Winter's coming... work in progress Chaos Dwarfs

This was  project for a small blood bowl league that never quite got off the ground.

I had made the stadium many years ago.  There is a previous post with a few pictures of the Glacier Dome, and all the mischevious penguin fans inside.

This is more about the new miniatures I had been painting for the team.  The original Juneau Icebergs were a chaos dwarf team.  They were the very first minis I ever tried to paint back in 1995.

I was very interested in trying to reprise that old team, knowing what I know now!

The colors of the team are very similar, but I had learned so much since that first try!  Just the flesh tones alone were so different, as I did each figure with a different shade.

Also, the bases were a good deal fancier, using some baked sculpey to simulate the ice.

When I get a chance to continue working on this set of figures, I will be sure to make another blog post!

The bases themselves will be getting a heavy dose of gloss coat, similar to what I did on the Impact Hockey players a while back.

I also have a coach figure riding on a polar bear that is hilarious!  You're going to like that one. :-)

Here's the team out on the field.

As always, I love making logos, and this was very fun!

It's too bad the league did not take off, since these lads were off to a great start...

First step on the road to Adepticon! The color test finished.

Here she is!  It was a bit of a relief to finally have paint on an Adepticon miniature! :-)

I have been assembling, basing and generally prepping the whole army for well over a year.  It felt good to have something that was not grey or white or black or some shade of unfinishedness...

At this point, I think I will work on one or two more figures from this unit before I move on to the vehicles or even the jetbikes.

I hope that you will enjoy seeing this army progress the same way the Tomb Kings did!  Eventually there will even be a display board!  Looking forward to that!

The next figure in line is another Raging Heroes sci-fi Vestal, this time with a shardnet and impaler.  That proved really handy in that test game that Rich and I did.  It helped the tiny squad survive long enough for the Incubi to join in!

Finishing the color test figure for the Dark Eldar

Here we have the conclusion of the first Raging Heroes Sci-Fi Vestal.  It is also my first color test miniature for my Adepticon tournament army!

When I last left you, I had everything just about set up for the glazing and tinting stage.  My first step was to take some Druichii violet and Drakenhoff Nightshade and do a series of glazes on the hair and the whip.  The idea was to use the colors I had already painted as a 'backdrop', so that this new transparent layer would tint  colors that were extremely blue towards a purple shade.  This would make it clash less with the red armor.

The whip also got the same treatment, for the same reason.  That is the whole point behind starting out with brighter than needed colors.  

Also at this time, I mixed some sepia with the violet glaze and hit the armor.  The flesh tone was shaded darker by using flow improver to thin down a pinkish/grey mix.  I put that color into the recesses. 

I did a second and third round of glazes to establish the darkest darks.  Once that was done, it was time to work back into the middle tones.  The darkest shades had also been completed on the flesh...

The flesh tones are lightened in the same way as the fantasy Vestal from earlier in the week, using a Vallejo pale green.  I mixed a warm red color to work into the armor.  The hair got some lighter colors as well, with the idea that some parts of the highlights would be more purple/pink, and others more sky blue.

The flesh tone gets more highlights, and I start to work on the agonizer.  I thought it would be fun to have various colors of lighter dots which would be a contrasting color towards the end of the whip.

Here's an image that shows the pinkish highlights on the hair next to the sky blue highlights.

Final highlights are done on the flesh, hair, pistol and armor.

Color test pieces like this are very challenging.  I ended up switching colors mid stream several times, which is why I could not be more exact in my description of what colors I was using!  As I was painting this, I had to keep in mind how the Venom was going to be painted, and what colors I would use.

Add to that the notion of painting figures you had not painted before, and it makes things pretty interesting :-)

I will post shots of the finished figure tomorrow!

The Road to Adepticon begins NOW! Work in progress on a color test mini

You have seen a few examples of the Raging Heroes fantasy Vestals, so it is high time that you get to see the sci-fi versions!

This figure is a color test for my Dark Eldar army for Adepticon 2013.  Each squad is going to be a different set of colors.  The basing will be the same for all squads, and here is an example of a painted base.

Starting with the figure, I try to establish the same flesh tone that you saw in the fantasy Dark Elf tone earlier this week.

The hair color is put in place to give me a guide as to how light the flesh tone needs to be.  I mixed a dark blue green with a bit of deep purple, and then used a sky blue to lighten it.

The hair is lightened further, by mixing in some very pale flesh color with the sky blue.

Time to establish the armor color, as well as the agonizer.

The next post will illustrate some of the glazing and tinting which took place.  Stay tuned!

Had to make something quick to chow down on while watching the SEC Championship game!!

The Mighty Mimes of Moria take the field!

OK!  Introducing the rest of the Mimes!

