Demon Bad Guys 1

I'm still busy doing "proper" painting on my latest figures, which means they're going very slowly. I'm also in danger of interrupting my interruptions; I interrupted my 54mm crossbow build to work on shield patterns for my Mantic skeletons. This itself was interrupted to base and paint up (quick and dirty) some Bag O'Zombie plastics. Now that interruption's gone, the latest is to clean and prepare some figures for a diorama I'm planning. I should probably try for a queue, rather than a stack based approach to projects :-)

All that being said, there's not actually anything to show at the moment, as I forgot to take work in progress pictures of Studio McVey's Lt. Kara Black and the Bag O'Zombie figures. However, while forgetting to take those pictures, I did take some others.

In an earlier post I showed the Grey Knights (Citadel Cadian conversions) that I built for my demon apocalypse project. This week, I thought I'd show some of the Bad Guys. These are mostly a mix of Citadel, West Wind, Foundry and Urban Mammoth (as well as anything that looks suitably monsterly).

There are quite a few figures, although they tend to be more individuals or small groups of two or three, rather than being organised into gangs and factions. This is something I will have to look at, possibly bringing them up to a strength of ten or so per faction.

The Citadel figures are just ones from the Warhammer or 40k ranges that looked suitable. I bought Citadel's latest Dark Elf Wytches, and got the Hellions for my birthday. I'm still to paint them (still to unbox them if truth be told), but they'll make some useful demonic slavers when they're finished. Other likely candidates are the plastic demonettes (I have a couple of the older metal ones) and probably some bloodletters (again, I have a couple of the metal ones)

Anyway, enough words, onto the pictures :-) This first post covers some of the leader figures. A future post will look at the foot soldiers.

First up is a group of West Wind vampires

I need either to take shots from further away or do some tasteful blurring, as the painting on some of these figures is a lot worse than I remember.

Next are some Urban Mammoth figures, although I think they were still I-Kore when I bought them.

A Foundry Elf figure, if memory serves

and a female necromancer, whose manufacturer escapes me at present (I just paint figures I like, so I unbox them when I buy them and several months/years later I paint them - by which time their details have been forgotten)

I have a few photos of some of the lower order demons, so I'll post them up next time. Lt. Kara Black is also getting dangerously close to being finished, so hopefully some pictures of her soon - unless I decide to undo the camouflage on her trousers, which hasn't really worked :-(

Progress to April 2011

As we're just over three months into 2011, I thought I'd take a look at what I've done so far this year and see how my resolutions are coming along.

Figures completed this year

I've been painting a lot, but I haven't actually finished that much. I think this is partly due to trying to paint to a higher standard than tabletop and partly because my weekends have been spent on other modelling related projects.

Actually finished this year are:

• 9 Zombie hunters
• 10 Mantic skeletons (the painting's finished, but I've still to do their shields and bases)
• 20 Bag O'Zombie plastic zombies

which is rather light for twelve weeks of painting :-(

I'm currently working on some more display quality (I hope) painting, so I don't expect my figure total to increase dramatically any time soon. These figures are a bit of a mix, with Reaper, Studio McVey and Games Workshop represented.

With respect to the Bag O'Zombies plastics, I'm just doing a quick and dirty paint job on them. They help the total, but it's very much quantity over quality. I think I've finally worked out how to base them (a long and painful saga), and now that's done I can hopefully start to plough through them. My plan is to get ten done in a weekend, around other things.

Painting

I've been experimenting quite a bit, so that resolution is holding. The figures I'm painting at the moment will get a coloured wash as one of their flesh layers, which should be interesting :-) I just finished watching a Miniature Mentor video (passes the time while cycling on the spot), and the guy there shaded and highlighted in a different order than usual. I'm trying it out on the current bunch.

One of the current group should also see my first attempt at underpainting. This will involve painting the highlights and shadows in black and white, then putting translucent paint over the top. The idea is that the underpainting shades and tints the basecoat, saving shading and highlighting from the base colour. Watch this space...

