Progress Report 4/18/14 - Twice in one week?!

That's right... two posts in one week. Can you even handle the excitement?! Okay, part of the reason is I will be out of town and out of touch with my hobby for the next two weeks and I wanted to get these photos up before that. Also I remembered that posting photos and getting positive feedback is totally addictive and helps make me paint more minis which is something I want to do!! With that in mind here is the stuff I worked on here and there over the past couple days...

More progress on the Skullkrushas!

I like how the skull paint on the face turned out.

This guy is looking damn tough and stuff.

This is "Tiny" and that is his gun.

Started working on an Ogre conversion for a friend.

Progress Report 3/10/14 - Gobblin' Up The Sunlight.

Slowly... ever so slowly... we rise out of the frozen muck and mire which has bogged us down the past few months. A day of 30+ degree weather feels like a summer breeze. Sunlight and the creeping days give way to painting! Priming! Happiness! 

First up on the oil painting front - spent last week of class sealing the under painting of my Smoking Man painting and began work on a smaller painting while it was drying. Here's a quick rundown of that process, which I am using a different style of under painting for, and where I got to last week. 

Original reference photo.

My quick sketch of that photo on canvas.

Starting with an outline.

This under painting will be in three colors.

Working on the head first.

And here is where I ended up.

This style of under painting is called "dead color" and it uses just a few colors, black, and white for the shading. Afterwards You use glazes and lighter coats to bring the color out and make it more vibrant. Reminds me a bit of my current mini painting style actually. 

Speaking of painted minis I got a base coat and a dark wash on a few more Gangers for the Skullkrushas! The gang is coming together nicely now. 

"ARGH OUR HANDS!!!"

Also got the thumbs up from my Dwarf mini client on what might be the last RPG commission I do for awhile (I think I have painted everyone at this point). Behold the Dwarf Cleric and his +1 marker!

Working on washes next then I will bring out a lot of detail on this mini. Not sure who makes it but I like the look of this guy a lot! Looking forward to seeing him completed (then maybe I should finish my own gaming minis). 

There is a slight chance I may actually play some WHFB this week!? Stay tuned for that if it is of interest to you....

Progress Report 2/26/14 - Time is short and so is Feburary.

Ack! This month is just about history and aside from running Dog Bowl and playing a bit of games I haven't managed to do much on the painting and modeling front. 

First up a quick update on my oil painting. I missed two classes this month so I am a bit behind. This week I "finished" my underpainting and will be moving on to adding color next week. 

Adding detail to the hand.

Changed up the face shape a bit and added detail.

Spent a little bit of time working on the SKULLKRUSHAS for my Goliath Necromunda gang. Got two more Gangers done. They have names but I can't remember them at the moment!!

Working on a commission for a Dwarf character that I hope to have done in the next couple weeks. Spent some time converting and sculpting some bits for that but I don't want to show them quite yet. On to March!!

Progress Report 1/12/14 - Sloppy Pants.

Sunday. A new week. Last week was a bit of a mixed bag. Had fun being trapped indoors during the massive polar vortex storms that hit my area of Michigan with the woman. But on the negative side I missed my first oil painting class due to a weather cancellation and the sun room I paint it was so cold I couldn't stand to be in there! Then my back started acting up and it hurt to do anything...

Still! I managed to get just a bit of paint on the Goliath Necro gang on the table and I also sketched out my first oil painting as well.

They look slightly handless but menacing.

My sketch

My reference

Not that I am a huge X-Files fan, but I do like the Smoking Man, and I like this image for my first painting. It has some interesting lighting, colors, and I think painting the skin tones and wrinkles will provide my some great experience and hopefully new techniques.

Progress Report 7/14/13 - A mini a day keeps something away.

I wish I could paint a mini a day. I could come close maybe... if I spent less time reading, playing boardgames and roleplaying games with people, working, cooking, etc. I've been regularly painting for at least 15 minutes a day for the past few months and that has been grand. Now I just need to settle in for a few painting marathons and I will be well on my way to being done with this list:

• Finish painting Blood Bowl team I am taking to Chaos Cup 2013 (top secret shhhh)
• Paint a Witch Elf for the Chaos Cup 2013 Legacy Team (started - see below)
• Paint up more minis for Player Characters in the RPG campaigns I am in (again - see below)
• Keep painting the Goliath gangers for the SKULLKRUSHAS
• Finish painting the two other Blood Bowl teams I have started (Elf and Flings)
• Paint all the scenery I have built and build more
• Work on my gaming table

So much to do! So little time!! Oh well. Tis the life of a nerd hobby fanatic I suppose. On to the photographic evidence of my time (well?) spent!!

D&D 3.5 group shot with the in-laws. That's me on the right (Hinson the Halfling Rogue).

From another D&D 3.5 group - WIP basecoats and some highlights of Quarion the Elf Sorcerer.

Yet another D&D 3.5 figure - WIP basecoats on Jojak the (kinda) Paladin.

Sloppy basecoats for the Witch Elf I will be adding to the Chaos Cup 13 Legacy Team.

