Roll Out the Barrel

This rather interesting miniature is the February Raffle figure for the Patreon page.  Anyone who pledges support to the page is eligible for the 4th monthly raffle.  Here's a link to the page:

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

There's much more to the page than raffle figures of course.  I do at least 1 2.5 hour facebook live tutorial each week, and starting in March, more YouTube painting lessons will be available to those subscribing $5 or more.  Those pledging $10 will be able to see other special sessions, and more of the Painting Pyramid series as well.

Here's an example of the Dark Sword figure demos, and the kinds of miniatures that will be offered on these 'secondary' raffles:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10212119155668250/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

I will also be doing special Bolt Action battle reports that are only available to the patrons.  Two have been posted thus far to my YouTube channel.

In addition, I have been making some of the Painting Pyramid series available to the Patrons.  I will be sending private links to the Patrons on March 1st, which will be one of the 12 basing videos that I created as part of the series.  There were 53 videos in all covering a variety of subjects, so just about every interest or question should be covered!

I am also making new Painting Pyramid videos covering techniques that I have learned since that first batch was made.  Oil painting, new basing and terrain techniques are all planned!

To all who have already supported the page, you have my thanks, and the drawing of this Raffle figure will take place in a few days during the next live session, so stay tuned!

Drone Wars

Here's something brand new in the Gates of Antares universe... large combat skimmers for the Isorian faction!  These very interesting looking vehicles are new releases from Warlord Games.  This is the Mahran Vesh MV5 Combat Drone.

It is now in the webstore:

https://us-store.warlordgames.com/collections/isorian/products/isorian-mahran-vesh-mv5-combat-drone

 I have painted a fairly large Isorian force already, including a few step by step tutorial articles.  

Here's the first stage of the painting process:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2016/10/painting-isorians-phase-one.html

Now for stage two:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2016/10/painting-isorians-phase-two.html

These views from above give you a better sense of how that color placement would work out on a much larger an complex piece.  That is always a major challenge in every army... finding a color scheme that is unique, but also work on infantry and vehicles alike!

On both of these larger Isorian skimmers, it was necessary to alter the purples and oranges across the broader areas.  For instance, the purple can be tinted more blueish on some sections and more reddish in others.

I will be posting another blog post on the transport version of these skimmers, with more information on how to approach a "sci-fi"  army... utilizing much brighter and saturated colors than you might normally consider.

As with the rest of the army, Vallejo Fluorescent green was used for all the glowing areas.  While it is not glow in the dark paint, it has a great deal of transparency thus allowing light to pass through the color and back out again with great efficiency.

You have to mix these colors with 'regular' paints for the most part, they are that transparent!  I have dozens of articles on the blog, and many Facebook live videos that show how such things can be used.  Here's a link to one of them:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10210069480067641/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

Red Storm Coming!

While I have been working on a number of the vehicles for the Winter Soviets, this is the first color test figure that I created for the infantry.  I have already done an article on the basing of the foot troops, which I will include here.

I thought that doing some winter urban basing would not only be interesting, but work for a number of special battle reports.  You can see some thoughts on that urban basing here:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2017/12/urban-combat.html

I will try to do a few Facebook live sessions on the painting process, and even make a few more step by steps on the basing.  The first test of the urban winter bases were for the Americans.  There's a new winter American army under way, so plenty of opportunity to create more!

It was especially fun to see him with one of the completed T-35/85's.  Here's a link to the live session where that was painted:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10211859089046747/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

I am now working on more "permanent" videos for painting these historical armies, which would be edited and rendered to USB drives like my original Painting Pyramid video series.  These will be made available to my Patreon subscribers initially.  The more successful that is, the more I can make!  It is a lot of fun to do these, but a tremendous amount of work, especially in editing and rendering.

Any support is appreciated!

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Galaxy Quest

I really enjoyed the live session where experimentation with the Vallejo Metal Medium was tested on this Gates of Antares figure.  I had only had a chance to use it on a few occasions, so it was quite interesting to use that in front of an audience!

Here's a link:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10212185674011167/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

You have to think differently when you are using the medium, since the more of it is in your mixtures, the lighter your paint will be.  Here's the first step by step example of using the medium to affect "regular" paint:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/01/forged-in-fire.html

The Reaper Clear and Liner paints mix with this medium very well, since they are very pure and intense pigments.  They also went well with the Secret Weapon colors, as those are designed to be used transparently.

I am hoping to make a more "permanent" tutorial video on various methods for using this medium.  That will eventually be available to the Patreon subscribers at the $5 level.  The more folks who subscribe to the page, the more videos I can make!

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Adepticon Approaches!

Meet Ursula Chenkova, the new Limited Edition figure for Adepticon 2018!  This is from Victoria Miniatures, as you can tell by its distinct style.

Here's a link to the live session where she was painted:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10212286646895426/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

I decided to paint that in a classic red and white scheme, since it seems like a lot of folks have problems with both of those colors.  Their reds turn pink or chalky, and their whites either look too washed out or too dark.

Since I wanted to show everyone what the Shaded Basecoat and Glazing techniques are like, I started this one off with a basic layer or green Stynlrez primer.

See you at Adeption!  Fort Wappel shall rise!!

Well Armed

The classic Confrontation figures continue with this  "Ogre" sized version.  This was a fairly large infantry style figure for that time period, and like many other miniatures from that line, the approach to posing and sculpting was quite different.

In 2002/2003, larger figures tended to be bulkier, mostly hunched over or with a stance that was more spread out.  I remember when I first saw these, and how the use of the Fimo material for sculpting had changed how you could approach a larger figure.

It was fun to get the chance to paint one of these at last!

Thief of Hearts

I have said many times how much I love Dark Sword miniatures.  The level of detail and precision makes it a dream to paint.  By comparison, the figures almost "paint themselves", which make them ideal subjects for the live streams, such as this facebook live episode.

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10212119155668250/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

I used some Green Stuff World flower tufts on the base, which was a very nice compliment to all the purple tones on the figure itself.  I have many more of these Dark Sword figures prepped, hoping to show dozens of different techniques in both oil paints and 'regular' acrylic paints.

I will be doing special YouTube versions of the live painting sessions on many more Dark Sword figures.  These will be available for the Patreon supporters who pledge $5, and those pledging $10 can win these figures in secondary raffles, in addition to the usual monthly raffle.

I am hoping that the page does well enough that I can start to get more interesting large figures to paint in oils.  

As always, any support for the page helps a great deal!

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel