Custom Bases for the Ultramarines and the Deathwing Terminators

I have created a few new bases for the Ultramarine Terminators I posted last week.

For the white bases I used sculpey oven hardening clay. I rolled out a strip of the clay and used a sponge to add texture to the top. After baking the strip and it hardening, I then broke it into the pieces I wanted for the bottom half of the base, and glued it to the base. I then I broke smaller pieces off to form the top layers. After the glue set I used Liquitex Basics Modeling Paste to fill in the crevices between the pieces on top to simulate dirt filling in the crack. While the modeling paste was still wet I also used some small ballast and pressed it into the paste for rocks in the dirt. The brown base is made completely out of cork. I cut the pieces to size and used a sculpting tool to dig pieces out of the cork. I think I like the sculpey bases better.

I have also created custom bases for the Deathwing Terminators I was working on, when I began this blog. 

For three of these I just picked up some bark that had fallen off of the tree outside my house. Although this is wood I intend to paint it to look like rock. The one on the left I just wrapped a scrap of cork around it. The front base is a chunk of cork, with a sculpey disk on top of it. I used a scultpting tool to carve a Dark Angels chapter symbol into the disk. This wasn't really visible and since I wanted it to be seen in these pictures I gave it a quick brown wash to bring out the carving. aroung the cork I spread some white PVA glue and added the small ballast to fill out the base. Once I am done painting the other three, I will be adding my homemade sawdust flock to the base. I would do it before painting, but I have already tinted it and it looks better added after painting.

Lady Justice crew started. Lady J done.

I have started the lady justice crew for Malifaux. All are primed and most have a base coat. Lady Justice on the other hand was begging to be finished. So here she is.

Christmas project for a friend

Here are some WIP photos of some Terminators, I am painting for a friend as a Christmas present. I am about done with general color blocking. When that is done they will get a coat of gloss varnish and then I will begin washing.

Kirai crew finished

It appears it is time to post the final pictures of my work on my Kirai crew. Here they are the Onryo and Datsue-Ba. One turned out a little Christmasy but I like the color combination.

As for Datsue-Ba, after a bath in Simple Green to remove my first attempt at painting her, she is now ready for a fight.

And just for giggles I'll post a group photo so they can all be seen together.

Now on to my next crew. Looks like Lady Justice is chomping at the bit for a touch of paint.

Custom bases for New Crew and Finished Seishin

My team lost to day so what better to do, to drown my sorrows, than work on miniatures. I have a new crew coming in hopefully next week and am making some custom bases for them. These will be stone themed. I made the larger stones from Sculpey and then broke them into the pieces I wanted. I then glued them to the bases. One base didn't look right so I decided to shave it down with a X-Acto knife. As I got to the bottom it broke in a few places and I had to fill in with smaller ballast stones. It actually turned out looking pretty good though. Another broke in a shape smaller than the recess in the base, so I decided to fill it with the smaller rocks too, and it turned out quite good as well. Here is a shot of the final product.

I am going to make casts of these, and since someone asked nicely, I will put up a how-to on it. After the bases were done I decided to work on the Seishin for my Kirai crew instead of finishing my Onryo. When I originally based it, I used Green stuff to hold it in place because the glue wasn't holding. Using the green stuff, I created a "mist" that the Seishin spirit was materializing from. I wasn't sure how this would look until I painted it. Now I have to say it turned out better than I had expected. The paint job was supposed to make it look like it started from a mist and then became the solid dragon at the top. I did this by airbrushing the lighter color as a base coat and then used darker coats as I went up the model. Similar to the technique I used on the cloak on the Ikiryo. This gave it a good blended transition as the spirit manifested.

As you might be able to see, I also created some mist tendrils coming up from the base. I still need to spray it with matte varnish but other than that it is done. Well that is all for now. Soon I should have the Onryo finished and posted. If you would rather me post these more in a step by step format so my progress can be seen let me know and I will try to do that instead. Otherwise I will continue to do this as a gallery of my finished work. Thanks for reading.

Ikiryo finished and Onryo WIP

Today I want to start by pointing folks in the direction of a couple of folks that have been inspirations to me in my paining. First is TheJoeyBerry from YouTube. She has a great channel and is one of the reasons I got into Malifaux and inspires me to keep my blog updated on a regular basis. Next is Les from AwesomePaintjob. If you haven't seen this guy's videos or blogs you need to check them out. He is an amazing painter and has a lot of great techniques. And finally, for this post anyway, is Chung at Wargamers Consortium. Another great guy in the YouTube wargaming community and has posted a lot of helpful videos about things from brushes to paints to airbrushes. I'll post links to their channels at the bottom of this post so you can check them out.

I decided not to enter the contest so I will show you what I have been working on. First up is the Ikiryo. This is the one I was going to use to enter, but realized I had published a pic of the entire crew after I had based. I decided with the Ikiryo I would continue the black and red theme I started with Kirai. Here she is completed and matte varnished, I just need to work on the base now.

