Weekend WIP

I finally got around to painting some Infinity stuff. I've been nervous about painting them for a while after chatting with the guy at work who encouraged me back to the game as he is pretty handy with his airbrush. With my experience so far and what turns out to be pretty shaky painting hands I'm not sure I'm going to achieve the same results for a while... I'm happy to use it for mass basecoating though to save time and work from there.

So I got a 'test model' painted. Vanguard hacker who I wouldn't have minded having to strip the paint off as I can't see it being very commonly fielded. I really like the way it has come together, other than wanting to start from a darker grey to highlight up next time.

The backpack, and power nodes on larger models will get the OSL treatment from the airbrush, which I'm going to practice on something else next time I get everything setup :)
I'm not sure if anything else needs doing to the base, like a different colour in the gaps between hexes, but I will be coming back to do some weathering at least.

Which leads me onto the next picture.

These are the two bases for the remotes which I'd never be able to paint once when were based :) I originally had them quite a blue grey which I wanted to shade down, but decided on a contrasting colour for the blue armour, and plumped for the yellowy brown. I've added some scratches and sponged on some dark brown weathering type effects. I will highlight some of the dings and scratches and maybe add some rust or something similar as well :)

I'm looking forward to translating the colour scheme to the larger Morats and adapting it for the Unidrons etc as well. Hoping to get some airbrush time in either on Wednesday evening or at the weekend to get everything blued up

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

Quick Work

After a good weekend, despite not being at home very much, and a music festival providing a strange morning/evening routine with bands on until late, I did manage to get done the airbrushing I planned previously.

The 5mm needle in the older brush is far too big, it throws out gallons per seconds worth of paint, only some of which gets on the model of course due to a wide spray cone versus a relatively narrow model profile. The Ortegas that got sprayed took a whole heap of paint, but when using the 3mm needle in the newer brush (being too lazy to clean out the brush for a second colour had a surprising benefit), the paint is much more targeted, and didn't really take that much longer. Coupled with the fact that less paint overall was used for only one good coat instead of multiple brush coats, I'd call this a win! This doesn't seem like much at all, and is far from exemplary use of an airbrush, but it's progress, and saved time :)

There are a couple of further notes I'd like to make at this point about the equipment I'm currently using.

First off, the airbrush booth doesn't seem to drag away a massive amount of the paint... This is either because I still hold the miniatures i'm working on quite close to me whilst working, or for other as yet unknown reasons. Also, probably because of the sheer output of the 5mm needle, there was some paint which made it through the gaps in the fold out parts of the booth and onto my desk. This was easily cleaned with some airbrush cleaning fluid on some paper towel, though so not a massive issue. Lastly some paint DOES still come out of the filter at the back, so unless the booth is venting out of the window using the parts provided, some paper behind the vent at the back is necessary to preserver whatever might be behind the booth in your setup (my monitors/items on the monitor shelf).

Second, the newer airbrush is far superior to the first one I bought. It feels smoother in the trigger, and paint flow, and clogs less which is a huge plus! It says something that the older brush clogged more with VMA paint and paint thinner than the newer brush did with VGC paint and thinner...

Lastly, regardless of using an airbrush booth or not, ALWAYS wear a filter mask. This is probably related to my holding miniatures so close to me still while working on them, but I felt a bit light headed after I was done, and breathing in atomised airbrush thinner can't be good for any aspect of health really. Look after your lungs!

Dragon Knights - Storage Wars

It's been a while since the last update, but in amongst a busy weekend, I had to be at home waiting for a plumber to fix a leak in the bathroom, and it's all been a bit hectic.

Storage seems to be a topic that I cover a lot on the blog, but it's in the hope that someone else will benefit from my trials and tribulations.
The current issue is that of the dragons I'm using for my Eldar Exodites. I'm fairly sure that all the infantry/'jetbikes' will fit in one of the couple of variants I have for storage currently, but the wingspan & height of the dragons makes then take up a pretty large footprint in their current 'under bed storage box' home. Taking this around on the bus to the club for gaming would be a pain to say the least, so I posted in the gaming group to see if anyone had any ideas, and was messaged pretty quickly by someone who I vaguely know from trading groups, with a pretty great solution.

