Alas, a lass

Greetings once more, readers!  Another day, another figure painted up for your enjoyment.  While I'm not as happy with this one as many of my previous ones, she still managed to look rather lovely:

There she is.  A lovely lady, ready to take the field of battle.

And a better view of her cloak - with all the detail that that brings.

And, finally, the little something extra that I promised you all yesterday.  Unfortunately, I can't claim full credit on this one - most of the work was already done on this scene as part of one of the free bundles that I'd gotten from Daz3d - particularly, the Dragon Slayer scene.  A few tweaks here and there, though - adding a light source for the dragon getting ready to breath fire, repositioning the camera to bring more focus on the figure rather than the dragon, and applying a few morphs to the main character in the picture - including a gender swap, muscle up, and a face morph, and it turns it into my own work - well, more or less anyways.

For those of you interested in learning with me as I stumble about in this software, everything I'm using is free for download - Daz3d provides the posing and tweaking software, Singular Inversion provides the face modelling software that I'll be using, called FaceGen, complete with an export function to bring it into Daz3d, and the rest is what I can get in Daz3d.  I will be dropping a bit of money into it soon - if I want to use it to make 3d models to use on a 3d printer, I'll certainly want the options! - but there's a fair bit you can do with it without dropping a dime (particularly in conjunction with FaceGen added in).

So join me and see how long it takes me to go from this:

To what I've posted above.  Probably once a week, so stay tuned and see how things develop.  It's coming on the end of the week, so don't expect to hear much from me until Friday - when we find out what the next competition piece will be.  Until then, folks - paint on!

The Sands hold many secrets...

Greetings once more, readers.  I am back, with another figure to share with you all - my, but it feels good saying that.  We move from the villages for this one into the burning sands, the lands where mummies make their rest, for another from Reaper's Bones line of miniatures.

Ah, come on, now, Mr. Mummy.  Let us see those pearly whites of yours.

There we go.  He's the latest in my next set of figures to get sealed - 4 so far this batch, and probably another one or two by the time the weekend rolls around!  He's a nasty looking fellow - and should bring the pain down on some unsuspecting adventurers at some point.

Well, that's all I have for today, folks.  Tune in tomorrow to see what the paint brush brings - and I may have a bit of a side project wrapped up by then to share.  Until then, folks - paint on!

A little creation, a little destruction

Greetings once more, readers.  Lots of time eaten up today between a game of Warhammer 40k and toying around with some 3d posing software to learn the ins and outs of it before I get a nifty 3d printer early next year.  But, between all of that, I did manage to get not one, but two figures painted up (though I still need to wait for the ink to dry on the second to finish up the basing on it), and I have to say that I'm rather happy with how they came out.

The first in the order is the tragic loss of a lovely gnomish lass, left to lie in the field alone:

No, no...  That's not right...  The base is far too obvious on that background.   Surely, there's someplace better to show it off from...

Ah, there we go.   Much better.

As for the second one, we have a blue eyed blacksmith ready to take on the forge and bring life to a new weapon, or maybe some armor.  Or maybe something else entirely - he doesn't look like he's too picky - but he hasn't gotten his apron dirty yet!

That's all from me today.  I have some gaming tomorrow, so probably won't have anything to show off until Tuesday - and then Friday should give you the first look at what I'm painting up for next month's competition!  What will it be?  We'll find out together - so tune in then.

Until next time, folks - paint on!

He may have the Red and the White, but he certainly isn't Blue

Greetings once more, readers and fellow painting enthusiasts.  After a few gaming-fraught days, I have nearly finished the Hellborn Sorceror that I had started on last time - and have a little bit of a side note on the talks I've had about sealing miniatures earlier.

I know you all want the pictures, so I'll start with the opposite - that's right, it's just going to be me talking for a bit, about one issue that can pop up on particularly humid days when you're trying to seal miniatures.  I'm talking about cases where either the sealer glops up and turns an opaque white on the figure, or turns into a rough translucent exterior that comes across as...  well, rather ugly.  After all the effort you've put into the figure to this point, you don't want to strip it and start again, so what do you do?

Well, you melt the outer layers of sealer, that's what.  But don't stick it in an oven - that's a good way to melt the miniature along with it.  What you want to do is grab a good quality hair dryer and a decently thick driving glove.  Set the hair dryer on Hot and High, hold the figure with your off hand, and blast away.  It should take a few minutes for the sealer to melt - you can tell when it turns glossy and wet looking again - and shortly after that, you're done - put the figure to the side and give it time to cool - you can try reposing it a bit in this time if you want and are using a plastic or vinyl figure (along the lines of Dwarven Forge's Dwarvenite or Reaper Miniatures Bones line) - but it may not be hot enough to reset the figure's default position (this works along the same principles of the Hot Water Method used to re-pose plastic, resin, or vinyl miniatures).  Voila, you're done, and the finished product should look all the better for it.

Now for what you all are really here for: the pictures of the finished product.  And so I give you Damien, Hellborn Sorceror, from Reaper Miniatures:

From the front, you can see how all the colors come together to make everything stand out...

