More Progress: Menoth Vanquisher and Eiryss, Magehunter

I have taken the weekend to get a few more Warmachine models done.  Friday night and some of Saturday were used to lay some paint on a Vanquisher and pEiryss.  I really like these models and am already pondering how to get them into my lists.    Here they are:

Ladies first.  I really like the dynamic pose on Eiryss.  It screams the Matrix to me.  Very cool. 

Her cape is massive! I'm surprised she doesn't trip on it.  Still, the flowing nature of the cape looks sweet and adds to the elogence of the model.

And now the big guy with the big cannon.  I'm excited about having the Vanquisher.  I think he will be a great addition for sorting out infantry problems.

A side view and good look at blazing star his chain weapon. 

Again, I love the look of the steam engines.  You have the front which is all armor plating and veneer and then the real guts of the warjack is in the back.  The Vanquisher even has a temperature/pressure gauge on his steam engine.  I thought that was cool touch. 

And the cannon.  I'm excited to see this guy drop AoEs with impunity.  I think my Vassal is going to be great friends with the Vanquisher. 

That is for now.  The list of unpainted models is getting smaller, but there is still a ton to do.  I am currently working on my Covenant of Menoth.  Just need to finish a bit of basing before I move on.  My next big project is going to be getting a unit of Knights Exemplar together.  They are a super nasty counterattack unit and I'm excited to get them done and on the field. 

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, Grand Scrutator Severius
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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Fire of Salvation Conversion, Building Complete

Last week I wrote a post about the the difference in converting Privateer Press models and other gaming miniatures.  In the past, I have done extensive conversions in my Warhammer Fantasy and 40k armies.  However, I have been really interested to find out that converting models for Warmahordes isn't necessarily look upon as good.  This kind of boggles my mind. 

It all stems from the fact that I want to create a Tier 4 eKreoss list.  eKreoss can put out an insanely wicked beatdown when coupling his feat with a ton of Exemplar weaponmaster attacks.  That said, to attain Tier 4, I need the Fire of Salvation heavy warjack.  Unfortunately, Fire of Salvation costs like $52 retail.  So, I have decided to convert up my own.  Fire of Salvation is based on the Crusader chassis, so I think it should be fairly easy to convert.  I even scored a classic Crusader for $12.  In fact, I decided to go a step further and convert the Fire's weapon using the sword from Scourge of Heresy.  The sword gives a more exemplar feel to the jack. Furthermore, if you look at Fire's card, there is nothing special about his weapon except it's ability to give the fire continuous effect. So, here is what I came up with.

So, as you can see. Here he is. You can see his sword complete with flames.  I also made my own back banners for him.  They add a bit more dynamism to the model.

Here's a side view.  Again you can see the flames on the sword blade and the back banners.  The spears come from a GW Warriors of Chaos Marauder Horsemen sprue.  You can also see that I added some extra armor plates to the backs of Fire's hands.  On each is a single greenstuff spike. 

The rear view.  You can see a greenstuff parchment on his right arm.

And the left.  Here you can see an added embellishment to one of the back banners.  I will probably paint it gold.

Here is a closeup of the filler around the menofix.  I tried to replicate it from a picture of Fire. 

So, after posting my conversion article and talking to some other players, I decided that I needed an out should a TO want my Fire's weaponry to look right.  Thus, I broke out the pin vice and drilled out the hand so that I can swap weapons.  For most games, I will shoot for using the sword as it fits the exemplar theme.  Otherwise, I can swap the weapons out for the mace for pickier TOs.

Another view of the mace.  You can see the flames a bit better here.  I think I might need to beef them up a bit.

So, there you have it. Does this look like a suitable Fire of Salvation?  I plan on painting it as it looks in all of the official Privateer Press pics.  Anyway, after seeing the model with the sword, would you allow it?  Do you think it would it be contentious with a TO?  It is obviously not a Crusader and also not Scourge of Heresy, so I thought it would pass well.  Thoughts?

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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Conversions and Warmachine

If you follow my blog, it's obvious by now that I am a commission painter. I also convert models, especially my own.  However, when I get into a new gaming system, I am tentative.  Being new to Warmachine, I am a bit edgy about performing in big-time conversions, but at the same time, I want to add a bit of character to my armies.

The crux of the matter is that I don't know how significant things like weapon swaps are in this game.  In my experience with GW games, conversions aren't too big a deal if they reasonably approximate what they are representing, i.e. a bolt pistol shouldn't be counted as a meltagun. 

