Paint Log - 7/17/12

Whew. Lot to report here.

Since I last posted, I have since completed my new resin Feral Warpwolf. "One-Eye" (as he is now named, and appropriately scarred) is finished, and reaction at the FLGS was quite positive. Pics forthcoming, but he is completely done. I should really get back to my Gallows Grove and get that finished soon.

Not long after One-Eye, the fiancee bought me Ghetorix as a gift, so he'll be next up on the list of Circle models to be assembled and fielded. So far though, I have yet to touch him.

Jules also decided to pick up a slew of new Khador models - Kayzay Eliminators, Vladimir the Dark Champion, Battle Mechanik Officer and Black Ivan. We also found a new miniature to represent her barbarian character, "Mercy" in our all-female Pathfinder game. This model, however, was abandoned shortly after it was prepped and ready for painting when she found another figure she liked better. So that's been primed and started on, instead.

However, because Jules has been somewhat wanting to get back into her Khador, I opted to begin work on Black Ivan. As of tonight he's about 75% finished. I also finally prepped Kommander Harkevich to go with him, as his playstyle dovetails exactly into Jules' favored tactics. Black Ivan & Harkevich are coming along nicely, as is the miniature for Mercy.  I also finally tested out my Winsor & Newton brushes last night. While not exactly what I expected, tonight's use of my size 0 brush came in perfectly handy to get Harkevich's face and googles painted in. I suspect I'll be turning to this brush often to complete all the tiny details on the mini.

In other news, I've been trying like crazy to locate a miniature suitable as a female halfling bard for another player in the all-female Pathfinder game. Turns out, only one such miniature exists, and I'm not fond of it whatsoever. So I bit the bullet, found an older female halfling mini I owned, stripped it, bought a razor saw, ordered a small lute from Reaper miniatures and resolved to try and convert the figure.

Turns out, the lute piece is sized perfectly for a human-sized miniature... not so much for a halfling. Grimacing, I decided that now would be a good time to try my hand once again at sculpting with green stuff, now that I read a few new tricks on various forums. So a few cuts with the razor saw, a clip or two with the clippers, and the mini was sans arms.

I was able to sculpt a passable lute (as well as an appropriate hat for my gunslinging dwarf character), then did some drilling and pinning... the results so far are actually promising. Not perfect, but quite passable for a first try and really converting a figure. I've taken some photos, I'll have to post those up soon.

That's it for now. Hopefully Ivan and Harkevich will be done soon enough that Jules can get in some game-time with them... I'm not looking forward to seeing a ton of bombards raining down on my forces.

Paint Log 6/21/12 - Of Sorts

So, since completing the Celestial Fulcrum I've been working on the plastic Feral Warpwolf kit in bits and spurts, whenever I can find the time to sit down and throw some paint on him. An hour here, a half-hour there... but despite the slow pace, he's coming along quite nicely, and his base is finished (or nearly so. I think it may still need an extra small touch to finish it). Once I figure out how I want his mane of fur to look, I think that'll do it.  For a first attempt at two-brush blending, I think he came out looking quite good.

The Wolves of Oroboros have also been coming along slowly, but they're getting there. I may make some changes to the basing ever so slightly based on how the Warpwolf came out.

As for the Celestial Fulcrum, I placed some images of it up on the Privateer Press forums from some critique. Got some good suggestions and a fair amount of positive comments, including from Meg Maples, one of their studio painters. That rather made my day.

In other news, I finally bit the bullet last night and put down a decent chunk of money for some good Winsor Newton Series 7 brushes (I had initially intended to buy the Raphael 8404 series, but evidently the price has gone up on them).  It's about time I finally did this - just about most people I know have recommended I finally get some good, high quality brushes. The skill is there, now I just need the better tools, as I've been told (a decent number of posts on the forum have mentioned how much upgrading their brushes improved folks' painting results). I admit, I'm quite curious to see what, if any, changes may result.

S'about it. I've been attempting for the last day or so to do some work on my cousin's and his wife's miniatures - we bought them years ago for a now defunct D&D campaign - but I never got these models painted in time. I'm thinking they might make a nice present for their moving away party this weekend, but now the question is whether or not I can get them both adequately painted in time for then!

PICS: A Circle Album: Warlocks

And, here's the last part of the Circle Album - the army centerpieces, the Warlocks!

While I own all the currently-released Circle Orboros Warlocks, only a few are fully painted, or nearly so.  Morvahna, Mohsar, Kromac, Cassius & eBaldur are all in various states of completion (or not). Even though I own him, I've yet to try out Kromac, and I've only used Cassius and Mohsar a scant handful of times. I'm looking to try playing them more, soon.  As I get the others painted, I'll eventually start putting them up here, as well.

