Trollkin Monday!

Well it is Monday, and I feel like a sharing mood. So here is another piece I finished up last week. It is a special edition miniature from Privateer Press. It is called the Trollkin Kilt Lifter. This was also another commission piece I did to a higher standard for the client.

Here's to you Monday! now back to work!

Lanyssa Ryssyl

Welcome back! Or if its your first time here...Welcome!

Today I bring Lanyssa Ryssyl, a minion model from Privateer Press's Hordes line of miniatures. This particular one was a commission piece done near the tail end of last year, right before the holiday break.  

All color choices were supplied by the client, the basing I was experimenting with just to add some variety to his army.

Well, there you have it. Another piece done in last year. Next time you stop by I will have some of the miniatures I have been working on this year....Khador from Warmachine. A commission from Privateer Press's 2 Player starter box, just the Khador side.

Enjoy your weekend, and your hobby!

Here there be a dragon

Ok following up last weeks post of welcoming in the new year, here is a commission piece i did at the end of last year. This is a Ral Partha Classics piece, the Black Dragon of Fire and Darkness.

The model does not come with a base, so I had to custom make one. The client wanted the dragon to be on the prowl, stalking or confronting his prey, the lowly ones that come to do him harm. I believe it was used for a role-playing campaign as well. 

Here are some pics, I hope you enjoy them::

I tried to get both body and base in the images, it was a long model.  Painting black can be tricky and the highlights are hard to see here, but I tried to get them to show up on camera. The base was extremely fun to do, although tricky to position the dragon upon it.

Well there you have it. I hope you enjoyed looking at the pictures. I am off to paint some more as I do what I do.

It's 2013 and we are still here

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe new years celebration, me? I was at work.

Its once again to do the Resolutions list and see how far I can get in this new year, I plan to do more than last year and hopefully I can get there. After all, the only thing stopping me is myself. Last year the post count was down from the year before, but I did do more than I actually got around to posting. Hopefully I can rectify that this month with some updates of projects finished in the last 2 months of 2012. Enough of that, lets get onto some Resolutions.

PAINTING::
     Super Dungeon Explore! All the miniatures need painted (50+)
     Zombicide. All the zombies I have (90) and 4 heroes need done
     Legion of Everblight commission project (almost done- need pics)
     My own Cryx army (maybe I will get to finish it. 4+ years and still not complete)
    

TERRAIN::
 Wargaming (Warmachine/Hordes) Terrain:
     Cryx-ifyed King of the Hill Terrain(with extreme mode)
     Trenches
     a "How to" series on various bases I have done
     Cryx Tower
     Cryx Harvesting tanks
     Hills, walls, and other field terrain



Well that looks familiar. Almost the same as last year. I do need to get stuff done. Not just because of the list, but because I am getting a TON more miniatures this year thru various Kickstarters that I funded last year. Now I know I will have other commissions come in and other impulse creations, so I am not going to add to that list other than what is there.

HOWEVER, I will say that last year I was able to do 2 items not on my list that I am proud of. First, is the using of pigments to paint/create bases for miniatures. I was able to finally get some from Secret Weapon Miniatures, and they were FANTASTIC! very nice effect they give off, some added realism to the piece.

Second. I am a bit anti-social when it comes to meeting new people. I wanted to become more social and I achieved that by becoming a Legionnaire for Cool Mini or Not. Think of it as the guys/girls that demo games to people at conventions, or your local gaming shop. The first step last year was running more demos, mostly Super Dungeon Explore and the newly released Zombicide! Now I am pushing myself a bit further and going to attend a convention, if everything pans out right. I will be at Templecon 2013! I am excited.

This year, aside from attending a convention (or two if I can), I want to step up some personal painting projects. Mainly work on some lighting effects and freehand work. We will see how that goes. Also I will be looking into how to take better pictures of my painted stuff, as I am told my photos dont do me justice.

Well, that is all for now! I do plan on making a headway here and have some pics lined up, ready to post - but it has been a long weekend and I need to paint something.

Bases Tutorial: Desert Sand

 I have talked about it for a while, so here is my tutorial on my custom Desert Sand bases. Although these were made with the round lipped bases for Warmachine, they can be used for any bases really.

These ones were custom done for a Protectorate of Menoth army I was commissioned to do a while ago, and still get some more once in a while. There is the background, lets begin!

STEP 1:: What you Need.

So here are some items you will need.

Green Stuff

Bases

Sand grit

White glue

STEP 2:: Preparing the Bases

 If you have the grove open in your bases you may want to cover that slot up. There are many options to this as seen in the picture above. You can cover the slot with basic tape. You could also clip a toothpick down to size and glue it in the slot. These are the two different methods used above. Really either way works good. Although the tape is a quick way to start getting at the bases, the toothpick provides support if you plan on pinning the model to the base down the middle.

 Green Stuff is a two part epoxy that you mix by hand, combining the yellow and blue until you get a nice green color. Remember a little bit can go a long way. Even more remember that you can always add more green stuff, but if you make too much then you better have a use for the excess.

