A Long, Strange Road

Six months is enough of a break, Get back to work, slacker.

First off, thanks very much to those of you who have emailed and made sure that I am still of-this-earth. It is nice to feel a part of a global community of like-minded individuals.

I am, in fact, still hard at work painting- it's just that much of the work I have been getting done minis-wise of late has seemed less-than-sharable via this blog. I've been exclusively performing all those mundane tasks that I know all serious hobbyists will nod their heads knowingly about: re-basing warbands (no, NOT for that!), prepping Kickstarter reward packages, and painting minis for other people. These things take time, and they are not the most exciting of topics . . .

Whatcha starin' at?

I have managed to get through two batches of commission work since the last time I wrote. Avid readers of this blog (hah!) will remember that I had given this up earlier in the year to focus more on my own collection. Well, the money is too good and I need too much of it, so it's back on that wagon for ol' VeronaKid.

The first group was this set of beholders. I can't imagine why my client would possibly need so many considering the monster represented is usually a unique addition to a D&D campaign, but hey- these were fun as hell to paint up. My favorite of the batch was certainly the Julie Guthrie-sculpted Reaper version in purple here in the back-left:

The three goofy looking guys that are painted in aqua were also great sculpts, although I have no idea what company or sculptor they come from.

After polishing them off, my client sent me this sweet batch of elementals and constructs, which I just finished off last weekend:


I know the picture here is dark, but I never managed to shoot a decent one of this batch before I sent it back. The huge rock guy in the top right is a killer sculpt from Reaper, and this one in particular was the Bones plastic version, so I assume it is very inexpensive to pick up. My favorite from this batch though is definitely the Albion Fenbeast who is right in front of the rock-hulk. The summer GW campaign that he came from was one of the highpoints of my own personal gaming career. That summer, I must have played WHFB at least three times a week with a really great group of guys. Good memories, and a great sculpt.

Other than that, as I mentioned I have been re-prepping older minis of mine for use as various Skulldred warbands. These were originally all based in very hap-hazard, non-matching manners (different basing materials; some round, some square, some hex-based; etc), so I am trying to "tidy up" the collection, so to speak. Plus, it's cheaper than buying new minis!

Here's shots of a few representative minis from each of the war bands my various family members play in our weekend games:

My older boys' early (Asgard) Goodwin barbarian horde

My recently painted up Skaven

Mostly Reaper lizard men, who usually are mercenary baddies

A couple members of my little guys' greenskin toughs

Wifey's Reaper Amazonians. I can't recommend this line of sculpts enough. Brilliant.

That's really about it. Life has been far too crazy to do anything like actually play games with any of these figures, but I hope to remedy that soon.

Riiiiiiiiiight.

I have to say, I am very amazed at the thunderous silence in this community (and it's associated blog-o-sphere) over the new Warhammer "Age of Sigmar" stuff. I would have expected a much louder outcry along the lines of "See??!!! We knew they would ruin it!!!" I would think that the quiet murmurings simply indicate that old-timers have long since given up altogether. I, for one, still check the GW site frequently. I wouldn't dream of purchasing a plastic figure at their prices, so I haven't ordered anything from them in probably five years now, but I do think, actually, that the new game indicates a step or three in the right direction. Smaller forces encouraged and therefore a smaller initial investment required to participate? Check. Easier-to-digest rules (a la Skulldred, or SOBH) which in turn encourages a younger audience? Check. Elimination of ranked models which in turn eliminates fiddly maneuvers and the subsequent "wait an hour while your opponent moves his entire army" syndrome? Check. It really does feel that the new game is headed back towards its more narrative-driven roots and away from things like Death Star units, killer combos, and out-of-control magic phases.

I do applaud GW for once for not just making the game more bloated and (worse) more exclusive. Blow it up and start anew. Good job.

Hope you are well, wherever you might be. Take care, leadheads. Hopefully the next post here will be before the winter holidays roll around again. :)

Rut Breakers

This whole post-on-Sundays is becoming a real habit.

This week, I decided I wanted a small break from my ongoing projects to work on something completely different- different color palette, different basing style, different subject matter entirely. In the past, this has usually meant turning to something evil- my normal slant is towards the good guys, so every once in a while, I break out of these types of ruts by painting up something for the good guys to fight against. In keeping with my recent Jes Goodwin museum curating, I turned to the leadpile and pulled out a pile of delicious old Skaven models.

I wanted to do a little experimenting with desaturating the colors on the robes, so thanks to a suggestion from Asslessman (Cheers, JB!), I mixed varying shades of grey into the primary colors for highlighting. I think it worked better with the green and yellow than it did the blue and red, but I am certainly excited to learn a new color idea. I really like the effect it has on fabric surfaces- quite realistic.

