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!

Anybody got a dollar?

I know I promised this for yesterday - but in the frenzy of getting it assembled, I didn't have time to snap pictures before heading to gaming - which is good, because I needed to do some custom work on it to get it looking good and ready to present to you.  For those of you not familiar with the Blue Ridge Crossing's monthly painting competition, this months theme is anything goes - and I am taking that to its illogical extreme:

That green stuff you can see all over the model is, well, Greenstuff, which is used to fill in the cracks and smooth out some surfaces.  Lots of big cracks in this one, so a good chunk of greenstuff got used - but all for the better, I think.

And around to the other side, where you can see some of the balsa wood work that I added to the figure.  When I originally assembled the piece, one of the doors was too far away from the side it should be on, and the platform itself wouldn't fit where it needed to.  The solution - to cut down a couple of pieces of cheap balsa wood, carve out a wood grain in them with some sculpting tools, and glue the result to the side.  It's not the first time I've done something like this - I've done much the same for several of the Malifaux figures I've painted up long ago - but this is the first time I've done it for a terrain piece.

That's all I have for today, folks.  Tune in tomorrow, when I get started on painting this beast - and I've got the artists paints to tackle it.  Lots of drybrushing, and I'm also going to be experimenting with some weathering techniques, and try to get some moss growing on this thing.  It'll be an interesting ride - and you won't want to miss out on it!  So, until next time, folks:

Paint on!

The Chairman sends his regards

Greetings once more, readers.  Time for the latest on what I've been working on - and I've been working on the first of the figures for Sentinel Tactics.  I've started with the Operative (mostly because she was on the top of the deck of cards): a very dangerous assassin who is often hired by The Chairman - one of the heads of organized crime.  In the Sentinels of the Multiverse card game, she acts as The Chairman's muscle, protecting him from harm until she's taken out.  In the Tactics game, she's a pretty nasty melee character who really knows how to use that sword of hers:

And that's all I have for today.  Tune in Friday for the next assembled competition piece, and then on Saturday to see the start of it getting painted.  Until then, folks - paint on!

She's certainly looking sharp - and there's something super on the horizon!

Greetings all!  It's certainly been a bit, but I'm finally back and raring to go!  We'll start off by finishing off what I started before I left - the lovely dwarven lass, Ursula Silverbeard:

I would certainly say that she came out looking quite nice.  Definitely ready for the flocking and to get sealed up with the next batch that I do.  And, speaking of which...  I've been hinting at it for a bit, but here's the next big project that I'm going to be working on.  It's from the new game from a company that I've grown to rather enjoy over the years - and since I won't know what I need to be painting up until Friday for this month's painting contest, I'm going to get an early start on it:

That's right, folks - I'm going to work on painting up all the figures from the Sentinels: Tactics board game over the next...  Well, however many weeks it's going to take to paint them all up.  The Proletariat is probably going to be the most annoying for me, painting up the same color scheme, pose, and all that six times running - though I'm probably going to stagger him out over the course of the rest of the figures.

Well, that's all I've got for today, folks.  I'll have more to post up tomorrow, so tune in to see how this super project starts rolling.  And until then, folks - paint on!

A Lass with an Axe to Grind

Greetings once more readers.  I'm afraid I don' t have the best figure to go on hold with, but I promised you something, and this is better than nothing.  I'm about halfway done with her - done with the skin, hair, eye, and hair, and just started on the cloak/armor set (first coat).  Anyways, you all want to see what I've done, right?  Well, here she is!

Still a ways to go, but she is definitely looking good!  Don't forget, I'll be out for a while folks - but when I get back, I'll be finishing her up and painting up the next competition piece - and then, well, let's just say I'll get to work on one of the kickstarters I recently got in.  So, tune in a week from now to hear what's going to go down - it should be quite a battle!

Until next time, folks - paint on!

A True Highlight of the Woodland Scene

Greetings once more, Readers.  My, it's been a bit, hasn't it?  Well, you'll all be happy to know that I've had a very successful weekend of gaming - winning one event, and taking the participation prize in the second - but that also means that I did not get a lot done over the weekend.  But not to fret, readers - I am quite pleased to say that I have finished up another figure today - this time the majestic Spirit of the Forest, from Reaper Miniatures:

Now, isn't that a friendly smile?   I was somewhat inspired by a similar color scheme that a friend did for this same figure not long ago (if I can get his permission, you all may get to see that version for yourselves), with a few twists.  For one thing, teh brilliant crimson vine wrapping the figure's lower body, as well as the color of the fellow's eyes (the same leaf green on the plantlife on him).  I'd say that he came out rather well - particularly as he only took me a bit under the play length of Event Horizon to paint up.