That's a lot of hair!!

Ganger Juve #2. I think this guy has a name but I can't recall it at the moment.

Pretty happy with how he turned out though I was going for a darker skin tone.

Two Juves down, a whole damn gang of Goliath to go!!

Oh yeah... a lot of those minis come from the huge amount of stuff that came in this little guy a few weeks back.

So many minis!!! First impressions... well there is some downsides to this Bones stuff. My figures had quite a few mold lines and a lot of bent out of shape bits. I guess that is the price you pay for a cheaper fig but cleaning them up and rebending bits has been a huge chore. Also, maybe you aren't supposed to prime these minis? They don't take to it well and the minis I have primed from this batch have a tacky/sticky feeling to them for a week or so before they cure. They also react a bit odd to paint when the primer is still in this state. Initial review... value 10/10, quality 7/10, quantity 10/10, variety 7/10, overall 8/10.

Well that's enough for now. Off to start my first adventure in a third (!!!) RPG campaign. This time it's Pathfinder (aka D&D 3.5+). Until next time... 

 ...PAINT HARD!!

Progress Report 6/18/13 - Gang on!

Life is good. Life is busy. And not just the normal "work" busy - full of nerd things like three (three!?) different roleplaying games/groups, my local Blood Bowl league, boardgames, and invites to play all kinds of stuff. I am awash in nerd times and it is good. 

Still dying to get Necromunda going. I know I will suck. I chose a difficult gang to play. I want to paint them all! Here is my first Goliath ganger for the Skullkrushas!!! He's a Juve named....

Basecoats ho!

Basecoats rear!

"First ima stab yeh..."

"...then ima put this gun up yer bum!"

Painted him up in about 1 hour. Pretty darn happy with the results! I started with the "easy" skin tone and plan on working into some more "difficult" skin tones as I paint the gang. Multi-racial gangers all the way!! 

I have three (three!?) incoming painting projects/comissions I need to work on in addition to:

- Halfling (crablings) Blood Bowl team

- Orc (finishing them) Blood Bowl team

- Dark Elf (yuck!) Blood Bowl team

- Goliath gang

- A stack of WHFB minis (Chaos!!!!!)

I feel I need to spend more time in my new painting "studio" in the next few months. Time to get back to work!!

Progress Report 6/3/13 - Necrotrolls

New home is great. Still working out the kinks and upacking things as we go. Kitchen is about 90% of the way there and the rest of the house is following suite. Haven't had as much time to paint as I would like but this is mostly due to changes at work and using the free time to play D&D! More on that later perhaps... for now here are some minis! 

Troll-gating mini for the 40 Miners Big House turned out pretty good. Vision was a big dumb stone troll covered in Gnoblar/Goblinoid things who are ready to party. I think it conveys that nicely. Hopefully he will look good in the new stadium seating!

Also spent some time finishing up the building and magnetizing of my first Necromunda gang... the Goliaths known as the Skullkrushas!! Added a couple of converted gangers made from 40k bits too. More on these guys as they are painted and completed. 

Still working on terrain as well... you might see it in the background of these photos if you peek. This week I am headed back to Austin for a work related thing so no painting for me. Until next time...

Progress Report 3/11/13 - Necrowhat?

Busy! Still busy. Did I mention I am buying a house? Things are looking 99% likely at this time and we are hoping to hear something concrete this week. If everything goes as planned I will be moving at the end of this month!? What?! Gotta keep packing...

In the meantime I have decided to not paint anything too outlandish while I work on gathering my meager belongings and moving them all to a new space. The regular KUBBL lads are still interested in playing some Necromunda so things are moving (again) on that front. Been bit by the "terrain bug" a bit and having fun slapping some stuff together out of what I have laying around. The results so far..

A bunker of sorts.

The back side (and access ladder) of the bunker.

Slapped together bandit tower.

The other side of the tower with sludge pool.

A crater with debris and a crumbled wall section of sorts.

Pardon the dust on the top of my cabinet. Just moved some clutter off in an attempt to begin the "move" and didn't clean it off before photo time. The horror!!

Also spent some time getting together my Goliath gang. It's strictly out of the box type stuff so far. Thinking about adding a bit of detail stuff still. Gotta break out the green stuff. In the meantime...

Behold! The Skullkrushas!!

Gangers - Arak Jawcrusher, Nazagut Limbripper, and Ragreth Boneshaker

Gang Leader Sergat Leadbelly and Gang Heavy Bozutt Ironjaw

Juves - Yuzong the Baited and some guy we don't know yet...

Still have a handful of weapons I need to magnetize for options and some details to do on most of the bases, but I think they are coming along nicely. Looking forward to painting them! I think this will be the first "40k like" thing I have ever painted??

That's all for now. Dropped out of the running for the KUBBL 3 playoffs after losing to the league leader due to a dismal showing of dice disaster. Playing a consolation match against Elves again today. Is there a better consolation prize than the the opportunity to kill some Elves!? I think not.