Posts Tagged ‘Black Scorpion’

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From the painting desk #63 – It’s…pirates!

March 30, 2019

Finally more painted pirates! These have been on the bench for a while, and they’re pretty much the first miniatures I’ve painted all year. While I’ve done some terrain building and painting, minis have fallen by the wayside a bit. This should be rectified shortly, as I’ve promised to paint up some stuff for Salute, and that’s exactly a week away.

Foundry maroon with Black Scorpion pirate

Click for a larger version

Another maroon from Foundry, I love these guys and I’ve painted a couple before. Simple, elegant sculpt, simple, not so elegant paintjob. It does the trick though! I asked Emmi to pick the colours, which was surprisingly fun. I notice myself going back to tried and true combinations of colours, which can mean things getting a bit samey – I can’t remember how many times I’ve used the combination of Vallejo Khaki and Vallejo Cayman Green. What can I say, they’re lovely, muted tones with awesome coverage.

The second one is a pirate from Black Scorpion, with a massive axe and some equally massive mutton chops. He’s somewhat reminiscent of Mr. Gibbs from the Pirates of the Caribbean films, and I’m sure I’ve seen him used as a proxy somewhere. Funnily enough considering the previous paragraph, his vest is Vallejo Cayman Green and his trousers are Vallejo Khaki, what do you know!

I’m super stoked about going to Salute! It’s become a yearly tradition by now, and very much a social event and a great chance to meet all the lovely folks I’ve befriended over the years in this hobby. This year I’m looking forward to bumping into Alex of Leadballoony fame as well as spending time with the nice people from the Random Platypus forum. After Salute we’re heading up north for a hundred miles of hiking along the Pennine Way, which I’m possibly even more stoked about. This will likely mean that the blog will be dormant for a couple of weeks, although considering my rapid-fire posting, you won’t be able to tell any difference.

Posted in 18th century, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , , | 17 Comments »

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From the painting desk #60 – All the single ladies

October 19, 2018

With my painting desk finally set up and Halloween approaching at full tilt, I’ve been painting a lot in the last couple of days. It’s time to showcase my first finished minis in god knows how long.

The first one is a pirate from Black Scorpion. I really love the posing of this mini, it makes for a nice change compared to typical fighting poses and gives the character a whimsical, flirty feel. I painted the legs as having pants on because I’m quite sure no one would choose to dress their female minis in a cropped top and a loincloth while the men are fully clothed, amirite Black Scorpion? For a bit of diversity and a painting challenge I went for non-caucasian skin which I think turned out nicely. The closed eyes are a nice touch and saved me the trouble of painting eyes!

Photo of pirate miniature blowing a kiss

Click for a larger version

 

The second miniature is a vampire from Bad Squiddo’s My Last Sunrise Kickstarter. It’s a wonderful sculpt of one of Dracula’s brides. I love the combination of alluring and monstrous on the mini – the exposed leg and flowing dress create a wonderful contrast with the snarling, beast-like face and the hand that is almost a claw. And no, that’s not white in her hair! I haven’t yet given this mini a blast of matt spray so the old Citadel ink I used catches the light something awful.

Photo of female vampire miniature

Click for a larger version

This was super fun to paint! A really crisp, clean sculpt and it was easy to make her look good. The drapery is great and the face is full of character. Of the three female vampires in the KS, this one looks least like a human, prompting me to paint her in a very gray, inhuman tone. For the base I went with my autumn mix as it fits the horror theme much better than my bright Caribbean basing.

It’s really good to be back in painting action. Hopefully plenty more blog posts on the horizon too!

Posted in 18th century, Miniatures, Pirates, Vampires/Werewolves | Tagged , , | 11 Comments »

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Piratical 2017 recap

January 6, 2018

This year has been a weird one hobby-wise. On one hand, I must have painted less than 20 miniatures all year, which is very few even by my modest output standards. On the other hand, I’ve been fairly prolific with terrain – building a whole new pirate board for example. To showcase what I’ve done this year, I set up most of my pirate stuff on my new board for a major photo shoot. To be honest, this is what I’m mostly in the hobby for: I game very little, so the pirate project is more of a dollhouse thing than something for frequent gaming use. I think this goes back to old Citadel Journals, where dioramas with tens of minis were used to display the variety of miniatures available. Another, more recent example and a great inspiration has been the pirate gallery on War in 15mm.

