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!

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!

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!

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!

Coming of Dawn(guard)!

Taking pictures with a DSLR is a lot different than taking pictures with a cell phone.  The cell phone is a heck of a lot easier.

I'm getting ever closer to being able to field a Dawnguard theme force for either incarnation of Vyros.  I spent last week working on the Dawnguard Sentinels, and learned a few good lessons from airbrushing them.  I think I'll be even more pleased with the second unit that I paint, and the blends and highlights will be even smoother.  

After completing that unit, I looked in my display case at the unit of Destors that I painted the week after they were initially released.  I don't know if I wasn't feeling the Retribution at that time, but I lost all interest about halfway through.  I also applied the airbrush to the models like a sledgehammer.  I just sprayed, expecting the airbrush to do all the work for me, without actually paying attention to how I was applying the paint.

So, I pulled them out of the case, deepened the shadows and intensified the highlights and they looked one hundred percent better.  A quick application of dirt and mud via the airbrush, and five base mountings later, they were done and truly ready for the table top.  

The Destor Thane was the first guy that I experimented on so many weeks ago with an airbrush.  You can tell he looks quite different from the previous models because I didn't go in and do too much work on the white paint with a brush.  His armor is much more blue than the previous models, and his rank plate on his shoulder is metallic, rather than white with red details.  I noticed, when I was painting the Sentinels, that the white plate with red rank markings looked much better than what you see here.  The little bit of red really pops on the white.  I rationalize the difference since the Thane is of such elevated rank that his plate is different from the others.  A second Thane will have a white rank plate, however.

  I've really enjoyed working on the bases I made as well.  They're quick, look nicer than just plain ballast and go a long way to provide a unified look to this fledgling force.  I'm currently working on two Dawnguard Scyirs and they will be able to join this regiment very soon.  All that's really left are their arms, swords and bases.

Metals are still giving me some fits.  I'm not very pleased with how the mix from the Retribution book looks with my particular scheme.  I'm going to keep playing with them until I get something I like.  I'm not sure if I will go with a more traditional metal look or mess around with the book formulas until I get something I like.  Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

I apologize for the long post, and if you're still with me now, thanks for reading!  A post of this length was a long time coming since I've got a buildup of models that I've been working on and only just now got around to setting up my light box.  Thanks again for reading, and if you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear them!