10 posts tagged “arena”
I'm currently working on painting the Dragon Turtle and pretty much everything I painted today is going to get repainted. In short I picked the wrong colors and I was trying to do too much.
Longer story.
He's got plating on his arms, legs, neck, tail, etc. I had already painted the skin to match the guy down below and was working on the underside of the shell, the plates under the tail and all those other places I just detailed. And some around the face. All those other places I was going to use the same tans as on the body wrap of the grunt so that the shell would stand out more. And I was trying a new technique that suggested taking the base coat a shade darker to make the effect really pop.
I did all that and it just didn't work. The colors were completely wrong against the bright skin. I should know better than to pick colors when I'm in an unhappy mood.
A friend gave me links to his painted figure. His has the plating the same color as the skin. Only the shell, underneath the shell and the plates under the tail are a different color. That looked much better. So I pulled out the skin colors and painted over all the stuff I did. And yes, it looks much better. I still need to highlight it and I'll probably pull the highlights one shade higher than on the rest of the models just so he pops more.
I also prepped 2 more minis that I need for this demo army. I'll be pulling out the epoxy tomorrow and these guys need to have their arms attached. Since I'll have epoxy mixed I'll use it wisely.
Oh - I put the base coat on some new arena pieces.
I'm doing all this in preparation for doing Warlord demos at Oshcon next month. With the new rules and datacards I need to make sure my armies balance. I did get new models for new armies so I really need to get painting. I need 4 demo armies that balance. I need to check my Crusaders to make sure those are the same and then work up 2 more. I don't think they'll take as long as these since they're not nearly as complicated.
The smell of craft paint always reminds me of school. That evocative smell of cheap acrylic paint that we used in so many projects.
And that's what I'm using on the arena I'm painting up. Well, not completely cheap paint but it all kind of has the same smell. I'm painting roof and other large sections so there's a lot of wet paint at once, hence the aroma. In the smaller amounts and in drybrushing you don't get that.
I was able to repair the piece that broke when I dropped it (sorry Froggy - you won't even notice) and a piece that broke when I was painting it (see previous note). I had epoxy out to work on something else so I made it even stronger. I really need to start using more epoxy in my builds where there's going to be butt joins and other weak areas.
So all the last pieces have their stonework painted and I've gotten a good start on the detail work. There's always touchups but those are minor compared to the actual painting.
Whoops. Forgot the final white highlights on the stonework because I don't put them on my own stuff. I'll do that tomorrow before going back to the detail painting.
I'll be happy to finally get these pieces done and off to their rightful owner. I have another 'project for trade' in the wings and that one will be more complicated since I'm still designing as I go. I also think I need to cast a lot more bricks since I need a lot of a particular one that has one per mold. Lovely. I know I should make a mold so I can just cast those but after this project I don't know how much I'll need those in quantity.
Finally Mr. Rastl was very kind and did a project for me. I now have new figure holders for those models that have the slotta base. I was using binder clips but had issues with finding places to put them so the paint didn't touch anything. Now I've got nice stable wood pieces with thick wire holding up alligator clips. They're weighty enough to stand up nicely, the wire is flexible so I can reach everything on the piece, and the alligator clip should hold the figure securely without getting in the way. I only had him make 4 of them because: a) I generally only paint at most 4 models at a time and b) the alligator clips came in packs of 4. We've got enough material to make more if I need them but this should be plenty.
I used my epoxy wisely as I assembled the figure holders, filled in some gaps on the dragon turtle and fixed the terrain pieces.
What I didn't post yesterday because I didn't feel it was worth a post was that I got the heads attached to the Reptus figures. I used CA (superglue) but didn't get as solid of a bond as I would like. I re-glued the offending and now detached heads then used the epoxy from the final dragon turtle assemby to seal the seams. I've done that with other figures and it works quite well. I'll do the same thing when I attach the shields. CA to get them in place, epoxy to make sure they stay there.
The undead pirates all have the sand on their bases. That still means primer, paint and vegetation but it's better than nothing. I know the last post had 'everyone except the monster' but now it's just everyone. Yay everyone!
The bear riders have the bears finished and varnished and the riders are primed. So I can work on painting the riders without as much worry about scraping/wearing the paint off the bears. When I get them done the entire figure will get a coat of varnish so the bears get a double helping.
