Copplestone Ngoni Female Archers WIP

One of my long-term projects is painting some forces for Congo, and to that end I purchased some mixed Copplestone Africans quite a while ago.

As I also want to play some Paleo Diet in Africa, I thought I would add some archers to the spear-armed Zulus I painted back in 2016 (time flies!); I have four Zulu riflemen almost ready for primer, but I do not wish to use firearms in Paleo Diet.

It also struck me that I can work on an African warband for SAGA Age of Magic, and thus keep myself motivated for getting some minis painted from time to time.

This batch I intend to use for small breaks from Rohirrim, whenever I need some change, but I hope to get the eight Royal Guards painted fairly soon, as I need them to have a 'pure' six-points Rohan warband (and Age of Magic seems to use larger warbands than 'historical' SAGA does, so I shall see myself adding some riders to the mix this summer, too).

SS&SS: Lea's Party so Far

I am getting the hang of my new Canon - found the White Balance settings, which meant an instant enhancement of photo quality!

This is Elfham and Sigga, ready to go adventuring as soon as Tinre, the Barbarian Shieldmaiden, joins them.

I am not going to finish the Barbarian until the LAF OSFPP has come to a conclusion, but in the meantime I am working on a few other very old pieces of lead to use in Sellswords & Spellslingers as well!

LAF Old School Fantasy Painting Party: Female Wizard/Sage

The second mini I painted for the OSFPP was this ancient Citadel piece of lead.

It goes by the designation

C02 (87-19)
Jenny Spaewife

and I painted it to use as the Healer in one of the Basic Sellswords & Spellslingers scenarios.

Next up will be some old lead to use as Mountain Brigands (at least, until I can paint up some plastic Frostgrave Soldiers for that purpose).

I really enjoy these Painting Clubs, and how they motivate me to get some stuff painted that has been sitting untouched in the Lead Alps for far too long!

LAF Old School Fantasy Painting Party: Female Ranger

Another Painting Club is running at the Lead Adventure Forum at the moment, the theme is fantasy metal minis from the last millennium, and as I had to get some minis painted for Lea's Sellswords & Spellslingers party, as well as some objective characters and opponents for one of the scenarios, the theme is right up my alley!

I started by finishing the female Ranger Elfham, an old Metal Magic mini I have had for ages.

I struggled with motivation for this mini, and the Painting Club was just what I needed to get her done!

The last member of Lea's party is Tinre, a scantily clad Barbarian Warrior, incarnated by Mark Copplestone's Barbarian Queen, which is from 2007 or so, and thus has to wait until the current Painting Club is finished - as far as I understand, another Painting Club focusing on minis from 2000 and up is planned for when the OSFPP is completed, so I shall have plenty opportunity to get her done rather soonish.

For now, I focus on painting old minis usable for Sellswords & Spellslingers-and then we shall see about the rest...

SS&SS: Elf Witch Rebased WIP

She is now ready to move on the painting station, where I shall paint her base black before texturing it and panting it in earth colours.

There will now be a break from rebasing old minis, while I assemble the 12 Victrix plastic Greek archers (and possibly also while I speed-paint them).

SS&SS: Witch Elf Getting a New Base WIP

As mentioned earlier, this old piece of Jes Goodwin goodness is being rebased for use in Sellswords & Spellslingers (and other purposes, too, of course).

A couple of hours after making the earlier post, I removed the slotta, razor-sawed off half of the base-tab, and superglued her to a 20mm washer.

I may put some filler on some of the recently based minis later this evening, if I am not too tired in my head of all this sunny and warm weather, but I would like to get them away from the prepping station right away, so that I can start assembling the Victrix Greek archers without any distractions (12 plastic models with only two different bodies may get somewhat boring if it is not done very quickly).

SS&SS: Elf Witch

I am going to re-base this mini painted quite some years ago, and use her as the basis for an Elvish warband for Sellswords & Spellslingers. I have some more painted Elves to join her, so the party should be ready in next to no time.

I love it how SS&SS is motivating me to pick up some of my old and long dormant projects, and give some of my old minis some table time.

SS&SS: Lea's Alter Ego

I finally put the last finished touches on Sigga's base today, and with her, the first mini for Lea's Sellswords & Spellslingers party is now ready.

I found this Hasslefree mini quite challenging to paint; Kev White sculpts wonderfully, almost photo-realistic, and it means that one has to be very precise with the brushes, as even the smallest mistake lights up like a Christmas tree.

Well, I am not quite content with her, but I think I managed to make her look all right, after all.

Lea chose the colours, apart form the rawhide boot and arm protector, and it was up to me to try to meet her demands. As I feared (a month ago!), my initial take on the cloak was too light, and I had to repaint it.

I await Lea's verdict when she returns home from school this afternoon.

SS&SS: More Characters Ready for Painting

Three different minis, three different manufacturers, all possible contestants for a position in a warband for Anna, should she decide to play with Lea and me (and, perhaps, Ulolkish).

The Hedge Witch is from Red Box, Ladgerda from Hasslefree, and the War Dog is from North Star's very useful Frostgrave range (I don't play Frostgrave, but the minis are great for many purposes!).

They are going into the 'primed' box for storage, until it is time to paint one or more of them, as I have plenty of pending projects at the moment.

What a Mess...

For those of you who wonder, what all the fuss clearing the prepping station is about...

