Painting Challenge

Today is the conclusion to the Super Dungeon Explore expansion: The Forgotten King.  In anticipation of the upcoming minis that will follow this year (hopefully) a painting challenge thread has been started on the SDE forums.  As I picked up some SDE minis from Adepticon; I decided to throw my hat into the ring.

I decided to paint up my Vandella Succubus because she's cute, assembled, and ready to be primed:



Aside from the base game, all the SDE miniatures come pre-assembled.  This is good for the boardgame crowd as it means less tedious work or a need for tools, but less good for the hobby crowd.  Having everything assembled means it's much more difficult to get at the recessed areas, and this model was no exception.  The braids/bangs hanging down made painting the hair around her head difficult.  This was problematic because I couldn't leave it unpainted as I primed her white.  I started with the skin first though:



You can see where getting into the nooks and crannies would be difficult.  I had originally planned on doing the wing bones in black, but after consideration I ended up doing them in the same skin tone.  I like how the result came out, along with the start of the hair:



One of the fun parts about SDE models is the big eyes.  I've been spending a lot of time observing the eye colors of anime characters so I could paint up anime-style eyes on my own.  Being a fan of anime, this was a real treat for me.  I think the finished product looks pretty awesome:



While there is room for improvement I feel that this is a good start.  I've also ordered a setup for airbrushing and plan on trying that pretty soon as well, so expect some good posts about that in a week or so (once I have all my equipment).

Last but not least I've gotten the revetments painted up for my commission:

Mydnight Goes Fourth!

So my weekend at Adepticon was amazing!  I got to have a lot of fun playing games, seeing friends, and even tried out a demo!

Friday I played in the team tournament with my best friend, and although we didn't do well we had a great time and got to catch up afterwards.

Saturday was the first day of the big Malifaux tournament.  Unlike previous years where they did a qualifier on Saturday and a finals on Sundy, they were doing three rounds on each day.  Saturday I had a great showing with 3-0 for my games.  I also got the time to try out a demo of Relic Knights in advance of getting my kickstarter models. 

 

It looks like it'll be a cute and fun game to play, and I look forward to getting my own models.

Sunday was the conclusion to the tournament.  The organizer took a vote and dropped the last game of the day due to people needing to catch flights and make long drives home.  My showing for the day was 1-1, and I ended up taking fourth place out of a 44 person tournament using Arcanists/Rasputina.  It was an incredible run, and it's got me thinking about competing at Gen Con.

I came home exhausted, but satisfied.  It's hard to argue with a weekend filled with great friends, great games, and great models.  Oh, and here's a pic of the swag that I got:




I got: a book, the plastic Lady Justice box for Malifaux, a Skorne battlebox for Hordes, several promo minis, a Succubus for Super Dungeon Explore, some bases, a Druid Gone Wilder, and Bombadier Bombshell for Privateer Press.  A modest but nice haul if I do say so myself.  Expect a few pics of those after I get my small commission out of the way.

Thawing Out

My attempts to overcome my lack of motivation have proven difficult, but here's hoping I turn things around with the winter finally starting to loosen its vicious stranglehold.

Adepticon is happening this weekend, and I'm looking forward to bringing my pieces again to the table (and hopefully avoiding any cars this time around).  So let's go ahead and get some pieces out that I've gotten ready for it:




First up is Sonnia.  I'll be fielding her as my master for the team tournament.  This was a fun and straightforward paintjob.  I actually went a little further than normal and tried to give the lips a little saucy definition.  I think the efforts paid off though as a friend and fellow painter commented that she looks just like Drew Barrymore.

Another addition for my crew during the team tournament is my third Witchling Stalker:




Unlike my other two Witchling Stalkers I went with more of a desert theme.  I normally like to have consistency across the board, but felt that these guys looked sneaky enough to branch out.  If I had to paint up another one I'd do him up in white and grey for a snow look.

If you have enough Witchling Stalkers you're going to want someone who can keep things in line:




The Witchling Handler came out pretty decent.  I hate using multiple browns in one figure as it becomes a challenge to actually get them distinct enough.  I was happy with how the boots turned out though, and feel that the model stands really well.

For the Malifaux 2E qualifier I'm going to be fielding my Arcanists.  I had a few more minis left to paint up.  The first of these is Joss:




There's a lot that I like about how this model came out.  The jeans and shirt were pretty close to what I was going for, and I think I might need to use a little more water when I do the grey basecoat for my whites.  The skin came out a bit darker than I was intending, but I'm still very satisfied with it.  There's enough definition and highlight to help the details stand out.  Special thanks go to a friend of mine who suggested a blue jay feather for the one in his braid.

Last but not least is the Arcane Effigy:




This guy was a little confusing to paint.  He looks different, has two coats, and a bunch of little details here and there.  With only one thin contact point for the base I'm going to have to be careful how I handle him.  The other thing that I really need more practice with is doing jewels and gems.  I keep thinking about taking an art class with the goal of getting a better handle on lighting, which I think will help strengthen my painting overall.  Personal note: I am very please with how the picture came out.

This weekend I'll be engaged in games and hunting for swag.  Meanwhile I'll be watching the Super Dungeon Explore: The Forgotten King kickstarter, and scouting the dealer's room for some SDE minis to paint up in practice.  The only thing on my table otherwise is a small commission for my friend.

Who Wants Pictures?

There are so many to post too!  Relic Knights is in production, and should finish up a few weeks following the end of the Chinese New Year.  What this means is that I have a couple of months to get stuff painted before I dive into a pile of anime-styled minis for a while.  In the meantime I've managed to finish up the last piece of my commission and some various odds and ends.  We'll start with the last piece of my commission, the Shadow Omega:





This one wasn't too bad to paint.  It starts with a medium grey layer that gets stippled with black dots.  I top it off with alternating black and blue-green washes.  I then picked out various highlight colors along with the engines.  To get the right balance for the Omega I did up a bunch of my own Shadow vessels for practice:





It was definitely a lot of fun to paint the shadows.  It's always nice to do something simple yet straightforward.

I've had a couple of Samaritan soldiers sitting on my desk for months now.  They only had a basecoat and a wash, and I kept telling myself I'd finish them up someday.  With my commissions being done I decided to finally do so:



You'll notice the pool of blood on the one Samaritan's base.  This is my first time using Game Workshop's Blood For the Blood God.



It certainly gives a good blood effect, and it can be a handy paint to have at hand if you're in a hurry.  I'd rather use a 2-layer effect of light red over dark as I feel it achieves a richer look.  The shiny effect can also be added with a paint-on gloss coat.  I'll keep it around as it has its uses, but for my bases/blood effects I feel more comfortable doing my own.

With Adepticon just around the corner I'm starting to gear up to compete.  Thankfully there's not a lot of models I need to get painted (most of them were done last year), but I have a few to show off:





I've gotten so accustomed to doing commissions that it feels weird to see my own models getting painted.  I admit that I have a lot of fun painting my own models following a commission.  Not painting my own stuff for a while because I have to be responsible has helped to keep me interested in painting over the past couple of years.  I just have to figure out a good balance.

One last peak before I go.  I started work on my Guild master Sonnia Creed, and it's easily one of the best faces I've done so far:

Nytmares Come Alive

A long time ago I picked up an exclusive model from Wyrd.  The Nightmare Edition: Lord Chompy Bits.  He's an alternate version of one of their standard leaders, and the model is incredible to both look at and hold.



He stands at almost four inches tall, and is all pewter!  Why has it taken me so long to get this masterpiece built and primed?  Well there are some issues I needed to overcome in order to get to this point.  The first one was what to use for his base.  I didn't want to use just any old base, and I had spent a lot of time looking at different bases as well as trying to come up with ideas.  It wasn't until I came across War Gama's booth at Adepticon that I finally found one I was satisfied with.  So I was ready to go right?  Not quite:



What you're looking at is one of my first two attempts to assemble LCB.  There are two main pieces: the lower half, which only has a tail which was easily attached, and the upper half, which consisted of four different arms, the shoulders,  a front torso, back torso, and the head.  The end result is that balancing the top half on the bottom half resulted in him becoming very top heavy and pitching forward.  I ended up calling on the same friend who helped me assemble my Nicodem Avatar.



I had told my friend of my plight, and he rigged it up so that there's a center pole holding the upper half aloft.  However this left a large gaping hold where the torso should join the pelvis.  With so many pieces on a such a large model there was bound to be some gap issues.



I decided to attack it head on, and ended up putting some grey stuff inside along the join before finally filling out the front.  I needed to add lots of filler where the shoulders topped the torso, and around each of the arms.  Also had a hole in the tail to cover up, as well as some extra support I put in where the tail joined the pelvis.  I think the only area I didn't use grey stuff was the jawline as it still looked natural to me.