Well, I don't think he much cared for that movie - too much blood, I reckon. Either that, or it was just too scary for him...  Either way, that's all I have for you all tonight.  Be sure to tune in tomorrow to see what I get done - particularly as it'll signal another long patch before I have something new to post up.  But after that?  Things should be back to normal - and after I finish out the next competition piece shortly after getting back, I'm going to get started on the next big project of mine - and shall I say, it should be rather...  super?

Tune in next time, folks - and until then, paint on!

PS: Be glad I decided to steer clear of some of the titles I was thinking of.  Entirely accurate, in a pre-40s style of slang - but the words would not have been deemed particularly appropriate in this day and age.  Besides, I don't know of many farmers who would trade for him.  ;p

A Hero to Save Us

Greetings, folks.  It's time once more to tune in and see what I've gotten done today - and just as promised, I have the finishing touches on the figure from yesterday, as well as another one that I've finished up today!  Let's get started, shall we?

Things have certainly gotten chillier for that dwarf we saw yesterday! The snow effect came out quite well - though I did have to brush most of it off of him when I put it on (it went on a touch too thick to start with), but this certainly gives the whole thing a feel of exceptional chilliness.

Next up we have Reaper's ShadowTalon figure - a piece that I really should have painted well before now.  But he's painted up now, and ready to show his stuff!

Now all I need is a good miniatures or superheroes game to play him in...  I wonder how long until Supersystem 4e comes out?

That's all I've got today, folks.  It'll be a heavy gaming weekend for me, so don't expect to see much for nigh-on a week - but you all know me.  If I can get something whipped up, I'll post it on here.  So stay tuned, and until next time - paint on!

He's dead, Jim

Greetings, all.  It is time once more to see what I've accomplished today.  Nothing spectacular, nothing grand.  Not even anything living (well, OK, nothing representing anything living) - I give you the 90% finished Dead Dwarf from Stonehaven Miniatures:

I say this figure is at 90% because when I finished up with him...  I decided that he would be rather fitting to put on a snowy base.  I've whipped the base up (1" wooden disc with Citadel snow technical paint), and tomorrow - after that dries - I'm going to glue the figure on, lightly wet the figure with a light glue mix (basically 10% adhesive, just enough to get it to stick unevenly), the sprinkle on some Baking Soda to make it look like the fellow died after a deep freeze followed by a light snowfall (which should let the colors show through).  Tune in tomorrow, and you'll see how it turns out.

And that's really pretty much it from me today.  Who knows what tomorrow brings - and until it comes, paint on!

Cap'n Shiny Pants

Greetings once more, readers.  Another day gone, and another figure to show off - this time one of the figures from the Sedition Wars kickstarter - and those of you familiar with Firefly (or looked at the tags for this post) have probably already figured out which  one - Captain Shiny Pants himself, Malcolm Renolds!

What was that?  Oh, right...  This isn't an official tie-in miniature, this is a send off to the series fig.  Forgive me.  I meant we have the illustrious Ian Reins:

Maybe not my best work ever, but he is surely ready to take the field and make sure everything's shiny in the 'verse.

That's all I have for you folks today.  Tune in tomorrow for something else off my painting bench - and I've definitely noticed that my productivity's gone way up since I started this.  Of course, like all true hobbyists, it's still a drop in the bucket compared to what I have yet to paint - but it at least gives me a solid reason to keep painting stuff up every day.

A Lazy Weekend

Greetings once more, readers.  I am obviously back, and I have the updates to show for it.  I haven't gotten much painted since I got back, but today you'll get to see a bit of why.  You see, I just got a bunch of Kickstarter stuff in, and well:

That's a good chunk of Malifaux figures assembled and ready to prime, and yet:

There's still a few more.  This is just the tip for what I've gotten - but that will have to wait for another day - and I think that's going to be my next major project, and boy, will it take a long while.  It should be pretty awesome once it's done, however.

And the last tidbit for tonight, is the finished version of Tobias Winterhorn.  Quite a change from the basic greys we started with, eh?

Well, that's all from me today.  I probably won't have anything tomorrow, but tune in Monday for... well, whatever I end up doing then.  Until then?  Paint on!

A bit late, but still here

Sorry about the late post, all.  Didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but I have something to show for it, now.  Let's start with the first addition to the standard cast of characters that I'm going to be using with Daz3d for my 3d renders and a lot of my custom female characters:  Janet!

