A new year approaches...

So I have had very few posts on my blog. Something I plan to address and fix this next year. So with the new year coming in a few hours I figured I would write down some of my goals for this next year and actually keep track of them here on the blog since they are all Miniature Wargaming related...

In no particular order, I give you... THE LIST!

Fully paint 2000 points of the First Special Service Force for Flames of War.

Fully paint 2000 points of Fallschirmjager for Flames of War.

Qualify for, and attend a National Tournament for Flames of War.

Paint a small Circle of Oboros force for Hordes.

Paint and complete a Napoleonic army in 28mm for LaSalle (It should be my Peninsular British but may end up being my French)

And finally post at least one update a week in 2011.

Honestly will I complete all of these? Well I damn sure am going to try!

Happy New Year!

1st KGL Hussar

Just a little WIP shot of the Captain for my 1st KGL Hussars... I will get more done over the holidays, after cooking. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A quick test

I painted this base up while watching Saving Private Ryan. This is part of what will be a set used to run "intro games" at conventions here in the US.

Frustration...

So Fall In is just around the corner. As in 3 days time. And I had promised myself earlier this year that I would be entering some painting contests... Well the year is quickly coming to a close and here is the last chance of the year I know of and I am empty handed. I was working on a Perry Brothers Mounted French Infantry Colonel for Fall In. I was frustrated to begin with seeing as there is absolutely no information at all on the website for Fall In as to a painting contest. After a few days of searching I decided to email the event director. Still no response.

So last night I sit down and decide to work on one of my weaker areas of painting. The Horse. Sadly I had forgotten how badly miscast the inner legs of my horse were. As you can plainly see in this picture. There is no way in hell I could win anything with the model in that bad of shape. Sadly none of my files can reach inside of the legs at that point. What could I do? Greenstuff and try and re-shape the legs? Possibly. But at this point the project is dead in the water.

Bah Humbug!
And this is where I sat with the Colonel this evening. I am not happy with the golds on his epaulets. I am really rusty. Just goes to show if you stop painting on a regular basis and for a long time, you can lose a lot of skill.
Well he will just have to do for what he is. And will be included in my 1st French Regiment for LaSalle. On a side note I am anxiously awaiting a shipment I just placed with Warlord Games for a unit of Cacadores!

Mon dieu!

A little WIP...

Mid War Tiger 1E

So I had shifted from working on my Early War Light Panzer Kompanie, to working on my Mid War DAK. This was for a recent tournament. Sadly due to some unforeseen family health issues I stopped production on everything I was working on. I am slowly starting to pick the brush back up. Sadly I missed the tournament which I had been waiting for some time for. That's life.

Above is the before shot of my Tiger before I did any weathering to it. And below is with several pigments from Secret Weapon Miniatures, some Cavalry Brown sponged on, and a standard No. 2 Pencil. I just wanted people to see the difference these little things can make.

So once again I am hoping to ramp things back up. Fall In is at the end of the month and I would like to actually try and enter a painting contest again for the 2nd time in my life.

The beginnings of my Leichte Panzerkompanie...

Well this is actually the test paint WIP shot. Right now just the grey is finished on this bad boy. I have a base color on the treads, need to finish them up. Finish the wheels, and the tools and small details on the tank. And then comes the hard decision... Do I roll with the grey/brown camo used mainly from 39-40? Or roll with the solid grey used from 41+? Going with the later has it's advantages as far as gaming purposes. I want to hurry up and decided so I can start laying down pigments and some more weathering and tank markings.

As far as how I painted it thus far? I used the FoW German Grey Spray Primer, a wash of Badab Black over the whole model. Then I went back and block painted in German Grey. And finally a light drybrush of Adeptus Battlegrey. Finally for the primer the Germans used on their tanks I used the sponge method and put on some Burnt Sienna (which is also the tread color). It's pretty simple so far and has a nice result.

I guess my situation doesn't help that I should be getting a shipments of Warlord Games models soon and a bunch of Perry Bro's French Napoleonic's? Man I need to focus on something! And probably not these guys!

A little 15mm WIP

So I have been in a Operation Market Garden map campaign with my fellow Icehouse Warriors (A good local gaming club). And of course I have been fielding my 3rd Fallschirmjager for Flames of War. It is a progression campaign for guys starting new armies, and starting out new in the game. Sadly my fellow Germans have been getting stomped in my absence (due to recent emergency surgery). But I figured I would show what I have on my desk at the moment for my army.

Also below are 2 units for my Mid War Fallschirmjager from Tunisa. These need some fine detail work still such as the tires on the wheels for the Marder II's and vehicle markings for the 8 Rads. So as I chug along on both late war and mid war Germans, soon I will be adding early war as well.

