Mighty Kurgonova

The officers of my old Imperial Guard army were a tough bunch... the Kurgonova Sisters from Raging Heroes!

Since most Raging Heroes figures trend towards wider stances such as this, it meant that my basing techniques meshed fairy well.  I love making slight overhang bases like this instance, and giving it a bit of a twist by setting the broken door on a slight angle.  

This serves to reduce the width needed on those overhangs, because you are utilizing that angle to take off a millimeter or two from that distance if it had been set 'flat' on the base.

Doing so also increases the drama of the pose, and makes that wider stance have more meaning... as if the character were climbing up the sheet metal, or trying to maintain balance, etc.

Finally, it makes it appear that the character might be dueling with a nearby enemy, unseen in the image but implied nevertheless!

She's available here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/222489522114?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

Midori

I thought that I would have a little bit of fun with purples and pinks on this Reaper Miniature.  I forget what shade of Reaper Blue/purple which was the original mix, but it was quite nice when combined with a lighter flesh color.

This kept everything in color harmony, and kept the colors from getting too saturated.

I did some quick chrysanthemum freehand on the kimono, and carried some of those same colors up into the sword blade.  The teal color was the same, and that was highlighted with the light flesh tone... once again to maintain color harmony.

The marble on the base was also kept as simple as possible in terms of it color/saturation so that it would not conflict too much with the brighter colors of the figure itself.

She's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322522279964?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

Countess

Here's one of the new releases from Wild West Exodus, this time for the Enlightened.

She's Countess Augusta Byron, and she has the ability to rejuvenate the dead somewhat.

Not a surprise, as this Franniestien countenance illustrates.  This Boss also has some powerful weaponry, and you certainly don't want to get close to her!

She will join Tesla and the rest of the growing Enlightened force that continues to infringe on the town of Wappelville... stay tuned.

Winston's Wrath

This beast is the plastic Churchill tank from Warlord Games.  You can build seven different variants with this kit, but in this case the most "generic" build was the request.  

I believe this is the welded turret, with the 75mm Sherman gun.

Here's a link, which should also show you some of the variants that are possible: 

https://us-store.warlordgames.com/products/churchill-tank-plastic/?utm_campaign=jamiet&utm_medium=click&utm_source=fbba

I painted this with the Mig AMMO oil washes and filters, and also the OilBrushers.  I really enjoy that combination of products, since it offers so much flexibility in approach!

For those who have seen my live facebook painting sessions, you know that I like to take the same sort of watercolor approach, by splashing the filters and washes across the entire surface at once, quickly blocking in the darker tones, and tinting along the way:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos_by

This is even more important on potentially "bland" vehicles like this, where you have a massive amount of one color.  The rapid application of those washes, and the subsequent layers of OilBrusher paints allow me to create a number of variations in the tones... some warmer and some cooler.

There are plenty of raised areas that allow for streaking and other discoloration, thus breaking up those larger surfaces.  Where I was going to add effects such as dirt and mud, I tried to make those greens a bit more blue, so that the warmer mud tones would show up just a tiny bit more.

The view from above shows the addition of the leaves, punched from actual pressed leaves using the Green Stuff World leaf punches.  They were attached with sand and gravel paste from Mig AMMO, which I really love.  To tone them down and create even more texture, I fleck a little bit of weathering powders onto the "pile" as well.

These are lighter and darker dirt colors, which help to give the appearance that the crew have been climbing onto the tank.

The markings were also pretty generic, since this was a commission piece, and I was not given any kind of specific unit ID to follow.  This British force is a bit of a hodgepodge, blending many different units together.  Still, I enjoyed painting this a lot, and the tank commander was a nice addition too!

Stripey!

I did a number of "color test" skinks for the Lizardman army as that massive project moved along.  Each unit was suposed to have a different look, as I had placed a special character in each one of the Skink and Kroxigor units... such as a skink priest or a chieftan.

There were some restrictions on what color patterns would work, based on the various types of skinks and Kroxigor sculpts.  These skinks were more conducive to stripe patterns, but the newer skinks had more texture, so it limited the stripes a bit.

As far as the Kroxigors go, they had much more texture, so stripes were even more problematic there!  I had to stick with color transitions instead of actual patterns.

Norway's Day

On Norway's National Day, it is only fitting to have another member of the Narvik force join the fray.  This is from Gorgon Studios, which has an entire range of early war Nordic Campaign figures.

Painting these figures has been quite different from most of the other armies that I have done so far.  In some ways, these early war uniforms more closely resemble policemen, with the exception of the color.  Some of the illustrations at the time have more of a First World War appearance as well.

This army continues, to grow, along with the French Foreign Legion in the sheepskin and anorac.  More to come, so stay tuned!

And to all my Norwegian friends, best wishes!!!

Hoof and Horns

Next up is another Beastman from Mierce Miniatures.  This is yet another member of the massive winter theme army that crosses several miniature lines.

He is certainly one of the more unique Beastman figures that I have painted, mostly by virtue of the large horns/tusks on his back.  It was an interesting and unusual way to make him more distinct from the "grunts".

Just a few more regular figures from this unit to go before the group shots, so stay tuned...