Sneaky Snakes

I have to say, these snake men/ Ophidians from Mierce Miniatures have to be my favorites from the entire line!

They are quite interesting, as each one is a different "character".  Instead of slightly different poses or slightly different weapons, they are entirely unique poses/shapes.  For instance, one of the 5 figures in the set is clearly a shaman, etc.

That is the other aspect which I find so interesting.  Monstrous infantry really is the specialty of Mierce.  If you check out some of my previous Mierce focused posts, you will see a variety of these huge creatures in unit form.  This is the case with the Walrus men (yes, you heard that right) and even Octopus.

I especially enjoyed painting the weapon on this.  Since this was done, I have had a number of discussions on how to approach NMM.  Lately I have been emphasizing the use of colors that you see on the figure or the "environment" around it.  This is very important, as metal is reflective!  

When I was asked about NMM paint sets, this really brought the idea to the forefront of the discussion.  I don't have go to colors to any kind of NMM these days.  I simply use variations of already existing colors, which enhances that 'reflectivity'

There are more of these on the way, so you will be able to get an idea of what I mean about these large creature "units".  In effect, you have the standard infantry sized versions which are sets of 10 (full command, etc.), then the monstrous infantry, and then a colossal beast from the same type of creature.

So stay tuned!!!

Panzer Command

The early war German force grows more complete each day, and there are a few more additions ready for action in the next Battle Report!!

The Panzer 38T (on the left) is an older resin/metal kit from Warlord which I painted in a live session a while back when I was first getting used to oils:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10209437544229640/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

The SDK fz 232 in the center will act as a command vehicle in the battle.  I had a lot of fun painting that, using the Secret Weapon Weathering Paints.  That's one that I had been looking forward to getting done for quite a while.

The radio antennae assembly comes off, so that I can rotate the turret.  There were a LOT of decals to put on that bugger!  It will be nice to have an armored car which is not open topped.  No random pins from small arms fire.

The Panzer 38T on the right is part of the new Platoon Box set from Warlord Games, which allows you to construct a number of versions of the Czech produced tank.

I painted that in the colors of the 7th Panzer division in France 1940, for obvious reasons.  I will be painting the other two versions in the box in winter and desert schemes for different theatres.

You can check out this YouTube live session in which that Panzer 38T was painted!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2Z-eAAb1lI

Dragon's Lair

Over the last several weeks, I have been working on the big 5-headed dragon from Reaper.  It is made from BONES material of course, which thankfully makes it very rugged!

Here's a link to one of the original posts on this beast, which started at Gencon last year:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2017/08/wing-span.html

This will ultimately be finished off with oil paints, but I wanted to experiment with doing some follow up painting with the airbrush first.  Once I decided to do a lava style base, it meant that I could do a bit of light reflection on the wings!

On the flip side, I added more greens and dark blues, so that the orange tones would have even more contrast.

The same was done with the dragon body itself.  You can see a bit of the base too, which was made with chunks of pink foam carved and textured to match the original stones.

I don't have any fluorescent airbrush paints at the moment, but I know that I can do some very intense colors with the oils.  Again, the idea here was to indicate where I wanted some of these lighter areas to be, and get a sense of "how much is too much" etc.  

This had been toned down quite a bit since by those subsequent layers of oils.

I stuck in the wings to get a quick peek at what they looked like on the body, which led to more course corrections prior to working with those oil paints.  I tried to film a few sessions where I did that oil painting, and I will try to get those edited and posted as soon as I can to the YouTube channel!

Stay tuned...

Film School

You have seen me post a number of articles on my "primer painting" in the last few years, but in more recent days you have seen me posting more actual airbrush painting.  

The last article talked about the lower air pressures and the results that would yield, but now I have a brand new tool which has opened up a new range of tactics with the airbrush!

One of the reasons why I did not use the airbrush in more of a traditional method was the time it would take to mask off areas.  It just was not worth the time to screw around with that, when I could paint the same kinds of things with my brushes, acrylics and oils.

Even with the lower pressures, there are just some occasions where the only way to get the result you want is to mask off certain areas.  There were several on this big guy from Mierce Miniatures.

The turntable he's standing on is about the size of a dinner plate, to give you an idea.

During one of my recent hangouts on the Styrene Syndicate, Gil and the guys told me all about something called Parafilm, which is easily available on Amazon.

