A Brand new Line: Creature Caster Paints!!

Just a few days ago, I was able to try out the brand new paint line from Slow Fuse Gaming and Creature Caster!  It has been a very long time since I tried out a new set of paints, so this was going to be interesting.

I grabbed a Mierce Miniatures monster, because I had recently painted one with my usual Reaper and Secret Weapon paints.  This way, I could see how well I could achieve a similar color scheme, and if I could execute the process in a similar manner.

I had the same yellowish/gray Stynlrez primer on the surface, and I set out to start doing my usual Shaded Basecoat/glazing steps.  As these have very heavily sculpted fur, I wanted to see if the paints could get down into those nooks and crannies... that does not always happen with other paints, unless I am using oils!

These bottles are also a bit different.  I have always hated the standard dropper bottles, as they perpetually clog, or the nozzle stays inside the cap and I end up with a giant spill of paint on my palette.  These work a bit more like elmer's glue containers.  You twist the top nozzle and squeeze the container.

They are a bit on the stiff side, so keep that in mind.  It does help prevent you from putting out too much on the palette though.

You can see the results were quite nice.  Great coverage, and everything dried very matte.  I was able to do a lot of glazing, but also work in more opaque layers.

At the moment, there are 36 colors, including 5 metallics. More are on the way as well!

As I mentioned before, this project has been in the works for many months, and every detail has been gone over many times.  I don't want to think about how many container supply websites that were visited.

New paints are not exactly a priority item on my list of things that I need, so these needed to make an impression on me from the start.  

I filmed a 1 hour live testing session for the patrons on my Patreon Page, so that they could see these in use for the very first time.  I was even taking the seals off the containers on camera, so that everyone knew I had not touched them before.

More things are being painted, including some Creature Caster figures as I put these paints through very intense testing.  They must be able to do all the things which my other paints can do very well right away... and so far it looks great!

Here's a link for you to the Patreon Page:

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Man The Wall!!

I am really excited about painting the Knight's Watch army for the Song of Ice and Fire miniatures game!  After making 2 winter armies for Bolt Action, I have plenty of possible techniques and materials at hand.

This example of the Scorpion Bolt thrower combines many of those materials and techniques to create the mud, melted snow, and even the icicles!

There are products from Secret Weapon Miniatures, Woodland Scenics, Mig Ammo, and more.  I really wanted to have that slushy snow/mud mix where the crew have been moving around, with the less trampled snow around the edges.  Finally, the icicles were just too much to resist!

I already have a few winter themed tutorial videos on my facebook page and the blog:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10212572308356784/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

These overhead views really show the Mig Ammo mud effects mixed with the Secret Weapon Crushed Glass method, and how they work together.  This is something I did quite a bit on my Winter Soviets... and now I will be bringing Winter to The Wall :-)

Most of the Knight's Watch painting tutorials will be for my patrons, both at the $5 entry level and much more at the $15 Army Painting level.  That is where I take you through the entire process of painting a unit, from initial basing to the finished painting (usually about 5 episodes and 10-12 hours of videos!).

The first unit I will tackle are the Ranger Hunters, but I will also be doing a video on the second Scorpion and crew!

Here is a link to the page... right now the final episode in the Lannister Halberds series is in production!  You can Wear the Black too!

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Launch Angle

While the challenge of matching the basing of the weapon teams to the display board was fun, it definitely presented a challenge.  For those of you who have seen the Monte Cassino display board, you know that the shattered arches were a big part of it.

However, they did present a great opportunity to do some dramatic basing!  All the little nooks and crannies allowed me to create additional story telling moments, with ammo cases and other items scattered about.

I used Apoxy Sculpt to make the sandbags, which I thought might make the position look that much stronger.  The arches and most of the broken marble/stone were created using baked Sculpey clay.  The advantage of the baked Sculpey is the ability to break and carve it after it has been baked.

I have a number of basing videos available to my patrons right now, including a series on working with the Sculpey clay!

More to come on the individual infantry, and how they were based, so stay tuned!

A link to the Patreon Page:

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Lannister Charge!

While I have enjoyed all the figures in the Song of Ice and Fire game, the cavalry units in particular really appeal to me .  I love cavalry forces, as you can probably tell by my Lord of the Rings armies!

