Reapercon 2018: Part 2

Picking up where we left off from Episode 1 of the ReaperCon 2018 review, where I make a quick mask using a torn paper towel.  The edge was just right for creating the highlighted edge of the dust clouds.

These were darkened a bit at the edges with a shot of dark blue Badger Airbrush Ghost Tint.  It is one of my favorite uses for them.

To make the initial "glow" for the brighter stars, I mixed a touch of blue Ghost Tint with white primer.  I placed a few of these on each wing.  It is important not to have too many.

I placed a dime (any kind of coin would do) over the star, which created a mask.  After spraying a blue Ghost Tint/white primer mix over it, you can see the nice circle left behind.

Once that is set, I painted in a few points of light with white primer.  I also added in a few "spectral lines" emanating from the brightest star on each wing.

The smallest stars were made by spattering a thinned down mix of blue and white primer.

Once all the spacescape elements were complete, I brushed in the metal parts of the wing, and tried to shade/weather them to look like the body of the dragon.

At this point, I still didn't have a base for it, so I continued to weather the body of the dragon, using primarily Ghost Tints.  I made sure to include a touch of the Metal primer here and there, so that the metallic effect would not be lost.

You can get a better view here of what the wings looked like without the metals.  Also, you can see how rich and dark the Ghost Tints are.  It is somewhat similar to using the Reaper Clear and Liner paints.

On this side of the wing, I mixed the Magenta Ghost tint with white primer, and masked off some of the dust clouds.

The magenta tint was a nice change from the brighter blue on the other end of the wing.  I used a larger coin for the circular mask on this 'main' star.

I selected a few brighter stars to emphasize with the painted dots of white before spattering them with the finer, thinned down primer.

As I mentioned before, I did not have a base for this when I began painting it.  This is when I discovered the new series of large plastic bases from Reaper!  I was amazed at how many sizes there were, and shapes.  These will not only be helpful on the ever increasing number of large creatures which I need to base... they will also work for my Bolt Action heavy artillery teams.

I am sorry that I don't have fancier images of this for you (I took these not long before we left the Reaper factory on Wednesday) but I will be doing another one of these under more controlled circumstances here at home.

I can take more step by step images, since I don't have to worry about an audience!

Stay tuned for that, and for the next episode of ReaperCon review!

Reapercon 2018: Part 1

We were hoping that this year's ReaperCon would be a special edition, given the new venue and the addition of Fort Wappel!

It certainly turned out that way!  A fantastic week of painting fun and hanging out.  

So many people came by to watch spontaneous demos, paint along with us, or just hang out and chat.  It was great to see old friends, and meet all the new people who were attending their first ReaperCon.  In fact, I constantly found myself talking to people who had never been to ReaperCon before.

The location for Fort Wappel was outstanding, with plenty of light, outlets and room to relax.  We had a number of tables across the lobby from us where RPG sessions were being held all day and well into the night.  I think that had a good portion of the massive increase in attendance.

While the venue was enormous compared to previous years, it seemed to be very full.  Let's say there was a very significant increase in attendance from the last few years, because it certainly felt that way!

I was doing demonstrations until 3 am each day, and lots of fun was had by all!!

On Friday night I started a demo on the WyrmGear dragon, using the new MetalSmith paints from Badger Airbrush.  I had been itching to mess around with this for years, and I finally got the chance.

If you wanted your metals to appear darker, you prime with black, etc., and if you want them lighter, you can prime with a lighter color.

As you can see here, I went with my usual "pre shading" of a brownish black to an off white.  This will influence the shading of the 'metals', which is a mix of metal primer and the Ghost Tints.

Here's a peek at what you can do with them.  If you recall, I used the Badger Metal Smith paints at GenCon on this massive bust:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/08/a-second-skin.html

For the wings, I combined the Ghost tints with the Badger Stynlrez primers.  I used to paint spacescapes back in the days of 2D art, so I knew this would be very fun.

I started out with some lighter colors of primer, such as the slate blue and pink mixed with white.  Once that was set down, I could spray over it with magenta, blue, and turquoise Ghost Tints.

You can even mix the two together, which gives you a very nice, brightly colored primer!

I mixed the Midnight Blue Ghost tint with a bit of black primer to make the deepest dark colors on the wings where I wanted dust clouds.

