Oh So Fancy Order Sergeant

Another One Down
     Progress! As yet another week passes, I have another figure done. While I took the week (not solid) to complete this figure, I did show him some extra love.  With his slick and dynamic pose, cool and unique helmet,  and bad ass looking rifle, how could I not?  I am beginning to get my eye in on these Infinity models.  The fine details are and conventions are all foreign to me, but after three models completed, I think I understand what I'm looking at and how I want to paint the different bits of the model.

What's Next?
     Still four models remain from my Infinity stuff.  Once these are complete it will be time to return to the Sisters of Battle.  I must admit that my time away from the hobby is at least partially because of the Sisters.  Painting those old metal models in bulk is like a long roam across a parched featureless desert with endless dunes seeming to repeat forever off beyond the horizon.  I must charge on and find the end to the sands, perhaps these Infinity models were just the oasis I needed.

Here are some additional pictures of the completed Order Sergeant:

All My Paints Are Dry!

Back in the Saddle - Hobby Pledge

     It has been ages (approximately two years) since anything has been posted up here.  It's a shame.  I really enjoyed blogging my hobby through the years and I feel it's time for a return to form.  There came a time where I thought to myself "if I died tomorrow, who would paint all these stupid miniatures?  Not my three year old, that's for sure.  Besides I've seen him color... I can't let that happen to my beloved minis."

     With the image of my child's seemingly fever dream inspired scribblings being applied to my most precious resin figures, I made a vow then and there:  I will paint something.  More than that, really, as I've decided to make steady progress, blocking out time and keeping myself honest.

Canoness from a Sisters of Battle army I'm working on (Warhammer 40k)

Realistic Goals

     Now I'm certainly no stranger to the hobby game.  I've painted my fair share of the minis so I've learned a thing or two.  Like the Sun Tzu of painting (hyperbole fully engaged here) I arise from the wreckage of projects past, wisen and worn by time and countless samey metal models.  I know the taste of sweet victory but more importantly I have supped enormously at the table of defeat.  I've got to tone this down. A bit.

     Returning to Sun Tzu (briefly, I promise), and his oft quoted statement of knowing thy enemy, the same holds true when trying to establish a hobby pledge or goal or what-have-you.  The enemy, as in most goals you might have in life, is typically yourself.  Know your weaknesses and play to your strengths.  Here are the elements of my plan:

• Mix it up - For me this means a variety of models to break the chain of monotony.  I have a breadth of models in my inventory now, and not being afraid to shift gears completely will keep me mentally engaged.  Getting bored of painting usually has more to do with the process than it ever is about the outcome.  We all typically revel in the product of the process, sometimes obsessively so.  When you're batch painting Orks though, the light at the end of that tunnel can seem very dim indeed.  Variety  will correct this and it also neatly brings me to my next point.

• Small Batch - I used to paint batches of ten.  I then reduced that to five.  I might even further reduce that (at least temporarily) yet further still.  What small batch or single model painting loses me in efficiency it gains back in focus.  It's easy to be excited about the next model when it's only a single night's session away.  It's almost like (and I hate to use this analogy) chain smoking.  I'll be "riding the buzz" of completed models, pressing me onward to initially completing squads to eventually completing armies.

• Scheduled Sessions - Model painting certainly isn't my only hobby.  Primarily I'm a PC gamer at heart.  Often times in the past I would choose spending time in a video game over painting quite readily.  Who can blame me, really?  Video games offer typically instant satisfaction.  Painting is no doubt a hobby that requires more patience but does not only offer a healthy dose of satisfaction and accomplishment at the end of a model, but also the physical manifestation of your dedication.  To ensure that I'm not placing my hobbies in competition with each other, I've decided to dedicate portions of a few nights a week to hobby progress.  That means those times not scheduled as such can be turned over to video games, the odd video program, or more hobby (should I choose).  Don't force yourself to constantly have multiple hobbies duke it out for attention during your free time.

War Jacks from a Cryx starter set (Warmachine)

Going Forward

     I hope that I can use this blog to keep myself honest, post what progress I've made on a weekly basis, and perhaps spark some conversation with people stopping by.  I'll be streaming on Twitch from time to time, I'll be sure to post that here when I do.  I sincerely enjoy sharing my knowledge of the miniatures painting hobby with newcomers so feel free to ask me any questions concerning the hobby you'd like.  I'll try my best to answer in a timely manner, pointing you in the right direction.

Pictures of my Progress

     I've babbled on at length, time to get to the point and show what I've achieved in the last week.  I've completed two models from the table top game called Infinity (think Xcom + Ghost in the Shell) by the company Corvus Belli.  I've had these models assembled and primed for about 4 years now so it was about time I put paint on them.  I hope you enjoy them.

More to come...

Adepta Sororitas (Sisters of Battle) Army Commission Project WIP (Part 2)

First Completed Squad

     Five down and 36 more to go.  GUH!  I shouldn't say it like that.  How about one squad down and seven more to go?  That's slightly better.  This squad took me about a week to complete from primed to finished.  I can only paint after 8:00 pm and I didn't paint every single night during that week.  I think that I can refine my process and get another five models done in perhaps 4 or 5 days (and that's allowing for some nights were I don't paint).

Thoughts About the Models

     I'm becoming more familiar with these models now.  I want to remind people just how old these sculpts are.  Some of these models are on the near side of almost 20 years old.  That's INSANE!  Unfortunately they show their age in a number of ways.  Obviously the first tell-tale sign is that they're metal.  I've been over that before so I'll move on.  The next big indicator is the faces.  The faces are a bit crude.  They aren't ugly, but there is a HUGE difference in the finer detail that can be achieved via plastic or resin crafted through modern sculpting techniques.  And finally there are just some bad looks that had to be made given the technology of the day.

     When these models are sitting at normal gaming distance, none of these faults really matter.  They still look like a part of the 40K aesthetic.  The only thing that might strike you at that distance is that there appears to be quite a large number of repeat poses.

Ork Blitza-Bommer All Done

Here's the Finished Product!

     I completed the base this evening.  Unless I decide to add some flocking or grass tufts (which I'm likely to do).  The painting, at the very least, is totally complete.  I kept the base simple, but focused on some weathered accents in the abandoned oil drum, and rusted bucket.  I really enjoyed mucking up these two items, especially the barrel.

I Love Rust and Such

     I used some very simple techniques and the outcome was terrific.  Here's a quick step-by-step:

1.  I based coated the barrel with the old Knarloc Green which is now called Loren Forest (Citadel paint).  
2. Then applied the transfers like this: a gloss coat, put down the two transfers, applied micro-sol, let it dry, then applied matte coat to seal the transfers in.
3. Once the matte coat was dry, I took a sponge and some Knarloc Green (Loren Forest), and dabbed it over the transfers to "rough them up" a bit.
4. Applied a wash of Agrax Earthshade across the whole barrel.  I made sure to reapply to recesses that would have a larger collection of dirt, rust, and oil.
5. I then used the new technical paint Typhus Corrosion.  I applied it very heavily to the bottom of the barrel, and along the underside to show that it might have been slapped around in the mud just a bit when it was hurriedly left by the Imperials.  Typhus Corrosion leaves a grit, which would be vital to the next step.
6. I dabbed Vallejo Pigment (or weathering powder) Dark Red Ochre (sic) around the bottom of the barrel were the Typhon Corrosion was thickest.  Once applied fully, I took a clean brush loaded with white mineral spirits and carefully tapped over the powder.  The mineral spirits really flow of the brush and quickly run across the model.  I do this to "pull" the pigments onto the model.
7. Once the mineral spirits have dried (this is a pretty quick process) I now very carefully dabbed matte finish over the rusted areas, and then eventually brushed over the entire barrel.