So, here's the idea.  As part of my eKreoss Tier 4 army I need to add Fire of Salvation.  Well, I have a few issues: 1) The model is like $50 NiB!  I don't like that at all.  It is just a Crusader heavy variant, and I was able to purchase a Crusade for $12.  2) The mace that Fire of Salvation carries isn't all that flashy.  I have ordered Scourge of Heresy's sword as it looks more Exemplar themed and will use it and perhaps greenstuff some flames onto it.

Is this acceptable?  Even though Fire of Salvation carries a mace, there aren't any qualities given to maces specifically, so should modelling a sword matter?  Veteran Warmahorders, what say you?  Please leave me some feedback and let me know.  Thanks.

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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Gone to Ground meets the 11th Company

If you are into listening to podcasts and 40k, I highly recommend 11th company.  It's a really solid podcast and the guys keep it entertaining and fairly clean, something I really enjoy.  That said, 11th Company is perhaps one of the biggest blogs out there right now in regards to 40k.  I like their perspective on 40k and their coverage of 40k events. 

So, are there other reasons to listen to the 11th Company podcast?  Well, Gone to Ground has made it onto the airpodwaves for a third time (episode 106 this time) to talk about my series of articles on making money off of your old minis.  I was stoked to get the invite and had a great time visiting with Pat. Check out this week's podcast and support both the 11th Company and Gone to Ground.  Thanks!

Linky: 11th Company Episode 106

Other Interesting Articles:
You Be the Judge: BA Jumpers and Combat Squadding
Just thinking...
You Got Owned...Because You Didn't Know the Rules Part 1
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Menoth Bastions Model Review

My Exemplar horde is growing steadily each day. I have to get a few more models in the mail and everything will be ready for the great crusade to beat face and light stuff on fire!  That said, today, I received a unit of 5 Bastions and a second unit of 6 Knights Exemplar in the mail, both through an excellent deal I made at Bartertown.  I was so excited about the Bastions that I decided to go ahead and put them together.  After my experience, I thought it would be cool to do a little product review.

courtesy of CMON.com

A new box of Exemplar Bastions comes with a unit of 5 Bastions consisting of you leader and 4 grunts.  You can run them in a group of 3 (leader and two grunts) or the full squad of 5.  This particular box set is a plastic set, the only plastic minis I have collected from Privateer Press so far.  Unlike many, I really prefer metal models over plastic.  I think the detail is generally a bit better and I love the heavy feel they have.  It makes the army feel substantial.  Suffice it to say, I was slightly disappointed when I discovered Bastions only came in plastic as they are going to be the only plastic minis in my entire army as it now stands. 

Down to business.  Bastion models come in 7 pieces and a base.  The pieces are the body, two arms, two shoulder pads, a head, and their halberd.  All pieces have pre-cut holes and posts cut to insure that only one piece can fit any one joint.  This was meant to make the assembly process easier, I'm sure, as it is literally impossible to put these guys together incorrectly unless you cut mounting posts off of pieces. 

Right out of the bag, I noticed that the plastic used by Privateer Press is very hard.  It doesn't have nearly as much give as resin or softer plastics like those used by GW in their plastic kits.  Each manufacturer must have their own proprietary blend. This did two things, one good and one bad.  The detail on the minis was great.  Each model has quite a bit going on and all details including scrollwork on armor and the etching on their blades is definitely of high quality.  However, the hard plastic actually made it harder to get pieces into their correct position.  In many cases, I had to cut down or shave away portions of mounting posts so that the pieces fit easier.  This proved to be a slight annoyance and required some application of strength to get pieces all the way into their fitting (in one case I actually had to clamp my jaws down on an arm joint to get the arm to fully slide into place).  On the upside the design elements used for assembly to add some structural strength to the models.  I am not worried about dropping a mini and having pieces pop off.  These pieces will stay in place.

Another small problem I had with the minis is that many pieces, due to the packaging, were bent.  Several of the halberds were bent along the haft of the weapon.  I have found with resin and plastic alike, the only easy fix is to stick the model in near boiling water, heat the plastic, and then reshape it into its intended straight appearance.  Again a minor issue, but one that takes a bit of time to correct. 

That said, other pieces of the model fit very well with little to no trimming required.  In each model's case, the shoulder pads fit easily into play and on the squad leader, the shoulder pads (coming in two pieces) fit very easily. 

Another great aspect of these models is a noticeable absence of flash.  There were the odd pieces here and there, but for the most part, these models simply didn't have flash on them and in fact, there were few if any mold lines on the minis.  I really like this because I tend to be lazy with mold lines to begin with, so having so few made it really easy to get the models cleaned up quickly. I don't know if Privateer Press has better molds than other companies, but even GW has regularly occurring mold lines on most plastic models. This was definitely a breath of fresh air for me. 