This weekend was supposed to be very, very busy but now it's just very busy. It looks like the only time I'll have for hobbies is Sunday night. And I'll try to be good and finish up the base coat on the arena pieces then so that project is ready for finishing.
I will try to get pictures this weekend so you can see how things look. I've been talking about them a lot but it's really cool to actually see them.
A quick update on various and sundry things.
The hankie/lace issue hasn't been resolved. I need some time on the couch without too many distractions and that hasn't happened in the last few days. It's on the list.
The undead pirates are painted, varnished, and have the sand on the bases. The monster is one step behind because he needed to be attached using epoxy and I was waiting for another project to get to the epoxy state as well. That has been achieved.
I'm also painting one of my personal armies to bring to ReaperCon so I've been working on those as well. 5 dwarf bear riders are well underway. The bears are painted except for a couple of touchups where they were lying down and are currently letting their epoxy set as well. See above for 'another project'. This was it.
The bear riders need to be painted yet but now that I will be able to handle the model without fear of damaging the paint it will go much easier.
I also have 3 mancatcher models (nasty models with reach) that I started at paint night so those are the next ones up to be done. I'd say they're close to 1/4 done already. I'm such an optimist.
Terrain-wise I did get the final arena-in-trade pieces base coated but they need the touchups. I'm hoping to get those done over the weekend even though it's a busy one. That's looking for the holes and seams where the paint didn't get so it's kind of a finishing thing. The drybrushing goes really quickly and his decorative painting is easy.
Also regarding terrain I'm stealing a really good idea from a friend and making mold masters for village houses. The masters are completed walls with knuckle joints so I can pour an entire house in just a few pieces and assemble them quickly. It's an easy way to build a village. I'm currently making pieces in 4, 5 and 6 inch wall lengths so I can make some real variety. I'm out of the 30 degree blocks that are great for the roof angles so I'll need to cast some of those to make the roof sections. Gee, me having to cast more blocks to complete a project. Who would have thought it?
Maybe pictures this weekend, maybe not.
I was going to LOLcat the subject but decided against it. Mostly for my own dignity.
I'm trying to get back into the groove of building and painting. I completely slacked for about a week now and getting back into the mindset isn't proving very easy.
Here's my current list of rationalizations. Enjoy.
- I don't want to dig out my mini paints just to have to pack them back up for Wednesday paint night.
- I don't want to work on new arena pieces until I've finished the ones I've started.
- I don't have enough bricks to keep building my own arena now.
- I don't have time to do casting, even though I have the materials upstairs.
- I keep getting started late, which limits how much I can reasonably accomplish,
I think that's a pretty darn good list of rationalizations, don't you?
Having said that I heaved a large sigh and did some actual work tonight with the time left to me. I did get started late. Then I just stared at the stuff on my paint table for a good 10 minutes. But I did paint a few things.
The doors to the arena are painted. I want to put some tougher paint-on acrylic varnish on those since they seem to take more of a beating.
I cleaned up the accent paint on three mostly painted pieces and started on the accent paint on one more. I also put the base coat on some areas I missed on two other pieces.
So for those keeping track. that's 6 completed doors (sans varnish); 3 arena pieces waiting on gold paint; 2 arena pieces that need stonework drybrushing and all accent paint, and 1 arena piece with partial accent paint.
The rest of the arena is 99.9% built. There's these little finials that go on a few of the pieces and I never seem to have enough of them. So I need to dig through the casts from the two molds that have the piece and see if I have enough to finish this up. If not I will be casting more. And I always epoxy them on instead of regular glue because they take as much if not more abuse than the doors. Actually they tend to get 'pinged' off unless they're firmly attached. I can fix one of Mr. Rastl's decorative shower curtain hooks while I have epoxy mixed up as well.
My own arena is progressing slowly but steadily. I've glued most of the floor sections that I have cast even though I'm torn on using raised plaster pieces or just patterned felt. I can keep making the floors anyway. I'm working more on the basic arena set rather than the decorative one since it's a lot easier and I had the pieces for that one sitting in the bin. So now I've used up some of the specialized ones and need to cast more. See rationalization above.
And this month I really want to get that Razig demo army painted up. I put it off last month since I knew I wouldn't have time but I need to make progress or I'll never get to demo the game much less practice for the tournament at ReaperCon.
Finally, I won't be able to make the convention in Indy this month. Without getting into uninteresting details Mr. Rastl is having a small surgical procedure and I rather need to be around. Timing is everything.
I gave up on trying to get the right light, etc. Instead I just wanted to get some pictures out there so folks could see how things are progressing.
These are the completed ones. There's a number with the stonework painted but no decorative painting as well as built pieces that haven't been painted at all. Those aren't pictured.
So there. I have been working.
I guess I better find a way to get some pictures up and soon. I keep building and painting but I can't prove it to anyone unless there's a picture or seven. It's one of those 'I want the right light' but I don't want to actually set up my lights kind of thing. Yes, I'm a slacker that way.
I did finally send off those Darkspawn after having them staring at me from my paint table for a very long time. Slacker, remember? I didn't send off any of my own army figs because I don't know what army to send and I felt really bad about how long it took me to send mine back. The poor, patient recipient has renewed his offer to paint some for me and I think I'll have a look-see and decide what can be sent. At least I'm not the last one, thank goodness. I have to poke her with a stick to get this round completed.
I decided that I also needed a basic arena set to go with my decorative arena set. The good news is that these are pretty simple builds and only use one mold. The bad news is that I'm out of a lot of the bricks I need now. So I brought up the casting supplies again. I was torn between casting the arena mold and casting the basic brick mold. I still need to build the rest of my decorative arena but I also need to build a piece for a challenge that will use a lot of the basic bricks. Right now I have the arena mold but I'm not completely certain that's the second mold I'll be casting.
I did get the base coat on more of the finished arena pieces for trade. Except for some finials I think I have all the pieces built. There is one large piece that needs to be sent in sections and he's aware of that. I'll paint it, he'll just have to do the final assembly. Much easier to ship that way. And base coating is a nice way to end the evening.
I figured out why it takes me so long to paint these rather basic terrain pieces. I can't help but paint to the standards of my own personal pieces. So that means going over them a couple of times and finding all the little spots that didn't get a base coat. I know I could just hit the glaringly obvious ones but I just can't do it. So I spend a little more time at the beginning and I'm pleased with the result. The current pieces are being done in the stone color but none of the accents have been painted. I'm kind of holding off until I have a few since I'll have the paint out and all. Exactly the same reason I paint several of the terrain pieces at the same time. It's more time effective. Kind of like army painting.
And finally I decided to clean my brushes. I hadn't done it for a while and I've been using them quite a bit. So I went through my entire set of main brushes (about 12) and then my terrain brushes (about 10). This means using the brush cleaner to get out all the dried paint, rinse, then add mastic and shape. All my main brushes are sitting out and getting some air. The terrain brushes sit upright in a container so that's not an issue. I even cleaned all the dried paint off the tools I use to open up clogged dropper bottles. Those were done by softening the paint with brush cleaner then taking a craft knife and scraping off all the paint. There was quite a bit but I could tell that just by looking. It was one of those things I had been putting off.
I know I could get more paint out of some of the terrain brushes but it was getting late and I was getting tired. So for now, they're better.
And that was my evening, after a very nice dinner with Mr. Rastl and watching a show we had recorded. Kind of a busy evening.
Or, more to the point, is Rastl still working?
Sure, I'm going to use that as my excuse for not posting anything.
The Crusader demo army is done. Fini. Complete. All ready to go slaughter something.
The Hirst Arts pieces are coming along nicely. Of course, I need to cast more bricks to complete the main set much less the cool extra piece. But that's not such a big deal. I need more bricks anyway. And yes, I've slowed down and am making them to a higher standard. It means that it takes longer (of course) but I'm not nearly as frustrated as when I rush along and find all the problems when I'm painting. By the way, paint covers a whole lot of issues. Kind of like ivy.
As you can tell, no pictures. I just haven't been able to set up anything to get good lighting. That's what is keeping me from doing this. And yes, I know all about light boxes and other equipment. The problem is space here, not equipment. I'm hoping that if the craft room gets organized and some more shelves put in place I can have a spot to put a light box and use when needed. Hope, mind you.
The truck is back from the shop and looking sharp. There's a lingering odor of paint when you get into the cab but overall it's not a bad thing. I'm hoping that it fades out rather soon tho. I'm not sure it's good for the ol' brain cells.
Right now I'm working on a few miscellaneous minis to get them to their respective destinations and/or off the unpainted shelf. That's why I pushed back the next demo army until next month. I knew I would have more than enough to fill this month without setting myself up for failure by trying to work on that too.
