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Awesome work as always; that troglodyte is a fun model, and you're making me want to paint ninjas!

Zambro wrote:The variety of stuff you've painted recently is great. I like the trio of ninjas - really cool models with great paint jobs (especially the white one)

Nevelon wrote:Fun collection of stuff!

PaddyMick wrote:Awesome work as always; that troglodyte is a fun model, and you're making me want to paint ninjas!

Thanks, guys. I'm rather enjoying my Fistful of Bones and Drawer of Doom projects-- lots of different models, so I don't get bored with anything. Speaking of which:




This guy crosses over between both projects. The paintjob is pretty rough, but in my defense, so is the model. He has some pretty egregious mold lines, including one right over his left eye. His robes were meant to be purple, but since I don't actually have any good purples, I had to mix it from blue and red. Highlighting with white gave me lavender, which doesn't really suit the model, so it ended up more red that planned. I had a thought while painting this guy, to whit: skulls with huge curling horns come from sheep. While their skulls may look cool as hats, sheep are docile grass eaters, and therefore not all that imposing. This guy probably needs an image consultant.




This rust monster is supposed to look like he's all rusty, but the effect didn't really work. Maybe if I went over him in TMM and then applied weathering? Anyway, he's done.

Also, the model has no contact points for a base, so he's suspended on a bit of brass wire. It's superglued down, but the glue has bonded with neither the Bones plastic nor the base, so he spins freely around his center.





This mimic is my favorite model from this particular set, and will most likely be my entry in the Dakka Challenge this month. He had the usual Bones mold lines, but is gribbly enough that I was able to shave off the worst of them without destroying any detail. The teeth and the NMM turned out well, IMO.

Next up, a mostly-finished wolf from Northstar, and some rangers/assassins from Midlam to round out February.

I think the paintjob on Rusty works. The mimic looks very good. The "face" is really well done.

 youwashock wrote:
I think the paintjob on Rusty works. The mimic looks very good. The "face" is really well done.

Thanks! In hand, the rust monster isn't so convincing. Maybe he needs deeper shading?

I do like how the mimic turned out. I dug out an unpainted chest from my Dungeon Saga stuff to add as a "before" version for the comp.

Rounding out the month of February with some models that have been sitting, primed and neglected, for almost exactly a year:




I painted four of these assassins from Midlam last February, and then got bored because they are all essentially the same model in slightly different poses. This time, their sameness is what allowed me to crank them out one at a sitting. Half are painted as rangers, the other half as assassins. Here they are all together:



I'm not sure when I turned the flash on...

I also finished this halfling thief and chest from Mantic:


The idea was to make a little action scene for my Dakka Challenge entry, but the chest is really ugly in photos, and the halfling is teeny-tiny-- more like a 15mm human than 28mm halfling.

Finally, a wolf and an ethereal wizard, both from Northstar:




I used the Auto Adjust thing when I uploaded the photos to compensate for the flash. I should probably retake the photos, but most likely won't.

March is Space Marine month for the Dakka Challenge. I have two ideas for entries. The first is Generations:



in which I dig into the backlog and paint models from several different eras of Space Marine. I could have sworn I had a single sprue of RTB01 Marines somewhere, but I can't locate it. Here we have an Imperial Space Marine and a Death Eagle Space Marine, both from the RT era, as well as two 2ed Marines and one from a Space Marine Heroes blind box. I'll be doing them all as Howling Griffons, which is the chapter I settled on before I realized I wouldn't ever play 40K again.

Loving the mimic. But then, who doesn't love a mimic? Well the thief I suppose but still. Excited for the oldhammer!

I like that wolf. Cool idea for the Marines.

Nice work on all those stabby dudes!

inmygravenimage wrote:Loving the mimic. But then, who doesn't love a mimic? Well the thief I suppose but still. Excited for the oldhammer!

Thanks! I'm really enjoying working through the Big Box Of Bones. Maybe it's because I'm getting old, but the bendy material doesn't bug me like it used to, and I'm loving the variety.

youwashock wrote:I like that wolf. Cool idea for the Marines.

Thanks! I was inspired by looking through a photo book of wild canines with my son (this was several years ago). The model looked really washed out when I put it away, but going over it with black and brown washes darkened it up nicely.

aku-chan wrote:Nice work on all those stabby dudes!

Thanks! They are all variations of the same two models, so they were a snap to paint.

The marines are progressing pretty quickly:



I'm leaning heavily into my trademarked Paint Everything Brown technique for these guys. Not quite Grimdark, but close enough.