So the box is a larger version of what I'm using at the moment with a wooden runner near the top and a cut up magnetic whiteboard for both the larger models in the bottom, and the infantry to sit on in the top. I think this is the best solution for what I have so I'm going to try and work out how best to adapt it.
I'll probably end up using a 'really useful box' for the larger container as I know these are good quality & sturdy, but then I'm not sure what to do about the shelf with infantry on, or if maybe I'll use a shallower box for the dragons like I am at the moment, but of better quality and then have the infantry boxes in a holdall/backpack.

When I get the time i'm going to go through related measurements and see what the best option is, but as it happens I may be involved again with a theatre group I used to stage manage for on Wednesdays so transporting the models might not be too urgent for now :/

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

On the Payroll - M C

I was going to try and do something in the style of Sons of Anarchy's SAMCRO. However, 'Wild Ones Motorcycle Club Original' comes to WOMCRO which sounds weird...

Anyway...

I've made some decent progress with the nightmare McCabe box set, which I think is well worth sharing, especially after all the sulking and carrying on I did when I first got it :p

I also had the crazy idea (probably where SAMCRO came from above) to proxy the Wastrels from the standard McCabe box as some of the characters from Sons of Anarchy from the Through The Breach kit, so we shall see what I can manage to make of that :)

Bases are done, and waiting model placement before I add any grass tufts, if at all. Of course, I couldn't wait to see how it all looked so I can hopefully still get Cherri Bomb finished without either making a mess of the base or it getting in the way :p

The models themselves have been a real joy to paint with the exception of the already troublesome Ramone Biker, but I think they all look pretty good so far.

I'm not exactly rushing through these, but they've somehow made their way to the top of my painting list while there is still so much stuff that I just primed and stuck in a drawer :/ I am trying to get some older WIP models done at the same time though (Alt Franc, Brutal Effigy, Lone Marshall, Pale Rider) and they are pretty close to being done too.

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

Mother of Monsters - In The Flesh

I wanted to post all this on Wednesday night, but then the trains were a mess, so it's ended up being today.

I've managed to do three things to share today - 1 Finish my Lilith crew. 2 Use my lightbox  and 3 Have something other than WIPs to show :)

I've not photographed absolutely everything, mainly because I wanted to see how the lightbox turned out.

The only things I might change with these are some additional blood effects at some point in the future. I'm really pleased with the way they look, especially after how long it's taken me :p I might post a full crew shot at some point in the near future too :)

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

Mother of Monsters - On Wings of Darkness

Managed to get some work put in on Friday as I had the day off. I've got my limited Barbaros model to the same stage as my other Neverborn models, wich is waiting for wing membranes and purple cloth highlights, which I guess wont take long. I think I mentioned previoulsy that I had tested the colours for wings on the Mature Nephilim and Nekima, but never took pictures so I have those today, along with Barbaros and his blue tinted steel sword.

I just got news that we are getting a bonus this year from work, so I will be picking up the rest of the bits and bobs I want for a decent home photography set up in the coming weeks, so I can stop taking such terrible photos of mediocre paint jobs :p

Something I've noticed myself doing recently is highlighting up through from only a basecoat, despite knowing full well that the first coat im painting is intended to be a darker shade layer. For example, I went back and painted more of Hoffmans shirt when I realised that it wasn't overalls, but a waistcoat with a shirt. I use a shadow grey kind of colour path for white, so I started out with shadow grey and then just highlighted up from that which leaves him with almost a blue shirt... What I had envisioned was a shadow grey base, 70/30 shadow grey/wolf grey basecoat and then highlight up to white.

I find myself doing this far too often, so It's something I need to bear in mind for future as it can be easily remedied and will have a real impact on the finished model :)

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

On the Payroll - Metallics

I made some progress on my Hoffman crew finally and blocked in, washed, and highlighted all the steel metallics. I also added the base colour for the bronze colour.
They are now ready to start adding the red & dark grey that I use across my Guild models.

I've had their big brother Peacekeeper around whilst painting as reference, but they are nearly caught up so I will hopefully get him finished alongside them.

I also finished the sewer pipes except one additional wash, and whatever liquid effect I add to the bases later.

