overwhelming

Here is the Space:1889 Victorian Sci-Fi project, all based and primed.

Daunting!

helmet head

I had a bunch of greenstuff mixed up to fix some bases on the VSF project. . . While it was drying I couldn't do much else, so I thought I'd use up a little of it on a small conversion. I dremeled the crown+helmet off of a Robert the Bruce figure, and decided to see if I could just make him into a normal knight.
Man, smooth surfaces are insanely difficult, I don't know how sculptors do it. So far I'm decently pleased with it, but getting a rolled edge / ridge around the edge of the helmet is proving tough. Just another look at the random stuff I get up to. :p

break from the break

Okay, yuletide happenings are finally done, time to get back to work. The empire reiksguard go back into a holding pattern (hopefully not as long of one as previously) as a load of figures for a big comission finally arrived, as well as one single figure that I'll be doing for another customer at the same time. Should be an interesting stretch coming up . The main project is a set of figures for a Space:1889 victorian sci-fi RPG. Colonial era British soldiers, Victorian PCs, Prussians, and then a bunch of reptilian aliens and dinosaurs for them all to fight. All new stuff for me, so that'll be fun. The reptillian humanoids are old RAFM sculpts, and not very interesting, but the rest shoul be pretty enjoyable.

They are finally all cleaned and based so I'm headed outside to prime the whole lot of ~50 figs. And away I go.

onward painted soldiers!

Knocked another 7 out:

the knights go marching 2 x 2

hurrah, hurrah!

pants!

I finished the hose of all the remaing reiksguard I have primed at the moment. I've got a comission arriving in the mail soon, so I know I won't get to finish this unit uninterrupted, but after the last 5 I got motivated to at least move these all forward a stage.

Guardians of the New Frontier

I'm quite pleased with these. It's only a fraction of the figures I actually have for this unit in my old empire army, but if I keep doing them in this style I think they'll look great. I started it with 8 about 4 years ago, and those don't look as nice, but they'll be okay hidden in a unit of 25 or so when it's eventually done. I am re-painting the captain though as I'd like him to look as nice as the the new recruits. Old picture of the originals of this style

the pride of the reik

I'd forgotten how much I really like these miniatures. Some of their big bows I could do without on pure aesthetics, but it fits their idiom a bit I suppose.

the mailed fist of the emperor

the amazon cheerleaders had to take a dip in paint thinner. . .they acquired some chunky surface texture due to poorly shaken/old paint. While they soaked in the spa last night I picked up a few of the reiksguard that have been collecting serious dust on my desk. Did a bit more on them tonight:

I'll probably attack the amazons with the tooth brush tomorrow and re-base them.

baby got back

Or actually, my back is making me feel like a baby. I had a weird knot in my back start a couple days ago...it was annoying but tolerable. Last night I accidentally aggrivated it while trying to adjust the blankets on my bed. Sounds silly, but I must have strained it just right because it went into a massive spasm. I haven't felt pain like this in quite some time. :(

Anyway, no other update today likely. . .I'm not sure if I'll be able to paint. 2 posts in a row with no WIP photos! I promise, I won't make a habit of it.
Oh, and I seem to have found 2/3 of the Iliad figures I'm after, awesome.

Need some Ilyad figs

I'm trying to track down 3 figures from the now defunct Iliad games: Murata, female Aeromancer of Heraklyn, and the Air Elementals.Any leads on tracking these down would be greatly appreciated.Her , Him, and Them. Thanks!

Amazon pep squad

the musician and standard bearer for the warrior women are underway



go team, go!

Samurai, Martial Artists, and Assasins, Oh My!

Finally finished this batch:



The assassin an be seen here for now, and the other 4 have full pics on CMON, here, here, here, here.

Samurai Out, Amazon's in. The revolving paint shop

Finished this samurai tonight... I'm very happy with him. the more washed out colors are a bit of a departure for me. It's nice to not do everything in high saturation. Do you think he needs eyebrows?


The last two Amazons arrived in the mail today, so it's back to that project. I finished the shields I had left to do tonight:


Hopefully I can finish the last two ladies by next week, before my next project arrives.

One on every corner

I have too many ideas for random games. Especially those that would require a sizable undertaking to bring to fruition. The latest is a near-future gang fight type game in the Shadowrun / Shockforce idiom. Random underground / scavenger / freelance gangs vs Corporate Defense squads in Seattle. The corporate troops? Starbucks. Their green would make great troop uniform colors. Can you imagine their mermaid logo done up on unit banners, and on the side of vehicles like this!? I can, and in my imagination it looks awesome. Modelling a downtown alternate-future version of Seattle would be really fun too. *sigh*

The Assassin's Creed

finished this guy. . . final pics hopefully in a day or two:


This guy is coming along nicely too


Off to a puppet show tomorrow night, so probably no updates for a bit.

warriors from the east

I'll be able to finish this fella as soon as the sand dries on the base.


