It's Beginning to Smell a Lot Like Xmas...

Christmas Eve (Day) here, on a foreign and somewhat archaic computer at my parents' house, with a short(ish... I'm generally not very concise) entry that I didn't think I'd be making at least for a week or so, and probably not in this form.

Miss Terious, the second place entry

Your Eyes Shine, Just Like Mine, Step Forward... - Infinity ALEPH

Anyone? Anyone? I thought that was a pretty clever reference... Well, on to the meat of the post.

Wildly Inaccurate! Protectorate of Menoth Deliverers

The golden Protectorate army continues to grow.


As a fun game, try counting the instances in Warmachine fiction that feature deliverers and doesn't make a point of their rockets being "wildly inaccurate" or something closely paraphrased. (Answer at the bottom of the post.)

The Finish Line: Warhound titan, final

Normally, every post I make is at said line, but for this project, there's been a lot of communication and details, so this has been a multi-parter.

13... again. Warhound WIP 4: freehand

 Yep, bit the bullet and decided another 13-cog gear was a bright move (eyeroll)...

Tickets to the gun show: Warhound titan WIP 3

Get it? Biceps... gun arms...? Never mind, too sophisticated for you.

Why 13?! Warhound Titan WIP part 2

 

Working on some of the larger freehand and the main carapace, this time.

Warhound Titan WIP: Lots of Firsts!

So, I believe this is actually a first for my blog.

Actually, this is a number of firsts.

The first of these firsts is that I haven't done any work in progress blog entries.

The second is that it's my first titan.*

Law and Order: Justice and Lucius

No, I'm not talking about that conservative and formulaic show of yesteryear (sorry, fans... Whale Biologist), but of the political view of rigid and typically harsh punishment for crimes.

Copy, Blue Leader. - TRON-inspired YuJing (part 2)

Normally I save the proverbial big guns for last, but I was just too happy with this guy not to lead with my favorite. This may be the cleanest sculpted and best cast large model I've ever worked with, which made it a lot of fun to paint.

Don't Settle for Less - A Settlers of Catan Review

Another review-- I guess I've been feeling opinionated recently (though not having much time with the time/energy to paint certainly contributes to the lack of painting entries).

The dated copy I got second-hand-- I prefer the older aesthetic...

This began as a review of Settlers of Catan's expansions, but, being a responsible reviewer, I chose to start at the logical beginning, with the core game.

Defend the Abbey! Brushfire Vandalands

Well, these guys reminded me of Redwall, and I don't really remember many details about the series, except a few characters' names (not very interesting), the the eponymous wall (which was a bit too obvious), and that there was an abbey, so that's what you get.

Your Move, Flynn! - TRON-inspired YuJing

The request to do a set of minis based on TRON's art style was a challenge I looked forward to.

Starting off with subtle shading and a strong focus on the glowing lines was, while faithful to the style, and likely to look good in all gloss, not the best translation to miniatures. The crisp edges, and a little more liberal shading quickly improved this.

Are Zombies and Serial Killers Allowed to be Cute? Puppet Wars Resurrectionists

These models were an experiment for me-- specifically, they were the first models that I didn't highlight at all.

Protectorate Commission

Another commission for the growing Protectorate army I've been working on...

Mansions of Madness Review - A Word to the Wise

Wherein Your Humble Narrator Describes the Temporal and Structural Horrors of a Board Game of Cyclopean Horrors.

Primus Death

Another quick one, with this mini, I went for a muted/stylized color scheme. I was pretty happy with how quickly the NMM work came out with this extra-dark look. I'll definitely be experimenting with this style, again.

Pre-heresy Lightning Claws

A short one, today:

This project turned out to be a bit more ambitious than I expected when I set out working on it.

Technology & Magnets

"Two posts in one day?!" Yep, with a long weekend coming up, I'm finishing out some work that had gotten backed up (in this case, after waiting for a replacement part to arrive).

Cadwallons, part 4

My final Cadwallon commission (for now) has been a fun, and one of the bigger commissions I've done.  

While this is an end, it's also a beginning-- this is the first set of photos I've taken with my new light box. I'm still getting the hang of it, but am pretty happy with the results, most notably a significant reduction in glare.