Also featured are the Warden models I got recently :)

I have my Neverborn still mid-way though being painted, but I thought it would be good to have these two projects available at the same time so that I f I get burnt out painting metallics and red (very nearly) for example, I could just use my next painting session to do some Neverborn painting, rather than just not doing any.

I've just ordered some new paint racks and had a sort through of my cupboard that I store my hobby stuff in, so I hope to be able to do a post showcasing the new set up soon.
There's also a product review or two in the pipeline as well :)

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

Sugar Rush

Late night/early morning productivity is what's on at the moment. I'm hopped up on energy drinks and combating fatigue from today's lunchtime run along the canal (Long story, but basically I'm training for a 10k later this year).

This seems to be a good state to be in though, as I've managed to get Calaban from primed to pretty much finished except for the many and varied skulls on the model, and the details like his glowing skull and face mask.  There are some really good colour contrast areas on this model, from warm to cold and light to dark so I'm looking forward to seeing how he turns out. 








I've also made some progress on the Skorne Tyrant (standard bearer not started yet). I've used red as the colour for his robes, which is one of the ideas I had surrounding changing my colour scheme for my Skorne, and the theory here is that Whilst Xerxis' house colours are blue, Makeda will use red, so any tyrants other than Xerxis will use the Baalesh house colours.  Hopefully the armour colours and blue accents will still tie it all together visually.

It's payday on Monday, so I can place my monthly hobby order. I'm going to pick up Gargantuans, Rask, a couple of paints and I'll also be getting hold of some airbrush friendly varnish to save my poor warbeasts from chips/abrasion from any case foam (I'm not convinced that this is what has happened, but I'd rather be sure), as well as a respirator to enable me to use the airbrush more often and more safely.

I'm also ordering a single gatorman in order to convert it into a second witch doctor.  I've mentioned a couple of times that I'm not a  fan of the current sculpt (despite how quickly/well it painted up).

I've been inspired a great deal by some posts on the PP forums, namely these few.  Specifically these ones posted by PG_Gift.  I've got my eye on a few games workshop pieces to bits order to help with this conversion so hopefully I'll be able to progress with this this month also.

I've got some commitments next week with the Drama group I'm involved with (as stage manager, I don't act) so perhaps Bank Holiday Monday will see some hobby time. I'll try and update where possible, but hopefully Mr Gravewalker above will suffice for now.

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

Weekend Warrior

I managed to get the witch doctor finished :)

I like the albino style colour so much that I will use this method for all my witch doctors (Currently only Calaban) when I manage to convert up some more.

I also played around with my new colour ideas for my Skorne, but I couldn't get any of them to look as good as Xerxis currently does in what was the final iteration of my bone + blue scheme, so I will be continuing with that :)

This week will be working on Maelok I reckon, and then seeing what takes my fancy after that.  I didn't manage to get a respirator over the weekend, so I will try and get one on payday this month a long with some bits and bobs like varnish, as some of my beasts have chipped at some point, or have paint rubbed off by foam, which is less likely.  This of course means that I will need to finally add water effects to those that need it, and I can do this all at once, and hopefully varnish the next day :)

Once I've got a respirator though, I will be working on my minions units, and trying to use the airbrush to get them done quickly, whilst not rushing them.  The bog trogs especially I can see as being laborious to paint after not particularly enjoying putting them together

I will also hopefully be picking up Gargantuans on payday so I can catch up on all the fun :)

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty

Rack 'em up

After what has been a frantic couple of weeks, I managed to order something which I've been planning for a long while - Paint racks.

I've felt for a while now that having to totally clear away project work in order to use my desk (for work) is a chore, and occasionally is not only demotivating when I want to get painting done, but also a total pain.  Since we moved though, I'm trying a new approach to the whole scenario. I now have my current works on a tray which goes in the drawer in the middle of my desk, so it can be moved away whilst work is still in progress, and resumed just as easily.  The other thing is that my paints can be down one side of the desk without being in the way, and again, accessed very easily, which makes it easier too.

