Beta Testing...

Yes... there are ray guns in the Weird West!  Or at least in Wild West Exodus :-)  Meet Beta, a new character who was part of the Unfinished Business kickstarter campaign.

He joins the rest of the Watchers in ending the scourge known as the Human race.

In keeping with the rest of the Greys, and the King Scarab, a lot of subtle variations in the grays were needed to give this shape.  Unlike most of the other Watcher figures that I have painted, this one had a lot of angular surfaces.

This allowed me to be a little more reflective with some of the desert sandy tones on the legs and on the feet.

Of course, it's always fun to have lots of glowy things!!  The usual Vallejo Fluorescent treatment. :-)

One last set of images.  Stay tuned for some group shots with the big Scarab and a bunch of hired hand Greys!!!

War of the Roses

Just when you thought there were no more angry elves to be found... one more appears!

This guy had been hiding away in a batch of partially painted miniatures which had probably been packed away 3 years ago.  I decided to throw a little more freehand on the cloak this time, so that he could be a leader of the Archers.

I could not resist using some of the brand new Gamers Grass tufts!  It seemed very appropriate!

He's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/222127780950?

Around the Horn

Every team needs a flag, and the Samurai Orcs certainly do as well!

It was a challenge to work the dragon onto this banner, due to all the overlapping folds.  The orientation of the dragon itself also complicated matters, as all of my references had it pointing in different directions.

I suppose I could have taken a few designs into photoshop and reoriented them, but the hour was excessively late, and The Bulldogs were not faring well in their first place match up in Sydney.  Bummer!

In the end however, I was able to conquer that issue, and the coaching staff is more complete!

Meet Your Doom!

As I mentioned when I made the first post with the images of the completed Mechanicum monster tank... there are many more to show!

This set focuses more on the opposite side, and from above.

A reminder of how giant this is... the wheel assemblies are all the size of a land raider.

Among the many tricky aspects of the vehicle, the articulation joint in between the two sections was right up there!

It is a call joint encased in two halves of a star shaped object.  I could not glue that together, because that would have made it impossible to ship without risking serious damage.

Ultimately, it was sent in 3 big parts.  This upper view helps to show all the subtle shading that was required on the weapon section.  I tried to paint as many sections before assembly as possible, but much of it had to be in one piece so that the shading could be kept consistent.

Had I done each bit of the gun individually, it's very likely that those three dishes would have had too many variations.  This view would have really shown any anomalies!

As would this one.

I think this view lets you see the blue tints that I added to the forward wheel section with the blue weathering powders.

You might even be able to see some of that blue powder on the front treads as well.

The massive pieces on the back of the gun mechanism were very hard to handle while I was painting, since they were pretty unwieldy.  I also had to make sure I was not scraping the paint off all of those tubes!

Do you remember the Work in Progress pictures that showed the painted pilot's platform?  You can see just the smallest hint of that here.

The last post will have some images that focus on isolated sections of the monster, which I think it called the Ordinatus.  Hopefully those will give you a sense of how it all works together. 

A Band of Bowmen

Time for a six pack of First Age Elves!

While the poses are very similar to one another, I tried to get variety where possible, in minor areas of freehand, as well as the horizon lines on the NMM gold helmets.

These back views will show you those variations in the designs.

When you look at them from a distance, your eye blends all the designs together.  Once you get closer, you start to realize the differences.

Finally, I made a few different foliage placements for a touch of individuality.  Just like the freehand, from a certain distance it will all look like stones and brush.

Upon closer examination, there is a bit of flowers on some, leaves on another... and simply grass tufts here and there.

I hope you liked these group shots!

Medium Sized

While I was waiting on some laundry the other day, I tried to get some work done on the medium howitzer for my French Bolt Action army.

I could not find one anywhere in 28mm scale, so I knew that I was going to have to sculpt my own.  I had plenty of Flames of War examples to work from.  Using the 75mm gun as a sample (which I also have in Flames of War scale), I was able to make something that would work well enough on the table.

I have plenty of plasticard and polystyrene tubes for work with.  In this case, I had an extra flying stand, which I cut down to fit... and sanded on one side.

I kept adding additional details to both the gun shield and the barrel assembly, using strips of plasticard and flat polystyrene pieces.

The wheels had to be simplified from the original versions, to save time.  I cut out some sculpey pieces, and used the polystyrene strips to make some spokes!

More bits of the tubing was used to make the elevation mechanisms to the side of the barrel.

I used the thinnest of the tubing to make more details on the gun shield, which will look very nice once it is painted!  These smaller extra things will make it more convincing... using weathering to cover any flaws.

I had to abandon my original plan on the stabilizers, changing to a heavy square shaped polystyrene tubing instead of carved pink foam.  The foam would not have been strong enough, even though it was much easier to create the shape that I wanted.

Also, I wanted to be able to use super glue for everything.  If I brought in the foam, I would have to use elmer's glue, which is not as strong of a bond.

The added benefit of the change was the nice detail of a hinge on each stabilizer where it attached to the gun shield!

To make the stabilizers look more like the Flames of War example, I made these additional details on the top and sides.  Once again, these are going to be the little things that will make it all seem more convincing!

I could not find my very thin plasticard, so I took some blister pack cards and wrapped them around the wheels.

Time for rivets!  Just as I did on the pirate bases, I sliced the polystyrene tubes into tiny coins.

I put them on the wheels first.

They would also be the last detail on the stabilizers as well as the gun shield.

Time to hold my breath and see if it all went together as I hoped!!

Presto!  A new Medium Howitzer in under 2 hours!!!  Here it is next to the Flames of War 105mm gun which I used as a template.

Stay tuned for the finished pictures, as I have it alongside the Bolt Action 75mm gun for a comparison.  It's being painted now!!