As the back gives you site of near all the metal bits he has on him - which is to say, all the gold buttons (hm...  I sure do love my gold buttons, don't I?).  A decent amount of work for a chore day - and this one I think looks a bit better in the pictures than on the table, though that may just be me.

That's all I have for today.  Tomorrow is a lazy day for a change, so I'm probably going to have a few new figures to show off - and next weekend, I should have the next competition piece to work on, followed by the dread Cthulhu himself after that.

He is drawing near to waking!

Until next time, folks - paint on!

And something a little more devilish

Greetings once more, readers.  Another day gone, and time once more to see what I've achieved today.  I am very glad to report that today's answer is far from the not much that I've been throwing up recently - in fact, I have gotten a fair bit more done than I was hoping to!  We'll start off where we were at the end of the last post, with the sweet lady Avery, now fully painted and based:

A lovely lady, and a piece that I'm sure that the friend who commissioned her will be quite happy to have - and it just goes to show how nicely Reaper's Bones miniatures can paint up, given the proper care and attention.

That is all I had hoped to get done tonight - but it's not all I did.  Oh, no.  Next on the list, I have a straightforward piece from the Mice and Mystics board game - one of the centipedes, in fact.  I wanted something simple and fast, and, well, this fit the bill:

And we finish today's work log with another model from the Reaper Bones line of miniatures - this one being one of the devilspawn figures - Tieflings, if you prefer the D&D nomenclature.  With his blood red skin and glowing yellow eyes, he should certainly draw your attention!  I'm going to go with bone white hair, and leather brown pants/boots, but I've not yet decided on the coat...  I may go with a deep blue/black to contrast the warmer colors over the rest of the figure...

Well, that's all I have to day - which, for an evening's work is not bat at all!  I'll likely not have anything until Saturday - and perhaps not until Sunday again - but keep your eyes open.  It won't be long until it's time to paint next month's competition piece, and once that's done...  The elder god shall awaken!

Until next time, folks - paint on!

The Fair Lady's Hand

Greetings again, readers.  As promised, I have started on the figure for Lady Avery/Dhevona, and should certainly have her finished for my friend this weekend.  She is a lovely one, I must say, and I am making quite solid progress on her.  While I wish I had been able to finish her up tonight, I fear that must wait for the morrow - but that's not what you're here to read about, you want the picture, don't you?

And there you have it, two angles rather than the typical one on this lovely lady.  Tune in tomorrow when I should have the finished product for you all..  And maybe something else to go with her on the sealing board.  If I'm lucky.

Until then, folks - paint on!

In the depths, he slumpers...

Greetings once more, readers mine.  Not much done today (I do seem to be saying that a lot...), but I have the next batch of figures primed up and ready to go:

And here you see the next big project that I'm going to take on - the elder god Cthulhu (or, at least, a smaller version of him - yes, smaller!).  The commission for Devona/Avery comes first, but soon...  Soon the dread god will rise from his watery lair and lay claim to the gaming table!

Cthulhu Ftagn.

Ahem.

That's all for today, folks.  Tune in tomorrow for the first (and perhaps all) paint applied to Avery/Lady Devona.  Until then - paint on!

I 'eard you wanted a bloody good time!

Greetings once more readers.  It has been a bit of a crazy weekend here for me - 3 gaming events in 3 days!  It's been a crazy busy weekend for me - but that doesn't mean that I didn't find time to get a few things done.  First off, you've seen his WIP, now you get to see him in his full glory - give a warm welcome to the kitbashed Ork Mek:

"'Allo, ya gits.  I 'ope you like wat this bloke done with me.  If'n ya don't, you'll end up like the bloke in this Sentinel.  Heh.  Remember, we's de orkses, and de orkses are da biggest and da toughest!"

Anyways, he's not all I've gotten done this weekend (though the next is only just done).  For those of you hoping we were done with Avery/Lady Devona, I am afraid I shall have to disappoint.  The player has commissioned me to paint up an unmounted version of the character for him - and this one takes some work!  A bit of a trim here, a bit of a weapon swap there, and now she's ready to hit the priming table tomorrow.

As always, I'll be posting up the WIP pictures of her as I go.  I may be done tomorrow, or it may not be until the end of the week - but she's next on the painting block - and should be a lovely figure to boot.  Though, now I have a handless vampire countess that I need to do something with...  Well, I'm sure I have something to glue on that stump, somewhere...

Until next time, folks - paint on!

...But he prefers to go straight to the big stick

Greetings all.  It is time once more to look at what I've gotten done for the day.  I am still making progress on the Ork Mek, and should be able to get him done by the end of the weekend - assuming that I can squeeze some paint time in between all of my gaming (starting tomorrow - of course...).  But you're not here for the talk - you're here for the pics, and I hope this fellow does not disappoint!

He's coming along quite well - but as you can see, there's still quite a lot left to do before he's done.  Still, I'm looking forward to seeing what he looks like when finished - should be rather nasty looking!

Until next time, readers - paint on!

They say you should speak softly...

Hello, readers.  It's time once more to see what work the day has brought.  As promised, I've started on the Ork Mek competition piece.  Didn't get as far on it as I would have liked - I would have liked to get the leather bits done, at least - but it is a start, and a good one at that:

He's looking good, but there's a lot of work yet to do on him - not to mention all of those details!  But I'm certain he's going to turn heads by the time he's finished and on display - and there's going to be a lot of gore inside that sentinel cockpit he's standing on.  Once I've finished the figure and sealed the bulk of it.

Until next time, readers - paint on!

...Even if you take it to your grave!

Good evening, readers.  'Tis time once more to see what I've been up to this weekend - which, unfortunately, is not much.  I have, however, finished up the Necromancer:

And...

"Oy, wats dis?  You gonna get to introducing me, yet?"

Well, as patience goes, Orks aren't really well renowned, so here he is - the start of my next entry into the Games Workshop Monthly Painting Contest.  A couple of weapon swaps, a new base (courtesy of a destroyed Sentinel), and a Rokkit Launcher literally pulled from an Imperial Guard vehicle, this is not a good mek to mess with: 

That's all for today, all.  I'll see you all on Tuesday, when I may have a new commission piece to work on - but my highest priority is getting this competition piece done before the voting begins!

He'll dig up your secrets...

Greetings once more, readers.  I was hoping to get two figures finished and done with tonight - not including the basing on Avery - but a touch of indecision caught me today, and it took a while to decide what to paint.  That is resolved now, though - I've started (and nearly finished - oh, so nearly!) the Warhammer Fantasy Necromancer that I picked up some weeks ago:

He's certainly a ghoulish looking chap, isn't he?  Well, he may need a bit more color in his skin - but as a grave-digging servant of vampires, what would you expect?  But he's not the only piece on the table tonight.  I said that all that was left for Avery was to apply the static grass, and so it was:

And that's the last we'll see of Avery, unless I toss up some pictures of the figures in game (my figures are getting quite a lot of use in the games I play in - I'm rather proud of the fact).

And that wraps things up for me for tonight.  It'll be a few days before my next post - I'll try to have something up on Sunday, but no promises.  Until you see me again, folks - paint on!

Why, yes you can joust sidesaddle!

Greetings once more, readers.  As promised, I have returned with the near-finished product for the commission piece that I picked up over the weekend.  About three hours of work went in to painting her up - but I think she was well worth the time.  The details stand out wonderfully, and everything ties together quite well - even more so come tomorrow, once I apply the static grass and the figure is truly finished.  But, for now, here's the finished product for you all to enjoy:

I'm quite happy with how the figure came out, and hope you all like her as well.

And... well, that's all I have today.  I'll be back tomorrow with something more to show off - but who knows what until then?  So, as always - paint on!

Holiday + Family = Little Paint Time

Hey, all.  I hope you all of you from here in the US had a good National Blow Up the Sky Day.  Obviously, I had a rather busy weekend, a lot of it good, some of it less so.  The most obvious deficit, however, has been on the painting table - I simply did not have enough time to get anything done over the weekend - and since this is my creative blog, not my prattle on blog, that also meant no new posts from me.

But, the dry streak ends today.  I received a commission from a friend over the weekend to paint a character model for him, and that's just what I've started on:

This is Avery, from Kaelo's journals.  A mounted warrior of aristocratic descent who acts in part as the group's de facto leader.

I'm only about halfway done at this point, but she is coming along quite nicely.  There will be a few more colors in there to spice things up - and, of course, the static grass on the ground - but you can definitely see where the figure is going - and I, for one, am quite happy with the progress.

That's all for today, folks.  Tune in tomorrow, when I should have this piece finished up - and may even get on to the next piece, whatever that may be.  Until then...  Paint on!

I'd say I'm impartial, but it's only half a job

Hey, all.  Not much to report for this week - ended up doing a lot of non-painting stuff yesterday (including a massive run to finish out Shovel Knight - great game, if you're in to retro-style action platformers), and started work on assembling a Warhammer Fantasy Wood Elf army today (long ways to go with that - especially with mixing up the left and right legs on one of the figures >.<).  But I did get something done.

I've recently gotten into Heroclix - which, of course means a whole pile of poor-to-decently painted figures.  One in particular - a Crimson Cowl figure - came without paint on the skin areas.  Well, I'm not going to let something like that slide - not when it would take a short time to paint it up and make it look like a proper figure - even if the rest of it, well, doesn't.  Some black brush-on primer, a few minutes with the Reaper Light Skin triad, and a touch of Blue Liner and a Blood Red around the painted parts (and the attached parts), and here's what you get:

Not the greatest of figures, but the paint job will certainly make her stand out when she hits the table.  Which, being Heroclix, I may well have to find a way to do that.

That's all for me, for now.  I'll post up a pic once I've assembled the start of my Wood Elf army, and once I've more things painted - which, likely, will not be on the morrow.  Until then, folks - paint on!