Red Dawn

This is another interesting case of rapidly changing color palettes.  Not by choice... I had to use an entirely different set of colors to create the same effects because I didn't have the usual colors at hand.

I fact, I think I have used at least 4 very different combinations on all of these Red Box Games figures, including for the snow, bases, etc.

The approaches have also been radically different.  Initially, I was mixing Reaper liner paints with Vallejo pale grey wash.  Situations changed, and I ended up mixing a seafoam green with combinations of Reaper brown and blue liner.

That changed again, and I used a sky blue in combination with midnight blue and an ivory color.

Since the heart of all these different combinations if founded in the Shaded Basecoat, I can keep all these massively different approaches to the same series of figures looking the same.

After all, the Shaded Basecoat technique was originally created to paint my armies!

Fire Control

We return to the realm of the tiniest of tiny things!  Here's another 75mm artillery piece with its crew.

All of the various gun stands were treated with 3 basic methods of basing... rubble, dug in, and on hills.  This piece has the roundel, and I thought it was more appropriate to have this one on a prominence of some sort.

The 75mm guns were the most challenging to base, since I had to worry about the limber as well as the crew!

That's another reason why I went with this kind of basing technique, as it made it easier to squeeze all of those elements together.

This shot gives you a sense of just how tiny this all is!!

I can't wait to get the last few stands of this battery completed, along with the command and observer stands.  That should be quite a fun grouping!  Stay tuned...

A true vision for the future

Yes folks... at long last, the future is finally HERE!!!

After much testing, searching, testing, etc., I have the camera which should let me do those Google Hangout classes!  It seemed like none of the cameras I had could work in the way that was necessary, and that has been very frustrating.

In yet another search for something that could work, I discovered this.  I believe it is an older camera, but the flexible neck reminded me of the portable LED lights that I love so much, and use all the time.

This image shows the real key, and that is the focus mechanism, built right into the lens.

By turning it, I can focus on a tiny miniature just inches away.  The other cameras I have tried had a big problem with that.  The flexible neck meant that I could put it in any position needed.

In just seconds, I was doing this!

We were shocked at the clarity, and the way it stayed with the focus, even when I moved it around.  The angle was perfect, because I could continue to use my magnifier light as normal... just like I was painting!

This means that it's not only possible to do the Hangout Classes, but host the occasional "Hobby night", where I paint something from a specific range, or create bases, terrain, etc., and people can sit in and watch, chat, etc as I work.  "Wappellious TV" is here!!

I purposely tried out the smallest figure that I could find to see how it would look.  Again, I was truly amazed.  I'm hoping to do some initial hangouts next week to learn how things look for people on the other end of the line.

We are also researching Patreon, which will probably be the method we use to deal with some of the hangout classes.  More news on that will come once we have a better handle on it.

I do believe that the setup exists to do one on one classes and small group seminars now, which would make things a bit easier!  This is potentially a great tool for live appearances as well, such as Marcon coming up in May.

I should be able to hook this thing up to a larger screen by HDMI, bluetooth, or some mechanism, thereby making it much easier for a room full of people to see what I'm doing!

That was always a difficult, if not impossible, task in my live classes.

My apologies for how long this search took, but I guess all those false leads and failed tests will yield something much better in the end!

Giving you the bird

For now I'm labeling this guy a Mystery Mini, because I am not quite sure who that manufacturer was.  My guess was GW... and I used him as Radaghast the Brown in my Lord of the Rings games.

The base was sculpted as part of a series for a miniature company, mostly using Apoxy sculpt.

This was a very different color palette for me, as browns are never my first choice.  Heck, they are rarely my second, third or fourth.  It's not that I don't enjoy that range of colors... it just does not often occur to me to use them!

I may have to do a video about browns in the same way I did reds, greens, blues, grays, etc.  It's possible to get a massively different array of warmer and cooler browns, more intense and more muted shades too.

There are many reasons why I have chosen to paint new genres of figures like Flames of War, Wild West Exodus and Bolt Action.  I play all of those games, but they have also forced me to look at entirely new palette choices.

This has exponentially expanded my overall color palette, moving towards greens, browns, tans, and more weathered looks.

I have discussed many times (including some recent articles) on how these various systems have added all new basing and terrain techniques... in seeing pieces such as this, and discussions with other painters, that I step back and see what a major impact that's all having.

For a number of years, I had to paint more brightly colored 40k figures, and other sci-fi style minis.  These tended to continue the relatively bright palette of blues, golds, reds and purples.

There was not much call for the more natural tones, even in the Fantasy armies that I painted, for the Lizards were even more brightly colored!

I do suggest every chance I get to branch out into such new areas where possible, because in any event, your palette will grow.  And who knows, you just might find some new games that you like too!

Stand at your guns

Here's a little peek at what some of the finished bases looked like before primer painting!

First, the command groups.  I don't know if I will go with more than 2 in a group from now on, or if I will use these as a way to get a few more LMG teams into the mix.  That 'small squad' rule and the fact that just two command figs could potentially ride along in a transport with a squad has its appeal also!

The +4 leadership for the Major proved to be a major way to save pinned squads.  Those were veteran squads too, so all the more benefit for babysitting those free inexperienced squads.

Here's the 75mm light gun.  It seems quite 'heavy' compared to the FoW version, but it was certainly fun to base!  I think the companion gun will have to be set into a ruined building.

I'm looking forward to scratch building the 105 and 155mm guns!  I bought some of the crew figures already in anticipation.

Command groups surrounding their artillery piece!

Stay tuned for much more, including some articles on the scratch building of those heavier guns!  I think they will be a combination of sculpey and plasticard.

On the Razor's edge: Basing your Bolt Action minis

With each new genre of type of miniatures I experiment with, new techniques (or at least adjustments and modifications to existing ones) becomes commonplace.

I have used a mix of bark and branch techniques on the Bolt Action figures, with the unusual footprint of the various poses playing a huge role in influencing what I attempt.

Cork has been used more on these than most recent basing.

I was doing a massive basing run on many dozens of miniatures last week.  As you can imagine, this is a very messy process!  Better to create one huge mess than constantly cleaning up again and again.  This is the usual spread of supplies.

Bark, gravel, cork, sand, various glues, and so on.

This radio operator had to fit on one of these unusual oval bases.  It's probably smaller than a typical cavalry base.  The cork is bulletin board variety.

I arranged some pieces in advance to see what might be possible.  This was at the very end of a massive 14 hour session, so I was not about to dig out more materials for this one!

I didn't even want to break out the Oxide Paste.  So, it was going to be a test of what could be done with regular glue and super glue.

A few applications of sand and gravel not only filled gaps, but leveled off the heavier texture of that cork.

I didn't want to have to use the razor saw to chop off one more sprue/base, but the jeweler's block was handy, so away went that extra base!

That made him much easier to place on the left side.

These are tea leaves that we saved, since crushing them up proved to be a very nice ground cover material.  Unlike oregano and other spices, these blueberry tea leaves were easy to break up and scatter.

You can see some of these scattered over the sand and cork.  A little pinch of sand was added over the top, making it look more like real ground cover as opposed to lightly minced oregano leaves! :-)

It's just way to easy to recognize that gambit these days!

Stay tuned for much more!

Golden Archers

Time for more Golden Boys!  This one was painted in the same manner as the other Galadhrim Cavalry figure.  As before, glazing and tinting after the Shaded Basecoat was the key.

This meant mixing glaze colors such as Secret Weapon Sunshine glaze with purple, and even the Vallejo fluorescent paints!

Let's not forget the 'reflections'.  These cooler areas of the metals were tinted with a mix of yellow glaze color with a grey or green.  Surprisingly, there are many hints of green to be found in gold colors.  Just a bit though... for effect.  Too much, and it might appear more like brass!

Just like the last figure, the colors of the cloak and the horse both influenced my shading and provided that all important contrast.  These views really show the hints of red on the armor plates!

Here's some views of the figure I used for the how to paint gold NMM video, and a few scenes:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2013/08/raging-brunhilde.html

The Painting Golds video is available directly from me, and from Kings Hobbies and Games:

http://www.kingshobbiesandgames.com/James-Wappel-s-Gold-Non-Metal-Metalics-p/jwppgold.htm

Here's an example of what the videos are like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_8Yo1Jt9Xc