Oil Spill

     Another really easy effect is the look of some leaked oil onto the mud.  It's a bit hard to see in the picture, but shows up well in person, but essentially all I did was apply a pool of black wash to the earth near the lid.  Once dried I then coated the same area with a gloss coat.  This looks like oil soaking into the ground, but still a little fresh.

Secret Weapons Miniatures Base Review

     This base from Secret Weapons Miniatures is quite nice.  Though it doesn't scream out with detailed features, it fits perfectly with the rest of the army.  I pictured my Orks on a dreary wasteland, harsh and unforgiving, but with plenty of space to speed about.  I liked the subtle tire tracks through the dirt, and the very simple rocks.  The most important feature for me was that there would still be space for me to attach my flight stand and most all of the Secret Weapons line of bases seem to be very reasonable in the amount of room you have to actually mount a model.  I have a number of other bases that I've purchased from them and all bases arrived nearly completely flash free and with a low amount of mold release on them.  This means they are quickly cleaned up and ready for models.  My one possible complaint would be that the edges sometimes need a bit of filing to get absolutely smooth.  This is really a very minor complaint and honestly if you're in this hobby you're probably more than willing to spend a few minutes filing or sanding to make sure everything is just so.

     A quick word on how I put the flight stand and base together: In order to attach the stand, I traced out the stand before I painted, and carefully carved out a very shallow smooth footprint for it to make solid contact with the base.  I then pinned it in as a final measure.  I'm still going to be awfully careful with this flight stand, as it certainly isn't the most aggressive way to attach it to a base.


Thanks for Stopping By!

     I appreciate everyone that comes by to view my work.  Any feedback is appreciated and I'll be happy to answer any questions.  I'll just leave you with some more pictures of my completed project, enjoy!

Boom Bombs go BOOM!

Boom Bombs

     Before you are the two "Boom Bombs" for the Blitza-Bommer that I've been working on.  I didn't spend a heap load of time on them since they're both mostly concealed by the actual flyer.  Magnets were added so that I can remove them during play as the bombs are obviously one use only.   I did take it as an opportunity to try out a few techniques while painting these:

• Steel Wool to dab on paint to make scratches - This seemed simple enough but steel wool outside of using it wet to get rust and hard grime off of things is a real mess.  The steel wool is loaded with flakes of a dried cleaning agent.  I had to spend some time trying to shake all these bits out of the wool because I had no idea what this agent would do to the paint.  If you can find steel wool without this additive, choose that.  The effect I was hoping to get was a less grouped chipping pattern than the sponge.  I was a little disappointed, to be honest.  Perhaps I just need a bit more practice.  In the end I went back to the tried and true sponge.
• Bit more complex checkers and jaggies - I followed my simple technique of using a fine pencil to very lightly trace out my checkers but I also used a design template that I had laying about.  This template has circular holes of varied sizes, so I placed the nose of the bomb in the circles to make the sketch marks that went around the nose.  This was fairly successful but needed a bit of adjustment.  I then did one reference circle on the white and orange bomb nose, and used the rivets around the nose cone to space my jaggies.  Pretty simple really.
• Typhus Corrosion GW Technical Paint - I recently picked up a pot of Typhus Corrosion and Blood for the Blood God and I was itching to try the Corrosion out.  The effect is fairly subtle here only because I noticed how strong it can be.  Though it resembles a wash to a degree, it is much more opaque.  Fair warning there.  I found that if I applied it, then quickly washed my brush and went back with just a little water on the brush, I was able to smear the paint to blend the effect and this allowed for a bit more translucent look.  I really enjoyed the paint but with great paint comes great responsibility.  Test before slathering it all over your Rhinos or what have you.
• Striped cables - I painted the cables on the bombs yellow and black striped.  I've seen this style done quite often so I wanted to see how much of a pain it might be.  I based with a light orange, then layered on some yellow.  Once this had dried, I just took straight black and eye-balled it from there.  I was careful to try and make the stripes look even.  Working around a thin element like a wire on a model can get you into a bit of trouble if you start getting sloppy with the brush control.  That said, I found this look to be easy to achieve with moderate accuracy.  Might have to use this on some future Ork models.