Which brings me ramblingly onto the paint racks which I bought.  I have been comparing two or three 'brands' that I found on eBay for sometime now, and with a recent bonus from work, I took the plunge and ordered from Progressive Engineering through their eBay store.  I ordered one paint rack for my growing collection of Vallejo paints, and one to house my GW paints with the intention that once the GW paints are replaced the rack will hold other paint bottle types just as easily, as well as specialist items like pigments and the like.

I ordered both, and requested a combined shipping fee, which the guys were helpful in providing, and after ordering on a Sunday the goods arrived on Tuesday, so I was really impressed.

Once the parcel was opened, each rack comes in it's own ziplock bag, and has a separate bag of bolts, nuts washers, feet and an Allen key, and of course instructions.

The first rack took around 15 minutes to assemble.  The wooden parts are all really well cut, and went together very snuggly and smoothly. It felt like the screws weren't really necessary if I'm honest, as the structure won't be under any stress or even be moved a great deal.  I bolted the whole kit together and quickly loaded my paints in to see how it looks;

I'm more than pleased with this storage solution, it looks slick and clean, it's functional, well made and very easy to assemble.  I would say that the second rack took around ten minutes to get together once I knew which parts came next.

This is part of a concerted move towards having a workspace which is useful enough to take on commissions as well as my own work, and work work as well when required. Next step is to get everything else into the desk drawers in some semblance of order, maybe even with labels to make things easy to find! This may sound extreme but the way I used to have things (before it all got packed up and moved) was a bit of a mess and not very useful.

Another part to this move towards 'serious' hobbying is having time to a) dedicate to everything I have promised I will do for people, and b) have a regular time to get hobbying things done.

It might be a slow process, but once I'm there it'll certainly be worth it!

Thanks for stopping by

Lofty

Space Raider

I was at the club this week but I was playing Infinity so not much to report.

I did however pick up nq37 at last an I must admit I'm quite intrigued by the new warlock. I've been pondering lists and colour schemes all day.
Whilst I'd rather avoid a strip down ad repaint with my skorne, I do have some ideas to update the paint scheme I chose a little.
All I need to do now is get time to put brush to lead!

Most likely playing more infinity next week, buy I'm hoping for a vassal game perhaps in the meantime.

Sorry it's a short one, thanks for stopping by

Lofty


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Another Wrath post?

Nope. I'm only going to mention Wrath to say that I'm enjoying the book, and I'm kind of glad that the ret stuff is out later this year as it will give me time to get back on my feet financially after the wedding and honeymoon, which I'm very stoked about!

The real reason for posting is WIP pics of Discordia, and an almost finished Garryth. I'll post everything from this batch together once they are all done.

Thanks for stopping by

Lofty

Tip of the iceberg

In anticipation of finishing Barnabus and battlegroup well before Sunday, Here's a sneak peak of what to expect

As well as a humble request - what should I paint next?

Once Barny and Battlegroup is done, I'll make a start on the most popular choice :)

Here is a link to a more comprehensive list of what's left

The List

As promised, below is a list of all un-finished miniatures by faction;

Retribution of Scyrah

Garryth

Ravyn

Discordia

Dahlia & Skarrath

Skorne

Max Cetrati

Max Swordsmen & UA

Titan Gladiator

Titan Bronzeback

Tyrant commander & Standard

Cyclops Brute

Cyclops Savage

Basilisk Krea

Basilisk Drake

Molik Karn

Extoller soulward

pMakeda

Aptimus Zaal

Minions

Bloody Barnabus

Blackhide Wrastler

Bullsnapper

Max Posse

Max Posse

Max Bog Trogs

Croak Hunter

Swamp Gobbers

Totem Hunter

That's it for now...

Minions have the closest models to finished on my desk at the moment, so this week's pledge is Barny & Battlegroup done and posted by Sunday. Let's see if I can do it :)

After that, I'll paint what you guys pick!