I'm not doing so well on the "stay focused" resolution, but no big surprise there. The Bag O'Zombies figures have been the latest interruption and next week there will no doubt be another one.

Finally, I've been reading up on colour theory. Not sure how much it'll help, but I'm thinking more about colour schemes, so hopefully it's having an effect.

Modelling

On the sculpting front, I'm still working towards the 54mm modern vampire hunter. All my time on it so far has involved building his crossbow. This is completely scratchbuilt, which is a new aspect of the hobby for me. It's nearing completion, so hopefully I'll actually start on the figure this month.

As to conversions, there haven't really been any - unless you count chopping arms off the Bag O'Zombie figures :-)

General

I'm enjoying my painting at the moment. I actively look forward to it, and if I could find the time to match my enthusiasm the lead pile might actually start to shrink. However, I've recently bought quite a few minis, so the pile is still growing.

Regarding interruptions to current projects, the latest thought in my head is getting a clown car for my Tengu zombie clowns. I couldn't find one in the right scale, so may have to convert something. I was going off the idea after I found the price of 1:43 Volkswagen Beetles, but I picked up a couple of Siku cars the other week that look promising. I've also just added zombie clown reinforcements, as the Bag O'Zombie people also do zombie clowns; I now have an extra fifty of them. They're all in the same pose, but I'm sure I can work out something.

Photography wise, my pictures are still rubbish as I have the bad habit of just gamma correcting them before posting. I'm starting to correct them a bit more thoroughly, which will hopefully help. The other thing I want to do is to photograph figures in scenery, rather than just against a white background.

Wonder how things will look in another three months?

Bugman's Rangers

I was reading a blog entry at Subject to Stupidity about the old Bugman's Rangers the other week. While the figures on the blog were old, the group he showed was not in fact the first version of the regiment. I think it may have been the second, but I don't have any of those figures.

I do, however, have the originals, bought sometime in the early 80s (the date on the bottom of the figures is 1984). They were the original Regiment of Renown - with RR1 emblazoned proudly on the packaging.

My dwarf army is more or less made up of single figures, so I only ever painted up one of the Rangers and the command group. I used the command group for the phalanx (to be featured in a future post) and I think I may have used another copy of the command group in the main body of the army - I definitely remember painting up the standard bearer a couple of times.

A painted amd unpainted version of the original trooper is shown below

and the figures that comprised the command group

Finally, from the depths of my loft, the original figures from the Regiments of Renown. This is the original packaging, complete with a price tag. The original price had been covered over with a bit of card. I can't remember what I paid for them, but the price under the bit of card was £4.50, or 45p per figure. Not sure how much 45p gets you these days - possibly an arm if you're lucky :-(

At some point I should try and sell them, or auction them off for charity, but for the moment it's back to the loft for the little chaps.

Edit: 26 June 2011

There has been much chatter about these figures (not mine, but the Bugman's Rangers figures in general) over at the Lead Adventure Forum. The main outcome from my own point of view, other than not now being sure how many figures of each type were in the original box, was the (re)discovery of the champion figure. As it turns out, I had him, although just as another figure in the army. While not part of the original Regiment of Renown, he did come out around the same time.

Dwarf Cavalry

I'm just about finished the Mantic skeletons I've been working on. The only things left are shield patterns and bases. I'm not sure what I'm doing with the shields, so I've started the next group of figures while I decide. No pictures of the skeletons yet, but I'll put some up when they're finished.

I'm also close to finishing the 54 mm modern crossbow I've been scratchbuilding. I've been spending a lot of time making the parts, so next up is to build the thing. Once that's done, and assuming it looks okay, I can finally start on the modern vampire hunter figure who'll be holding it. I still have a lot of enthusiasm for this project, which given that the crossbow has taken me a couple of months (weekends only), is hopefully a good sign.

Anyway, this week's photos are some more elements of my Dwarf army - Dwarf cavalry. Dwarves and horses aren't words usually uttered together in the same sentence, and finding the models wasn't easy. These six are all very old, bought and painted in the late 80s, early 90s. I'm not sure any but the Irregular ones are still in production.

