State of the Blog

It's been quite a while since my last post, and I wanted to bring everyone up to date on things.  The holidays were crazy, and I've spent the last couple of month fighting off the winter blues.  It may not sound like much, but somedays it took my all just to push through and get to the end.



But that doesn't mean I haven't been doing hobby things.  I've been working on chainmail, scalemail, Robotech miniatures, and even some Malifaux.



With the return of more sunlight I hope to be making more posts.  For a few months posts I will be doing more catching up on what I've done since I am training to run the Mini-I challenge in the Illinois Marathon (running is a hobby too), and this kind of limits the amount of time I get in an evening.



Most of what I'll be doing during the week is assembly of miniatures, with some painting time here and there, but mostly on the weekends.  With that in mind, how about a few pictures to get to what you're really here for?

A commission that I did for a friend, but have kept secret since I entered it into an online painting contest:







This is a piece that has gotten a lot of compliments, and is probably one of the better pieces I've painted.  I was quite surprised at how much time I had to put into it given the limited range of articles to paint.  It was a lot of fun regardless, and my friend was very happy with the finished product.

Friendly Work

With confirmation that Relic Knights is at the warehouse and getting sorted before shipping I'm feeling glad that I got my last minute commissions finished up.  First we'll start off the piece featured previously, but now completed:






This miniature is just like my Mei Fang crew, where the eyes are super tiny (barely more than slits).  The friend I painted this for requested eyes, and so I painted some lovely eyes on her (she's watching you).  I added a bit of OSL from the fire coming from her staff which turned out a little more subtle than what I was wanting, but that's ok because I'd prefer it to be more subtle than to have it be overbearing.

Up next is another go at my sweetheart, Kaeris.  This one is for the same friend who gave the awesome suggestion for a sakura tree on the kimono of Kirai, and the idea for this Kaeris was just as good.




Shining wings, firey red hair, and a union jack on the back of her trenchcoat.  I could easily see Kaeris in this outfit, and that made it so easy to paint!  Let's take a look at how I got here:



Skin, hair, pants & shirt.  Also the wings.  My previous entry I used her to test the chrome silver, and here I've gone ahead with a black ink to help get the recesses.



When I was originally asking for how she was to be painted I was told, "white or silver."  I decided to take things to the next level.  After the wash I added a layer of bright silver to give definition, and then highlighted it with Reaper Master Series pearl white.  RMS' Pearl White is a white metallic reminiscent of their silks and satins line, and it blended beautifully with the metallic wings.

Up next is the start of the Union Jack.



So I tried to get close to a navy color without being too dark.  The color I used for this one turned out a little shinier than I wanted.  After some decision making I decided to give it a wash of GW's Drakenhof Nightshade to dull it up a bit while following up with some highlights.



Much better!  Looking at the pic though you can definitely tell that it's a bit rougher.  I went with another wash to smooth it out, and then I hand-painted the colors for the Union Jack, and was ready to call it a day.  Overall I'm pleased with how she turned out.  Kaeris is truly a miniature that looks good no matter how you paint her up.

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:

New Beginning

The start of a new year, and with it the continuation of the never-ending journey of miniatures painting.  The end of last year was very busy between work and family, but I have not been completely idle.  Time to catch everybody up on what I've painted.  Let's start with an exchange I did for a Jayne hat that a friend of mine made:



And a gift for my friend's birthday:



I'm going to be keeping my descriptions brief with one exception.  There's a lot that's been done, and a lot to go.  I painted up an OGRE Mk. IV in ATACS camo:



That was for my friend, and he liked it enough that he sent it along to the people who make ATACS camo.  Sadly they did not respond, but it would've been really cool if they had.  This same friend is the one who I paint miniatures for on a regular basis.



As of right now I've completed nearly everything I've been commissioned to do:



Probably one of my finest pieces was the tiger stripe camo I did for a group of tanks and infantry:



Tigerstripe is my favorite camo because I feel that the name captures both the essence and the setting where it was used perfectly.  Tigerstripe camo was developed for use in jungle territories, and it's easy to see how it would help a person to blend in to the background.  I started off with a dark drab green for the basecoat:



I spent some time trying to figure out a good way to get the breaking lines you see in the tigerstripe pattern, and eventually decided to use an old brush that could no longer hold a point:



This turned out really well!  The bristles ended up splitting into two or three small tips, which gave me some very nice stripes.  After getting the gray down I had to switch to a brown color to paint over it as the grey is very subtle and doesn't show through as much:



It's easy to see at this point that the colors are coming together beautifully.  The last layer to add was the black stripes, and I had to be very careful with these.  Too little and it wouldn't be quite finished, too much and it would stand out.  Thankfully I managed to get it just right:



They turned out beautifully, and the camo looks like it was actually printed rather than painted on.  Definitely a noticeable advancement of my camo-painting skills:



I am nearing the end of my commission.  All the vehicles, buildings, and infantry have been painted:



Now all that remains is a Babylon 5 Shadow Omega.  I've already prepped some Shadow vessels for practice since the Shadow Omega uses the same scheme, and the Shadow Omega itself is just about done being assembled.  Expect a few more Babylon Project posts in the near future!