Malifaux - The Guild Grows...

Looking back over my posts about Malifaux, it seems I have a small flurry of posts each year. Two years ago I covered the painting of my Lucas McCabe crew. Last year I chronicled my introduction to the game itself. This year, it's more toy soldiers : )

My gaming group has recently started playing Malifaux again, so I figured it was a good chance to try a new crew and paint up some more models. I have a fondness for all of the different Guild crews and I like the idea that I can keep expanding my collection and will, in years to come, be able to pick and choose from a large pool of minis.

It was a toss up between Sonnia Criid and Lady Justice, but I felt the Death Marshals would take a bit longer to paint up when hobby time is at a premium. The Witching Stalkers are very cool little models too - this helped sway me.

Here is my Sonnia Criid, flanked by Samuel Hopkins and the Perpetual Flame. I decided to go for magical blue flame on both Sonnia's sword and her totem, rather than the standard orange fire. This way I'll be ablate match them to the Death Marshals when I get to them (probably next year).

I really like my wooden plank bases and figured that a creature like the Perpetual Flame would create some charring damage. Over the top of the wood I sculpted some charred wood texture with greenstuff, then painted it up to look the part. Over the top of the grey edges I lightly drybrushed some Blue Green to simulate some OSL.

The very cool Witching Stalkers. I love the poses, the swords, the robes, all of it : )

And because I love to push around more than the average amount of models, I added these two Guild Guards to the crew. These two are perfect for dropping Scheme markers and getting in the way or slowing down enemy models.

I have also decided to build a handful of models that could work as Guild Guards or Wastrels. This figures are from the Through The Breach Male Multi-part Models box set. There are some interesting parts in the set, but also a surprising amount of repetition. Still, these four are pretty cool.

Anyway, I have to get back to my painting table : )

Cheers

Dave

Mechanicum - A little distraction, if you will...

As a distraction from the enormity that is the Warlord Titan Build, I recently finished off these crazy dudes. The Scylla Guardian-Automata Coven are so incredibly Blanchian that I knew I had to have them as soon as I saw them. It is surprising, therefore that it took me this long to paint them. In order to stop them lingering, I rushed the details a bit, but they still fit in solidly with the rest of my Mechanicum/Adeptus Mechanicus forces. Here's a look at them individually (two views per automata). And yes, they will be a pain in the butt to transport!

I also located the mechadendrites for my Myrmidon Destructors, so these guys are now wrapped up too.

I have a couple of other things to show this week, and hopefully there'll be time to put together a post about the Warlord : )

These bases, as always (for my Mechanicum forces) are from the Tech-Deck range by Dragon Forge.

Cheers
Dave

WARLORD - More YouTube video shenanigans. - cleaning and preparing resin.

I think that Wednesdays are going to be a great place to post my new videos. I can film my fun stuff on Fridays, tinker with it all over the weekend, assemble the videos on Monday and Tuesday, and unleash them on the unsuspecting public on Wednesdays. 

I tell you, it's a lot more work than putting together a blog post! Putting together videos is also a very interesting headspace to move around in. Quite different to blogging. Here I can put something together on the fly or spend days crafting something meticulous. I can crop images and revise my wordsmithing. In my early days of video work, I'm not sure of how best to do those things, but I guess that will all come with time.

Anyway, let's get into the next episode of my Warlord Titan Build, where I talk about (and show) how I go about preparing my Forgeworld resin prior to construction. 

It drags a little in places, there's a fun moment in the middle where I cut myself on something sharp, and I learn that I need to keep things a bit shorter. When I first thought about these videos, I wondered how I would ever fill 15 minutes in a particular topic. Well it turns out I like to ramble, so 15 minutes is going to be difficult from the other end of things - keeping it all nice and concise. Head on over to my YouTube channel and check out the videos so far, maybe even subscribe if the mood strikes you ; )

So, once you've checked out the video, please head on over to my Patreon campaign page and consider pledging. I currently have 12 patrons (thank you all very much for helping this to happen, guys), and I am excited to see that number grow so that I can create more fun content.

Cheers
Dave

Mad Max Monster Trucks!

While I wait for the next Warlord Titan Build video to render (I think that's the right term) I thought I'd show you the next commission I have on my plate. My client has been quite impressed by all the Mad Max: Fury Road-inspired cars I've been building, so he figured he'd get me to convert and paint up six MM:FR style monster trucks!

My client is putting together a monster truck gladiatorial arena bash for AdeptiCon next year, and these trucks will be the feature.

I've started messing with the first two, giving them extended prow rams (used to puncture tires or other trucks). Now it's on the the extra armor plating, some of which is coming from the Brigade Games bitz I sculpted earlier in the year. Other parts will be completely custom.

Should be a lot of fun!

Cheers
Dave

WARLORD - And so it begins... My Warlord Titan build, YouTube channel, and Patreon page.

I am very excited : ) I can finally start to shout about the Warlord Titan Build campaign I am now embarking on. Although this bad boy arrived at my house a couple of months ago, I wanted to wait until the rush of summer conventions, crazy workloads, and activities with rambunctious children had calmed down a bit. Now is that time : )

Over the next six months I plan to clean, assemble, and paint this massive beast and have it ready in time to unveil at AdeptiCon 2016. I think that's a pretty reasonable timeframe, as I'll be working on it at nights (and a little on the weekends, if I can squeeze it in).

I'm looking forward to messing around with all sorts of stuff I haven't done before, including filming a lot of videos of my progress along the way. You can see the first of these videos below (or on my YouTube channel). In this one I not only do an "unboxing" of the Warlord, but I also mention my Patreon campaign (something else I haven't done before).

For those of you not aware of Patreon, it's a site that helps artists and content creators to find and interact with patrons around the globe who want to help support their favorite artists in a financial way. My aim with this Patreon campaign is to raise enough that I can not only spend nights working on this, but also a full day each week so that I can increase the quantity of content as well as the quality of the videos as I go along.

Like any crowd-funding campaign, there are some reward levels that I've included that should be pretty cool - from campaign-exclusive decals from Fallout Hobbies to Google Hangouts, and even painted miniatures (sculpted by Chris Borer and painted by me).

Please head on over, check it out, and pledge if you can.

Finally, I'll also be documenting the build via Instagram, if that's more our thing. I like taking photos, and I hope that this will help keep me more active in doing so, as well as helping me refine my approach. You can follow my feed here.

Well, I'm off to start the arduous process that is cleaning and prepping all the parts for this madness.

Wish me luck ; )

Cheers
Dave