The whole unit. Back in the old Citadel adventurer days they did mounted and unmounted versions of the same figure. Some of the cavalry is composed of these figures.

Not sure it shows in the photo, but the left foot on the mounted dwarf is a replacement I had to make as the foot was missing on the original model. One of my earliest greenstuff patches :-)

Likewise

is the mounted version and foot of the adventurer from the Introduction. Now that I come to look at them more closely, there are quite a few differences between them. I'm fairly sure, however, that they're meant to be the same figure, although it has been a while.

I think this one also has a dismounted adventurer, but I can't find the unmounted version of him in my collection. Given that I have most of the dwarves from this period that Citadel produced, this came as a bit of a surprise.

Final Citadel one is Gimli from their old Lord of the Rings set (thanks to stunties.com for confirming that). Again, if there's a foot version, it's likely I have it, but I can't find it at the moment.

The final two are Irregular models. They're one-piece models, i.e. riders are not separate figures.

Eolith Selene

Finished the 54 mm Eloith Miniatures Selene figure recently. I still haven't settled on a base for it yet, but the painted figure is shown below.

Front of the miniature

Better picture of the sword

Lots of space on the cloak for a design, maybe next time :-)

Side view showing the shield. It's rather bright, and might have been better with a less forceful colour than crimson.

Fairly happy with the way the figure went together - all relatively uneventful. I had painted a pattern on the bottom of her cloak, but it looked rubbish (uneven, paint wouldn't flow nicely etc.) so I just painted over it with the base colour. I should probably have tried to weather the cloak, but again, cowardice prevailed. If I'd done the cloak, I'd have to have done the boots, and then the trousers... So I stopped :-)

I took great care not to damage the paint while holding the figure, but I still managed to rub paint off the top of her boots on a couple of occasions. It's looking like becoming an occupational hazard with the larger scale :-(

Once finished I looked at it under the Evil Magnifying Lamp of Doom(tm). This is a daylight fluorescent magnifying lamp that delights in finding mistakes. It immediately spotted some paint under her chin and a couple of other spills. It also has the very annoying habit of doing away with all my smooth transitions, leaving everything harsh and chalky.

I'm struggling to decide on a base for the figure. I bought a Gothic arch, but it's too big and completely overwhelms the figure.

I then considered (and am still considering) building something with the Hirst Arts molds I have. That's also stalled, however, as my previous experiment with Hirst Arts' stuff failed for a couple of reasons: I couldn't cast the blocks evenly, so when trying to build something, the tiny differences in height were magnified; painting them was difficult, as trying to cover all the plaster took forever. Note that these were my problems, and many people have created whole dungeons and layouts with the molds, so it's nothing to do with them.

My current thought is a VoodooWorx pedestal that I bought. I like it, with one slight caveat (anyone spotting a trend yet). The problem is that the pedestal is plain, and I'd like some decoration at the bottom so it isn't quite so "clean". If this was a non-pedestal base, it'd be perfect.

I've also been considering making a base from scratch. This would involve rolling out some Milliput (or similar), and cutting the paving stones into it before it cures. I have a couple of bases I'm thinking about making for other figures (again, can't quite find the ones I want), so this approach is more likely to be tried than the Hirst Arts route.

Still, there's no hurry to complete the figure, other than wanting to use the vice that's holding it for another figure, so I'll get there eventually.

Recently finished Zombie Hunters

Finished these guys a couple of weeks ago. They're a selection of figures, including Studio Miniatures, Reaper, Hasslefree and one figure I can't remember who/where I got him (it may have been at a wargame show)

They took quite a while, as I decided to paint them "properly". This included multiple shading and highlighting levels and all the modern stuff. Overall, I'm quite pleased with them, so I suppose the extra time and effort was worth it.

Studio Miniatures Wizard of Oz survivors group. I'm not quite sure why I split them across two different base types, but I don't think it matters too much. Some nice fun figures that will hopefully do well on the tabletop.