A little work in progress...

Well today is like a mini Christmas! I got my 2nd swing arm lamp in, a stock up on silfor, and a few resource books for napoleonics. But I will keep it brief.

Currently on the workbench are the 74th Highlanders, 43rd British Light Infantry, Sir Lowry Cole (seen above), some reccee for my 3rd Fallschirmjager, and a few 28mm British Para's, US Aiborne, Fallschirmjager, Waffen SS. And a single Silver Skull Space Marine... So expect some updates soon.

Sorry for the lack of updates...

Things have been a little crazy lately between work and home life. Also I have been playing in Flames of War campaign with a gaming club I am a part of. Oh and the recent release of Starcraft II. And finally, I was in the hospital! Yup, I had my Appendix removed this past Friday. So I am limping around the apartment and hopped up on multiple painkillers which tend to make my vision go a little crazy. However, this also means I am not allowed to work for at least a week. And we all know what that means! Painting time.

I got my new MIG Airbrush in last week as well. I am excited. Just worried I am going to mess up painting a lot since one of my meds is essentially morphine! Woo Hoo!

And so the Storm Warden's project has ended for us...

Well for most of us anyhow. There is still the final drawings to be had and the final prizes to give away, including the grand prize! In my rush to finish the two models on time, I failed to take any decent shots of them. So I have left it in Dave Taylor's hands. So hopefully soon I will have some shots of the two guys. But I have to warn you all. I wasn't able to do anything special about the librarian's force sword. I just couldnt make the magic happen on it so I had to do a very generic one.

I am working on a few articles for the blog. How to make a Psychic Hood for a librarian, since many seemed interested in how I made mine. How to make camo netting for vehicles. This one works for both Flames of War and 40k. A Silver Skull Space Marine. And then a few others as well.

But I need to decided which personal project to work on next. Either my 28mm British Napoleonics, 18mm French Napoleonics, Flames of War Fallschirmjager or US Devil's Brigade, or entries for the Cold Wars Painting Contests... I haven't really competed in anything since 2005.

I have a new airbrush on the way that I plan on doing a few cool things with which I will keep you all posted on as well. Stay tuned...

Librarian Complete...

Ha! Well he is 99% complete. I just have to let the greenstuff under his foot dry so I can paint that up and then seal him with dullcote. I am happy with the way he turned out overall. Sadly my photo setup isn't the best so small details don't show as well like the sword which I tried something different on and it doesn't show up on camera. Oh well. Either way I am sure he will make his new owner very happy. I will take a night off to paint something different and then I will try to finish up the chaplain which isn't too hard. My goal is to have him complete by Thursday at the latest. I hope you guys like him!

Almost there...

Just like the title says. This guy is almost done. Basecoats are down, shading is done on most of him. Now on too the highlighting and details. I figured I would show everyone where he is, since I haven't posted an update in the past few days. Work and being sick have limited my time. My personal goal is to have him done by Monday night at the latest...

Painting the face

So today I had to run errands and prime a bunch of models to work on for various projects. I got to prime the Storm Warden Librarian today and put a little bit of paint on him late this evening. I figured I would do a little step by step on how I painted his face. So here goes...

I first thin down Vallejo Game Color Tan (GW Tanned Flesh) 2 parts paint, 1 part water, 1 part flow improver. I then paint this on the model anywhere the skin will be, it can be messy, but should probably take you about 2 coats to cover it.

Next I take Vallejo's Dwarf Skin (GW Dwarf Flesh) and do the same mixture. At this point I paint it on all areas except the deepest recesses of the face. I also paint the eyes black at this stage.

Finally I do a mix of Dwarf Skin and Elf Skintone 50/50 but thin this with additional part of water. Trying to be careful to paint on the raised edges of the dwarf skin areas. And I try to get in the eyes with the white. Pretty simple recipe, and a lot of painters use it. Maybe it's just me but I feel like the GW colors blend a bit better, for some reason the Vallejo Game Color paints don't like to mix it seems. Oh well, progress is progress. I just have to decide if I want to leave his eyes white (which I like doing on Librarians) or finish them off...

Librarian Update...

So my allotted time for working on the conversion part of the Librarian has come to an end. Sadly I can only really spend the rest of this week working on painting this guy and finishing up the Chaplain. I couldn't find my heat gun (I recently moved) and thus I was unable to make a proper loin cloth for him. However I have to admit I am happy with the end result and a new one of a king Librarian for the Storm Warden army. Here he is prior to priming. I will be sure to have plenty of WIP shots of how I paint him. Now I have to decide (time plays a factor), do I want to paint lighting effects on him? ie Glowing eyes that brighten the area around them. Maybe his left hand? We will have to see as I jump in to painting tomorrow. I hope you guys like him, I know I would like to keep him ;) Oh and I may still switch out his left shoulder pad. I have tonight to think on it before I prime him in the morning. Maybe I will try and sculpt one overnight.