The bases are random hunks of cork, covered with grit and baking soda, and then painted & drybrushed. I finished them with static grass added along with subtle washes of blue and purple ink. All credit for this basing style goes to Delaney King (Cheers, D!). Not the last time you'll read those words in these pages. Since these rats are destined to be participants in Delaney's Skulldred game, I'm hoping she doesn't mind my shameless imitation too much.

I remember reading the original Skaven army book the first year I started in the hobby and being very inspired by Andy Chambers' description of their personality- always scheming and backstabbing one another. I don't know if it got phased out of their fluff over the years, but Chambers' original Skaven even had a mechanism in place for underlings killing off the leaders of the race and then assuming their position, inevitably to be re-deposed themselves. Their reliance on drug-induced sorcery mixed with steampunk-ish technology always hearkened back to one of my favorite 80's animated films, The Secret of NIMH.

Mrs. Frisby almost gets skewered by a pre-Goodwin Stormvermin

If Nicodemus wasn't inspiration for the Grey Seers, I'll eat a wheel o' brie.

Yet another conversation I'd love to have with the Design Studio from those golden days. . . If anyone has an old White Dwarf where Goodwin discusses his Skaven influences, I'd love to hear the issue number in the comments below. I'll search it out for sure.

Hope you are well, wherever you might be.

A Tough Pill To Swallow

This week's hobby goodness features one of my ten favorite Citadel miniatures of all time, Brian Nelson's incredible orc shaman. To me, this mini always stood as a kind of island of old-school character amid an ocean of slack-jawed, GIANT-AXE!!!'d, skull-festooned silliness that the greenskins turned into at Citadel circa 1997.

Citadel Orc Shaman; sculpted by Brian Nelson

My copy, bought as usual at great discount on eBay, lacked the sweet short sword on his back, so I had to sculpt a wee waterskin to hide the peg and open area on his back where the sword was supposed to go:

Given my extremely limited sculpting skillz, I am pretty happy with how the flask turned out.

The reason for the post title today, though, is because of an utter failure on my part to see this great mini through to its planned finish. I really wanted to do a nice checkerboard pattern on the hood opening around the face and on the sleeve ends, but after attempting said pattern six separate times, re-basecoating and starting over each time, I finally threw in the towel and went for this rather drab finish instead.

A few years ago now, I painted these Harlequins up, and they were covered almost head to toe in various check patterns:

So, I thought I'd be able to paint a little black and white patterning with no problemo. Perhaps it was the extremely folded and curved surfaces on the orc's robes, but I think my utter failure has more to do with my advancing age/decreasing eyesight/failing patience .No matter what I tried, or how slowly I went, I ended up each attempt just looking like a very messy painter. Oh well. The shaman will fit into a Skulldred warband just fine as he is. Alas.

It was not an easy thing for me to decide mid paint-project that my plans were too ambitious for my talent and skill to see through. I am sure it won't be the last time, unfortunately. . .

On the topic of Harlequins (by the way), GW finally listened to the 4 bajillion email, forum posts, and comments made in retail stores I have made over the years on the subject and announced this week that the Harlies are finally going to be their own army, with a brand-new hardbound codex (do they still call them that? Dunno.). I assume that there will be several plasticrud sets released as well, to go along with the $60 army book and $30 painting guide coming out in a few weeks.

Too little, too late for me, I'm afraid. I admit I got a little excited at first, but those price tags just hammered home how done with the current iteration of GW I am. When I paint more harlies, it will be my old metal Jes Goodwin figs languishing for too long in the pile. My checkerboard patterns will probably end up looking like crap, but I'll still love them so much more.

//End grumpy old man rant.

Until next time, brethren- may the paint brush gods grant you a nice pointy, hairy bit every time you need it.

Painting is a Process

So, back a few posts I was bagging (a bit) on Jes Goodwin. The late 80's High Elf cavalry models he sculpted are not my favorite models. I stand by that.

Most of everything else he has done, however, stands like a colossus over the hobby. He and Tom Meier are, to put it simply, the masters of elven models. The same way that Kev Adams infuses orcs and goblins with a sense of chaotic mischief and evil naughtiness, I think Goodwin lends a sense of nobility, regal-ness, and (often times) utter ferocity to the elven armies. Case in point: the Elven Attack Chariot.

Now, I don't know whether Jes had anything to do with the original rules for this behemoth (1500 points in 2nd Edition??!! And look at those abilities the characters have! This thing is like playing the Star Wars miniatures game and someone taking the Death Star!). What I do know is that he (working together with the heavily-sweatered Bob Naismith) somehow created a chariot model that oozes both wildness and grace; crisp, clean lines and whirling, pointy bits. I think it is a masterpiece of the early-to-middle part of his career.

