Update 11/3/14 - Mordheim and Nurgle

This is what has been done over the weekend.  I did minimal work on the Nurgle team and my Mordheim warband.

Purple wash over a beige flesh

From the back

Red wash, green wash, and bone on the horns

Some Mordheim stuff.  I almost finished the Warrior Priest and one of the Witch Hunters.

I doubt it but I would like finish my warband this week.

Get to Work!

Oh time, time where did you go?  September has gotten away from me on the hobby front.  I did take part in the US Blood Bowl major, Chaos Cup.  It had record breaking attendance and I wish I could say record breaking play from me.  But, oh well, 2-2-2 is okay I suppose.

Before that some storms decided to roll through the neighbor leaving us without power for three days and then giving me three more days of glorious yard work to complete.  Now things are back to normal so I’ll be able to start more painting.  I also really need to get to build my table, too.

I played my first game of Mordheim with my Witch Hunters against my friend Randroid and his Undead.  We tied in objectives but he knocked all of my Flagellants and one hero out of the game.  So he did much more damage to me.  I haven’t finished painting up the warband so that will be the first painting task.

Here is my To-Do-List (This should last me at least until the end of the year):

• Finish my warband
• Build 4’x 4’ table
• Touch up my DoA
• Build my human team
• Fix a friend’s Undead/Necro team
• Re-paint a Nurgle team that was painted by someone else
• Misc (just on here to justify wasting time on unimportant stuff)

That is more than enough to last me.

To Do List - 6-1-14...no? 6-16-14?

Where has the month gone?  Has it been so long since I've painted?  Or just posted?  Well, I have gotten some things done but for every accomplishment I've created two more tasks for myself. 

DOA stuff done and to be done.

• The six positionals for the DoA are on their bases and sealed.  They just need some matte varnish and they will be good to go.  
• The other six linemen are ready to go onto their bases but I am waiting on some Slater numbers to finish the bases first.  Once they are on there bases I will give them a gloss varnish followed by the matte varnish and they should be done.  
• The sideline bikes are complete and in need of bases (I didn't like their original bases so I scrapped them) and varnish, and they will be all done.
• The team apothecary is basecoated and washed.  He needs his finishing highlights.  His bike is basecoated, washed, and highlighted.  It has the same base issue as the rest of the bikes and needs to be re-done.  All this needs to be assembled and varnished too.
• The counters and dice are... well, I haven't touched them.

With the exception of the counters I hope to be done with these steps by next Monday.  The bases depend on getting my numbers in also.

Now onto the stuff I've added to my hobby plate.

• I read Xtreme's rules for Death Roller Racing and they look incredibly fun.  Because I want to play this so badly at Zlurpee Bowl X, I've decided to get Piney ready too.  I have done the basecoating and shading on Piney and the roller's metal areas have been based as well.  I need to finish the basecoating, assemble, highlight, finish the base, and varnish him.  Due Date: July 10th.
• I love the Battle Foam C4 Case I won at CC12 but the DoA call for their own transport.  Of course this means I want to build it.  I have all the parts except some magnets.  Due Date: July 10th.
• Also at Zlurpee this year there will be a competition for Best Painted Impact! Miniature.  I've never tried my hand at competition level painting so I thought I'd give this a go.  I've picked out the model and started too paint it up.  We'll see how it goes.  If I don't like how it's doing I'll scrap this.  I got nervous just writing this so... maybe I wont do this.  Due Date July 10
• I've long complained on here about how bad my photography skills are.  Of course this means I will be building my own light box.  Why not?  I've got time... Due Date TBD
• A couple friends in the area have invited me to play the game "Mordheim."  I am in the process of planning my Warband.  I think I want to play as the Witch Hunters.  Just reading through the rules and watching some battle reports on YouTube makes me want to learn to build some terrain too.  So I need to pick my Warband models, get them ready for play, build some terrain, actually learn how to play, figure out how to get by on 1 to 3 hours of sleep a night.  Start Date July 14
• Do more painting on my Warriors of Chaos, Nurgle Warriors.  Due Date TBD
• Paint up the Red Cedar Riots for CC14.  Probably not going to happen.

All this on top of my plans for my yard and house for this summer.  AHH! 

