18 posts tagged “terrain”

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.

I seem to keep posting variations on the "I promise to have pictures soon" theme.  It's true, I do want to take pictures and post them for your delectation.  But it just doesn't seem to happen as I would like.

To cover the items in the last 'Yeah, yeah' post.

I did fix the lace/hankie issue.  I unpicked the offending ring, made a new (correctly attached) ring, then assembled the whole thing into a continuous band of lace and finished sewing it to the fabric.  And then made the mistake of bringing it to show Grandma Mr. Rastl on our weekly visit and she confiscated it.  Before I could take pictures, of course.

As stated in a later than 'Yeah, yeah' but prior to this post all the undead pirates are base-primed and ready for paint.  I'm putting these on the to do later list since I don't need them as quickly as I need the dwarves.

The bear riders are coming along nicely.  I'd say they're at least 3/4 done if not more.  I'll have them done in 2 more evenings of work unless I find something really futzy or really wrong.  Then I'm on to the captain.  Higher ranked figures tend to be unique so I paint them separately.  It's much easier to paint X number of the same figure in a session since it becomes assembly line work.  Adding in different figures means actual thought.

I'm going to work on the Mancatchers at paint night tonight and I hope to have some more good progress.  I normally can't paint a figure to completion there due to lighting but I think I still have enough of the larger areas that I can get to the detail part and finish them up at home.

The terrain is still waiting for base coat touchups.  I was planning on doing that during online gaming last night but my GM wasn't feeling well.  I'm debating about trying that again tonight since our side adventure ties into the game we're playing on Saturday.

I made a couple more master walls while building other pieces and after adding another size into the mix I realized that I really did just triple the number of molds I have to make.  Given how the walls connect at the corners to add another size means adding 4 walls.  At least I can have a nice variety of sizes and configurations when this is all over.  I already have a couple of people asking to borrow the molds once I get them done.  I think that's a compliment.

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.

Vox ate my post when I was trying to confirm that a picture was actually what I thought it was.  This displeases me.

So you get a summary instead of the longer ramble.  It might actually not have been that bad of a thing.

Mr. Rastl worked hard all weekend to get his club website changed over from the existing static pages to a Wordpress site.  We had tested it and got it functioning but once it was live there was lots of work to do to move the existing information over and structure it correctly.  To make it easier on both of us he worked on his computer in the dining room and I worked on making paper terrain at the other end of the table.  That way I was there if he had questions.

He was able to get the site up and working then found a theme he liked better and had me apply that for him.  A few tweaks later and he called it done.  Actually he said "I'm done" but it all works out the same.

I was able to start making some pieces from the World Works Games Gothic Realms set to use with my DungeonBash games.  The game provides tiles but these are just much cooler.  There's some inconsistencies between the tile sizes that came with the game and what comes with Gothic Realms but not enough to matter.  I have to do a couple of bashes to make it work better.  One of them I already did and that's the modification of the small corridor into a dead end.  Here's a couple of pics.

DungeonBash 02

This is a long corridor, a corner and my dead end.  I didn't clip them together for this photo which is why there's some gaps.

DungeonBash 01

Here's a bit of a closeup of the dead end that I made.  It's cooler in person and I hope to get much better pictures.
 

I also have another corner and a T intersection half completed.  Mostly completed.  Not assembled.

And after all this I was able to finish up painting the zombies.  They're not lined but they have all their paint on them.  Once more I'll say the lighting was less than optimal.

Razig Zombies 02

Click on any of the smaller pictures to bring up a larger image.  These are the ones where I painted all the leathers out of humanoid skin tones.  Ick.

So that's what I've accomplished.

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.

Froggy Arena 08

Froggy Arena 09

Froggy Arena 10

I've got half a dozen pieces waiting on decorative painting as well as a half dozen doors to finish up.  I haven't counted the ones that don't have any paint on them yet.  I've been bringing them up from the basement in sets and right now my staging area is filled with pieces waiting on decorative paint.  So that's the next thing - finish those up so I can move them into the completed area and get more pieces ready to finish.