I entered the Dakka Painting Challege every month this year. I haven't made it to the podium even once, but given the quality of the competition, I'm delighted to be in the Top Ten. Here are my entries, in order:

March: Samurai Space Marines


April: Harlequin Dreadnought


May: Deadzone Striders


July: Eldar Avatar


August: Sturm Kafer quad mech


September: Cloud Giant


October: The Scooby Gang


November: Craftworld Eldar


December: Path to Glory


January: Deva King


February: Ninjas!


I haven't missed a month of the challenge since I started entering, and I'm likely to keep on entering, as it keeps my motivation up and inspires me to visit and revisit models I might not otherwise paint. Feel free to pop over and give me a vote!

Great selection of stuff for the comp. You might not have made the podium, but are the highest ranked person who never did. And even out scored some of us who did manage to sneak up there. Quality work all around!

 Nevelon wrote:
Great selection of stuff for the comp. You might not have made the podium, but are the highest ranked person who never did. And even out scored some of us who did manage to sneak up there. Quality work all around!

Thanks! Overall, I'm satisfied with how I placed this year. I feel like I'm improving, but so is everyone else, and the winning entries really deserved those wins. The month isn't over yet, so there is still a chance!

All but one of the Space Marines for this month's comp are finished and awaiting photos. I have one more in the works, and this time around I thought I'd do more WIP photos, kind of a step-by-step. The model itself is a Primaris Lieutenant that came with Imperium, which I guess is a promotional thing for 40K. The first box was only ￥500, and came with two models, so I picked it up on a whim. I got the next two boxes as well, but it seems that I was the only one buying, as the remaining books sat on the shelf for months and then the bookstore just stopped carrying it.

My process goes like this: clean and assemble the model, then attach it to the base. I apply white glue and sand to the base:



and leave the glue to dry. The sand I use comes from a planter in front of the house. It has little rocks and some dried plant matter from the evergreens in the planter, so there is some varied texture. Once the glue has dried, I slather the base with dark brown craft paint from the DIY store:



This keeps the sand in place. I do most of my basing at this stage because it's a little sloppy and I don't want to mess up the paintjob on the mini. One this layer is dry, I prime the model with black Gesso:



Where I live it is always either cold or humid, so I don't use spray primer. Also, it irks me more than a little seeing how much spray paint ends up on the cardboard around the model. Brush on takes longer, but I don't feel like I'm wasting as much.

After the primer is dry, I give the base a heavy drybrush of Golden Brown craft paint:



and then a lighter drybrush of Fleshtone Base (a warm off-white):



I used to do may bases in green-- that was how it was done in The Old Days, after all-- but a while back I switched to this style so that things like flock, tufts, and static grass would be more visible.

Due to drying time for the various stages, as well as having other obligations at home, this whole process takes a couple of painting sessions, spread over a day or two. Normally I like to have a few models going at a time so I can get some more brush time in while waiting, but this guy is flying solo for now.

New up, I Paint Everything Brown!

I enjoyed that little tutorial thx
I feel like I'm very subject to vagaries of temperature just now, so I do brush primer quite a lot too.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
I enjoyed that little tutorial thx
I feel like I'm very subject to vagaries of temperature just now, so I do brush primer quite a lot too.

I'm glad you liked it. I took a few more photos before calling it quits.

After priming, the next step is to Paint Everything Brown:



In this step, I go over any spots I missed in priming, as well as those exposed when the Gesso shrinks. Starting with brown also adds more warmth to my actual colors compared to black.



Next, I start the red and yellow, using AP Chaotic Red and GW Mournfang Brown, respectively. Normally, I don't block out colors like this, preferring to paint each part of a model to completion before going on to the next. However, Space Marine's are basically 90% armor, so this works.



Here's the red. It's not this pink in real life. The recipe is AP Chaotic Red, AP Dragon Red, and GW Cadian Flesh in various proportions.



And here's the yellow: Mournfang Brown, AP Desert Yellow, and Delta Ceramcoat Fleshtone Base.



And I'll finish off today's painting with the tabard, joints, chest eagle and the little skull on the backpack. When doing highlights, I tend to place the light source to the model's left due to my being right-handed.

Also, here's a bonus image of my wet palette:



I've been using the same paper for a couple of months. A lot of the colors, especially the darker ones, are still alive, but very thin. I find myself using the last little bits of pigments for lining and shading, and am pretty pleased with the technique.

I think I'm done painting Space Marines for a while. Here are all the models, in roughly chronological order. First, an Imperial Space Marine:





I picked up a bunch of Marines from this series back when GW would cast any model you could provide a number for. I suspect the molds were getting pretty old, as this guy had some serious flaws under his left arm.

