Saturday, September 5, 2015

The Blue Mile


More blue marble bases, which means there must be more Holy Order of Man figures on the way!!


This base is meant for a second Tumbler.


The two small bases are for additional Spica hired hands, while the medium sized base is for Mimreg Zain.


I am very glad that I chose to position broken pieces of columns and statues on the bases.  It gives them a slightly different feel than previous armies I have based in this manner.


There are only a few figures left to go before I can shoot some very grand army photos!

Stay tuned.


The tufts of many colors


Here's something new from Kings Hobbies and Games.  Tufts!!!  Tufts in all colors, for all seasons.

Here's a link:



I really love the color variety, since the number of genres I work in has expanded exponentially.

I have a number of jungle theme projects under way which will greatly benefit from the green sets.


This view gives you a sense of the height of the tufts.  There is a bit of difference from one tuft to the next, which is good.  Some are also more fluffy than others. 

With this many colors to choose from, I can now mix and match and blend tufts and foliage from other companies as well, which is not always easy for me to do right now.


Also, the size and shape of these tufts will come in very handy for the future Flames of War projects!!


I am very eager to use the front two colors in this image.  They should see action right away on a number of Wild West Exodus figures :-)


Finally, we have the winter tufts.  I will be using this in combination with the Army Painter winter tufts, and Secret Weapons crushed glass snow.  You have seen this kin d of experiment before on a small scale, but soon it will be tested on ever increasing scales!!

Stay tuned...


Friday, September 4, 2015

Up In Smoke


When we last left our heroes. they were struggling against the River Gals, who mysteriously knew in advance that the Holy Order of Man would be in town.

Since surprise is a staple tactic of the Order, they would be at a major disadvantage in this fight.  Old Man Abner (aka Crazy Louie to the townsfolk), had instructed his team to advance as rapidly as possible to the buildings across the Main Street.  

As they did so, The Enemy revealed itself, and his unnatural influence over the River Gals began to take hold.

One of the K-9 beasts was detonated by Billie, injuring a number of Spica, who had joined in on the combat.


A 'gathering' of Spica (that is, more than one in the same place at the same time) was ordered to move to the Jail, as that would offer a much better option to fortify than the wooden Final Slumber Funeral Parlor.

Altcap Oron managed to immobilize the Flame Truck, preventing its use as a building emptying threat.  However, it now served as a handy forward bunker for the characters inside!

At this point, Roberta Younger jumped out of the vehicle and set herself upon one of the running Spica.  Despite his grueling training process, he was little match for her blades.

She appeared to have supernatural speed.  Some citizens in the town swear that they could see the robed figure put an evil grin on his otherwise sinister face as this happened.


Disaster would strike in front of Miss Fannie's establishment, as the K-9's had prevented the Spica from entering the building, and avoiding long range fire.

Missy Copelie dropped a devastating fire template right into their midst, killing two of them!!


With most of the Spica already dead, all that remained were the Heroes of the Order.  Ignoring the fire burning his robes (a poor fashion choice in this particular fight), Altcap Siraj was left with no other choice than to charge the badly injured Flowing River.


Once again, each of his strikes had no effect whatsoever.  The Enemy was indeed at work here!!

If he could take down the injured member of the Wayward Eight gang, he might be able to finish of Missy as well, ending that long range threat to the other survivors.


The bodies of dead Spica now lined the streets.  It would be essential that their ritual blades and other arcane relic weapons should not fall into enemy hands...


It was at this darkest of moments that the citizens of Wappelville saw who they still swear was Crazy Louie kill Roberta with his Luminant Staff and march toward Billie in a final showdown.  

Crazy Louie was certainly better dressed than the townsfolk had grown accustomed to.


The Spear of Light had managed to extract itself from the deadly combat with the other K-9, but the rider knew that death was close at hand.  As a final act for the Order, he targeted Missy, nearly killing her.

Yet again, some strange force kept her alive!  Surely any human would have been obliterated by the blasts that landed directly onto her!!

With all the fire weaponry being used, smoke began to fill the streets.

In the glow of the RJ lights, this became known as The Blood Fog.


Into this Blood Fog, Altcap Siraj charged...


But he would not come out alive.  The Enemy guided Flowing River's hand, and she struck a mortal blow to the Atlcap.  The poison was not needed, as Siraj's head rolled across the ground.