The touch ups I put on are ok, and a casual glance won't see them, but lets take a closer look at the main gap:



It's a little rough, but not bad.  I think it'll be less noticeable once it's been painted up.

While I had my greystuff out I decided to make a little gift to thank my friend for helping me out:



Just a simple tophat for him to use as a marker.  The process was a bit simple.  I started with a flat and thin oval which I curled up the sides on to use as the brim, and at the same time I did a flat tipped cone where I put in indentation to give the hat some life/depth.



After letting them dry I made sure that the tip of the cone was flat enough, and then I drilled a hole into it so I could use a pin to help hold it to the base.



After some glue and a couple of hours to let it dry I got out a little more grey stuff and did a little ribbon around the join.  Overall I'm rather pleased with how it turned out, and I'm sure my friend will be delighted to see the results.

An Explanation

It's been a while since I posted anything, and I wanted to take a few moments to explain why.  Back in April I was in a car accident while attending Adepticon, and as a result I was unable to participate in a tournament I had spent the last five months preparing for.  Time painting and assembling different miniatures, many of which appeared here on my blog.  Since then I've been having a difficult time painting, and I wasn't feeling the same joy or passion that I used to experience.  Well earlier this week I attended court to testify against the person who hit my car.  While there I learned enough things about him to know that justice would be served.  Even though it doesn't undo the damage or the financial strain I walked away with a sense of closure. 

So how does that affect my painting and this blog?  How about a renewed sense of vigor as I revive The Babylon Project:



I sat down and started painting some Babylon 5 miniatures that had been lying around and staring at me for almost a year.  Six Raiders that I knew would be a quick session, and I was right.



For the first time in months I felt that old flame burn true once again.  As much as I love spending time breathing life into intricate models I also enjoy sitting down and knocking out a handful of minis in one sitting.  The Babylon Project was a fun diversion, and I plan to continue it with painted models here and there.  Nothing but good clean fun where I attempt to paint up models from a different faction each month.  Except that this time I'm just going to paint what I have, and if I get through a lot or a little it won't matter.  Painting should be fun, and I have returned to that point where it is.

So how about a little walkthrough?  Let's use the Earth Alliance Hermes-Class Transport.



This is my experiment to try and get the look of the Earth Alliance ships down.  In the series they have a grey base with blue trim.  The hard part was determining if the, "grey," on the ships was actual grey or if it was metal.



I went with grey as it would be easier to add trim and weapons in metal.  My first choice was a bit darker.  You can see where I started to drybrush on a lighter grey over the rear, and the original basecoat on the front half.



This is where I mixed in a grey that was pretty close to white, and while it was closer I think my next attempt will be a bit of the darker grey mixed in with the lighter. 



One thing I've started to do is a wash followed by drybrushing afterwards in an attempt to help bring out the plating on the ships.



When all was said and done everything looked a little bland.  I went looking for a pic of the ship, and while I could have sworn that I saw this ship on the show itself there was no real pic to be found.  I ended up deciding to add some blue, metallic, and a light grey to help spruce things up.  For now though I'm calling this complete.  My next project is the iconic Babylon 5 station itself.  I'm pretty excited about it and look forward to the post as I have known exactly what I'm going to write for it since I started the project.

Getting Back On The Horse

Following my accident a couple of weeks ago I noticed a drop in my interest towards miniatures and miniature gaming.  Part of me was worried that I had lost my passion for this hobby that I had been such a big part of my life.  When little bits of inspiration or the desire to assemble models came up I let myself dive right in.  I've assembled my Skorne Battle Box that I got from Adepticon, along with the Regault Battlepod, and I've even got some pictures from a tutorial I'm writing up for a later post on making a simple wasteland base.  However one thing has started to overshadow my other interests.



I had gotten my Sedition Wars: Battle For Alabaster mid-late January, and while I got some of the models assembled I ended up pushing it off to the side to focus on Malifaux.  Last night I grabbed a bag of miniatures from the box and put them all together.  For something so simple it was rather exciting and fun!  Right now my main goal is to get things assembled and start playing.  Once that's done I can start throwing paint at these guys.  Especially with news of an expansion already circulating.

First Glance At Robotech RPG Tactics

I had originally intended this post to go up early last week, but it seems that being in a car crash wasn't enough as I got sick shortly after my last post, and have only recently begun to recover.  So without further delay let's dig in to one of the exciting finds at Adepticon.



The nice gentlemen from Ninja Division are running a Kickstarter for Robotech: RPG Tactics.  The game uses iconic mecha from the classic anime series Robotech.  The above picture is one of the Veritechs/Valkyries painted up as squadron leader (fans of the series will recognize the paint scheme as belonging to that of Rick Hunter as leader of Vermillion Squad).  I got to spend some time talking to the great guys from Ninja Division, tried out a demo, and took plenty of pictures. 



The above pieces are what you would call prototypes.  They're all cast in pewter and made up as special demo crews for cons, and were painted by the talented John Cadice shortly before the con.  The final product is going to be cast in plastic, which in this case isn't a bad thing as the minis I got to hold all had some heft to them.  Plastic Robotech minis will be a lot more durable, especially the battlepods.  Speaking of Battlepods there were some special Battlepod promo minis given out each day to the first 100 people who came by at Adepticon.  While I was unable to grab one myself a friend of mine, hearing about my car accident, grabbed one for me.



Needless to say I was very happy about this find.  I currently have the guy assembled and standing on my desk waiting to be based, but haven't decided if I'm going to sculpt a blasted street or if I'll do more of a ruins.

I got a chance to play the demo itself, and it seems pretty straightforward.  You're either the Zentraedi or the UEDF (United Earth Defense Force), and you utilize a number of squads.





There was only a small selection of models for the demo.  The Zentraedi was all Gulag Battlepods while the UEDF had a squad of three veritechs and a pair of Tomahawk Destroids.



The Gulag Battlepods had a style/scheme that gave them the potential to have more Battlepods swarm onto the field at the end of each turn (replacing ones destroyed during the turn), unless you entirely destroyed that squadron.  The UEDF had smaller numbers, but packed a lot of firepower.  Interested in checking out the rules?  Well they've given a sneak peak at them!  PLEASE NOTE:  THESE RULES ARE *NOT* FINAL!!!  These are still a rough look at things, and the final product could differ wildly from what you read.

While you're reading the rules, how about a look at the Veritech in Gerwalk/Guardian mode as well as fighter mode?







I was VERY impressed with the detail.  They definitely caught the feel of the original designs in my opinion, and when cast in plastic should look just as good as what you see here.  For a, "quick and simple," paint job John Cadice really captured all the flavor of the series I remember growing up with.  One thing worth noting is that each Veritech has three forms: Fighter (Jet Fighter), Battloid (transformed), and gerwalk/guardian (legs and arms extended in Jet Fighter mode).  While switching between modes is simple (done when the squad activates), it does mean three models painted for one figure used in the game.  Given the overall durability and power, it may as well be three models in one.

For the demo we were given Squad Cards which had stats and traits for the squads used during the game.





Again please note: THESE ARE PROTOTYPES AND NOT FINAL VERSIONS!!!  Even though they're not necessarily the completed project they're very easy to read and follow.  I think the general format they use is very solid, and will help the game along.  You can see weapons and general stats occupying the left 2/3rds of the card while armor/life points occupy the right.  A quick look shows you that those Battlepods need swarm tactics with how easily they'll be shot out of the sky.

While there weren't any on the board there was a Defender Destroid that had been painted up and on display.




And for those of you interested in the recently unlocked Roy Fokker Veritech here's a sneak peak at what it may look like painted:



While it may look like the range of models is rather limited I'd like to remind my readers that these are the figures that were cast in pewter and set up as a quick demo crew before Adepticon.  The Kickstarter has already reached multiple stretch goals and unlocked:

Gnerl Fighters, Sentry Pod Upgrade, Mk. II Monster (YES!!!), Spartan & Phalanx Destroids,  Support Battlepods, and Zentraedi Male Power Armor!

The rumor goes (according to some guy with the initials K.N.) that anything from the Macross Saga is fair game to be a piece in the game.  I did ask about the limit, and so far the agreement between Ninja Division, Harmony Gold, and Palladium Games is for the Macross Saga.  However it stands to reason that if things do well enough we could see Southern Cross, New Generation (Genesis Climber Mospeada for you hardcore fans), and Sentinels!

However far this goes the prospects are already exciting!  I still have a few clinging details from the excitement of Adepticon to attend to, but soon I hope to get a post up about a painted promo Battlepod.