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 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!

A day lost, a day gained

Greetings once more, readers!  A hectic day yesterday meant that nothing really got done - but a more serene day today means that things are now continuing apace.  I have a bit to cover today - from the results of last month's painting competition to a new stand to help spice up the pictures, to a new figure completed (though not what you think).

We'll start with the news:  If you remember this guy:

From the start of the month, he managed to take the victory in the painting competition, against a trio of Space Marines!  Hoo-rah!  This month is a vehicle or mount of some description - and you can be sure that I'll be taking pics as the project rolls along.

But for tonight, I did make some more progress on the dragon:

And what's that he's standing on?  Why, the new stand I mentioned earlier!  It's a piece of Games Workshop terrain (and, as such, does have an overabundance of skulls...) which should let me get a good variety of shots with it - and handle much larger figures as well!

But that's not all I've gotten done today.  I have the piece ready to go for this month's painting competition - but no pictures today, as I forgot to snap one...  But I did get another figure finished, one of the Games Workshop Assassins, and a figure that will see quite a lot of use for Dijete, a charact in a Forgotten Realms game I am taking part in (not mine, however):

That's all from me for today, folks.  Don't expect much from tomorrow's post, but Tuesday and Wednesday should see a bit from me - I have another small piece that I'll be working on finishing up very quickly for a friend, and I'll also be starting on the Skaven Doomwheel.  It should be... glowy.

Until next time, then, readers - paint on!