Monday, October 15, 2012

28mm Eureka Cossacks Looting

I have a lot of non-combaty frolicky Cossacks done - After this lot, the next 40 will be armed and dangerous.
I love this set from Eureka ... I think they'll mostly serve as markers for, well, looting figures

Intended for 1799 they are seen here re-looting a French baggage train during the Great Patriotic War - none of which has been painted you understand.

Winter Tufts from Antenociti's Workshop: here
Mostly satisfied with this pair of bases though I'm least happy with the rose colored tunic on the figure at left. Note the Eureka Mascot carved into the silver pot.

Those are cart wheel tracks in the road alongside which these two labor.

A shako of some French troisième compagnie lies abandoned at lower right ...

The camera captures every error doesn't it? I'm thinking the sloppy blue tunic under the belt there.

I had a jar of Citadel Ultramarines Blue that I wasn't sure was going to be right for the final highlights but it turned out much better than I had hoped. It bordered "electric" in my mind when I applied it but not so much after it dried ...
Swarthy. Before the pictures I forgot to go back and edge the base again. In the finals, that will be remedied.
 
I forgot my own rule on the Cantiniere seen elsewhere - to add white into the glue mixture upon which the snow flock rests - and remembered this time yet leaving those ugly drag marks along the sides. Normally the white glue dries clear leaving the edges tidy.
This pack posed several challenges - not least of which was the mirror. It wasn't perfectly flat. I really am at a loss how to do them. I thought of some impressionistic lines or something but in the end just painted it straight silver and then glossed it up at the end. I'll "meh" for you.

I thought the goose was going to throw me too, but I saw too many plain white ones to my relief on Google.


Close up shots - terribly unforgiving to me ...
The other nigh-insurmountables was the bottle and the vase tied to the saddle. Both were given a coat of brush on gloss after all the dull-coating.



The bottle ended up looking fine ...

I was stumped on the vase pattern too but was inspired by some more Googling. I used a Micron pen in light blue as you can see but have too shaky a hand to pull it off perfectly - same with the red dots in the resulting diamonds. Nonethelss it gives a good impression. Somewhere between finishing the figures and sealing them, I smudged the blue diagonals which bled out in spots looking just awful. I hate repainting especially since I wasn't convinced I could actually make it much better. So the error lies there immemorial.
Thanks for looking - questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged!

25mm Soldiers & Swords Games - Castle Falkenstein - Gentlemen

There's a 4 figure set of the Ladies in varying degrees of readiness - but first, the gents! Who's that douchey guy on the Kardashians? The middle guy reminds me of him.

More shots of my cartoony bases - one of the only things I paint with an eye towards long distance viewing, as if on the table top.

There's actually less folds on the coat at center but I added one just with paint.
It's often fun to see a bigger context to the photographin'. Helps one appreciate the scale a bit too.

Thanks for looking - questions, comments & followers are welcome and encouraged!

25mm Ral Partha Frantisek Markov

I s'pose he could be Mr. Hyde but that's not quite right. Here's the official history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frantisek_Markov
Extra bold on the red silk lining. Micron Pen eyes ...


Base detail - again this is a motif I've committed to on over a hundred figures so far ...

Egads! Glossy bits remain! And for other reasons I hate the back shot - all those folds is just overkill and I did just a middling job on it.

I have a thing for these old school miniatures  ...

Thanks for looking - Questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged!

25mm Westwind Baron Savoodie & Priestesses

There should be teeth painted in on the skull paint but the mouth is in such an arc that I couldn't accommodate it. So now he looks a bit like a mime!
Weird experiment with a red, and an unsatisfying motif for the Baron himself. Not quite pulled together. The sculpt has undead qualities - exposed bones and I believe organs that I painted over as cloth to greater or lesser effect. (When it's unclear what is actually going on there I feel entitled to take liberties.) The Caribbean feel though I felt worked - even the eye shadow!



Snakes, snakes, how do to the snakes? Black I thought would be dull, and a black mamba just has a black mouth interior but is otherwise grey. Green was a possibility but would clash with the already painted turquoise accents. So coral won out in the end which just adds to the festivity of it all.

"Swamp" Tufts from Army Painter

I think I may go back and hand paint a layer of satin over the Dull Cote on the snakes.

The teeth are tucked in on the snake at left so that's a pink tongue you're seeing there.
Thanks for looking - Questions, comments, followers are welcome and encouraged!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Paint Station Unfiltered

After a few months of painting, here's how the table looks - by clouding the paints by color, and then tonal families within, I can maintain a loose but easy-to-navigate organization.


That's distilled water under the table at left and old (but thoroughly cleaned) boxers for paint rags at right. I also use worn out socks (also cleaned thoroughly before use). I just prefer cloth for cleanup instead of paper that can leave fibrous debris all over.


You can see everything from wolves to pirates to goblins to Cossacks and everything else.