You have already met the Coach and a few of the team members, (including star player Jaques with 44 SPP's amassed!)  but there are many more.  Here we have Lutins Merci, Guillaume (with a whopping 53 SPP's), Le Grenadier, and Guy.

In this photo, we have Lutin Orvile, who, despite an injury which slowed him down, had block.  He was a great candidate for the defensive Gobbo toss, in which he would be thrown at the opposing ball carrier in the backfield... especially throwers, who are almost never given block.  The 2 dice opponent's call then works in  your favor!  Next is Lutin Michelle, followed by Lutin Luc, who with his +1 agility was the guy who got the ball.

It was his job to hand it off to Guillame or Jaque, who would then be tossed by Pierre with his Strong Arm.

Speaking of Pierre, here he is with his buddy Francois.

The gobbo toss formation was a very specific one, developed over many tosses. :-)  No one ever figured out how to stop it.  If they did back up in an attempt to do so, I just marched down the field, using saws, fanatics, and my block Lutins to clear the way.  All I needed to do was get far enough down the field for someone with sprint to get through a hole to the end zone!

Look at Francois with his huge glass of Chablis.  He never played without it.

Now we have some tricksters, such as Le Baton de Pogo, and Le Tronconneuse.

The parasol Lutin was used as a marker during the throwing process.  Since the throw can never be accurate (bummer!), he tends to bounce around into places you would rather he not go!

Usually, a goblin toss would only work 1 out of every 3 attempts once I had all the skill sets amassed on the correct players.  Without them, it is more like 1 in 6!

Oooh look, a yummy cheese wheel!  Tasty treats from D'anardo's!

Looking at the final team roster, these guys had compiled over 260 SPP's, with a winning record of 7-6-3.  Not bad for Gobbos!  There were 8 players with 20 or more SPP's.  There was a great range of sneaky skills, with lots of side step, block, sprint, jump up, etc.

The down side, of course, was a Goblin team that gave up tons and tons of inducements.  Does not seem right, does it?

Lutin Nation rocks Moria! Part two... meet the Mimes

Now it is time for some individual shots of the Mimes!  First, however, an unobstructed view of the field. I also created dugouts and score counters.

Some close ups of the fans and the extra coaching staff.  Mapping out those gobbo toss plays is a big part of any coordinator's day!!

Ah yes, the fans certainly love their Mimes!

The star goblin bombardier was a favorite freebooter of my own.  Two bombers out on the field at the same time really put a dent in Dwarven plans!!  I also liked to let the opponent get a bunch of players surrounding a bomber, so that a fumble was almost guaranteed.  Lots of extra buys knocked down for free. ;-)

I usually had an extra fanatic as well, although they never were as effective as the bombers.

I used green stuff to make the bandoleer of bombs...

And here is, Charles De Gualle leading the way!

The first batch of regular goblins, featuring Poirot (top hat) and Garcon (baguette).

That loaf of bread felled many an opponent!!

Stay tuned for more features tomorrow!!  Or later today, I should say.

The Mimes of Moria!! What they didn't show in the movies...

I was quite surprised that the Fellowship of the Ring films did not include one of the most popular venues in all of Moria, and the team that played there...

Yes, they are Mimes.  Meet Francois, Pierre, Jaques, Poirot and Charles De Gaulle.

Lutin Nation!!!

I am starting this off with a bunch of team photos.  Later today I will break it down into more individual miniature shots.

This is a blood bowl team that I made way back in 2006.  Let's just say that I learned a whole lot about conversions in the process!

Some of the fans are carrying signs that say "Toss me!" and "We love the Mimes!"

There are assistant coaches, superfans, star players, special weapons, and the like.

There are a lots of very heavy conversions.  I had to hack away at a lot of metal figs so that I could make the berets, etc.  The pogo stick guy was a big challenge.  Now it would be a much easier process. :-)

The board was also made the hard way.  I put the whole thing together in Photoshop and then printed it out on 8.5 x 11 paper.  Then I had to try and glue that whole puzzle together!!

 The signature you see is from Jervis Johnson, who came to the Chaos Cup that year.

I used some of the extra tiles that were printed to glue onto the bases.

The individual shots will show you more of those conversions, and the freehand designs.

When the Mimes came out to play, they had a full bag of tricks.  Invisible boxes and ropes, invisible footballs, etc.

There was also a "referee hospitality fun", along with cheese wheels and lots of Chablis!

And a lovely parasol, of course, for soft landings on a goblin toss!!!

Some of the figures are very old and out of print, such as the trolls.  I don't even know where some of the figures came from!

So, the next few posts will focus in on the individual players.  This was always my favorite team.  They scored a lot of touchdowns (about 3 per game), and managed to get me into the playoffs their first year in existence!