Using Different Paints and a Completed Project

This is an art piece of One Shot done by GrainGnome and hosted on DeviantArt. There's a lot of other fantastic work you can see by following this link: http://graingnome.deviantart.com/

I always struggle to find an appropriate opening image for my posts. Fortunately, I found this gorgeous representation of the model. I feel that we should pull reference and techniques from everywhere. For example, look at the use of a bright, small concentration of white to create an extreme contrast and compare that white to the off-white/cream-white of the fur.

Now, on to the content planned for today. I have been reading a lot about the "best paint" for painting miniatures. I believe that there is no "best paint." The different brands of paint are designed to do different things. We should take these strengths and use them, rather than creating binaries of "this is good and this is bad."

The miniature we have today is Soda Pop Miniature's One Shot and Fritz, from the Relic Knights line. My brother wanted me to paint this beautiful model for him for his birthday, which I am more than happy to do.

The model itself is great. I really feel that the casting material did not do the original sculpt justice, though. I'd have much preferred metal or resin. I hear that they are moving toward resin in the future, which I am looking forward to. There's a lot of shrinkage in several places, especially in the leg areas. The cannon has less detail than I'd like. I hope this is something that changes by the time I work on another one. Don't let my talk discourage you, though. The sculpts are fun and the miniatures are a blast to paint.

You'll notice the shrinkage that I spoke of in the pictures at the end. My brother didn't want them fixed, so I didn't fix them. If you get a model with some weird casting accidents, you can easily smooth it out with green stuff, milliput, or filler putty. I'll go over those in detail at some point in the future.

Well, what if I told you something similar, but less mind-blowing?

Here is what I have done: I painted the mech in Badger's Miniataire paints and created transitions with a few ghost tints. Details and freehand were done with Citadel paints. The cannon was also done in Citadel paints (I can never get metallics to show up right. I think it's time for a hardware upgrade).

Fritz, the little guy, was painted in Scale 75's Fantasy and Games paint.

One shot was painted solely with Citadel.

I used Vallejo Fluorescent colors for several bright areas, like Fritz's eyes.

Forgive my photo quality. My camera tends to make things grainy, so I'll be needing an upgrade soon. Have a look at these images and let me know if you guys have any questions or comments. I'd love to speak with you guys.

Just in case, click the photos to enlarge them.

Take care and keep painting!

-Matte

The Dystopian Wars Question

Hey All!

So, as you all know, I have been kicking around the idea of starting some Dystopian Wars.  Not right now mind you, but down the line when I have some more time and money, it is certainly on the list to play.  However, I want to pick the right fleets to start out with...  I want to do something similar to my Firestorm Armada plan - collect two fleets so that I can demo the game to people and have some variety to my playing.

Which leads me to my question... what fleets?  I've narrowed it down to one for certain, but I am not sure about the other.

I am going to collect Republique of France.  They have gorgeous models, an awesome play style with the mid range effectiveness, some of the best air units, FLYING BATTLESHIPS, and other interesting tidbits like that.  Plus I love the look of all of their models.

I mean come on.... thats fantastic looking (and also happens to be the starter box)

What should my other fleet be then?  Well, my thoughts were the following:

Prussians - I love their land and air models, and the no-nonsense approach to their navy models is nice in its own way.  I love that they use Tesla weapons, and that they are renowned for boarding assaults.  However, it is those same Naval vessels that make me think I might get bored with them.  I don't want to get bored painting the ships.  I love their land and air models - they are some of the coolest in the game - but I want to start on the naval side of things.

Covenant of Antarctica - Once again, their models just really get me.  I love the walker models on land (I don't care for EotBS naval stuff, which is why they wont be here on this list even though they have walkers too) and they have some interesting Air choices.  Their naval stuff is pretty cool, with the exception of the frigate, but I would get over that.

Chinese Federation - I know that they are only a naval faction at the moment... But they have awesome models.  I really want to get into the Land and Air portions of the game, and I wont be able to do that with the Chinese, but I still put them in because I could always start a third fleet for land based operations.  For instance - Chinese and French for the naval battles, then French and Prussians for land and air, eventually adding in naval units for the Prussians.... which would probably make more sense if I just added Chinese later, after two main fleets...

Free Australians - Same reason as the Chinese - they have beautiful models, but they are only naval at the moment and that would result in serious problems when I want to add land and air to the game.  Even though I really like their models....

So there you have it.  I am leaning towards either Prussians, even though I might get bored with the Naval vessels, or Chinese, just because their models are so damn cool.  I don't know though... Any help would be much appreciated!

In the meantime, I have a game of Firestorm Armada coming down the pike in the next couple days I think, so that should be awesome!  Look forward to seeing that in the near future... Until then, Tarum et clama dimit belli canes! 

A little piece of my mind...

Hey all!

Just wanted to share something I found while doing my nightly blog stroll.  Frontline Gamer wrote an article almost 2 years ago describing almost exactly how I feel now.  That is, that Games-Workshop is going a direction that a lot of us gamers don't particularly care for.  However, they are not the only company anymore - they laid the ground work yes - but they are no longer the only company, and infact there are hundreds of companies out there that probably make a game that you will enjoy more than your current Warhammer 40k or Warhammer Fantasy games.  And there are literally games for every possible desire out there....

