Bombs Away...

We really enjoy the Bombshell Babes line of figures... all the usual kinds of Patrick Keith sculpting goodness!

Each character is very distinct, and lots of different genres are covered.

Even though this is mostly earth tones, it is still possible to get contrast by staging warm and cool colors very close together.  In this case, the burnt sienna hair color plays off the green of the cloak, and even the blue woad on the face.

This is why I try not to use the term "limited palette" or anything like it, since you are not really restricted in the amount of options and choices that you have,  Even muted colors can still provide contrast and interest.

Blasting away!

Counterblast strikes again with another member of the Nieran faction.  This is a very fun set of miniatures from Bombshell Babes.

This was started with oils, as the previous Counterblast figure.  I did about 40% of the figure with oils, using them as a Shaded Basecoat.  Long after that was dry, I went back in with my usual acrylic paints, adding details and so on.

These were some of the first figures that I used oils to paint.  Now I tend to do far more of the figure with oil paints, well over 85%.  In fact, even more that that!

She's also here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/322938353660?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Having a Blast

This very fun miniature from the Counterblast miniatures game was painted in both oil paints and regular acrylic paints.  As you have seen me do more and more these days, I did a majority of the blocking in of color and blending with the oil paints, and then used the acrylic paints to finish the details.

There are a few reasons for this procedure... it allows me to work on far more figures at the same time, particularly in the Shaded Basecoat phase.  This means that I can not only block in lights and darks on many more figures, but the extended drying times means that I can do far more blending than I would normally be able to do with faster drying acrylics.

While I am doing more and more of the figure with oils, I do like the option of using the acrylic paints to finish them off once the oils have dried.  There has been no issue with the paint not sticking, and in any case I will be brushing on my dullcoate sealer afterwards.

This was an early attempt back in March... those of you who have seen the most recent posts and Facebook live sessions know that I have found out methods to do even more of the figure with oils.  These Counterblast figures by Bombshell were about 40% oils.  Now I am getting into the 80-85% range!!

Her sisters are also here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/322929133961?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

I will try to paint one of these on a facebook live session at some point, to show you how to use the oils as a starting point, and then completing a figure with "standard" acrylic paints.  This is why the Patreon Page was started, so that I could have more time for the facebook live broadcasts.

https://www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Dead Eye Jane

This is the second Bombshell sculpt by Patrick Keith that was done as an Adepticon special release.

I will be using it in a special class for the Geek Nation Tours at Adepticon next year.

As usual, the idea is to show the Shaded Basecoat technique, and the glazing techniques too.  This will help to 'free up' your painting, not worrying about endless layers of progressively lighter paint or very specific 'color formulas'.  The concept is to simplify your palette down to 5-7 colors, so that you don't have to perpetually hunt down just the right color for a highlight or mid tone.

You can get a nice view of that in this blog post.  Of course, if you want to see these techniques for yourself, I have them available through my Painting Pyramid video series, which is available on USB drives!  Each episode is 100 minutes long, and it takes you from primer to painted miniature.

There are 53 different episodes to choose from, with basing, color theory, skin tones, metals, and even terrain videos!

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/p/using-shaded-basecoat-technique-to.html

The Big Guns

This is one of two special sculpts by Patrick Keith for the folks of Geek Nation Tours.

I will be showing the people who are part of the Adepticon tour package a special demo on painting this with my Shaded Basecoat and glazing methods.

The general idea is to give you some flavor in how those techniques work, and how it makes your life a lot easier when it comes to getting lots of figures painted to a high degree at once.

Be sure to check out more of Patrick's amazing work on the Bombshell Miniatures website!!

More details on the Adepticon class to come, so stay tuned...

Ice Caster

This wonderful mini from Bombshell Miniatures was so much fun to paint, and it certainly had a strong central theme to follow! :-)

To reflect the Celtic knotwork from the base, I put a quick little design on the cloak, which I also thought would tie into the ice theme.

I used a little bit of the Secret Weapon crushed glass method on the base, which was made with one of the Green Stuff World texture rollers.  Subtle variations in the blues were needed to get separation on the various surfaces.

Some areas had more reddish blues, others tinted more towards teal.  I also tried to balance more grayed down blues with those that were more pure and saturated.

She's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322479887960?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

Victory Garden

No army can lose when it has one of the Bombshell Babes in charge ! 

This miniature is being used as an artillery observer  in the BEF for our France 1940 campaigns . 

She won't be signing any armistice deals... she demands unconditional surrender ! 

The red flower tufts are from Hangar 18... it seemed appropriate

Be sure to check out Patrick Keith's fantastic line of miniatures, including the Bombshell Babes and Counterblast!

Hot Coals

While there have been a few additions to the Bombshell Babes line since this lady was released, it's still a favorite!  I thought that putting some lava effects could take advantage of the drama of the pose.

Like all the Bombshell Babes, there is plenty of character, but there are enough blank canvas style spaces to allow the painter to do whatever effects or color scheme they want.  There are times where figures are so heavily weighed down by built in freehand designs, it can lock you into one theme.

Not so here, where I had plenty of areas to do freehand if I wanted, or do various markings on the skin.  Since I was going to have the dramatic lighting of the lava, I thought it best to keep things more simple on the figure itself.

This was also an exercise to illustrate that it is possible to reflect light on a surface that is also very light!  To make this work, shadow areas must be carefully placed to create the contrast needed to make a glowing effect.

Color temperature and saturation are other methods of establishing contrast.  That is, the lava colors are extremely pure and bright, and very warm.  The colors on the figure are more muted, and generally 'cooler'.

I enjoy painting lava effects so much, it just had to be part of the video series!  It's one of the 53 different subject matters I will have with me at Reapercon, so come and get 'em!!

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2012/11/hot-stuff-lava-tast-for-raging-heroes.html

Here's a link to one of several posts about the glowing effect videos.  This one shows the process of the "You Might Even Say it Glows" video, showing how to make glowing fire elementals, etc.:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-healthy-glow.html

Dancing is Da Bomb!

Today we have one of the new Bombshell Babes for you, part of the recent kickstarter campaign.

Kev White always does a wonderful sculpting job, with a great balance of detail and "open canvas", where the painter actually gets to decide on some details too!

There is a definite trend these days towards figures which are crammed with all kinds of doo-dads and other things that will lock in a painter to a certain theme or colors.

I really enjoy these kind of one piece, easy to work with sculpts.  I can focus more on what I'd like to do, and less on dealing with 1,000 belt buckles.  You know what I mean... ;-)

She's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/222216780652?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

Blades and Babes

From Bomshell Miniatures, we have Nowada.

It was great to get a chance to use another one of the mulch bases!!

Shes's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/221929339113?

One Hot Bombshell!

Another Bombshell Babe for you today!  This is Delzira, Demon Princess.

As soon as I saw the figure, I just had to put that on one of my lava bases!  Yes, I could not resist. :-)

The pose itself was also just right, as the arms were extended, and the metal staff would reflect colors nicely.

I have been getting a lot of questions and queries about how I have been doing OSL, snow bases, lava and such, so I will be including a few links to samples of my painting videos, which you can get directly from me or from Kings Hobbies and Games (on a USB drive).

Here's a sample of the Object Source lighting video!

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

And a link to KH &B:

http://www.kingshobbiesandgames.com/James-Wappel-s-Object-Source-Lighting-p/jwpp4.htm

She's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/221906374445?