For a while now, if I was to rank the Citadel models at the top of my most-wanted list, the Elven Attack Chariot would come in at number three, behind only Nick Bibby's Great Spined Dragon (someday, my precious) and Jorj, the original champion from the first Bugman's unit (I've written this one off, and just converted my own version). After coming close a couple of times on eBay, I finally managed to land an intact and complete chariot a couple of weeks ago.

After three extended periods in the stripping bath (ancient red oil paint, epoxy cement, and an obscene amount of gap filler you say? Why yes indeed- all three!), I have started on this beast. I don't want to rush it at all, so I plan on working on it between and during other models. There is an astonishing amount of both detail and surface area to get covered with painty bits, so this might be in for a long haul. Here's where she stands right now, with most of the actual chariot done except for final highlighting:

Javelins, check. Quiver of arrows, check. Luscious bear-skin rug, check.

Insert Tab 'A' of winged lightning rod into Hole 'B'

I am having a hard time deciding what to do, if anything, with the white. Over a white undercoat, I painted the whole model with Vallejo Ivory. I like the color here a lot, and I want to preserve the pristine cleanliness of the whole model, but it feels to me that the textured portions at least need some shading added. Looking at the original version, I would guess that Kev Adams painted it (because of the mushrooms of course); whoever it was looks to have painted a very thin white/ivory layer over more of a bone color (look at the wheels, especially). This gives the original, to my eye, more of a birch, wooden feel. I don't know if I like that, or the porcelain feel of my ivory better. I think I will leave it as is for now and see how the addition of the horses and the base changes my mind.

So. . . this goes in here, right?

Finished up the cannon and crew for the dorfies this week as well. The barrel-carrying (keg carrying?) fella is a fantastic crewman, sagging gut and all. For some reason, the sculptor of this set decided that all dwarves that work on cannons need enormous metal rings hanging off of their belts. Good stuff. Everytime I see the guy with the keg, Prince's "Raspberry Beret" starts playing in my head. If only I had the courage to paint it that color. . .

Thanks for reading. Hope all is well in your world, wherever it might be. Take care, brethren.

No One Wins 'Em All

I think I have mentioned here before that I mark my start into the hobby with the week that the "Dark Millennium" expansion came out for 2nd Edition 40K.

Summer 1994. It was all downhill from here.

I still have a very vivid memory of looking through a friend's White Dwarf and getting completely hooked looking at the pictures of minis (Andy Craig's Harlequins were the first to make an impression, and still remain my favorite 'Eavy Metal minis of all time) and reading a Priestly/Johnson battle report (High Elves/Greenskins). Here was the hobby I had been looking for all my life- a Venn diagram showing the meeting of art (I grew up a military modeler), battle tactics (I have poured over battlefield maps showing troops movements my whole life), and gaming (I think half my time at college was spent playing chess, Risk, and Axis & Allies).

My first minis were the Space Marines that came in the 2nd edition 40K box. I think I established my standard operating procedure by attempting to exactly copy the Blood Angels from the pictures (I am notorious for having issues with coming up with my own color schemes, much preferring the ones that already look good that other people have come up with). Mine were noticeably worse than the ones Mike McVey painted for the trade pics.

These are not my minis.

Shortly after getting the Marines painted up, I sprung for the 4th edition WHFB box as well, thus cementing my early addiction to GW's brand of plasticrack. At the same time, I found my first true love in the hobby when I built the High Elf army from the box.

How many hours did I spend with this? Many, many, many.

I think I have collected, painted, gamed with, and sold off six High Elf armies at this point, which now that I have actually counted them up sounds completely absurd. My current one is, unsurprisingly, the best of the group- Caradryan up there in my banner is from my army. I haven't pictured it much on the blog, because it is mostly newer models that I painted when I delved back into the hobby big time a few years ago now.

I have recently begun adding older elf models that I will be painting in the coming months, once the Barrowmaze and dwarf projects are done. I did want to share today's completion, though, because it ties in with all this reminiscing. See, there was a point after all. . .

The High Elf models back in the day always gave me fits to paint. I can say now with conviction that it was NOT MY FAULT. They are not easy to paint minis. They absolutely do not "paint themselves." They are very, very hard to make look good- hell, even the 'Eavy Metal versions circa 3rd edition are pretty underwhelming, especially when compared to everything else being released at the time.

I remember in the 90's starting a unit of the original Dragon Princes (sculpted by none other than the Elf Master himself, Jes Goodwin) and literally throwing one across the room because it was so impossible to make look nice.

These elves have their details crammed impossibly close together. Their scaling leaves a lot to be desired. They are covered with those damned gems EVERYWHERE. They are quite simply not very good models.

But of course I love them anyway. I am a hopeless devotee to this army.

I have learned, too- always have faith that a bigger unit arranged together will always make the underwhelming individuals look 100% better.

So, what's the most challenging group of minis you have ever painted? I'd love to hear of your triumphant struggles against difficult sculpts in the comments. Have a good one, brethren.