Long time, no post. Not because I haven't been painting (though that's been a large part of it, too...), but mostly because I've also been lazy. June was a pretty hectic month, and July has seen me plagued with recurring back problems from my old injury. That said, painting and modelling has been getting done in the meantime!
As of today, I am the proud owner of a fully painted, based, and clear-coated unit of Reeves of Orboros! Not a big deal for some, but for me, this is the first, fully painted unit I've finished (I don't count the Shifting Stones, even though its construed as a 'unit.' They're too easy). Since I started playing a about a year-and-a-half ago, I still didn't have any fully painted units, most just half-finished models. The Tharn Bloodtrackers I've owned for about a year now still aren't completely done, but as of this afternoon I can say that I've taken a huge step towards fixing that - as of now, I just have to finish the unit leader. She's finally fully assembled and halfway done. The rest of the unit is fully painted, based, and waiting now just for a matte coat and a few birch "leaves" on the bases. So, it'll be very, very soon before the Bloodtrackers are completely done.
I find it really amusing that the most recent models I've purchased are the ones I've finished compared to the first ones (hell, the Argii from the Battle Box still aren't finished...). But also I was starting to think I'd never be able to get a unit fully painted, and I never expected to get one done that quickly. Of the few tips I found, the one on the Privateer Press site by Matt Dipietro (their studio painter) was the most helpful - There's essentially two ways to paint: tabletop/gaming, and display. One will drive you insane, the other will not. Tabletop doesn't have to be display quality, it just has to look decent enough to be serviceable on the table top. For gaming, just do tabletop, otherwise you'll never be finished, which is exactly how he paints. Knowing that (from one of their best) seemed to somewhat free me up from my restrictive self-imposed standards, which meant I didn't bother (as much) with all the little details, and there's a slightly more sloppy quality (as opposed to trying to make the armor look perfect), but it works, and they still look great!
I also made sure to paint the figures in a more "assembly line" fashion, using the same color at a time on each figure. It seemed at first that it would still take forever, but I was honestly surprised at just how quickly the unit came together.
With that in mind, I'm looking forward to finishing up my Druids of Orboros unit soon, right after the Bloodtrackers are done. I'm still trying to think of a neat Sigil/Symbol to put on the druids' cloaks, but I'm not sure yet. The symbol of Orboros doesn't seem just right, and I don't want to use the same markings that my Reeves and Wolves of Orboros have on their cloaks. Some thought is still required. (Although, the thought of perhaps some small, glowing sigils on the hems of their cloaks seems like it might be a neat idea).
In other news, the Gnarlhorm Satyr has been finished for a little while now, and I'm quite proud at how he turned out. The Megalith conversion I've been working on (he's about 75% done) looks phenomenal - I love how his repose came out so much more than his stock pose. I had planned on doing a step-by-step picture guide, but I forgot about that halfway through... d'oh. Still, I'll try to get some pictures up of everything soon.
Finally... I also did work on Mohsar the Desertwalker, and so far, I'm not at all happy with how he looks. I'm seriously considering taking him and Nuala the Huntress, stripping both figures, and starting again with both of them from scratch.