Next, a Marine from the 2E box:




I actually painted this guy first. He went pretty quickly, and for a one-off, he wasn't too terrible. I can't imagine fielding a whole army of these guys, though. I tried to give him glowing lenses, but it didn't really work, and opted against it for the remaining models in this set.

Next, a 2E metal:




I don't have a lot of 2nd Edition metal Marines, and most of the ones I have are Devastators. I like these guys better than the plastics from 3rd Edition and later. Plastic is great for modularity, but requiring all parts to fit all other parts results in less dynamic poses overall.

Finally, a time jump to the modern day, with a Space Marine Hero:





These new push-fit models are actually pretty nice. The poses are dynamic, and the mold lines are quite well hidden. Again, I can't imagine building a whole army of these guys, but a full set gives you a cool squad of individuals. Here is this whole set, titled Through The Ages:



This second set of four is titled Up Through The Ranks. I'll be entering these guys in the Dakka Challenge, so I combined two of the models to keep the photo count down.






The camo cloak was inspired by the camo scheme used in the Badab War. I went with a standard backpack on the assault marine to visually tie the model to the next stage of this progress:





I have a total of three Primaris Marines, including this one. Having painted one, I can see the appeal of Primaris-- their size matches the fluff pretty well. I had to scrape off the Ultramarines symbol on his shoulder pad to make room for the transfer. One more promotion for our as yet-unnamed Brother Marine:






This guy took a long time because of all the bling. He's a pretty nice model, although I suspect the Iron Halo will snap off once I pack him away. Here is the whole set, showing one Marines progress Up Through The Ranks:



And finally, a shot off all the Marines together:



These were fun models to paint, and I'm kind of looking forward to more Marines next March.

Up next, some models from the probably-dead game Myth:

Dude…. Love the Howling Griffons! Quartered patterns are hard to pull off, but you nailed it. And really like the idea of t painting a Marine’s “career progression”.

Love it!

Valete,

JohnS

These are excellent. I love the desaturated colours that you've used, and it's interesting to see the evolution of the Space Marine minis. Also reading about your painting process was interesting, when you talk about painting everything brown I never expected that to include the base coat.

cygnnus wrote:Dude…. Love the Howling Griffons! Quartered patterns are hard to pull off, but you nailed it. And really like the idea of t painting a Marine’s “career progression”.

Love it!

Valete,

JohnS

Thanks! You were actually one of my inspirations for starting Howling Griffons. Back when I visited for a GT, you were talking about painting a chapter with a quartered paint scheme-- I don't remember which chapter, but it was blue and white-- and that was in the back of my head for years.

re: Up Through The Ranks. The monthly challenge for March every year is Space Marines, which are by themselves kind of boring to me. I try to add a second, more interesting topic, and this year it was this one.

Turaxa wrote:These are excellent. I love the desaturated colours that you've used, and it's interesting to see the evolution of the Space Marine minis. Also reading about your painting process was interesting, when you talk about painting everything brown I never expected that to include the base coat.

I prime everything with Gesso, for reasons I mentioned in an earlier post. Paint sticks really well, but I find it kind of rough, so I put down a layer of paint to give a smoother surface to work with. If I'm doing cool colors, I use a charcoal grey, with warm colors I use brown. Lately (like, in the last year-and-a-half) I've been starting everything with brown, and thus my trademark style was born.

I love your HGs, particularly the quite muted take on the scheme. Very effective.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
I love your HGs, particularly the quite muted take on the scheme. Very effective.

Thanks! This is my take on Grimdark. Not quite John Blanche, but not 4-color comic booky, either.

 JoshInJapan wrote:

cygnnus wrote:Dude…. Love the Howling Griffons! Quartered patterns are hard to pull off, but you nailed it. And really like the idea of t painting a Marine’s “career progression”.

Love it!

Valete,

JohnS

Thanks! You were actually one of my inspirations for starting Howling Griffons. Back when I visited for a GT, you were talking about painting a chapter with a quartered paint scheme-- I don't remember which chapter, but it was blue and white-- and that was in the back of my head for years.

Novamarines. I painted one squad, and was like, nope…. Can’t see doing a whole army of them.





Valete,

JohnS

Yeah, I remember those guys. You were working with a different sort of paint, weren't you? For animation cels?

I could see doing a whole army like that (or like my Howling Griffons) if and only if I went sloppy like the dudes I posted earlier. Paintjobs as clean as your Novamarines across a while army would be maddening.

 cygnnus wrote:

 JoshInJapan wrote:

cygnnus wrote:Dude…. Love the Howling Griffons! Quartered patterns are hard to pull off, but you nailed it. And really like the idea of t painting a Marine’s “career progression”.

Love it!

Valete,

JohnS

Thanks! You were actually one of my inspirations for starting Howling Griffons. Back when I visited for a GT, you were talking about painting a chapter with a quartered paint scheme-- I don't remember which chapter, but it was blue and white-- and that was in the back of my head for years.

Novamarines. I painted one squad, and was like, nope…. Can’t see doing a whole army of them.





Valete,

JohnS

You get such amazing smooth finishes on your models. I really struggle to produce anything remotely that smooth and solid in colour. One day I need to sit down and see if I can improve my techniques, until then, I will look at your results in amazement.

 Archer wrote:
You get such amazing smooth finishes on your models. I really struggle to produce anything remotely that smooth and solid in colour. One day I need to sit down and see if I can improve my techniques, until then, I will look at your results in amazement.

Are you talking about the blue-and-white Nova Marines? If so, those aren't mine. My old friend cygnnus painted those, and his work is enviably smooth.

If you're talking about my Howling Griffons, thank you, but they only look good because my photos aren't very good at all. That said, I've been focusing recently on contrast between shadows and highlights rather than achieving smooth blends. I think my models work pretty well at arm's length, but not so much in Dakka Superzoom.

 JoshInJapan wrote:

If you're talking about my Howling Griffons, thank you, but they only look good because my photos aren't very good at all. That said, I've been focusing recently on contrast between shadows and highlights rather than achieving smooth blends. I think my models work pretty well at arm's length, but not so much in Dakka Superzoom.

I think your Howling Griffons still look amazing and beat the hell out of my marines for sure. I'm amazed at the straight, crisp divide between the red and the yellow down the center of each model.

 ShadowsAndDust wrote:

 JoshInJapan wrote:

If you're talking about my Howling Griffons, thank you, but they only look good because my photos aren't very good at all. That said, I've been focusing recently on contrast between shadows and highlights rather than achieving smooth blends. I think my models work pretty well at arm's length, but not so much in Dakka Superzoom.

I think your Howling Griffons still look amazing and beat the hell out of my marines for sure. I'm amazed at the straight, crisp divide between the red and the yellow down the center of each model.

No false modesty here-- I'm quite pleased with how these models turned out-- but there aren't that many straight lines between colors. All the bling helps disguise the rough edges.

Also, don't sell yourself short. Your work is lovely.

The theme for this month's Dakka Challenge is From The Scrapheap. I started digging through my abandoned projects, and found these Skaven:



After some cleaning and basing, though, I didn't really feel the call. Then, I looked into my container of alcohol (for stripping, not drinking):



and saw some of the models that I had thought about entering in past comps, but never got around to. I hit them with the toothbrush (and a little with the wire brush), and found myself with this eclectic set of options:



For now, I'll start painting up what inspires me, and then enter my favorites.

Congratulations JoshInJapan for the win in the Dakka Painting Challenge with your Marines!

Cheers,

CB

 Captain Brown wrote:
Congratulations JoshInJapan for the win in the Dakka Painting Challenge with your Marines!

Cheers,

CB

Thanks, CB! I try not to take the results too seriously, but I admit the recognition is nice.

After the Marines last month, I decided to get back to fantasy minis for a bit. I was going to pull out another Fistful of Bones, but then I noticed two oversized ZIploc bags full of grey plastic, and then remembered that I had backed the Myth KS many years ago. Do you remember Myth? It was one of the last Bucket O'Minis projects, as I recall, and ran into some issues with fulfillment. The game itself was probably pretty good, but the rules were written by the creator, with his friends and playtesters as the intended audience, and thus were pretty much impossible to understand. I convinced my local gaming group (back when we had one) to give it a try, and while that one session went well enough, the rules-as-written were too much of a hassle to deal with. I ended up giving it all away, a decision I regret because there were some really cool monster minis.

Years after divesting myself of the game, I got a box full of minis-- stretch goals for the second Myth KS that I wasn't aware I would be getting. Leaving aside the playablity of the game, I like the aesthetic, so I had these guys jump the queue:


And here they are all painted up:







These photos are in the order I painted the models, and I think you can see my enthusiasm flagging a little as the project went on. These are very much boardgame models, with all the flaws one would expect from the material. Still, they'll make good PCs for if/when I find people to play League of Dungeoneers with me, and being boardgame plastic, I won't feel bad about just chucking them in the box.