads, but that obviously wouldn't work with these guys. The basic models have some torn clothing here and there, so I added some tattered cloaks and hoods made from kneadatite to both cover the joints and make them models look more spectral. Think of Nazgul, who don't have physical bodies and need their robes to manifest in the material world. Here are some closu-up shots:






I have five more of these guys assembled, this time with hats instead of bare heads. They paint up pretty quick, so I hope to have them ready to show within the week. As always, comments, criticism and suggestions are welcome and encouraged.

I'm still plugging away at the Nightstalkers. Here are some Scarecrows:


This sprue is dual-use: scarecrows and spectres. The difference seems to be their heads-- either bareheaded or wearing hats. Or, in this guy's case, a pumpkin.



There are only five set of legs and five torsos on the sprue, so the models would be pretty samey without all the head options. This guy has a hood and mantle over his shoulders, which looked weird over his skinny zombie chest, so I sculpted him a shirt.



I used this guy's head on a different model-- I liked it because it has no cranium and a big grinning mouth. Adding the hat makes for a very different face.



This guy's hood originally had a little socket to plug in a mouth/tongue/teeth bit, but I couldn't get it to fit, no matter how much I trimmed and filed. I filled in the whole and painted a glowy-effect, which is all but impossible to see in these photos.



For whatever reason, all the photos in my gallery are zoomed in real tight, so I can see all the brushstrokes and sloppy shortcuts I took on these models. They look a lot better in person.

I also cranked out these Reapers:


For the scarecrows and spectres, I went with purple to show them as non-corporeal. I figure these guys have physical bodies, so I went with this fleshy look instead. The illustrations in the rulebook show them with blades on their legs as well as their shoulders, but the models seem to have feet. Very ugly, misshapen feet. I wasn't really sure what to do with those parts, so I Liefelded them with tufts rather than painting them.

Here are all my Nightstalkers to date:


I currently have three Horrors and three Phantoms primed and based. In addition, my son and I have assembled and primed a bunch of the Mantic dwarfs I have been sitting on since the first KoW kickstarter. We're supposed to work on those together, but it's been hard to find time to work on them together. But isn't that what summer is for? As always, comments and criticism are welcome and encouraged.

Knight Stalkers really do look gribbly well done.

Reapers look fab!

What are the bits on their bases?

Those eaters could make for an excell not genestealer replacement. Great painting again .

Llamahead wrote:Knight Stalkers really do look gribbly well done.

This whole warband is delightfully gribbly. I'm having a lot of fun with them.

Slinky wrote:Reapers look fab!

What are the bits on their bases?

Thanks. They look quite sloppy up close, but at arms' length, they turned out fine. The tufts are from Leafy Shrubs from Tajima1. They've been my go-to for a while now.

Theophony wrote:Those eaters could make for an excell not genestealer replacement. Great painting again .

Thanks. I was thinking 'gaunts, since they are so skinny, but they'd make decent 'stealers as well.

Still plugging away at the Nightstalkers for Vanguard. These guys are Horrors, who use their Bane Chant to break the enemies' morale:


I went with the reddish meat color to represent their having physical bodies, but with purple ectoplasm.

These guys are Phantoms, who Fly, but aren't immaterial (based on their armor value):


The OSL on the faces looks better in real life.

With these six, I have all the basic grunt\warrior models finished, so I can finally get a start on the elite units. Next up, Butchers. As always, comments and criticism are welcome and encouraged.

I didn't follow Vanguard at all, but these models look great - From this batch I particularly like the Phantoms, suitably spooky

I can’t figure out what Mantic is doing with some sculpts, big hits and misses in the same range (to me anyway). Your painting though really helps out though.

The Horrors look great to me, they remind me of the leviathans from Supernatural TV.

The Horror on the other hand has weird growths on his back that make me think Tyranids and skulls everywhere.

 Theophony wrote:
I can’t figure out what Mantic is doing with some sculpts, big hits and misses in the same range (to me anyway). Your painting though really helps out though.

I think your GS work really helps as well, specifically on the scarecrows. Adding extra cloth to pull those multi-parts together is smart and looks more convincing.

Slinky wrote:I didn't follow Vanguard at all, but these models look great - From this batch I particularly like the Phantoms, suitably spooky

Thanks. I like the phantoms better than the horrors, but I'm happy enough with how both turned out.

Theophony wrote:I can’t figure out what Mantic is doing with some sculpts, big hits and misses in the same range (to me anyway). Your painting though really helps out though.

The Horrors look great to me, they remind me of the leviathans from Supernatural TV.

The Horror on the other hand has weird growths on his back that make me think Tyranids and skulls everywhere.

I'm a little out of the loop in terms of TV back in the 'States, so I had to look those up. Nice gribblies.

The phantom has little screaming faces, kinda like the masks from Wes Craven's Scream. I may go back and redo them in purple so they look less like skulls.

Boss Salvage wrote:

 Theophony wrote:
I can’t figure out what Mantic is doing with some sculpts, big hits and misses in the same range (to me anyway). Your painting though really helps out though.

I think your GS work really helps as well, specifically on the scarecrows. Adding extra cloth to pull those multi-parts together is smart and looks more convincing.

