Still Running

So I've been a bit quiet the past week or so, but there's been a reason.  I've taken up a new hobby!  In the interest of my personal health I've taken up walking/jogging/running, and what better way to get motivated to move than with zombies?

I've been spending the past couple of weeks using the Zombies, RUN! 5k trainer.  The past several years have seen me try to get an exercise regimine going, but have fallen short.  Yesterday I started my third week, and the trainer keeps increasing in difficulty.  I do feel like I'm getting into the groove of things though as I managed to finally finish up T'wanka!



I've had small bursts of inspiration in between hordes of the shambling dead, but finishing up T'wanka was pretty high on my list.  I tried doing tattoos on this model as well, which is a bit new for me.



So far it's just the same as doing freehand work, but with a different canvas.  I have found that it's easier using my brush with a REALLY fine tip, but this often results in paint drying very quickly.  I've taken to really thinning out the paint to help make things flow easier, and have noticed significant improvements as a result.  The tattoos on T'wanka are close representations to the original character art that was used to create the sculpt.  When I showed the finished work to the artist it was met with great approval.



This was a really fun sculpt to paint.  The original art had green skin with a bluish tint.  I chose greens closer to jade mixed in with turquoise, and for my washes I made sure to mix in a hint of blue to green.  The overall effect came out really I feel.



Now that T'wanka is finished I can look to my next project.  I have a wide field to choose from, and I think I may spend some time doing some quick and dirty paint jobs to get some models looking presentable, or perhaps I'll dip into my Sedition Wars models.  The latest update shows a lot of gorgeous pieces that I'll be getting sometime soon.  I've also been longing to pick up and continue my Babylon Project.  With so many wonderful choices it's a mystery as to what I'll post next!

Surprise Gift

So the start of my week has been very good.  My previous post with the Mound of Dead Bards received praise from Matt Vancil, and I got a little present in the mail.



T'ankwa, a female half-orc barbarian, was a Berserkon Kickstarter  backer reward.  I love getting exclusive minis and this one is going towards the top of my list to paint.

One of the first things I notice about this sculpt is that the musculature is VERY well done.  She's definitely strong.  The muscles aren't super huge, but they aren't so small as to just blend in either.  She's definitely a tough lady that you wouldn't challenge to an arm-wrestling competition.  The face is ambiguous enough that you could paint her up in normal skin tones as well.  I'll have to decide how I want to paint her.

Some downsides to her is that her ax is really tiny.  When I first looked at the piece in the plastic I thought it was just flash.  The proportions between her and the ax are really close, and it's kind of a shame since the ax fits her well.  I'm going to try and get it attached, but if it breaks it breaks.  She can still pull off the bicep-flex pose really well, and whether or not she has the ax, this model is very cheesecake.



Above pic is for scale.  She's small enough that she could be 25mm, but is close enough to the Sedition Wars to be in in the same scale of 28mm.  Behind them is another up and coming model for me to paint:  The Nightmare Edition Lord Chompy Bits, who is 32mm scale and a HUGE model for even that scale!  Right now I have a lot of awesome on my table to paint.  I might put T'ankwa towards the top as I imagine she'll go by pretty quickly.  Nightmare Chomps is also a good one to paint, but the 2nd wave of Sedition Wars kickstarter minis is coming soon.  I think I'm going to have to paint quickly!