I have also decided that my Kirai is done and applied the matte varnish to her as well. As with the Ikiryo, I still need to work on the base but I wanted the painting protected while I was working.

Now on to the next two models in the crew, The Onryo. Here is a WIP of them.

 

So until next time. Remember to have fun and check out the wargaming community on YouTube.

TheJoeyBerry - http://www.youtube.com/user/TheJoeyberry

AwesomePaintjob - http://www.youtube.com/user/awesomepaintjob

Wargamers Consortium - http://www.youtube.com/user/WGConsortium

P.S. I think it might be about time to build a light box for taking photos.

Time for a rework

The Datsue-Ba mini I posted is currently taking a bath in Simple Green. I was unhappy with the overall look of the mini and decided she needed a rework. I am also working on another mini. This mini is possibly going into a contest, and due to the rules, if I enter I can't post a pic until after voting has completed. As soon as I decide whether I am entering or not I will either post a pic or let you know I have entered.

Kirai update and Datsue-Ba

Painting again today. I decided to add some designs to Kirai's Kimono. So I decided on purple and a pink and painted some patterns on.

After painting the designs on Kirai I decided to get to work on Datsue-Ba. I found an image online of the mythical character of Datsue-Ba and decided to paint the mini according to that pic. 

According to the description of the image Datsue-Ba is the character on the right with the horses. And now for my paint job.

As you can probably tell I still have a few details to iron out on this mini, such as the base and painting the teeth and a few other things, but I am mostly happy with how it turned out. I think next will be the Onryo.

Kirai crew starting

So... I got busy painting today. I tried a new technique for painting today and am wondering how it all looks. I have painted my Kirai using almost entirely washes.

I would love to know what people think. Might continue using this technique on all of my crew.

Trying Malifaux

After seeing many online reviews of the game I have decided to give Malifaux a try. I played my first game this past Friday and absolutely love the game. I would like to send out a thank you to Brian at New World Comics and Games, He is the resident Henchman and was patient with me through the learning process. I absolutely loved this game. I hadn't even gotten my miniatures based at this point so he let me use one of his crews to learn to play. I used Perdita Ortega and her crew, while Brian used a Lilith crew he assembled. I'm sure he took it easy on me since it was my first game, but I actually managed to come out with a win. The basic rules are easy to follow and I was able to pick it up fairly easily, though I am sure I still don't have a firm grasp of the game. All in all it was a fun experience and I did learn a lot. After a great time playing the game I am energized to get my crew mounted on bases and painted so I can play them and learn their tactics.

Because I love the Asian theme of the models I decided to go with the Resurrectionists Kirai crew. I have heard that the Ressurectionists are some of the hardest factions to learn to play but I guess I will soon find out.

The first thing I decided to do was design some bases for my crew. Being Asian themed I decided to make a bamboo floor base. I used some wooden toothpicks and cut them down to 1/2" lengths. I then created a square mat with alternating seams and cut out the circles to fit in the Malifaux bases. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures during this process so I have no WIP. After the work it took to make the 4 I finished, I decided I wanted to simplify the process for any future models and made a silicone mold of the bases to cast in resin. Not knowing how this would turn out I decided to go cheap my first time and bought the Alumilite Mini Casting Kit from Hobby Lobby. The mold turned out fairly nice and I am mostly pleased with the results.

If I ever decide to remake the molds I will probably make the spaces between the ends of the toothpick pieces a bit wider, so I have more detail in the bases. After making the molds I then cast them in the resin that comes with the kit.

I didn't think to post a blog entry until I had already mounted all of the minis so this is one I had already tried grinding a slot into for the feet. I now have all of them based and it is time to start painting.

Deathwing Terminator color scheme

So I think I have finally decided on a color scheme for my Deathwing Terminators. First one down four more to go.

Deathwing WIP

Just a quick update. Base coated the Deathwing Terminators tonight.

Long Lost Blood Axe Warboss

As a possible tease I will add some ork flavor to the pot. This is a warboss I was working on before I moved. If I can find the box I packed him in he will be the first ork on the block.

Before plasticard and paint work

Now with some more plasticard.

Some basic color blocking

Some basic highlighting done

This was what he looked like the last time I saw him. If I ever find him he will be finished.

Dark Vengeance

I purchased the new Core Box Dark Vengeance for Warhammer 40,000. I have spent a lot of time wondering what armies to paint my models, especially the Angels, as I don't want to do the same thing everyone else is doing. I have decided for the Marines I am going to paint them as Angels of Absolution and am going to paint the Chaos models in a Thousand Sons theme. Here are some samples of the color schemes I am going with. More to come as I finish the models.

Angels of Absolution Tactical Marine

Thousand Sons Hellbrute

Tac Squad WIP

Would love to hear some comments as to what people think.