The Librarian... WIP

So here he is in his current concept phase. Parts are still removable. I have some iconography to complete to put on various things like the cross guard on his nemesis force weapon, hoses, coils, things like that. The main 2 things I am contemplating on doing to the model is to make him more upright (he seems like he is leaning too far forward), and the other is to possibly do a green stuff tabard or robe. Like I said before, I may be making this way too complex and may dial it back more. We'll see, nut at least he will make a nice centerpiece for the army... any suggestions are always welcome!

Tonights Stormwarden Progress...

So tonight I haven't achieved a whole lot. Well visually anyhow. I did manage to get both bases painted (I must say they are beautiful bases that were donated by Secret Weapon Miniatures) and some green stuff/conversion work on the 2nd model I am working on. I have a grand vision for this guy, but since time is an issue... I may have to drop it down a level or two in design. So some pictures are better than no pictures at all, and progress is after all progress! Please donate to this worthy cause everyone. We are putting a lot of time and effort in to this project. And there is a ton of awesome prize support being given out! And who knows, you could win this super sexy army that will be 1 of a kind!

Storm Warden Chaplain WIP

So here is a quick little update to let you all know where I am on my half of the project.

What have I gotten myself in to?

Oh I know, a good cause! I saw on my friend Dave Taylor's blog page that he was taking part in a huge project for Dr's Without Borders and working on an army to raffle off. I dropped him a line on his blog asking if he needed any help. And so here I am working on both a Chaplain and Librarian for the project. Pretty cool. That's my first priority project now that I have failed to qualify for the US Nationals for Flames of War... by about 3 or 4 points. BAH! As my friend Ron put it, I now have over 380 days to prepare for next year... yeah that is encouraging!

As far as other projects, an old friend (Brad Morin) that is on the other side of the world asked if I would be interested in painting a marine for another project where everyone submit's one marine from various chapters. I drew the Silver Skulls so keep a look out for that one as well. As I will not be doing the standard shiny pretty metal scheme they are in the books.

And today I started working on some Hordes stuff for a good friend. So those will be WIP as well. So stay tuned... all 2 of you who read this. Who knows, maybe I will start getting a few more after the Stormwarden's project...

So whats new?

Well I have been busy working on the gaming table at home. And finally finishing the Warmachine project. Aside from that I have been trying to zero in on a 3rd Fallschirmjager list I like from Hell's Highway that I will run at the Icehouse Warriors Late War Tournament June 12th. I have narrowed it down even more thankfully. But in the process I decided to do a test paint on both a Fallschirmjager and a 2nd SS Panzergrenadier. Here was the end results. I personally wasnt happy with either camo attempt but practice makes perfect. And soon I will have a lot of practice!

Ahh what to do, what to do...

So I am very nearly finished with the Warmachine Project. 2/3 Models have been delivered and the individual is very happy. Which makes me happy. HistoriCON is in July and the Flames of War Nationals as well. Well this seasons tournament circuit has been meh for me. But I have only competed 2 times and both times I finished about mid way. But Nationals would be interesting. I would probably be better off just trying to compete in the painting there. But there are chances I could play in the tournament. With that said... what should I focus on? The new army lists from Dog's and Devil's which many people haven't seen let alone been able to face? Or should I work on the Fallschirmjager for the tournament. And if I chose the DnD lists... should I roll German or Allied? Any input would be great from the 2 people that occasional read this lol.

Warmachine Project almost complete!

So here I am. I told you all I was not dead! Just busy with the recent move. And with a newfound promotion at work. Getting settled into the new place and getting ready for painting again. New place = new layout of workstation. I also built a 4x6 sectional gaming table for home.

Anyhow enough of all of that! Here is the completed Sorcha, and 1 Semi-Complete Warjack. The other one has basecoats but will require all the layers and highlights as well. This one here needs its runes completed and some hoses and various plates to be completed. But at least here is a little eye candy.

I'm not dead... honest!

I know I haven't been around or posted anything in a while. And there is a good reason for that...

I moved! We moved into a larger place and now I actually have a room that I can work my voodoo in! Tonight was the first night in weeks that I was able to pick up a brush for painting something other than a wall. I'm back on the warpath and will be bringing some warjacks to you soon. I may do a Blood Angel step by step painting guide. It would be better than my really old Imperial Fist one. But it's hard to paint models for a game system I do not love (40k) when I really want to play more Flames of War and LaSalle! I do need to dust off the brits and get some more units done. Like my Hussars or Light Dragoons. Even a general would be nice. Lets see what the future holds...

