Painted Gorgon *Gasp!*

I know this guy gets a lot of hate, but I can't help but love him for it.

As with a lot of my other Retribution figures, I've had this Gorgon since the Angry Elves made their debut at Gen Con so long ago.  I was in college at the time, and with a full time job, I had very little time for painting.  I wanted to get models done in a very small amount of time, so that led me to purchase my first airbrush.  It was plastic, bottom fed, and of pretty poor quality.

I painted the Gorgon for the first time in a friends workshop, since they had a compressor I could use.  I applied the paint with the finesse of a freight train, and slapped on glow effects that didn't even come close to being the color I wanted.  In an effort to make the model look better, I tried applying battle damage with a sponge.  Of course, this did nothing to help the appearance of the model.

The Gorgon sat languishing in a case until a few weeks ago, when I pulled him out, intent on using him with a Scyir.  I quickly determined he wouldn't fit with my present force, and quickly chucked him in the Simple Green.  A quick application of paint with a little more finesse than the last time, and viola!

I was able to use him in a game recently, and he didn't quite perform as I wanted him to, but that's because he was the only thing on my flank that I could throw at a bunch of angry Doom Reavers.  Next time, I hope to use him to lock down another 'jack.

Here's a little preview of next weeks post.

Comments and questions welcome!

Painted Juggernaut

This guy represents a lot of firsts for me.

This was the first Khador 'jack that I painted with an airbrush, And I was a little surprised with how it turned out.  I was originally going for a drab green-brown, but the more I highlighted it, the more it took on a desert/winter camo feel.  I'm pleased with it, and I'm bouncing around the idea of painting an Epic Sorcha force in this scheme.

The second first was the sponge applied battle damage.  It's a great time saver compared to manually picking and choosing where to place the damage and it looks much more natural.  It's a handy little trick to take advantage of, and I look forward to refining it.  

Lastly, this is my first experiment messing around with a different background than what I've been using.  This helps the figure pop more, and makes the image a little more interesting then a plain grey background.  I found this background over at BlackDog Painting.  They have a few other colors that will probably be making appearances the more photos I take.  So far, working with this one, I can attest that the backgrounds are fantastic.  I highly recommend them!

As always, questions and comments welcome!

Display case quickie

I took these photos last night and thought I'd share them here. 

I bought some risers a few nights ago, and I live the difference the height change makes in the aesthetics of the case. 

I want to get more, but they can be a little pricey.  If you have a case, I highly recommend getting a few!

I over reminisced and brought up my pain water...

...peediddle.

Who got the reference?

Yesterday, this Kickstarter ended, and I was lucky enough to be able support it.  Warzone holds a special place in my heart, and the prospect of seeing it supported again has caused a lot of old memories to come flooding back.  Thirteen years ago, Warzone was the game that got me hooked into Wargaming.

It was the spring of '99, and the end of my freshman year of high school.  Up to that point, my time was taken up mostly by my Star Wars obsession, and a passing love of anime.  On a whim, my brother showed me the 1st Edition rule book of Warzone on a trip to the local Blockbuster, and the seed that would blossom into a fulfilling hobby was planted.  I devoured the fluff, and soon after, got my first Warzone squad, Mishima Ashigaru.  It wasn't much longer after getting that first unit of pewter that I got my first job, which to this day has been my favorite, that I was first able to support my new found addiction.  I was fifteen, the summer had just arrived, and it would prove to be the best summer of my teenage years.

I would work through the week with a good friend and spend my Saturdays playing Warzone at the FLGS.  Friday brought the paycheck, and after getting cleaned up and cashing the check, the two of us were at the game store, spending most of our pay on Warzone figures.  We'd go home and hastily assemble our figures, only to return to the store with them the next morning to play.  I made a lot of fantastic memories that summer, and made a few good friends that I'm still buddies with to this day.  Warzone is more than a game to me, it's great memories, the game that started it all, and the game that is coming back. 

Warzone offered a wonderful world and game to occupy the abundant time that I had available.  I mentioned earlier that I was obsessed with Star Wars and to a lesser extent anime, but those interests took a back seat when I discovered Warzone.  Warzone offered a rich world that I could immerse myself in, but even more engaging were the figures that represented the characters I loved.  Star Wars offered a cool universe, but after playing the card game, or reading a book, I was done.  Miniature wargaming was new and much more engaging to me, and I've never looked back.  I still like Star Wars, but I spend a lot more time painting miniatures now than I ever did with my teenage obsession.  

One of my more memorable memories was opening the second edition two player starter set with my brother at a local Mexican restaurant.  I chose Bauhaus, and he chose Imperial.  I still remember looking at the Forces of War book with a sense of wonder, since this was such a new experience to me.  The book had a plethora of images and stats and it was a lot for a wargaming neophyte to take in.  As soon as we get our boxed sets from the Kickstarter, my brother and I are going to that same joint to look at the rulebook and open our new figures. 

I can't wait.

In the meantime, I've been playing with my airbrush more.  I really like how the red turned out on the MoW, and I think I improved the blue on Darius as opposed to my Avenger test piece.

Comments and questions welcome!

Artificer gallery

I've recently discovered that my camera has a white balance tool.  I'm looking forward to taking more accurate representations of my work.  White is hard to photograph, but I'm getting the hang of it.

I had hoped to have a tutorial on how I paint my whites, but the photos turned out awfully.  I'll have to get another light jack to do this on and hopefully have one up within the next few weeks.  But, that just means I got to paint a model I've had for almost two years, the Artificer.

I've had him since he was released, and getting the Gorgon and my Scyirs painted up made me want to get this guy done to give me even more board control. 
  
It's late, I'm tired, and if I type anymore it will degrade into the mad ramblings of a half asleep painter.

I thinking I'll try playing him with my Scyir and Gorgon.  I think this trio can shut down a lot of flanking threats.  The board control they present has a lot of potential, I think.

Comments and questions welcome!

Painted Griffon the second

More Retribution this week, surprise, surprise!  

This is technically my third Griffon, but the second I've painted in this variation of the official scheme.  This is the plastic one that came in the Battlebox, and I was impressed with the potential for poses since I didn't have to worry about pinning.  I wanted to copy the pose that's in the Retribution book, but shoulder pads and arm things get in the way a little.  I think I got the point across.

 

As I said in my previous post, I painted this Griffon with my Aspis.  I pushed the highlights a little higher with my airbrush and that worried me a bit that I had overdone it, but it worked out in the end.  Let that be a lesson to never give up on something just because it didn't quite come out how you expected.

I have been playing even more with my airbrush recently using different colors and I'm pleased with what I'm learning.  I tested drab green and Khador red on a MoW Shock Trooper that I think looks great, and I've been playing more with blues on an Avenger that I'm also pleased with.  Right now I'm only really using the airbrush to get figures tabletop ready, but I'm excited about the possibilities of using an airbrush for certain things on competition figures.  I think NMM on swords and similar weapons will be a breeze and turn out really smooth. 

I'll have pics of the Avenger and MoW Shock Trooper in the following weeks.  

I've also had a lot of people ask about a tutorial for my Retribution white, and one is coming!  I've never done a step by step with pictures, so I have to work the logistics out for this, but I'm working on it!  The demo model will either be a Gorgon or Artificer.

Comments and questions welcome!