February Monthly

The intention for this month was going to be terrain centered but I needed to store a vehicle in my gaming area and now I can't get to a bunch of things.  With those items being temporarily out-of-reach, my focus will shift to finishing up a lot of painting I have started.  Also, I tried out Thursday's for my weekly post (until the Week 4 one); didn't like it.  So for February I'll try...uhm... Monday's?

January Review:

What I learned:

I love the blends you can get with the airbrush but... I need to use larger color differences.  When I did the pajama part on the wood elves I used three colors and liked the transition but it didn't stand out enough.  Sometimes, I had trouble seeing where I was spraying which leads me to...

Find the point the airbrush is going to spray to.  Right now I haven't a clue about where the paint is going until it's there.

Milk?  People say paint should be the consistency of whole milk to spray best.  But for me that comes out too runny and I have trouble controlling the amount of paint coming out of the gun.  Maybe my understanding of "milk consistency" is off.  I need to figure that out.

What's Next:

Highlighting is something I struggle with immensely.  I often get the base layers of projects done and then stop for fear of messing them up. So, I'm just going to buckle down and do it.  As this month goes on I'll push myself to do that and keep record of it here.  I don't know how many models I'll get to this month but hopefully it's a substantial amount.

On a new creative front, a friend got a 3D printer for Christmas and we worked out a creation for paint reciprocation program so we'll see where that leads.  He showed me some heads and helmets he made for his son's Lego's and they look great.  We shall see what happens.

Also, it appears a new game shop may be opening very near to my house.  Hopefully all goes smooth for them and it ends up being a successful venture for them.

Weekly Update - 3rd Week of January - Choosing Colors

For inspiration for my wood elf team I scanned the interwebs.  I saw a lot of green and yellow, green and blue, and green and brown teams out there.  I didn't care for them.  I saw some green and red schemes that attracted me more but they still weren't right.  Then I remembered a video Les Bursley at Awesome Paint Job did a while ago and decided to watch it again.  It doesn't feature Blood Bowl but I liked the scheme.  He went with a reddish brown, orange, a greenish khaki, and gold metallic.  I decided to go with a variation of these colors, sort of a fall theme.

I often work up a drawing to out color schemes and this was no exception:

So I put this together and did a quick and dirty test figure:

I didn't like it.  I went back to the video and saw my colors were off.  So here is another markup:

So I gave that one a shot, used same model since it was just increasing contrast:

Better and truer to the scheme I wanted.  I brightened the orange and darkened the pajama brown.  I also gave the cloth a greenish tint.  Little pop of bright from the feather too. 

By next week I'd like to have the team done.  Hopefully, I can find time for a couple hour block to hammer a big chunk of it out with the airbrush.  I decided to paint the pajamas with that to speed it up, if I can.

Weekly Update - 2nd Week of January - Zenithal Priming

I know this can be done with a rattle can and I've tried it that way before.  But for some reason the air brush made me think of it again.

I have a bunch of third edition GW Wood Elf blood bowl players so I thought I'd give it a try on them.  I primed them with black in the air brush.  I sprayed them and thought I was done.  Then one tipped over.  The went from black to silver in an instant.  I'm not sure why I didn't think about it earlier but spray from the top obviously wont get on the bottom.  I went back over them to make sure the underside was covered.

Layer One

Single Fig

My phone crapped out on me last week so my search to find the correct way to photograph these miniatures is starting all over.

Here is the grey and white part:

Things I learned:

1.  Don't thin too much.  Finding the happy medium will come in time.

2.  Hold the trigger steady, let the pressure gauge do the work.  I did better with the grey and white.

3.  Tip the models to get all sides for dark color

4.  Cleaning the air brush is tough but I'm getting more confident.

Weekly Update - 1st Week of January - New Toys

Over Christmas, I received two new toys to use for my hobbying.  The Proxxon Hot Wire table for terrain and an Iwata Neo airbrush.  I intend to do a bunch of cleaning and reorganizing first... but I was too anxious to get to playing.

For the wire table, I cut up some foam scraps I had lying around.  These pieces might find their way into some future projects.  We'll see.

Harder than I thought.

The current rip fence I have (the one that came with it) is not heavy duty enough for me.  I think I'll look into other options.

Before the holiday I never considered getting an airbrush, but I got one and now I'm super excited about it.  I bought a lot of the goodies to go with it.  Special thanks to a buddy that helped me out with what I needed.  My first use of the airbrush was just learning on some paper.  I cant wait to do more!

The extras:

Compressor.  I went with a cheap airbrush compressor.  From what I could gather it has all the options I was suggested to get.  Station.  This was a simple but important suggestion.  I didn't even know about them.  Protection.  Respirator, gloves, and the compressor is super quiet so the ear plugs were overkill.

Fluids:

I will be spraying with a vent and in my "cold room" eventually, but that room needs to be reorganized first.

I know I'll find more stuff I need but this is a start.

I looked up suggestions and recipes for making your own air brush thinner and cleaner.  Here's what I'm going to start with.  All ratios are approximate and subject to change:

DWFA: 95% distilled water, 5% flow aid; this is a base mix I'll be using for a lot of things.

AB Medium:  70% DWFA, 30% matte medium
AB Cleaner:  40% DWFA, 40% glass cleaner, 20% isopropyl alcohol

I decided to do some priming too:

First lessons learned:
1.  Need practice with the trigger.  I either let out no paint or way to much.
2.  Keep moving.  Avoid webs and puddles.
3.  It takes more paint than I thought.  Took 12 drops to prime that cargo box thing.
4.  Maybe I need to adjust the pressure?
5.  Paint dries on the needle very fast.  May add retarder to my ABM mix.

I'll be playing more and trying to learn.  Both of my new tools will take some getting used to.

Happy New Year

2018 is here.  This is the season where we all write down our goals for the new year and most of us fail miserably.  Even though I've never stuck to any of my hobby related resolutions, I thought I should write them up anyway.

Hobby Related
1.  Clean up and Organize:  and keep it clean.
2.  Build new gaming table for inside.  (ideas already drawn up)
3.  Build modular tiles for TNT. (ideas already drawn up)
4.  Finish Raiders.  Current state - built, basecoated
5.  Finish Stormcast.  Current state - built, some basecoat done
6.  Finish human/chaos pact team.  Current state - built, some basecoat done, need a goblin
7.  Finish Apes of Wrath team.  Current state - built, some basecoat done
8.  Finish Mordheim Witch Hunters.  Current state - built, basecoated
9.  Finish Mordheim Skaven.  Current state - built, some basecoat done
10. Repaint GW Wood Elf Team  Current state - acquired
11. Re-base Initech Gangsters.  Current state - built, basecoated, shaded, highlighted, square bases
12. Finish Mordheim terrain.  Current state - built
13. Post Apocalyptic terrain for TNT.

Blog Related
1.  Weekly Posts.  Usually Mondays.  A recap of the week that was
2.  Update Posts.  Sporadically.   Trying new techniques, new projects, new products, etc.
3.  Monthly Posts.  Around the first of the month.  Showcases, news (This is January's).

Merry Christmas!

I know the greeting is two dys late but I wanted to pass it on.

The past week saw the completion of basecoats on my TNT raiders warband.  I would like to do some highlighting to make them standout a bit more from each other.

I decided this troll will go with my human/chaos pact team.  I made a purple glaze to make his face more interesting.  I put the glaze on then dabbed of the excess while still wet.  I also based his noses and spikes and teeth with a gray, I don't know how I'll finish them yet.

I finished up adding colors and a wash on some rubble and barricades for TNT.  I'm debating whether or not to make bases to combine them on.

I also started Neave from my Stormcast army.  Her lore specifies what she wears, so I'm giving her the classic gold and blue scheme.  I made a mix of one part VMC Black, 2 parts VMC Flat Brown, and 2 parts VMC Gold for her basecoat.  I then washed it with Citadel Reikland Fleshshade.  It looks darker and dirtier than I expected.

I got a hot-wire table as a gift this year.  Mucho terrain stuff to come.  I'm excited!

I also received an airbrush, now to get a compressor and figure out how to use it.

TNT Weekend

I didn't have anytime to do hobbying during the week this week.  But as for the weekend, I wanted to get some stuff done.

I was debating what to get some work done on, and I decided I should do some finishing work on my TNT Raiders.

I figure I should work on finishing stuff up for the time being.  I have a feeling I'll be getting some new stuff to work on terrain at Christmas time this year so I'll want to use that when/if I get it.

I have too many ideas in my head and not enough skill or time.  But here is what I got done this weekend.

Basecoats solidified on cars, started silver accents

Fuzzy pic but did jacket and jeans

Added color to the piles and some barriers

I hope to get more time this week to paint.  I want to finish up my raiders and a lot of this TNT stuff soon.  Like I said before I think my interest will turn to terrain soon. 

Slow Week

I took the small sections of time I had this past week to do some basecoats and jazz on some things.

I painted some skintones (natural and non) on my gryph charger thingies:

The darker one only has one layer of Rakarth Flesh, it got another coat later.  The other one has two layers and a wash layer I didn't like so later I added a layer of VMC Ger. Camo Beige.

I like this color a lot.  It looks like lion coloring.

I did a couple layers of The Fang and had some left on the pallet so I put a couple layers on a troll.

Then I added different levels of VMC Off-White and did dry-brushing in multiple levels.

Then I added a glaze of VMC Dark Sea Blue to the scale and some VMC Uniform Green on his loin cloth.

I am very poor at dry-brushing, guess I need more practice.

