What do you do with those resin sprues?

I know that a lot of people already do this, but over the last few years I have had a lot of fun (and satisfaction) using leftover resin sprues for basing!

They come in all shapes and sizes, and since almost everything I have to work on these days is resin, why not get some use out of all that?  I think these sprues are from 4-5 different manufacturers...

While you can do something very similar with sculpey, the resin pieces are super strong.  I used them to support some Reaver jetbikes in my Dark Eldar army, as well as on some of my 40k terrain.

It does not take a lot of extra work to get the sprues in a condition for basing.  I included some of this in the 'Blasted Concrete' video, since I am sure a lot of you have (or had) this stuff sitting around.

Once it's all painted up, it looks quite nifty!!

Never a can of RAID when you need one...

A while back I finished off the base for the Spider Queen, and the 3 brood swarms as well.  As you know, I used the Reaper Bones plastics for those swarms.

They were just the trick, fitting reasonably well on the required 40mm bases.

It will be very fun to pop these guys up in some much needed areas.  Perhaps to keep a standard bearer occupied of out of position, or prevent a response or counterattack once I have charged.

It could also be a handy way to get at spearmen and negate that support.

Working with the Shadow Lord on the Fell Beast, I should be able to protect these guys pretty well from shooting, at least enough to deliver them to the point of attack.  Besides, with the ability to move through terrain unimpeded, the giant spiders will be able to pop out of forests or other safe zones.

It would be hilarious to see the queen and her broods wipe out some archers lodged in a structure... all thinking they are nice and safe :-)

I will shoot some images of all the spiders together... right now there are half a dozen giant spiders in addition to these guys!

The forest for the trees

Here was something that I would work on to practice some of the glazing, and test out the new washes from Secret Weapon.  He is an Ultraforge miniature, cast in resin, on a 50mm base.

Ultraforge make a lot of large creatures and demons... you can see them here:

http://www.ultraforgeminiatures.com/?page_id=74

I have already done a WIP post on this guy, which showed some of that glazing and tinting process.  Not only did I test out some of the more 'traditional' washes from Secret Weapon, I also broke out a few of the very bright washes, such as the Fallout wash.

I mixed a lot of those washes in with my opaque paints when I went back in to the middle tones.  That is something that I am trying to bring up as often as possible... not just in the specific glazing video.

Some of the benefits of using the wash to mix with your paints is that the color becomes tinted to what shadow colors are already there.  I am essentially creating colored water to mix with my paint, instead of regular water.

I also mix glaze medium with my colors, but that tends to be used more to keep a paint color active instead of tinting it, since glaze medium extends the drying time of your paint..

Working with bikes...

I don't know how helpful this might be, but here are a few things that I learned working with those new Forgeworld bikes.

Since they don't come with any real instructions, that always complicates things a bit.  In addition, I had never assembled regular bike kits before, and was doing that a little in the dark.  While we were away, I worked on prepping these.  First I had washed all the resin parts and scraped off mould lines, etc.

It took me a while to figure out just which parts belonged where... but even more importantly, which ones should you glue first!  Over the years, there has been more than one occasion where I glue something that should have waited a step or two.

Plus, there are also times where you attach something that would have been far easier to paint and then assemble later.  Lessons such as these are usually learned the hard way.

I learned that the FW front wheels of the bikes are a little harder to get into place.  I almost had to let them move around once the 2 halves of the bike were glued together.

Once they were glued in place, I set the bike upright, and let the front wheel work its way into position.  The glue is allowed to set as I move onto the next one.

Once those have set. I put the rest of the FW pieces on to the bike.  Those two pieces you see under the bike were a bit of a mystery at first.  They are two different sizes, as the end of the forks on the right and left sides are also different sizes.

After those are in place, I had to attach the front mounted bolters.  Fortunately, there was not much distortion in these pieces.  I was very relieved!!

As all those pieces set, I put the legs in place without gluing.  There is no way to get at everything I need to on the bike with the rider in the way!

This let me get the torso and other upper body pieces attached, using the glue/green stuff/glue method.  The handlebars make positioning weapon arms more difficult than I anticipated.

The legs have to be pulled a bit closer to the handlebars to make the arms reach, which might be part of the slight shrinkage that can happen when casting resin parts...

Be sure to leave plenty of room for the power pack when positioning that rear panel!  Again, another hard lesson learned.  I had only done 2 of the bikes at that time, and I was able to move the pieces.

So, from this mass of various grey parts, a squad of White Scar bikes shall emerge!  I know this was not the fanciest post, but I hope that it might save someone a bit of annoyance when they take on these bikes.

Getting lost in the jungle

Here was the other camouflage figure!  Once again, a Viridian from Urban Mammoth

These snipers were just the trick for something trying to hide out in the jungle.  The cloak was also a nice variation from the desert marine.

Just as with the desert camo figure, the 'other' colors, such as the rifle, were mixed with the "resident" greens that surrounded it, making it blend in even more.

And now for the contrast between the two figures.  The settings make such a huge difference!!!

Now you see me, now you don't...

Hopefully these finished images of the figure with its base demonstrates the principles of  camouflage as I see it.  That is, integrating it with the surrounding base.

Spending a lot of effort to paint camo patterns that are not complimented by the base is not terrible fun, as I see it.

To envelop the miniature in a base that is themed to match is not only fun, but very satisfying.

In addition, I tried to make the colors of the "non camo" surfaces match the environment by including some of those colors.  For instance, the grey of the gun was lightened with colors that I had used to highlight the base.  The same went for the boots and pouches.

I have also done a jungle camo figure, which I will show tomorrow!  Stay tuned.

Hiding in plain sight... part one.

Now that the first part of the camouflage set is complete, I wanted to post a few WIP images of the base.  The miniatures are what is being shown on film, but the bases relate to them in a critical way.  That's why I have been showing the steps I used to create them here.

This is the basic shaded basecoat technique to prepare the bases for glazing and shading.  Nothing fancy, just some light tans... some more yellow, others a bit more greyish.

Using Secret Weapon Dark sepia, concrete soft body black and armor wash, I darkened my shadow areas and made more interesting color patterns.

Once everything was considered to be at the level I wanted, I did some work in the middle tones, bringing in more cooler colors... essentially tan mixed with some light seafoam green.

Here are some shots of the painted mini before he was attached to the base.

The finished product will go up tonight!!  Stay tuned...

Trunko and Jeero had a new buddy to share their ride with on the great journey up north...