Wolfman

With all the hype surrounding the supermoon, I was inspired to paint this figure. I wanted something that I could finish quickly and this Blood Rage figure was perfect. It was quick to clean, a bit of a fiddle to remove the integrated base, but nothing too onerous. About 15 minutes prep and it was glued to the base.

For painting I primed white, a thin coat of a pale flesh and then used two colours to glaze on some shading. A red brown for some simple flesh tones, and a blue grey for some deeper shading. By mixing the two I got a good range of different tones. The blue grey also served as a foundation for the hairy bits. Once the basic shading was complete I added a few highlights using a thinned white, then glazed again to bring back the fleshy colour. Finally I added some darker blue glaze to the hair, then some black glaze, picked out the face details and the veins, painted the cobbles and it was done.

It's good to blast through a little project on a whim, whizzing my paintbrushes in a quick and dirty style. The finish is not as polished as many of my figures, but then I spent far less time on it. I might even get to play with this figure over the festive season - last year we enjoyed a couple of games of Blood Rage. It's based on cobbles to add to my (very small) steampunk collection, maybe even that will get called into play at some time. For now though, back to those slow and steady dwarfs.

Lady Alice Liddel and friend

Lady Alice Liddel and her pet rabbit, Lewis. These are the first of yet another new project, the South Kensington Ladies Amateur Dramatic Society. Both figures are from Guild of Harmony and are quite possibly the finest detailed metal figures I have ever painted. The size of some sculpting detail is completely mind-boggling. The ankles on the boots and the steam rabbit have tiny cogs, with all the spokes perfectly cast. It makes you wonder why some insist on using resin. I made a slight change, using the key on the rabbit rather than in Alice's back, which seemed a bit weird to me.

These have been painted as a birthday gift to my wife (obviously I have been sworn to secrecy on her age). She is quite a fan of steampunk and Alice in particular, so they were an ideal present.

When it came to palette, I was keen to avoid the pastel blue dress and blonde hair that is prevalent, but wanted to make a nod in that direction. I went with red and white checks on the apron, then added the blue/turqouise dress, then worked outward from there. The hair colour is auburn or red, to complement the red of the tunic. The stock of the gun is a rosewood colour - I thought this was the most appropriate to use for the flamingo head carving. The model is mounted on a 2p piece with a layer of cobbled plasticard. And for those wondering about the photo background, it's a sample of wallpaper from the local DIY shop - a wonderland of backdrops. There are plenty more amateur dramatics to add to the group, it's just a question of finding the time and deciding which of the wonderful models to paint next.

Twisted Kickstarter

It's the final few hours of the Twisted kickstarter. I have been watching this for the past few weeks, though I already have most of the figures that I like from their range - bought last summer when I started a secret steampunk project (but that's another story for another time). They are superb sculpts, the detail level on the resin figures is world leading, while the metals are finely detailed too.

I have backed for just one starter set, I already have the complete Guild of Harmony collection plus a number of the newer Dickensian figures, but I wanted to back in some small way. So I will be expanding my collection to include the Egyptian explorers. I will also be adding a couple more miscreants and will qualify for a small number of free extras. Another dozen figures to add to my upcoming project.

Take a look, the concepts are amazing and the sculpt and casting quality is really top of the range. Having dealt with these guys previously, I am happy to back them and wish them all the success they deserve.

Review of the Year - Painting

Another year gone by, so as is traditional it's time for the annual look back at hobby highlights. This post will look back at my painting efforts over the past year. There's a companion gaming review post to summarise dice adventures.

The start of the year was dominated by the Lion Rampant project. Over a period of four or five months, I built and painted a complete late medieval force of Perry Miniatures Wars of the Roses figures. It was nice to complete a project in such a short timespan - some of my projects have been plodding along for years!

My painting mojo was obviously firing on all cylinders in spring, for I quickly fired off a few more units for various projects, including some warg riders and  Rohan troops for my Lord of the Rings collection, and these undead vikings, which I am unsure what to do with - something will come to mind at some stage. Sometimes it's good just to go with the flow and paint up what you fancy. 

