Pleasant Surprise 2015

Once again this year I participated in the Pleasant Surprise exchange over on the Warhammer Empire forum.  Every year it seems harder for me to find the time to create a nice surprise with my growing list of adult responsibilities, but I managed to paint up a figure this year nonetheless.  My recipient received his figure this past week, so I figured it was a good enough time to post some photos here.

I chose one of my favourite Empire figures from the 90's - a hero with sword and pistol.  I remember seeing him painted up in the army book when I was a kid, and I always wanted one.  Well, as a grown-up collector, I have managed to find one and even had a spare who is now with his new owner.

My recipient did not have many posted pictures of an army, so I got creative and chose this bold purple and green scheme.  I was quite happy with the results.  Every year it is a bittersweet tradition... I tend to paint figures I wanted to paint for myself, only to send them away for someone else.  I guess it is better to give than to receive, is it not?

I hope my recipient likes this figure as much as I did, and that he finds a memorable place in his collection!

The Halfmen of Westfalia

A few months back, I was following the design and sculpting of some stellar fantasy halflings by Westfalia Miniatures when I was given the opportunity to obtain some sample casts.  Naturally, I jumped on the opportunity and a few weeks later I had the figures in my hands.

Westfalia has decided to go with resin for these figures, and while I am typically partial to pewter, I was quite impressed with these.  The detail was crisp, there seemed to be just enough bend to the material without it being either flimsy or brittle, and mold lines were very minimal. My young kids even managed to grab a hold of the figures and were playing with them for a while without my knowledge, and nothing managed to get broken. I gave the figures a good wash, primed them, and finally finished them this past weekend.

These really are lovely little figures, and they paint up quite easily.  The leader with the hammer seems a shoe-in (or should I say shoeless-in?) Tyrion Lannister.  If only there was an unhelmeted version bearing the likeness of Richard Dinklage...

In homage to the halfman, I painted these guys in typical Lannister colours.  I hope you enjoy them, I even got creative with my background! Westfalia is planning a Kickstarter to fund the production of a large range of these little guys, and it is set to start around Dec 16, or so I am told.

Here are a couple more shots for your enjoyment:

Just an Ork...

I painted up this guy this past week.  I am supposed to get a unit of 10 orks painted by another gamer as part of a trade, so I painted up a test figure.  I returned to my favoured "ork with purple stuff" scheme which always sits well with me.

The orks are all of the older, more fun variety.  I could not let anyone else paint this little gem.  Something about the chainsword just fills me with happiness.  I have been wondering whether it is a chainsword/pistol combo, but keep jumping back and forth between yes and no.  There is no clear barrel for the gun part, but that little plasma vent makes it seem like it is more than just a hand-held tree feller.

Anyway, here are a few more views.  Hope you like him!

More goblins for the warband...

I know I am slow at painting, but I did not finish this last batch of Orcmas goblins 6 months late.  It was only 4 months late, it just took me two months to post them!  These were the last of the goblins I had planned to paint.  They still need another coat of matte varnish, but I am quite pleased with them!

These old figures have so much character, I look forward to painting some more of them (at some point).  Here is a shot at a slightly different angle:

I hope you like them!  That's the last of the Orcmas theme for at least 4 months!

A Foray into Necromunda!

Ok ok, I am still here.  Just got busy with the birth of my third child a couple months ago!  Everything is going well, thanks for asking.

Now, this is an interesting topic.  Necromunda, scifi... something I had sworn not to do (Gorkamorka doesn't count!)  I constantly looked at my crowded crawlspace and vowed not to get into a new genre of miniature collecting.  Then a friend of mine suggested we start a Necromunda campaign.

I've never actually played it.

Lots of folk say it's great.

What could I do?  It really is my friend's fault...

I started by saying I would do it cheaply, convert some plastics, keep it simple.  Oops...

Here we have seven glorious metal Cawdor gangers.  They were painted using mostly inks and washes with a few opaque highlights.  I did them a bit more quickly, so they are not my highest quality but I am happy with them.  For the bases, I used some pieces from a gorkamorka trukk, some drywall tape, sand, floral wire and some odd bits of plastic.  I think they look suitably gritty!

Here is a shot of the boss and a few of the other gangers, up close and personal:

Hmm, I just noticed that I didn't wash the leader's pendant.  I will do that soon.  I hope you like them, I have a few more that need painting.  Then there are scavvies and arbites... :P

Some more Orcmas Orcs!

As promised, I have painted five lovely orcs to add to my Orcmas warbands.  These are from the currently discontinued Wargames Foundry line of Kev Adams orcs (my fingers are still crossed that they are re-released in the future!)  These were some of my favourite sculpts from the entire line, so I am glad I was able to purchase them before they disappeared.

As you can see, the character and goofiness of these figures is amazing.  I had some closeup photos of each orc on his own, but I think I will have to save those for another post to give a little backstory to each one.  Personally, I think they deserve it, don't you?

Enjoy!

Two More Orc(mas) Guards

As promised, here are two more orcs to go with the Orcmas theme.  I know, Orcmas is long past, so we can just appreciate these guys as orcs.  These being from the Foundry mercenary 'orcs' range rather than the 'ogres' range, they are a tad smaller than the previous two (though not by much).  Their sculpts were a bit more simpler, so the painting progressed a little bit easier.

I was quite pleased with the brown fabric on the orc on the left, I had a good time with those highlights.  The expression on his face is also quite appealing.  The orc on the right looks cool with his big book (I assume it's the Naughty or Nice list, though orcs can't read, so...).

I have almost finished  a few goblins to go with this project, so you can hopefully expect those pretty soon.

Pleasantly Surprised!

So, for those wondering, I have been making progress on painting the unfinished progress on my desk.  I have photos to prove it, but won't be sharing them today.

Today is a bit more fun!  On one of the many forums (fora?) which I visit, in this case Warhammer-Empire, there is an annual miniature exchange.  In this activity you are assigned a forum member whom you will then stalk to find out their taste in miniatures.  You are supposed to choose something, paint it, and send it to the person (who will duly be 'surprised' when it arrives).

Today was the day for my surprise to arrive!  The user 'thorimm' had picked me, and he chose to paint not just one, but TEN battleforge halflings!  What a generous guy.  He also included some treats from Holland which I have been enjoying tonight.

On to the pictures!  Keep in mind, these were not painted by me for those who did not read anything written above this line.

I must say he did a smashing good job painting these guys.  In the past I have expressed reservations about Battleforge halflings (which thorimm expressed concern that I may not like the figures).  While I will continue to say that the sculpts are somewhat crude and the size differs dramatically throughout the range, with a good lick of paint they turn out quite fun and endearing!  Just the kind of thing I like.  I have seen some of these figures unpainted, and the paint really makes a difference in this case.

So, kudos to thorimm from the Netherlands!  These will fit in nicely with my Oldhammer stuff, and my boys had some great laughs unpacking the figures which were 'very funny guys'.

Santorc's nemesis

Orcmas just would not be orcmas without some uppity git trying to usurp the coveted title of "Santorc" (or whatever other clever name you can concoct.  The position has long been coveted by this sneaky gobbo.  Time and again he has been thwarted by bad luck, stupidity, or the business end of Santorc's bell.  Regardless, this rascal has managed (miraculously) to survive as a constant thorn in Santorc's side.

I present to you, Gobbo Clawz!

This cheeky fellow is the 2007 White Dwarf subscription model Night Goblin Boss.  I took the liberty of sculpting some more fur trim on his cloak, as well as adding pom poms to his hat.  I think they look swell.  Being smaller and simpler than the other figures, he painted up pretty quickly.  Now he just needs some minions, as he is somewhat outgunned at the moment, wouldn't you agree?

This seems to be the last figure I will get painted in 2014.  For my loyal readers, thanks for your readership!  I wish you all a very happy New Year full of miniature adventures!

Santorc's Guards

While Orcmas many officially be over, I am still plugging away at the few figures I wanted to complete this season.  As you saw last time, I had a teaser of two WIP figures - Santorc's festive guards.  I finally finished them, and I am quite happy with the results.  These are some of the Wargames Foundry Mercenary Ogres.  They were sculpted by Kev Adams.  Very challenging figures to paint, with all of the puff and slash, but it is a nice effect when it is finished.

The blacklining on the clothing for the guard on the left took me forever.  After roughing in the colours, I went over each patch with some vallejo black ink, watered to about 60% with water and some flow improver.  Afterwards I had to redo the highlights and brighten up the white, but I really like the use of blacklining in figures like this, as it makes a nice border between the colours.  The other fun part was the gem on the right of the right-hand orc.  It's always fun trying to paint gems.

Finally, I will leave you with a shot of the terrible triad.

Kinda makes you wonder whether you should have made such a long Orcmas list, eh?  I still have a few more figures on the painting table which will hopefully make it in before the New Year.  Namely, I have a couple guards to do, as well as Santorc's biggest rival! (cue menacing music...)

Merry Orcmas!

Well, the day of Orcmas is finally upon us.  My most anticipated piece from this little project shall now be revealed to you.  You might have been thinking that my Orcmas tree looked a tad barren, but like a wise grot you did not mention this to Santorc.  Good job.

Well, Santorc does not plan to disappoint!  You see, a few years ago I ordered a few of the lovely Scibor Christmas bulbs and they were the real inspiration for this whole project.  I have the dwarf bulb unpainted still, but lets leave that for another year.

Here they are, I will start with some pics of them hanging on a WIP tree for the rest of my scenery.  From this you can get a nicer closeup:

These guys were a blast to paint, the detailed bits are very well defined so they respond well to washes.  I started these with my airbrush, more for fun, and was able to get some cool highlighting effects with my limited skills.

Now, where do these critters fit into Orcmas?  Well, even the lowliest grot knows that Santorc stuffs dwarfs inside of the bulbs, then the Orcmas squigs  arrive and try to crack them out.  There is supposed to be a feast afterwards, but the squigs usually eat it all first.

Time for a shot of the lovely tree with Santorc and the bulbs:

Finally, to show you that I have not finished, here is Santorc with his two most loyal bodyguards.  They are still a WIP, so no closeups yet.  They are almost finished, so hopefully I can share them with you in the next day or two.

Until then, Merry Orcmas, and Merry Christmas!