Having a leg to stand on: starting to paint the Plague Hulk

I will be continuing with the Plague Hulk project here as I continue my efforts to figure out the Kickstarter proposal.  There were enough unexpected elements involved that adjustments had to be made.  It would also help if the "save" button truly meant save (sorry to blow off steam there!)

Anyway, back to the painting.  I should mention that all these images are near the end of that "shaded basecoat" stage.  At this point, my main goal is to have color everywhere, so that I can judge how light or dark I want something to be.

For example, if something is primed white, and you only paint little parts of it at a time, even a relatively light color, such as fortress grey, is going to appear very dark.  If the mini is primed black, that same color will seem very bright!

So, I try to eliminate that effect by starting out with that all important middle tone.

When I used to teach my pastel classes, I would demonstrate this concept with 3 different colors of pastel paper (light, middle tone, and dark).  It had a very dramatic effect!  It is something I plan to do on the Shaded Basecoat DVD.  It will be in that first 20 minute segment where I discuss what the technique is, and why I use it, the benefits, etc.

When I am painting these initial greens, for example, I try to have a few different kinds of green on my palette.  Some more yellow green, some that are practically teal, etc.  This promotes the variations in colors that would not be possible if I were to dab away at small, isolated parts of the figure.

It's even more important when you are working on monstrosities such as this!

Well, that's it for now folks.  This busy day has gotten 3 times busier, so I must try to put out all these fires with my empty can of diet Root Beer...

Feel like the Plague? Creating the Plague Hulk

As I spend a very late night battling with the Kickstarter proposal, I have dredged up something from the archives... making a Nurgle Plague Hulk.

So, after lots of scrubbing down of the resin parts, I attached them to the plastic kit.  It was clear that I needed to "Nurglize" those parts!

So, out came the green stuff... mixing more yellow than blue.  As I did with the Decimator, I added alots of pustules and other nasty stuff!!

After the green stuff cured, I added some oxide paste to realy get some nice corrosion going.  This also adds some extra strength to joints, as you will see in later posts.

I never thought that the oxide paste was something I would use on anything else besides bases or terrain!!  It never hurts to experiment, I guess :-)

Well, it looks like the battle with the proposal will have to resume later.  My head is hurting...

Starting the second rank: Empire Gunners and some SE-NMM

As I get ready to spend a long evening writing and re-writing a proposal to Kickstarter, I have one more piece for you.  The wee hours of the morning post could be delayed a bit, with so many other distractions going on, so bear with me!

It's nice to dive into the second rank of the unit. 

I do want to attempt to do some kind of reflection on the helmets of this rank that show the gunners to either side.  I didn't do this on the front rank, as it would be almost impossible to see those kinds of reflections.

That is one of the disadvantages of Fantasy regiments, bemoaned by painters everywhere. :-)

Here he is hanging out in back...

These next two views show you what I mean about getting a better look at those helmets!

So, I will keep you up to date on the unit as it progresses.

Also, I want to pass along more thank yous to all those who touched base with me in the last 24 hours.  It was very uplifting, and I think that the amount raised is just about right for the better than average software!

That's good, since my first try on the shaded basecoat will finish filming tomorrow.

Best wishes to all on a rather rough day here in America.  It definitely makes me even more thankful to have so many people to discuss fun things like painting with!!

Bringing the Hobbit to us! Opening the boxed set

Well, we won't be going to see the movie for a while, but look what happened to show up today!

Jon has observed my current obsession with Lord of the Rings SBG ad-nauseum for months, so he sent us an early Christmas present.

This one had the special Radagast figure included, so I can bring him back into my 1000 point Elf army!

Here is Cathy excitedly opening the box...

What could be inside?!!!  Note the Bilbo's Bash dice bag sitting there.  How did that get there?

So excited, the camera cannot keep up!  

I must say, I was way more impressed with the figures than I originally anticipated.  Cathy loved the Goblins!

She already found a favorite goblin.  I am sure he will have a name.

These gobbos are definitely a giant improvement over the original set from years ago!

Here's my Radagast.  Get ready, Rich!!!

