Christmas, New year, 54mm Cimmerian King (aka Conan) done and some Dungeon Saga

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year.  I had a week off but that was for the kids (and shopping) so not much getting done there compared to the previous week off when I did all the work on Conan.

54mm Cimmerian King (aka Conan)

So first up I finished off my 54mm Cimmerian King figure by Andrea.  The last bit was fiddling on the base.  Everything was glued down with two part epoxy or PVA glue for the lighter items.  I added in a blood spattered dirk and broken spear to the base and made a banner from green stuff.

Best flesh I have ever done

The banner was done by rolling out very thin green stuff and then crumpling it into the desired shape and letting it dry.  Once dry I painted in a light purple to add some colour to the base (otherwise a very dull brown) and to catch the eye.  Finally I touched up the black edging and called him done.

Dungeon Saga Salamander

For a break between big jobs I did another Dungeon Saga hero figure, the fire breathing Salamander.  I tried out some Jo Sonja’s paints for the first time (they were cheap during a boxing day sale).  Very nice colours and they cover quite well.  However when they say matte paint, they really mean it.  I tried a bright orange for the skin and it was very orange, and the flattest finish I have seen.  More so than matt varnish.  So when other people have mentioned that the Vallejo paints are slightly satin in finish, I now see what they mean.  Like many things related to painting, it’s all relative.

Dungeon Saga zombie

Finished off three zombies from Dungeon Saga in the quick and dirty method.  Shouldn’t have gone with a brown for the pants and it blends too much.  Never mind, these guys die off pretty quick :)

1/35 Tamiya German 37mm AT crew

Next up in the “in between figures” will be another 1/35 German from the Tamiya 37mm AT gun set.  Really need to have a go at more 1/35 WW2 figures but just not enough time.  2017 will be the year of the Tamiya tank diorama (which I’m sure I will curse like the Violinist) I think.

500 pages!!

On Christmas Eve I found out that The Combat Company (just down the road from me) had the new FAQ Dioramas from AK in stock.  500 pages of diorama love :)  Always best to buy the Xmas presents you want.

Halo Fleet battles bust

Finally also at The Combat Company they had the “2016 Halo Fleet Battles Tournament” box on sale.  So for under $20 I picked up the set as it had two 1/10 (?) size busts in it (as prizes I assume).  I’ve assembled both and prepared them by undercoating them black and then doing white highlights to suggest shadow placements.  I’ll probably do the human figure first.

Halo Fleet battles bust

Four weeks to Cancon and I’ll probably take the Cimmerian King, the Amy Johnson bust and the Violinist diorama down to enter in the painting competition.  I was going to take the old Ral Partha (mini) Death Dealer but I don’t think he is up to scratch.  I love the figure but the others I’ve done more recently are better.  Maybe I’ll be able to do the 75mm version for next year.

A little side trip to WW2 in 1/35

Base coats and ugly

Much better

Needing to paint a person rather than scenery I painted up another of my 1/35 Tamiya German 37mm AT gun crew member.  I even got to use my helmet decals (which I forgot to do on the first guy) which after some weathering looks quite good.  When applying decals I’ve learnt that it really pays to do a coat of gloss varnish first.  Also using decal softener helps a lot.  Once the decal is dry I applied a coat of matt varnish before continuing on with the painting.  It’s also quite easy to paint a figure when you know what you are doing, rather than spending hours experimenting (and failing).

Pretty helmet decal

My wall section continues to give me grief.  I did another dry fix an found the wall was off just a bit too much.  The short side wasn’t quite square to the back wall so I had to rip it off and sand the side down.  This was of course after undercoating the whole thing of course.  Really over this wall.

I’ve been thinking about the ground cover and the large cobblestones I was going to have under the fountain.  I’ve decided I don’t like the cobblestones as they look too big and rough.  So instead I thinking I’m going to go with the paving styrene sheet I used for the 54mm Samuari wall.  I then had a very frustrating few hours trying to get a paint scheme that worked.  Finally managed to get one based around VMC Golden Brown, VMC Khaki Grey, VMC Charred Brown and glazes with of VMA Burnt Umber and VMA Mahogany.  I found I need the brown/red glazes to tie the colour of the ground back to the red bricks I will have on the wall.  Also a number of glazes adds a bit of volume and depth as the styrene sheet pattern is quite flat.

Paving in action

So the wall is currently drying after another glue up, tomorrow to be puttied and sanded.  I’ve cut out the paving sheet to size and will undercoat that next.  I also need to start some water effects trials for the fountain.  I’m not happy with the slow progress rate but with everything taking 2-3 trials first it is what it is.