A panda's progress

This has been on my desk in various stages of completion for months. It has been the big finish for my wuxia gang that I wasn't even sure I could pull off. The last ~2 weeks or so I finally started the sculpting in earnest and figured out that while I am miles away from being competent with the medium, I can manage a little bit on a subject with few details and fewer crisp edges.

I started with this 'dire bear' from Reaper:


And after rounding out the head, bulking up the body,and new ears and eyes, I finally got to something I'm pretty amused by and happy with.

I still have more clean up to do, and the base obviously, but after keeping this under wraps from all but my local friends, I have to share it now that its nearly done.



A couple more images.

The reiksguard are coming along nicely too:

1988, the crime rate in the U.S. increases 400% . . .

. . .The island of Manhattan is turned into a maximum security prison.

I did this for the latest paint-swap over at Steve Dean's painting forum. A difficult figure to assemble, but pretty fun to paint.

Equinoxious

It has been a pretty productive couple days around MadPonies way of late. Maybe its autumn making rumblings around the North West, or maybe its just me, but for some reason I have the fever. The sit and paint fever. The get it done fever. It is probably a function of the length of some of my projects as much as anything.

For example, I think I started my Reiksguard unit something like 10 years ago. Then I started them over maybe 3 or 4 years ago. It is exciting to be seeing the end of that project finally.

I may need to go back and do some touch ups and a bit more shading, but by and large the main stage of the armor plates is done. Trim and weapons should be next.

There is no solitude greater than that of the samurai unless it be that of a tiger in the jungle... perhaps...

Existing where there is nothing is the meaning of the phrase: Form is emptiness.

So, A while back I decided I wanted to do this zombie hunter figure from Hasslefree. Sometime after I bought it I decided that there should be a miniature of Ghost Dog and that I should use that figure as the basis for the conversion. If I was going to do that, why not a miniature of Jef Costello from Le Samouraï too? I was somewhat surprised that I was able to track down a suitable candidate. The noir hero from Rattrap Productions actually has glasses, which the character didn't wear, but his hat and downward angled head hide them enough that its okay.

I did this nerdy little side project in about 4 sittings while other things were drying and curing.



The last batch of Reiksguard is currently underway, as is another modern Hasslefree figure I'm painting for Daywalker for the 2nd painting swap over at Deano's.



In other news, I got my metallics order in so I am not longer out of TinBits, hoorah! This means I can now get started on that griffon lord . . . um. . . paint some stuff with metallics.

Men in tights

There are still a few more of these to come that are yet sitting in Simple Green and soaking off their encrustations of aged paint, but here's what I have in front of me to begin the final push toward finishing this unit.



They will be awesome.

I can see all obstacles in my way

And there are a bunch of new ones.

Barricades and obstacles for Mordheim etc:






These rubble pieces are intended to mark breaches in the walls for siege games:

You've bested my spaniard

Here are the Rodoleros,in all their bish-bosh, gaming quality glory:




I couldn't set the standard too high, I have ~25 more to do. I still think the TAG heads are kind of large, but overall I really like these, and they were pretty fun to paint. Thanks to Pete @ The Assault Group for the sample figs, much appreciated!

if you can't impress them with talent. . .

. . .baffle them with spots!

So I fixed that figure that was frustrating me. I evened out the color a little, toned down some highlights, fussed with some inks and whatnot until I wasn't so annoyed with the finish I had on it thus far. Then, when I was reasonably sure it would work okay, and definitely sure I was tired of working on it, I pulled out the old trick-play: go for broke and just put the magical dotted pattern on her silken fighting outfit, and hope you can call it good after that.



I'm calling it good.

Should only be a nights worth of work to finish up her remaining details.