Weathered Retribution of Scyrah experiment

I have horrible hobby ADD, so my wandering gaming eye has fallen on my Retribution of Scyrah collection. While researching Mage Hunter Infiltrators, I found this awesome image from Warmachine: Tactics:

After seeing this image I knew I wanted to try and copy the weathered look and try to realize it on my own figures. I decided to try the hairspray weathering technique, and here are my results:

I think I went a little overboard with the weathering, since the CG jacks aren't as heavily weathered, but so far I'm pleased with the results. I did notice some adverse effects of the hairspray, which mainly included cracks in the paint below it. I figure it's the alcohol in the hairspray breaking down the lower levels of paint, or I'm not letting the spray dry thoroughly enough. I do want to play with the technique a little more, and see if these are just first time mistakes.

Agnar Steelspray finished and fluff

Scarab Packs were swarming the trenches, and Agnar Steelspray's Scattergunner unit was being overrun. He held his banner high behind his fellow Trolkin, and called out with a booming voice to help coordinate shrapnel laden blasts. His kin heard his calls, and deftly moved out of the way of the deadly shots, allowing them to do as much damage as possible to the oncoming tide of red lacquered armor. Still, the scarabs kept coming, followed by their grotesque masters. 

Agnar kicked scarabs off his legs and forced them back with the butt of his standard. His voice resounded off the walls of the trench as he continued to call out to his brethren, not noticing some of the scarabs staggering back at each call. Despite his efforts, more and more of his unit fell to the onslaught of the chattering insects, and more and more Agnar became focused on preventing them from overwhelming him. Still, some scarabs got through his defenses long enough to lash out at him, and burden him with enough lacerations to fell a weaker creature. He was Trollkin, however, and he would endure.

Every scattergun was glowing red by the time the last of his brothers and sisters had fallen. They had cleared the trenches and exterminated the scarabs, but paid dearly for it. Bleeding and aching, Agnar was the last one standing, and his standard was broken and bent. He saw the hooded forms standing just outside the trench, observing him with a quiet ire. He was sure they were the fabled beast masters the Skorne employed to push their warbeasts to the limit. They would no doubt be displeased their entire pack of Scarabs were slaughtered. 

Agnar dropped his now useless standard and scanned the area around him. The scatterguns that littered the area would be useless after such extreme use. His eyes soon landed on two swords a slain kriel warrior had carried. Anger welled up in him as he walked over to the body of the kriel warrior, kneeling as he took up the blades. He quietly thanked the warrior for the blades and whispered a short prayer to Dhunia. He rose and turned to face the beast masters that were readying themselves, eager to exact their revenge for their murderous pets. He tightened his grip on his blades, and bellowed out a call of defiance to the Skorne before him. The ground shook, and for a moment, he was just as surprised as his enemy. Taking advantage of the moment, Agnar charged the beast handlers, eager to hasten their journey to the Void.

Agnar Steelspray

Short post today, here's the beginnings of my character Fell Caller for Riven Bonds!

Darius

Painted this guy up for the P3 painting competition where he took a gold coin. He was painted using an airbrush and the traditional two brush blending method. He was also finished after I had a spinal tap, so that was fun. 

Tarnished copper Axis WIP

Among many other projects, I'm working on this guy.  

The copper is slow going, and needs some work, I believe.

The mold line on the leg will be covered by a layer of gloss coat, then painted over.

Gen Con P3 Gold Gunnbjorn

I spent the better part of July and August painting this guy up.  I'm pleased with how he came out, and how he did in the competition.  Mrika's model was absolutely gorgeous, and there were many great looking figures to compete with, and I'm proud he did well.

Gunnbjorn was painted with a mix of airbrushing and brushes.  I tried to keep to a cooler scheme with a few warm items here and there, such as the MoW helmet and the browns of his belt and cap.

If you feel like voting on him, here's the CMON link.

Comments and questions welcome!

Gen Con 2013 and P3 contest figures

This Gen Con was my return after two years of being unable to go.  I wasn't able to go two years ago because I got married, and last year I was unable to go due to another vacation that was in the way.

As usual, I had to enter a figure in the Privateer Press painting contest and this was the first year I entered more than one figure.  I thought for a good while about what figure I wanted to paint, and eventually settled on Gunnbjorn.  I know he may not be the most loved Trollblood Warlock, but he sure is a fun model to paint.  The other model was the Spriggan that I featured here a few months ago.  I didn't intend on entering him in a contest when I was painting him, but it is good to know a figure I painted for fun can still earn a gold coin in the contest.  

I'll be taking better pictures in the coming weeks, but here's what they looked like in the display case.

I was trying to update this blog on weekly basis before I stopped so I could focus on my Gen Con painting, but from now on I'm going to update a little more infrequently.  I used to try and have a new model every week to showcase here, so that meant I rushed my work sometimes.  I now know what I want to focus on with my painting for the next year, and that means I may take a little more time per figure.  I received some good feedback on Gunnbjorn and will be working on implementing what I learned.  Rest assured, the figures will still keep coming, but they may be a little more spaced out.

Gen Con was a blast, and I can't wait until next year!