The table has many items that I haven’t featured in dedicated posts. If there’s something that catches your eye, just let me know in the comments and I’ll do a separate post. There will be one on the table itself, too!

My pirates have become by far my most enduring and consistent project of the past years. I’ve stuck almost exclusively to them since 2015, and there’s been no drop in enthusiasm. On the contrary, I’m more and more interested in the 18th century (and there has been a bit of an overspill into 17th and 19th century too) and I’ve for example amassed quite the collection of books on the subject. Might be a post or two in those, too.

You can click on any photo for a larger version, opening in a new tab.

The governor and his family survey the town

A wealthy merchant with his bodyguard in tow – a highwayman lurks behind the turn

One of the governor’s footmen keeps an eye on the pirates making landfall

A scoundrel with a heart or an assassin?

A boatload of pirates lands on the jetty

Trouble might be brewing

It’s Jean Blanc – the Unkillable Frenchman!

The obeah woman and her maroons keep watch

A pirate is about to get hanged – is this what drew the Frenchman?

“Nasty business, hanging.”

The captain makes sure the king’s law is carried out

A few pirates got off with an easier sentence

On Tyburn Island, trade carries on

…even in the shadow of the gallows

Speaking of trade, the governor’s men have discovered a stash in a beach cave

A footman keeps watch as the cave is investigated

At least the weather’s nice

…unless you’re working

…let alone using the outhouse

Barrett’s dead drunk in the pigsty again

“Need a hand wi’ ‘im Peg?”

Old Rogers’ cart is a landmark by now

Whatever happens on the island, the Queen knows about it

So, that’s where I’m at now! Feedback is most welcome. To all new readers and regulars, happy 2018 and thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

Posted in 18th century, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 35 Comments »

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Outpost highwaymen size comparison

June 14, 2017

Last week the postman brought me some lovely new minis by Outpost Wargame Services. They’re part of their highwaymen range, which also includes victims as well as characters from the City of Vice TV show. As the range features plenty of suitable minis for my pirate project, I’ve been eyeing them for a year or two now. One thing that has kept me from taking the plunge is the lack of comparison pictures available. While there are some here and there on various blogs, I wasn’t able to find a proper size comparison. This post will obviously remedy that and hopefully help out other people who might be wondering about the size.

Now, this isn’t a comprehensive thing by any means, as I’m just using the miniatures that I happen to have at hand here in Dublin. It does cover a fair few of the most typical pirate ranges though. Also of note is that there is no lovely, handy measuring tool here, nor have I standardized the minis in any way – they are just plonked down on 25mm slottabases with their integral bases intact. The exception to this is the Black Scorpion pirate who doesn’t have an integral base.

Click for a larger version

As you can see, the best matches are Blue Moon and North Star, as Outpost minis are on the chunkier, more cartoony side. This means that Galloping Major and Redoubt 18th century stuff should fit nicely. You can see my previous size comparison with those two manufacturers in this post. Like usual, I will happily use them all together as I’m not picky about 100% size or style matching.

Short and sweet this time, I hope this is of use! I might offer this to OWS just to save others some trouble.

 

Posted in 18th century, Miniature reviews, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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From the painting desk #50 – The Doctor

May 12, 2017

My 50th “From the painting desk” entry is another pirate – so no huge departure from what I’ve been doing for the past years. I was thinking of doing something special for the 50th post in the series (namely, featuring a dragon I painted recently), but life intervened so here we are!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Click for a larger version

It’s a privateer from Black Scorpion. There’s really not much difference between a privateer and a pirate (and many swung between the two), so he’s a lovely fit. I love the model’s posing and general look, as he gives off a great stone-cold killer vibe. I’m planning to branch out into highwaymen at some point, and he’ll fit right in.