Courage

This post might have been better titled "Guts" or the possibly the marginally sexist "Balls," but I love a good reference, so I went with a classic.

The Witching Hour - A discussion of Deneghra's Witching Hour theme list.

I realized that it was time to tackle a new tactics article when I started going in to more and more detail, on one of my dark horse favorites: Deneghra. Now, some of you might be asking yourself, "How is she a dark horse?" The answer is found in her theme list.

You give up a lot for some very specialized advantages, but this is perfectly fine with me, because of what you gain.

(S)Laughter house (updated w/ pics)

So, since starting Malifaux, I've been playing McMourning exclusively, and been having a darn good time of it.

I've done other tactics articles, and will eventually try to turn this in to something with more depth, as I gain more experience, but this is a start.

The Noisy Killer

Not the most tasteful title, for those who get the reference, but I couldn't think of anything clever for this lightning-themed post.

While I've been getting in to Malifaux, I've been attempting to pare down my Warmachine collection into something actually manageable, as I'd like to just keep what I play or want to learn to play with.

A side effect of this is, I'm actually getting reasonably close to having fully painted factions.

Death Korps Gorgon troops

Many people, myself and my client included, love Forge World's Death Korps of Krieg line, but find that around $5/model, for an army where you can potentially have over 100 models, is just not practical.

This is where my most recent commission comes in.

I'm not Sleeping, Cold Wind Blowing…

I was  going to post this after finishing a few more Arcanist pieces, but I've been entrenched in painting Resurrectionists and Guild recently (the factions my wife and I are playing, respectively), so Rasputina is sadly not getting any love.

Here's the beginnings of her rag-tag cult.

Cadwollans, part 3

Another set of Confrontation pieces. For those of you who are unaware, Confrontation is scheduled for a revival within the year, so these fellows will be in good company.

Personally, I'm looking forward to trying out the game eventually. The miniatures, while a little cartoony, are some of the best I've had the pleasure to work with, and I'm hoping the game is as good as its aesthetic.

A City in Eight Movements.

The Project

New games tend to inspire a new vitality in me, and Malifaux has done this like none other.

I've always been a bit of a fan of a good battlefield, and it's always been a goal of mine to have a really nice battlefield. I've done numerous small-to-medium projects, but this will be, by far, the most elaborate and logistically difficult one I've done, but I think I'm ready.

I'm looking at doing a 2-level piece of scenery (I'm considering eventually doing two of these, but one will be plenty for now) designed for Malifaux, but it'll probably be generic enough for any setting that's similar enough, unless I go crazy with details, and I've thought about this a lot, but am still a bit worried about the practicality of it.

As I feel that Malifaux is, in a lot of ways, a spiritual successor to Mordheim, I think it's appropriate that now, around 15 years after my first aspirations of a dual-level board (with Mordheim, of course), I'm realizing my dream of a ridiculously complex, but hopefully playable board.

Protectorate commission

Some time ago, due to finances and time constraints, I needed to let my overly ambitious golden Protectorate army go. However, I couldn't have found a nicer buyer, and since then, we've stayed in contact, and I've been slowly expanding my old (or his new) Protectorate army for him.

This is the newest addition to his force, and I've always been happy with it, even if it's one of the most demanding paint jobs I've done en masse.

The Street Sweepers, Part 2

(Continued from Part 1)

A reminder of my list,
from the previous post

While I've been as sick as a simile, I've finally gotten a chance to play my Street Sweepers list.

In this case, it was against another Cygnar army- an epic Stryker list with Precursors, warjacks and the black 13th for range, and Rowdy.

Circle... of Jomon?

An odd and not all that clever title, but I guess it got your attention.

This army's been influenced heavily by my study of prehistoric Japanese ceramics. It's not that historically accurate (since there isn't all that much historical accuracy going around with werewolves and demigods), but I tied to keep it very aesthetically in tune with the Jomon and Yayoi sensibilities.

New Beginnings, New Ends

So, I decided to try painting up some Space marines I recently acquired, after the end to a long period of avoiding Games Workshop miniatures.

Hardly my first army*, Dark Angels were still my first playable army. So, I decided to try painting one again.

