More putty work and a Dungeon Saga figure

So the putty work continued this week.

All ready for primer

Up first was the wing claw of the GW LotR Balrog.  This had been snapped off at some stage.  First up I drilled and glued in a paper clip shaped the rough curve of the other claw and then covered it in Milliput.  Once dry I carved this down to match the existing claw.  After that I sanded the Milliput with 320 and then 600 grit sand paper to smooth out the surface as the existing plastic claw is very smooth of course.

Redone claw

I then dropped the figure and chipped off the end of the claw.  So I switched to green stuff as it is more flexible and redid the tip of the claw (unfortunately not as sharp) and added in some more knuckle shapes, etc.  Calling it done at this stage.

Final thing was drilling and pinning the feet for attaching to the base.

Two joins only - take that Balrog

I also did a bit of green stuff work on some Reaper Bones figures I purchased to cover up the join marks.  Nothing major there.

I had planned to start priming all these figures but the weather has been too wet whenever I'm at home and the shed does get a bit cold and humid so decided to wait a bit.

Dungeon Saga figure

Finally actually did some painting and worked on the Kickstarter exclusive figure from the Dungeon Saga kickstarter.  Kind of need a small figure to get back into things after near two months with very little painting.

Milliput is my friend - GW Balrog work

Feed me hobbits!

This week went to town with the milliput on the GW LotR Balrog figure.  So much milliput.  Part of this was because the figure had been broken apart and bits had been snapped off, especially around the wings.  Part was because of the usual GW approach to cutting up figures for the molds.  No hidden joins under overhanging sculpted details to make things clean.  Nope, been spoilt there with new resin figures.  Just the good old 'slice off the pieces' and let the buyers fix up the joins.

Wings after glue

I pinned (using chopped up paper clips) and superglued (with Zap-a-gap) all the pieces together.  The arms were the easiest as they had sockets.  The wings originally did but the inserts had been snapped off and were still in the figure.   So drilling and pinning there.  The back flames had tabs so they didn't need pinning.  The head had nothing, just a smooth join so pinning was a must there.

Wings after putty work

...and some more putty

Original base glued inside the new resin base, pre milliput

For the base the figure came with a 60mm flat base, totally different from the usual GW lipped bases. So I went off to The Combat Company and got a 60mm resin base.  I glued in the plastic base inside to add some bulk and used more milliput to hid the edge gap.

Love this barn

I also put together the Renedra barn and have now glued this onto a piece of 3mm mdf.

Reaper Fire Giant

Finally I put together the Reaper Fire Giant.  Only one tiny seam line to fill in on this one :)

54mm Andrea Teutonic Knight (FP-2)

Andrea Teutonic Knight (FP-2)

So my 1-1 scale terrain project has finished up so I'm now able to get back to some painting finally.  In the queue for some time was a 54mm knight with a spear (Andrea FP-2) that I purchased off eBay.

Although a Teutonic knight I wanted to do something different to the usual white as I've got a few other Teutonic figures in the cupboard.  Sorry Mike Blank.  So after much head scratching I went for a tradition(ish) blue/yellow scheme with purple highlights and green (at this stage) on the cloak.  I also wanted to try using the mixtures of two of the main colours to help shade the third colour.  Ie mix blue/purple and use this mix to shade the yellow.

For the blue I used JS Ultramarine Blue as the base, shaded with VMC Dark Sea Blue and highlighted with white and Cerulean Ink from Liquidtec.  I also added some of the base blue back to the mix to stop is chalking out so much.  It has become rather dull but I think that matches the fabric look I am after.  I may also do some dust/stains on the bottom of the cloth area later.  I did try and use the purple (see later) in the mix but that ended with the blue being too violet.

For yellow I used JS Yellow Oxide shaded with a mixture of the light purple used else where and some VMC armour brown.  Basically a very slight darker orange.  I was trying to use the secondary colours from mixing the primary colours of the figure in the shading to have some colour harmony.  Highlights with white, VMC Light Yellow and VGC amarillo yellow ink added to keep the colour intensity.  Really starting to like using inks in the highlights.

For the purple I make a mix of Liquidtec Dioxazine purple (a very dark purple) with white added to make a light purple.  The horns use this as a base and the horn tabs are this colour neat.