Finally, I want to head back to appearance for a minute.  The models are sweet.  I love them. They are suitably bulky, coming on medium bases. They have the feeling of butt kicking awesomeness.  The models also have fairly decent poses.  Hulking models covered in armor generally don't look terribly agile, but the sculpts, as with many of PP's sculpts, look dynamic utilizing flowing banners and robes and more aggressive stances that make the models look like they are advancing towards you.  PP really knows it sculpting.  I love their stuff.  It simply looks dynamic and epic without looking overly hokey....despite massive shoulder pads. 

So, to run it down for you, the pros are:

- Great sculpt, very dynamic pose and good sense of movement achieved
- High level of detail, even for plastic, makes an interesting looking mini
- Lack of flash and mold lines
- Solid construction through the use of mounting posts at joints means that models won't be losing pieces often
- Easy construction as each pieces only fits in one place unless you cut off the mounting posts.
- Lighter weight than metal
The cons are:

- Very hard plastic.  This makes it hard to trim and shave, it also means those mounting posts sometimes fit too tightly to make pieces join snugly.
- Bent pieces require extra effort to correct
- Lighter than metal (I like metal models)

Overall, I really like the models and would give Privateer Press a solid A for them.  They possess everything you would think a model of their magnitude should have, are fairly easy to construct, and only provide a small handful of headaches to get around (but what wargaming mini doesn't!).  Privateer Press continues to amaze me with the quality of their products. 

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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The Avatar Cometh!!

That's right folks, despite going out of town, getting a stomach bug, and making up a lot of work due to aforementioned stomach bug, I was able to finish my Avatar of Menoth.  This guy is a stud.  He is the Menite beater jack.  With an impressive ARM 21 and a POW 19 stubby sword (yeah, not a big fan of the length of this thing), the jack can go to town on most anything.  If you back him up with a choir and can cast defender's ward on him, you are looking at a ARM 23/POW 21 monster!  Top it off with the fact that he generates his own focus and will always have at least 2 focus (D3+1) and you have quite the addition to any Menite army.  Suffice to say that I have been stoked to get to work on this model and get him tabletop ready.  So, without further ado, here is Menoth's chosen instrument of destruction.

A front view of "the Dude".  He has a suitably imposing bulk though I feel his torso is a bit narrow.  I like the hunkered down pose.  It makes me feel as if the jack is about to leap into action. 

I'm really pleased with the paint job on his sword, but I am just not happy with the sword itself.  It really needs some added length, but I am not good enough to add that length and make the sword look decent.  I have seen a whole bunch of conversions that make the sword look great....and they make me envious. 

Rear view.  Not much to be said here.  I do like a good contrast between the white plating on the model's armor/hull and the metallic steam engine pieces in the back.  It's a good contrast.

And the shield. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  Adding the glowing effects in the center of the menofix really makes it pop.  You might notice here and on that sword that I added blue gems.  I really think this helps balance out the red in the model. 

Well, I have to take a break from painting my models for a bit so that I can do a couple of commission jobs, but my next few projects for my Menoth army will include a few more support pieces like the Covenant of Menoth and the beginnings of my Exemplar horde.  I'm super stoked!

Other Models I have painted for my Menoth army:
Reckoner Finished and a Goal
Vassal of Menoth Complete
pKreoss and pSeverius Done!
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Self Sufficieny and Model Recycling: How to "Not Pay" for New Models

Howdy folks.  With starting Warmachine, I have had to collect rules, models, tokens, and cards for a completely new game system.  I have discovered that while the vast majority of miniature wargames are fairly expensive to participate in, if you have a decent sized collection and a lack of sentimentality, you can really add model or games to your collection for little to no negative financial impact.  It's pretty amazing how this works.

I have always thought of myself as a "budget minded" person.  I love planning expenses, etc.  I love saving lots and spending little. Yeah....I'm weird, I know.  When I got into Warhammer Fantasy some 8 years ago, I spoke with my brother, who at the time was playing it.  He told me something to the effect of, "Yeah, there is this company that sells the models to you, but you can also use ebay to find good deals."  I was hooked.  It's no reason gaming minis are referred to as plastic crack.  Ebay was scanned daily.  Dark Elves were bought in droves, even on a poor college student, work study pay check (minimum wage here in Texas is lame).  Anyway, the base costs were significantly cheaper than retail.  Win.

From there though, my interests grew rapidly.  I wanted more Dark Elves.  I wanted new armies. A couple of years ago now, I wanted a new game, 40k. Now I want Warmachine.  So, how do you do this without breaking the bank?  There are definitely some simple strategies that help you to end with a sum profit/loss of roughly zero meaning you didn't spend anything. Let's take a look at them.

1) Ask for it.  Yep.  I generally ask for a thing or two at every birthday or for Christmas.  In my mind, gifts don't count as spending money, neither is "birthday money".  If you ask, provide links to webstores, etc. you can easily rack up the models you need quickly.

The next two things go hand in hand.

2) Sell old models.  This is somewhat of a contentious subject. Many players have a habit of connecting emotionally to their models.  They get sentimental.  You hear things like, "This army was my first army and I will never sell it," or "This models has never died in a game I've played and what's more he has killed (insert number) (insert wicked, scary models)!"  We project our personalities onto a model.  We connect the amount of time and energy modelling, painting, and gaming to a model's perceived value. This is a human thing to do.  No biggie.  However, if you are really jones-ing for some new models or to play a new game, you may need to re-evaluate your relationship with various models.  Here is my list of questions, in order of priority, for determining if a model should be sold or traded for new stuff.

- When was the last time this guy came out of the army case/cabinet/shelf/etc?  If he/she/it hasn't seen the light of day for over a year, he/she/it is fair game.
- How useful is this model in terms of gameplay?  If it isn't that good, is there a chance that will change anytime soon? Case in point.  Necron Monoliths look cool, but they took a huge hit in 5th ed.  Will 6th ed. make them better?  Possibly.  Will they get a new codex anytime soon? No. 
- What's the perceived value/demand for my model?  If there isn't any demand (hello Warhammer Fantasy Wood Elves), forget about getting any real cash or trade value out of it unless you find some sort of collector.
- If the perceived value is low, am I okay with parting with the model for a less than favorable price/trade? Sometimes you are, sometimes you aren't.  If question #1 has the answer "not for years", then you can probably take a hit because the model obviously has no value to you right now anyway if it's sitting on a shelf.
-  What do I want more, my old models or the new models/game?  Ultimately, you need to determine where your loyalties lie.  If you really, really want to try out the new game, then allegiances may be shifting way from your old game system.  You decide.

Finally, don't over think it.  Don't pull out your unused models and have a sobfest about how you really don't want to get rid of them.  Chunk them.

3) Barter.  Buy, Sell, Trade, but do it wisely.  It is amazing how much value little lumps of plastic and/or tin possess.  That said, there are multiple channels by which you can sell your stuff, trade it for new stuff, or just buy new stuff for cheap.  Never buy for full retail unless you have a reason to (like LGS loyalty).  The secondhand market for minis is so huge, you simply don't need to, so don't.

Here are a couple of places you might consider checking out for such deals.

1) Ebay- yeah I said it.  Ebay has turned into a relatively stagnant environment in the past few years in terms of buying and selling minis.  However, you occasionally find some deals.  Here are the things I look for.
    - Misspelled entries- Wahammer and Warhamer are super common.  Yay for individuals with little to no ability to spell. 
    - Mislabeled items- example.  I once purchased a 6th ed. (one edition older) Dark Elf hydra for like $12.50 on ebay because the seller put the wrong picture up on the auction page.  I did the homework, checked it out with him and verified the model and came out winning big since even that models is worth $45-$50.
    -  Batch auctions.  Occasionally, you will come across a batch of models advertised as "Warhammer Models" or "Vampire Soldiers" or something really generic like that.  When you look through the description and pictures, those generic things turn into some real finds because the seller didn't know what they were.  These things don't come up in search inquiries.
    - Items that require a bit of TLC.  Sometimes, being willing to work on a used mini a bit will save you tons of money.  Models that are painted poorly are some of the best finds.  a $4-$5 bottle of Simple Green can fix this problem and future problems for quite awhile.  I have had my bottle of Simple Green for about 2 years now.

2) Bartertown- This is my favorite place.  It is essentially a like going to a fleamarket of nothing but wargaming minis.  Super Awesome.  What's better, you rarely find anything set in stone.  You can haggle and negotiate.  You can find someone to buy almost anything even if it is a relatively old and obscure model.  Bartertown rocks.  Unlike ebay, it also allows you the ability to trade model for model.  I have never had a bad experience here, despite the more relaxed structure compared to ebay. 

3) Your local game store. Most independent game stores have consignment sections or swap shops that allow you to do the same thing as Bartertown, just in person.  This also promotes your local gaming store.  I highly recommend this if you have a thriving gaming community and feel like you can get a good deal on your stuff.

One final thing about selling and trading.  I have found that models with one of two types of condition sell/trade best, completely unpainted or very nicely painted.  People don't always like "meh" paint jobs.  Some don't care, but the two mentioned conditions usually get you the most bang for your buck. Pro painted stuff from a reputable organization or well known painter can really net the big bucks.