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.

Gotcha!  I have been.

All the figures for the Crusaders army are painted.  Well, the monster has just a couple of little touchups to be done from when I cut off the integral base (giving myself a blister, I might add) and I only saw them when I was painting his new base.  That's not bad and shouldn't take more than 10 minutes, including time for the paint to dry.

I also was able to finish up one of the Mega Miniature figures I had partially done.  I like having a few of those handy so I can test color schemes as well as use up paint on the palette.  This one was 99% done but I was stumped on what color to paint a final detail.  My online painting friends helped me out, as usual.

I was also going to try doing some freehand design work on her dress.  I put down the first line and realized it wasn't going to happen.  I painted over that.  Now she's just going to dry overnight and I can varnish her tomorrow and call her done too.

My goal this month was to finish painting up the Crusaders.  Technically I met that goal but they don't have their scenic bases done.  I'm going to hold off on my next big project so I can finish those, paint a couple of figures that have been in queue for a while, and generally get caught up.  The next army is already ready for painting so once it comes time I can get right on it.

The terrain painting is also getting done.  I have a few more of the arena pieces done and I did some pre-painting on pieces so I can assemble them without really futzy paint work.  Actually I had to do these pieces in this order.  They have gates that are far more fragile than you would believe when those gates are cast out of plaster and not resin.  So I glued them to clear plastic backing and now they're nice and sturdy.  So I had to paint them before gluing them to the plastic or it wouldn't have been clear plastic any more.  Make sense?

Next up, building more terrain; painting some figures that need to be done; casting more bricks to make more terrain.

Two things that go well together, right?

Well, yes they do as a matter of fact.

The terrain is part of an arena set I'm making for a friend.  I posted some of mine earlier with blue marble detailing.  His has the tried and true 'black and gold' detailing.  The Crusader figures are in the picture for scale reference and because they look cool.

Froggy Arena 07

Froggy Arena 04

Speaking of Crusaders, here's shots of just the guys.

Spearman 02

Archers 02

Not the best, I was using daylight since I wasn't about to set up my very unhandy lighting rig for these.  But you can get the idea.  Yes, I strung the bow on the archer.

A fella on the Hirst Arts forum was showing off his latest projects and he had these wonderful bottles on the crates.  So I pestered the heck out of him until he gave me all the details.

In a nutshell:

1. Glue beads onto a straight pin
2. Base with white acrylic
3. Paint with ink
4. Varnish

For whatever reason superglue isn't liking me these days.  I just can't get it to work.  I think the house is too dry for it to adhere so I may have to experiment with that but not right now.  So I used regular tacky glue.  While this fills in the gaps between the beads so they look more cohesive it takes longer to dry and I seem to end up with crooked bottles.  Those are going in the back.

Two coats of white craft paint make the proto-bottles a nice smooth white.  It also reinforces the glue bond and fills in the spaces even more.  Since I'm trying to look like they're one unit this is a good thing.

On to the ink.  I do have Reaper inks and haven't really had a chance to use them much.  This was a great opportunity.  It took two coats to get it looking smooth.  I probably could have done a third coat but didn't for two reasons.

1. I didn't want the color to look too opaque
2. I'm lazy

I let those dry really well.  Because I had other things to do.

On to the last step - varnish.  The originator used three coats of Future Floor Wax.  If you haven't used this stuff in your terrain and other miniature making adventures you're really missing out.  Great gloss finish and tough as nails.  Downside is that it is really thin so if you're looking for something to stick on the surface you're going to have some issues.

So begins the Great Varnish Experiment.  The idea is to give the bottles a decently thick layer of clear so the eye is fooled into thinking the bottle itself is clear.  I decided to try out the layers of Future vs. straight acrylic craft varnish (gloss).  The craft varnish is much, much thicker so it sticks to the surface and leaves a thicker result.  At least, that's my hypotheses.

Without further ado, here's the current state of the experiment:

Colored Bottles Varnish Test