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Made in us
Utilizing Careful Highlighting





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.
   
Made in us
Druid Warder





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.

Painting progress tracker:
2017: 50 of 50 planned; 2018: 80 of 60 planned; 2019: 75 of 75 planned

Pledge 2020:
6 to sculpt, 75 to paint (2/57 done) 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Boom! Leman Russ Commander





United States

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!

"He fears his fate too much, or his desserts are small, who will not put it to a single touch; to win- or lose- it all."

Montrose Toast


 
   
Made in us
Utilizing Careful Highlighting





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?
   
Made in us
Krazed Killa Kan





USA

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

   
Made in us
[DCM]
Boom! Leman Russ Commander





United States

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!

"He fears his fate too much, or his desserts are small, who will not put it to a single touch; to win- or lose- it all."

Montrose Toast


 
   
Made in us
Druid Warder





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!

Painting progress tracker:
2017: 50 of 50 planned; 2018: 80 of 60 planned; 2019: 75 of 75 planned

Pledge 2020:
6 to sculpt, 75 to paint (2/57 done) 
   
Made in us
Utilizing Careful Highlighting





Good luck, and remember, small bites.

I'd pick that warpwolf up off you, but I shudder to think about shipping cross Atlantic.
   
Made in us
Druid Warder





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...

Painting progress tracker:
2017: 50 of 50 planned; 2018: 80 of 60 planned; 2019: 75 of 75 planned

Pledge 2020:
6 to sculpt, 75 to paint (2/57 done) 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Boom! Leman Russ Commander





United States

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!

"He fears his fate too much, or his desserts are small, who will not put it to a single touch; to win- or lose- it all."

Montrose Toast


 
   
Made in us
Druid Warder







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!

Painting progress tracker:
2017: 50 of 50 planned; 2018: 80 of 60 planned; 2019: 75 of 75 planned

Pledge 2020:
6 to sculpt, 75 to paint (2/57 done) 
   
Made in us
Druid Warder





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:


Painting progress tracker:
2017: 50 of 50 planned; 2018: 80 of 60 planned; 2019: 75 of 75 planned

Pledge 2020:
6 to sculpt, 75 to paint (2/57 done) 
   
Made in us
Utilizing Careful Highlighting





Looks like a reasonable recovery. Always did regret not picking up Ashoka myself while they were still being made
   
Made in hk
Krazed Killa Kan





USA

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.

   
Made in us
Druid Warder





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.

Painting progress tracker:
2017: 50 of 50 planned; 2018: 80 of 60 planned; 2019: 75 of 75 planned

Pledge 2020:
6 to sculpt, 75 to paint (2/57 done) 
   
Made in us
Utilizing Careful Highlighting





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.
   
Made in hk
Krazed Killa Kan





USA

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.

   
Made in us
Druid Warder





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.

Painting progress tracker:
2017: 50 of 50 planned; 2018: 80 of 60 planned; 2019: 75 of 75 planned

Pledge 2020:
6 to sculpt, 75 to paint (2/57 done) 
   
Made in us
Utilizing Careful Highlighting





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!
   
Made in hk
Krazed Killa Kan





USA

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.

   
Made in us
Druid Warder





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.:(

Painting progress tracker:
2017: 50 of 50 planned; 2018: 80 of 60 planned; 2019: 75 of 75 planned

Pledge 2020:
6 to sculpt, 75 to paint (2/57 done) 
   
Made in us
Utilizing Careful Highlighting





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.
   
Made in gb
Liberated Grot Land Raida






Northern Ireland

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.

   
Made in us
Druid Warder





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...

Painting progress tracker:
2017: 50 of 50 planned; 2018: 80 of 60 planned; 2019: 75 of 75 planned

Pledge 2020:
6 to sculpt, 75 to paint (2/57 done) 
   
Made in us
Druid Warder





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. :(


Painting progress tracker:
2017: 50 of 50 planned; 2018: 80 of 60 planned; 2019: 75 of 75 planned

Pledge 2020:
6 to sculpt, 75 to paint (2/57 done) 
   
Made in us
Utilizing Careful Highlighting





On the plus side, its a got some very nice fur texture going on there. Giving me weasel vibes, I think?
   
Made in us
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





Affton, MO. USA

Is it wrong to want to rub his belly?

LOL, Theo your mind is an amazing place, never change.-camkierhi 9/19/13
I cant believe theo is right.. damn. -comradepanda 9/26/13
None of the strange ideas we had about you involved your sexual orientation..........-Monkeytroll 12/10/13

I'd put you on ignore for that comment, if I could...Alpharius 2/11/14 
   
Made in de
Longtime Dakkanaut






Well, if that is the alternative to painting, I think you are fine, the sculpt is already looking great!
   
Made in hk
Krazed Killa Kan





USA

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.

   
Made in gb
Liberated Grot Land Raida






Northern Ireland

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

   
 
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