     Other than that, this was a pretty straight forward bit of fun.  One thing I would like to add: never under-estimate the blending effect that a full matte coat can provide.  When I was done with all the weathering, and before I applied the matte coat, these things looked a bit more like a hot mess.  All the different washes and the technical paint had left various levels of gloss across the models.  By applying a quick matte coat, all that was gone and the effects were blended together.  Should you want some weathering to be glossy (like oil drips and such) it might be best to either apply those after your sealing coat, or apply just a bit of gloss coat in those areas after the matte coat has been applied and dried.

     Just the base left to go.  Here is a little preview:

Ready for take off!

Ork Bommer Almost Complete

     The Ork Bommer, which has been languishing about for years now, is nearing completion.  I have been using this model as a test bed for some weathering techniques I had read about.  Essentially the plane itself is all finished up.  I have the two over-sized bombs to paint up, and a fancy resin base from Secret Weapons Miniatures to do.  I need to go pick up some appropriate flock for the base, and figure out what colors I'm going to use there.  The bombs actually present a bigger challenge in the style department.  I could see doing them up in a really rusty dilapidated manner, or painted and decorated in a lovingly Orky style.  I thought about painting one up as Bullet Bill from the old Super Mario games, but I fear that's a little obvious and it's crossing the streams a bit.

Weathering Techniques I Tried

     One of the biggest experiments on this model was using oil paints.  I have long read about them, heard many a story about how it can add another dimension to your painting.  I was a bit intimidated about using something that wasn't water based, and took so long to dry.  After reading through Forge World's Model Masterclass book, I finally felt as though I was armed with enough information to proceed.

     For the first technique, I used the oil paint to shade panel lines and add a look of rust here and there.  Essentially I started small here.  I didn't use the one oil paint I choose in huge quantities.  First I selected Burnt Umber as the color, thinned it with mineral spirits and began using it to shade some of the metallic paints, and panel lines.  The first thing I noticed was how translucent the paint was.  This meant that, applying it as thin as I was, I could control the effect by adding layers after letting each layer dry to build up an effect.  With the paint thinned and the long drying time of the oil paint, this allows you to "push" the paint around quite a lot.  You can easily go back with just a brush loaded with just a bit of the mineral spirits and easily remove the paint if you don't like the look.

     The second technique was using a mixture of the oil paint with a rust weathering powder flicked on to the model using a brush and a toothpick.  The second step was to airbrush mineral spirits over the spots to soften them, then use a brush to streak the spots.  I'm not absolutely certain that I did this properly.  I didn't see the spots softening quite as much as I expected.  The streaking worked like a charm, so I'll certainly use that in the future.

Here are some more shots...

Painting Checkers Tutorial

Painting Checkers

I just wanted to go through my process for painting the checker pattern for my Orks.  There might be some other Ork players out there that haven't given this a go.  It's dead simple and it can really set off a model.  Here we go then.

1.  Base the area that you want checks in a very light grey.  Don't go full white as it looks a bit too bright and white typically covers poorly.  If you want full-on white, you still want to build up from a light grey.  If you have an airbrush, use it here after masking off the area you want using the proper low-tack tape. If not, then just use thin layers to build up coverage such that it stays relatively smooth.

2.  Using a pencil, very lightly sketch out a grid pattern on the light grey/white area.  This doesn't need to be laser precise as this will just be a guide for you.  If you can use panels lines like I have in the following picture to help guide your grid, it makes things much easier.