Originally I was going to paint the cloak in the purple but it didn't work.  Instead I swapped to a dark green (complementary to the blue/yellow) which helps the tunic pop some more.  More of that to come.

The armour was just the usually black undercoat and then some very gentle dry brushing in metallics and shading with dark sea blue and violets in the shadow areas.

On the rear of the figure the unpainted tab is some milliput that I added to give the cloak something to rest on and stop is sagging while the glue dries as the original fit wasn't that great.  I do have concerns that during gluing the cloak will sag so may also pin this.

28mm bridge painted with oils

Also painted up a 28mm bridge I purchased some time ago.  I used a technique of using oil paints smeared over a light brown acrylic base to represent a wood pattern.  Now need to add some dressing (plants, etc) and clean up some of the highlights.  Really just and excuse to break out the oil paints.

Terminator Genisys human

Finally finished the two Terminator Genisys figures.

...more humans

Orphan 9 kickstarter figure and more interruptions to painting

Orphan 9 kickstarter figure

So over the last two weeks I finished off the Orphan 9 figure.  Really liked her and I was pretty proud I managed to do her tiny face.  From a distance the green of her jumpsuit pops out from the dark red/brown of the wall.

All done

On the purple originally I wasn't happy with it so I toned it up a few levels which helped out.  The sword hilt I did in bright red to make it a bit of an accent.

More hills

Next up was finishing off a resin piece of terrain I had in the box.  Slowly cleaning out these pieces I have.  Not playing anything at the moment (and haven't for some time) but in a few years the kids will be ready.  At the moment every few months we get all the terrain board and pieces out and make villages/etc and race horses cars around the board.

Toothpick tools

For sculpting/modelling I picked up a tip (from a Bill Horan book I think) about using toothpicks coated in superglue.  I made up a few more by using the cheap and nasty superglue and sanding back with 400 grit sandpaper between coats.  Three coats later you have some very hard sculpting tools.

Starting some Terminator Genisys figures

Started another two Terminator Genisys figures.  This time I'm experimenting with sand (think old choc-chip camo) camo uniforms.  I like the idea that the human forces are a miscellaneous band of various soldiers, hence the different uniforms.  Plus it's better than painting 16 figures in green.

...now to add the flock and scatter material

However most of my time was spent on some 1-to-1 scale terrain projects.  Plumbing issues meant the entire back yard was dug up, so now it's time to level out the ground, truck in some turf underlay and spread it out and then lay some new turf.  Not what I wanted to be spending time on the be honest.

Orphan 9 kickstarter figure

So this week was more of the Orphan 9 base and figure.

Base getting near done

On the base I added some weathering.  First up was some rust and stains on the wall plate and beam.  I went from dark orange/brown to light orange with paint and then added some rust coloured pigments (from Vallejo).  I then wet down the wall and streaked/stained the pigments down the wall.  Still might try using the enamel AK rust wash I have too.

On the green door I added scuff marks, some rust spots and some glazes (dark to the bottom, lighter yellow to the top) to add some variation.  Might need some more contrast there.

I superglued in the electric wire around the top and added in some wire stands from the light.  They aren't really visible so I need to do something extra there to show that the light isn't working.  Maybe a hanging down glass cover?

Ugg, panda eyes.  Try again

Then it was onto the figure.  I started with the head as it was going to the hardest part being so small.  I spent 2-3 hours trying to get it right.  I was being super careful as if I did too many layers of paint it was start to show.  The eyes especially were hard.  I got the left eye on the first go.  The right eye (always harder) took 4 goes.  I had to drop down to a 000 brush and use the next step up magnification on the head lens set to see what I was doing.

Looking like a face

Still not 100% but I'm stopping before I break it again.  On the zoom it looks pretty good (much better than panda eyes on the earlier go.  The white stripe in the hair was a bit of an accident.  I was painting the hair black going around the head and left a white stripe.  I think it added a nice accent/highlight so I left it.

Base colours blocked in

Rather than go for the traditional black stealth suit I the wife suggested a more army camouflage option.  Didn't really want that but went for a military jumpsuit style.  The purple doesn't go with the boots so need to change that up.  However against the base she really stands out.

Back after a break

So been a few weeks.  A few reasons behind that.  Got rather sick for the better part of a month, did a lot of machining work, added a gas struct to my milling machine, worked on some robot stuff for the kids and generally just ran out of steam for painting.  So gave up for a bit and had a painting break.

Terminator Genisys figure

So getting back I started with a gentle start and did a few more Terminator Genisys figures.  Another 8 to go and then I'm onto LotR figures as my "other" painting project.  Nothing special here just some quick tabletop level painting.

..and another one

Second up was a Ral Partha figure that I think I got from the bring-and-buy at MOAB one year.  It's been in the box for awhile.  Really liked the almost Gary Chalk feel to this figure.  I had another go on painting wood texture on the spear shaft and I'm getting happier with the result.  I used four main colours

Ral Partha how I love thee

- Blue tint on the armour
- red on the cloak
- green on the clothing
- light brown on the horns/gloves

Reasonably happy with him.

Next was getting back to the Orphan 9 figure and base.  I worked on the base as I was still warming up and wanted to get the background colours sorted before moving onto the figure.  The two holes are the mounting point for the figure.

Starting to look like a base

The wall was undercoated a red/brown.  I then picked out individual bricks and painted them lighter/darker to add some variation to the wall and then painted in the mortar.  The mortar impressions in the foam are very slight so I couldn't go for a 'cover everything and wipe off' paint trick to do the mortar.

The posts around the top will have some wire on the so I started with the off white to pretend the ends are porcelain insulators.  The large door I went of green to give some contrast to the wall to and make it obvious that the second point of interest in the diorama after the figure is the door.  Just got the base colour down for it.

I used some Vallejo stone paste on the ground to add some texture to the plastic card.  Then I painted it grey and did some dust glazes followed by some dark brown/black glazes.  It was still not looking like much so I added the pavement lines.  There was still a bit of moisture from the previous glaze with allowed the dark brown/black paint I used for the lines to bleed a bit.  This resulted in a great effect of making the pavement lines look much more natural.  I then added in some extra cracks.  Need to add a few highlights next, but more as splotches/stains of colour.

Orphan 9 kickstarter figure and base

So I've mainly been making fidget spinners this last week or so.  Resin casing up some and making and casting an additional bar spinner for the kids.  That is now into the final spray painting stage so almost done there.

I finished up the 28mm barbarian I was working on.  Putting him in the cupboard with the other (and much older) figures it's pretty much chalk and cheese between the old and new.  Even with figures from a year or so ago there is a huge difference.

I am still not sure on how to get started with the 54mm knight.  Not sure what is going on there.  Didn't stop me from buying some more 54mm figures from eBay however.

Orphan 9 kickstarter figure

The figure from the Orphan 9 kickstarter arrived a few weeks back and I got a really strong idea for a diorama base for her.  She is very much a true 25mm (think old school Ral Partha) figure with super fine detail.  I seriously am doubting if I have the brush control to paint her face it's that small and fine.

Start of the base

For the base I got the idea of her waiting around the corner in a cyberpunk environment.  Using pine as the base material I used some pre-printed brick styrene sheet for the walls.

The bits..

The railing that is a great source for odd shapes

Then with some card I made up a door.  I have a Victorian era railing that I cut up for various details.  I used the rails for electric wire holders around the top of the building, the round rail decoration bit for wall bolts (to show age in the building) and some of the circle detail bits for the door handle.  Max level repurposing.  To attach the figure to the base her legs are almost too thin for drilling and adding pins so I am thinking of cutting down the support tab to make small pins under each foot.  Going to have to be rather careful there.

all together

For colours I need to trial some ideas.  Currently black boots (of course), red jump suit and dark blue padding/armour areas.  Really going to need the optivisor for this figure.

Now for the paint

Cosplay shield and a few figures

So for the last few months I have had a side project to make a cosplay style shield for the wife with an Elder Scrolls theme.  She worked out the design (slightly organically) that she wanted and I got to make and paint it.

Warbla and craft foam, light areas the wood putty

I used warbla as the base material for this.  Previously for the kids I had made shields out of foam (ie garage floor mats) as they were going to be beat up a bit.  This shield would be handled a bit more gently.  Also I wanted a large project to learn how to use warbla.  There are 2-3 layers of warbla over most of the shield.  The was a main backing layer, a top layer so that the centre could be appear recessed and then a another backing layer as I found just one layer of warbla was too thin and bent a bit in places.  On heating one layer of warbla tends to wrinkle.  I found that with multilayered areas sometimes the warbla would de-laminate.

Gesso coat

Craft foam was then glued on top to form the petal pattern and the stylised hand in the centre of the shield.  Unfortunately I had a seam line (due to the size of the pieces of warbla I had) across the centre of the shield which despite filling with wood putty and sanding still showed through.  I was thinking it would be blended in pretty well but that was not the case.  The petal design was a late change to the design and if I had known about that in advance I would have hidden the seams under the layer of craft foam.  So more planning in advance would have helped like always.

Undercoat

After everything was glued/puttied/sanded I coated everything in three coats of gesso.  The pro builders use spray on plastic-dip and I can see why.  However it is rather expensive.  Following on from the gesso I undercoated everything black.

Done

The red sections were airbrushed on after I masked off (so much masking) the rest of the shield.  I used JS paints for this.  The gold was from the AK wax metallic range and painted on.  Very much like Rub-and-buff but it paints on much easier.  Almost like painting with soft butter.

Following on from the paint I did two clear coats (spray can) before the weathering with oils.  I thin the oils down with white spirit to do basically pin washes along the edges and some highlights.  However despite the clear cost some paint was still lifted by the white spirit.  I think next time I'll just stick with 100% acrylics.  I highlight blended up the red areas (to more plum red) and the black (to light purple/grey).  Totally monotone areas look very odd so variation is needed.  The gold got a raw sienna wash to tone it down slightly.  On the areas that the paint lifted I went back and padded/finger stamped on some black/grey to redo those areas.  I find this blends better than just straight painting.  More of a stipple than painting.  The petals and the hand were repainted in flat black to make them pop a bit.

Again once that was dried out (I left the oils 3-4 days to dry) some more semi-gloss clear coats.

Witch

Eureka samurai

Old school is the best school

Away from the shed I painted up a few old figures.  A witch from Warlord Games (I think), a samurai from Eureka Miniatures and an old Grenadier figure.  Just something to keep the brush going.  Still very much stuck in a rut on painting.  I cast up a new copy of my alien bust I did last year as another thing to paint and experiment on.  Still haven't gotten going on my 54mm knight with maybe a horse added.  This didn't stop me however going to a scale model show and buying some new 1/32 figures.  They were cheap however.  I've always wanted to do some American civil war project so the box of figures from Master Box seemed like a good idea at the time :)

Terminator Genisys and some terrain

So spent the first bit of the week tidying up the 3 eyed alien bust.  Nothing major, just some so touch ups and fiddling.  I seem to do this every time.

Terminator Genisys figure

Next was a couple of Terminator Genisys figures.  Tried going for the black/grey tactical look on these two.  I've decided painting grey is pretty dull.  Six human figures done, ten to go.  Really need to get through these so I can say they are done (bit of OCD there) and move onto all of the LoTR figures I have waiting...

Terminator Genisys figure

While in the shed painting up the new cosplay shield for the wife (putty and undercoat done, started the main colours) I went through my box of resin terrain and pulled out a piece to do.  This one was from Fernvale Scenics.  I just like to do terrain pieces every now and then.  Not really playing miniature games any more (other than Dungeon Saga with the kids) but I still like doing these.  I'm thinking a few more years and the kids will be ready :)

Paint work done

For the rocks on this piece I started with JS Raw Sienna and shaded up with Cadmium Mid Yellow and then Warm White.  I did this in as a mixture of layering and then some dry brushing to ease the transition between layers.  The shading was done by adding in some VMA Armour Brown.  A great brown/purple colour.

Sorry kids, no lunch boxes for you...

I then glued on various scatter to the base with PVA.  The key is to make it random which can be harder than it seems.  You mind naturally wants to do things in an ordered way.  I went for a darker scatter near the base of the rocks and a lighter scatter further out.  I label all my boxes of basing materials with the name from the packet.  This way I know exactly what I purchased, hence names like "Field Balk".

Scatter applied

Once the scatter was done I let it dry and then applied a very watered down layer of PVA over the top.  This bonds with the previous layer and makes the scatter rock solid.  No more scatter dandruff after the game.  Next will be adding some vertical variation with static grass and grass tufts/flock bundles.

This week will probably be shield work so hopefully will get that well underway.