Starting out a new Game: Malifaux

ere begins my journey in to Malifaux.


Well, truth be told, that began when Wyrd Miniatures was still just a miniatures company, with no associated game. The original Pandora and Ramos miniatures, and several others were ones I had been eyeing as proxies for Warmachine for years. Eventually it was the combination of a few different factors, including pulling back on other hobby expenses and how nicely the game was shaping up to be, that led me to try out the game finally.

The Good Doctor, himself.

I was originally suckered in by the Arcanists and their steampunk* aesthetic, but Bartertown dictated that Resurrectionists were the starter faction.**

McMourning's mad doctor aesthetic meant I was curious, his Joker-esque look certainly didn't hurt. Reading Malifaux's (Malifaux'?) narrative had me enjoying his character even more, so the redhead became my first Master.

Free Speech and Piracy

I was about to start off this post by saying something about "Normally, I don't say much political," but "normally" doesn't mean much yet, and, frankly, I imagine that I will be occasionally posting what I believe in, though I'll try to stick to topics relevant to the blog.

Captain Kara Sloan Conversion

Capt. Sloan, in her stiff stock pose

This was a fun conversion, and one of few times I've been asked to reproduce my own work.



Like many others, I thought that the Kara Sloan stock pose (right*) was static, at best. I personally am a huge fan of well done "at ease" poses, which is why I'm constantly impressed by the old Confrontation line.

* Seems there was some confusion about the stock photo, so I've added the least painted photo I could find of the stock pose, if someone has a clearer one, please let me know.

However, holding a rifle longer than she is tall, one handed, with the other on her hip, is not an interesting (or believable) pose. (Interestingly, the concept sketch shows with her in a very similar pose, but looking over her other shoulder, and the rifle on the ground, in a much more natural pose. The face is also nicer, but I imagine that's more to do with sculpting limitations than the poor pose.)

Sloan, done by Mr. Uderzo looks
 sort of like a man, but at least looks
like s/he's doing something.

The obvious modification was to make something like her artwork (right), which took some careful cutting and was one of the first attempts I made to do thoroughly mechanical details.

Ready to cap some (insert faction here).

I was quite happy with how the model came out (as were my clients), but, were I to do it again, I'd definitely apply what I've learned about making scale rivits (more on that in another post).



I think that this conversion, while not perfect, is one of the more effective conversions for the time it took of any I've done.



A more elaborate conversion I've considered is as follows:

-completely remove/resculpt both shoulders, to drop her stance slightly.
- lean her head in to the gun slightly (to give the look of taking a shot, instead of either just having shot or scoping out a new target)
-the addition of a bipod or monopod might be in order

However, I pride myself in affordable prices, so I didn't do the extra steps for the commissions, as I don't feel it's worth the time and associated cost to my clients- this would likely be a personal project instead.

Ashara (Dark Eldar Heroine)

This was a fun little commission-- my favorite type of commissions are actually single pieces (there's no way they get repetitive).

Raging Heroes is a small company that does some nice minis, but this is the first of theirs that I've painted. The pose was decent (reminiscent of late 80's miniatures poses) but with some very nice detail, especially for how delicate the parts were. I also appreciate how a few different pieces allowed it to fit in two separate lines.

On the commission itself, it was pretty open-ended- essentially, purple armor and orange hair & tassels, and something like the studio paint job. I added some dark red to the cloth to distinguish it from the purple armor, while avoiding making it distract from the rest by adding too much contrast. The green details were to oppose the purple, and even more importantly, so the bright orange wasn't the only bright spot on the model.

I did some of the highest contrast highlights I've done on this, to accentuate the already sharp edges.

The client is going to do their own thing with the base, so this is just temporary, but I think that the wider base does something good for the cloth, accentuating the flow, rather than the sleeves just hanging out over space.

But, enough words, here's the mini:

Pointy!

"Selling Out"

Before starting this, I normally try to avoid disclaimers, but, simply, I have way more to say about this than what you want to hear. I've edited this down to what I believe are the core points: this isn't comprehensive- it's two case studies.

The concept of selling out does not usually come up (at least, from my experience) in conversations about miniatures companies. After all, they're there to sell you things, so there's no way to "sell out," is there, right?


Wrong.