Busy, but not much to show for it.

I've busy, very busy, these past two weeks. Busy with work, travel, illness, children with illness, etc etc. I've still managed to squeeze in some painting time, and you can see the figures I've finished over on the Guns Of April blog ; )

In addition, here are a few cool things that have entered my house since the Cold Wars convention last weekend:

• Marshal Ney, the free figure from the Cold Wars show.

• Lots of fun reference material from those chaps at Osprey. Take particular note of the two on the right.

• Eight models from the "Napoleon in Egypt" range from Brigade Games. They are all members of the French Dromedary Corps, two mounted and six dismounted. I'm really looking forward to painting these up for some fun "Rosetta Stone" period skirmish gaming!

Earlier this week a package of Mantic's Corporation troopers arrived on my doorstep. I was originally under the impression that the Corporation models would be plastic, but these are the plastic resin. I've not worked with it yet, so I'm curious how things will turn out. I must say the figures look great, possibly the best from Mantic this far. A solid mix of contemporary and near-future aesthetics.

Finally, my Scenic Express order arrived with some more Late Summer Buffalo Grass tufts (I use these all the time). I added a few items I haven't used before that you'll get to see added to models over the coming months. The package at the front has four separate sheets of meadow flowers, each with different colors (yellow/white, red/white, purple/white, and brown/white). Should be fun to try these things out.

Until next time.

Cheers
Dave

Ligne and Leger, and not much Morr

Above are 15 of the French Ligne (Line infantry) battalion I'm working on. Only nine models to go.
Below are the first 12 of the French Leger (Light infantry) battalion I'm working on at the same time. Only 12 more of those models to go. I'm very glad to have "broken the back" of these units. 27 down and only 21 to go.

For those of you who have been wondering why the work on my Procession of Morr army has slowed down, well the recent rash of crazy Empire rumors has me wondering what will be released if and when it happens. The latest crop suggests an April release which would give me enough time to incorporate some stuff into the army. So, until these rumors here are confirmed, I'll keep plugging away on my Flagellant unit.

Cheers
Dave

Old Stuff Day, the 2nd.

 Old Stuff Day original art by http://firstkeeper.deviantart.com/

Another March 2nd has come upon us, and thankfully I can just squeeze in this "Old Stuff Day" post. Born as a way to bring new life back to old posts by Rob at Warhammer 39,999, there are quite a few bloggers who enjoy digging back into the past. I'm one of those guys. Here is last year's OSD post.

However, this time around I'm going to dredge up something older (and more amusing) than any post on this blog.

Back in 2005 I created two "life-sized", stuffed Gnoblars for use at a crazy Games Day event - Gnoblar Punting. Creating the patterns, cutting the cloth, and hand-stitching it all was certainly a labor of love. My wife was incredibly surprised by my sowing skills, especially given the number of undarned socks in my dresser drawers. The Gnoblar above and his partner in crime (not pictured here) went to quite a few Games Days and had the snot kicked out of them by enthusiastic punters.

The reason I bring him up tonight, of all nights, is that I've just repaired this one and given him to my almost three-year old daughter, who has promptly named him "just the Gnoblar".

I hope you like him as much as she does : )

Cheers
Dave

Painting the early 19th Century, three models at a time

Last week I completed my "must do" painting tasks for the big Battle of Salamanca game my friends and I are putting on at Adepticon in two months time (I think it might be eight weeks today!)

That means, obviously, I have free time to help some of the other guys out wrapping up their forces. That's the fun part of working as a team to achieve it all. We're all committed, we're all working hard, and we'll all put some great looking models on the table top.

So, onto the French that I'm painting up. I figured I'd start with a battalion of French Ligne (regular, old, line infantry for those not in the know). Now, I typically paint from a black undercoat. By "typically" I mean that 99.5% of the models I paint are primed black rather than any other color. It's just the way I paint. Anyway, I noticed that the French models are wearing a solid 50% white clothing/equipment, and I've been itching to really try out my pot of Vallejo Pale Wash (73202). After deciding to try it out as an experiment on some wonderful Warlord Games Russian Grenadiers I have (waiting for me to launch into that project this summer), I realized this would definitely be the way for me to go. You can see the test in the photo above, and yes, they are the pink collars and cuffs of the Kiev Grenadier regiment. Quite nice aren't they.

So, simply put, the method is as follows:

• Prime models with white spray (to give you an indication of how infrequently I use white spray, I think my can might be from 2007)
• Wash the areas that will be white with the Vallejo Pale Wash
• Highlight white areas with white paint (I'm using Vallejo Dead White)
• Paint remaining areas as appropriate (usually going back to my normal dark-light process)
• Touch up any white areas with white paint

Above are the first three Perry Miniatures French models (themselves genadiers). The coats look a bit bright in this photo, they're actually quite a bit darker in reality. Also, in the spirit of using washes as intended, I painted the shakoes and shoes with Vallejo German Grey and then washed them with Badab Black. Another good result (particularly on the Russian kiwers.

