Tag Archives: Painting

Frogs of WAR!!!

13 Friday Apr 2018

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Greetings Earthlings, sorry it has been a while, but I’ve been on a break, so meh 🙂   I had a lovely time hiking with the kids last week – we racked up 60 miles (each) over five days, which is pretty incredible when you consider my youngest is only 8! I’d be back out there now if I could, and even though the weather was crap, the worst day out on the hills is way better than a sunny day in the office… But alas, RL demanded my return, so I have been easing back into the usual routine this week. As such, I only managed to finish up three more Eru-Kin for my planned BOYL army, but these three are kind of interesting because I didn’t really have a clear idea of how they would fit in to the overall army I have in mind… Undeterred, I’ve been painting them slowly in between other jobs & hoping for some inspiration along the way. See what you make of them:

Paint-wise, these guys got my usual Eru-Kin treatment, so nothing exciting to talk about there, (though I did try out the Windsor & Newton artist inks that I mentioned last month on the skin for a more vivid colouration). While painting, I did have the hoped-for inspiration in terms of how they would fit in with the army and theme. The two shield guys look kind of honour-guardy to me, so they could easily flank any character to provide some additional protection, but the other chap was more difficult to figure out… He is marketed as a Musician, and is a cracking mini, but I’m not sold on the whole ‘command group in space’ idea from the RT era – I don’t know why, but it doesn’t quite click for me, so I knew I wouldn’t be using him in his intended role. I did consider using him as some kind of sonic weapon specialist, or maybe a comms operator, but I discounted these ideas because I felt that he would become a bit too anonymous… To be honest, I love the mini and felt that deserved a more prestigious role! Then I had a major flash of inspiration:

Ya see where I’m going with this? That’s right folks, I’m going to use him as a Beast Caller – a rare and highly specialised caste among the Eru-Kin, and therefore worthy of respect and protection from an honour guard. I imagine that the Beast Caller uses his mysterious ululations to repel rare and dangerous indigenous reptiles from the settlement during peace time, but uses these skills to summon them and drive them to assault the enemy in time of war. I see four major attractions to this concept:

1: This should provide an interesting dynamic in-game, with a powerful assaulting force underpinned by a comparatively fragile single link… What would the beasts do if the Caller gets killed? Rampage? Escape? Revenge?

2: It gives me a perfect and long-awaited excuse rational reason to go and buy some lovely minis that I have had my eye on for ages – Toy-Hammer is well and good, but I have the perfect range of pulp dinos in mind for this part of the project… I’ll keep you guys guessing on that for a while 😉

3: The visual impact on the army should be superb – it gets me out of the need for vehicles to add bulk and height to the force, but most importantly, Dinosaurs are frickin’ awesome, and any excuse to get them involved in an army should be grasped with both claws. Immediately.

4: I get to legitimately use the word ‘ululation’ in conversation.

So there we have it – a small but interesting development on the Eru-Kin project. So, what’s next? Well… I’m away on business the week after next so that kind of disrupts any major plans in the short term, but I want to get some more undead sorted out, and I have a load more Eru-Kin to get organised. It’s only(!) 14ish week until BOYL, and I still have heavy fire support, assault, and psyker support to add, plus some Dinosaurs to get sorted! It looks like I’ll be waiting a while for the weather to improve enough for a mass priming session so I suspect that the next week will be all about assembly & basing… It’s necessary work, but very boring for you guys, so I’ll try and finish a mini that has been sat around in her undercoat for a while & do a post before I hit the road again.

Cheers dudes, keep it (un)real 😉

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The last Banshee (for now) – Candy

23 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by in Fembruary Challenge, Side projects

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Hello chaps & chapettes, I have a very quick update to share today – it has been a funny week with not too much painting, but I did wrap up the last of the Ghosts of Gia*. I’m calling this one ‘Candy’:

 

‘…but Alex, why is her skin blue?’ I hear you ask… (you were asking that, right?)   Weeeell… Candy is actually the oddest of ‘odd ones out’ in the range, because she is the only one who isn’t wearing either a helmet or a re-breather! I was mulling ideas about how to deal with this, including toying with the idea of converting her, but decided to keep her ‘as is’. I then I thought to painting her as a mutant – some genetic twist that allowed her to breath the toxic atmosphere of whatever sump/hive/deathworld that the Banshees happen to come from. The idea grew on me – it was fun from a painting perspective, but it also says a lot about the ethos of the Banshees I think… I really like that they would accept a mutant into the gang, and that their shared femininity is more important to them than anti-mutant prejudice. Speaking of the gang, here’s the whole heart-breaking, life-taking, bad-assery of ’em:

 

So, that’s it for this week – told you it was a quickie! That also wraps up the Banshees for the time being*, and I’m really happy to have focused in on painting a bunch of ‘realistic’ sci-fi women that were only ever made thanks to the determination of Annie Norman (of Bad Squiddo fame) to address the paucity of believable female minis in the hobby. Thank you too to Cupcakesandmachetes for including this effort on your ‘Celebrate the Ladies’ event – there’s some great stuff going on over there, and I’m glad that Annie’s work is represented.

