Posts Tagged ‘From the painting desk’

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From the painting desk #16 – Marine specialists

June 3, 2012

My Colonial Marine force is steadily progressing from being a small group of models to be used in Space Hulk towards being an actual fighting force of troopers, maybe eventually used in one game or another. My fairly relaxed approach to this project has enabled me to use all sorts of minis as USCM, and this post details another such case. This time it’s three different specialists. They’re all straying from the Aliens movie – you don’t see these guys in the film.

First up is a sniper. The model is a Games Workshop Imperial Guard trooper from the Schaeffer’s Last Chancers set. I’ve cut down the barrel way back when I bought them to make it look less like a lasgun. Looking back, I don’t really regret it.

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The second model is a support weapon gunner from Defiance Games. Part of their multi-part UAMC marines, I painted this one up to see how they look like when painted as Colonial Marines. Can’t say I’m disappointed, so the DG marines will definitely be joining my force.

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The third one is a conversion. Not a very complex one though! He was originally an em4 trooper carrying a laser. In my opinion lasers and CMs simply don’t go together, so I chopped down the barrel and added a massive flamer nozzle from GW’s plastic Catachan set. To further enhance the flamer look, I added a small canister from the same plastic flamer to the side of the backpack. I like how it turned out, as it does look like a pretty bad ass heavy flamer.

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Finally, here’s a group shot of all three. I think they work nicely together despite different manufacturers. As I’ve said, uniform basing and …uniform goes a long way.

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From the painting desk #15 – Marine medic

April 2, 2012

After a moment of despair and bafflement  I’m back on the painting track. I’ve decided to keep adding to my Colonial Marine force, slowly expanding it outside the Alien canon and building it more into a generic human scifi army. This means I finally get to paint all sorts of wonderful stuff I’ve collected over the years. Maybe I’ll even find a new use for some old models.

I’m currently working on a group of four minis, who will all join the ranks of my CM force as various specialists. First up is a medic. Unarmed and -armoured, she doesn’t really seem to be geared for combat. The model’s posing still suggests that she’s out in the field, so maybe she’s been called up in an emergency situation or perhaps she’s aiding some civilians.

The miniature itself…well, what can I say. It’s a repaint of a Heroclix Paramedic. This was pretty much what I was working with (pic lifted from eBay):

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While I did strip the model of paint with acetone, I was still left with some gritty, uneven surfaces, flecks of paint etc. Also, I didn’t notice some glaring mould lines until I was far into painting, so I had to go back and scrape them off. To be honest, this was a miniature I just wanted to paint quickly as it had been sitting (with a twin sister) in my miniatures cupboard for ages, so I didn’t do a very thorough job . Some will certainly be bugged by this, for me it was much more important to just finish the mini before I got frustrated by the soft detailing.

I think the model turned out ok. There are problems with it, especially a lack of detail on some parts. For example, a large part of the hair strands have been painted on. The paint coat is very uneven and frankly ugly in some parts, but the varnishing will help a little with this. Below is the medic on her own, as well as with a selection of other Marines. I think she fits in nicely.

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From the painting desk #14 – Colonial Marines

February 28, 2012

I just completed these five models. They were specifically painted for my Aliens board game project. What these five models reminded me of is that I [expletive] hate batch painting. It’s dull, it’s dreary and it takes most fun out of the area of the hobby that I enjoy most – painting. After much eye-rolling, cursing and exasperated sighs, they’re finally finished – luckily they turned out alright. All miniatures except Frost (holding a pistol), who is a conversion of an em4 plastic trooper, are Woodbine Colonial  Marines. They were nice enough to paint, and I pretty much just followed my regular recipe for painting CMs. I’m quite happy with how some things turned out, such as Vasquez’s darker skin colour. Some of the teeth sculpted on the models make them look a bit squirrel-ish, but who’s counting.

Painted Colonial Marines

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With all the minis I need for the project now finished, I can move on with the game board as well!

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From the painting desk #13

January 5, 2012

Yes! My Hürn from Heresy (see the Predator review for more info) is finally finished, after sitting half-painted on my desk for ages. Seriously, I’ve written on July 14, 2011:

Here are my Predators, sans the wonderful Hürn from Heresy, who sits almost finished on my painting desk.

Weird how you sometimes just hit a wall with a particular miniature, even if it isn’t annoying to paint. For some reason this happened with the Hürn. As usual, once I finished it I was left wondering what was so difficult. It’s a neat model, and turned out just fine!

Painted Hurn Headtaker

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This version of the Hürn has unfortunately sold out. I’m considering buying the new, helmeted variant for different weapon options. As if I didn’t have enough Predators already.