Thanks for dropping by and (hopefully) supporting this venture :)

Structure

Since we moved house, I've found it very difficult to concentrate on one faction, to either paint or be enthusiastic about. I've just got Garryth and Ravyn for my Retribution, and excluding maybe some riflemen for Ravyn I'm more than happy running lists with them both from my current collection.
My Gators on the other hand are only just 25 points.
So what's my point you may wonder? Well I'm glad you asked. Basically once Garryth, Ravyn and Discordia are painted, my Ret will be fully painted.
This means I can buy for my gators up to 35 points. Barnabus first, an then once his force is painted, I can grab some pieces for a Callaban theme force which would pretty much just be him and some farrow. This will give me a bit of structure, and more importantly goals to keep working towards. It also means that if I go with the painting then buying idea, Xerxis' 50 point list is only a handful if gators away :p

How do you guys plan your purchases? How close are you to fully painted?
Let me know I'm not the only one whose OCD invades their hobby?!

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty


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Return to form

­Yes that’s right - I blogged.

I’ll give you a minute to wipe the coffee from your screens (as you of course just spat it out due to the shock…).

After saying “no more blogging till the house move is sorted” (back in February) our ISP well and truly dropped the ball, and a phone engineer has only just been to fix our phone line. (All you UK based readers – Avoid O2 like the plague) It’s a long and arduous story, so I won’t get into it now.

In the meantime however, we moved (of course) and I’ve played a few Warmachine games.

The first one (after admittedly a very long WM break) was with Ravyn. I’ll be honest, I liked her style, I rarely ply gunlines as I prefer slice n dice, but I have to admit, it was a blast (ooh pun), her spell list is interesting, and I’m yet to figure out what she can bring to the table (is she a melee caster or a support caster). The game also taught me how frikken cool Invictors are, mini feat (snipe optional) and re-rolls (UA) make for some pretty solid CRAs, and flank is a dream come true to be fair. I also learned that good friends, good laughs and wargames are the cure for hangovers (it was pretty bad weekend that I was still pretty ropey by Monday evening after a day at work)

I intend to play a few more games with Ravyn as soon as she’s done (currently WIP on the ol’ painting table).

I also played two games with Rahn. He makes me feel dirty, but boy is he fun. First game was a turn two caster kill, I ran my Phoenix and Chimera up field straight off the bat, and they diverted a lot of incoming fire (Siege), and Rahn was able to finish the job himself (although I believe it was feated battle mages that got the kill). Second game was pCaine, and he scares me to be honest, his feat is a tough one to dodge. I lost this last one, but I did put a reasonable amount of boxes onto Caine before hand. Both games were fun, and were quite a good way to get back into the Focus v Fury mechanic after so much Skorne recently.

Which brings me smoothly to my next point – Gators are fun. I played 25pts against a chap down the club who just got into Hordes (Trollbloods, sweet painting). And if it weren’t for me forgetting about the transfer mechanic, (dumb, inoright? I got carried away…) It would’ve been a second turn caster kill. As it was, Barny got thrown at Madrak, and risen to charge him. He then weathered the resultant round of retaliation and munched Mr Madras quite decisively. Gatemen are ridiculously good, and I’m yet to find a good way to use the ‘Snapper.

I’m also open to suggestions at this point for what to pad out to 35pts with my gators. My current 25pts is;

Barney

Wrestler

Snapper

Max Gators

Wrong Eye & Snap jaw

Let me know if you have any thoughts J

A friend’s dad also managed to snaffle me a pair of 6’x2’ boards from where he works, and is willing to give me a hand constructing a gaming table, so things are looking good! I'll post progress when either of us gets time to speak to the other and make some headway

The only other news really is that I bought a few miniatures of a couple of the guys at the club for the wargame Infinity, which I’m enjoying quite a lot at the moment. But that’s hardly relevant to an IABN tagged post, so keep an eye out for infinity news in other posts.

As I mentioned above, got some minis on the painting table, and will have WIPs as soon as the net is fixed. As it is, I’m drafting this on my PC whilst waiting in for the phone engineer who should be out today to sort out the net (of course the above will be posted once the net is connected so that was a bit irrelevant really…)

Anyhow, that’s quite enough from me I think. It’s great to be back and look forward to blogging again. There’s some exciting news in the pipeline, but I can only really let you guys in on it when it goes live!

Thanks for stopping by after so long

Lofty

Moving

Moving home is imminent, wedding is in August, and finding time to paint is 'difficult'

I have far too much on at the moment to get anything done so I'm putting blogging (an gaming most likely) on hold until we're settled in the new house

Cheers
Lofty


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It's a Trap!!

