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...

It ain't easy being Green

This old classic was one of the first figures we tried 'hiding' the broccoli bases back in the day, around 2003.  Until then, we didn't know that you could do that, or saw it off that base and pin it to a new one.  It was quite the revelation so long ago.

I used this figure are part of the "Painting Orc and Goblin skin colors" video.  It was a great opportunity to show how to get a lot of variety in those greens, but also incorporating contrasting colors, like purples, etc.

I had a lot of fun making interesting bases for these... at some point I will have to see if I can scare up any pictures of those old trolls that we painted 12-13 years ago!

He's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/222509172492?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

Taking Shape

It's time to show off the first painted Shapeways tank!  This is the Panzer II, which was 3D printed by Mike Pennock, AKA Arctic Squirrel on Shapeways.  I had a lot of fun painting it, and it accepted primer, weathering powders, and oils very well...

Here's a link to the live painting broadcast:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10210083481257662/?type=2&theater

As I mentioned in the original "unboxing" post, these are no hassle figures, with no assembly required at all!  I washed it with soap and water, and that's it.  The primer (Badger Stynlrez) worked like a charm.

It was very interesting to work on these road wheel/track assemblies, since they are much more "open".  That is the advantage of the 3D printing.  Instead of a 'flat' set of wheels, these are more independent.

The scale of the tanks are all 1/56, which is Bolt Action scale.  Here is a post that show how well they match up scale wise with Warlord miniatures and vehicles:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2017/04/reshaping-future.html

The views from above show some of the Green Stuff World leaf punches at work, adding some additional textures to the upper hull surfaces.

On this vehicle, I used the weathering powders mixed with  rubbing alcohol along with the Mig AMMO OilBrusher paints.

Now for some size comparison shots.  The Panzer II matches up very well with the Resin/metal Panzer 38t from Warlord Games.

A few infantry miniatures as well to show you how easily they can all be integrated together.

This early war German force is really starting to come together, as I have since painted the tiny Panzer I!  The expanding range of early war vehicles and artillery pieces means that soon the Wehrmacht will be ready to storm across Europe...

Stay tuned for more links to live painting episodes on Facbook!

Not so fast, But quite furious

Another of the old style Lizardman Cold One Saurus riders for you today.  These were a crazy collection of plastic and metal parts, mostly making them very topheavy!

I tried to get some extra counterbalancing weight by making the sculpey/cork basing, and by the usual magnetization.

This was part of a unit that won my very first Golden Demon, way back in 2007.

Sword Fighter

Next up from the Masons Guild Ball team is one more special edition character.

She was a challenge to assemble, with the sword hands being in an unusual configuration, with a small circular piece of pewter that must have been intended to fit inside an indentation on the main figure.  This didn't fit at all, so I had to fudge that.

She was based like all the others on the marble style sculpey bases.

Dwarf Power

Here's another BONES miniature for you!  I especially had fun with the face.

The shield had a few little weathering touches as well, since the BONES material usually ends up with some fuzzy areas as compared to the usual metal.

I always liked the Werner Klocke approach to faces, since you ended up with broad surfaces and nice big eyes. :-)

She's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322511585543?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

Forest Ranger

This Stug kit is from Warlord Games, and a rare non early war vehicle for me!

Here's a link to the original kit on the Warlord site:

https://us-store.warlordgames.com/products/stug-iii-ausf-g-plastic-box-set

I used oils to paint this, as I have on most of the recent tanks.  

I have 3 different Stug kits, with a plan to make them for 3 different theatres... Normandy, North Africa and a winter version.

While the extra armor can be a little finnicky and fragile, it was definitely worth trying it out!

I really wanted to have the side skirts on this version, because I knew that experimenting with foliage was the plan!

Here's the plan in action.  I had a collection of leaves that I had punched from real leaves using the Green Stuff World leaf punches.  Those leaves were set on some realistic branch foliage from Woodland Scenics.

I even used a few tufts of the Hangar 18 leaf foliage.  That helped to provide a "transition" from the Woodland Scenics to the bigger leaves.

This was photographed on the green backdrop to see just how well it blends in... to see how successful my camo really was!  It's kinda scary to see that it really does!  Now you see me, now you don't!