Reaper figure (Berkeley). Really enjoyed painting this one. I think her top should have been a different colour, but other than that I'm happy with it. I even added dirt and blood to the trousers and top, which is quite unusual for me. Annoyingly, they don't show up well on the photo :-(

Two Hasslefree figures (Jess and Morgan) next to the Reaper figure. They're quite demanding to paint, as the details are very fine. Makes a nice change to work with realistically scaled weapons, heads and hands (*cough* Games Workshop *cough* :-) ).

I'm not sure if the trousers on Jess are jeans or chaps. I painted them up as chaps, but have seen other versions treating them as jeans. The colour is also far more yellow than I had intended. I used Foundry Buff, but I really need to tone it down if I use it again. I think the Vallejo USA tan that I used on the shotgun guy's jacket (below), would have been a better choice.

closeup of the Hasslefree Morgan figure armed with a pistol

Not sure where I got him, but he painted up well enough. The jacket took about five or six coats before I was happy with the coverage. I tried stubble on both him and the scarecrow figure from the first group. I think it looks okay (looks less harsh on the figure than the photo suggests), so it'll be getting used on more figures.

I now have quite a backlog of completed miniatures waiting to be varnished. Hopefully the warmer weather will let me back into the loft and I'll get them done.

Rebasing Figures

For many many (many) years now, I've based my figures using the same simple technique:

1. cover base with textured paint
2. paint base green for countryside or red-brown for town/city

Citadel dwarf on cardboard base covered with textured paint

Modern post apocalypse figure on metal washer covered with textured paint

I've never been too crazy about this, but I tend to view the base as just an irritation that has to be addressed once the figure's been painted, rather than anything more. Recently, however, my Pirates and Zombie figures have forced me to reconsider this approach.

I reckon the towns of the apocalypse will be messy, so muddy textured bases still seem appropriate. Having bought some pavement bases for my most recent figures, however, I definitely prefer them.

Latest zombie survivor on pavement base

This brings me to something of a dilemma: Should I leave my old figures on the textured paint bases, or should I rebase them on shiny new pavement/rubble strewn bases?

Part of me says to rebase. Even though a specific base type "locks" the figure in (pavement bases will look a bit silly indoors or in the countryside, whereas a generic base, while not really fitting in anywhere, also doesn't look completely out of place anywhere), it does ground (sorry) the figure. There's also scope for extra touches on the bases - litter etc., that just add that bit more.

However, the big question is: How do I remove all the gunk that's on the base without damaging the figure? There are two types of base I use: slottabases for plastics or figures that came with tabs, and washers for figures with integral bases.

Slotta bases

Metal figures are glued to the base with everything from Bostik to two-part expoxy. Clippers, however, will remove the base and getting rid of the tab shouldn't be too much trouble. Hopefully this can be done without damaging the figure too much (ideally not at all). The liberated figure would then just need pinned to a new base.

Plastic figures are just glued directly to the slottabase. I'm not sure it will be possible to remove them without damaging the paint. It may even be difficult to remove them without damaging the model, which would be A Bad Thing. I may have to accept that some of these figures will just have to remain on generic bases...

Integral metal bases

The bigger challenge is those figures with integral bases. When I based the pirates I took clippers to their bases and then filed the feet flat. I noticed, however, that the legs of the figures moved apart when I cut into the base. I suspect doing this on a painted figure would lead to cracked paint - definitely not the result I'm hoping for. My current thinking is to clip off the edges of the base, then file the rest of the base away. I'm going to try this manually first, but hopefully a drill with a grinding stone can be used to take out the bulk of the base before finishing it off with a file.

Another possibility for integral bases is to remove the textured paint, then create a new rubble strewn base around it. This would be done using filler, sand, plasticard for beams and corrugated iron etc. While this won't be appropriate for all the figures, it does at least leave the figure on its base, and on the washer, but should make the base much more interesting.

I've set up a test figure (shown below) by gluing it to a washer and adding textured paint to it. I'll leave it for a few days to dry thoroughly, then see what happens when I try and remove it. I shall report back on the results.