Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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






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






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






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

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


Finally, here's everything I painted this week:


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

Infernal are looking excellent, another round of great minis.

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

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

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

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

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

WOW fantastic catch up, wonderful work all round.

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The abbysals look great Josh, thanks for the big update

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



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




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



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

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

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

3 more winners there, Josh

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

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

Welcome back- particularly like the polearm guys!

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

3 more winners there, Josh

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks!

As promised, here are some dwarfs:


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

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

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

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

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




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

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










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

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

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

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

Terrain is super, Josh, well done!

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

First up, a unit of Mantic ogre shooters:


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

Next up, some more Mantic Dwarfs:


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

Finally:


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

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

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





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






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

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


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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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


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



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

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

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

Hope your son isn’t on the mend.

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

Hope your son isn’t on the mend.

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

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