Fun at the Flamingo!

There's one building remaining from the 'original' batch of structures comprising Wappelville.  This would be Miss Fannie's establishment, officially known as The Pink Flamingo.  Its also been referred to as "Miss Fannie's House of Horizontal Refreshment".

As you have seen many times, the wood texture is painted in first.  A few simple colors are used... some more red, others more green.  A variation in light and dark shades are essential also.

I apply the colors quickly to the surface, which allows me to mix these colors together on the wood itself.

Each wood surface on the various levels gets the same treatment.

In addition to the first layers of pink on the exterior walls.  I put some paint on the insides of the window frames and the corners.

Some of you might remember from the Funeral Parlor that filling in the corners this way will help hide any gaps that might otherwise emerge when the wallpaper is glued in place.

The pink on the exterior is done in a few layers.  My first layers are more transparent, and somewhat darker.  These will be covered gradually by a few lighter, more opaque layers.

The final layers of light color application bring out individual planks, which give the walls a little more shape.  When you have large walls on buildings such as this, having each panel of wood be the exact same color would be just as boring as making the interior wood floors one shade of brown!

A muted purple was used for the trim.  Eventually, more shading will be added to those elements.  For now, a mostly flat color will do.

The interiors are now ready for some decoration!!!

As I did with the Funeral Parlor, I did some Google searches of Pink Flamingo wallpapers and other images.  I also created a sign in Photoshop.

I completed the pages with some advertisements and Wanted posters..

The ads extolled the virtues of inflatable bodices, cigars and Stetson hats.

A little carpeting on the floor to give an added touch of 'class'.

Now for the wallpaper.  It can be challenging, since you have to get the cutouts just right.  First, I fit the overall piece without gluing it... then I trace the cutout areas.

With each wall that is covered, things really begin to take shape!

All the walls are now covered on the ground floor.  Time to take care of "upstairs".  Tune in for the next episode!!

Carpathian's Creation

The evil, twisted mind of Carpathian knows no bounds... his 'Creations' grow ever more hideous.

This blasphemous piece of work is called Creation 7, from Wild West Exodus.

He is a monstrous opponent, capable of getting additional action points, making him even more deadly.

Should he double those action points, his Swiss Army Knife bag of weapons will likely do a tremendous amount of damage!!!

The hooves return...

The final few Dragoons have been completed, starting with this guy.

Once again, continuing with the green and red Dragoon scheme.

A few more set of single figures, and then the final group shots are coming!

The March of the Thralls

Today we have some group shots of the second set of Thralls.

As usual, seeing these things as a group for the first time is always a revelation.

While I perpetually work in an assembly line fashion, these guys were not done in one massive set of ten or twenty.  Work circumstances dictated otherwise, so there were times where I would complete three at a time, or two, or occasionally just one.

This had a lot to do with what colors were on the palette at the moment, and what other figures I was working on.  For instance, if I was glazing and shading golds, I would be sure to use some of that on these guys.  The same went for black.

If I happened to be doing red glow on a bunch of other figures, that's when I would do the same with the Thralls.  

Keeping the line moving in any way possible is essential to maximum efficiency!

Crank up the music

The young inventor Thomas Edison is getting ready to rev up his version of an MP3 player, Wild West Exodus style!

I've had some personal experience with this sonic weapon of his, and it has not gone well for people on the wrong end of it!  It can do some crazy things to you.

When he's out on the table, he's a prime target for things like my robot doggies.

What lives in a pineapple under the sea?

For your entertainment, we explore marine life forms.  Giant life forms.

These two beasts are from Mierce Miniatures.  As I have mentioned before, both of these are mounted on bases that are slightly larger than a DVD.

The primary challenge of the crocodile was its sheer bulk.  Tentacle frenzy was the main hurdle to deal with on the Octopus.

I think this view gives you some idea of just how intertwined those tentacles were.

So there you have it.  The next time you go out for a swim, be sure to keep one eye on the lookout...

Meet me at the Altar

Here's a combination of Mechanicum figures.  These were some of the toughest ones to handle of the entire army.

While the vehicles and the walkers were more complex in terms of weight, size and pieces, these presented one conundrum after another in terms of painting.

These had combinations of dainty parts, and hard choices about how much to try to paint prior to final assembly.

Some also had bulky parts, which made them more unbalanced.

I learned a great deal of technical things while working on this project... the use of the hair dryer to manipulate warped pieces, for instance.

I learned that I could prime and paint a piece that needed to be bent, and hitting it with the hair dryer would not compromise the paint at all.  Thus, I could bend the painted sections as needed, and simply attach them later!

This concludes another review and group shot set!!!  More to come!