 3. Using straight black or black mixed with dark grey (50/50) you can start to fill in the squares.  I usually start by painting the outline of the square, then fill in.  Paint consistency is very important here.  Thin is good, but if you go too thin, you lose control of your paint.  I would recommend practicing a small square before applying the dark color to the model.

4. Clean-up the checks by using either the light grey or the black to even out the boxes.  Don't become too concerned about perfection here.  Just get them such that at arms length they look acceptable.  The more time you spend in this last step, the better they can look, but remember to take a break and look at the model at normal viewing range from time to time.  Often times we focus on the details of things that disappear completely when you pull your head back from the model.

5. (Optional) Use a sepia wash to dirty up the checks, dulling the white.  This helps tie the pattern back into the model.  Weathering the checks is another great option.  You can use a medium grey shade to show chipped paint or even just the base coat of the rest of the model.  Apply these colors using a bit of sponge to achieve an irregular pattern.

That's it.  Nothing fancy but this looks great on the table.  If you have an airbrush you can also mask off the white squares and spray black over the strip.  This gives a very precise look, but not everyone has access to an airbrush so I wanted to go through the steps assuming you didn't.  If you have any questions, just post below.

Ork Blitza Bommer

The Ork Blitza Bommer

     I've had this model rattling around in a box for quite some time.  It occurred to me that it would provide a perfect test bed for some weathering techniques I'd like to try.  The Forge World Modeling Masterclass Vol. 1 has a ton of great techniques and I've purchased some supplies to give them a go.  The picture above shows the model pre-weathering, so I'll update when I've completed the next step.  The pilot and the tail gunner were finished some time ago.  Here are some close-ups of those:

 Pilot sporting a fine leather flight helmet

Grot tail gunner with a big "flash" gun sight

Thoughts on the Model

     The Ork flyer was a bit of a shocker when it was released some years ago.  The shock was not that they released a new kit for my beloved Orks, but that the kit looked better than the Ork flyers that were already on offer from Forge World.  Exhibit A:

Fact: Not as cool!

     The Ork flyer kit that GW released contains a good amount of options.  Enough that you could make at least three variations of each of the three unit types.  I choose the Blitza Bommer not because it seems the best, but because it has a wacky "roll to see what crazy thing happens" table for bombing targets.  I also liked the over-sized bombs it gets to carry.  I'll be saving those to paint last.

The Other Category Winners from Dropzone Games Competition

The Other Category Winners

     I talked about an awesome painting competition I was happy to take part in at Dropzone Games and I mentioned that I didn't get shots of the other winners.  The above model was the winner in the Large Model category.  A Grot A-10 bomber!  What's not to love?  Mark did an excellent job in both modeling and painting this wonderful entry.  I saw this masterful model and knew that my Valkyrie didn't stand a chance.  It's an absolutely splendid model, and as an Ork player myself, I thing this thing is just perfect.

Single Character Winner

     Here is the single character winner.  The Croc Butcher.  The choice of colors are terrific.  I was surprised, upon closer inspection, to find that each individual scale on this model was deliberately.  Very impressive model.  I love that the tongue and gums are all properly colored for a croc.  Tom did a fantastic job.

Dark Future Gaming

     If you'd like to see more pictures of the winners, you can check out Dark Future Gaming's blog site.  I spoke with Wolfson, who took all the pictures at the event (great job, btw!), from the team while at Dropzone Games and had a nice chat.  They are a really community focused group looking to highlight the hobby in a positive light, promoting the people and the places that make a difference.  Check out their site, I'm going back through some of their older posts and finding some good stuff.

I Won a Painting Competition at the Grand Opening of Drop Zone Games

LOOK!  A SWORD!

     I attended the grand opening of Drop Zone Games here in Maryland (I'll tell you more about the store in a bit).  They had a painting competition as part of this event.  There were three categories: Unit, Single Character, and Large Model.  I entered one in each.  I put my old warboss on a bike into the Single Character, my newly finished Valkyrie in for Large Model, and my Cadian Command Squad in for Unit.