Baldur the Stonecleaver

   Baldur's a favorite of mine, for two reasons - One, he's the first Hordes miniature I painted, originally picked out by a friend to represent his Dwarven Druid in our Pathfinder game. It was also an intentionally underhandedly sneaky method my friend used to get me interested in Hordes... and it worked.

   The OTHER reason I like Baldur is that he's one of the few Circle characters who isn't a complete and utter jerk in the fiction. :)

Kaya the Wildborne

   Kaya is probably my favorite character in the Circle Orboros fiction (for those not familiar with the Iron  Kingdoms fiction, Kaya is Baldur's former student). Given my own appreciation of wolves, it was hard not to gravitate to her character. Kaya was the second miniature I painted in the Hordes line. Playwise, she doesn't see much play these days. Occasionally I pull her out for small points games or for games with new players at the local store.

Kaya the Moonhunter + Laris
   This Epic incarnation of Kaya is probably my favorite caster to play in the game, and she's played a lot better for me than her Primal counterpart. Her Wolf companion, Laris, in these pictures is still a work-in-progress, something I really need to finish up, one of these days...

Krueger the Stormwrath

   When it comes to frying infantry, no one does it better than Krueger.  He works well for me, and I generally tend to play him against infantry-heavy factions... particularly Menoth and oftentimes, Cryx. Being able to drop multiple zones of electrical death on his feat turn is always fun.  Krueger here is still a nearly-finished WIP - I really want to freehand some sort of design or sigil on his cloak.

 
Krueger the Stormlord

   I've only used Krueger's Epic incarnation a small number of times, but he's still fun, if not a bit more tricky for me to run. I'm getting better at putting his feat and telekinesis spell to better use. I can't wait to add a Scarsfell Griffon to his battlegroup. This model is also still a WIP - I'm pleased that I seem to have painted him without the "Eek! A mouse!" expression the PP studio model is rather known for. 

   Krueger's 'lightning' is removable, made from brass rod and with a small bit of steel wire twisted around it. It'll be eventually primed and painted (either blue or green, not sure yet) - I'm debating whether or not to apply OSL to this model. It would be appropriate, but we'll see.  His base is made from some stacked cork, to better help with his 'flying' pose.

Grayle the Farstrider
   The newest warlock to be released in Hordes: Domination, Grayle has quickly become another favorite caster of mine, alongside eKaya. I love the model's name, look, artwork and backstory. Not to mention, he's great fun to play. I've watched him tear single-handedly through a unit of Iron Fang Pikemen - no small feat! - as well as tear into larger models as well. Like Krueger, I can't wait to add a Scarsfell Griffon to his battlegroup, either.

PICS: A Circle Album: The Celestial Fulcrum

At last, witness the Fire- (Ice and Electrical) Power of this FULLY ARMED and OPERATIONAL BATTLE ENGINE!

Whew! Six months after receiving the Fulcrum as a bday gift from my fiancee, it's finally finished! Aside from the Storm Strider, I really think the Fulcrum is one of the best-looking Battle Engine models Privateer Press has created.

I've had a chance to 'field test' the Fulcrum four times now, and it hasn't disappointed me yet - setting things on fire is quite enjoyable - I can see why the Menoth players enjoy it!

The only thing I sort of wish I had done with this model is to do some of the green runes' OSL on the druids, but to be honest, by this point I was ready to finish the engine and have it be done with. At least I made myself try it out on the rocks that form the model's base.

I'm also planning at some point to make this model the centerpiece for a D&D adventure - it's too good not to...

(click on the photos to see some larger images)

I'll have to look into getting some more 'top-down' shots of the model when I can. This model makes me a pretty happy gamer. :)

Of course, there's the realization that somewhere down the line in the near future that I'm going to have to repeat this process in a similar manner when the Woldwrath finally comes out... Ah, wells... ;)

Paint Log - 5/13/12

So I've gotten some work done over the past week or so, including today.

For much of the past week, work has focused on painting Baldur the Stonesoul, a Gallows Grove, my unit of Woldstalkers, a Sentry Stone, and of course, the Celestial Fulcrum.

As of today, the druids guiding the Fulcrum are finished and sealed. The Fulcrum is very nearly finished, aside from some minor things to paint and clean up. After everyone's very positive reactions at the FLGS and my friends, the same comment I keep hearing from everyone when I tell them it's not yet finished are groans of disbelief ("Only you would say that," eloquently sums up one person's comment for everyone).

Having given some serious thought to something another painter mentioned to someone's post on the PP forums, I've decided to take it to heart, too. Effectively, the advice was: You're done. The model is finished. Put it down and move onto the next one, and consider anything and everything you do and don't like about the model to have been a learning experience to apply to the next one down the line.

He's right - if I keep at the Fulcrum until it's 100% as I want it to be, it'll never be finished. It looks good, it's certainly above tabletop quality, and I did indeed learn quite a bit from painting it (Lesson #1 was, "Never buy and paint this model again!"). I've repainted the thing 2-3 times now - time to put it to rest. I'm hoping to get it finished and sealed tomorrow evening.

I also bought and tried out GW's new 'Liquid Green Stuff.' So far, it's served quite well. I still need to learn how to use it a bit better, but it filled in the large gap on the Fulcrum with no evidence it was ever there. A lot simpler to instantly use, that's for certain.

Baldur and the Gallows Grove look great thus far. I've particularly enjoyed trying out some new instructions for painting the green magical glow of the Circle Orboros runes - Folha Seca from the PP forums was kind to share them with me after we exchanged a couple emails (he also does some fantastic work).

Most of today, however, was spent finally prepping my unit of Wolves of Orboros. They're now based, primed, and waiting to be painted after waiting patiently for a long while - it was getting embarrassing to be fielding a bare unit alongside everything else on the table. Most of their weapons are not yet attached - that'll come after their bodies are fully painted so the spear shafts don't get in the way. The only thing that bothers me is the very likely propensity for the spear heads to snap off once they're fully assembled. I wish their spears were sturdier like the Wolf Chieftain's. At any rate, tomorrow should see some gold paint slapped on them and possibly the green enameling as well.

Oh, and last but not least, tonight was mostly spent painting Feral Warpwolf #2, practicing the two-brush blending technique. One thing I've definitely learned - I need another good brush if I'm going to do it properly, but I'm quite happy with the results thus far.

(Almost forgot - both Argus models as of earlier today are now treading water in a tub of Simple Green. I'll be repainting them both, using a lot of the newer techniques I've learned. It'll be nice to get them finished... they're the only models left from the original battlebox I purchased that aren't finished yet).

PICS: A Circle Album - Units

Not much here - I've painted few full units at this time. But I do have so far is here:


Shifting Stones + Stone Keeper Unit Attachment:

 

Reeves of Orboros + Chieftain and Standard Bearer Unit Attachment:

Though I keep hearing what a bad rep this unit gets, and to be honest, I find them overcosted myself, I still really love the look of the whole unit. I've fielded them a few times, and they've actually done alright several times. That said, I consider them to be my best painted unit to date. The Standard Bearer still isn't quite finished, but nearly so.

Tharn Bloodtrackers:

My beloved 'chicks with sticks,' and primary workhorse units. I've had this unit the longest, and it also took me forever to get them all painted.

Druids of Orboros + Druid Overseer UA:
My other workhorse unit. STILL not finished... I really need to get off my ass and get them done.

Warpborn Skinwalkers - Unit Leader:

So for this unit, I only have the leader painted, mostly as a test-piece. I'm very, very happy with how he turned out - now I just need to finish the other two!

PICS: A Circle Album - Solos

Here are the current Solos in my lists.


Druid Wilder

Blackclad Wayfarer - One of the first Circle models I purchased and painted, if only so I could paint his home-grown stone axe. The figure was a complete pain in the ass to paint at the time due to his cloak and tiny details, but in the in end I like how he turned out.

Lord of the Feast - One of my favorite Circle solos to field, even moreso since Grayle the Farstrider was released. But just because of the sheer nastiness that is the Lord, he almost never survives long enough to really hit his stride... nearly just about everyone I play goes gunning straight for him the first thing they do once they see him hit the table. I swear, you teleport him just once right into the midst of someone's unit of Stormblades and utterly slaughter the whole lot of them, and they never forgive you from that day forward. ;)

 

Wolf Lord Morraig - I have a love/hate relationship with this model. On the one hand, Morraig is one of the first models that got me well and truly excited to start playing the Circle faction - I couldn't wait to finally get my hands on him. He's got impressive abilities, and he hits like a tank. But for all that, he just never performs for me on the table - whenever he should have an next-to-absolutely-impossible-to-miss shot that should wreck house or help win me the game, the guy fluffs the attack with either a 2 or a 3 on his to-hit roll.

For all that, I still love this model. Morraig here is not yet finished - these are shots of the WIP. As shown, he still needs his sword hand painted, and he's missing his shield. In fact, his upper torso is not yet glued to the rest of the model at this time, to allow me to easier access to painting him.

PICS: A Circle Album - Light Warbeasts

Here are three of the light warbeasts. While I have two Argus models (Argii?) they're not finished... I'm seriously considering just stripping their paint and redoing them.

In the meantime, here's my Woldwatcher, Woldwyrd, and a Gorax WIP  (I have a fully painted Gorax 1st sculpt, but I like this guy more).

Woldwatcher, Light Warbeast Construct

This guy has probably absorbed more damage and kept on ticking than even his bigger 'brother.'

Woldwyrd, Light Warbeast Construct

Battle krill! I've actually become quite fond of this little guy and his magical laser.

Gorax, Light Warbeast

Not the view you likely want coming right at you... I'll be adding drool to his face once he's finished.

... Course, the rear view a Gorax isn't pretty, either.