Here are the next three, fusiliers this time, with their white bits washed and highlighted, and the rest of the painting begun.

Well, I'm back to painting these little Frenchmen for a while. Enjoy your weekend!

Cheers
Dave

The Evil Cleric

One of my teasers from last post was wrapped up last night and photographed this evening. This model is Reaper's Evil Cleric Bledsoe.


Some of you may remember a few models I have painted for the Mechanicon Charity Auction. There's the Vulkan He'staan I did for the 2009 auction winner, and the Ulfhedner for the 2010 auction winner.


The annual Mechanicon auction is in honor of Chris Bledsoe, a dear friend of the organizers who passed away. The money from the auction goes to The Luekemia and Lymphoma Society. The 2010 auction winner again bid high enough to win my services for the 2011 auction. That's right, Kevin Bledsoe - the father of Chris Bledsoe - wanted me to paint up another model. I was honored when Kevin sent me this model, sculpted by the renowned Tim Prow, and based partly on Chris, partly on a character Chris used to roleplay.

This model will be heading off to Kevin in the next few days. And if you happen to be going to Mechanicon 2012 (in November), make sure you get involved in the great Charity Auction for a great cause.

Cheers

Dave

What's on my table?

Sometimes I end up with a bunch of projects on my painting table at once. Usually more than I'd like, but for some strange reason the they keep springing up.

The projects on my table at the moment include two psuedo-charity projects that I'll talk about more when I've completed each one, but here are two teaser shots. A big tank (above) and a single figure (below).

Then there's the Napoleonic stuff.

I've finished painting my Hussars. Once I've got the bases completed I'll post up more photos on the Guns Of April blog (which you can check out here).

I'm also about to get started on some Shaken/Casualty markers for our big game.

And then I'm going to be working on a unit of French Ligne for a friend of mine.

I picked up some Empire State Troops over the weekend so I can get moving on that spearmen unit for my Procession of Morr army.

And finally, when I wasn't in the mood for all that other stuff, I assembled this guy out of some bits I had on the table at the time. Not sure where he'll end up.

I hope you're all keeping busy!

Cheers
Dave

A little patina

So, another week, another five Flagellants. This takes the total to 10 models for my Procession of Morr (9 Flagellants and one Corpse Handler). I have another 5 Flagellants primed and on deck.

I've decided to add quite a few bells and hourglasses to these Flagellants and also decided to paint them both with a bronzy/brassy sort of approach. This involves basecoating in Tinny Tin and highlighting up with Brassy Brass (both Vallejo Game Colours). On my first batch of five models I found myself adding a patina by mixing some GW Hawk Turquoise with a touch of Skull White and a quite a bit of Secret Weapon Miniature's Algae wash to get a nice approximation of verdigris.

With over 100 models to go, I also knew I couldn't keep mixing as I went, and mixing up a pot of that mix would be too tough, especially when it came to ensuring the paints didn't separate all the time.

I, therefore, asked Mr Justin at Secret Weapon Miniatures if any of his washes would do a better job of simulating verdigris in one pass. He suggested his Storm Cloud wash, which I promptly ordered.

Along with another Raphael 8404 brush, my newish brush of choice (and the brush of choice of a number of my favorite painters), and...

...a set of the SWM Green pigments, which will be very helpful when discoloring the bronze armor and accoutrements on my character models (once I get around to ordering that Lietpold The Black!) and centerpieces for the army. For an example of the Storm Cloud wash in use, check out the comet on the Flagellant flail above. Not bad at all with no mixing required : )

But speaking of brushes, a guy I know from my FLGS (Games & Stuff in Glen Burnie, MD) has been tinkering with a new product for folks who like to use two brushes when they're painting. The two-brush thing is apparently a method used a lot for getting some nice blending work done.

Anyway, Mike has been working with a supplier and has created this double ended brush, with yes, a brush tip at both ends. This means you "two-brushers" never have to worry about where to stick the other brush again, as Mike says "If you can twirl a pen you can use this brush". For more information (or to buy the brush) you can head to Mike's blog BadDadGaming!

Cheers
Dave

PS. Last night I discovered I'd reached a point I never thought I would reach in my life. Despite many, many purchases since their release in 2007, I have finally run out of Empire State Troopers! Looks like it'll be a trip to the store soon to stock up again for this Morr project ; )