We can't repel firepower of that magnitude!
Ahem. You may gave guessed that i lost to a WG deathstar this evening, even if the reference is a bad one.

How is it possible to shift WG with def 17 and a 4+ tough roll? I hates them. Nothing much else to report about the battle to be quite honest, I got bogged down. My Gladiator would have nearly got to irusk if it hadn't been for his no knockdown on feat turn, he was standing silly close to torch. Alas, it wasn't to be. Was a fun game though, so not a total loss.

On a personal note, work is pretty rough at the moment, but that just me more glad to get home and paint, as well as being great motivation for job hunting :)

Hope to update with pictures this weekend, Nihilators and potentially Cetrati will be done by then :)

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty


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Vertical learning curve

Just had a great game at the club. I was perhaps a little over confident going into the game however. I continue to be amazed by how many attacks warpwolves can buy. Those things certainly pack a punch or four. Vyros spent all 6 focus and only managed to dismount the circle dragoon chap. Very disappointing. The sentinels and vengance continue to make me grin like an idiot, perhaps not so much today as they were well outside Vyros' ctrl area on feat. I swear I read that card twenty times at least, and I didn't know the kill had to be in his ctrl area... The palmmprint on my forehead will take some explaining tomorrow!
I'm thinking of dabbling a couple of games without Vyros. Facing eKrueger tonight made me think a Rahn list would be a lot of fun. My next purchase for my Ret will either be Garryth with a unit of Mage hunters or a unit if halberdiers for Rahn.

Opinions anyone?

While I'm canvassing opinions, I wonder whether to have Invictros in my Vyros list at all... They never manage flank, and only ever get a few shots off. But what are the alternatives?..
Anyway, I feel like I've learned alot in my ten games so far, despite being 0 for 10. Most importantly however, I'm still enjoying the game, new found friends, a great hobby and community. It's also relevant to mention here that I think a lot about each game while I'm limping away ;p

Sorry for the wall of text. I'll have some battle mage photos by the weekend hopefully, and possibly WIP stormfall :)

Thanks for stopping by
Lofty


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Stumble Con

I know there has been a lot of excitement about the 'con recently, and I'm pretty envious at all the guys who have been and enjoyed the event. But coinciding with this most prestigious of 'cons was my first game of Warmachine :)

First game was a game with the Kaelyssa battlebox, and a similar point Cygnar force led by Caine, and well... I lost :P

Second game was with my 35pt Vyros list, and the star of the game was easily the Magister solo, who I am now smitten with (geddit? smitten, mittens?...). But I still lost, and lets just say I hate gun-mages and long-gunners ;_; I had a plan to combust his infantry with my Phoenix, so I moved it up bold as brass, and then BAM!! CRA to the face... Meanwhile, the black thirteenth took care of my Invictors, and I somehow only managed to get 1 Sentinel into combat all game ;_; I am particularly proud of the Griffon who wrought havoc in the gun mage unit :) as well as my hydra who camped a ton of focus from attacks and threw a Cyclone and a black thirteenth :D

I enjoyed the entire game, and I think the early neutering of my Phoenix left me scared to get Vyros stuck in, and I only really got anything out of him in my last turn, where he wrecked Black 13th face. I feel like I learned a lot from the game, and I am looking forward, more now than ever, to getting Retribution on Vassal so's I can practice with the army I have collected, in the hope that I win a game at the club eventually :)

I also got quite a lot of attention for having a painted army, and a fair few compliments on the painting quality, which is inspiring me no end. I have just finished m Magister solo, and I'm so please with the way it has come out that I am re-painting parts of Rahn in an attempt to emulate the solo. I'm going to be posting a few WIPS pictures this weekend I hope. It is Valentines though, so I can't promise that I will have time :)

Next order of miniatures will be battle mages and storm fall archers. The mages to fill my new found love of telekinetic destruction, and the archers as they fill what's left of my monthly budget nicely with a couple of solos (another magister and a pair of snipers )

All in all, things are going great! stay tuned for moar!

Cheers

Lofty

PS - I did take pictures of my games, but my phone decided that they should be at a some obscure size, so I'm still trying to sort them out :s