Zombicide Black Plague: Scenery and random figures

Well, first of all, I should probably explain my months-long absence. It's an easy explanation: I'm in a new relationship -- my first serious relationship, and she's wonderful. Not much more to say about that; I'm sure you've all been there :)

Anyway, I also finally got back to some painting, including these pieces of scenery I made for my copy of Zombicide: Black Plague. The doors and the chests are actually from my Conan Kickstarter; I specifically ordered extra copies of the doors and scenery so that I could have these for ZPB.

The chests I'm using as objective markers, and beneath each is painted a red "X," except for the two (one each) blue and green objectives. I had an extra, so I also created a yellow objective. I also-also painted extra chests using the objective colors for custom scenario ideas (where the objectives would be know, for example.)

I also painted up a few characters from a couple of the ZPB guest artist boxes. I still have a few ZPB figures yet to paint (at least of those I WANT to paint -- I have plenty more that will stay in storage, unpainted for the time being.) Hopefully, it won't be three months again before I get around to painting again.

Zombicide Black Plague: A couple randoms

My friends I played a bunch of Zombicide Black Plague this week, so I picked up a couple random survivors to finish (they already had a couple colors on them.) This is Theo and Genevieve. I like these sculpts for their simple designs -- sure, they have a few extra details, but they're not over-the-top, leaping off rocks, unfeasible armor, giant weapons, etc.

I'm still waiting for some guest boxes to arrive (which I pre-ordered, but should have just bit the bullet and added during the Kickstarter campaign -- oh well.)

I'm still in book illustration mode, so the minis painting has taken a back seat. Hopefully, I'll have the illustrations finished and few more minis (Tail Feathers and a few more Zombicide) painted by the end of October. That's when Conan the board game is supposed to arrive! I've been looking forward to that one for a long while.

It rained

It rained, so I sketched from the window of the coffee shop I was at.
Also, I picked up a second copy of Tail Feathers (by Plaid Hat Games.) Now, I can play four-player games, and I also have enough ground troops to where I can devote some exclusively to Mice and Mystics (you can trade in one character fro three Oakguard.) A year or two ago, I bought a second copy of the Mice and Mystics figures when they were being sold, so I also have M&M figures devoted to Tail Feathers. Really, I should just put together a Big Box to hold everything.

I also saw a copy of Downwood Tales in the clearance section of my FLGS, so I might go pick that up soon just to have the extra little baddies with which I can began to houserule a Mice and Mystics mass battle system.

But mostly, I just want to paint more cute, little animals. Anyway, here's that drawing of the rain.

Minis break; Art time!

I've taken a break from minis painting while I practice/prepare to work on my first children's book. So the blog will be a little quiet for the time being. Here's some art to hold you over :)

Dakka Jet!

It's (mostly) finished. I still need to get the base together, but the business part of the whole sh'bang is done! I also still plan to do some kind of art on the tail, but I want to plan that out a little more. I also plan to write the pilot's name somewhere on the jet, perhaps some kill markings and such, too.

FYI, the cockpit location on my jet does not come in the box that way; I had to cut away some fuselage with a saw and get the pilot and control panel to fit with a bit of cutting and filing. I lucked out and got everything to fit almost perfect. The large intake and extra pipes came from a Wazzbomma parts eBay purchase and don't come with the Dakkajet (not the version you get in the Storm Cloud box set, anyway.)

I'm happy with my little jet. Enough firepower to annihilate all foes, a big-ass engine to go fasta, a suitably personal yet orky-enough paint job, and enough conversion work to make this one my own.

Now, he's probably going to need a wingman.

I'll have to get some proper photos later, but here are a bunch of random hand-held angles.

Zombicide: Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

I finished a few figures for Zombicide Black Plague, including the prized Monty Python and Holy Grail figures. Now, to help skirt copyright, the sculptors changed a few minor things (heraldic devices and such,) and I didn't bother converting any of it back to the "original," but they still look good and everyone knows who they are :)

I also finished Dr. Stormcrow who I added, along with Klom, to my Chronicles of Hate group to complete a full 6-survivor group to take into games. This group's theme seems to be "Survivors who actually WANT to fight the zombies."

I'm still working on the Dakka Jet -- it's almost built. I finished painting the pilot today (forgot to take a picture!) I'm still trying to think of painting ideas for it.

Dakka dakka dakka!!! Almost. Just started.

The engine is so big, I had to move the pilot to the wayback.

A friend of mine and I split the cost of a copy of Games Workshop's new Storm Cloud to play. He took the eldar crimson hunter, and I took the dakka jet.
As you can see, I'm totally trickin' out my ride -- it's BOSS!!

I made a separate eBay purchase for a few spare parts (namely that giant blower up front, as well as plenty of extra pipes.) I don't have any other orks, so I was only going to get this dakkajet model if I knew I could make the engine big and imposing enough that my one and only ork purchase would sound like an entire army.

It's not obvious in this snapshot, but I also moved the cockpit way to the back -- I wanted sort of a layout like that of the Gee Bee racing plane. It took some cutting, but the result worked out well (as you'll see in the future when I finish construction and painting.

As for the painting, I'm not quite sure what scheme to do. I don't want to do a traditional ork scheme. I was originally going to do all silver with a giant red nose, but now I'm thinking of some sort of matte color, so I can emphasize the chrome/metal pipes on the nose. I'll figure out something, but I need to finish construction first. The process continues!

Art!

Oh man, has it already almost been a week since I posted Klom? Well here is some more art from my pile until I can get some minis painted. Speaking of which, I'm one Tim the Enchanter away from finishing all my Zombicide Python/Grail figures. I COULD post them now, but I want to post them when the whole gang is done. Anyway --art....

I painted cheesecake using my Vallejo acrylics -- Vallejo works
great for canvas painting (though, it could get expensive if I did
it all the time.) Mmm, cheesecake. Now, I want cheesecake.

I used my Pentel Pocket Brush pen to doodle this on a PostIt Note while
I had a sandwich at the local Subway until the rain stopped.

"You kids get the hell off my Medieval lawn!"

Some more art, why not.

Here are some random pieces of other art I've done in the past month. The first one here I was trying to go more cartoony (more in the style of Patsy back there), but it came out somewhat nice.

Next is a little 2x3 inch doodle in pencil of our favorite Frenchman.

The last one is a self portrait of me as a medieval brute/warrior; Sir Cumference of Inkwell (done with a ball pen/gel ink.)

Zombicide Black Plague: Klom

Here is Klom the ogre for Zombicide Black Plague. He's a beefy figure sitting on an almost undersized 35mm base (the normal Zombicide base is 25mm.)

Yep, he's a big'un.

There was a lot going on with this sculpt so it was difficult to keep the painting clean. This is one of the reasons I don't like most sculpts these days; they're over-sculpted with gobs of detail, and my painting skills can't make that bullshit work. But I plowed through and got Klom finished.

Maybe I should have left the checkers alone and done a simple, one-colored hoody?
Speaking of checkers, those were actually the easiest to do!
Steo One: Paint the hoody white.
Step Two: Use a micron pen (size .005) to literally draw the checker pattern onto the hoody.
Step Three: Fill in every other square with black. You can add highlights or stop there.

In the past, I hadn't used this technique because I wasn't sure how the varnish would react with the micron pen ink. But since I don't varnish my plastic figures, there were no worries of what might happen.

This is the guy who makes balloon animals
for the kids at the Farmers Market.

Next up: I have some light grey/white drybrushed onto my Grail figures (and brown for Tim, of course.) Not sure how long those will take with my hands dipped in so many other art projects these days.

Tomorrow (Saturday), I'm headed to the Farmers Market to draw free portraits behind the guy who charges $20 for crappy caricatures. OK, I won't that mean of a troll, maybe I'll charge a couple bucks.

More art ...

... But I DO have a couple minis under the brush, so I'll get something posted in the next few days.
Until then, here are a sword-and-board mouse and University President Pig.

Some more 2D art

I'm still in a small minis-painting hiatus while I paint with my watercolors. I painted up a lich for my friend Jeff. I also did this fighter for myself to try out a couple colors and styles.

In the meantime, I've also put together a watercolor set specifically aimed at doing portraits (something I'm working on to earn some cash on the side.) I think I'm actually pretty good at drawing portraits, but I still need a little work painting them (in watercolor); that's one of the reasons for the minis hiatus -- I'm teaching myself those things I still need to learn :)

The hiatus may end soon, though, as I've finally primed all the minis from my copy of Deathwatch Overkill. There might be some genestealer cultists in the near future (also, maybe a dakkajet!)

Mouse the slayer

When I'm not painting minis, it's probably because I'm busy with other art. This is one of the many randoms I've drawn/painted the past couple days.

Everyday, I try to do at least one piece of art or finish one or more minis. I took a short minis break after finishing the Adrian Smith box set; I'm still trying to decide what to paint next. I also just might need a short break; I've been painting the hell out of minis the past couple months.

Zombicide Black Plague: Chronicles of Hate

These are the Zombicide: Black Plague survivors from the Adrian Smith Guest Artist Box. They are characters from his Chronicles of Hate graphic novel (which I'm not familiar with yet, but hope to pick up soon, especially with volume 2 on the verge of release.)

They are probably the most difficult to paint of all the survivors; there was a LOT of details everywhere on each figure. I started the painting by giving the whole group a drybrushing of dark brown. That first layer provided me with two things: It helped bring out the detail, picking out smaller details otherwise hidden in the fur capes or among multitudes of leather straps, and it also provided a first layer of color to build on -- drybrushing with brown essentially finished all the leather straps! (And there were a lot of'em.)

Drybrushing was followed with painting the flesh (I used the Foundry Flesh 5 triad -- my favorite.) And then I did all the metal bits -- armor and medallions. Loin cloths, weapons, accessories, skulls and clean-up followed. It feels good to get this group finished, being both difficult to paint and my favorite looking Zombicide survivors of any (Black Plague or Modern.) I can't wait to get them on the board, though, I'll need to paint a couple companions to round out a 6-person crew. I think Klom the ogre and Dr. Stormcrow will fit this group well enough.

I'm not sure what to paint next (if not Kloma nd Stormcrow). I've got a lot of stuff going all at once on the table, and I'm happy that I'm able to get a little of each done every day, now. I have the Monty Python Holy Grail figures primed (but I'll need to get some photo reference,.) I also have plenty of my Warhammer Empire troops primed and based and ready to paint. Then there are the "ladies in sensible shoes" adventurers which paint up fast. That's just the stuff that's ready to paint -- there's a helluva lot to prime!

40mm Samurai: Retinue

I've had these 40mm figures from Steve Barber's samurai range for months and only now finally finished them. There was a lot of planning with these, to get the individual figures assembled and prepared/fitted/aligned to carry the kago/palanquin, to get the kago/palanquin itself assembled and painted (I assembled it incorrectly, by the way; it should have a peaked roof,) and then of course to get a scheme planned and everything painted. And all of this occurred during a time in my life when painting minis was the last thing on my mind.

Fast forward a few months, and I'm currently experiencing a resurgence of minis painting. I saw these guys sitting off to the side and pulled them back to the table. Now, my entire samurai collection is once more complete.

I would like to assemble and paint one more kago, but before I do, I might commission a sculpt of a noble to sit inside -- the opposite side has an open window which was planned for the future commission. It still might be a while until I commission another sculpt, but the rider is a strong contender to be the next. I think in the coming months/years, my next commissions will be various Edo period civilians -- pilgrims, laborers, messengers, travelers, merchants,etc. Don't forget, you, too, can commission sculpts!

Zombicide: A horde marker

Sometimes, in Zombicide, more zombies congregate in a zone than can physically fit. Some people play that nothing other zombies or survivors cannot enter the zone once it reaches capacity. And others take all the zombies in that zone, set it aside, and place a marker to represent that horde. That marker is what I've made here.

I had plenty of extra walkers, superglue and gumption, so putting this together was no problem. Simply cut the zombies form their bases (try to cut as close to the base as possible so as not to cut their feet off.) Then start gluing them to a larger base (I used a 60mm base here.) With each figure, do a rough dry placement to see how it looks first. Then a couple dabs of superglue on the feet and one or two on the body where the figure might touch other figures for added strength.

You can prime with spray, but you'll need to follow up with some brush primer to fill in missed spots. Then paint as normal!

I don't play much modern Zombicide after the release of Black Plague, so I won't be using this marker much at all. But I'd like to make a couple similar markers for my Black Plague game. I'll need to find some more zombies (without having to buy another core box.)

If you're trying to count -- there are 18 zombies on that base! The next one, I might spread them out a little more. 18 is fun, but I don't want to spend TOO much money on these :)

Women in sensible shoes

So I've been told the range is called Women in Sensible Shoes, and they can be found at Oathsworn Minatures. Here are a couple more added today. Still a few to go, which I will paint among other ongoing projects. The painting table has been busy the past few days!

I'd still love to get some of the adventures from Otherworld Miniatures, but they're definitely on the pricey side just as I thought. And I don't need any new figures anyway: I have Zombicide survivors to finish, women in sensible shoes, a Hot Wheels repaint commission, my Warhammer Empire/Mordheim repainting project, and a few stragglers among my 40mm samurai. That's what I have currently -- my copy of the Conan board game has yet to arrive with all of its figures in their Howardian glory. That's the biggest reason I'm trying to get my current projects finished.

Woman in sensible armor

I don't remember the exact name of the Kickstarter campaign (women in sensible armor?) nor the name of the sculptor (who I salute!), but these figures are great to paint. I'm painting these for my friend Jeff who owns these figures.

I can really dig a nice, crisp, contemporary sculpt done in a retro, old-school style. They look great in a nostalgic way, and with the well-defined, simple sculpt (that's not over the top,) these make for great figures for a beginner to start with, or for an old-guarder like me to paint leisurely.

I don't mind the over-the-top look sometimes, but I wish there was a range of just sensible adventurers -- No bikini-wearing ballet posed, elf-faced, over-emoted fighters, or pigeon-toed women, or big-tittied barbarian men with nothing but a loin cloth and a sword the size of a Yugo to carry them through the month, or cloaked rogues with overly grim faces of sneakiness, daggers and hand crossbows always in hand, or priests bedecked with teeming scrolls, books, re-agents and a hundred skulls forever faced toward the sky screaming a prayer to a wrathful god --

But regular men and women inching their way through a dungeon, cautiously, peering around corners, stooped while tracking clues or reading a map, hands on hilts but swords scabbarded for ease of movement, necessary supplies, food and equipment on their backs stowed on belts and in packs and pouches, and with just enough armor -- a chainmail shirt or random piece of plate on a shoulder -- to protect but not so much that they are helpless turtles should they fall on their backs.

I've actually seen a range like this (beside the women in sensible armor) -- I forget the name right off, but the figures were nice (if a touch on the pricier side.) Time to go surf the web!

Edit: It's Otherworld Miniatures (the adventurers, specifically). Now, some of the figures still break the rules of what I'm looking for, but many are perfect -- check out the henchmen and hirelings box set; those are all of what I like!
http://otherworldminiatures.co.uk/shop/product-category/dab-series-dungeon-adventurers-boxed-sets/

Zombicide Black Plague: Rat and Bull

These complete my collection of abominations for Zombicide Black Plague! I have a few necromancers yet to complete my entire collection of dark forces for my game, and then it's on to more survivors.