I'll work on getting more characters set up to go with her over the next while.  But for now, I have some work on figures that I did get done.  First up is Brother Silence from The Gamers: Dorkness Rising:

Almost finished, just need to get the static grass on his base.  I decided that the black belt and  orange gi would be best for really making him feel like a classic monk - though I can't say that I'm a big fan of how pudgy the figure's face is...  Ah, well.  That's neither here nor there - just something to comment on as we pass it by.

We finish up my progress today with a fine elven druid.  This is Reaper Miniatures Tobias Winterhorn.  Still very early in painting him up - but I like what I'm seeing on him so far!  Tune in tomorrow for the finished product.

That's all I have for today, folks.  Tune in tomorrow to see what else I get done.  Until then?  Paint on!

Wheeeeeeeee....

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

I'm flying home right now.  Tune in tomorrow for something more productive.

An Exploration of the Third Dimension... Narf.

Poit, egad.  OK, enough silliness to balance out the dry start to the title - sorry folks, they can't all be winners.  It's time once more to...  Wait, it's been a while, hasn't it folks?  Well, as I said before, I'm not at my usual work station, and have only been tinkering and playing with the Daz3D modelling software.  It's rather a nice piece of software to work with - if only I could figure out how to get everything loading up all at once and playing nicely with every other bit...  Ah, well, I'm mostly going to use it to set up for 3d models to print and paint come early next year, so I'm not too bothered by the limitations - and there are some rather nice setups that I can get with it, a couple of which I'm going to share with you all today.

We'll start where I started, a little look at a lovely lass waiting in the park:

Not the greatest looking piece, I'll admit - and there's supposed to be a park backdrop there, but I'm having issues figuring out how that's supposed to work, but there you have it.  It's a start - but there's more to see than this!

Next up, we have an attempt at a bit of a night scene.  I was really trying to line up the shadow from the post there with the figure, but no luck there.  Something else I have to learn.

Now this one is one that I'm happy with.  Though a later render came out looking much better, this is the first of the ones that I think looks actually decent - and one that I'm definitely going to come back to play with.  Lots of room to explore there, I think - and I actually figured out how to get a more dynamic camera angle.  Though...  That helmet really makes her look like Megaman, doesn't it?

And the last piece for today - a bit of unrepentant fanservice for the ladies out there.  Basically, just the Michael 4 model with the muscle morphs pumped way up, but a decent pose and a decent angle, with plenty of light showing off his tone.

That's all I have today, folks.  Flying day tomorrow, so I won't have much to show off - but Friday and Saturday should bring something in for you all - and we're coming up on a pretty significant milestone!  Just 23 more posts until I hit 100!

All agreed, say "Eye"

Greetings once more, readers.  I make no apologies for the punny title - really, if you've made it this far, you really should have come to expect as much by now.  This is likely the last update - at least as far as painting goes - you'll see for the next week.  I am going to try something different come Saturday for the next week - but more on that later.  For now, you want to see what I've done today, right?  So wait no longer - the Eyes have it:

Now, ain't that a winning smile?  Careful though - he's almost all mouth!

And no matter where you are, you can still catch sight of his peepers.

Once again, big expressive eye, so I went all out in painting it.  That wraps up this post...  Wait?  Didn't I say I was going to try something else for the next week?

Well, that's right.  I've been toying around with Daz3D and Facegen, and I'm going to have lots of time to tinker around and see what I can do with the software over the next week - so I'm going to try to post up a new model or render that I've put together each day that I'm away next week.  It may not end up happening - I do have a few other things I need to do at the same time - but it's the best chance I've got to really dig in and work without interruption - so I'm going for it.  But that won't start until the weekend - Saturday at the earliest - so you'll all have to hold fast until then.

For now, though, that's all I have to say.  Until next time, folks - paint on!

The perfect mate for that seaside rendezvous

Greetings once more, readers.  I am glad to say that Cthulhu came along a lot faster than I had expected - though I shouldn't be surprised, as I only used a total of 3 color triads on him...  As big as he is, the work goes fast when you're not swapping between a dozen different color sets:

A rather massive figure, and the post (as well as the sandy floor) does give him something of the look of swimming through water.

I see you!  It's not often I get to work with eyes that are large enough to actually do something with, so I like to put in that little extra bit of detail when I get the chance.  And here, it just adds that little extra bit of creepiness.

And anther full body shot, looking at one of the many boxes of figures that I have yet to paint - they're primed, they're mostly washed, but they're still waiting on the brush to come to them.  Someday, figures, someday.