These extra items were neat as well.  Having fun terrain is always handy!  Cathy wants to use the Goblin King as her big nasty troll with her Groblog army.

The mini rulebook was nice, and Cathy read certain parts that had worried me in the lead up to this release, trying to talk me down from the ledge.  I was terrified that the game would be completely redone, as the other two systems had been.  I didn't want to see a plasma pistol toting Gandalf and a Mordor steam tank showing up to battles or anything...

The quick reference guide is very nice, and much appreciated!

This image was in the mini rulebook.  It caught my attention right away, as I was going to get a bunch of plastic toy eagles from Michaels to fill out the rest of my Elf army.  These guys look a lot like the new big monster in the Empire range, don't they?

Certainly not the existing metal eagle they have now.

Is it safe to assume that we won't be seeing these for a while?  I don't have the Hobbit story memorized or anything, but my understanding is that the eagles would not show up until the second movie.  I could be very wrong, of course!

A very unexpected journey: Itsy bitsy spider...

Here's something that seemed very appropriate for this day!  We won't be able to see the Hobbit today, perhaps next week.  But I hope it will be fun!

I wanted to follow up on the conversion article I did on this piece over the weekend, as well as the lava painting post.  Imagine about a dozen of these accompanied by the Spider Queen and some Morghul Knights!  All on the same type of lava bases...

Also, I wanted to take this opportunity to offer some fresh "Thank you's" to all those who have jumped on board with the Beta testing!  It looks like it will be just the ticket to securing the better editing software that will get us on the road to filming DVD's much quicker!

While the immediate use for the camera and software is all about the kickstarter DVD's, I am looking forward down the line to making some nifty battle reports with that setup!

The still photography reports are nice and quick, but Rich and I want to step that up when it comes to those special games with pre-set story lines, etc.

Also, another use I see for the camera is to photograph large pieces, such as my Tomb Kings army board, my dioramas, and even big vehicles such as my Dark Eldar Tantalus.  Yes, you heard that right!

I just don't think still images will really capture it well.  My plan is to put it on a carousel, keeping the camera in place and turning the carousel.  I already have some of those from past sculpting projects

From Concept to Reality: Explore the Painting Pyramid!

Calling all loyal Wappellians!

For those of you who saw my blog post from late last night, you heard that I had made some creative inroads into the Kickstarter.  Well, here are some images of that process as it played out yesterday and then today!

I now introduce the Painting Pyramid, something that I came across by accident when I was trying to think of a catchy name for the first four videos, which is also the first "Bundle" that we want to create as a goal.

We learned from our painting seminars that without the Shaded Basecoat DVD, a lot of my other techniques don't make as much sense.  So, that is the very first DVD that will be made and released.

Once you have these first four techniques down, it does make learning the rest a bit easier.  Hence the whole pyramid structure!  I was channelling the old "Food Pyramid" that we all grew up with, obviously. :-)

From that initial concept came this sketch.  This is what we hope to turn into T-shirts as rewards for pledges, etc.  We might even do hats, or other items.  I have already worked up a smaller simplified version of the pyramid for dice!

Once the basic idea was solidified, I had to refine all the individual elements into something more polished.

Which eventually led to this!  It will still need to be worked on, but I will need to get my stylus to be able to do that task.  You have no idea how tough it was just to do this image!  It took many hours of struggle with that stupid mouse.

Which brings me to something else I mentioned last night.  It has become apparent to me that I need some more pieces to this puzzle right away in order to make the kickstarter work.  To keep it short, what I would like to do is make a Pre-Kickstarter Beta Test pledge, so that I can bring in enough funds to purchase some sort of editing software.  This would allow me to get working on the videos themselves right away, instead of waiting until after the funding phase of the Kickstarter, which would be late January at the earliest!

For those who do pledge $20 to the Beta Program, you would be getting a copy of the Beta DVD to look at and give me some feedback.  That would be months before the official delivery dates in late April and May.  Once the releases start, a person who contributed $20 to the "Pre start" Beta Program would have their choice of one free DVD title.

Contributors of $30 (or more if you feel like it) would also get a "Beta Tester" version of the Painting Pyramid shirt design shown above.

We are trying to keep this aspect simple for now, hence these two levels.  It might even be limited to a certain number, so that we still have time to actually create the videos! :-)

The idea is to get some kind of rudimentary software in my hands so that I can make the videos much better, and a whole lot faster when it comes time for release dates!!  Also, I think the quality will be much better with all the extra practice.

In addition, Beta Testers will have their names listed in the credits, and as many other places as possible.

This feedback is going to be really important.

If you are not able to contribute in a monetary way, there is still a way to be a Tester.  Using the software purchased with the "Pre Start" funds, I would be able to post small pieces of the videos on the blog.  Anyone with suggestions, or some helpful tidbits will also be listed on the credits.

My contact information... you can e-mail me at jtwart2@aol.com, with a Beta Tester tagline.  Paypal is our method of payment for everything, so once you contact me, I can get you that info.

You can also reach me on facebook at James Wappel!

OK folks, I wish there was more, but we are already late to head out the door.  I will post again when we get back!!!!!

Double dipping can be good... Kickstarter Beta Testing, anyone?

I did this figure to illustrate something that I want to do with the painting DVD's.

Many of you will notice that the color scheme on this former VASA faction miniature resembles a certain chapter of space marines.

Since we are not using any GW figures for our painting DVD's, I didn't want to leave people out in the wilderness who would ask us questions such as "How did you paint that Space Wolf", or "What did you use on that Blood Angel to make that red?"

Where possible, I will try to include figures such as this, where it would be possible for people to extrapolate this color scheme onto something like a Space Wolf.  The colors are all the same... it's simply where you put them that is a bit different! :-)

I am really trying to cover all the bases for the upcoming Kickstarter, which is why it has not gone up yet.  However, at some point on Friday (or the wee hours on Saturday) I will be submitting some kind of proposal to Kickstarter.  I will let you know as soon as I know if I get the OK from them!

I have been driving myself crazy in this attempt to cover all the bases... to make the perfect Kickstarter right out of the box.  I realize now that this is impossible, since there are far too many unknowns.  Besides, Kickstarters that you see now are very dynamic, with all sorts of updates and extras being added almost daily, if not hourly!

Another thing that has delayed me is the desire to do as much of the video work as possible before I even start this thing.  Again, that sort of runs contrary to the whole purpose!  Kickstarter is supposed to supply me with the tools that I need, not the other way around.

Still, you probably all know by now that I am super obsessive about preparation and training.  I don't want to have to wait until the end of January just to think about getting vital equipment.  It would be much better if I could secure some of it right away, or at least a "tide me over" version of it, so that I could be 100% ready to go when I have the funds to get the 'real' equipment.

This is a very long, rambling way for me to ask all you loyal Wappellians who are interested in this project if any of you would want to participate in a "Beta" version of the DVD's.  Since the earliest practical delivery date on the first DVD's would be in late April, I was wondering if some folks might want to get some earlier versions of certain titles.

The idea is to get enough equipment to put out some test DVD's that could be purchased by interested painters.  You would get to see the DVD's many months before the final ones are released, and your feedback would  help make those final 'end products' much better.

Those who would do this early contribution would get a complimentary final version when those are ready, plus some kind of "I'm a Loyal Wappelllian" or "Beta Wappellian" gift.

If something is going to have my name on it, I want it to be the best darn thing I can make.  Since film making is an entirely new thing for me, it is going to be an arduous quest to make sure the final product helps people as much as our in person classes have done..

So, Tomorrow I am going to try and do a post that will give contact information for me, although you can always reach me on facebook.. James Wappel.

Should you want to be a Beta Tester for this project, and help me blast through this initial wall, I will try to make it worth your while.  I was even thinking of putting early contributors names on the credits, or some kind of "special thanks".  Jon and Marty have already earned theirs!

I really want this to reach its potential.  Right now, I am getting a bit frustrated by these initial limitations.  Even now, I am starting at a half finished orc warboss from Raging Heroes that is the first video.  I shot the initial basecoating part, and now I have to do the rest of the shading, tinting, etc.

To turn him into something I can work with in terms of actual film, I need a few more items.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow!!!!