The Horsemen Are Coming Nearer...

Just a quick post about what I'm painting right now. In the wait to the Christmas Infinty goodness, I have invaded my backlog and did some 15mm converting.

I love the new Ratnik post-apoc figures made available in Europe and the US by Lead Adventure. I wanted to see if I could get similar results in 15mm. Here are some crude shots of my efforts. I'll get some better pictures when I get them on some bases. I'm hoping to increase the productivity of the blog by putting up some work in progress shots.

To Infinity And Beyond

This blog seems to have more comback tours than Cher. the dreaded "Real Life" has gotten in the way of the hobby. After finishing my Masters, I've been swamped with work (slinging satelite TV boxes) and fighing the good fight to get some PhD funding for next year. The application to extend my visa finally pushed out gaming in my freetime. Now that that is submitted, i can gte back to painting. Here is the first real painting that I have done in the last month an a half or so.

These are some Infinity Ariadna figures. I got these for cheap on Ebay and painted them in the hope of flipping them once a give a few rounds on the gaming table. The Infinty minitures are supurb and I really wanted to do them justice.

I tried very hard to "up my game" painting wise with these figures. I'm trying to incorprate more wet blending and I'm really focused on the fundementals (paint consistency, brush stroke, and highlight placement). The Camo pattern turned out well but was a real pain to do, being three times the work of a single colour. I'm really pleased with the results, though the photos leave something to be desired. I really need to get bigger lamps and a dedicated photo booth.

I do plan on playing infinity come Janurary. I have some Nomads coming for Christmas and I'm excited to get a brush to them. Stay tuned for mor miniature madness. hopefully I can get some more painting done in the new year.

Some Steamy Capitalism

I figure I would post a photo and a link to a converted Malifaux crew I featured here a while ago, and is now up on ebay. There is a miss-spelling in the listing, so be assured that there is less competition for bids. Free UK shipping and reduced international shipping if it goes for over 60 pounds.

Thanks for looking.

Mechaniarachniphobia

Here are a few pictures of my first professional sculpt. Its a 15mm scale steam spider. It is designed for 15mm but as you can see by the last picture, it fits in with 28mm figures as well. The legs are separate and are on ball joints, so the figure is very poseable.

The figure will be produced by Aegis Figures.

Straight outta Malifaux

Here is a picture of my attempt at making some Desperate Mercenaries, a new unit from the second Malifaux book. These are converted from some Copplstone Castings High Adventure figures. I wanted them to be somewhat cohesive so I sculpted some cleavers out of styrene. I imagine them to be some sort of strange Malifaux axe gang.

I'm trying to improve my photography. I think the lighting is a little better, but I think that I still need to eliminate some shadows.

My Malifauxificent Return

Desolation engine, Four A Miniatures.

Steampunk Abominations. Left two are Mantic ghouls, while the right one is Four A again.

Necropunks, Four A Miniatures.

Hollow Waifs. Right, West Wind. Left Copplestone.

I fell like I've done more comeback tours than Cher. I'm now settled into my new room in Cardiff and I thought that I would show you, my loyal readers, the fruits of my unemployment...

Here are some pictures of my freshly painted steampunk undead for Malifaux. After a three month painting hiatus, I tried to bring my A game to these figures. They are all pretty heavily converted with various bits I had lying around. I am especially proud of the Desolation engine, both in painting and converting.

This group of figures primarily uses miniatures from the relatively new Four A miniatures. I have blogged about them before briefly. This is the first time that I really had a chance to work on and paint the figures that I bought from them back in April. The casting is clean and well defined. The figures take paint well and gave me a chance to put some love into them. They are well worth a look.

I was also mightily impressed with the Mantic plastic ghouls. They are really detailed and at times have finer features than a metal figure ever could. Mantic is really showing what plastic can do. They were also a joy to paint. I'm going to be keeping them in mint if I ever need more undead stuff.

All done

Well, the dissertation is all done, marking the end of my time here at Durham. I've written 15,000 words on smugglers and I'm ready for 100,000 words more, I just need to get someone to write me a check to do it.

I'll be moving on to other pastures in Cardiff. Thanks to everyone in Durham that made it a great year on and off the gaming table. I'm looking forward to moving to Cardiff and hope that the gamers there are as good as they are in Pittsburgh.

Stay tuned for a return to your (more or less) regularly scheduled gaming program. I bought two Firestorm Armada starter fleets and hope to get those pained very soon.

AE Bountiful

Here are a few pictures of last nights AE Bounty game. Despite being a rather large game(6 crews) the game relatively smoothly. We made a lot of mistake on the rules, but all in all the game made me really excited about this ruleset and I would love to play again. It was also nice to see the 15mm sci-fi figures that I have been painting over the last few months.