After all those units I wanted to slow down and concentrate on some individual figures for a change of pace. We had started playing In Her Majesty's Name, which requires just 10 or so figures for a complete force, so I made a start on my oriental faction, the Silver Serpent, with these rather finely featured Malifaux figures. Actually, I slowed down to such an extent that this trio took me over three months to complete!

It was some time in late summer that I bought the Age of Sigmar starter boxset. I kept the chaos figures to add to my collection and sold the rest. I painted up the warriors, marauders and daemon beast model, and also finished painting a unit of ogres plus a lord on jugger, to give myself another skirmish faction to play in various game systems. 

Last but definitely not least, I started a dwarf project. Even though I already have a fully painted army for Warhammer, and a fledgling Lord of the Rings force, I could not resist buying a complete army from a forum sale. It's a project to savour, one to mature down the years. I painted up possibly my finest single figure of the year in the shape of a dwarf champion, followed by a splendid looking unit of rangers. More short beardy painting is sure to come in 2106. 

I reckon 2015 has been a good vintage for my painting. Two warbands completed - the Wars of the Roses force and the Khorne Warriors - and a good start made to a dwarf army, plus a little progress made on my Lord of the Rings collection. Looking to the year ahead, I am determined to get two small forces together for some steampunk gaming, so more work on the Silver Serpent and some new figures. The boxset of Blood Rage figures is calling to me, more vikings on the way. And no doubt the dwarfs will make an appearance too. I don't like to plan my painting too much, my enthusiasm for projects ebbs and flows and I make best progress if I just paint whatever takes my fancy at the time. 

Lotus, Rose and Jade

Malifaux Oiran

The first three members of the shadowy Silver Serpent Society are finally painted and ready for action. The final member of the triad is Lotus, with her deadly bladed fans - the design is meant to represent cherry blossom, if you google Japanese fan you will see this is a common motif. They have been a real challenge to paint, so many tiny features, though I enjoyed the vibrant palette as a change from my usual earthy, realistic approach. I will most likely go back and repaint the bases as I am unhappy with them.  The three figures make up the Malifaux box set, the Oiran. For my own purposes they will be used in games of IHMN, as the more basic foot troops of the Serpent. Being martial artists, with silk robes and throwing blades, I reckon they will be quite a handful. These ladies have been on the slow boat from China, at an average of less than one completed per month, hopefully the next few will be a little quicker.

Silver Serpent : Rose

The second member of the secretive Silver Serpent organisation steps into the light. This is Rose, armed only with her kimono and, er, metal hands. Like the first member of the clan, this is a Malifaux plastic figure with some miniscule details to test the eyes and patience of any painter. As if that wasn't hard enough, I decided to add a simple flower design to the otherwise very plain gown. It's mostly visible on the rear of the figure.

Progress on the rest of the clan is slow. I have the whole crew assembled and the third member is part painted, as you can see from this sneak peek shot. In gaming terms, these ladies will probably all be defined in the same way, with Jade armed with a weapon (probably a halberd). I think giving them all throwing knives would also be appropriate, secreted away beneath their flowing robes. 

In the Shadows lies the Silver Serpent.......

This delicate little thing is the first of a small faction I am developing for Victorian/steampunk gaming. It is a plastic figure, from the Malifaux range, the Oiran. This is Jade, member of a shadowy, secret society known as the Silver Serpent. She will be joined by more willowy figures like this, plus a couple of more solid compatriots.

The details on this figure are absolutely tiny. I usually paint with a number 2 or larger brush for the majority of my work, number 1 for eyes if need be. For this model I had to go down to a number zero and dig out the optivisor - the eyes were especially challenging. The base is a nice solid 2p piece, giving the figure a bit of weight, hopefully it will not blow away in a slight breeze now.

In terms of gaming, I have recently enjoyed playing In Her Majesty's Name in the gaming dungeon. So far, all the games have been played using Matt's collection, but I thought it would be nice to add some figures and flavour of my own.  It will take me a while to get this faction painted, so I might use Dystopian Legion French troops as a short term solution. But rest assured, the Silver Serpent lies coiled, waiting to strike.

Dystopian Legions French Legionnaires painted

The first batch of the Dystopian Legions figures painted, though it took me a lot longer than I expected. I suffered a major dip in motivation at the beginning of the month which has put a real dent in my plan to have all the figures from the starter set painted by xmas. I do think these are the most complex of the figures in the set to paint, hopefully the next lot will be progressed at a better pace.