This was a true catastrophe for the Order.  Will new heroes rise to take the place of those who sacrificed themselves this day?

Would the River Gals continue their rampage through Wappelville?

That is a story for another day.


Springing into action


I have painted a lot more Privateer Press figures this past year than my previous 14.  Legion of Everblight seems to be the theme. :-)


These are some of the older metal versions, so they are pretty hefty!


More to come, along with some winter theme terrain... stay tuned!!


Thursday, September 3, 2015

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures


Following the desperate struggle the Holy Order fought against Carpathian and his dastardly creatures, the citizens of Wappelville had begin to spread rumors about shadowy figures wielding arcane, but yet extremely powerful weapons.

They spoke of a giant wheel which was spotted in the woods just outside of town which spouted blue flame over great distances, and an "old man" who seemed to be controlling it all.

Wasn't this the same old "prospector" that they had seen hobbling around the entrance to the abandoned mine?  Townsfolk called him Crazy Louie.


With their cover blown, it looks like the Holy Order of Man will have to take up a much more 'active' role in and around Wappelville.  There are some tasks for which the Lawmen of Wappelville cannot be trusted, as they are also being manipulated by The Enemy.

A new, cunning band of Outlaws, known as the River Gals, had entered the town during the mayhem of the fight against the Enlightened.


As usual, the Holy Orders had very few to answer the threat.  Old Man Abner would lead them once again.


Unlike the ambush outside of town, the Holy Order would have to move as quickly into the town as possible.  This would make them extremely vulnerable to any sort of long range weaponry.


The River Gals had "procured" a flame truck, which contained a bevy of Outlaw heroes, carrying some very nasty close up weapons.  The flame truck itself represented a massive threat, since it could set fire to any buildings in which the Spica might attempt to entrench themselves.

It's almost as if the River Gals knew they were coming...


Bringing a gun to a knife fight is usually a good thing... but bringing a mechanical K-9 to a fight is truly devastating!  A Spica and the Spear of Light were both set upon by the iron beasts, tying them up out in the open!


Even the ritual blades of the Holy Order seemed to bounce off the metal casings of the K-9's.  No matter how many blows were landed, the unnatural creatures remained standing.


In desperation, other Spica emerged from their hiding places to attempt to break the deadly stalemate.  The K-9's were nearly killed, but someone seemed to be "watching out" for them, and they did not fall.


Standing the shadows of this image is the culprit... The Enemy himself!!!  One of the Dark Council, brazen enough to show himself in the midst of the town.  His robes took on an even more sinister hue in the blood red glow of the RJ-1027 street lamps.


Suddenly, one of the damaged K-9's exploded in a ball of fire, injuring two Spica quite severely.  This was most unexpected.  What could this mean?

Can the Holy Order contain the dual threat of the River Gals and The Dark Council?  Wait and see, as it will be revealed in our next episode... Up In Smoke.


Color Harmony


Here's another set of comparison images shot using the Foldio studio.


These are the typical blue/white fade, which continue to look very interesting on that backdrop.


The base was created for an example at Reapercon a few years ago...


Now for the other backdrop, also from Hangar 18.

I may still try to shoot a few more sets with other backdrops that have been set aside for a while.


They are definitely small enough to fit inside the Foldio booth without any trimming.  Stay tuned!


Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Shade of Grey


As many of you know, I used dozens and dozens of figures for the painting videos.  There were many figures that were painted, but ultimately were not used, due to time constraints, difficulty in seeing details on camera, etc.

This is one of the figures that "stuck" and it was used for the "Shades of Grey" video.  As the name suggests, it's all about painting grey, and finding vast ranges of values and tones within what might be considered a limited color.


It is by no means a limited color, since you can still adjust temperature (warm vs cool), tint, and saturation.

While many people go out an purchase jars of grey paint, you will rarely see any actual grey paint in my collection.  I would much rather create my own by mixing opposing colors, such as a very dark blue with a light brown, and then a hint of seafoam green to lighten it.

This offers me a LOT more control, and I am not stuck with either a reddish grey, or blue grey from out of a jar.

I did five of the "color theory" videos, such as Yellow Alert.  Here's a 25 minute preview of that one:



She's also here: