The Noblest of Demons

Greetings once more, readers.  Another month come and gone, and it's time for another painting competition piece.  I went with something smaller this time - purchased on Wednesday, assembled that night, and then painted up today.  While I would like to say I've gotten more done - not that I didn't spend quite a lot of time on this guy - between Typing of the Dead, the new Super Smash Bros 3DS game, and a whole lot of Doctor Who, I really haven't gotten much done.  But I think you'll all agree, the couple of hours I squirreled away to put into this guy today were well worth it:

That's all I have for this week. I'll probably turn this guy in on Friday - which will give me plenty of time to show him off to my friends around here.  So, until next time, folks - paint on!

He's got a weapon's platform pointed right at you

Greetings once more, readers mine!  These updates sure aren't coming out as quick as I'd like - as quick as I do stuff, but still not as quick as I'd like.  But, that said, I do have Baron Blade painted up and ready to menace:

This master of disaster not only has a legion of loyal goons doing his bidding, but is well known for showing up with a flying weapons platform to follow through with his threats.  He has also been known as a mad bomber - and in any case, he's a nasty villain to deal with.

Voting has wrapped up on the last painting contest - and this month's is something red.  I'm going to try for some crazy lighting effects on this one - I have a figure that is standing on top of some rather craggy ground, so I'm going to try to make it look like he's standing on top of a lava flow.  If it works out, it should look rather spectacular - and you all will get to see the process as I work through it.

So tune in next time to see what I have up my sleeve - and until then, paint on!

No Time for Villainy

Well, another weekend gone and nowhere near as much done as I would have liked, due to a combination of tournaments keeping me up later than I prefer, and a new game called The Vanishing of Ethan Carter tying up most my time outside of that (awesome game, by the way - definitely one that I recommend for those who are more into the cerebral side of games).  But I did manage to get one item painted up - as promised, I give you Citizen Dawn:

That's all I have for today.  Tune in next time, for the dastardly Baron Blade.  Until then, folks - paint on!

The best laid plans...

Greetings, all.  I meant to get something painted up last night, but was lured away by the siren call of this seasons TV dramas. I'm usually not a big TV watcher, but this season looks like it'll be spectacular - with Gotham, Scorpion, and Agents of Shield already showing (and drawing my attention all last night), and The Flash, Arrow, Constantine,and perhaps a few others to go with them.

But that's not why you're here, is it?  You're here to see what I've been up to, and I'm not going to disappoint.  Tonight, I give you The Proletariat.  This ex-russian is a rather nasty case, but I'll get more into that later:

And there you have it.  The proletariat, in his full miniature glory.  What's that?  You want to hear more about him?  We'll see where the luck of the draw takes us - but let's just say that this isn't the last we'll see of this particular villain.  But next time, we have the charismatic and dangerous Citizen Dawn to worry about - and where she goes, her citizens are never far behind.

Except maybe here.  We'll see what I want to paint when she's done.

So tune in next time, and until then - paint on!

And time keeps on slipping

Once again, a long wait since the last post - but between work and the competition piece, I really haven't had much to show.  But now...  Now the competition piece is in and ready for the voting!

Unfortunately, I'm up against some really hefty competition this time around, so I doubt I'll win - but I'm sure that it will put up a solid showing, and place well!

And with that out of the way, I can continue with my next project - continuing on with the Sentinel Tactics miniatures.  Today, I bring you the stalwart leader of the Sentinels, Legacy:

A strapping young man who would bend over backwards to help his teammates.  But his alternate future self is not one to be trifled with - no siree!  I am very happy with how this figure came out, and can hardly wait to get him on the table to play (after sealing, of course).  Here's hoping the rest of his teammates come out looking nearly this good (glopped on the paint a bit thick on the cape - which means there was some actual wet blending going on back there!).

That's all I have for this week.  With the big slog finished with, I may be able to start cranking out these little guys again, but we'll see how things go.  One way or the other, the next one on my list is the Proletariat!  So tune in next time to see how it develops - be that Tuesday or a week from today.  I can assure you - it will be coming.  And until it does?

Paint on!

A long time coming...

Hey, all.  It's been a while, hasn't it?  Well, I haven't had as much time to work on painting as I would like - but I wouldn't give up what I'm learning right now to make it otherwise, so we'll all have to grin and bear it together.  I have been making slow but steady progress on the tower for this month's painting contest, and I'm sure you'll all want something to see after all this wait:

It's definitely coming along - but I've still got a long ways to go, especially with the weathering that I want to put on it (though I have gotten some with the varying stone texture.  I'll definitely have it done in time for the contest - but it is definitely going to be a near thing!  But, it'll just get too looking more an more awesome as I put more time in on it, and I look forward to seeing the results!

So tune in next week, when I should have this piece wrapped up and ready to go.  And until then - paint on!

A Blue Façade

Hello again, folks.  Time to tune in once more and see what I've gotten done today - which really is not a whole lot.  But I have started on this months competition piece, and I'm ready to share!

I'll start off with a bit of a discussion on priming wood.  Unlike pewter or hard plastic, Wood (such as the balsa wood that I used on this figure) and other porous materials (like plaster and related products) tend to become rather...  Shall we say, malodorous when primed using a spray primer.  Because of this, you need to use something to create a non-porous barrier between the wood/plaster/what have you and the spray primer.  I, personally, like to use craft paint for this purpose - it coats well, it's thin, so it doesn't obscure details, and its biggest flaws - it's low color- and light-fastness - aren't a factor as you're not seeing it anyways.

So, that said, here's the pics of the piece primed up and ready to go:

Here's the front.  Nothing really special to see here, so moving along...

And here's the back.  With a layer of primer over everything, you really can't tell which parts are original plastic, and which are the balsa-wood add-ons that I put on.

And, finally, we have the first half of the base layer of stonework.  For a project like this, I take a variety of Artists Paints - expensive, but they have excellent color- and light-fastness levels, which makes them the next best thing to actual hobby paints - but they are thick!  So be ready to water them down quite a bit to be usable.  In this case, I took a mid gray with a dark blue-gray to get this color, which I will then go over with the gray, and finish off with a gray/white mix to give the final results.  It's going to take a while to get everything done, but it'll be well worth it in the end!

That's all I have for now, folks.  Tune in Tuesday to see the rest of this first level, and perhaps get started on the drybrushing.  Until then, folks - paint on!