Leaves of Fury

Here's the third and final Raging Heroes Treekin, with foliage applied!

It's still amazing to see the difference that the foliage made.  These guys have so much motion and action to the poses.  They were dynamic poses to start with, but the leaves seem to enhance that.

Next up.., the group shots!!

Death Charge!

This Reaper Revenant Cavalry figure was the subject for one of my painting videos, All about painting Skeletons!  Of course it was an ideal figure.

The goal of the video was to show how to get more than just drybrushed bone colors dipped in brown.  As you can see in these images, there is a myriad of colors and tones... reds, tans, greens and even purples.

Skeletons can become quite boring unless you entertain yourself (and ultimately the viewer) with these variations.  Pieces such as this one are truly ideal for mixing the various glaze colors (Secret Weapon, Vallejo, etc.) in with my 'regular' paints.

Those semi-transparent shades are meant for the shadow and mid tone areas, where you will be able to get a range of subtle color transitions without having to paint endless layers of progressively lighter colors.

Here's a look at a preview video... this one can be purchased from Kings Hobbies and Games.com:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVDGSWdBUlU

He's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/321952314212?

A Day at Draxtar, Part Deux

Long long ago, in a galaxy in far off Batavia, I visited Draxtar Games, a very large hobby store.

I remembered how much fun that was, and how many great things could be found in every corner of the building :-)

However, since we only have one vehicle, there was no way I could get out there without my own personal Tardis.  Now that Cathy has rejoined me in the miniature painting, getting out to Draxtar is once again on the menu!!

A link to their facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/DraxtarGames/?fref=ts

The display cases greet you just as you enter...

The rest of the initial view as you walk in.

There's an impressive amount of miniatures and painting supplies to be had.  Even after being raided by hungry orks on the Black Friday sale, I could still pick up a few key paints.

The biggest collection of Reaper minis that I have seen outside of Games Plus!  This will also be very handy. :-)

My favorite part of the store is the Hobby Bar, where you can get lots of work done while also hanging out with friends.  It's a huge stable, that is very solid, so no need to worry about your minis bouncing around in front of you.

There's also a shelf of 'open games', should you ever want to try one out and give it a spin.

Another view of the Hobby area.  That video screen sometimes plays battle reports which were made in the store.  The local Beasts of War film crew produces them, and it would seem that Rich and I may be throwing down for a future episode of Wild West Exodus!!!

A nice selection of well lit game tables, filled with terrain for many different game systems.  This was able to accommodate a good sized Kings of War tournament in November.

Rich vs Rich in Flames of War!

I'm looking forward to making my own Flames of War terrain, along the lines of some larger ruined buildings such as this.  I have all the materials already, and we have already made structures like this for our Memoir '44 games.

Once the Battle of the Rich's was complete, we compared one of the Stuggs with my early war French tanks...

It was also a chance to build some of my French artillery.  I was also testing out some new super glue that could be on the shelves at Draxtar as well.  It has some interesting properties!

Hopefully the next game that Rich and I play of Wild West Exodus will take place at Draxtar, and another Burn In Designs building will be ready for action.  This is the Cantina, and it will be featured on the blog next week!

It's impossible to believe that Christmas is only 8 days away.  YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Holidays to one and all!!

Draconic Elves

Every so often, it's fun to see a few minis side by side.

In this case, a few recent Celtos figures.

While I wasn't trying to match any specific colors, I did gravitate towards a similar scheme for both the skin tones and the golds.

These were among a number of testing ground figures where I experimented with bright seafoam greens in my golds, along with purples and high intensity seinnas.

While the majority of the colors were somewhat muted (mostly mixed together to keep them toned down) I left a few colors of high saturation to pop and create centers of interest.

It was also part of a much broader experiment where I try out all my latest techniques on figures that are more than 10 years old.

Since I am painting so many brand new figures these days from emerging companies, going almost back to the beginning (or at least a significantly earlier period in the development of miniatures) is a great contrast!

I have learned a great deal, as I do in each experiment.

Stay tuned for much more, both the very new, and the less new. :-)

The Unconquered

Here's another mystery mini for you, although I suspect that it is an older Ral Partha figure.  The sculpting reminds me a bit of Copplestone Casting, however.

She is standing on another one of the Bark and Branch bases, which worked out just great for her!

Just as with out Man of Mystery, I was very aware of carrying the colors used on the base right up through the figure!

She's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/221970722065?

Mystery Man

This may or may not be a Reaper miniature, but in any case, it was a lot of fun!

I really wanted to play around with various browns and greens, and see how those could also play off the bark and branch base!

I tried to also include a few higher saturation colors here and there for a little extra interest.

This view from above gives you a nice look at the base, and the Gamer's grass/ Mig dired leaf foliage that I purchased from King's Hobbies and Games.

He certainly had a very colorful expression on his face which I tried to capture!

He's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/321950478621?

What's old can be new

This was a very interesting project... taking an ancient Ral Partha figure and giving it the "new figure" treatment.  

I used the new style foliage to create overgrown effect on a fun little sculpey vignette.

I can remember years ago trying to sculpt something similar to this with unbaked sculpey... not thinking that it would be a million times easier to do so once it was baked. :-)

The last time I was painting figures such as these, the technique was radically different.  It was more along the lines of the standard "GW" approach.  Painting this one in the manner which I do now was quite an interesting experience.

An exercise like this seemed even more useful, since I have had so many examples of the very latest in sculpting and manufacturing coming through here!!

Yes indeed... sometimes what is old can be new!