Painted Aspis

When the Aspis was first unveiled in Wrath, I wasn't too impressed and it flew under my radar.  It wasn't until I bought the Scyrah boxed set that I decided to get the arms from the PP parts store and give it a little more thought..  I had no real interest in a second Chimera, so the Aspis seemed to be the way to go.  Getting more Griffon parts crossed my mind, but I think I'm okay with three of them.

I painted this guy while I was painting my second Griffon.  I was able to get the both of them painted in two days, with about 4 or five hours of work a day.  I pushed the shadows and highlights further than I'm comfortable with using the airbrush, but that saved me quite a bit of time with the brush.  I thought the both of them would not turn out looking good, but I'm pretty pleased with them.  

I like the new plastic lights, however they're plagued with mold lines that may be hard to get to.  Mold lines were all over the shoulder pads where the channels are, so they proved quite difficult to clean.  Other than that, the plastic lights are a joy.

I'm looking forward to testing this guy out in my both Prime and Epic Vyros lists, as well as with Kaelyssa.  He's fast enough to keep up with eVyross, and can allow all three casters to be played a little more aggressively.

I've has quite a few inquiries on how I paint my Retribution using both my airbrush and regular brush, so look for a tutorial after a few weeks.  I'll paint up my Gorgon and try my hand at creating a step by step tutorial.

Comments and criticism welcome!

  

Captain Kraye

Perhaps blogging after Irish Car Bombs is a bad idea.  We'll see.  

This week brings you an older model I've painted, but I'm still proud of him.  Being a fan of the Old West, Kraye really appealed to me, and I loved painting this model.  Painting him was an ordeal though.  I don't exactly remember how it happened, but he was accidentally knocked off my desk while I was in the middle of working on him, and he shattered into pieces.  He then sat in pieces for some time before I worked on him again.

I decided to pick him up again after I made a decision I really wanted to push towards painting all of my Cygnar.  I only have a few models left to paint, so I suppose this was a successful goal.  I glued him back together and realized the damage wasn't that bad, and it didn't affect the paint I had previously laid down.  I enjoyed painting all the little detail, and I tried to paint hair on the flanks of the horse.  I wasn't as successful as I wanted to be, but lessons were learned and I look forward to attempting this technique again.  

The rock that Malagant is walking down was the first real time the two brush blending method clicked for me.  I was so excited I was able to make it work at the time, and it has been an invaluable tool that I have put to great use since.   I hope you enjoy this model as much as I did!

I've made some great progression with my Retribution force in the past few weeks.  I was able to paint up an Aspis and my second Griffon in two days thanks to my airbrush.  Thanks the the same airbrush, I was also able to paint up a full unit of Invictors plus their UA in just two days as swell.  Pictures of these models will be up in the following weeks.  I'm excited to apply what I've learned painting my Retribution with and airbrush to my Cygnar,  and previous example of airbrush work on a Minuteman may follow soon as well.

Comments and criticism welcome!

This interruption of service brought to you by Lieutenant Caine

 This is breaking a month or so long Retribution streak, but I'm still working on some stuff that's not yet ready to be photographed.  So, that means you get to see something a little different than the white I've been bombing this blog with.  

I painted Caine back during the summer and really enjoyed this model.  He's much more dynamic than his original sculpt, and I couldn't wait to get this guy on the board.  He's mounted on the base from his epic version, and it was painted with a sponge.  I particularly enjoyed painting his coat, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  I also dirtied up his armor with a little rust and dirt, because let's face it, Caine should never be painted clean!  

 As always, comments and question welcome!

Griffon

I remember the Gen Con that saw the release of the Retribution of Scyrah so many years ago.  I was taking a lunch break from running demos at the Privateer booth and took this chance to start going through my loot.   Looking with excitement through my models, I came across the Griffon.  Looking over his stats, I was impressed with how quickly it could reach the enemy and engage them.  Then it dawned on me the models that had flank that could benefit from it's reach granted by its halberd.  Upon making it back to the booth I promptly bought another one.

The Griffon is the 'jack I like to marshal with my Scyirs.  I recognize that not being able to allocate focus to it will prevent me from using its Fleet ability, but having an Arcanist or two nearby will negate this weakness.  Now that Incissar Vyross is out, however, I will be including them in his battlegroup so they can benefit from Synergy.  Once I get the plastic battlegroup, I'll have three to take to the field with.  

 As with my Destors, I pulled this guy out of my case to add a little more detail to him.  I used the airbrush to bring the white highlights up further and followed with a brush to make them pop a little more.  I also redid the metals on the halberd and shield using the formula I spoke about in last week's post.

The dirt and mud on the 'jack help give the jack more weight and and unify the scheme, I think.  As with the Dawnguard, this little detail just makes the figures look a little more real.  Who can keep that armor spotless when you're out on maneuvers?

Comments and questions welcome!