Stormblades on the painting table again

Making slow but steady progress. I am using a method unlike the ones I've used before. Instead of highlighting and shading with lighter and darker tints of the same color (e.g., the Reaper triads), I'm using different colors altogether for shading and highlighting: colors distanced from each other on the color wheel.

Basically, Stormblades with their traditional blues, yellows, silvers and golds might as well have a half-finished "S" on their breastplates, because all they need to complete the Superman look is some red. This came to mind while attending one of Mathieu Fontaine's classes on color theory at Adepticon 2011. One of his favorite paints is P3 Sanguine Base, a deep purplish crimson color. So I'm using that to create more dynamic shadows. On the lighter side, some P3 Ryn Flesh is providing the other end of the contrast range.

Here's the Stormblade Officer as I'm in the middle of working on him. The blends are nowhere near ready, but the high contrast is starting to come out. To me, it makes him look like there's more...I dunno, like there's more "there" there. What was actually a pretty boring sculpt has a degree of interest now.

Viktor Pendrake, Scholar Adventurer

This is one I did last summer for a pal o' mine who teaches at Cal Poly. He's a mega-nerd like me, and even more so when it comes to comics. In fact, we're going to the San Diego Comic Con this year. 

Anyhoo, I wanted something that looked like a scholar conquering ignorance (here represented by the troll head) with an array of awesome literature at hand. "Awesome literature" here means:

• A big leather tome version of Lord of the Rings (in back)
• A collection of Thor comics (the green book with a hammer on the front cover)
• A fusty old MLA Handbook (red book)
• An illuminated abecedary of comic heroes, open to "B is for Batman" (thus the symbol on the facing page)

These pics were taken with an Iphone, so they ain't great. That said, the fig was close to finished, so I wanted to snap some photos. Enjoy.

Priming, at least

God it's been a death march lately, what with work and family crises converging. The unfortunate reality is that my painting time has been eaten up. My work lately comes down to prepping my Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (the old ones, not the resculpts being released shortly), and boy do they need a lot of TLC. Them's some old molds, people. Pitted castings need filling, and even then the sculpts themselves are goofy. At least there's the Dude, and the Gun Mage Captain Adept. I have the latter, and in fact primed him just this evening.

And with the GMCA I also primed the Thunderhead, my converted Defender, and a villain for my upcoming encounter in The Skinsaw Murders. I'm GMing a campaign in Pathfinder, using their first standalone Adventure Path, Rise of the Runelords. Pretty cool!

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On a sidenote, allow me to say that I simply adore Dupli-Color Sandable Auto Primer. In the pics I used White on the Thunderhead (hey, it's electric, not coal-powered), and Gray on the Defender. The nozzle on those paint cans allows for great control over the flow, it creates a fine dispersion in a vertical band, and it dries nice and neat. Although you can touch it nearly immediately, it's still a good idea to wait a full day (or at least overnight) to paint it. Sometimes I shorten the wait time by using a hair dryer to speed up the cure time. Laszlo Jakusovsky (of the Hot Lead DVDs) holds that hair drying a just-primed mini actually makes the primer harder and more durable.

Sideways progress

Prepping the Thunderhead. Yes, I know it's a long time before I'll be ready to use the Thunderhead in actual play, but it's such a cool model that I want to paint it now.

Or maybe I just have a fear thing about finishing models, and like to spend my time prepping them instead. I mean, Stryker's been almost done for six months. The Lancer is about as close, and the Charger might need another two day's work at most. All the Ironclad needs is a quick light drybrush on the grass and a couple of arc markers.  I could have a Battlebox ready to use!

Except something holds me back. What?

Maybe it's some variation of the fear of commitment. If I call a model finished, then it's open season for others to criticize its flaws and rate me as a painter.

Or maybe it's that I'm restless in my planning, and I keep coming up with cool things I could do that would make it even better: all of which notably delay the finish date on the models.

Or maybe it's that I'm not fully satisfied with any aspect of what I've done, and I keep asking myself, "couldn't you have done that better? How might you improve it, now?".

Whatever the fear, rather than push through it I keep moving laterally, bringing multiple other models up to the same state of hand-wringing, almost-finished quality.

Like those damn Stormblades.

Brownlining continued

Subject line says it all. Making progress, though.

Here's a pic of the finished version of the Ironclad (subject of the very first posting below), and his little Lancer brother in progress.

Some pics from WIP

Finished basic basecoat coloring on Stormblades; began brownlining. God but it's tedious work. I made it about 3/4 of the way through one of them before I had to give it up. It does help, though, with defining shadow etc.

A while back I posted in the Privateer Press forums about swapping a Sturmhaubitze barrel in for the stock Cygnar Defender's barrel (which I think looks like a spare bit of plumbing otherwise); I made the leg swaps with a Nomad and got it ready for priming:

And here are a few of the battlebox Stryker, who is the farthest along:

 

 

Back in Black

So while I haven't posted in many moons, I've been painting continuously. Trouble is that I always feel uncomfortable taking pictures of WIP. You'd think I'd get over that reluctance, given that looking at old WIP pics of the Ironclad makes me feel really good about where it ended up, but sadly no. Here's a status update, insofar as I can recall.

On the paint table at the moment:

• A full unit of Stormblades, with the officer and vexillum bearer
• Classic pStryker
• Squire
• A Trencher, as a color test (the rest of a full unit + officer/sniper is primed and ready)
• Eiryss
• Classic Lancer
• Classic Charger
• Reinholdt
• Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team

Painted, but needs touchups / finishing elements:

• Pathfinder goblins, pyros, commando, warchanter
• Freebooter Imperial Noble (Aldern Foxglove in our Pathfinder campaign)
• Erylium - needs orange glass frit inlaid into Sihedron Rune for glowing effect
• Nualia - needs a few more highlights, and detail on the Sihedron Rune; base needs a certain je ne sais quoi.
• Moor Hound AKA Malfeshnekor - something to spruce up his rather expansive and dull 50mm base.

Cleaned and prepped for priming:

• Gun Mage Captain Adept
• Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord
• Classic Defender with barrel mod

In prep:

• 2010 Commander Nemo
• Ol' Rowdy
• Arcane Tempest Gun Mages
• Jesse Moonwalker, werewolf
• Thunderhead

Just staring at me reproachfully from storage:

• A lot of other stuff.

Ironclad paints used

Blues:

• P3 Cygnar Blue Base
• P3 Cygnar Blue Highlight
• Reaper MSP Sky Blue
• Reaper Pure White

Mixed to taste as I varied from shadow to highlight.
Gold:

• VGC Brassy Brass
• VGC Glorious Gold
• Sepia ink wash (Les Bursley's recipe)

Steel/Iron:

• GW Chainmail
• Ink washes (again, Bursley's recipe), using a succession of black, brown, purple and a suicide mix of all of them

Lining:

• Reaper MSP Brown Liner

And a touch of Reaper MSP Blood Red and then Blood Red/Palomino Gold for the heartfire in the eyes.

First post, and a few WIP Ironclad pics

So this blog is where I will keep track of my gaming miniature painting efforts. As usual, my OCD is kicking in, much to Shelley's chagrin, but also much to my increased satisfaction with the activity. It pays to be detail-oriented!

As a kickoff, here's a link to my Cool Mini or Not? gallery, and below are several pics of my fourth mini ever: a Privateer Press Ironclad.

Initial blue basecoating:


After basecoating is finished, with a few highlights and shading added:


And the current stage of affairs, with more details picked out, shading and highlighting:


Next is base work, fixing those damn black shoulder pauldrons, and finishing/smoothing the blends. Getting close!