Now that they are fully painted, you can better see the quality of the figures. The casts are good and the sculpting detail is very fine - one of them has a tiny cigarette dangling from his lip. The faces in particular have very shallow detailing, though excellent facial hair. The bayonets are a little clunky, I should really have filed them to a finer point before I painted them, but that's a minor quibble. For me, they are a lovely mix of realistic proportions, fine detail and steampunk flavour.

Enough waffle, here's some more pictures so you can judge for yourself.

Iron Scorpion: a little progress

The French Legionnaires are underway proper now. I have painted up a test figure. He's stood at the back checking his (unpainted!) rifle. With my recipe scribbled down I have started to base coat his comrades. It's not much to show really, but it does illustrate the direction I am headed.

The weapons and metals still have to be finalised, but these should not cause too many problems. I might tweak the red of the shoulder pads. And I have still to decide on a base - desert as per the starter box, or my more usual grassland. I am hopeful of a more substantial update in the next few days.

Iron Scorpion under way at last

Progress has been slow on the Iron Scorpion painting and assembly, not helped by a week's holiday. But now that I am back at home I am raring to get underway. A squad of French Legionnaires is my first painting project. As usual, I started with a white primer, then washed so I could see the details. In this case, the palette will be predominantly blue so I have washed with a blue/grey colour, but wiped it off the trousers and flesh with a damp brush. This really shows the level of detail on the figures, better than the renders on the back of the box. I love them even more now.

For the palette I have narrowed it down to two sources. The first is a purely historical picture, from the Putty and Paint website. This is a French Foreign Legionnaire and you can clearly see the influence it has on the sculpts, and the reason I removed the blue wash from the trousers. This pretty much nails it for me - blue coat, white trousers, grey boots, with small flashes of red trim.

However, just to muddy the water a little, I have also been looking at some concept art for the upcoming PS4 game The Order 1886. There are plenty of trailers on youtube, it looks visually quite stunning and I have been looking at this image, wondering if I should go along this route. The female on the right is of most interest, again blue coat, white trousers but with a darker red as a lining of the jacket. Maybe flashes of gold trim, the epaulettes of the shoulder pad and other brocade could be painted this way.

For the weapons I want a steampunk feel rather than historical, and this fits the bill perfectly. The soft gold and copper trim should contrast very nicely with the blue of the uniforms. More updates soon, I am really fired up for these figures. It would be nice if I could get the majority of the French and Antarctica troops finished for xmas, but at the same time I want to take my time and paint them to a high tabletop level. The first test squad will give me a better idea of how long it will take.

Iron Scorpion figures initial impressions

I have made a start on the figures in the Dystopian Legions starter set. I love the aesthetic of the range, the merging of historical, fantasy and steampunk is perfect for me. The background looks interesting too, had a brief flick through the booklets included. So far, so good.

On the figures themselves: let me preface my comments by stating that I am not a fan of metal, my preference would be resin, plastic, pvc, then metal. The prepping is a chore that has to be got out of the way as far as I am concerned. There is no poseability as in plastic kits, it's just stick them together as shown on the back of the box. There are no instructions, so the back of the box diagrams are absolutely essential. The photo shows the French Legionnaires. They are very nicely designed and proportioned, none of the chunky nonsense that so many old metals suffer from. Cleaning is straight forward, the mould lines are very fine and, for the most part, easily accessible. Assembly is stress-free, one or two of the arms pieces were slightly twisted, but nothing too serious and the metal is pliable and bendable - note that when cleaning the barrels of the guns you have to exercise care that the thinner bits are not bent or snapped. The backpacks fit nice and snug on the models. As metals go, not too bad at all. I know that the Antarctica automatons are going to be a completely different story - a real scary story that maybe I should have posted for halloween, but more on that in a future post.

I am also making progress in deciding on the colour schemes. I have been collecting images to use as reference. The French will be blue, white and red of course, with the Marines a different blue and more metallics. I have collected a number of images from historical and steampunk/art sites, so have a good idea of the direction I want to go.

The palette for the Covenant of Antarctic troops is less easy to decide on. I want to avoid blue to easily differentiate from the French contingent. I am thinking along the lines of sea green and greys and whites. It will click into place at some point. I love this part of a project, researching background, colours and anticipating the painting. If only the prep was as enjoyable - le sigh.

All Quiet on the Hobby Front

What a brilliant video! If it had been around at the time of the All Quiet on the Martian Front kickstarter project, maybe I would have been swayed. At the time I really liked the tank models but was not convinced by the tripods. Had they been conceived like these in this film, I would have more unpainted figures in my collection. Perhaps it was a good thing that I resisted.

There's not much of my own work to report on at the moment. I am in between projects. I have a few things I could finish off, and a few things not yet started, but little creative energy to tackle them. Maybe it's the end of summer blues?

Dystopian Legions Iron Scorpion Arrives!

The box in all it's glory

Christmas has come early this year. You may remember my preview post about the Iron Scorpion boxset. The delivery was a little late, due to a Spartan delay and  by me always seeming to be out when the postman arrives, but finally I have got it in my hands. Or rather, on to the table for a quick contents photo shoot.

I have to tell you that this is my official xmas present, so there's not going to be too much detail in this post. I have flicked through the booklets and will be checking the contents, and maybe even painting some of the figures, but I am trying to save it for the holiday season. With another 77 days to go, I will probably be at bursting point by the big day. Just a few photos to give you an idea of what's included, I will be looking at the contents in more detail in the coming weeks.

The contents when you open the lid

The contents laid out on the table

Starter booklet background story

Starter booklet scenario

Dystopian Legions Starter Set

Has there ever been a better time to be in this hobby? New releases seem to have gone into overdrive in the past few weeks, it's almost impossible to keep up with all the developments. Hobby blogs and forums are frothing with news about Star Wars expansions and skirmish games, Infinity, Dropzone Commander, Bolt Action, and of course the return of Nagash. And that's just from the established big companies, there are dozens of new demands on your wallet all the time from kickstarter projects. Phew!

We all have our own favourites, there is something out there for everyone. I have looked at Dystopian Legions by Spartan Games several times in the past couple of years. I tried to get my gaming buddy interested but he's more of a historical chap, so I always resisted, not much point in collecting an army if there's no one to play eh? But now I can resist no longer. The newly announced Iron Scorpion starter set looks to be just my thing. Here's the official blurb and some renders. Spartan Games have a good record of faithfully reproducing in metal what they show, so I'm confident they will look pretty much as these images show. Metal is not my favourite medium, but it's a price I am willing to pay to get my hands on a good quantity of decent steampunk figures.

The set is available for pre-order on the Spartan Games website. Some have complained that the price is high. It retails at £90 plus postage, though you can also pick it up from Troll Trader with a discount and free postage, which brings the cost down to a shade over £80. That works out at about £2 a figure, with scenery, tokens and rules for free. That seems reasonable to me, cheaper than some systems and about the going rate for starter sets. September 24th cannot come around quickly enough!

A little diversion

I have recently been looking into Victorian/Edwardian/Steampunk figures and fancy adding a few to my collection. There are so many to choose from, depending on what you include in the genre. I guess one way to approach it would be to decide on a game system and then buy the figures to fit. That's certainly very logical and probably what most people do. I often buy figures on a whim and fit them into a game later, and that's just what I intend to do with these little beauties.

These are from the new Malifaux plastic range, the Oiran from the Ten Thunders faction (I think). I will probably just use them to build some kind of oriental faction or gang for any one of a number of games I have been considering. I might even use them in Malifaux games, who knows!

The sculpts are very, very finely detailed, probably the smallest pieces I have ever built. I needed tweezers to assemble some of the bits. Mould lines were few and easy to scrape off with a knife. Assembly was good, all the bits fit snugly and with little need for filling gaps. I have based them on two pence coins, topped with plastic cobbles sheet.

To paint them I have ordered some fine detail brushes from ebay. I use a number 2 or number 4 brush for most of my work, swapping to a number 1 for eyes, fine lines and the like. For these figures I have ordered a 0 as well as two new 1 and 2. If I could order new eyes I would, or maybe some ocular enhancing machinery would be appropriate. Still, I am looking forward to painting them and maybe developing a faction or two. Small acorns and all that.