Warlord

This is another figure from Rackham's Cadwallon Militia box set. For D&D, I will roll him up as a warlord. I kept the colors simple, some Reaper Dark Night/Slate and reds, and some Foundry greys. This figure also is on one of my greenstuff bases, though I've hidden a lot of detail with some overgrown (static) grass (GW).

Shield face

This is a quick step-by-step I threw together showing how to paint a basic face on a shield. This technique can also be used to paint human-faced moons and suns on banners and such.

The colors don't matter, only that they are of the same palette, i.e., all reds or all blues with appropriate shades and highlights- though experimentation is always a choice.

Another one makes it off the project shelf

Elf ranger. More specifically, Elven sniper from Reaper's Warlord line. I've clipped the old bow and made a new one from brass wire and sewing thread. The back hand was well-suited for holding an arrow, but I didn't want to deal with the fiddly thread nor hide the face too much.

Some more greenstuff work

Been building up a D&D party. This is a swashbuckler converted from a Rackham Cadwallon assassin. I custom-built him a rapier. I built the base from two layers of sculpted greenstuff. I also added a rat on the street next to the curb. I hope it looks okay after being painted. I wasn't all that fond of this mini, so it became a piece I could experiment with.

I don't paint just minis

Sometimes I need a break from painting minis or building terrain. So I'll go out on the town and paint some terrain. This is a local hangout. Welch Avenue Station is a bar occupying the lower level of this building, and Pizza Pit occupies the upper level. This is a photograp (I was too lazy to dig out the scanner) of a watercolor sketch I did on a Sunday afternoon.

minor update

Nothing new to see yet. I have a few things at various stages. I'm waiting for a couple figures in the mail before I launch into another small paint blitz. I'm also practicing my flagstone engraving. Gonna look up some patterns to try out. I'm also gonna tool around and discover what other fun I'm able to sculpt from green stuff.

Rackham militiaman finished

And here's the militiaman finished. I didn't take step-by-step photos, but I DO have details on the colors used. If you're interested, then keep reading. Otherwise, enjoy the pics.

Colors are listed in order from darkest to lightest (which is the order I applied them, as per the "Foundry" system.)

Letter code: Rpr = Reaper Pro Paint, Fdy = Foundry

Padded jerkin: Rpr Night Sky, Rpr Slate, Rpr Slate+Rpr Ice blue

Jerkin trim: Rpr Ice blue+A touch of Fdy Arctic Grey 33A

Blouse (under the jerkin): Fdy Charcoal Black 34C+Rpr Ice blue, Continue adding Ice blue as you add highlight layers.

Tannery (the leathers): Rpr Aged Brick, Fdy Spearshaft 13A, Fdy Spearshaft 13A+ Fdy Base sand 10C, Continue adding Base sand for a couple more layers.

Shield: Spearshaft 13A, Spearshaft 13A+Rpr Rust, Add more Rust for a couple layers, Rpr Rust+Rpr Bright Orange, Add Bright orange for a couple layers, then add some Fdy Buff leather 7C to the Rust/Bright Orange mix. The white decor is Fdy Arctic grey 33A, B, and C straight up.

The hair also is Fdy Arctic grey 33A, B and C

The skin is Fdy Flesh 5A, B and C with intermediate mixes between each color.

Rackham Cadwallon militiaman

I should start in-depth projects (my dwarven lord) more often. I'm getting lots of other stuff finished!

This figure is from the militia box set Rackham put out for their role playing game, Cadwallon. I'm painting him up for use as a character in D&D. I have a few other unpainted Rackham figures I will, sometime, paint up as either characters for D&D (or to sit on the shelf and collect dust.)

This figure isn't actually finished yet. He's carrying a shield on his back; it has yet to be painted (as does the hilt of his sword and a couple other minor details.) I'm still trying to decide on a color for the shield.

A minor eureka moment

I was looking at cast flagstone bases thinking they might be nice to try out- 4 bases for around $5. But everytime I look at some kind of terrain or accessory for my minis, I always ask myself, "Can I make this myself? And is it cheaper/easier to do myself?"