The HOTT sands of Mars

Some pictures of last nights game at the club. We used the HOTT rules to play a game of British colonials versus Martian beastmen. there were 72 AP per side. The game was a blast and a the figures (painted by my friend Steve) were superb.

Some cool stuff

Here is a cool thing that I found in the National Archives while doing my research. Its a schematic for some sort of still. I don't know what its for. there doesn't seem to be any documents around it that describe its function. It looks like its for distilling some substance that is stored in a tank under ground. I found this in a box of treasury documents. Judging by the age of the documents around it, its from 1770.

Anyone out there have any guesses as to what it is or what its for? I'm not using it in my dissertation, but I am curious about it.

So it Begins....

Things have been quite a while around here. I just got back from a three week visit to the States. Now its time to really get cracking on my dissertation. I have 600+ document images that need to be sorted and organized. Things will continue to be slow around here. I'll be posting some game pictures and hopefully some cool document images I find.

See you all on the other side.

Greetings from The Humungus! The Lord Humungus! The Warrior of the Wasteland! The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla!

Here's a quick picture of some 15mm Wasteland Raiders for my 15mm Post Apocalypse project. The figures are from Rebel miniatures. I tried to give them an appropriately scavenged look for the figures, giving them clothing that could be scavenged from a destroyed department store or army base.

On the Road Again...

The blog has been quiet for a while since I have been away doing dissertation research. Here are some 15mm Post Apocalyptic bikers from Rebel Miniatures. I have done a few conversion by swapping torsos with their PA gangers and a few head swaps using GZG heads. I really like these models. The casts are really clean and the bikes are ooze detail.

These are the first figures in a new 15mm PA project I'm working on. There are several good PA projects out there in 28mm but not too many in 15mm. Stayed tuned for more 15mm PA.

A fair bit of comparison

From left to right, West wind(heavily modified), GW, Privateer Press, Four A, Heresy

I wanted to post a quick review and size comparison of the new tophat miniature from Four A miniatures. Four A is a new company based out of county Durham. I'd like to add that, even though Andy at Four A and I are realtivly close in proximity, I am in no way affiliated with the company. I have only met Andy recently and I have never gamed with him. Rest assured this review is objective and independent.

Tophat is arguably the most promising figure form the new range. I was immediately drawn to the figure as a substitute in Malifaux for Hans, since I was not too fond of the stock Wyrd miniature. What I really like about this figure is that it dosent go overboard with the steampunk elements, somthing that Privateer and Wyrd have been guilty of in the past. This figure suits me fine. The details are crisp and the casting is very clean. Although, I would expect this since its coming out of brand new mold.

The figure is listed as being 38mm from the feet to the top of the hat. This has drawn some flak on the LAF, being rather large for a 28mm figure. The turth is that this is a very large 28mm figure, but a 28mm figure none the less. You can see from the comparison above, that Tophat is much taller than other heroic 28's. That being said, the proportions are similar to the more popular lines out there. I think he'll fit into my existing figures as a taller man.

Overall I would recommend this figure for any steampunk or sci-fi gamer. Despite its size, it fits well with most existing line and should fit even more with official Malifaux miniatures. I hope that all of Four A future figures are not all so big, but I think this one provides some good variety in a Malifaux crew. A great start for the fledgling miniature company.

A Thin Skin Against the Void

I've begun a new 15mm sci-fi project. Skirmish being my first love, I wanted to utilize the benifits of 15mm's small size. I designed these paper ssci-fi corridors and textured them with free sample textures that I got from Marlin Studios.

Some of you may remember my ship sections built around junction boxes. I really like the results I got from this method, but it was too expensive and slow. I designed the paper corridors in order to cover a 4'x4' table quickly and cheaply. The complex above cost me £6 and took me the better part of an afternoon to cut and assemble. Its not quite finished. I need to make more door clips and lots of stuff needs to be black lined. But it is playable as is.

I also made some adverts and signage for the corridors. I wanted this terrain to have blade runner/star wars feel. I imagine that residents in the had city would be constantly bombarded with advertising and holographic images. Right now, I only have signs printed on paper. Once I figure out to print hem onto acetate, I will hae a whole bunch of holo screens and signs.

I have three sizes of section so far. a 4"x4", a 6"x4" and a 2"x7". I plan on making other sizes. The system works by butting these whole sections against one another and connecting them with door clips. The door clips are made out of styrene with a paper texture pasted to them. I'm really pleased with the system.

The Unusual Suspects

Here are some pictures of some 15mm sci-fi stuff I have painted recently. These are mostly Critical Mass Games mercenaries with some 15mm.co.uk stuff thrown in.

I really love the Critical Mass aliens. They are not only the cleanest models I have ever taken out of a package, they are a joy to paint as well. Simple but characterful. I wish critical mass would make a few more packs for this range. When it comes out. I would love to play AE Bounty in 15mm.

These models will be residents of a 15mm sci fi city I have in the works. I have been designing some paper ship/installation corridors similar to my plastic ones I made over Christmas. I hope to get some posted when I get them done. Hopefully paper will enable me to make them faster and cheaper. My goal is to fill a 4'x4' table with them.

Its Electric! Boogey Woogy.

Here is a pic of a more unusual figure for my Malifaux Arcanists. As far as a know, Wyrd doesn't make a figure for the electrical creation, which is essentially a walking bomb that the arcanist can summon to the battlefield. There are a few versions of the construct on the web. I made mine from a foundry Ancient German that I had lying around. I removed the head and the bits from the figure and replaced the head with a ball of greenstuff. I really wanted this figure to be humanoid, but have no distinguishing personal features. I really think Malifuax is an opportunity to play with some subtle horror themes. The fantasy Inuit and the electrical creation are a few 'studies' I did with faceless miniatures. I'm trying to use that facelessness to make the figures slightly disturbing.

The painting was really simple. I tried again to practice the source lighting. This was a really interesting piece since I wanted to give the effect that the whole figure was glowing and casting a pool of light on the base. Overall, I'm pleased with the results.

Some Naked Capitalism

This isn't this weeks main blog post, but I have decided to sell me painted wab ancient German army. Don't worry, I'm still heavily invested in barbarians. Back in the US I have 12lbs. of unpainted ancient German figures. I'm getting rid of these in the interest of space and that they are more useful to me as cash rather than sitting in my case. I cant say I'm terribly fond of the WAB rules either. Warhammer isn't as much fun without the dragons and magic. Also I figured out that I will never paint enough Germans to have a decent army. This collection here represents around two years of work and only comes to around a 1000 points. Onward and upward. Its time for some new projects.

Here's a picture of the whole army.

Here is a link to the ad on the miniatures page. I would like £450 but I will accept all reasonable offers. you can see the full details in the ad.

This type of post will not happen often. This is just a big sale and I want to make sure I get all the offers I can.

Ice Ice Baby...

Here they are, my contribution to the Song of Baldes and Heroes Backlog Challenge on LAF. I think these turned out well. There are a few things loft to do. I want to string the bows and hit a few area with an extra highlight. I tried to keep the palette cool with a lot of blues and cooler grays.

I decided to sculpt some masks for the ice demons. I really like those Ral Partha orcs. They are easy to paint but are not too ridiculous in their proportions. I may go back and add some tattoos.

Here is a closeup of some of the characters. I'm still practicing source lighting on every figure I paint. I think the lighting on this one is a lot more subtle than my previous attempts. I think the trick is to use thin layers of paint that shade the existing painting, rather than covering it up.

Chilling

A quick mid week update. My friend Scott Pyle made me aware of the Song of Blades and Heroes Backlog Challenge on the Lead Adventure forum. Even though I had a whole lot of orcs and ancient Germans that could do the trick, I wanted to do something different. After rummaging around my backlog, I decided to do a fantasy Inuit band. These are based off of the Copplestone Inuit warriors pack. I wanted to show off the unpainted conversions because i did a lot of greenstuffing on these figures. I use a lot of reference material from the net but my biggest influence is this picture. The two creatures in the back are old Ral Partha Gigantic Orcs that I'm using as ice beasts.

Stay tuned for Painted pictures of these.

More Magnificent Malifaux

I've been going forward with my Malifaux figures. Todays pictures are my Arcanist converted from the West Wind european vampire hunters set. I originally was not too keen on these figures. Some of the old West Wind figures suffered from strange poses and some odd feature(club hands, no ears, etc.). However these figures provided a really good base for some resuclpting and positioning. I so far have used every figure from the pack save for one. They fit the Malifaux feel pretty well. These guys will the the fleshy component for for a Miners and Steamfitters Union themed crew. Next thing to paint is the small horde of steam spiders.

First is the Victor Strausborg, budding mechanical sorcerer and tinkerer. I think the source lighting turned out better this time. Its a lot more subtle. I think this will make a good alternate(I don't like the word proxy) Ramos. I can honestly say that this is the first time I have ever sculpted eyebrows on a miniature. I'm not really happy about the flame in his hand. Fire was always something that i have had trouble painting. It goes against every painting instinct that I have accumulated over the years. Instead of highlighting the tips of the flame you need to highlight the base, where it is brightest. Its good enough for government work. I find there is a point on every figure where you should jsut stup messing with it, or you'll make it worse. I think I'm at that point with this figure.

Next up is the Slobodan the hunchback. He will standing in for Johan, Renegade Steamfitter. I wasn't too keen on the stock figure from Wyrd. He just didn't look like the "working man" that the fluff portrays. He looks more like he just stepped out of the Ultimate Fighting Ring. I did a lot of conversion work on this figure. The goggles, bandanna, and hunch on his back were all added with greenstuff. I tried to make the figure look greasy, like hes been elbow deep in some engine all day. I use liberal amounts of Valeo Smoke to acheive this effect. While Devlan Mud is a better general wash, Smoke is really good a for a variety of special effects. I use it for deep shading when I'm doing source lighting and as a grease when painting machines of various sorts.

I also received my Malifaux rulebook in the Mail today. There are plenty of other more extensive reviews out there, so I will not go into too much detail. Suffice it to say that I really like the rules. Not only the system, but the way it is written as well. Despite being a departure from the norm, the books is well laid out and written. I'm having no trouble understanding the rules and getting a grasp of this very innovative system. I hope they later release a system for constructing our own custom characters, since I think these rules would be great for some light role-playing.

Back Again and Building Steam

Again the heady responsibilities of studenthood keep me from my Blogging obligations. That and not having anything worthwhile to show you. Anyway, I have been working on some cool steampunk miniatures in preparation to play the new skirmish game Malifaux. I love historicals, but sometimes one needs to work on something a little whimsical. I really feel that deep down, fantasy steampunk is my favorite genre to paint and play(cyberpunk be a very close second).

I included some pictures of the unpainted conversions. You may recognize the Captain Alister Cain conversion I did a while ago. It now has a coat of Paint and is ready to shoot down neverborn and witches of all stripes. I haven't bought the book, but I think that I will be using these as Guild gunfighters. The figures from Wyrd are very nice, but I wanted something a bit different. The other miniatures are the Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team. I really like these figures, they are finely sculpted and are not too busy with details, something that modern miniatures are prone to be. Also in the picture are the steam spiders that I constructed out of beads from our local bead shop(which is called Libeado, clever). I like the Wyrd Brass Arachnid, but I am poor student so I had to improvise. I did buy one Bras Arachnid to get the stat card. I think that these would also be very useful for role-playing. I am particularly proud of the the small centre spider. The legs are made from suspension struts from an Airfix kit that I had been converting into a grav tank.

I sculpted all the bases out of greenstuff over standard lipped bases, which was not as hard as I though it would be. I carved a manhole cover for the top had wearing character's base. I'm rather pleased with the result. Although I wish I had my Dremel here so I could mill more circular pieces of styrene.

I had a lot of fun painting these. Took my time and really tried some new techniques in painting these. It felt like I spent just as much time trying to get the bases to look right as I did painting the models! There was plenty of reference material to go around. Durham is full of cobbled streets which I could observe and really get a feel for. The advantage of living here instead of just visiting is that I can see cobbles(and other surfaces) in various conditions, which is real help when painting. How do cobbles look when they are under a street light? All I have to do is look at them when I go into town next.

I tried to do a bit of source lighting on the magic user. This technique is really a holy grail of fantasy painting for me. It gives a sort of mysticism that really suits certain universes. Malifaux is one of those dark settings where the bleakness is punctuated with glowing magical effects that really stand out. I'm not entirely convinced that I succeeded with the overall effect. The more I look at it, the more I think its off somehow. I would appreciate if any of the expert painters on the intertoobz could shed some light on the subject.


Thats all for now. Stay tuned for more photos and ramblings.

A squad here, a squad there

Here is a quick pic of some GZG alien mercenaries that I painted a few days ago. These were a test to see if my new wash over white undercoat technique scales up to 15mm. I'm really pleased with how these turned out. They painted up very quickly with a good result. I have few more packs the need to be painted.

In Medieval Russia, figures paint you!

Here are two units from my new 10mm Medieval Russian army for the Warmaster Medieval campaign that's starting up at the club. These figures are Kallistra with a few leftover Irregular and Pendraken mixed in for flavour. I really like the Kalistra Medievals, but they are huge! They are much taller than Pendraken and dwarf Irregular.

I tried to paint these a little brighter than usual. I think it went a little overboard on the blue. I'll have to tone it down on the next batch.

Over all, I have 7 units finished with another 8 to go to make 1000 points.