More Minis for SS&SS - WIP

I decided that the Hedge Witch was stooping too much, so broke her off the base and adjusted her stance, and the photo on the Red Box webstore reveals that the line running over her breast is actually the edge of the bag strap, so will not be removed.

I have decided to mock up a party for Lea to play with, until I get her female party painted (only making slow progress, it is too hot for long painting sessions at the moment), so I dug out the old Citadel apprentice model, which I had already glued to a washer, and started building up the base.

I have a game of SS&SS arranged with Ulolkish on Saturday, and Sunday we are going to visit the wife's mother near Haderslev, so I shall probably not get another game in this weekend. Monday is a holiday (Whitsun/Pentecost), but we shall probably be spending most of it in the garden, as we are having more summer this May than in 2017 in its entirety.

SS&SS: Hedge Witch WIP

I have cleared enough space on my prepping station, that I can allow myself to take in the odd mini in between, and clean it up for the paint queue.

If Anna decides to join Lea and me for some SS&SS, she is probably going to need a Spellslinger, and this 'Hedge Witch' from Red Box Games, which I bought with an order from Hasslefre quite som time ago, should fit the bill!

The photo shows something that may be some flash I have missed, running down across her chest, and I shall have to investigate closely tomorrow.

It is amazing, how SS&SS has me wanting to paint minis I have had lying about - great inspiration and motivation!

Elsa & The Snowmen (Nice Band Name...)

I'd like to see the Orc that would not think twice about eating her... Just a bit more filler on the bases, and the warband is ready to be primed. If I can slip them in, I may add the two frisky penguins that came with the Snowmen, just for laughs.

My Frozen Warband Grows

Another snow goon cleaned and glued to a washer. Nuff said.

Warband With a Frozen Theme

This teen frost-blasting witch is getting some minions in the shape of snow goons (run, Calvin, run...).

I think they should be immune to cold-based, but vulnerable to heat/firebased attacks, which should cancel each other out, points-wise.

I have two more of these 'Copplestone Collection' minis, and as rather lowly characters, I should have plenty of XP to make the witch a formidable foe for the Monsters.

Finished Assembling Ladgerda - Cleaning WIP

I got the sword cleaned up and attached to the Shieldmaiden today.

I tried to remove the moldline running through her face, but it is very hard to see in real life, so I have to wait until I have primed her to see if it is still visible.

This photo reveals some flash on her shoulder that I have missed, and I shall have to get the diamond needle files out for her again tomorrow (tonight is Eurovision Song Contest night, so I doubt I shall find more hobby time today).

From this angle, the shield rim looks okay, although I did not do any work on it, yet, but maybe I shall also have to give it a grind...

A slightly unfocused photo from her left side.

I think the 'lump' in front of her chin must be part of her right shoulder - it is definitely not some flash on the shield rim, although it could look as it at the first glance.

Ladgerda WIP

I made a bit of progress on the Shieldmaiden today. I still need to clean up and attach her short sword, but all in all I am content with the state of affairs.

Something I am not quite content with is the moldlines revealed by these pictures.

I thought I had filed away the one running through her face, and I had not noticed the one on the shield rim before.

I wonder if I can fix them without breaking the bond of the superglue holding her foot to the washer base; otherwise I shall of course just glue her on again, it is a bit annoying, though.








Here is a pic from a slightly different angle.

I shall have a look at those moldlines later this evening or tomorrow, depends on my mood - I have had a rather frustrating afternoon in the garden, trying to set some mole traps, but unable to find a proper tunnel under the molehills (they all seemed to be at the end of a tunnel), and failing to get a fallen tree leaning on a branch of another tree to come loose and onto the ground (the branch it is leaning on could suddenly snap, and the tree fall onto and kill smebody, so I have get it cleared away). I need to sharpen my chainsaw-chain, so I can cut up the trunk in smaller pieces, but that is definitely not going to happen before Monday, at least, andmore likely Tuesday, as the forecast speaks of rain.

Shieldmaiden WIP

I have begun cleaning and assembling 'Dynamic Haleth' from Hasslefree. It is going to be readied and painted as a side project, but I expect it to find use in an SS&SS warband (maybe Anna's if she decides to join Lea and me in some Family Gaming, as the mini we chose for her Viking character when trying D&D could use another Shieldmaiden companion), but I also intend to expend my Viking army with a unit of Shieldmaidens, and this one is a good beginning.

Of course, she will be usable for a lot of different games, so the time invested in her should be well spent!

Katarin Weisz - Still WIP

I decided to leave the eldest daughter of Graf von Schnee with the 15mm base.

I forgot to have a look at the apparent moldline at the front of her skirt (does not seem to show as clearly in this photo), but I shall have to get back to that.

Today, I am not going to sit further at the prepping station, as my back is killing me after I strained it in the garden earlier this afternoon.

Katarin Weisz von Schnee WIP

The eldest daughter of Graf Weisz von Schnee, Katarin, who has got an unhealthy obsession with Dwarves and apples (please don't ask!), is also one of the minis that has been sitting on my prepping station for quite a while.

With my current determination to clear some workspace on the prepping station, it was only natural that I got her cleaned up and started basing her.

She is currently standing on a 15mm washer, and I think I shall perhaps glue it on top of a 20mm one to give her the same basing height as my other minis (but I am not quite sure if I shall just leave it as is...)

I looks as I have misses a moldline on the front of the skirt; I shall have to take a look at it tomorrow.