Hey, I'm still here!

       Well, my (crappy) camera has been out of commission the past few months--hence no recent posts.  However, I've still been slapping paint on unfortunate little figures.  I recently got a great deal on Foundry Miniatures Painting and Modelling Guide by Kevin Dallimore.  As of this writing the going rate for either a new or used copy is over $100!  I was lucky to find a used copy for $25.  Sir Dallimore presents some great guides and tips on his unique way of painting, most notably his one-, two-, and three-color methods--I would describe his style as very bright and cartoon-y.  I've tried to emulate as best as I could, and I'm pretty happy with the results.  My painting will never be exactly like his, Marike Reimer's, nor any other respected painter, and that's fine with me.  I have no desire to win a Golden Daemon, or even enter any contests for that matter;  I just enjoy this niche hobby for what it is, and learning something from each miniature I sit down to paint.  I can see that I'm now just starting to develop my own style, but I will still eagerly gobble up anything that will help me improve.  A friend was nice enough to let me use their camera on a whim to take a few photos of things I've recently been working on.  The shots are a bit crude--a culmination of less than spectacular lighting, and a low-quality camera--but it's been so long since I've posted here, that I just wanted to put something up.  Hopefully, I'll have some better shots next time around.

Here's an American War of Independence Continental Infantry model.  I've got several more on the table waiting to be finished up.  Once they're done, I have some Redcoats to paint and set them up against.

I actually based the figure onto a nickel.  It gives the figure a nice weight.  I know I could've used a washer or something, but using the nickel just screams 'Murica!'

Here's Mordoon the Red.  The camera doesn't capture all the different shades of his cloak, unfortunately. 

Blurry, but I hope you get the idea...

I just finished up this orc archer tonight.  I had a lot of fun painting him, and tried a bunch of techniques from Kevin Dallimore's book.  One of the more interesting ones has to do with the chainmail armor under the fur pelt: paint a black undercoat followed by bronze, then drybrush silver over that (with highlights on the raised areas), giving it a heavy, weighted look.  

I doubt his aim is any good, but with all those arrows he's bound to fell a few low-level would-be heroes!

Ork Loota

 That greenskin itch has returned!  I decided to add a unit of Lootas to my (slowly) increasing 40k Ork army.  Lootas seem pretty fun to play on the table;  just keep them back so they can fire D6 Strength 7 shots at a whopping 48"!  I started batch painting five of them this weekend.  I decided to complete one as a test model today, though.  I keep wanting to post pictures of my progress as I work on a model, but as I paint, I can't pull myself away from the table long enough to take pictures.  It'll happen one day--probably not. Not much to say, really.  I had fun messing around with colors and highlights.  I was searching around on Google for some inspiration.  I really like the idea of the guns painted red with orange-ish highlights.  The extra fine detail brushes work really well for this.  Oh, btw, painting red on black is a huuuuge pain.  I finally realized--about halfway through painting the gun-- that I should have painted a layer of grey first where I would later paint red.  I need to remember to do that while I finish up the other four models...  Here's the first finished one (but not based yet):

This checker pattern probably took half a dozen times to do.  Still not totally content, but it does look orky.

Dakka dakka dakka dakka....

Hundogaar, the Mighty Barbarian of the White Lynx Tribe of the Northern Wastes

 He's finally done!  I tested out some of these Reaper Master Series Paints--from now on referred to as MSP-- that I picked up a few weeks back.  Unfortunately, I missed some of the mold lines before priming him;  I wasn't really up to filing the newly-found ones and re-priming him, so I promised myself to look more carefully next time.  I spent quite a bit of time experimenting with the skin highlights.  Sometimes when I look at this figure I really like it, and other times I'm overcome with an urge to just throw it in the trash...  I guess  there's always new figures to paint and improve with, though; I'll just chalk this one up to gaining XP in the miniature painting skill.  I have no idea how I came up with his  name, but as I was painting him I couldn't help but think of Conan (obviously), Wulfgar, and Fafhrd--now I want to re-read Swords and Deviltry.  If this painting was a complete disaster, at least I have a new area of my ever-expanding D&D world to draw upon.

I imagine him rising at dawn to practice his sword skills atop a snowy mountain top, his blade cutting through the icy wind, a silhouette amidst the crimson morningtide...

Da Boyz

  Just a little update.  I decided to see how quickly I could paint sixteen Ork Shoota Boyz.  All in all, it took about two and a half hours to finish them off.  I've got a few other things I'm working on--and taking my time with--, so I'll post those when they're done.

                               "Okay, Boyz.  On the count of three:  One, two, Space Mariiiiiiiiine!"

Testing Out New Paints and Brushes

 The only people I love more than D&Ders, wargamers, and mini painters are people who have just quit the hobby...and put all their stuff for sale on Craigslist for a really, really cheap price.  A few days ago I found a post where this guy was selling all of his unused Reaper paints--about 60 paints in all--for only $30!  Needless to say I called him up, drove over to meet him, and made the exchange.  Previously I had bought some brushes by Army Painter.  Yesterday I was able to sit down with my new brushes and try out these Reaper paints.  I've solely been using Citadel stuff since I started painting.  I've gotta say, I think I'm a convert.  The Army Painter brushes keep their point and hold the paint much better than the overpriced Citadel brushes, and the Reaper paints go on so smoothly.  I don't think I'll stop using my Citadel stuff  (because I've built up quite a collection of paints), but I'm having a blast with these new paints.  Oh, the bottles are much better too.  Those pesky Citadel pots are a pain; after about a session or two, I can't get them to close properly thanks to a ring of dried up paint that accumulates whenever you open the pot...  Anyway, here's a little pewter 40k gretchen grot-rigger dude I tested out.

"How do you expect me to fix these vehicles if all we have are rusty parts?!"

Finally thinning down my coats more (I have a bad habit of painting directly out of the Citadel paint pots) and mixing colors for several shades of highlights.

Until next time.

 

Death Company

Kinda random, but I went to a new Games Workshop store the other day that opened up relatively nearby, and decided to pop in.  As soon as I walked in the door, I was immediately bombarded with hellos and the inevitable,  "What can I help you find today?"  After politely claiming that I was just looking, an hour or so later I ended up leaving the store with the latest issue of White Dwarf, some brushes, paints, and a box of...wait for it....Space Marines!...  I'm still trying to remember how it all happened.  Apparently, GW employees are well-versed in Jedi mind tricks, and somehow put the thought into my head that I should buy something.  Even thought I'm predominantly an Ork player in 40k, I've always been interested in painting up models from different armies.  Here's my first go at painting a model from the Blood Anglels' Death Company.  I'm a bit familiar with their lore, and I'm a big fan of their primarch, Sanguinius, after reading the first two novels of the Horus Heresy.  This model  had a totally different feel than others I've done, most notably being that it focuses mainly on small details.  After priming it black, I gave it a wash of Nuln Oil (to get rid of the shininess) and used some reds, golds, and silvers.  For the edge highlights, I simply used grey.  I basically drybrushed with the side of a fine detail brush to give a really thin line (some areas are cleaner than others).  Oh yeah, the Tamiya red glossy paint worked out nicely for the various blood vials.  I still have four guys left, but not sure when I'll get around to finishing them as to wanting to paint up some Ork lootas next...

High Elf Chariot

 Hey folks! (Oh, who am I kidding?  Nobody reads this.).  I know every post starts with, "It's been a while since I've posted, but I've been really busy, yada, yada, yada."  I just want to clarify that I do have plenty of free time, perhaps a bit too much. Laziness, however, seduces me into not posting on here as often as I'd like.  Here's a Warhammer Fantasy model I spent a good deal of time working on.  I bought it for myself as a birthday present back in March.  I painted the two elves and one lion, and then ran out of steam, setting it on the painting table until this past weekend.  I'm still not sure which was more difficult:  Gluing all the pieces together so they fit, or painting the darn thing.  I still consider myself a n00b at painting (hence the title of this blog), but  I think this model is one of my better attempts.  I won't talk too much about the techniques I used, paint schemes, etc.  But I did come up with this weird drybrush/stippling thingy for the final layer to get the lions to look furry.  The technique works just as it sounds:  Take a drybrush with just a hint of paint, and just stipple layer after layer of your color of choice .  For this model I did a watered down base coat of  Citadel's Steel Legion Drab, followed by a wash of Seraphim Sepia, followed by another light coat of Steel Legion Drab (avoiding the recesses), and a final few drybrush/stipplings of Karak Stone.  For the chariot and bow, I used Ushabti Bone.  I have to say this is one of my favorite colors.  It's just so...rich and creamy.  I considered putting it in my coffee, but that thought could have just come from all the paint fumes.  The armor was done wit a base coat of Leadbelcher, followed by a blue wash (can't remember the name), and then a drybrush highlight of  Runefang Steel.

  I've painted up other things since the last time I posted.  I'll (hopefully) get those up pretty soon.  I have a unit of Chaos Daemon Plaguebearers that I had a lot of fun working on.    Ok, on with the show.  Please excuse the absurd amount of pictures here: