Monster Mash

There were many fun and different things that happened while we were at World Expo Chicago, like painting in the Badger airbrush booth, getting to see the Reaper folks, and meeting some of the other dealers.  

Directly across from the Badger booth were some very interesting movie monster busts, made by Black Heart Models.  George asked me if we painted many busts, and I told him that I hadn't had a chance to paint one yet.

Lo and behold, there were suddenly a few of his fantastic busts on the table, and I was hitting them with the airbrush for various demos.

This is the bust that I painted during the seminar, showing how the airbrush could be used for my normal "Shaded Basecoat" phase.  Once those early layers and colors have been applied, it's time to glaze and tint over the top of them.

That's what I did to finish off this Frankenstien bust.  These are the smaller busts, a new range that is expanding.  The original busts were life sized, which are really amazing to see!  Who knows... perhaps one day I might get to paint one of those colossal heads!!

Here's a link to the website:

http://www.blackheartmodels.com/

For now, we have Frankenstien.

Fun Times in Chi Town

Now that we are back from World Expo, it's time for a few images!

I was doing my usual painting exercises in the Badger booth, using all the new primer colors.

I had a collection of painted and partially painted Bolt Action figures and vehicles to show how I go about using the airbush and those nifty primers!

I also had a few of the BONES 3 kickstarter dragons with me, because I was itching to get some primer on those beasties as well.

You can see some model aircraft, and even a Gates of Antares skimmer.

Ken in the booth getting ready to make a splash...

I tried to bring as wide a variety of subject matter as possible, and I think I managed to do just that.  On the right hand side you can see my first use of the metallic primer on the aircraft, imitating the underlying layer of airplane aluminum that would be revealed by the chipping medium later.

The Bersagleri are the next big Bolt Action airbrush project, so a few examples of that force were on the table.  In a complete surprise, I ended up with a few busts of Universal Monsters too!

Those are from Black Heart Models, who happened to be right across the isle from us.

Wolfman and the BONES dragon get their initial layers of primer.  I focused on those new colors, as I mentioned earlier.  I used the new Ebony, pink and tan colors in combination with black and green.

I especially had fun with the giant wings.  Until now, this is something that I would have to do with my large brushes.  While that does not take a very long time, it is certainly not as efficient as using the airbrush.

At the same time, I hit the busts with the same primer colors... even the Italian Bolt Action figures.

I experimented with more combinations of primer on the dragon and the busts, trying out the new blue primer color.

I took a few of the ghost tints and a few other regular colors to do some glazes on the dragon's head.  I wanted to demonstrate how you can work from the Shaded Basecoat established by the use of primer and airbrush.

Another interesting part of the weekend was conducting a seminar.  I had to combine airbrushing with Mig AMMO products, which was a tricky task to pull off in just 90 minutes!!

Somehow I was able to do airbushing, weathering and oil painting on 3 different genres of figures in that time span.

I wanted to thank Ken for letting me corrupt his booth all weekend, and to Dave for running the event.  Thanks also to George and the folks at Reaper Miniatures.

It was great to see everyone there too!

While we were away, more 1/48 scale kits arrived.  These are primarily going to serve as objective markers, scenery and the like.  I think these will really add to our Bolt Action games!

They have incredible detail, and they are quite inexpensive on Amazon.  You will see more of these in the coming months, along with the 1/48 scale planes.

Stay Tuned!

Reaping the Harvest

The Alastriel figure from Reaper Miniatures has been a favorite of mine for a while.  I have been able to paint it a number of different ways, and I still look forward to trying more!

I used a number of this figure to create the Painting Pyramid video for Object Source Lighting.  Here's a link to the preview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXqIo-UMSr8

I had a lot of fun using one of the left over figures to create a very different flavor, with this fall theme.  The broken column is part of a resin set from Secret Weapon Miniatures.

I made this base prior to the Green Stuff World leaf punches, so I used the Vallejo Mica Flakes to create the fallen leaf effect.  I really love the Mica flakes, but the contents have a tendency to dry out, no matter how tightly you secure the top.  The best option is to get a small jar, but you have to hope that one has not been on a shelf for too long!

Shifting Sands

Not all of the early war Shapeways 3D printed vehicles are meant for France!  A few of them are designed for our North Africa campaigns, as is this Panzerjager 1.

Here's a link to the original unboxings, so that you can get a sens of what it looked like prior to painting.  All I did was wash it in warm soapy water, which is what I do for any kind of resin kits.

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2017/04/reshaping-future.html

It was very easy to paint, and it held the primer and subsequent layers of paints very well.  I used the Badger Airbush Stynlrez primer, followed by a series of Secret Weapon paints.

Those acrylic paints are designed for various weathering techniques. Each color is designed to remain cohesive, even when thinned down.  They also dry quite flat or matte, which is another advantage when you need to get weathering effects which dry quickly!

The crew figures are from Perry Brothers, part of set of five.  I chose the two that would fit with this kit the best, and gave them an appropriate Afrika Korps look.  I really enjoyed having the crew inside the fighting compartment, giving the vehicle more of an active feel.

I had a limited time to work on this, so I didn't get a chance to put much stowage on it, or create some live ammo to place on the insides of the gun shield.  However, I did use my weathering powder/rubbing alcohol combinations to make the dusting effects.

The idea is to 'liquify" the powder with the alcohol, making it easier to get it to settle into the crevices. Dampened makeup sponges can be used to remove the excess powder, and restore the original colors.

Here's a link to the "painting with powders" facebook live episode:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10210083481257662/?type=2&theater

I look forward to painting several more of these Afrika Korps vehicles, along with my Italians!  The infantry will also be interesting, after painting so many early war German Heer in green :-)  

Stay tuned!

Centurion

One more Junkers Centurion for you!  This is from the Urban Mammoth line of miniatures, and is one of several figures that I used for the Raging Reds Painting Pyramid instructional video.

These were very good subject matter, since I needed a full range of reds on these figures to define the shapes and surfaces.  This meant cooler reds in some places, but much warmer reds in others.  The base is a good example of the cooler, more muted reds.

I made the video because the sheer volume of questions that I had about how  to paint red... and specifically how to make it lighter without getting a chalky pink!

The simple key is to never use white.  I generally use warmer colors such as yellow to lighten red, but using seafoam green and other such tones will actually create a Burgundy shade.  This way you get a cooler red, but it is not quite pink, as the tiny bit of green alters that somewhat.

The how to paint Red video was one of five colors.  I made videos for Greens, Blues, Yellows and even Gray!  They are all available directly from me on USB drives.

War Begins! The Attack on the Meuse

Here we go!  Miniatures on the new terrain board at last.  The first thing that strikes me is how much bigger the board suddenly became!  After staring at the same shapes for so long, it felt like the board was tiny, and shrinking all the time.

When the figures were placed on the board, it seemed to grow exponentially.

The French troops make a desperate advance to the river to meet an oncoming attack, will they be in time to thwart it?  With no time to make prepared defenses, they may be overrun!

A sniper team attempts to neutralize the German artillery threat at the watermill, hiding in the reeds...

An artillery duel begins with the French 75mm vs the German light howitzer team.

The first German troops attempt a crossing at the river, but are met head on with machine gun and rifle fire.

The rumble of tanks can be heard as German armor advances to the river.  Will the slower French tanks and Anti Tank guns be able to prevent the Panzers from establishing a beachhead?

The machine gun team and the howitzer take aim at the troops splashing through the river.

A wave of light armor and troop transports arrive to overwhelm the French positions...

More troops emerge from the Hanomag and Opel Blitz, supporting the initial attack on the river, advancing over the dead bodies of their fallen comrades...

German machine gun teams take positions in fire support, while a German sharpshooter attempts to deal with that hidden French sniper!

Major Poirot orders an all out counterattack!!!

The hard pressed defenders rush into the waters which are now turning red with the blood of many casualties...

The Somua and Panhard take aim at the thinly armored Panzers.  More than one will burst into flame!

But there are more where those came from, and the massed formations of armor present too many targets for the French gunners.

If they are allowed to cross the river, the sickle stroke to the Channel coast will soon follow.  This position must be defended to the last man.

There are no more reserves to commit to the defense.  Fight to the last round!

Stay tuned for some early war battle reports, featuring the Armies of France, the BEF, and the Heer!