Warmachine Project WIP

So I have a few obligations, one of which is this Warmachine Khador Project. I was tasked to paint up the starter Khador box and try to make them somewhat Space Wolf looking... Well you all have seen the Warcaster Sorcha for the most part. She is finished aside from her basing. Now these two bad boys are posing more of a challenge. Again I made my attempt at MNMM. Well its a poor attempt because I am not messing with light directions and horizons and all that crap. Its severely weathers old metal at this point. That process is finished except I may put more of a patina on them later. The last two nights I have spent what little time I could on their shoulders. Sadly on the one that is still black I am at a stalemate until I can get my hands on some transfers. Hopefully soon I will have some and can finish his shoulder up. So here is where we stand. Sorry the one pic is out of focus. I am tired and have to get ready for bed and dont want to fire everything back up. Aside from these I am also working on my 3. Fallschirmjager for Flames of War late war period from Hell's Highway.

This evening updates...

Jumping back and forth between the Khador Warcaster and a test Blood Angel. Here is what we got...

Ahh the life of a minature painter...

The one constant thing is, you suffer from what we call "Bright shiney object syndrome". Meaning anything new is hard to resist! So needless to say my workbench is cluttered with projects to work on, and the last thing I need is one more. I have my German Fallschirmjager, German SS Gerpanzerte Panzergrenadiers, some Warmachine Khador that I am painting for a friend (the most recent pics you have seen on here), Hordes Circle of Obersomethinglikethat for the same friend, and my Napoleonics... so the last thing I need to think of is these guys. But I have a very old devotion to the boys in red. A fanatical one you could say. And let me explain this.

You see when I was a Black Shirt (Manager) for Games Workshop, my first shop was their HQ, the Glen Burnie Battle Bunker. This was around 03/04. At the time the US Business was regionalized. Our region was the North East, and we were known as the Blood Angels. Being the manager of the flagship store I felt I needed to represent that army and have one for myself. I began working on them slowly here and there. A project came up for Games Day in which a group of managers and cell managers all got together and said we would paint the entire chapter (1000 Marines). I initially said I would pitch in and help my cell manager work on the 1st Co. 50 Terminators and 50 Veteran Assault Marines. Somehow the majority of it fell in my lap. And I in turn recruited my staff at the time to kick in. We got them done in time and after that I continued to work on my 2nd Co when I went on to run the Annapolis store. I was proud of my boys and had a decent track record with them. I grabbed everything I could find that was BA related. The sad short ending to the story is the army was stolen from me. I had just heavily converted my honor guard, and was a good way into having painted all 100 marines from the Company.

And here we go again, with a quick test. Sprayed Army Painter Red, and washed with Devlan Mud. I will post a step by step later on when I paint one from start to finish. But I wanted to see how the red is... and me likey!

Tonights progress

Nothing too major. The blend on the cloak is a bit to subtle on the camera but better in person. I may give it a glaze or two to darken the recesses. The armor will most likely be the next step as it has it's basecoat. I need to decide if I want to keep the edge of the collar black or possibly do it in a bone color?

Here is a sneak peak...

Of a project I am working on for a friend of mine :) Just finished up my first attempt at MNMM for the metallic areas... And if you notice there is a skull on top of the warjack that I scuplted...

Ahh Adeption...

Well Adepticon has come and gone. Good times with a lot of old friends from way back. And sadly the 5 day bender has to end as well. I was impressed with the con and had good times playing in both beginner tournaments for flames of war. My mad dash and 1.5 week tirade of painting paid off with Best Painted Axis Army for the Mid War Tournament. Woo Hoo! I will get a good shot of the complete army up soon. In the meantime, having seen all the wonderfully converted armies has sent the brain into overdrive and the need to pain anything other than Fallschirmjager is great.

Schnell!

Soo close. All that is left is details and weathering on the StuGs, silfor on the mortars and arty, and webbing on the arty. Oh and one more Command base from start to finish. I have it built and ready to prime. I realized this past sunday I was missing one. And finally to finish the one objective marker and work on the panzer one a little more if I have time. One more day of painting til I leave. Soo close.

Monday nights update

Well Sunday was a learning experience for me on what to and what not to do with my army. Anyhow I took a few things away from the 2 games but sadly can't change my list to one I think would be more suited to the army. So back to painting. bases are done on all teams except the arty and mortars. Just finished the 2 8-Rads and the 2 Marder II's. So Actually I should have moved them to the finished pile. 2 more days of painting left. Whats left you ask?

Weapons, and webbing on the remaining crews. And for the 4 StuGs, camo and details. I will work on weapons and webbing tonight as well to get as much done as possible to free up the tanks.