Crushing Glass

I have demonstrated the Secret Weapon Miniatures crushed glass technique a number of times, and it is one that always fascinates me.  Unlike most other snow materials, this is extremely sturdy once it is in place, and it also allows you to do a wide variety of textures.

Depending on your ratio of water effects to crushed glass, you can have a snow that is quite melted to something more fluffy and white.

I have used this on my vehicles as well, which is very handy, as snow will melt in areas that have heat, such as exhaust fans, etc.

I have also combined it with other materials, as I did in this live session:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10212572308356784/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

Ghost Division: The new PZ 38T Zug

The new Tank Platoon box sets from Warlord Games have been really handy, especially some of the Early War kits like the Panzer 38T Zug.  Since I like to emphasize just how many of the Czech designs were used, this box is perfect!

I was able to make one of the 38T's for our Barbarossa campaign, and another for my France '40 battle reports.  This was done in the markings of the 7th Panzer division... the "Ghost Division".

Here's a link to a live session where this was painted:

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

It was featured in my latest battle report, which I am editing now!

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/07/cutting-off-retreat.html

Here's a look at what comes in the box... a number of well marked sprues...

Packed into a nifty box!

The sprues in the kit will allow you to make a few different variants, which you will see later.

These were definitely easier to assemble the older metal and resin versions which this set replaces.  The turret was very easy for a plastic kit in fact!

There's a nice little instruction set that is included, with a number of decent color plates as well.

The instructions were straightforward...

And for my favorite parts... the color plates and the decals!  These quick color guides are a nice start to your color scheme research.  Like some of the 1/48 scale kits I have done recently, there is even a decal guide which is very helpful.

You also get a hefty helping of decals!  I am very happy about this, because I needed several Hungarian markings for other vehicles that I already have put together.  Now I have some Bulgarian and Romanian decals handy to put on wrecked vehicles around Stalingrad and the push into the Balkans

The other new tank platoon boxes have similar sets of decals.  The Char Bis box is the same way, with generous helpings of French and German insignia that will be of great help!

From the Wastes

The latest Mystery Mini is part of another project that involves a number of Mad Max style minis.

This one was a resin/plastic cast, and almost seemed like a "game piece" of some kind.

It was requested that the skin tones not be the usual Ork green, so I tried to utilize purples and more standard skin tones to make it seem like this was more of a mutated human kind of creature.

There's many more of these on the way, so lots of Mystery Minis to identify!!  Stay tuned.

Centurion Snake

I had a lot of fun painting this during the recent all night 24 hour charity broadcast with Gonzo from More Than Dice Podcast!  It's another monstrous infantry from Mierce Miniatures, one of a number of "Snakemen" poses.

Of late I have been emphasizing how simple my approach to Non-Metallic metals is.  The majority of the colors I choose for them (if it is gold, steel, etc.) are what is surrounding the metal surfaces.  In this case, a fair amount of greens, purples and reds.

All of these colors form contrasts with each other, which helps to make the metals look more shiny.  When you have lots of colors reflected in those metals, such as the skin, stone base and even the cloak, the eye becomes more convinced that it is seeing something like metal due to the reflectivity.

This is why my response to the question of purchasing "NMM paint sets" is always to use the colors you already have on your palette!

Something else to keep in mind is that the color harmony works in reverse too.  I used a fair amount of yellow to highlight the reds in the cloak and crest, and even to lighten the green scales!  This means that the "gold" color was not just isolated to the metal sections... it is everywhere else, even on the base.

Since this is becoming a major topic of discussion in my posts and on my Facebook/YouTube live sessions, I will try to create some new NMM tutorials in addition to the original Painting Pyramid versions.

A few of those are already available to my patrons on the Patreon Page!

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

The Gang's all Here

The final post in the Gangs of Rome series concludes as it began, with some shots of the "Mobs", which were mostly painted with the Mig Ammo OilBrushers.

Here's a link to a previous post showing how the mosaic tile bases were made:

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

Also, we have one more 'character' figure, who must be a sandal maker or something like that.  He seems to be a little shifty to me though ;-)

Using the oils on large batches of figures like these can make painting mass amounts of skin tones much easier.  Being able to blend on the fly hours after applying those first layers can be so handy!

One last look at the Gangs of Rome!!

A Banner Day

Each time I look back at the images of these Chaos Warrior figures, it really intrigues me to think how old these figures are, and that I am using my latest techniques and materials on them :-)  

As most of you already know, this was a large batch of figures, and most of the painting was done with oils... a combination of the Windsor & Newton oil paints and the Mig Ammo Oilbrushers.

Here's a link to a typical painting session with those oils:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10211987031365225/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

Each one of these has had a slightly different set of colors put into the metal areas, mostly purples and greens in various combinations.  In the last post about the unit, I went into more detail about how that purple/green mix can create some interesting looking "gray" tones!

Cutting off the Retreat!

Among the many pieces of recording that I am editing at the moment is the newest Bolt Action Battle Report... The Bridge to Nouvion!

This will feature several new elements, not the least of which are the new terrain features that you saw in a recent tutorial series here:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/06/building-bridge-phase-1.html

I also tried out a few new vehicles that were painted, the SDK 232 armored car and the new plastic 38T kit from Warlord.  I painted that in a you tube live session here:

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

I sculpted a few rubber boats for the German forces to use in order to effect some river crossings.  You will be seeing these in future battle reports with much wider rivers. I wanted to give them a test first to see how I would have to arrange a rule set for them.

This battle had a lot of interwoven objectives on both sides, which is something I injected into the previous battle report, moving beyond just the basic scenarios.  The idea is to have mission goals for both sides that are so disparate that there is no way they can completely deny objectives to the other side.

In other words, you have to complete your own missions, as opposed to simply sitting back and preventing the other side from accomplishing theirs.

I was also trying to create a very chaotic battlefield in order to simulate the start of the Allied withdrawal from the northeast front.  The notion that the German forces are advancing from all sides, and about to cut off the retreat permanently before it can even get started!

The skies are not friendly over northern Europe either!  Who knows what kind of effect a strafing and bombing run might have on the Allied columns...

Results of this action will also be carried into the following report, and I am working very hard on that terrain.  You got a peek at some of it in the last battle report, Blood at Arras (already on YouTube here:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njN4D64zH1k