These abominations look great. If there's one complaint I have about them (and I mean ALL of them,) there are too many goddamn horns sticking out of every which way.

The Adrian Smith/Chronicles of Hate figures will take a little extra time to finish, since they have so much to them. After those, I plan next to paint up my Holy Grail figures.

After those, I will paint a random survivor here and there but probably move on to get a few more of my Warhammer Empire figures done (now that I have a bunch stripped and reprimed.)

Zombicide Black Plague: Cul'nar

This is one of the figures from the Adrian Smith guest artist box (Chronicles of Hate) for Zombicide: Black Plague. I got the box because I wanted some barbarian types for the game, and these were amazing to look at.

But they're a pain in the ass to paint. Lots of subtle detail that, if you're not controlling your palette, will get real busy real fast. I actually had to repaint a couple things on Cul'Nar here to clean him up a bit. I still might go back and tone down/clean up a few things.

Still, from a tabletop distance, he looks pretty good, and that's what counts with my games and their figures. And, honestly, the only time I (or my friends) will sit and really admire the paint job is the first time they see them; the remaining time the figures will simply be pretty pawns on the board.
And that's OK, too.

Zombicide Black Plague: Notorious WIP

Just showing you an in-progress shot looks like on my table as I paint some monochromatic zombies; mostly so you can see how messy the technique is, and that it's OK to really whip that paint -- don't be timid with your painting! I used my half-inch brush for all three layers of color on these.

This is my collection of NPCs (Notorious Plagues Characters.) I still have yet to clean up the bases with black, and the edge the bases with white so as to identify these zombies as the NPCs. I picked up some crawlers on eBay to add to Black Plague. The skinners/crawlers are my favorite zombie type and easily modded into a game with normal zombies. They're not medieval, but their clothing is ambiguous enough that they can pass.

I also drybrushed some characters (seen in the back row) to make it easier to see detail on them before I paint them more properly. Hopefully, I'll get the characters started this week.

Zombicide Black Plague: Ablobination

Here's my ablobination. I actually had a couple goes at him; the first paint scheme wasn't working out. It was similar to this one except that the fleshy base had large red, purple and blue "bruising" on a few spots around his body (using the same technique as I used for the purple on this one). But it was a little difficult to control and looked too busy anyway.

This simplified paint job worked better for me. I started with my base white flesh color on the top half of the body and dark purple on the bottom half, keeping the two colors wet so I could blend them in the middle. Subsequent highlights were simply layered on without blending to achieve an easy and simplified blending "effect."

All of my remaining zombie forces are primed. I'll prime survivors as I'm ready to paint them. I still have some Warhammer Empire figures to prime and paint yet.

A little more of the troll

Just a couple more angles on the troll so you can see what's going on.

Zombicide Black Plague: Deadeyes and a troll

I finished my first (of the second wave of) Zombicide Black Plague. Here are some deadeye walkers and a troll. I also finished the extras of my walkers and runners, but you've already seen those.

I chose gray for the deadeyes, though I will keep to the sepia-esque shade for the normal zombies.

I decided to go full color with the troll since it's easy to differentiate the abominations with the survivors -- especially this troll!

It took me about an hour and a half to complete the deadeyes, a dozen or so normal zombies (including fatties, runners and a normal abomination.) I'm getting better at speed-painting in monochrome. Zombie-wise, i have 40 or 50 NPC zombies to go. I should be able to finish those in a sitting or two.

I'll probably be selling some (unpainted) zombicide stuff, including all of my wolves (as well as the two wolfbominations and the abomin-Alpha,) as well as a my Ultimate Survivors #2 from modern Zombicide -- so if you know anyone (in the U.S.) who's interested, I sell for reasonable prices :)