In the end, if you are willing to make a few "tough" decisions about your models, you can generally get a pretty good return on them and in turn keep buying new stuff.  Keep the hobby from having a negative impact on your wallet can be a daunting task, but with some thought, it actually isn't as hard to accomplish as you would think.

Other Money Saving Ideas:
Money Saving Playtesting Solutions
Taking better pictures with cra...inexpensive equipment
Budget Gaming Shout-Out: Planning AND Implementation ___________________________________________________________
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Reckoner Finished and a Goal

So, we're staring January 23rd dead in the eye as it passes us by.  Statistics show that most people don't make it to February with New Year's resolutions.  So, how do you keep those promises?  I have found the best thing to do is announce your intention publicly...or at least semi-publicly.  Letting others know about your goals provides a bit more motivation to pursue and accomplish them.  For one reason, no one likes to admit they failed, so sharing a goal with others instills in us not only a desire to finish, but also a fear of having to tell others that we didn't.  Fear of failure can be a great motivator.  Ask any professional athlete. 

Sharing goals also gets us encouragement.  My wife is a good wife.  She encourages me in lots of the things I do, even my hobbying.  I know that's pretty amazing, but it's a reality in our household.  That is awesome.  People can also share strategies to help you reach your goal.  If you are really struggling with a certain aspect of your goal, getting the input of others can really help you overcome those challenges.

So, I guess I would encourage anyone out there reading this to announce your intentions today.  If you are already feeling your desire to paint that army, start a new army, get into a game, etc. flagging, let others know about it.

That said, I have kind of decided in my head not to play a game of Warmachine with my Menoth army until I have it painted.  I have been working pretty diligently in-between commission jobs to get my models done.  You saw my unit of Temple Flameguard in my last post.  Now I want to introduce you to my Reckoner.  I'm pretty pleased with this dude.

His mace and cannon are just sick looking.  I would not want to run into this warjack.  I am a bit miffed that his stacks appear to be a bit off kilter.  I bought him second hand and who knows, he was probably dropped. 

As I was taking these pictures, I really began to understand the bulk and gravity of this model.  He is even bigger than my Crusader (which you can see down below).  The white was a bit more intimidating on the Reckoner because his top plate has such a large area of white on it. 

There's that cannon.  I love the piston drive/release valve on the back.  This model is just cool.

Here's the whole gang.  pSeverius and pKreoss are in the front.  On the far side are my Revenger and Repenter.  You can also see my Vassal on the right.  In the back are my Crusader and Reckoner and my Flameguard are in the middle.

Another angle that let's you get a better glimpse of the Flameguard.  I'm really happy with how the army with coming out right now.  I am excited, too, to get to work on the Avatar and The Harbinger.  Right now, I can put together roughly a 25pt. painted army with either pSevvy or pKreoss.  It isn't too good, though.  I really need to paint up my Choir next.  If I can get them and the Avatar painted in a week or so, I will have an easy 35pt. worth of models to take and play with. 

Notice that along with my declaration in this post, I am going to keep an updated listing of what I have, what I need, and what I need to paint. Just today I got a full unit of Knights Exemplar. I'm really excited to get them painted and let them serve as an infantry based counterattack unit.  I (hopefully) have some Wracks and a second Vassal coming too, so lots is happening, but I am sticking to my guns.  I want to have those two 50pt. lists ready to go by summer.

Other Warmachine related articles:
Crusader Heavy 'Jack Completed
Warmachine the Way I See It: Part 2...err kind of
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcasters
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Menoth Temple Flameguard Completed

My new mission to paint my own models in between commission jobs is working really well.  I've mentioned previously that I have quite a little battlegroup going.  I have pKreoss, pSeverius, Crusader, Repent, Revenger, and a Vassal painted.  The Temple Flameguard are my next step.  I actually have a max unit + the UA, but decided to just paint a min unit for the time being.  I'm hoping to have close to a 35pt army painted and ready to play in the next week or two.  So, here are my Flameguard.

Here they are.  Nothing really special as far as color scheme goes, but I have to say that I really like these guys.  I think they will end up being my sacrificial lambs, soaking charges and allowing something like errants or exemplars to counterattack.  Having shield wall and defender's ward makes these guys incredibly hard to get rid of allowing me the opportunity to swoop in and wipe things out. 

A slightly different angle.  As you can see, I haven't gotten the bases done yet, but they will hopefully be done tonight or tomorrow...right after I finish my Reckoner.  I really like the model and am excited about getting him done and ready for the table. 

That's it for now.  My crusade is ever expanding and ready to go. Hopefully, I will reach my 50pt. army size shortly here.