In order to make them appear as if they were illuminated from behind, I ripped up a few paper towels to create a mask.  This uneven edge is ideal for creating the effect!

A few quick sprays of the lighter primer/Ghost Tint mix made parts of the dust cloud really stand out, creating that extra depth.  Stay tuned for the conclusion in tomorrow's post!

Once again, many thanks to the Reaper staff who work quadruple overtime on this event, and to everyone who came by to hang out with us.  The venue is amazing, and I think next year will be eveb better!!

Frozen Solid

As most of you already know, I have been using the Secret Weapon crushed glass/water effects method for a while.  I enjoy the flexibility that it allows, where I can have very slushy looking snow or very crisp white snow.

Also, it has that "sparkle" or crystalline appearance that standard snow flock does not have.

These snow techniques work on vehicles as well!  I have a few how to videos on this process, like this Facebook Live session:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10211859089046747/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

I am working on a series of videos for the Patreon Page that also involve winter basing, demonstrating a few different combinations for the snow.

I also have the latest battle report posted to the YouTube channel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LgWEoymVQw

Warp Your Mind with Oils!

We are on our way to Reapercon!  Or, by the time this is posted, we might be there already.

Once Fort Wappel is all set up, I look forward to doing hours of painting demos, and one medium I want to show off is oils!

They have proven to be so useful, especially when working on large amounts of figures all at once.  I am hoping to be able to demonstrate how you can still blend the paint on the surface of the figure, even hours after it has been first applied.

I will also show how to glaze over wet oils... yeah, you heard that right!  It was something that I have tried to show during the last few videos for the Patreon Page.  While it sounds crazy, it does not work all that differently than if you were glazing acrylics.

However, you have a much easier time feathering out the edges of the glazes.  Also, this will work just fine over dry oil paint as well.  In effect, you can "buff out" the edges of a glaze or a set of new brush strokes over the dry oil paint.

So be sure to head on over to Fort Wappel while you are there and paint along with us!

Some of the latest painting videos are on the Patreon page, available at the $5, $10 and $15 levels!

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

The Black Witch: Part 2

We return to the desperate struggle to capture or recover lost German tank crews, the downed Soviet pilot and the German officer.

Losing their transport so early had cost the Waffen SS dearly, allowing the sniper to pick off their light machine guns and keep them pinned.

Only the SDKfZ 232 continued the fight on this side of the field, as the Pioneer unit had to support the right flank, as a dust trail was spotted by the commander from the area where the Zis gun had been.

Suddenly the Siberian Veterans appeared, using that captured Opel Blitz from the previous battle.

It was now that one of the German surprises rumbled out of the shadows, kicking up a dust cloud of its own!

Using the Rad 8 as cover, the Waffen SS saw the officer in the river, who was directing them to head towards the wrecked Panzer and its crew.  He would sacrifice himself to save his tank crews, who had taken on the dangerous mission of capturing the Soviet pilot at his request.

Now the second surprise made its presence felt as the Pioneerwagen fired a direct shot from the squeeze bore howitzer.  It blasted a Ghaz truck to pieces, much to the shock of the Soviets who thought they were relatively safe on this part of the battlefield.

However, the smoke of the blast seemed to create even more cover for the waiting Soviet infantry, now getting even closer to capturing the German officer.

It was not long after the smoke settled from this scene of destruction that the Panzerbusche scored a hit on the T-34!  While it did not take it out, it did cause the crew enough strife to make them spend several minutes to catch their senses again.

The Pioneer unit began its move forward, hoping to counter the 3 Soviet units.  This would be problematic, since the mortar was not able to take down the machine gun crews across the river.

Any crossing attempt would be near suicide.

However, the Pioneers were able to utililze their tremendous close range firepower to decimate the raw Soviet recruits!  The last man standing was then taken down by the coaxial machine gun of the Flammpanzer.  

Not even Royanovich could save them.

At the same time, the Beast of the East fired a gout of flame at the Opel Blitz, which had now been revealed to be employed by the Siberian Veterans.  

The petrol immediately caught fire, and it promptly exploded.

The celebration did not last very long, as the T-34 crew regained their morale and destroyed the Rad 8 on the other side of the river.

The veteran Heer unit dove out of the cabin and headed into the river, as they saw their comrades huddled in the wreckage of the Panzer 1...

The Soviets attempted to destroy the transport half track with their small arms, but only managed to immobilize it.  This would now act as a shield for the survivors of the Pioneer unit.

As the German officer was overwhelmed by the Red Hordes in the river, the time lost by the Waffen SS to the destruction of their transport proved too costly.  They could not win the race to the wreck of the Panzer 2.

It was now that Comrade Royanovich took matters into  his own hands, and attempted to steal away the objective at the last moment.  His bravery managed to turn the contest into a draw, but did he ultimately survive?

We shall see the next time these bitter enemies meet on the field of combat.  The battle will now shift to a different part of the Soviet Union.  But the carnage certainly shall remain the same!

The Black Witch: Part 1

In the latest installment of our Barbarossa campaign, the fighting continues over the tiny village of the Island Church.  However, the objective has changed entirely!

No longer interested in the town itself (it has since been bypassed by the Wehrmacht armored columns!), an elite force of German troops must try to capture a downed Soviet pilot.  She is part of the Black Witches squadron, and she is known to be in the area.

The Soviet forces are trying to rescue her before she is captured. This mission was deemed to be of such importance that a German officer and a recon unit of tanks was sent in to find her.  Those vehicles had been knocked out by growing Partisan activity, and he finds himself stranded in enemy territory!

It is anticipated that this mission will be very difficult, so the hardiest of Waffen SS units will be tasked with recovering the stranded officer and capturing the enemy pilot.  They are few in number, but it is thought that they could slip back into the town less noticeably than a larger force of regular army.

Some new reinforcements have arrived in the town, among them Siberian veterans.

The terrain was far less ideal for the German deployment, as they were now attacking from the opposite side of town.  Not long ago, this had been a Soviet deployment zone...

The wheeled vehicles would find it rough going, which meant that the deployment areas were even further restricted.

These Russian villages seem to be ideal for the defense, with each log cabin and shack presenting an excellent hiding place.

The Red Army already has the stranded German officer in their sights.  Obviously the T-34 which knocked out the lighter Panzers in the previous engagement is still hiding in its lair...

Somehow this small but determined group of German soliders must hold off these advancing hordes and rescue the surviving crews of the knocked out tanks!

As usual, the Soviets slog through the gullys and streams to hide from the Axis firepower.  One of the Black Witches is in view, attempting to paddle to safety in one of the discarded German rubber boats.

A Zis field gun has been brought in to cover the troops, and it claims a victim on its very first shot!  The Opel Blitz goes up in flames, and the Waffen SS passengers must bail out  to avoid burning to death themselves.

They attempt to take cover behind the tiny bridge house, but the deadly sniper Sletlana is waiting for them in the top floor of the lumber mill.

The flame and smoke unleashed by the Zis gun must have betrayed their position, making it easy for the mortar observer to direct a well placed shot into their midst.  Even with Great Patriotic War, what remained of the crew chose to flee the field.

With the threat of the direct howitzer shot now gone, and the potential for the mortar to deal with the machine gun teams in the nearby building, the veteran Heer unit surged towards the river, and the Black Witch pilot.

Perhaps this is why the shattered Zis crew chose to exit the stage... the rumbling of the Flammpanzer!!!

As we have seen all to often on the Ostfront, the hapless 'free' squad of raw recruits is directed toward the enemy as cannon fodder.  With the new Commissar Royanovich nearby, they had little choice but to move into the teeth of enemy fire.

This covered the advance of the regular units of the Red Army, but on the right flank, they chose to hold their ground and let their own superior firepower deal with the scattered Waffen units.

They were being whittled down by the sniper, who managed to take out both light machine guns.  This would mean a nearly free hand for the Russians to clam the wreck and the captured officer.

Seeing this threat, the Rad 8 chose to risk the hazard of the T-34 and fire its autocannon into the mass of Soviet troops hiding in the stream.  Apparently the water makes for some great cover, and the shots nearly always missed.

The Red Hordes close in on their primary objective... rescuing their heroic pilot.  Will they bring her back to the aerodrome for more heroics, or can the elite of the Wehrmacht manage to fend off an army twice their number?

They have a few surprises for their enemy, so we shall see what happens in episode two!  Stay tuned...

Also, if you want to see video battle reports, you can check out my France 1940 videos on my YouTube Channel.  I have 4 of them posted already!  Here's a link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LgWEoymVQw