Big time basing

So, with the two massive bases constructed and primed, it's time to get some paint on them!

Let's begin with the shaded basecoat phase.  I have a few nicely worn #8 round craft brushes, and a filbert brush.

I have a variety of colors available.  Some grays, light greens and an ochre color.

I started out with a bit of the ochre mixed in with a dark gray.  Just like the previous base designs I have been making, this will have a greenish gray rock surface.

And thus we have green and gray together at last!  The filbert brush allows me to apply this color lightly over a broad area very quickly.  The rounded edges of the brush mean the strokes can be feathered as the are applied.

More of the seafoam green is added to the mix.  Next to the warmer background tans, it appears quite cool.

As the layers get progressively lighter, you will notice that I am trying to create a center of interest, or focus, by making one area lighter than the rest.  It's almost like a spotlight.

When I shade other areas darker in the glazing stage, this effect will be even more pronounced.

Lighter shades of tan give some depth to the value pattern, or division of dark and light colors on the surface.  In another sense, it will make the dirt look more like... dirt.

The little extras are also lightened, such as the skulls and skeleton!

The final applications of light colors in the grays means that the shaded basecoat is nearing completion.  That feathering of brush strokes that I mentioned earlier is very crucial... as a light touch will keep my darker shades preserved.

I also added the lighter tans to the tree branches.  The whole concept behind the shaded basecoat technique is to create a generic set of lighter colors which I can tint and shade with later glazes.

I can keep color mixtures simple this way.

Some lighter shades are applied to the ruined Fire Bringer as well...

Coming up next... the usual suspects!  Stay tuned.

A commanding presence... Victoria Miniatures

Here's a command squad made from a variety of Victoria Miniatures.  As I mentioned in the previous posts, they are designed to be interchangeable from one type of squad to the next.

I believe I have a few blog posts showing how these were created in the Road to Adepticon 2014 series of articles.

Now let's set the scene, using that Secret Weapon ruined tank set.

It's so much fun to see these shots now!  I didn't have all of these items at the time the squad was first created...

This was definitely my favorite unit of the entire army that I made for the 2014 Adepticon tournament.

Let's go man the gates!

Here we go.  I had a lot of fun creating this set of fortress walls and bunkers.  It was part of my display board, but it was also my Aegis defense line!

There are lots of blog articles on this, and even a video that was part of the Painting Pyramid video series!

It was all made from foam and cereal boxes, with a little plasticard here and there.

The walls can be moved into any number of configurations, which made them fantastic for gaming!

There are long wall sections, shorts sections and angled pieces, as well as a second gate.

The Flak gun was also made from a variety of kits... even pink foam!

Standing guard... until Adeptricon 2015!

Concept to cast... Miniature 13 begins

Here's something fun for you.  It's a new company diving into the sci-fi realm with some interesting miniatures!  They might be finding their way to this house of madness soon. :-)

It has been many years since I have painted any sci-fi minis which were not GW, so this seemed like it would be a lot of fun for me!  These might be just the figures for some of the Alien Temple Secret Weapon bases!

I liked these shots, which showed the concept art, the render, and the cast.

As we all know, a lot can happen during these three processes.  In particular, from render to cast, as you better get yourself a very good initial master print :-)

These are the two early characters.  They have glowing stuff... me happy :-)

Elegant posing here means that I have a chance to create some very interesting bases.

Hit tech and grim dark.  Yes.

And now for the size comparison...

This exclusive should be fun as well!!!!!

The link:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1590314354/miniature13-creating-miniature-realities

The strange gets stranger...

Here we have one of the Myrmidons from the Mechanicum army.

These very unusual minis are not the easiest to assemble, as the arms come in multiple pieces, and only fit in one way.

The problem is, there's no directions, and the pictures are tiny of the ones they had painted!

Vintage Forgeworld, but it does look interesting!  I think this one is my favorite so far...

Mixing it up

Those who have watched me paint in person, checked out the blog, or watched on the videos knows how much I love to make semi-transparent middle tone colors.

These are, in effect, my "airbrush", the layer that does massive amounts of blending and smoothing.

The shaded basecoat and even glazing phases are more brutish than the typical approach to mini painting.  Mixing lighter standard paints like those on the left with one (or lots!) of Mr. Justin's Secret Weapon Washes create these semi- opaque colors.

Since they have that transparent nature, they are excellent for lightening subtle midtone areas, like those on this horse.

It's something that I have been doing on all the horses, the riders, and so on.

This works on everything from faces on standard 28 mm figures, all the way up to vehicles and large creatures.

I used this technique on the Sand Buggy that was posted earlier, especially on the wheels and the metal surfaces.

At some point, I have to get the giant version of this green Hangar 18 backdrop!!

The road to Adepticon 2015 begins HERE!

The baddest buggy in town in the special release Mercenary Sand Buggy from Wild West Exodus!!

It's available at Adepticon 2015.  You can purchase this light support vehicle after registering for Adepticon.  Check it out here:

http://www.cvent.com/events/adepticon-2015/event-summary-ec700157f5894ca891500186aec58ca9.aspx

By the time Adepticon "rolls around" so to speak, the Second Wild West Exodus kickstarter will be in its final week.  Four all new factions are being added.  Dark Nation, The Watchers, The Confederates and The Golden Army will join the other factions for control of the continent... and the world!

I will be doing some size comparison shots in a second post later tonight!  Stay tuned!!!

There is also a charity raffle for a Wild West Exodus starter box!!

http://www.adepticon.org/?p=9503

Face of the Dragon

More like Dragon Knight.  This was a dismounted character figure that I painted for the Easterling army back in the day.

In fact, I am pretty sure it was originally a war priest, but I added a shield so that it would be a Dragon Knight leader.  I kept the Eye of Sauronand dragon motif on the cloak...

I guess if I want to get in any games of LOTR at Adepticon, I am going to have to get back in touch with the game!  Yikes!  It's been WAAAAAAAAAAAYYY too long.