Next week I’ll have a cool bit of scenery to finish & share with you all, (trust me, you’ll love it!), plus I have a few half-finished Eru-Kin that might get done as well. Hobby time gets a bit choppy after that with holidays & work travel coming up fast, but we’ll see how it all goes. Have a great weekend & catch you next week 🙂

 

*I’m actually missing one mini from the first run of the Ghosts of Gia, (fuck knows where she’s gone!), plus the second Kickstarter is due to drop through my letterbox any time now… Yey!! 🙂

More femmes fatal – Voodoo, Cascade & Belladonna

14 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by in Fembruary Challenge

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Greetings Earthlings, I have three new recruits for the Banshees to share with you today – yes, I’m still working my way through the delightful Ghosts of Gia 1, but there seems to be a slight change of vibe going on with a couple of minis in the tail-end of the range. Take a look, and you’ll see what I mean!

First we have a rogue psyker that I’m calling Voodoo. I seem to recall that the official background had something about her being ravaged by her own psychic energy, hence all the bandages. I really liked that idea, so went with the theme by washing what little flesh you can see to make it look burned and disfigured. Glowing eyes and Storm-esque hair complete the look, making it clear that this lady is channelling some serious power:

 

Next we have a more traditional sci-fi soldier type that I’m calling Cascade. This is one of the ‘odd-one-out’ minis in the range – in that she departs significantly from the post-apoc style… so much so that I didn’t feel it appropriate to go with the late 80’s punk/new romantic painting vibe. Instead, I’ve used several of the colours that I’m using to tie the gang together, but in a more limited way that is secondary to a more utilitarian palette. I also experimented with some Windsor & Newton artist inks for the visor – the inks are very heavily pigmented liquid shellac with a naturally glossy finish. I’m pretty happy with how the visor came out, but might go back and add an extra  layer of clear gloss to give it some depth:

 

Finally, we have another ‘odd-one-out’ that I’m calling Belladonna. Of all the Ghosts of Gia, she is probably the biggest departure from the post-apoc vibe, and as a result, she has a very different paint job, (I can’t even begin to get my head around what a punk/NR sniper in ghillie suit might look like!). What I ended up with is a pretty boring paint job, but I did have a play with the Windsor & Newton inks to give some areas of armour a glossy look, and I also tried a different visor colour.

 

Visually, these three are hard to reconcile with the rest of the crew, (Voodoo less so maybe, but certainly Cascade & Belladonna are a poor fit), but I imagine that the Banshees are a loose confederation of survivors rather than the rigid ‘one look’ kind of gang that GW peddle, so fuck it – they can be outlanders, bounty hunters, or whatever. Whichever way you look at it, they make for a deadly looking trio :

 

I have just one more mini to finish from this range, plus some random Eru-Kin to wrap up before I paint up the stunning female Imperial Guardswoman from BOYL last year. After that, I’ll be getting some more undead on the table (zombies, skellies and some random monsters), more Eru-Kin (assault, heavy support & magic), and maybe some Wild-West Necrons… All good fun!

Second February challenge – ‘finish a neglected model’

01 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by in Side projects

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Hello again, and Wow, second post in two days guys – been a while since I’ve done that! This one is nice and quick, because I managed to crank out a mini last night (as per Azazel’s ‘finish off a neglected mini’ challenge for February… talk about taking it to the wire!) This guy is something that I’ve had kicking around for a couple of months, and is the most ambitious bit of sculpting that I have tried to date…

He was inspired in part by watching Westworld over Christmas, (absolutely brilliant series btw), by the artwork of Simon Stålenhag, (especially this picture), and of course by Clint Eastwood’s ‘man with no name’ in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I was disappointed with the results if I’m honest, and I don’t think any of the professional sculptors out there need to be worried for their jobs, but I figured that I should just get over myself and paint the bugger. He looks much better for being painted I think, and I’ve gone from seeing him as a symbol of how shit my sculpting is to actually quite liking the fella. I’m quite pleased with the freehand on the poncho 🙂

I imagine him as being the sole survivor of a Necron mass extinction event, who has ‘lived’ to see a frontier human population grow on his homeworld. Separated from the influence of his dynasty, he has had to adapt to being an independent creature, and has decided to attempt to blend in with the humans. I don’t imagine that many in the Imperium would necessarily know what a Necron is, so he might be accepted on the fringes of a backward society… who knows how such a creature might evolve! I don’t know if this concept has legs or not, but I may expand on it at some point…

Anyway, that’s all for now folks – have a good weekend & catch you all soon

Fembruary challenge – Siouxsie

08 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by in Fembruary Challenge, Side projects

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Happy Thursday folks, and I’m delighted to share my first competed mini for Fembruary with you all. As a reminder, I’m laying down the following gauntlet:

“Dear reader, no doubt you have heard of Orctober, Deadcember, Slaanuary, and all the various themed months of the year… I would like to propose that we add Fembruary to the list – a time of year for us to collectively challenge the male domination of our collections, and commit to painting some female miniatures for a change…”   I’m delighted with the uptake so far – thank you to all who are mucking in, spreading the word and getting involved! Time for me to step up as well, eh? 🙂

So… my February contribution is going to be trying to paint Annie Norman’s (of Bad Squiddo Games/Dice Bag lady fame) ‘Ghosts of Gia 1’ collection, plus ‘Olivia Nutron Bomb’ from BOYL last year. These 10 minis sum up everything that I want Fembruary to represent – the celebration of grown-up, non-sexualised representations of women within our nerdy little hobby universes. No silly battle heals or unnecessary/unfeasible cleavage here – what Annie succinctly describes as “Believable Female Miniatures” in her mission statement. It has been a slow start, what with basing and undercoating, but I have started with ‘Angel’ from the Ghosts of Gia range:

 

You can probably guess that I’m running with an early punk/goth/glam rock vibe for this project, (plus whatever other tropes make sense to bring in) – hence ‘Angel’ becomes ‘Siouxsie’, leader of an outcast Escheresque gang called ‘The Banshees’. She was fun to paint – quite a simple sculpt in many ways, with a few odd bits here and there, but fun nonetheless. I’ve added in plenty of little details to add that Oldhammer flavour, and gone for a wide palette on the mini… slight downside to that is that my youngest Son saw this mini and asked me why she had a tree on her head… now I can’t un-see the tree!! I don’t think Siouxsie would have ever seen a tree though, so I suspect the irony would be lost on her 🙂

One thing to note – the spray undercoat was shockingly rough, which is not uncommon this time of year in the UK – winter and all that. However, I actually don’t mind that effect if the model supports a rough and ready approach – it would suck on shiny Ultramarines, but is fine on a Scavvie if you know what I mean. In the case of Siouxsie, I think it works nicely.

Anyhow, that’s all for now dudes, but plenty more to follow as the month progresses!

More Eru-Kin, and the Fembruary challenge

29 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by in Eru-Kin, Fembruary Challenge

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Happy Monday folks – been a while, and I have had precious little time for painting, but I do have a some stuff to share. I’ve had three Eru-Kin squad leader types in their undercoats since before Christmas, but they were on the back burner while I got my version of Arkhan finished for Azazel’s painting challenge. I don’t like having stuff sitting around unfinished, so I got these done as quickly as I could. Check ‘em out:

The banner guy is a small conversion – he had a Lizardman sword added for weapon continuity reasons, but he’ll have to wait for his banner I’m afraid. They are destined to lead their respective squads to BOYL this year – roughly identified by the colour of their loincloths (or skin in the case of two of the squad leaders):

 

Now, challenge time… It is an increasingly congested market at the moment – it’s a challenge keeping up with all the challenges! But… I am issuing the call to all WIPsters and hipsters, painters of hammers old and new, Inq28ers, collectors and gamers. Dear reader, no doubt you have heard of Orctober, Deadcember, Slaanuary, and all the various themed months of the year… I would like to propose that we add Fembruary to the list – a time of year for us to collectively challenge the male domination of our collections, and commit to painting some female miniatures for a change… Sisters of Battle and/or Silence, Witch Elves, Sorceresses, Inquisitrixes, Escher gangers, Daemonettes and Shield Maidens – whatever female minis you have on the to-do list, I challenge you to bump them to number one in the queue for the month and get some paint on ‘em… Let’s do something cool ok? Ok???  Ok.

For myself, I’ll be tackling Annie Norman’s (of Bad Squiddo Games/Dice Bag lady fame) ‘Ghosts of Gia 1’ collection, plus ‘Olivia Nutron Bomb’ from BOYL last year. These 10 minis are grown up, no-nonsense representations of post-apocalyptic femininity – no silly battle heals or unnecessary/unfeasible cleavage here:

I’ll be approaching this project with an 80’s punk/goth/new romantic vibe – think Siouxsie and the Banshees in glorious technicolour… In fact, the gang/squad is going under the working title ‘The Banshees’, and will be perfect for Necromunda, RT, or any post-apoc pulp games.

Finally, I want to give a big shout out to Annie – for those that don’t know, Annie is a hobby nut who set up her own business specialising on providing a range of “Believable Female Miniatures” across all genres, (that’s quotation marks, not ironic apostrophes), and is increasingly making waves on Kickstarter to grow this range. I really admire her vision and determination to make the hobby more representative – something the whole world desperately needs IMHO. Annie rocks – go check it out on www.badsquiddogames.com