Oh. I showed restraint. Yes, honestly. One of my favorite online gaming stores is having a clearance sale on Mega Minis. And I so wanted a few things for something that's been in progress for a while. I even had them in my shopping cart until I really sat back and thought about it. I ended up removing them. I did want them and I even had a use for them but it was a single, specific use. So rather than clutter up the place with more minis that gather dust I gave in to my practical side. But if anyone is feeling generous - the cows, the pigs and the rabbit swarm. Really.
And I don't think I mentioned this one yet. I'm going to be running some games and teaching a terrain painting workshop at Who's Yer Con in March. So I'm still trying to design the terrain piece that people will be detailing so they have something to take home. I've had a few ideas but nothing really jumps out. And no matter what, more casting will be involved. Of course.
Setting goals really makes things annoying. Once those goals get written down somewhere then there's some pressure to actually get things done. And when you write them on a public forum (err, or blog) then there's even more pressure. But then again, I am getting things done. So maybe it's not all bad?
My Crusader army is two steps closer to being complete. The bases have their rubble painted up and the bases are sealed. Last two steps - adding the snow and then the final coat of varnish to keep everything in place. I didn't make my January goal of getting them completed but they were painted by the end of the month. That's something, right?
I've been working diligently on my long overdue trade pieces. Those are the Hirst Arts arena terrain pieces I've mentioned a couple of times and shown in very bad pictures. I've got a lot more of them painted and a goodly number waiting for paint. And then there's the ones in various states of construction.
I'm going to digress onto construction here for a moment. Most of these pieces were made prior to my decision to slow the heck down and not try to make things as fast as possible. So they're not quite as neatly constructed as I would have liked. A pillar set was so misaligned that I just put it aside and started assembling a new one. I can use the old one myself but not as a piece for someone else. Luckily the rest of the current pieces don't have those kind of glaring errors. The new ones are being built with much more care and attention to detail. It takes longer, especially since my dedicated building area isn't available right now, but I think I'll be much happier with the results.
I'm hoping, really hoping, to get some pictures posted up this week. There's enough arena pieces to make things interesting and even without the snow the Crusaders will work well as models to show scale as well as help the composition be more dynamic. The only problem is that I don't have floors made up so the pictures won't be as inclusive as I would like. But those will be better than no pictures, I'm guessing.
Side note. I'm rather trapped at home since we're down to one vehicle again. Mr. Rastl was involved in what turned out to be a minor accident due to his excellent defensive driving skills. Had he been less skilled, the accident would probably have been very, very bad. So the truck is in the body shop having the entire passenger side fixed up, leaving me home while he takes the car. I can work from home so that's not really an issue and since he tends to get home later I have even more time to work on this stuff.
I've had some time here and there so I'm trying to fill it in with useful projects.
I have a few more of those arena pieces done and some others in various states of being painted. I'll try to get pictures this weekend - no promises.
I also realized that I had a self-imposed goal of finishing up those Crusaders this month. I happened to look at the calendar and saw there isn't much of the month left. So I picked up my paintbrush and finished up the sergeant. There wasn't much to do, honestly.
Then I put the basecoat on the monster/Guardian Beast/Doom Kitty. I'm going to do a slight experiment with colored metallics in that I'm using the dark blue metallic as my darkest 'silver' and working up from there. It's looking good so far but I can see that at least one wash is going to be needed to blend the transitions a little. The dark blue metallic paint left a bit of a gloss finish.
I was thinking about putting small wires into the bases of the models so color-coded beads could be used to track various effects and damage. Yeah, that's out the window now. It's an interesting concept but more complicated than I want to do and it has the potential for being too delicate. I'll stick with the tried-and-true methods of tracking.
This morning before work I glued together two more arena floor tile sections for my arena. They aren't glued to the foam base but they are in the required 6 inch by 6 inch section. I saw at least one more of them sitting on the bar so I'll have to poke around and see if there's any others waiting for foam. I know the ones I did base only have the darkest color of paint on them so it will be easy to catch up. In total I need 36 of these floor tile sections to make a 3 foot by 3 foot arena. I don't remember how many I have but I know it's not nearly 36.
Now that I've done some more casting I can make the rest of the arena pieces, start in on my challenge build, and work on another build I was doing for another project. Yes, I've been putting off building things.