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From the painting desk #12

April 13, 2011

I always paint on a black basecoat. I switched away from white maybe 10-12 years or so ago, and haven’t gone back since. Every now and then it’s fun to try something different, however, so I wanted to try painting over a white basecoat. A gift for a friend of mine provided a great chance. It’s the adorable Shetland pony from Hasslefree, which I painted using this picture of a Dales pony as a reference:

As the model is predominantly white-ish grey-ish brown-ish, it was a nice testing ground for washes. Apart from the tail, mane and dapple pattern, the model has been painted with GW Devlan mud, Gryphonne sepia and Badab black washes. I like how he turned out, and my friend thinks it’s the cutest miniature pony ever. Let me know what you think!

 

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From the painting desk #11

February 25, 2011

Just a single model this time. I’m very slowly painting up a small Warmachine force, and here’s the second one of my Khador Widowmakers. A wonderful model, although the straps, buckles and other assorted bric-a-brac are still a pain. I like how her hair turned out, as well as the browns.

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When I have the time and the energy (and I’ve finished the final two Widowmakers) it’s time to go to work on the Warjacks. Can hardly wait!

 

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From the painting desk #10

February 12, 2011

I’ve gotten some painting done after a while, here are my two latest.

The first one is a werewolf from West Wind (see the review). A very simple, down to earth paintjob, but I think he came out pretty fine. It’s been a good while since I added stuff to my Underworld project, so maybe I’ll eventually finish that, after all.

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The second one is a Horrorclix Alien repaint. Since the Aliens are based on the dire AvP movie, there are a few miniatures that are attached to scenery elements, such as columns or walls. The old stone wall didn’t really suit my Aliens, so I slapped some old bits and pieces on it, covered it with loads of greenstuff, painted it to match my Aliens and smeared some glue over it for that creepy slime look. I think the matt wall works nicely with the glossy Alien, and I’m quite happy with the way the whole thing turned out. A lot of GS went into it, though! There’s a before/after shot below, although It’s not the same model obviously. I’ve photoshopped the Alien on the right a bit, since black is a real bastard to photo.

Before/after. Click for a larger version.

Comments more than welcome, as always!

 

 

 

 

 

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From the painting desk #9

January 5, 2011

I’ve really gotten the new year started with a bang when it comes to painting. I’m churning out painted stuff at the rate of a mini or two per day, which is approximately 300 times my normal rate. I’m especially happy about the fact that I’m getting back to my old projects, resurrecting them (especially the zombies, ba-dum-tchhh) and finally getting miniatures I’ve bought years ago painted.

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It’s another one of Mark Copplestone’s wonderful Predators, available from Copplestone Castings. A sweet mini and paints up nicely as Mr. Copplestone’s sculpts tend to. For more info, check out my Predator review.

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I  bought my Studio Miniatures zombies ages ago, and have only now gotten into painting them. They’re really very, very nice minis with a lot of character and it’s an easy job making them look fine on the tabletop.

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The world is often a dangerous place for little choirboys, and the zombie apocalypse makes it no different. This unfortunate victim is from Recreational Conflict. Zombie children, gotta love ’em!

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From the painting desk #8

December 31, 2010

This post will have the massive honour of being my last post this year. I’ve been painting a bit lately, and it’s time to show what I’ve been up to.

First up is a zombie from Mega Miniatures. Nothing fancy. The model had been on my desk for ages, so I spent an hour or so to get him off the desk and into the cabinet. A very simple paintjob, and I love going to town with the blood spray effect, which I think makes the sledgehammer even more brutal.

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The next one is a zombie punk rocker from Recreational Conflict (go here for my review). I put some more work into her, and I think it shows. The presence of The Disciple inspired me to use some of my understandably less used paints, and I think they really made the punk rock look work.

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There’s a bit of a Warmachine fever sweeping our gaming group, and yes, it appears I’m getting into a new game system. What can you do, the models are just too lovely. I picked Khador as my faction of choice, as I really love their visual style. I’d also previously bought some Khador widowmakers to use as engineers/champions in my WHFB Empire army. They went into their originally intended service instead, and here’s the first of them painted. I think he came out pretty nice. I have to mention though, that bleedin’ steampunk basically means straps, straps, buckles, piping and straps. All of which are a pain to paint. Can’t have everything, I guess.

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With these I’d like to wish you all a happy new year! Keep painting, gaming, blogging and spending indecent amounts of money on miniatures and assorted largely useless paraphernalia. I know I will.

 

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From the painting desk #7

October 15, 2010

Bit slow with the updates lately, finally got something painted to show. My Predator project is well under way, my latest painted stuff includes three INAPs from Ainsty and a Copplestone Hunter Alien. The INAPs were basically basing jobs, except for the one where I tried to create a decloaking effect. Let me know what you think!

Ainsty INAPs

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Copplestone Predator

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Still struggling with photo lighting. I only recently noticed, that the two bulbs I have – which should be the same – are different. One has a much more yellow tone, which definitely sucks. Will have to get a replacement for that, and work with one for now. This shows especially in the INAP picture, where the single bulb doesn’t provide enough lighting. On a single model it’s no problem, as the Copplestone one shows.