STEP 3:: Press to Fit

Here is a wide picture of a few bases being worked on at once. Slots are covered up and green stuff is made. Now take the green stuff and press it onto the base and smear it to match up close to the top of the lip. You want to leave gaps to see the base, like in the picture. This will help separate the cracked earth appearance and the rocky earth.

STEP 4:: Making the Earth

It easier than it sounds. Let the green stuff "dry" a bit (30 min-1hr) to where you can drag your exacto blade across without dragging up green stuff. Here you can removed any unwanted excess or re-shape the ground.

STEP 5:: Adding the Grit

Once you have your desired shape, let the green stuff cure a bit longer. Not completely harden or the next part wont work properly. If it doesnt cure enough then the grit will spread into the green stuff ruining the design.

Take your white glue and spread a thin bead upon the "open" parts of the base, that is the black areas you can still see. It is ok to get glue upon the green stuff itself to blend the two bits together.

Then you press the base into you sand grit, or sand mixture. The grit should hold to the glue and put some indentations into the green stuff.  Shake off the excess and reshape your earth cracks. Let completely cure before continuing onto painting.

STEP 6: Painting 

Prime the base with your favorite primer. I use a brush-on primer to knock off any loose grit not held fast by the glue. You can kind of make out the indentations made by pressing the grit onto the base from the earlier step. All of the following colors I have used Reaper Miniatures Master Series.

 Here we painted with Khaki Shadow.

 Drybrush on top of previous layer with Faded Khaki.

 Another drybrush layer on top using Desert Khaki.

This is the highlight level so try to get only the top most parts.

You can see the indents from the grit coming more apparent here.

 And one last drybrush. This is the Extreme highlight, the top most highlight layer.

Drybrush this in scarce random areas. Sparingly, just a bit here and there. 

Color used: Desert Sand.

 All finished! Now just clean up the base (i used Pure Black) and then I marked the front arc of the model. Although you can do what you want at this point, its your miniature.

And there you have it! Desert Sand bases. Could also be dry earth or cracked earth, depending on how you paint them up and how much of the sand grit you apply.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I plan on doing more at some point on the bases and other things. Off to paint again, good luck out there.

The end is near

Well here we are, the tail end of November. I thought a good time to lay out some thoughts and happenings around here. So lets take a look back to reflect on what I have set out to do vs what I have done.

First off, I am glad to say I have completed all my commission assignments for the year! Big yea to me. All goods delivered all paid for too. Super happy about this now as I can focus the last month of the year all to myself. I would have been done sooner, but I cant say no to painting stuff. Its my addiction. But by doing so also lets me paint AND make money doing it. I still have a few pics to add up here to the blog, so be on the lookout for them coming up probably next month.

Now looking back to the first post of the year, my "Resolutions post", I see I didnt really get much accomplished here. My Super Dungeon Explorer miniatures all still need to be painted, and I just received the expansion Caverns of Roxor. The Legion commission project wasnt even started due to lack of client interest, but I have them here so I should do them sometime. The Malifaux and Cygnar get done at random times as they are my own models. Same with my Cryx army, just too many other projects to do before I could paint them. Coming in the new year I think I am receiving a small Khador army for Warmachine to paint as a commission for Comic Store West, I love to paint for these guys as they are my LGS. Also need to do up the Zombicide miniatures as I run demos at LGS and painted look prettier.

As for terrain and the other bits, well I did mention it was a busy year. I did a set of desert themed bases for a Menoth army, and will post that "how to" here next week. The other types of "Cryxian" terrain also fell by the wayside as the Iron Kingdoms RPG was released and I started to focus on some story and papercraft buildings for that one. I may be running a group next year IF my work schedule becomes more permanent.

I was able to build a 3D Super Dungeon Explorer demo board for when I do demos of that game at the LGS, and I even got my hands on a second set of Terrain Clips, Buildings and Streets of Malifaux for possible use in a 3D version of Zombicide! ideas are still brewing and playtesting, but it should work nicely!

And now, soon I must make room, or look for a bigger house. I realized with all the Kickstarter hype that I will be receiving miniatures from various companies each month next year, from January until May, and then another order in November! Zombicide, Reaper Bones, Impact Chibi Dungeon Explorers, Relic Knights, and Kingdom Death! Thats gonna be a LOT of miniatures. Not to mention a Wrath of Kings Kickstarter that will start soon (I hear February), and they look interesting as well.

Now I am off to clean up my painting area and do some organizing. Hope everyone had a great holiday and more to come. Paint happy!

Old Witch & ScrapJack

LIVE, from Khador...its Old Witch and ScrapJack!!!

One of my favorite miniatures I wanted to paint for a while now, is the Old Witch and her jack, ScrapJack. I just never found the time to step out of Cryx to buy and paint the pair. So to my delight I received a commission to paint them! Strapping on my boots (because Khador is COLD) I dug in and painted them up last week.

In case you couldnt guess these two are for the Khador army of Warmachine from Privateer Press. I took the liberty to add some extra detail to them, and I think they look great. Enjoy these pictures!

Feels like winter just looking at them. I hope the client will be as pleased with them as I am. Ahhh the joys of painting. One of my true pleasures. Back to it!