A base to stand on

Here are the two bases for the Brunhildes on horseback.  These were made with my usual carved sculpey technique.  This is also be the subject of a Kickstarter Video :-)

My first layer was a very simple brown, using that craft paint you have been watching me use in recent weeks.  I then took some of the GW 'dry' paints and started to mix those in, utilizing a bit of drybrushing...

More drybrushing, making sure to vary the hues from greens to reddish yellows.  I also marked out which of the tile pattern would be white.

Now for some actual color!  Continuing with the same Empire-esque color theme I have been using all along, I made some red accent tiles.

I did a little bit of lighter shading on the tiles... the red in particular.  I mixed in some vomit brown to do that.

My favorite part... doing the glazing and shading!  I put a few sepia tones, a black, and a concrete from Secret Weapon.

Using my beat up liner brushes, I carefully placed selective glazes on certain areas to darken them.  Don't be afraid to wipe away excess wash/glaze with your finger or a paper towel.  It can create a very nice random staining effect!

I didn't try to go for my darkest darks the first time around.  I did 2-4 layers of glazing where I needed things to be darkest.  You can see that I started to add a few cracks as well.

Now you can really see the cracks, as I did some subtle highlighting on them.

I will add static grass and other flock once the minis have been attached.  I hate it when the sculpey dust that I am drilling out for the pins gets caught in the static grass!!

Riding into town in style...

Here is the most recent offering from Raging Heroes.  The amazing Brunhilde on horseback!

This is one of the set ups for the figure, with the helmet and shield.  It all goes together very well for a nice hunk of metal. Everything is very solid, and it fits nicely on a standard cavalry base (a post later tonight on those bases!).

All of the details are finely rendered, which is the norm for Raging Heroes.  Obviously, a nice dynamic pose!

These will be among the figures used for the Painting NMM Videos... Gold, Bronze, Copper, etc.

Not to forget the other way you can have your Brunhilde, we have the banner bearer version.  Very nice!  The joint where the banner meets the figure is great to a long pin, which means that it will be very stable.  You can see I used one of the other head options, of which there are four, I believe.

So, I am going to have some serious fun painting these!  I already painted the foot version:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2013/03/brunhilde-joins-her-sisters.html

Now you know why I chose this for the gold NMM. :-)

Why does it have to be spiders?

Well, I have some very specific plans for these guys.  I am using the spider queen along with a group of these.  The idea is that she and her horde can hide out in terrain and ambush hapless infantry and cavalry, since they are not affected by terrain.

Cathy suggested that I paint a furry spider with markings, so here it is!

The spider queen can also make broodlings, which will fantastic for either blocking supporting troops, or adding those extra attacks.  It's also nice that these guys have the high strength and extra wound to stay alive.  Oh yeah... and poison!  The spider queen also counts as a monstrous mount.

To help keep them alive from all the expected shooting, the Shadow knows.  A little Shadow lord action to force them to roll 6's.  This is a small force, but when you count all the multi wound critters, you have the economy of scale.  What starts out as only 16 or 17 figures is magnified to over twice that size, if you include the broodlings!

Testing will begin at some stage...

Here is the Queen's crew so far!

These are some shots from the Wandering Dragon as I painted this spider...

Just about done!

A hot time at the Wandering Dragon Shoppe

It was quite the beehive of activity again at the Wandering Dragon.  Lots of stuff going on... the big D & D group, demo games by Chad, Malifaux, Magic and more.

In the midst of this maelstrom, I was painting more lava bases.  Here are a few pics from the evening, such as this early stage photo...

As you can see, I was also finishing off some more spiders!  The darker colors have been added to the lava areas...

And then some darker glazes and washes on the rocky parts.

I was time to test some lava OSL on the Legion of Everblight starter set that I got from Adepticon.  It's been a while since I did the major OSL, and that video is going to filmed soon... so time to practice!

I wanted to try out as many different surfaces as possible, so that is why I have been doing the spiders and the starter set.

Towards the ends of the evening, I put a few darker glazes on what I was working on...

The Big Guy has a way to go yet, but he has a good start!

I was able to get a whole batch of new weathering powders at the Dragon Shoppe, and I will be using those to do some effects on the Legion minis!  Stay tuned!

Now some images of the little guys!

This set of images has some pictures featuring a unit that will be getting a boost in numbers as time goes on.  That would be the basic Kabal warriors.  Lots of them!

Of course, Asharah will be getting a boost in the number of Incubi as well.  Another set of 5 will join this group...

I have a few more Grotesques that I will finish off to make the unit even larger.

I have many more wyches to add.  The larger squads will go on Raiders, so that the Kabal Warriors can boost the firepower of the Venoms even more.

My thought process for the Wyches did not work at all in the tournament.  With no cover to hide behind, the Venoms were almost always shot down on the first turn, leaving the most important troop choice floundering in the open, nowhere near an objective.

Here's a shot of the little mosaic...

And and even smaller mosaic design...

The shot of the Kabal Warriors, which were way more fun to paint than I expected!

I look forward to doing some more of these!!

Big Bad Orc from Raging Heroes

Here is something I have been working on for a little while, tweaking and adjusting.  This is the figure for the all important "Shaded Basecoat" video.  I have actually filmed it twice, since it is so important to include all the information I want on that instruction set.

I chose this guy (minus the boss pole on the back) because it has so many different types of surfaces.  Flat, round, clothes and skin, etc.  Also, the surfaces are somewhat broader, given its size.  That helps to demonstrate the principle of the shaded basecoat more easily.

I did not include the boss pole for time considerations.  There is a tiny window to do so, but I don't want to have to 'jump ahead' or anything of that sort.

I am also creating a sci-fi base that does not have any GW bits on it, just to stay safe.

This guy works very well with the filbert brushes, and shows up very nicely on camera. :-)  There is a Fantasy version of this figure that I have also used as a practice run.   

Many thanks to Raging Heroes!!!!  Their Kickstarter is imminent, and I have been working on the Kurgonova Sisters in my new army color scheme.  Once their countdown begins, I will start posting the images!

The view from within...

Now we need a few pictures from the inside of the Basilica Canus!

I had to put a few pieces of metal sheeting to make sure the raider would not fall off the board!

I tried to make sure I had chunks of destroyed vehicles that matched what I used for the base, which were also placed on the board...

The bikes racing around the bend!

Circus Maximus, indeed :-)

The Cronos resided on the upper level, along with a few of the Grotesques.

I think I could squeeze in a second Venom on this level!

I was very pleased that there was plenty of room for transport and passengers alike on the tops of the towers.