The Slog

I am getting a bit bogged down on the DoA.  I've gotten to the point were I need to finish the bases to move on.  Normally this would be fine but for this project I decided to use pre-made letters and numbers for the bases which is time consuming.  I know, in the end, they will make the bases easier to read but I don't care for the effort it takes.  Boo-Hoo right?  Hopefully they will make the models look good.

As a distraction I've been practicing glazing on some random models I have.  So far, I'm happy with my progress.  I tried doing non-metallic metal steel, um, that didn't work.  But glazing for other colors seems to be progressing well.

I was also recently gifted a box of Chaos Warriors.  I am working on cleaning up mold lines and coming up with a paint scheme I want to try on them.  I realize through this process I don't care for assembly.  I looked at the model holding the piece together as if assembled and I could easily see that painting certain areas would be very hard, if not impossible.

Speaking of assembly, my next project; the building of my Impact! Middle Kingdom team.  Not all of the models require assembly and that makes me very happy.

The weather forecasts for this area look very good so I will be spending more time outside.  I love being outside for almost any reason.  Even yard work is appealing to me.  Mowing, trimming, weeding, building a fire pit, on and on; it all seems great to me.  This will lower my modeling time but I will still get stuff done.

In the not so distance past I made To Do's for myself.  I think I should do that again so...

To Do by 5-27-14
1.  Letter and paint DoA 6 bases
2.  Highlight DoA bikes
3.  Base DoA apothecary
4.  Prime test Chaos Warrior and Red Cedar Riots players that don't need assembly

That's a lot to do but I think it's doable.  We'll see.

To Do List 3-10

Looking back on last week I was able to get the blitzers done rather quickly.  The next two weeks are pretty busy for me so I hope to get a lot done but I may not.  I think I will have all of the DoA players finished by the end of this month.  I need to work on their bases so I can get them pitch ready.

The next tournament I think I'll be attending is Headbanger's Ball IV.  Right now I'm planning on playing Underworld or Slann but I may debut the DoA at that tournament if they are done enough.  I have plans on making them the major player of my three rotating tournament teams.

Here is last weeks to do's:

To Do by 3-10-14
1.  Highlight and tattoo Tig. (Done)
2.  Highlight and tattoo Clay.  (Done)

To Do by 3-17-14
1.  Highlight and tattoo Juice
2.  Highlight and tattoo Half Sack.

To-Do List 3-3 and Update

So it has been a while since I did a To-Do List and I want to get back into it.  I feel like I've been doing well in the area of keeping up with a schedule but putting it in writing is a way to stay on track.  If I can keep up my current pace I should be finished with highlighting and tattooing of the DoA by April.

To Do by 3-10-14
1.  Highlight and tattoo Tig.
2.  Highlight and tattoo Clay.

Now to the update portion.  I highlighted and tattooed Opie.  He is the only shirtless and cut-less character so I decided to go for it and tattoo up his back, ie the SoA character of Opie.  Here he is.

I really like posting pictures here because I can see better what to correct.   When the team is done they will be better. 

To Do List 1-27

I was granted a bit more time this week because a planned trip to see friends in Chicago got snowed out.  Let's see how we did:

To do for 1-27:

1. Highlight Jax (Done)

2. Basecoat and wash Juice (Done)

I decided to try out some different lighting and a new background for my pictures.  I'm still not happy with how they turned out but I'll keep trying.

After reviewing the photos I always see something that needs work.  This time was no exception so I'll be making some of-blog adjustments before I finalize anything.

Here are the photos.

 The color on the photos is poor but I see that improving the skin highlight is necessary.

I'll be adding his tattoos as well.

His pants need more highlighting.   The edges will be more defined. 

 Blonde-ish hair turned out the way I wanted.  I didn't add any yellow and I think that was a good call.

This is likely my favorite model of the set.   

 I would like to give him a slightly darker skin tone, maybe I'll add some to the mix and re-base his skin. 

 Little beefy for Juice but he is a dwarf after all.

Whoops, got to fix that glove.

making some of-blog adjustments before I finalize anything.

Here are the photos.

To do for 2-3:

1. Highlight Jax

2. Basecoat and wash Juice

To Do List 1-20

Time to keep myself accountable.

