In the Beginning...

These Grotesques were the testing ground an laboratory for many of the Painting Pyramid series.  This was one of the first times I tried out the new blood effects.

It was also the first mass use of the Vallejo Fluorescent paints.

All in all, there were at least 5 new techniques that were developed over the course of this relatively small unit of 4 figures!

He's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/322073702584?

The ol Skull 'n chains

Here's objective marker number two from The Edge Awakening series.

If you have to claim something as scary as this to win the game... then there's some major spooky happening on your battlefield!

I guess our games of Kings of War will be getting pretty freaky!

I used a number of the new Secret Weapon paints on these.  The blueish grays were wonderful for the rocks, while the tree colors and shades worked just as well for the skulls and tinting the rocks warmer too!

A few Red Box Games figs as a size comparison, and you're good to go!

Here's a link to their facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/intotheedge/?fref=ts

The shining skull

Recently the makers of The Edge Awakening created some wonderful new objective markers.  These can be used for all kinds of fantasy and sci-fi games!

This is the first of six which I have painted.

Here's a banner from the campaign, showing a few more markers...

These next few images will give you an idea of size.

Here it is with a few Red Box Games minis for scale...

When big gets BIGGER!

Here's a truly massive monster from Rothand Studios.  It is made entirely of resin, and actually comes in some very manageable pieces.

It is quite the hulking beast, standing quite tall.  Here's a link to a painting article on the figure:

Part one:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2013/05/playing-with-fire-part-one-painting.html

Part Two:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2013/05/painting-with-fire-golem-continues.html

The base is also part of the figure, in case you were wondering!

Here's the final touches on the big guy:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2013/05/more-of-painting-with-fire-rothand.html

It was certainly an ideal subject for using those filbert brushes!!

Here he is next to a typical 28mm figure.  Yup... he's a biggie.

One last time!

Critter Crunch!

Here's my two latest Mierce Miniatures beasties... side by side for a size comparison.

In this image, we have MÓRANNACH, BEAST OF CILL CHONN BOG, and THACALDĀN, MOUND BEETLE.

Each of these monsters is mounted on an 80mm base.

Each of these guys required a very different approach.

The Bog Monster had a wide range of interlocking colors, from very warm greens and tans to very cool blues and grays.  In contrast, the Beetle had an extremely limited palette.

In both cases, there was very specific concept art, forcing the issue as to palette choices.

The basing was also going to be extremely restricted, further limiting my choices.  As you all know, basing is something that I love, and I enjoy letting the basing itself decide where some of the color choices end up.

Putting contrasting colors on the base can accent what is done on the figure itself, or provide a nice source for reflected light or colors.

The Beetle had to be placed on a base that was to represent a typical green meadow/pasture in Ireland.  This meant that the foliage was going to be a more intense green, and make the deep reds seem warmer or lighter than desired.

Yes, basing can make all kinds of critical differences, so choose wisely!

In contrast, the foliage of the Bog Monster tends to dull down many of the colors on the figure.  This was an advantage on that particular figure.

Even the "low slung" mounting of the figures directly to the base made me change several things.  I love my bark and branch style basing which elevates the figures above the profile of the base edge, making for more dramatic posing and even provide more ease of painting.

I hope this exploration into the consequences of basing methods and its effect on a figure is helpful!

More Elites

Winter continues to hang on here in more ways than one!

It's snowed at least a trace amount nearly every day for the last few weeks... that is, when it's not raining!

That means more wintery barbarians for you. :-)

This is from Red Box Games, as most of the figures have been in this long project.

One aspect that has been a little different are the bases, which I have been making with tree bark.  Instead of the pre-cast resin bases, this has allowed me to create unique bases for each figure, that fit the footprint much better.

The piles of snow are a combination of heavy gel medium and gesso.

Making your own leaves

Now to the final part of the grand experiment!

We were fortunate enough to get in on the restock of the Green Stuff World leaf punch, and this seemed to be the ideal opportunity to try it out!

I began by making some quick ivy/vines along one edge of the mural wall using the Hangar 18 leaf product which you have seen a number of times already.

I was just about to punch a number of leaves, when I realized that I could make my life a LOT easier by painting the paper first!  Also, by painting it different shades, I could have a very nice selection of colors to choose from.

It's much easier to paint them here than when they are glued to the surface... especially on a fragile vine!

You must be sure that the paper is thin enough.  I learned the hard way that thick paper cannot be cut.  Also, it's not a bad idea to paint the paper on both sides, so that you don't have to turn them all over.

In a matter of minutes, I had a great collection of leaf types and colors.

First I glued them to the floor, mixing the lighter and darker shades together in clumps.

This is the crucial part... getting them onto the vines.  I wanted to get more color variation on these vines, and some size differential as well.  In this instance, it is quite important to paint both sides of the leaf first!

I even glued a few stray leaves to the wall, trying to add as much interest and texture as possible.  If I wanted to spend more time refining this, I could go in and paint veins on these bigger leaves.

One quick preview shot of the completed wall, mural and vine!  Now to finish off the two miniatures...

Stay tuned!