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.