Here's the Command Squad

     I won first in the Unit category and amazingly I won best overall!  I got a sweet plaque for the category win and a sword... I'm going to repeat it because it's awesome... A SWORD for winning best overall!  I couldn't freaking believe it!  This is really only the second painting competition that I've ever entered.  Looking at the other models in those cases, I felt like I didn't really have a chance to take any of the categories.  There were some absolutely amazing works of art in there.  I have some pics and I'll share those in a bit too.  One of the cherries on top of this was that Dave Taylor was one of the judges, and Andy Chambers picked the overall winner!  I've been following Dave Taylor's blog since I got started in the hobby about three years ago, and if you don't know who Andy Chambers is, then you should know that he is an amazing game designer that has worked on nearly everything GW and since leaving them he has worked on a lot of awesome things like Starcraft 2.  I still haven't met Dave Taylor, I keep just missing him everywhere I go around here.  I just want to shake that dude's hand and say what an inspiration his work is to me.  Some day, perhaps.

Drop Zone Games

     This place is incredible!  You can find their fledgling site here where you can get their address, and check out any coming events.  This used to be the Glen Bernie Battle Bunker for Games Workshop.  When they closed the store and moved it south to Bowie, I don't think they made a great change.  The new store has really high ceilings so the place can get loud.  While the bunker certainly does have nice tables in quantity it was always a bit of a pain to drive there.  Drop Zone has plenty of tables, good terrain, and capacity to have large events without a problem.  The staff is extremely charismatic and they're all veterans in this industry.  They really put the average GW store to shame with the volume of knowledge they have in the hobby and community.

     After having played in GW stores only since moving to Maryland, it was a huge treat to take in the sights and sounds of non-GW games being played.  The store carries nearly every major table top game I could think of trying, along with a huge amount of 2nd party conversion bits, decorative bases, and hobby supplies.  They also have PROPER hobby area with swivel lamps, nice seating, and tons of area.

     This all might sound like a commercial, well it sort of is.  This is exactly what I want in an independent gaming retailer.  It's not a comic store that has a few tables made of cheap plywood, with little terrain that has been bashed to hell, and a very limited selection of actual table top wares.  This place isn't that.  This place is exactly what you'd want near your house.

     Even though it might not be near your house, you'd not be doing yourself a disservice to travel a bit to get here and check this place out.  I'll be gaming here every chance I get until I move.

The Competition Models

     As I mentioned, there were some amazing models in this competition.  Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the other category winners, which is a shame.  By the time I got done shooting the shit with some of the other fine folks there, grabbed my gear and made some purchases, it slipped my mind to go back and get pics.  The large model winner had already left and had taken the model with him.  But there were some other very strong entries and I got some pics of them for you:

Freebootaz!  Love that model.

An AMAZING Kommando Nob with very impressive night vision goggles

Kommandos to go with the above Nob.  This guy won Large Model with an awesome Ork aircraft for Aeronautica

Dust has some crazy models.  This one is almost disturbing.  Love the rusty look.

It's kinda disgusting, but also awesome.

Dust, as I said, has some strong models.  The vehicles are the strongest.

I have a huge crush on everything Soda Pop Miniatures does.  These Super Dungeon Explore models are rad.

Arbites?  Whatever they are, they're great.

Another Dust unit.  Great camo details.

Harlequins are always awesome to see painted up.  I should have gotten a shot of those Incubi on the right side as well.

     Since I mentioned Dave Taylor, I noticed that Dave had a diorama in the case.  It's one that he had submitted for Games Day Chicago 2012, and it was a finalist.  It's an amazing piece and you can check it out at his blog.  There's some nice details in this thing, here are a couple of close-ups:

     I hope you've enjoyed looking at some fantastic models, and join me next time where I'll be bringing some progress update on my Blitza Bombah!  I refuse to spell it "bommer" as that doesn't seem Orky enough.  Cheers!