Again, I kept the palette toned down and gave the base the “pirate tufts” instead of the flowery ones used on civilians and soldiers. I’m not sure if it shows, but I used the model to practice blending. While I’m happy enough with my level of painting skill, I’ve not noticed much progress in the past years. With this in mind, I’ve begun to consciously learn new stuff – starting from something as elementary as blending. I’m quite happy with the result, and it feels nice to level up my painting a little. Work on this will continue!

My pirates will be taking on Paul’s samurai soon, so I’m currently painting up more pirates with muskets to teach him a lesson. As for the pirate’s name, he has spectacles. It’s obvious he’s a doctor, rather than a dubious marksman.

I think this is miniature #7 of the year, counting the dragon. I’m quite happy with my output here in Dublin so far, so this might actually be a fairly productive painting year!

Posted in 18th century, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , | 8 Comments »

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From the painting desk #38 – Living pirate, dead pirate

November 23, 2015

Two more miniatures for my pirate project, and very different ones at that. The first one is a merchant sailor by Galloping Major Wargames, mercilessly press ganged into service as a pirate:

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

A simple paintjob on a lovely miniature, he adds some firepower to my group. I really like the Galloping Major minis, as they’re neat sculpts and very chunky. They’re also very tall, but fit in nicely with the rest of my ranges.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

The other miniature is an undead pirate by Black Scorpion Miniatures. I absolutely love this range – the undead pirates are really characterful and evocative of the whole “cursed to wander the seven seas” vibe. I painted the model using a different style than with my living pirates, using plenty of heavy drybrushing to make him more worn and weathered. I used black decorating sand mixed with pizza herbs to create a sort of afterlife base, drawing inspiration from Terry Pratchett’s depiction of The Desert, an afterlife of greyish-black sand, and adding some withered plants for a more maritime feel. I threw in an old GW metal skull for additional effect. I think the end result is quite pleasing, and creates a lovely contrast with the living pirates and their bases of almost white sand, as you can see in the photo below.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

That’s 33 miniatures painted this year, and the pirate project moving along nicely! I’m looking to build a small band of undead pirates as well, because…they’re undead pirates, that’s why.

Posted in 18th century, Fantasy, Miniatures, Pirates, Zombies | Tagged , , | 7 Comments »

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From the painting desk #34 – Weary old pirate

August 4, 2015

Another painted pirate! I wanted a change from painting to ship, so went for something smaller. He’s a Black Scorpion miniature, and very Long John Silver-ish with his missing leg and crutch. I painted him as a weather-beaten, wiry older pirate. I think the end result is suitably nasty looking individual, definitely up to no good.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

For the base I used a grass tuft from Army Painter. It was my first time using basing tufts, and I’m in love! Expect plenty of tufts in the future, and give them a go if you haven’t already.

This was the 19th mini I’ve painted in 2015, so better speed it up a little. Comments welcome!

Posted in 18th century, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , | 4 Comments »

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18th century comparison

July 17, 2015

I love miniature size comparisons. With plenty of manufacturers out there, it’s useful to know which manufacturers fit together size and style wise. I’m not too fussy with what lines I use together (as you can see from my Colonial Marines), but I know a lot of people are very particular about it. As I’ve amassed a lot of pirate/18th century miniatures in 28-ish mm recently for my small project, I figured I’d do a quick comparison for the benefit of everyone out there. Posts like this are something I tend to google a lot, so this is just paying it forward. This isn’t a review as such, more a quick comparison.

The ranges compared are 18th century sailors by Galloping Major, pirates by Black Scorpion and Foundry and FIW civilians by Redoubt. Here they are side to side:

Click for a larger version

L to R: Black Scorpion, Galloping Major, Foundry, Redoubt

In my opinion all these can be used together, but as said above, I’m not fussy. If you want matches, here are my suggestions:

Black Scorpion has a different style from the others. They also have a fairly large range, so you could just use them exclusively. If the height difference is the thing bothering you, Galloping Major matches up nicely. Style wise Redoubt’s weapons are thinner than Foundry’s or Galloping Major’s and match up quite well with Black Scorpion.

Redoubt can easily be mixed with both Galloping Major and Foundry.