To do by 1-19:
1.  Finish Clay. Done
2.  Once 1 is done work on Jax. Based and Washed

Here are some photos and descriptions of the "finished" Clay.  The model is done but I may do some touching up of areas before sealing and basing.

Black areas were highlighted with Vallejo Black/Grey 50:50 with Vallejo Off White

Blue areas were highlighted with Vallejo Dark Blue

Brown areas were highlighted with Vallejo Ger. Camo Black/ Brown 50:50 with Citadel Calthan Brown

Metal bits were highlighted with Citadel Runefang Steel 75:25 with Citadel Dwarf Bronze

My favorite part of painting Clay was highlighting the medal bits and painting his "white" shirt.  To do the shirt I used Vallejo Black/Grey mixed with Vallejo Off White adding more and more of the VOW with each layer.

Before sealing (now that I've seen the pics) I think I need to fix his right shoulder and dull down his beard some.  I'll reattach the cigar I made for him and put him on his base.  

To do for 1-27:

1. Highlight Jax

2. Basecoat and wash Juice

To Do List 1-13

Man, I'm getting bad at doing this on time.  Let's see how last week went.

To do by 1-12:
1.  Work on more DOA team members. Done
2.  Assemble some Riot players.  Not done

As I've gone through this process I realize that my attempt to "assembly line" paint miniatures doesn't work for me.  I want each of these players to have their own feel to them and that makes the assembly line style too difficult.  Also it is not keeping me motivated enough.  My to do's for this week will show that.  Here are some pictures of my last "assembly line" session.

 Clay

 Jax

 Juice

 YTD Lineman

Bobby Elvis

What I'm going to do with this team is finish up one maybe two players a week.  I realize that they won't look as good as they do in my head but I think I need to work on them individually to get the best results I can.

To do by 1-19:
1.  Finish Clay.
2.  Once 1 is done work on Jax.

Let's see how this works for me.

To Do List 1-6

Vortex Delay

Michigan was one of many areas that had to deal with the Vortex.  Due to the weather this post got delayed.

Let's look back with joy on last week's list.

To do by 1-5:
1.  Watch Michigan State win the Rose Bowl! DONE!
2.  Enjoying Michigan State winning the Rose Bowl! DONE!!
3.  Pray no one is hurt in the riot sure to follow Michigan State winning the Rose Bowl! DONE!!!

Go Green, Go White!

Congratulations to the MSU Spartan Football Team!

Now, I suppose I should make a real list for the week.

To do by 1-12:
1.  Work on more DOA team members.
2.  Assemble some Riot players.

I got some storage for Christmas that I was able to set-up in my painting spot.  I just threw stuff in drawers for now but it has already helped my area stay cleaner.

Oh I thought I'd share one last photo.

Come on big sister, join us.

To Do List 12-30

Looking back on the last to do list...

To do by 12-29:
1.  Work more on base coating DoA. (did I really expect to do any painting?)
2.  Have a Merry Christmas! (yerp)

I didn't do any painting but I received some painting related gifts that will help me in the future.  I was given some new storage pieces and a gift card to Hobby Lobby (the hobby and craft sections are a favorite when it comes to selfish shopping.)

To do by 1-5:
1.  Watch Michigan State win the Rose Bowl!
2.  Enjoying Michigan State winning the Rose Bowl!
3.  Pray no one is hurt in the riot sure to follow Michigan State winning the Rose Bowl!

Go Green, Go White!

To Do List 12-23

Hard to paint without power.  It was only at the end of the week but it put a damper on a decent week at the brushes.

To do by 12-22:
1.  Work more on base coating. (done)
2.  Assemble some Middle Kingdom players. (nope)
3.  Get caught up on photos and journaling. (yeah)

I have a lot of post started to help me keep up with my blogging/journaling.  The picture part is still a work in progress but we'll keep plugging along when the power gets restored.

To do by 12-29:
1.  Work more on base coating DoA.
2.  Have a Merry Christmas!

To Do List 12-16

My seven day painting plan is to get in a minimum of three hours of work in.  This week I painted around 2 hours.  Thursday night was intended to be me long night but plans changed and it turned into a none night. 

To do by 12-15:

1.  Basecoat three/four DoA members (three semi-done, skin, pants, cuts, and shirts)

While basing the figure that will become Bobby Elvis, I decided to give him a white jumpsuit.  Why not?  It's not like white is that difficult to paint, right?  Right?  Oh...  Not only is this difficult, but it's crazy time consuming too.  Hopefully it will be worth it.

Reading around the blogosphere has told me I should document my painting a little better.  If you write using color combinations and techniques it can help you remember what worked for you and what things it may be worth trying.

Today, I'll just make my new to do list, but I intend on adding more content in the future.

To do by 12-22:
1.  Work more on base coating.
2.  Assemble some Middle Kingdom players.
3.  Get caught up on photos and journaling.
   

To Do List 12-9

No pictures in this post to show my work but I got two of three things done for the week.

To do by 12-8:

1.  Fix Frosty's bottom snow ball. (done)

2.  Finish basing and sealing Sparty and Frosty. (done)

3.  Basecoat two/three DoA member (no time)

Usually I get about thirty minutes each day to hobby, this week that wasn't the case.  One and two on my to do list had to be completed for Jingle Bowl II so I got that done as best I could.  I also decided the flesh on my Yeti was not to my liking.  I added a layer to smooth it out some.  With no tournaments on my horizon until Feb 8th (Dog Bowl II in Kalamazoo, Michigan),  I am turning my attention to the DoA.

Now a JB II report as promised.

I GOT THE LUMP OF COAL TROPHY!  The prestigious award that is only given to the player who showed incredible tenacity and stick-to-it-tiveness to play the game against all odds.  To look their opponents in the eye on the field of fantasy football and not cower before them.  To play through the pain of being slaughtered by not one or two, but four teams.  The Norse of the Red Cedar Riot were destroyed by Chaos Dwarves, Necromantic and Chaos.  In their final game of the tournament the Riot were PITCH CLEARED by a goblin team and there amazing chainsaw wielding Looney!  The chainsaw was directly responsible for three casualties and three knock outs.  The chainsaw kicked back on the Looney two different times but a reroll of the start allowed the goblin to avoid hitting himself, allowing him to cause all sorts of mayhem.

I put together my build with the intention of causing a large amount of casualties.  That did happen.  I really should have paid attention to the ball more.  Oh well.  Live and learn.

Here's my list for this week.

To do by 12-15:

1.  Basecoat three/four DoA members (that should keep me plenty busy)

 

 

 

 

To Do List 12-2

It's tourney week!  Jingle Bowl II is upon us and a Norse tournament edition of the Red Cedar Riot will be traveling to the east side of Michigan for some Blood Bowl action. 

I did well on my list from last week so here are the results.

To do by 12-1:
1.  Frosty primed and base coated. (mini finished except for base and sealing)
2.  Snow Troll primed and base coated.  (mini finished except for base and sealing)
3.  Finalize roster for Jingle Bowl II and send it in. (done)

 

Below are some images of my Yeti, Sparty and star player Frosty.  

 

I wanted to make it look like he had a dusting of snow on him.

 Five layers of flesh tones and I think I finally achieved the tone I wanted.

I don't know whether to be happy with my first sculpting effort...

 

... or disappointed with the out come. 

 

 

My roster for Jingle Bowl is designed for casualties.  We shall see if I can achieve the necessary rolls to win some games.  I was able to play one practice game with them and it went well so... this could be ok.

 

To do by 12-8:

1.  Fix Frosty's bottom snow ball.

2.  Finish basing and sealing Sparty and Frosty.

3.  Basecoat two/three DoA members.

 

Next week I'll have a Riot (Norse edition) team shot and a rundown of Jingle Bowl II.

 

 

 



To Do List 11-25

Another week has gone by and I'm happy with the progress.

Well, the time has past on my last list so here's how I did:

To do (11-25):
1.  Strip old treeman model.  (done)
2.  Finish sculpting/mashing Frosty (not done but a lot of progress)
3.  Prime Troll figure to paint as Snow Troll for Jingle Bowl II (oops - forgot)

My hobby set-up is so close to being done.  The lighting is working out great and I've added a self-healing cutting board.  Soon, I'll figure out some different storage ideas and I think I'll be set.