In the mean time, another one I've had started for a long time. Finally got past the flesh tones tonight:

Night of the assassin

I've had this guy on my desk, partially painted for months. I started and restarted him at least twice I think. I wasn't happy with any of the variations I'd tried. Today I decided it didn't matter that much . .. I love the figure, and so I'll be happy to have him in my collection no matter.

So now I'm finishing him up, quicker than I would have originally intended. . .but at least he'll be done. :)

FUUK Tarts Finished

The FUUK-Tarts gang is also done, yay!


Some closer pictures of the foot soldiers, the bikers, and a closer look at the gang leader. A very fun project. If you're at Salute 2008, you can check them out in person.

Gunstreet Girls Finished

Finally got the finished figures photographed under better lighting:

Bigger pics here and here. They are also available on ebay if anyone is interested in giving a couple of them a home. 1, 2, 3, & 4 .

Turkey Tarts

finished off the 2nd biker in between making casserole and dressing today:


And I got started on the last gang member:


Now it's time to go eat turkey. :)

More FUUK-Tarts

Made good progress on the other biker tonight:

. . . maneaters on motor bikes

3/5 of the gang is done. (aside from the banner on this one)

vroom!

A little progress on the 2008 FK-1

we are the hell cats, nobody likes.

This project is another bunch of girls, to be sent off to the UK for the Frothers gang-fight demo at Salute '08. I was warned off of Westwind, and sadly it was warranted- the figures aren't that great. They are OK gaming figures, but really lacking where it counts in the details, hands, and faces. :( But, they fit the idiom I wanted, and they'll do for demo game.


I'm doing them very quickly, but I hope someone will enjoy driving them around the board anyway. :)

. . .and the leotard makes 8.

It's finishing touches time on the last of the Gun Street Girls . . .


And a sneakpeak at what the whole batch will look like when done:
There is enough variety in the figures from this pack that I was thinking of maybe putting them up for sale in pairs, rather than all 8 together. I don't know if someone would want the whole gang or not. We shall see I guess. . .

The Girls of November

Been another sporadic week, but I finally settled down and finished this lot this evening. That leaves me with only Ms Catsuit shown in the previous picture left to do. I guess I need to quit stalling on what color to do her togs now, and come up with something.

I think the guns might be a touch over highlighted. I like the effect over all, but I think a bit more subdued would be nice. I like the pair of pistols alright, but I think the shotgun is a bit light. <---edit---> after looking at it in another picture in slightly different light, I don't think the shotgun is as badly bright as it appears in the shot above.

Lead slinging ladies

It has been a bit sporadic this week. I quit smoking the other day, and all though it has gone much better than I thought it might, it did throw off my painting concentration a bit for the first couple days. Anyway, catching back up with the rest of the gun-street-girls:


I'm still not sure what color do Ms. Bodysuit there. . . I've got another project that is going to be a lot of black leather, so I'd prefer to do something else here... Black or red are probably the standards when it comes to spy girls in skintight outfits. . . I dunno... I'd like to do something different, but nothing is jumping out in my mind yet. I really like the shades I got on the one far left though. She coo'.

. . . just a bunch of /girls/

I really like the way these came out. The rest of the pack are a little more tightpants and boots and stuff.. . so I don't know if the tough style I tried to get on these will work on them . . . we'll see.

whatdya think of these:
?

Gub Street Girls

I originally got these to do as a street gang for a demo-game to be run at Salute next year, however I came up with a different idea that I liked better for that project, so now I have a bunch of Mr. Copplestone's gun toting ladies, in both street and more corporate attire. Not something I would normally paint for my own collection, but they are pretty nice, clean, simple pieces.
Nothing too absurd aside from the set-piece improbable bosoms.

penultimate amazons

I've been jacked up on cold medicine for two days, so I haven't trusted myself to do the freehand on the last 4 shields. Otherwise they're done. Just waiting for the musician and standard bearer to arrive in the mail, then the whole unit will be ready.

clicky
and some closer shots of the two halves:

clacky

tired of hearing about amazons yet?

I woke up sick this morning. yuck.
Mustered the concentration to paint for a little while, but not enough to take pictures. Finished most of the last bits- sandals, feet, eyes, spears, and most of the touchups they needed. The eyes were hard enough, being as out of it as I am, so I left the shields for later.
No freehand on cold medicine.

Almost there.

My figures I'm painting for the FUUK Salute game arrived from Westwind today. .. I'm a little underwhelmed. They aren't terrible, but a little clunkier than I'd hoped in some of the details. Ah well. They'll still make a nice little near-future gang.

Amazons

metals, crests, & hair done. got some trim in there too.
The end is near! Though, I just ordered a musician and standard bearer for them too, so the unit will still be a while before it's done as a whole.

Amazons, the second coming

The rest of the Amazons are underway

Athena WIP: the end is nigh

Finished the metals, re-did her crest, and finished the shield (motif based on Athenian coins ). She needs a few touchups yet, but almost there. . .

Naked Ladies

It is frustrating when I discover I need a color of paint that I don't have once a project is going, rather than before I start it. Now I have to wait for the colors to arrive via mail before I can continue on Artemis' shield. She's done otherwise, though I am going to re-do her crest. Oh well, I can continue to work on the next four ladies in this group while I await the mail. Oh sorry, you came here to see naked ladies, not listen to me whine about my paint stock.

Here is Artemis sans shield with the group so far

Artemis WIP 2

I worked out the midtones, and took the edge off the shadows a bit, and now I am quite happy with her flesh tones.



w0rd.

Athena (née artemis)

A quick sneak peak at Hasslefree's Artemis, who is going in with my Cult of Athena / amazons.

I was going for a bit more contrasty flesh then usual. . .I think I'm getting there. This was after some inks last night... now to bring in the mid tones a little, and I think I'll have a really nice finish.

Eulen nach Athen tragen (amazon WIP)

I'm doing these 'amazons' as a warrior cult of Athena.

Her sacred animal is the Owl, which I decided months ago I was going to render on my amazon's shield in a motif ripped off / paying homage to, my friend's ( ovo ) street art work.

Tonight I finally got to a point where I can share that part, yay! one
two

Oh, and my order from Copplestone came in, so now I'm equipped to start on my contribution to the Frothers Gang Fight game planned for next year's Salute. I might do them next, I'm not sure. They don't have to be done for several months.

Need Advice on Amazons

I'm working on a batch of Amazons from Fortress Figures and having a bit of painters block. About half the unit is naked, and half the unit is wearing the drapey toga things. Its the togas I'm having trouble picking a colour for. I originally thought I'd do them all random colors, and I did one in a dusty brick red that looks nice. Now that I've finished most of the naked ones, I need to get on with the clothed ones and I've re-evaluated doing them all different and come to a mental impasse. Options I'm considering:

1) Doing the whole unit in the same color clothes. If I do this, It'll likely not be the brick red, so I'll have to repaint the one. No big deal. Classic white is definately not going to happen. I'm not too fond of all red either . . . too spartan. My most likely choice at this point is black.

2) Doing them all mixed colors. Either suggesting more of a citizen force, where they wear what they have, or an elite guard, where they get to wear what they want.

3) Mixed within a theme. I like the dusty red I did, and I like the black idea. Thinking maybe 50/50 between those colors, so it still looks cohesive. Red trim and details on the black cloth, and black trim and details on the red. These are going to go up for sale when I finish them, hence another reason I pose the question publicly, since it's not just for my own collection that I paint these. No real pedantic historicals player is likely to want these figures anyway for obvious reasons. I fugure anyone who buys them will either just be a collector, or someone looking to use them in historical-fantasy, or fantasy games- FW, Hott, or as GW standins or something. If you were considering such a unit, of the above options, how would you like them to be colored? Right now I'm leaning toward option #3, but I've been waffling too long, and so I thought I'd see if your cultured opinions might help get me off my ass and get them done.

Spoiled Rotten by Hasslefree

As I sit here and wait for orders from two companies in the UK, I realize that HF have spoiled me. I just got a package from them, in just over a week.That is damn quick turnaround. I'm coming up on just over two weeks waiting for these other two orders, and normally, it wouldn't make me think twice for over seas shipping to take that long . . . but now that I've had the nigh-instant gratification of Deb's superior shipping skills, I find myseld with less patience for the more average return time of small shops.

It should be noted that my last order from the Foundry arrived in about 8days, which also left me pleasantly suprised.

Are the postal strike woes still plagueing the UK I wonder?

Progress of varying sorts

I didn't actually get any painting done tonight, but I did finish my verdigris tutorial!

Juno is proofreading it, and after whatever edits need to be made after I get it back from her, it'll be done and ready to go. Wheee.

I also finished the banner for this here bloggy. See? Up there. Yeah. Nifty.

I also html-ified an old article I wrote for CMON on hedges, so I can incorporate it into the main madponies site when I get around re-coding the navigation stuff to add in some more categories.

It's here if you haven't seen it on cmon.

Copper Acetate - It's the water.

I'm about 80% done with a tutorial I'm writing for 'Wargames Painting And Modelling' on verdigris. I finished the painting months ago, and am now finally getting to the writing and basic layout. It's more fun that I thought it'd be, but difficult too. It's hard to articulate how I approach things sometimes. I paint pretty organically I guess.Even though it is turning out to be several paragraphs, the basic tutorial could be shortened to:

1)here are the color paints I used.

2)use them until it looks the way you want.

Maybe I damn myself with a bit of faint praise, but still . . .its hard to describe sometimes. Here is a sneakpeak at one of the demo pieces I did to accompany the article:

The Good the Bad and the Primer

GW changed their black primer a while back. It now totally sucks.

In my quest for a good, cheap, thin, black primer, I finally found one I like: DupliColor Sandable Black Primer.

If you are in the US, it's available for like $5 a can at Napa, Shucks, and other auto parts stores. I highly recomend it.

What I hate is when it gets cold out (like tonight) and black primer dries slightly grey.