A little help for the Nation.

I finally have me own version of the Flowing River Mercenary from Wild West Exodus.

Her glowing blue weapons are a true indicator that she will be teaming up with Geronio and friends of the Warrior Nation.

It seemed very appropriate from a story standpoint, and she also fits with the direction I wanted that posse to go.

So, the Nation continues to grow!!  Stay tuned for more. :-)

Just a week away!!

OK folks!  Preparations for Reapercon have been in full swing.

Shaded Basecoat, Glazing and basing are on the menu again.  This means getting lots of figures ready for painting!

I did learn something very important about BONES minis.  A hair dryer works perfectly for straightening out any warped or bent parts!  In fact, the heat from the gun seems to bend them into the exact shape you want... truly amazing.

I did have a container of very cold water on hand, so that I could dip the figure right away and seal that shape.  Amazingly enough, they stayed right where I left them.

I wanted to make some very quick aquatic style bases for the fishies.  I began with some cork.

Laying down some mica flakes, I tried to create and impression of seaweed or some other organic material.

The mica flakes were applied with a flat sculpting tool, almost like plaster on a wall.

I let this settle for a bit, and got ready for the next step!

Oxide paste would give me a bit of sandy texture, and fill in all of the big gaps that remained from the 'broccoli bases' of the fishmen.

I mixed a decent amount of elmer's glue into the oxide paste so that I could drop some fine ballast onto it, providing one more kind of texture.

This piece is being done as an example for the basing class... I exchanged bark for cork...

These are the usual types of ballast that I employ.  Heavy, medium and light.

For the Fire Giantess, I went with black lava.  I needed to create a cooled lava effect very quickly, and fill some very large gaps from the sliced broccoli bases.

Once again, I mixed in some elmer's glue to hold the ballast.  It will stick by itself, but adding the glue creates a very strong bond.

You can see how easily it builds up, and holds its shape.  This is important, as I am pulling up bits of the 'piles'  to make that puffy lava.

It did not take terribly long to get well over a dozen large minis completely based with a nice texture.

All set for priming!!!!

Wielding Old Betsy...

Joining my own realm of Wild West Exodus minis is Thomas Tate Tobin.  While he can take down anyone with Old Betsy, the three influence he provides is probably going to be very helpful for the Lawmen.

Clearly he has some kind of connection to the Golden Army... it's quite a mystery!

What's clear is that his growing pile of trophy heads means that Wappelville is going to get even bloodier!!

Number six

All right, Thrall number six of the second squad.

I think there were three poses that had the mechanical leg...

Next up... a new mercenary for the Lawmen!

Where there's smoke there's fire...

Yes indeed!  The Smokehouse from Burn In Designs is complete!

I added those final details, such as the posters.

These are advertising the stagecoach and the South Side of Wappelville.

Those bloody hand prints on the doors are an ominous sign as to what awaits inside!

No building is complete without a Wanted poster.

And we must have some meat cutting diagrams to assist the local butcher... beef and pork!

The bloody mess, a consequence of all the slaughter on the streets of Wappelville.

A campaign poster in the corner...

And some Lawmen!  Judge Stern and Virgil Earp, along with deputies, courtesy of Wild West Exodus.

These images will show you how much space Lathan leaves you for your minis inside the interiors to make them as playable as possible.

The tables make the figures just tall enough to see out of the high windows.  Line of Sight is very important in Wild West Exodus, so it is nice to be able to get the riflemen to the correct height.

Nobody is getting at the steaks inside of this place today!

Now I can't wait to see the building in action!!  Stay tuned.

One last triple!

Final group shots of set three!

The shoulder mounted weapons were probably the most fun things to paint on these lads.

They were certainly somewhat different from the usual range of bolters and such! :-)

I have to say that it wasn't easy to get all nine of them in one screen, but the photos were taken, and will end up here at some point.

Much more on the way!

A bloody mess in the smokehouse

The final stages of the Smokehouse begin with more work on the glowing sign.  I try to use as 'warm' of a yellow as possible to mix in with the fluorescent orange, as opposed to the lemon yellow with more white in it.

This keeps the mix from becoming too pink.

You can see what a difference that makes right away.  The fluorescent paint gives it that extra boost.

I focused on the center of the letters for the most intense glow.

Now for the inside!  I thought it would be interesting if the smokehouse had been used as a field hospital a few times during all the fighting in Wappelville.

I grabbed a few Secret Weapon products... Realistic water from Secret Weapon, as well as some Drying Blood wash.

The idea is to mix the regular paints with the realistic water to give the blood colors a bit of transparency and some glossiness.

The lighter colors are done first... and they are the most translucent.  This is why I am also mixing in the Drying Blood wash.

Here's the initial placement, which I then smeared and stippled with my fingers.

Smearing, stippling and even splattering are done to give the impression that a number of limbs have been removed!!!

I even tried to make it look like there were some bloody footprints on the floor, as the doctors were very busy.  

The step stools look a lot more like tables now.

I also thought it would be fun to make some bloody hand prints on the doors!  The same technique of lighter to darker stains was used, while a brush streaked the stains down the panels while the paint was still wet.

The letters get even brighter with each layer.

It's just about finished!  A few more tidbits will be added, such as signs, posters, and so on, to complete the effect!