Other Menoth models I've painted:
Vassal of Menoth Complete
pKreoss and pSeverius
Repenter and Revenger light warjacks
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Crazy "Third Party" Miniatures

Most of my commission work comes from friends, acquaintances, and word of mouth advertising.  That said, I have a gaming buddy, a die-hard Warhammer Fantasy player who loves to use what I call "third party" minis.  These are the small start up companies that produce gaming miniatures (some of which are blatant ripoffs of the big names.  See this post for an example) that you sometimes randomly find advertised on forums or blogs.  That said, I have been working off and on for a while now on my buddy's Beastman army.  It is coming along, but he was having issues because until very, very recently, like as in a week or two ago, GW didn't have models for the units he wanted, so he bought a bunch of third party figures to fill out his ranks.  That is what this round of commission consisted mainly of.  These guys are going to be stand in gorgons and jabberslythes, I think. 

This guy strikes me as a bit too comical, but I've found that if you add enough blood splatters to something, it starts to look grim and disturbing.

I added the space marine to give you some idea of the scale of these two guys.  They are both similarly tall.

Gotta love the pig he's holding.  Pure win there.

My buddy also wants to try out some razorgors, but the things are ghastly expensive.  Enter the pretty cool looking Ogre Kingdom thundertusk models.  I like these and they are fairly easy to make look good.  It just takes a while to paint each tuft of fur individually.....

Double Trouble.

I used Gryphonne Sepia wash on all of the bone materials and it really yielded a nice look.  The same goes for the two big guys.

I paint the fur on these guys very similarly to how I painted the wings on my Sanguinary Guard models.  It just looks really striking in person.  I love it.

That updates this particular round of commission work.  My next job is a smattering of everything; Hell Dorado, Malifaux, Gamezone, and Warmaster.

I'll be sure to show those models off as soon as they are done as some of them look really, really cool.

Other cool commissions I have been able to do:

Grey Knight Commission: The Big Three and others

On the Workbench this week

My Eyes...They Burn!!

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Painting Theory, Why Layering Works

I'm really trying to maintain momentum this year in regards to blogging.  I really love writing and I love wargaming, so what's not to like?  Well, coming up with daily or even bi-daily articles can be tough for one person.  I envy some of the larger blogs out there who manage to maintain a cadre of writers.  That would be awesome. 

So, if you like what I write about ( 40k, WFB, Warmachine, Painting and Modelling) and would like to try out an article, please feel free to go to my profile on the right and email me and let me know.  I would love to see some of the super cool ideas floating around out there just waiting to be published. 

Advertisement aside, I wanted to wrap up the week with a discussion (meaning I would love some feedback and comments) about painting and more specifically layering.

It occurred to me that in my previous article about painting a New Army in the New Year part of the reason some gamers don't get motivated to paint their armies is because they don't know how to make their army look "good".  There are tons of techniques out there, but I wanted to highlight the practice of layering today because of its ease of application.  Hopefully, this article will inspire some new or fearful hobbyists to try to develop their painting skills. 

But before I start talking about the actual practice of layering, I want you to do an experiment.  It requires a flat screen LCD TV and a second or two of your time.  If you don't have an LCD/LED/flat screen TV, why didn't you get one on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?!

Turn on the TV and move right in front of it, almost with your nose to the screen.  No, this isn't a prank.  What happens?  Chances are, your screen looks really pixel-y.  If you could zoom in super close, it looks something like this:

Now, step back 8-10 steps and take a look at it.  Notice the beautiful image on your screen.

Ahh!  Beautiful isn't it. 

So basically, these types of TVs work by containing LEDs that show either blue, red, or green (newer models are also showing white).  When each fires off correctly at a super small scale, they produce beautiful images.  The faster your TV screen refreshes these colors, the better the picture looks.

Well layering is a method of painting that achieves this type of effect though not nearly to the detail of a hi-res flat screen.

You see, your eye processes those separate colors and attempts to mesh them together to create smooth transitions the further you are from the source of the color.    This also explains why camoflauge works with both humans and animals.  That is also why you can go to a tournament and see a beautifully painted tournament army on the table top, but when you look at it up close, you can see obvious distinctions between layers of color.  Our brain seeks to meld like colors together in a seamless fashion. 

That is why layering works.

Now, there are multiple ways to layer, but I prefer one specific technique.  That is, to start with a shade color, work up to our base color, and finally adding a highlight color.  This takes on variation as many times I add intermediate steps, but it always follows this particular scheme. 

Some painters advocate starting with the base color then going back to add shading and finally a highlight.  I find it simpler to just start with the shade and work my way up. 

In most cases, this can be as easy as getting three different shades of the same color.  For instance, I like to do most of my blues with a dark blue like GW foundation mordian blue, followed by a medium blue like GW enchanted blue, and finally with a highlight like GW ice blue.  Again, you can add in intermediate steps by mixing these colors together or simply finding shades that go in between.