The Lannister cavalry is particularly ornate, and I have some very fun plans for the painting on these.  Of course, it all starts with basing, and I went through the same process on this movement tray as I did with previous units.

Here's a peek at how the process works.  This is something that I include in every Army Painter video series, including the most recent Series 4 on the Lannister Halberds:

https://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/10/ground-attack.html

After a few rounds of Badger Stynlrez primer, they are all set for painting!!

I will be making some tutorial videos for the Lannister cavalry as well, since there's going to be a lot of dramatic freehand on the barding, blankets and cloaks.

Those will be available to the members of my Patreon Page, some for as little as a $5 pledge each month... along with all the other tutorial videos!  Check that out here:

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Up and at 'em!!

I have been waiting for a while to utilize my Rubicon Sdk 250 Alt transports, and the Monte Cassino army seemed to be a perfect time!

The idea was to have a force that seemed to be somewhat cobbled together and ad hoc, taking advantage of the bombardment of the monastery. 

This was painted entirely with brushes, as I didn't have the time to do the usual airbrush techniques.  It also had to be acrylics so that it would be dry in time!  That meant I put my Secret Weapon paints to good use.

Another reason I had such dramatic differences in transport types and camo patterns was to be able to tell one unit from another!  As you recall, there was no playtesting of this army whatsoever before the event.  I had no idea if I was even going to have units to match order dice the night before dice were gonna roll!

I tried to take advantage of the fact that by this stage of the war, may different uniforms were being warn, and this gave me a chance to secretly "color code" units.  The side benefits were that I had more fun painting that variety, and they looked more interesting.

I have done a number of painting videos on Bolt Action infantry and vehicles.  Here's an example of one of my Patreon videos, from the "Army Painter" series two.  In this set of 5 videos, I tackled every phase of basing and painting my Winter Soviets.  

Each video is about 2 to 2.5 hours long, and it really covers the process and planning involved:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsU7M9EIFnc

I will be making more Army Painter series, especially on my upcoming Desert Armies!  I have Italians, DAK, British 8th, Free French, and even Vichy.

Here's a link to the Patreon Page.  The Army Painter level is $15, and it will give you access to all previous series, along with other single episodes covering other effects:

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Girl Power

Up next from Victoria Miniatures are the Svargan Shock Soldats!

It was very interesting painting these so soon after painting my Winter Soviets for Bolt Action.  The equipment was similar enough to the actual units to really make me think twice about what I was doing.

These would certainly make an interesting Guard Army.  As always, there are lots of extra bits and options for heads, torsos, arms, weapons, etc.

There are 10 man squads available in male or female options.

The snow technique that I used this time around was a more basic application of Vallejo Snow Texture, sprinkled with Woodland Scenics snow flock before it dried.

Getting a bit of the snow on the figures themselves is very helpful in making them seem like part of the environment.  I know that just walking to the store 2 blocks away during a snowfall can leave my jacket and hat covered in snow/ice!

Here's a link to the website where you can find the Soldats:

https://victoriaminiatures.com/collections/regiments-of-the-galaxys-finest/products/svargan-shock-soldats-10-woman-squad

Steaks for Dinner

I suppose that working on all the Bolt Action artillery pieces have been the perfect training for creating some fun basing around the new Builder Scorpion crew sets for the Song of Ice and Fire miniatures game. :-)

Each box contains two of the bolt throwers, with full crew as you see here.

When I looked at the box art, I noticed the steaks that the Knight's watch had built in front of it.  That seemed to be a very fun way to create the proper setting for the basing.  

Using the same Oxide Paste, glue, sticks and gravel that I have on all of my artillery pieces, I built up a little terrain around the crew, which will get some additional textures after painting.

Sharpening the sticks with my wood carving tool gave the steaks that hand chopped pointed appearance...

I will put mud on the base and the figures, along with snow (and even some icicles!).

You can see a bit of the mud effects on this artillery crew:

https://wappellious.blogspot.com/2017/01/mud-and-guts_19.html

Once the mud is applied, then I can do the snow and ice effects.  I want to have parts of it be melted, or at least look trampled on by the crew.  Perhaps even some footprints!

After a quick spray of Badger Stynlrez primer, it's all ready for painting!  I will be creating a tutorial video on the basing that you see here for the Patreon Page.  There are more war machines coming for Song of Ice and Fire, and we want to be ready to make those look great!

Here's a link to the page:

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel