All for the Union...

We begin with some amazing cosplay.  Jen and Joe lead the Guardians of the Galaxy!  I thought it was a fantastic way to keep their own individual appearance, but yet look the part.  Fantastic!

And the Pillar of Light gets more details.  I have not gotten anywhere near actual highlights yet.  At this point, I am still working the middle tones.

I have done a few cursory glazes over the OSL.  This is so that I can work back into it with the next stage.

I am getting a much better sense of exactly where the highlights need to go.  It can be more complex with these kinds of surfaces which change angles rapidly.

Land Raiders, Rhinos, and other Imperial vehicles tend to have surfaces that are only horizontal or vertical.  This is certainly no box!!!

Rich was very kind to get me food for the first three days.

Justin, of Secret Weapon fame, came to the rescue not once but TWICE with critical supplies of Hardtack and mash.

Rich, Christine and Cathy, celebrating Christine Mitzuk's sale of her art in the dealer's room!  Then they crushed me at Zombie Dice, which everyone does.  Only I can roll 3 for 3 shotgun blasts on green dice three turns in a row!

Who's this?  You didn't think that there could be a GenCon series of posts with no stuffed animals, did you?

Sunday savior by Justin!  That pretty much kept me alive that day.

What the Siege Train looked like to everyone else.

What I looked like to everyone else.

And a Fantastic cosplay for Wile West Exodus!!!  Very cool!!1

A flaky kind of day

Well... since unexpected allergy attacks lead to not sleeping, I figured I would post pictures of some Mica forest bases I had begun for demoing at GenCon.

This time, I was employing the new supply of tree bark!  I really wanted to see how the leaves would look here.

You can see that some cork was interspersed as well.  And yes, the dried foliage comes into play.  I am hoping to do a small scale test of placing the Mica on the branches.

My guess is that it will involve super glue to make them stick more firmly.

It may work... it may not.  But not trying at all guarantees no success!

Big jar of Mica Flakes!!

I used both a brush and a flat sculpting tool to apply the flakes.  The idea is to get a spread of them, attempting to pick out a few individual leaves here and there.

Flakes and branches added.  Other odds and ends will be placed on these, and then it will be time for painting!

The Holy Roller!

I was working on a few things while I was at the Wild West Exodus booth.  I painted a bit on the Wayward Eight and the Lawmen, but it was apparent that I was having a tough time seeing them without a magnifier light, and everyone else was as well!

Soon, a large resin piece was in my hands.  It was the brand new Pillar of Light heavy support for the Holy Orders faction.

You are all familiar with this stage.  Yes... Shaded Basecoat!

I was shown the concept art, and the two primary items on this vehicle would be lots of shiny gold, and blue glow... not red.

The glow is being established, a bit at a time.  Obviously the cyan fluorescent paints were deployed :-)

I moved around the various surfaces of the vehicle, making sure not to linger on too long in one spot.  I wanted to be sure that each area got equal attention.

The value patterns are pretty well established now, but refinement has not begun quite yet.

Stopped by briefly to see Jim and Jessica at the Dark Sword booth.  INCREDIBLE minis on those shelves.  You will see the ones I brought home, and some discussions on what will happen with them.

It was great to participate in the ACES charity speed paint with Jessica... tormenting her only part of the time. :-)

More development on the Pillar of Light.  For the next several hours, I would be seeing just how light I wanted certain areas to be, and getting more darks as well.

Once more shadows were completed, I would go back into the middle tones to create several areas with subtle color variations.

Stay tuned!

Thumbs up for GenCon

The Return has begun.  The Circo Train back to Chicago rolled in, and the unpacking process is under way!  That's gonna take a while.

Let's step back in time, however, to the start of GenCon.  As you know, it was my first time attending.  In some ways, I knew what to expect.  In others, I had no clue at all.  I had been told about the size of the venue, the hordes of people, and so on.

I brought a lot of stuff with me, including the Siege Train!!!

Cathy has a dramatic moment descending the glorious staircase of the Omni Hotel.

The view from inside the convention center.

I wanted to get a start on some of my Holy Orders bases...

Learning what the icon of that faction looked like, and putting it to memory.

A number of wonderful concept artworks showing future factions of Wild West Exodus.  One of them is the Confederate Rebellion.

Showing a few sets of Wild West bases next to each other.

I love painting on my new palettes.  Yes, that is the left over non-stick backing of the DVD labels!  I have 1300 pages and counting!!!

We also had the Wayward Eight on display.  I painted 'River" while I was at the booth.

Still can't wait to do the Worbla armor to complete the costume.

The Holy Orders symbols take shape with some additional highlights.

The second base is almost complete!

It's been a while since I was able to work with highly saturated warmer blues.

Yes!  The Holy Orders exist!  But not for long, as eager players quickly snapped them up.  At some point, my Holy O's will have a home on these bases...

Long awaited group shots!

To say I was eager to take these images would be a massive understatement!

Thanks to the giant Hangar 18 backdrop, the Legions of Pseusenes can at last be shown in their true glory!

The Hierophant on the skeletal steed was a favorite conversion of mine.

I am in the process of making a much bigger horse unit for him.

Some views of chariots, bases and more under construction:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2013/04/lest-we-forget.html

The WIP of the new horse unit:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-little-more-on-horseman-movement-tray.html

I am hoping to reshoot the Tomb Complex as well.

More of a "family shot".  The mounted Death Liche is off to the right.

I hope you have enjoyed the renewal of the Tomb Kings!!