Anyway, here is a link to the article for your reading pleasure.  Hope you all enjoy, and leave some comments about other games you are trying, heck leave comments about your games-workshop games you are making at the moment.  Lemme hear em!

http://thefrontlinegamer.blogspot.com/2011/12/golden-age-of-gaming.html?showComment=1371105291508#c7480350604373535372

Until next time, Tarum et clama dimit belli canes!

Projects and Plans

So with my Firestorm Fleet of Rense System Naval vessels inbound, I can't help but take the time to think about other projects I have going, and what I might want to work on or begin with the completion of various other projects.

Taking top priority right now is in fact the building, priming, and painting of the RSN fleet.  Beyond that I have several options.

1. Skaven - there are always skaven slaves to be painted, and monsters to be finished for the rats.
2. High Elves - I have over 100 models left to paint and base for my pointy eared cavalry army.
3. Terrain for Firestorm - need to build some asteroids and paint up the satellites I ordered.
4. Sedition Wars - I love these models, they just always get put on the back burner :(

Projects that I would like to start:

- I would love to become a Spartan Vanguard member.  In order to do that, you need to have 2 well painted fleets so you can demo the game to people.  I am thinking that this would also be the perfect excuse to start collecting a Relthoza or Terran Fleet, plus add to the local wargaming community with a new game.
- On the same note as Firestorm, I have a desire to play Spartan Studio's Firestorm: Planetfall.  10mm sci-fi action sounds ridiculously cool, plus the models are gorgeous.  However, they don't sell starter boxes anymore, so it would be cost effective to play another game like...
- Dystopian Wars!  I could swing either the two naval group set for myself and start Prussians and Empire of the Blazing Sun (or the land groups for that matter).  Or I could really buff up a Prussian naval group with the starter box and one of the support flotillas that are coming out.
- Dystopian (LAND) Wars!  As surely as the naval game is amazing looking, the two army land battle group bundle sounds awesome as well - to get my Prussian and Empire of the Blazing Sun on.
- Infinity is also a very tempting game to start out, with ALEPH calling my name.  The models are truly fantastic and the rules are actually really cool.  This might happen.
- American Civil War Historical game using Black Powder rules.  Its a mouthful to say, but when you can buy a complete Confederate army and a complete Union army for $20 on amazon, it is really tempting.  Plus I would like to get into some historical gaming, and this might be the way.
- Hawk Wargames Dropzone Commander has honestly been making me all hot and bothered for about a year now.  The game looks absolutely fantastic, the models are great, the terrain is wonderful, and it would just be right in the world if I could start some Shaltari and rip open a can of whoop ass on some humans.
- and finally, the option I should probably take, and save money up to buy into one of the AH-MAZING kickstarter projects that will be coming out this year; namely All Quiet on the Martian Front, Wild West Exodus, and WarZone Resurrection.  All of those games look like a lot of fun, but aren't going to be in full production for quite some time yet.  I would really love to get my hands on some of the All Quiet stuff, but until then I will probably succumb to one of the other temptations... Until then, Tarum et clama dimit belli canes!

The Importance of Painting

Hey all!

We all have seen tabletops that are almost completely barren looking - even in the heat of battle.  What I mean is, we all have seen games that have no terrain, a few primed models, and one or two painted models a side, while the rest fight as an unrecognizable blob on the table.

I know this because I have been there.  When you play the hobbies, you want to PLAY.  You want to be knee deep in the action, rolling dice and getting as much play time in as possible.  However, I am a true believer in the power of painted models, and fully decked out tables.  Most of us don't have time to lavish details on the hilt of an ax of one dwarf warrior who is probably going to die tripping over a log in a forest.  If you do have the time and patience to do that, I envy you.

Most of us want an army that looks reasonably well painted, and follows the 3 foot rule.  If a P-51 mustang looks like a P-51 mustang at 3 feet, your home free.  You don't need to paint super detailed.  In my gaming group alone, there is a player who I respect greatly.  He plays Wood Elves in Warhammer Fantasy, and has a fairly sizable collection that does generally well on the tabletop.  However, in the coarse of 8 months, he has managed to paint a single model.  This is because he suffers from "Perfectionist's Paralysis" as I call it.  His models must be perfect and detailed, right down to the individual locks of hair on their head.

My point of this ramble is, don't settle for having a grey blob army, and don't get "Perfectionist's Paralysis."  Paint your models quickly and get them on the table!  It looks so much better and gets the juices flowing a little bit more when your model that you DID lavish with detail because it is a centerpiece model obliterates through your enemies painted flank and drives his army into a state of panic.  So below I will put some links to youtube channels and websites that I think offer some great advice and wonderful tips on painting quickly but retaining some of the models details to make them look great on the table.

Great articles on painting pretty much anything (also has a great youtube channel!):
http://itslikewatchingpaintdry.blogspot.com/

Blue Table Painting has some excellent painting tutorials:
http://www.youtube.com/user/bluetablepainting/videos?view=1&flow=grid

Awesome Paint Job shows you some good stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/user/awesomepaintjob/videos?flow=grid&view=1

One of my new favorites (probably has to do with the Firestorm Armada stuff):
http://www.youtube.com/user/GirlPainting/videos?view=0&flow=grid

There are about a million more, but these are some of the major ones I can think of.  They have great stuff and can give you some inspiration!  As always, remember to paint those models, roll those 6's - unless its moral checks - and Tarum et clama dimit belli canes!