To do by 12-1:
1.  Frosty primed and base coated.
2.  Snow Troll primed and base coated.
3.  Finalize roster for Jingle Bowl II and send it in.

Here are some updates of Otto from DoA, he wasn't on the To Do List this time but I couldn't help but work on him.

He'll be getting some "prison style" eye work and he's not sealed yet.

I like the way the base looks but will be cleaning up the lettering.

The lean is because he's not attached to his base yet.

 

 

I also have this picture of Frosty with a face and some fashionable buttons now.  I'm finishing up the rest of his base and will be making his prone and stunned token shortly.  He's not gonna look professional at all but I don't care about that.  My goal is to make him look "cartoony" and I think that's happening.  He's been a blast to make thus far.

Frosty is almost ready for some primer.

To Do List 11-18

Well, the time has past on my last list so here's how I did:

To do (11-17):
1.  Highlight test model for DoA:  Done
2.  Plan out/draw "Frosty":  Done
3.  If weather permits, do priming from last list:  weather didn't permit :(

My set-up is closer to completion!  Thanks to some clearance sales I was able to get some improved lighting.  I know have one architect light and two standard desk lamps.  I got bulbs for all three that mimic natural lighting.  I think just a cutting mat and some organization and my area will be complete.

I also got a bit of a head-start on sculpting Frosty which I had only planned on drawing.  Originally I intended to sculpt the entire model from scratch.  The arms proved to be much harder than I assumed, meaning, the hands would be all but impossible for me.  A friend of mine had an old treeman who had fallen into disrepair (someone had dropped him at some point), I will be using parts from him to make Frosty's arms and hands.  Snowmen often have sticks for arms so this should work.  Because of these changes this has moved from a sculpting task to a Sid-like toy mash-up.

To do by 11-25
1.  Strip old treeman model.
2.  Finish sculpting/mashing Frosty
3.  Prime Troll figure to paint as Snow Troll for Jingle Bowl II

To Do List 11-11

Well, the time has past on my last list so here's how I did:This is the breakdown of what I've done.  I still want to improve lighting in my painting area.  I want to improve my set-up but have run into a bit of a time problem.  Set-up thus moves to the new list.

To do:
1.  Prime big guy models.  Nov 8 - built but not primed
2.  Build/Prime Sideline figures for the D.O.A.  Nov 8 - built but not primed
3.  Prime Deathroller pieces.  Nov 8 - not done

Man, I didn't follow my list at all.  I did get quite a bit done but for some reason my wants changed from when I wrote the list to when I had time to work.

To do (11-17):
1.  Highlight test model for DoA.
2.  Plan out/draw "Frosty" (this will be my first attempt at sculpting a model from scratch)
3.  If weather permits, do priming from last list

To Do List 10-25

This is the breakdown of what I've done.  I still want to improve lighting in my painting area.  I want to improve my set-up but have run into a bit of a time problem.  Set-up thus moves to the new list.

1.  Build a primer board.  Oct 5 - Done
2.  Prime Dwarfs of Anarchy. Oct 24 - Done
3.  Set-up paint area.  Oct 24 - Postponed

Family obligations over the next week and a half will mean the painting stuff takes a break.

The big gaming endeavor for the time being is a Blood Bowl variant, Street Bowl.  Randroid is building a Street Bowl pitch and I'm excited to play on it.  There are many random events in this game and some of them can change your player types.  I have some big guy models from Impact! Miniatures' Middle Kingdom resin team that I want to get ready for the streets.

To do:
1.  Prime big guy models.  Nov 8
2.  Build/Prime Sideline figures for the D.O.A.  Nov 8
3.  Prime Deathroller pieces.  Nov 8

Let's Try This Again - To Do List

I didn't realize just how much time and effort it would take to move.  We aren't close to done but I want to do a to do list for October.  I have worked on my dwarf test model from my first list so that will show up again.  I'm going to have modest goals so I can actually obtain them.  Oh yeah, with the new house comes an area I will turn into my painting area.

1.  Build a primer board.  Oct 5
2.  Prime Dwarfs of Anarchy. Oct 24
3.  Set-up paint area.  Oct 24