Thanks. I think the added clothing really helps the scarecrow models a lot.

I'm still plugging away at the Nighstalkers. Here are the Butchers:




They have the same fleshy Predator dreadlocks (Predlocks?) as the reapers from a couple weeks back, but also lots of tentacles. I went with the same fleshy pink I've been using for all the Nighstalkers that I figure have physical bodies. Although three models came with the KS reward, there are only two different right arms, and only one left arm. I tried to add a little variety with weapon swaps from an on GW Orc Command Sprue I've been hording since WHFBv5. It's weird how the bitz in question fit so well on models this size (they are on 40mm round bases). If/When I get back to my Mantic Ogre army, I may do some more kitbashing there as well.



These are Shadowhounds, creepy, eyeless, vaguely humanoid hunting horrors. For some reason, they also have little faces growing out of their backs. I kept them in the same fleshy colors as the butchers. I did a lot of work on their bellies and chests, but of course you can't seem them because the models are so close to the ground.

These six models are the last of the "troops" selections for this faction, which just leaves the three resin command models. I'll be doing those one at time, I think.

If you get a chance, swing by this thread and vote in the League of Extraordinary Riveters contest. There are lots of nifty entries to choose from.

I may have to take a look at these nightstalkers, it’s one of the better ranges I’ve seen from Mantic. Love the fleshtone you’ve done on all of them as well as the little customizations. Keep up the good work.

 Theophony wrote:
I may have to take a look at these nightstalkers, it’s one of the better ranges I’ve seen from Mantic. Love the fleshtone you’ve done on all of them as well as the little customizations. Keep up the good work.

Thanks. I'm pretty happy with all the Vanguard stuff I got with my KS pledge. I admit, though, that I'm getting tired of painting fleshtones. Just three more models in this set, though, and I can move on to something else.

My wife and son are away visiting her mother in Kyushu, leaving me alone to watch after our very old dog (who is too old to board). While the house is lonely without them, being alone gives me a lot more hobby time. To wit:




This is the Shade, one of the command models for the Nightstalkers. Again, I went with the fleshy reds and purple ectoplasm I've used for all the previous models. I kinda wish there were more of these Shoggothy models in the set.




Here we have the Banshee, another commander. At first, I wondered why a nightmare monster needs female breasts, but then realized that they form a sort of set with the vagina dentata. Pretty creepy, even for this warband.




Finally, the Mind-Screech, the final commander and the only spellcaster for the Nightstalkers. I decided the paint the bony areas around the brain as, er, bone, but the tentacles in purple to tie it in with the rest of the warband. This was a pretty big model, as you can see in this group shot:



I very rarely work with resin (as opposed to restic), and so was a little worried about screwing up and having to strip the models. These guys, at least, were pretty easy to work with. Having finished these three means that I have finally finished all the Nightstalkers that came with the KS:



I'm not sure what I want to work on next. Traditionally, I use my summer bachelor time to work on larger terrain projects, but having completed this set makes me want to jump into the Abyssals, or else paint up some dwarves for my son (who likes to build models, but loses steam after primering them). Either way, I should have more to share in the next day or two. As always, comments and criticism are welcome and encouraged.

A nice quiet house is a pleasant change, I've found. So long as I know the activity will be returning, of course.

The shade is fantastic, so are the other two, but I just really like the creepiness of it the most. Also it’s different, not just another interpretation of someone else’s work.

The really early hours of the morning in my house are my favorite. I’m an early bird by nature while all my family loves their sleep. If it wouldn’t wake them I’d crank my music and go to town painting everyday.

Red Harvest wrote:A nice quiet house is a pleasant change, I've found. So long as I know the activity will be returning, of course.

It is rather nice. I've eaten exactly what I want (lots more veggies than I normally get to make), have started catching up on movies and reading, and even found time to work out. All this on top of hobby stuff.

Theophony wrote:The shade is fantastic, so are the other two, but I just really like the creepiness of it the most. Also it’s different, not just another interpretation of someone else’s work.

The really early hours of the morning in my house are my favorite. I’m an early bird by nature while all my family loves their sleep. If it wouldn’t wake them I’d crank my music and go to town painting everyday.

I agree, the Shade is a nifty model. I particularly like its amorphousness. Also, early morning painting time is the best.

In keeping with tradition, I decided to paint up some scenery, specifically the objective markers that came with my Vanguard KS pledge. I didn't make the connection at the time, but the All-In pledge I went with came with all the mission-specific scatter terrain for the scenarios in the rulebook. Good job, Mantic.

First up, the signal beacon:



Next, standing stones:


A smaller stone and a dragon egg:


A princess in need of rescue (I didn't notice those bubbles in her sleeves. I'll have to take care of those)


Finally, a dead messenger, with some bonus wild static grass that needs to be cleared up.


This stuff, along with the many treasure counters I have for Frostgrave, make all the scenarios playable. Here's everything in one shot:


I'm still not sure what I want to work on next. It'll probably be fantasy, most likely Vanguard related, but beyond that I'm not sure. We'll see what happens when inspiration strikes.