Galloping Major matches Black Scorpion in height but not style. They’re a good match with Redoubt and Foundry style wise, but in general chunkier and taller. However, you could circumvent the height difference by removing the integral base from the Galloping Major minis.

Foundry are short, but style wise match Redoubt and Galloping Major. You could remedy this by giving them a boost under their integral base using putty or a washer.

So that’s my take! As a disclaimer, note that these are single samples from larger ranges which in themselves have internal variation and and..oh heck, I’ll just leave it to Captain Barbossa:

As I like all of these minis and don’t want to unnecessarily put you off from buying them, shown below is a picture of two Foundry pirates and a Black Scorpion one. As you can see, you can do wonders with matching basing and I think they go together just great, even with the height difference.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

Hope this post proves useful! If it does, I’d love to hear about it.

Posted in 18th century, Miniature reviews, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments »

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From the painting desk #32 – Captain, my captain

May 20, 2015

This year’s 11th miniature is a pirate from Black Scorpion. He’s actually the reason for my huge surge of interest for pirates. Once I saw him at the Black Scorpion stand at Salute, I just had to buy the pack and the rest is (very current) history. Seriously, that pose has to be one of the coolest I’ve ever seen, and the miniature all in all is everything I expect from a Pirates of the Caribbean inspired sea dog. He’ll definitely be the captain of my pirate crew.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

I painted his coat a bright red but made the white detailing a bit grimy – he is a pirate after all! I think he’s also the first resin miniature I’ve ever painted. The quality was mainly good, although there was a strange deformity on his right hand. I fixed it somewhat by disguising part of it as a ring. The basing represents a sandy fantasy-Caribbean beach and fits in with the previous pirate.

Posted in 18th century, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , | 4 Comments »

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Pirate madness

May 7, 2015

Salute 2015 sparked a huge interest in pirates in me. I was thinking of keeping it very low key – you know, a few packs of miniatures from Black Scorpion and Foundry, some pieces of special terrain, nothing major.

As these things tend to develop, yesterday evening I found myself in possession of a huge, 80 cm long pirate ship. It’s the Black Pearl from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, it comes from this playset and I got it for 30 EUR off a Finnish auction site. As I said and the pictures show, it’s a massive model, and I’ve no idea how I’m going to store it, but for now I won’t worry about it. Instead I’ll focus on the positive!

There’s so much to love about the ship from a miniature gaming point of view. It’s magnificently scaled for 28mm, it’s nicely textured and has easy access to the ship’s interior. On top of that there are great toy functions such as a small soundboard and even flashing red led lights for the cannon. A piece of the ship’s prow also comes off, which will be a good way to show damage or to depict a beached ship.

The ship will give me plenty of work. While the scale is good for the most part, it’s still intended for large action figures, so I’ll need to make doorways smaller, give the ship a smaller rudder, replace the cannon and so on. Some of the less detailed pieces will need a going over with coffee stirrers and some toy mechanisms will need to be removed. I don’t doubt that it will be a major task, but I’m still looking forward to it! To make my task easier, I’m going for a functional gaming piece and as said, I’m trying to keep many of the toy functions intact. This means I won’t go over the model, puttying over and sculpting every join and gap, nor will I add authentic rigging or anything like that. I know myself, and I want to actually finish this one!

I’ll post updates on the blog as the thing progresses. While I don’t usually show a lot of work in progress stuff, I think that sharing in this case will be good for keeping up the morale (and the stamina). Hopefully this will also provide you with inspiration and entertainment! It goes without saying that feedback, ideas and experiences are warmly welcomed.

I added some quick pics below just to give you an idea of the whole, sorry for the rubbish lighting and setup! All the minis are 28mm.

The ship in all its glory

The ship in all its glory

The rudder has been removed and the railing will be cut down

The rudder has been removed and the railing will be cut down

The crow's nest is large enough for several minis

The crow’s nest is large enough for several minis

Plenty of deck space, the discs will be removed

Plenty of deck space, the discs will be removed

 

Posted in 18th century, Miniatures, Pirates, Scenics | Tagged , , | 9 Comments »

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