Painting Up Some More Stormcast... Areas

I got more peices for my Stormcast Army.  I want to get them done sometime this winter so I painting the up  when I have time.  This weekend I painted a lot of armor with my black metallic mix that I made back when I started this army.

Some of the metallic blob:

To break up the metal monotony I painted some of the red trim and cloth:

I put some paint on some birdies too:

I intended to do some wet blending but I didn't have time.  Having the underneath colors could help when I get around to blending... I think.

When I get it all painted I'll have 54 AoS figures I think.

Flesh

I've never been good or smooth with flesh.  This model is from Wild West Exodus but I'll use it in TNT.  He has a large area of skin to paint, so I figured I'd use him to learn.  The model is a Native American and I want to match the skin tone as best I can.  I used VMC Beige\Red mixed with VMC Hull Red.  For the first highlight I added a little more Beige/Red.  Then I glazed a very diluted mixture of Reikland Fleshshade and Medium into the recesses. 

Here he is so far:

I'm going to work more on the shadows first then highlights.  So far I think its working out ok.  I don't care about speed for this so this figure will take as long as he needs.

I'll be looking around for inspiration and techniques going forward.

Just For Fun

Last weekend was Underworld Cup and that was the last BB tournament I plan on attending this year.  I intended on moving my focus to This is Not Test, I've only played one game with one warband and I'm hooked.

All that being said I decided to throw some paint on a Gryphcharger because I have some ideas running through my head.  I decided to try painting a Rakarth Flesh base and tint it with Reikland Fleshshade.

Ok.  I don't know how I feel about it.  I think the shade needs to be thinned out a bit.  This took way too long to look like junk so I've got some thinking to do before I go any farther.

I think I'll do another recess shade then drybrush up the muscles.  I also need to pick a color for the feathers.  I'm leaning toward a reddish brown

Depending on if I like how it turns out, that will determine how I move forward with the others.  I'm not sure if I'll finish this guy up or move to my TNT stuff. 

Initech Gangsters - For Now

This team has to play in a tournament this weekend.  Due to not giving myself enough time, a series of headaches (what's new), and other things popping up, I don't have them nearly done.  I do have them done enough to play.  Some players on the team are pretty comparable to their movie counter parts and some don't have any distinguishing features.  They remain on their square bases.  The round bases I'm making for them give them much more "flair".  Also Lumbergh will have a stand in for this tourney.

Here they are now:

Some of the characters you can see on the team are:

Lawrence in his construction vest and fu manchu - back row far left

Brian in his Chotchkie's uniform - back row far right

Bob Slydell, the tall Bob, with his white short sleeve shirt, suspenders, and mustache - front right
Bob Porter, short Bob, with his black suit coat

I didn't even get to their mouths.  Oh well they're playable.  More on them later.

Skinks!

Under World Cup 2017; Make Blood Bowl Great Again and KUBBL Season X1 were the impetus of getting this team going.  The team theme is the movie, Office Space.  My original intent was to make each player resemble their namesake.  However, I'm not good enough at modeling to make all that happen.  I did any bit to make them look interesting with paint only, no modeling.

Here is the first team member as they stand now:

The pic makes it difficult to see but he does have a painted of fu manchu.  He's not totally finished and will be transferred to a round more "themed" base in the future.  Unforetunarely, this wont be done in time for UWC 2017.

Inspiration

I will provide a more proper introduction when the team is finished.

Little More Prep for the Winter

Here are some extra things that really don't take any building, but need to be done.

Troll for Chaos Pact team I'm going to work on:

Impact! figure all Chaos Cup Participants got:

Great Pic

12 skinks and left arms prepped for priming:

Couple Judicators hanging out

I will be moving these over to round bases after painting.  These will need to be done for an event in mid November.  Better get going.

Random BB Models done but not pictured

Base grit for all Stormcast models before priming.

Priming is done for now.  Time to get painting.  First up, my Initech Gangsters (skinks).  They need to be ready for the Underworld Cup in two weekends.

More Building

This week I was able to complete 16 more models (+3 for the mounts).


4 Vanguard Hunters and 1 Prime:

2 Vanguard Paladins and 1 Prime, and their mounts:

Mounts (kept separate for painting)

Riders

8 Wild West Exodus models:

Might be a TNT warband

Next up, base prep and prime time!

Test Passed & Build Time

A while ago, I posted regarding a test game of This is Not a Test.  Long story short, it was a blast and I have about a billion terrain ideas.  More on that in the future, but for now it's build time.

In the weeks since Chaos Cup, I have been working to get stuff built.  I want to get quite a few models built so that I can get a lot primed before the weather turns cold.  So far I've built 17 models.

8 standard Judicators and 2 Primes:

Neave Blacktalon:

2 standard Raptors and 1 Prime:

3 Aetherwings:

The next lot to build will be 5 Vanguard Hunters, 3 Vanguard Paladins and their mounts, and 8 Wild West Exodus models I won in a raffle at Chaos Cup 2017.