While using shades of a different color is convenient, you can also get really creative by adding different colors to the mix.  For instance, a great way to shade a blue hue is to start with a dark purple, then go to medium blue, followed by a lighter blue highlight.  This yields a very rich color in the end.  I often see this done with yellows as it is easier to start with a shade of red or orange and work up to yellow.  I also do this with white using various shades based on the overall effect I want to accomplish.  For instance, I like to use a shade of brown when I want a dirtier, worn white.  When I want a bright, clean white, I use a shade of blue first.  This yields some remarkable effects. 

Another useful tool for creating some great shading is the use of washing.  GW's washes are great, but you can make a wash out of any paint simply by watering it down until it's translucent. 

To apply the layering strategy, simply apply your first color.  After that, apply your next color, but leave a border of color from the last step visible.  I always apply lighter shades of paint where light would hit the surface in a more pronounced manner and in a progressively smaller area towards the direction of the light.  Repeat this until all layers of paint are complete.

When you are finished layer, what you get is a model that looks great on the tabletop and will appear to be seamlessly painted.

Here are a couple of examples taken from my efforts to paint my new Warmachine forces. 

Here I have my two warcasters High Exemplar Kreoss (pKreoss) and Grand Scrutator Severius (pSeverius).  Each is rife with layering.  Notice especially the reds and whites on the models.  The white was done starting with GW foundation Khemri brown, highlighting with Reaper Master Series Aged Bone, and finally Reaper Master Series Polished Bone.  The reds were done with Reaper Master Series Deep Red followed, I think, by GW Gore Red, and finally GW Blood Red.  In each case I applied a wash of GW Baal Red to the armor plating to further yield a smooth transition. 

That's it!  Layering, with practice, can make amazing looking models that will get you lots of positive attention on the tabletop. 

You might also find these articles of help:
Make Your Own GW Paints
Taking better pictures with cra...inexpensive equipment
Painting Halfway Decent Power Weapons
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New Year, New Army: Getting those Models Painted

I've seen on a plethora of blog, comments, and forums.  Gamers, like everyone else, like their new year's resolutions.  Most of them generally revolved around getting something painted.  I am even getting in on this as I start my first non GW game, Warmachine.  Apparently, for a good number of gamers out there, painting is a huge chore.  I don't say this accusingly, but the evidence is still there.  I mean, I'm a commission painter for crying out loud.  So, to many players out there the prospect of getting an old or new army collected, assembled, and painted on their own is a truly daunting task.  I thought I would help out a bit by giving a few ideas on how to make the process go smoothly. 

It's been my experience as a commission painter, that painting an army can be done in a manner that severely slows down the process and kills your motivation, or you can take a few intentional steps to make the process work smoothly so that you don't lose interest. 

1) Plan, plan, plan.  Choose a color scheme before you start.  This sounds like an obvious thing, but you need to do a bit more than just pick colors.  Find images of models that have the scheme you want to implement.  Bolter and Chainsword has a Space Marine model painter application that allows you to try out different color combinations.  It is amazing how many people think they have a cool idea, start to paint it up on their models and then realize that it doesn't look so hot, or that it is simply too hard to pull off well.  Taking time here means time saved later on.

2) Choose an assembly method.  Some people prefer to completely assemble models while others would rather paint their minis in pieces.  Decide beforehand how you want to accomplish this.  Using some sticky tack and/or dry fitting will help you make this decision.  Some models such as your average grunt or marine or soldier won't merit as much attention as a character model or tank.  Thus, they don't need to be fussed over as much.  Taking time here also saves headaches as there is nothing worse than painting a model and then realizing that its torso is obscured by the positioning of its arms or some such. 

3) Plan your painting schedule.  My recommendation is to intersperse your high interest models inbetween your larger squads.  This provides you with a bit of motivation to get done and a bit of respite from the mundanity that is painting the same model 20 times when you create a full unit.  I have made the mistake (multiple times to my chagrin, I'll never learn) of leaving multiple large units of similar models to paint AFTER painting all of the character models and larger, high detail models.  This makes painting those last units painful.  Having a cool model to look forward to inspires you to persevere and get those last 10 minis done so that you can paint something with more character. 

4) Paint wisely.  If you haven't check it out, I have a series on painting for tournaments that includes a lot of the ideas I summarize here.  Check it out.  Basically, there are a few techniques that yield great results and dramatically speed up the amount of time required to paint an entire unit or army.  The first technique is what I call assembly line painting.  Basically put, instead of painting all of the elements on a single model, paint one element on several models at a time.  I do this and can efficiently paint an entire squad by going from element to element instead of painting each model in turn.  This also saves a lot of paint as you aren't constantly having paint dry in between models.  Another thing that saves time is either buying resin bases or creating a simple basing scheme for your army. 