I have plenty of greenstuff and never for a second thought about customizing my own bases. It's definitely cheaper AND easy.

I've only made a couple flagstone bases using the 30mm round "display" type bases. Take a small amount of greenstuff and spread it inside the inset portion of the base. Then use a needle to engrave the joins between the stones. To help the needle glide easier through the greenstuff, I coat it with a TINY amount of oil (I used olive since I had it sitting around.)

That's it! I have yet to try it on a figure with an integral base (or at least an easily-removed integral base.) For slotta-based figures, I spread the greenstuff, then I force the figure into the slot of the base. Clean off the greenstuff pushed through thr bottom of your base and integrate it back onto the top of your base. Then draw your stones under the figure- DONE!

If you have a needle, an extra base and some spare greenstuff, give this a try.

Fopish rogue

Just one of those side projects to divert my attentions from larger projects. This one, however, only took about an hour to coomplete.

For the red color, the paints I used, in order from first to last, were Foundry Spearshaft 13B, Reaper Pro Paints Blood Red, Reaper Bright Red, Reaper Dragon Red and Reaper Bright Orange.

Foundry spearshaft is a light tan color. I prefer tans and light browns as a basecoat for bright reds as opposed to whites. Whites usually require a coat or two for full coverage, but most light browns have good coverage so that only one coat is needed, thus preventing a needless buildup of multiple basecoats.

The speed of painting the whole figure was accomodated by the use of a very small palette. Along with the red, I used browns for the tannery and gold for the metals (as well as a Foundry flesh palette fo the face.) The figure, by the way, is Reaper No. 2775: Edward Dumond.

Painting a dwarf: Step one

It's been much too long (the beginning of this blog I believe) since I've done an in-depth step-bystep guide, the kind in which I discuss specific colors, choices, techniques etc. In fact, I can only recollect two, which were the very first entries on this blog: A caveman and a dinosaur hunter (both Copplestone minis.)

I'm not sure how this will work out, if I'll be able to follow up, but I'll try to keep this project going. In the meantime, I still have my Blood Bowl team to finish as well as a couple minor odds and ends.

Now here's a small caveat: I won't post the entire step-by-step in one post. I'm going to post each step as I finish it. This will allow me to work on the project at my liesure. Posting long step-by-step entries is involved in that I have to keep detailed notes while painting. And then rewrite them in a semi-organized fashion. Posting as each step is completed will be much easier. So let's start!

This is Reaper No. 3275, Barnabas Ironbrace. My intention is to use him as a paladin for D&D 4 ed.

The first step I've taken is to remove his mace and replace it with an axe. The axe was made by taking a greataxe blade (from some Heresy bits) and sawing it in half (a top and a bottom half). Some brass rod forms the handle, and a spikey bit caps it off.

As for colors, I'm "planning," since he is a paladin, to make his armor in basic silvers and golds (yep; I'm gonna combine 'em). Since he will be a vengeaful paladin, his cloak will be sort of a grey/blue (Reaper Pro paints Dark Night as the shade coat) to reflect the storm raging in his mind. I'm not sure about trim yet; perhaps it will simply be light gray to white, but that could change as I proceed. Hmmm, maybe a "buff" or "Buckskin" color for the trim to add a little warmth to the drab blue/gray.

I'm also thinking about doing a slightly more beefy base than I usually do; it may be something as simple as putting a small slab on a basic display base- again, just thinking about it; I still have to take inventory on materials at my disposal. That's all for now!

Next time I post, I should have the figure primed, a base built and perhaps a couple colors thrown on.

A few more Reaper figures: Wizard, Dwarf and Warlock

These are the last of the figures for my D&D gaming group. The Reaper dragonkin, thief and fighter in previous posts listed here are the other figures comprising the party.

I've also painted a Reeaper Warlord Reptus as a dragonkin for another D&D party, and have anoher Tiefling "on deck."

But finishing these figures means I actually finished one of my projects. Next project I want to finish is my Blood Bowl team.