That's all from me today, folks.  I spent about two hours on this hulk, but I am very glad with the results - not to mention, the pictures came out rather well, despite the lighting (it's just not in a good spot for these pictures).  Tune in tomorrow when I paint...  Well, it'll be something small, since it'll be may last chance to go at something with the brushes for a while.  Until then, folks - paint on!

With something this big, you need a solid foundation

Greetings once more, readers.  The big guy is coming along quite nicely, with the first layer having gone down before having to wait for paint to dry.  Not much to do after that - I'll start building up the highlights come tomorrow - but I do have my progress marked to share with you all:

And there you can tell the sheer scale of this monster.  Went through nearly 2/3 a bottle of that particular shade of green getting the base coat on him - fortunately, the rest of the steps will be much more targeted, meaning less paint used overall.  He's big, he's green - and hopefully, I'll get him on the table once he's all painted up and ready to go.

And that's it for today, folks.  Tune in tomorrow for the highlights and maybe even the first of the other colors.  Until then...  paint on!

And I beheld a pale horse...

Greetings once more, readers.  I hope you forgive me a touch of the dramatic for this post, but I thought it rather fitting for one of the big nasties for the Warhammer Fantasy Vampires - Count Mannfred himself.  To quote the full passage: "When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth."

 Not really apropos of anything in particular, other than the fact that it provided a touch of inspiration for the paint scheme on this fellow.  If I were to paint him again, I may try for a fully phantasmal mount - along the lines of what you saw in the Banshee previously - but I think the results for this one will stand up quite on their own.

But first, I promised you all something a little special today, didn't I?  Well, after a couple of hours playing and tweaking, I worked up a render of the Sisters from one of the Pathfinder games I'm in - particularly, the one involving the adventures of Argos Magebane - the Four-Armed sisters Coeava and Sorecha:

Yeah, I've still got a ways to go before I'm really pulling off the really good sculpts and sets - but I'm learning, and it certainly looks a lot better than the first one I tried doing (not the Dragon, the other one) - but I've still got a long way to go.  Still, I'm learning - and these will make a great painting reference when I get my 3d printer in!

But I've put it off long enough, wouldn't you say?  You all want to see Count Mannfred - my entry for this month's painting contest:

And from the other side, showing off how all the colors really interact with each other:

And I think he'll be a force to be reckoned with.  Took a while to paint him up - I think I clocked in at just over 3 hours for him - but I'm certainly happy with the results - and can't wait to hear the talk about him once I bring him in.

And, now that this month's competition piece is done, those of you who have been paying attention will know what time it is:

He may be sleeping now - but starting tomorrow, I will be taking on an attempt to paint him up.  It is not an easy task - if nothing else, that's a big old body to cover in paint, but he's far from the biggest project I've tackled.   So tune in tomorrow to see how far I get on him in the evening.

Until then, folks - paint on!

Primed for August

Greetings once more, readers mine.  Thank you for all the views you gave me yesterday - too bad I didn't have the update ready for you all yet...  But let me make up for that now, with some pics of the latest batch of stuff I've primed up and have ready to hit the painting table:


First off, we have a vampiress from Games Workshop... that I've managed to completely forget the name of...  Well, she's one that I stole the hand from for Lady Avery's sculpt, so I decided to replace her dainty little hand and fine sword... with a Warhammer 40K power axe.  Well, I never said that I had good taste, but I do like the image of a woman wielding a weapon near as large as she is:

Next up we have a lovely dwarf lass that...  Well, I guess her axe is pretty sizable as well.  Well, at least she looks stout enough to wield it properly:

The march of ladies continues with something that's a bit less obvious - one of the Warhammer Dryads.  Definitely feminine, if you get a good look at them - but mostly what you see is wood.

Speaking of wood, this druid - Tobias Winterborn - makes a striking figure, with his longspear in one hand and his pose being held up by a rather impressive vine.  He'll be a fun one to paint up - after I finish my next big guy (you all know who I mean):

And finally, we come to our main attraction:  The villainous County Mannfred from Warhammer Fantasy.  He's the next competition piece I have to paint up - and he's a nasty looking fellow.  Here's the picture you would have gotten if I had been on the ball and posted yesterday:

And here's what you're patience gets you: all primed up and waiting the brush to make him glow - though he already has that sort of silent film, black and white feel to him (though I doubt that just taking this in will win me as many votes):

That's all from me today.  Tune in tomorrow to see how the 'good' count develops - and I may have another 3d render for you all - if I can figure out everything for the software...  Until then, folks - paint on!