Achieving that new year's resolution to paint an entire new army isn't going to be a simple stroll in the park, but it can be made far easier with a little planning and care. 

Other useful articles:
Painting Halfway Decent Power Weapons
Free....er thing
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Holy Rusted Metal, Batman! A Rust Effect Tutorial

I have been working for a buddy of mine for awhile now, doing some commission work for him.  I am painting up a Warhammer Fantasy Beastman army for him.  I posted some of his larger monstrous creatures that I had painted quite a few months ago.  You can see them here in my post titled Large and in Charge. 

Anyway, when I started the commission originally, I wanted to paint the army so that it looked unique, not your typical clean paint job.  So, what gives Beastmen their character?  Their are basically devolved humans.  Thus, they probably don't put a lot of emphasis on cleanliness.  Aside from my friend's desire to have greyish skin, I thought it would be cool to have dirty Beastmen who also had rusty weapons and armor because they didn't take care of them like normal humans. 

After experimenting a bit, I decided on a fairly easy technique to achieve a pretty decent rust effect on metallic areas.  It uses a method of painting called stippling to apply the rust and then some controlled drybrushing to apply metal where the rust has been rubbed away.  Check out my pictures of a recently painted model who we will name Bob the Beastman. I apologize for the picture heavy nature of this email, but I hope they prove to be useful. 

Here is Bob, ready for paint.  He has been primed black which I honestly think is a good color when working on a dark, dirty model.

The first step to apply the rust effect is to take a dark metallic color, in this case GW Boltgun Metal, and drybrush it on all metallic areas of the model.  From this angle you can see quite a few different areas that required this initial step from chainmail to armor plates to the head of his axe. Don't worry to much about neatness as this layer will be virtually covered. 

After the first layer of metallic has been applied, we begin stippling on our rust colors.  Stippling requires a well used brush, one that you don't mind treating poorly.  To stipple, you need to apply paint to the brush in a similar manner to drybrushing.  Apply paint and then wipe off the majority of it.  Then, press the tip of the brush firmly and directly onto the surface you want.  Do this repeatedly to cover all areas.  Above, you can see the first layer of stippling that I have done.  I used GW Red Gore for this layer.

In this next picture, I have actually stippled on two more colors, GW Dark Flesh and Vermin Brown.  Rust isn't every only red.  It is generally a mixture of reddish and brownish hues, though I have seen models with green as well.  For this model, I have used red, brown, and orange hues.  Together these create quite a nice rust look.  Again, don't worry about neatness too much.  Stippling isn't neat, so this portion of the model should always occur first.  This also means that you need to be careful when painting around the rusted areas later as it becomes very hard to paint over them if you mess up. 

There are four pictures above.  These show the application of the rubbed metal sections.  Basically, rust flakes off easily when rubbed and if it is rubbed enough "new" metal will show through as a result.  Thus, we want to take a light metallic hue and paint it on edges and high points of models.  An area that requires attention is the edge of the axe.  Obviously as it is used, the edge will show shinier metal from hacking at opponents.  Thus, it requires a bit of attention.  You can see it in the second and fourth pictures.  On armor plates, generally metallic paint is only applied to the edges, but some can be done on high points.  See third and fourth pictures for examples of this.  Finally, for chainmail there isn't too much of a strict procedure.  I generally look at the chainmail and imagine where blood, grime, and verdigris would gather.  That is where I paint the rust effects and then I apply the metallic, in this case GW Chainmail to other areas where grime hasn't built up. 

Finally, I have some pictures of Bob completed save his base.  The rusted metal effect really balances the blue-grey skintones.  My buddy also wanted red fabric in his army's paint scheme, so the hood/facemask accomplishes this. 

A side view.  His skin is done using GW foundation paints Fenris Grey and Astronomican Grey.  I mix the two for an intermediate hue.

The flayed skin is easily done using GW foundation Tallarn Flesh, followed by an Ogryn Flesh wash and finally Dwarf Flesh. 

A final side view. 

That's it!  Achieve a nice rust effect is fairly easy.  This model took me about 15-20 minutes to achieve the rust effect.  It is quick since you don't have to spend so much time painting carefully around areas.  The messiness of the process is kind of freeing! 

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.  I hope you find this article useful as you seek to add a bit of extra detail to models in your army.

Other tutorials you might find useful:

Painting Halfway Decent Power Weapons
Tutorial: How-to Rock Bases on the Cheap
How to Paint White Part 1: Bright White
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