In effect, it is like super Saran Wrap (or cling film in the UK).  You can cut off pieces of the "tape", which has a slight stick to it.  Once it is stretched out over an area as you see here, it has the Saran Wrap effect, and holds tight enough to get the job done quickly.

I have not tried it on vehicles to do camo yet, or anything super precise.  In fact, that is not what I needed it for.  What I wanted was a way to "bulk mask" areas to that I could do things like the teeth, or even the inside of the mouth, very quickly.

It only took a few minutes to get all these masks in place, which would have been much harder with the blue tac which I had been using.

In the past, I would not have bothered to try and paint the teeth or the inside of the mouth with the airbrush.  Even now, I will still be painting over a good portion of all of this with glazes, etc.

But, I have a lot of the Minitare Badger paints, especially some brighter colors that I have not exhausted on terrain pieces!  

Another reason I like this new use of the airbrush is that I can try out some color schemes on the fly, and change them very rapidly if they are not what I wanted.  That would be much more involved if I were doing this huge figure with only a brush.

I hope that this gives you a new idea to think about, as the guys did for me!  Many thanks to the folks who do the Styrene Syndicate hangouts.  I learn something new every time!

Many thanks to Gil who brought this up when I broached the topic, and pointed me in the right direction!

The Dogs of Rome

While the original posts in this Gangs of Rome series focused more on the mobs and the larger mosaic tile bases, I didn't want to forget the most important aspect of the game... and that is the Gladiators!

Here's a few more, and this time you get a better sense of how the ID number and wound counters fit into the bases.

The majority of these characters have bases that match those larger versions that were made for the mobs.  Here's a link to one step by step post:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/05/mosaic-tile-basing.html

Most of the figures were painted with oils, part of a huge batch that I was working on along with a number of other figures.

I have discussed the value of oil paints when tackling huge batches of figures, where the extended drying times make it easier to carry out blends on a large number of figures all at once.  It is almost like having a wet palette for your miniatures!

Finally, we end up with the Mastiff, who is one big puppy!!!

Wyrm Lord

This unusual beastie had a very specific color scheme request, which is very typical when you do commission stuff.  We have been doing commissions for a very long time, since 2001.  Sometimes you get very interesting requests, and sometimes very unusual requirements!

You never know what that is gonna be, so you just have to roll on.

Most of the time they are very fun, and this limited palette exercise was as well, done entirely in oils!

Here is the image that I had to try and match...

What I love about the oil paints is the ability to mix very subtle color shifts right into the paint, instead of having to go back in with glazes, etc.  I was able to sneak in those warmer ochre colors with no problem!

I also experimented even more with glazing the oils.  Since the capillary action is even greater with oil paints than water, I thought this would be a very good proving ground.  If you see any of the vehicle painting exercises, you know that people do those "panel line washes" or "Pin washes".

Those are made possible by that enhanced capillary action, as thinned down oils (white spirits only!) make the paint so much thinner, it can even flow "upwards" against gravity!

Now I make my own Paenel Line Washes... but it is quite interesting to do them on top of wet oil paint. :-)  I am still quite surprised that it is possible to do so.  As I often mention during my live sessions, it is the layering of thick paint over thin, and then thin over thick, etc., that allows each of these very wet layers to stick to each other ;-)

Here's an example of the latest demo, which is going to be a YouTube tutorial video for the patron very soon:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10212917227339543/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

Steel Green

Whenever people would ask for advice on painting Non Metallic Metals, my response would always be to "reflect the environment around the figure as much as possible".  

In my recent live demos and previous blog posts, I have been emphasizing that more and more... but there are a few other tiny touches which can also make those 'metals' a bit more interesting with a little 'sparkle'.

The first post from this unit had a purple/lavender color as an 'accent' tone.  It probably did not even register to most viewers as purple, especially in person.  However, it was still there, just as there is a greenish accent here.

What this added color does is create a bit of "spectral" highlight here and there, as if light were refracting off parts of the surface.

This is especially helpful on larger, broader surfaces like many you see on this figure.  Otherwise it would simply be a sea of blueish gray!  Now that I see many of these NMM paint sets floating around, I feel that it is even more important to talk about this concept.

In some recent articles, I suggested that the best NMM paint set is whatever colors you are already using on your miniature and base!  This really is the case... as incorporating as much of the surrounding color as you can into your metals (no matter what it might be reflecting) will make the viewer believe that those surfaces are in fact metal!