Other charity projects

Browsing other gaming blogs and found these projects that are doing the same thing I am!

http://bloodravensbuild.blogspot.com/

http://realm-of-lead-addiction.blogspot.com/search/label/Charity

Check em out, and if you can help them out, so much the better!

Got my new primer and have some test models drying as we speak, so look for WIP pics coming soon...

Based and waiting for primer

Just in time for the holiday weekend! I can't express how glad I am with being done with all the pinning needed for these guys...

Thank goodness for improvised basing materials (popsicle sticks and crushed sandstone). I'm picking up my primer over the weekend and looking to charge into painting these noble warriors next week. My goal is to have these guys ready for a Christmas-time charity gift!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gith

Together at last

The force has been assembled! Huzzah!

Here's a blurry close up of the final product for the beat-up firefly. I like how he turned out; taking the plunge to just chop up a brand new model was a little rough, but this helped build up the ol' confidence.

Hope you guys like how things are coming along!

Cheers, Gith

Making the best of it

Upon opening the second firefly yesterday, I found that a part was missing. While it is a somewhat minor part, its the piece that connects the arm joint to the hand that holds the spear. If I try and just jam them together, it would look like a hand attached to an elbow. I was a little frustrated, as I was in a building groove, having just put together and based the ironclad and lightning tower, and decided to put things down and walk away.

I've been trying to have fun with my bases. The tower has craters from lightning blasts, while the ironclad is crunching through some debris

Cut to 12:30am. Just as I was thinking about going to bed, inspiration struck (why does it seem like good ideas always wait to pop up as you're falling asleep?). eNemo has a spell called Failsafe, which lets a jack function with full systems until it loses its last box, no matter how much damage it takes. I thought to myself, what  would that look like on a jack that had really been run through the wringer? The image that flashed through my head was one of a firefly sprinting up the field, taking bullets, bombs, and blades, only continuing to move because of Nemo's magics, which invariably look like lightning.

So now I have some very trashed firefly parts, including a limb or two held on by "lightning" (pinning wire bent and painted, trying to think of some kind of texture. Maybe glue strings...). Here is to hoping that it looks like what I envisioned.

Legs got some slight adjustments for the running pose 

Moving on

After picking at Nemo some more, I decided to move on an work on something else, as it seemed like I was starting to just swirl grey paint around his skirts in a vain attempt to figure out why they didn't look right (mostly sloppy brushstrokes that I try to cover and just make new sloppy brushstrokes). A couple of minor changes from yesterday, such as a darker brown insulation layer and some runes showing his front/back arc. All in all, I'm pretty happy with him and could call him finished, but hopefully I'll be able to improve my cloth/blending some more on the rest of the army and be able to finish him properly.

I'm trying to decide what to proceed with. Below shows the force in all its varying stages of glory, from the fully boxed to the fully painted. I want to do something really fun and dynamic with the last two jacks (Ironclad is being stolen from the battlegroup box until I get my Cygnar heavy kit in the mail), and I think some creative basing would do wonders for the otherwise atrociously boring stormguard models. The stormtower light artillery looks easy to put together and a lot of character. Lastly, the stormsmiths are primed and ready to paint, but need some attention to their bases. Where to begin...

eNemo lives

I'm going to call this my 'first draft'. It looks decent, but there are enough parts that just don't look quite right for me to call him done. Since he's the caster, and likely to receive the most close-up attention, I want to make sure to make sure he looks the best I can make him. The most glaring issues for me, after looking at these pictures (been staring at the model too long), is the insulation padding needs to be cleaned up, and I really need to practice the large areas of cloth, as right now they are just kinda blah. Also, my bronze sucks (gotten a little better with silvers; I like how the bottom of the tabard turned out)

I'm having a hard time with my photo set up, but hopefully the pics are clear enough for some feedback, if anyone can give me some helpful tips and/or constructive criticism. In the meantime, I'm going to go study up and see how others have been making the shadows fall on him and see if I can't learn something.

Cheers, Gith

Fennblades (mostly) done!

I've taken my time with these guys (I think the process started in March) and played around with a bunch of new things on them, including scratch sculpting the arms and sword of Mr. Fighty McPuncherson (far left) and playing with various shading and highlighting techniques for metal and not. While I'm sure you can see a number of places I was messing around, I like the feel of the unit as a whole, and I enjoy painting the non-traditional color scheme I have for my trolls.

However, my trolls are going to have to take a back seat for a bit, as I'm going to charge headlong into the project I originally started this blog for (months ago) - The Livestrong Project! Check out my first post on this blog or the MWC link on the sidebar and scroll down through their site to find the original impetus for the whole thing. I'm really excited about it, as I have been staring at my eNemo longingly, and he back with mild disdain for the smudge I left on his face during base-coating two months or so ago.

Cheers, Gith

P.S. I know they're bases look ugly, but unfortunately my basing materials are roughly 2,000 miles away right now in a loving living room. Hope to rectify that and my photo quality soon!

Painter available for hire

Until now I have only painted minis for others as gifts or as favors. In light of the positive reviews and suggestions, I decided to offer up my modest skills for hire. I know I'm not the best around (by a long shot), but I produce quality tabletop standard minis, very much enjoy working on new projects, and thought trying to make a little money for doing something I already love made sense.

So, if there are any people out there who might be interested in having a mini or thirty painted, please feel free to contact me! I have a page up top linking to rates, but these are more guidelines and are open to negotiation. Comments and feedback are also highly appreciated; I try to improve some aspect of my hobby each day (see blog title), and I can only do so much without critique.

Cheers, Gith

Recent projects

Been slowly chipping away at a large group of troll Fennblades as I contemplate if I like the scheme I put down on Nemo. Also put in some modeling time, finally putting together the Hellpit Abomination I got last year and trying my hand at a greenstuff chain/adding extra body parts (mwahaha) for the first time. I like the feel of movement it gives the flaming mace hand.

Time flies when you're having fun...

Wow a few months go by quick.

While not quite the start to my public painting log I was hoping for, I have been productive! Below is all the stuff I've been talking about having painted. Its a mish-mash of Hordes, Malifaux, and the Livestrong army I started this blog for. I now have all the models needed, and I'm looking forward to putting some quality time in. Now, without further ado...

Finally, a work in progress!

Still alive, sometimes painting...

So, I really want to keep this up, and I just realized that I haven't posted in over a month, which totally defeats the purpose of starting this. Between the lack of ability to post pics and things going on in life, I let the blog slide, but I still very much want to keep at it. I feel like I've settled things enough recently to where I can post a little more regularly, which feels good.

In more important news, I have finished a firefly and started work on the old guy himself, and can now upload photos! I'm pretty excited to see the colors are working out, and hopefully I'll be able to post pics soon so I can get some feedback. While they are not exactly ground breaking, they look good and it feels nice to be continuously working toward a goal.

Until next time!

And so it begins!

Toys got here last friday! eNemo and a Firefly are constructed and sprayed, as are their themed bases. I went with mad max style road theme, sculpting cracked pavement and scattering debris on top. I still need to paint them to see if my first two tries came out alright. There are a few other simultaneous projects on my workspace at the moment, as well as some other stuff (I built a 40 sq ft patio this weekend), that have been eating into this projects time, but I want to sit down and put an hour or four into these models to start turning the dream into a reality. Also, here is to hoping that I find a way to post pictures soon!

Anticipation

Some new toys, and therefore the first posts this blog was created for, are on their way!

I'm really excited to start this project, especially since others will (hopefully) be following along. I just finished an eKaya force for a friend (pics coming) and had a lot of fun doing so. I got to try some new techniques and it felt really good to see all the models finished instead of the hodgepodge that has been on my desk.

After reading the post on MWC about the LiveStrong Wargaming Project (check it out through the link on the right!), I knew that doing an army in the colors of the foundation would be a great tie-in as well as look awesome. I had been reading the Cygnar force book at the time and thought that if the blue armor was switched to black, the under-armor to grey, and the electricity/trim to yellow...ding! We have a winner! I'm sure it could be done with any faction, but the picture I had in my head just worked. Next was to pick the warcaster.

Choosing the leader of this force would really dictate the rest of the models within it, as I have every intention of this army being battle ready and not just a handful of things I wanted to paint. Luckily, Cygnar has some great models to go with the wide variety of play styles their rules support. I went round and round, pouring over the book and trying to come up with some lists that I would enjoy working on.

This seems like a good time to mention that I am, at heart, a fluff bunny; I really like the creation of/sticking to a theme. In this regard, I think the tier list system that Privateer Press came up with was awesome. Getting bonuses for sticking to a theme seems like such a great way to inject even more narrative into battles and reward people for getting into it.

For me, Cygnar has been synonymous with steampunk technology, with magical lightning flying about empowering their forces and frying the enemy. With that in mind, no one brings more hi-tech lightning to the party than Nemo does. Both his prime and epic versions have great models and their tier lists are cool, but in the end eNemo wins out in my mind. Super characterful model, emphasis on charging up his 'jacks, buffing his buddies who can fry anyone within their little triangle of death, and everyone being immune to electricity can allow for some nasty targeting tricks. Decision made.

With eNemo and his tier list as a guide, I wanted to go for as many tiers as I could get in 25pts, get a cool model diversity, and still be able to wreck some face. I felt this was a good size to go with to sell as an individual force, as it gives a little bit of everything but is not a crazy amount of models. After looking through the book and online for pointers, it turns out there are plenty of others who had the same idea as me, and figured out a way to have fluff able to stomp face as well:

eNemo
Ironclad
Firefly x2
Stormguard unit x2
Stormtower
Stormcaller x2

I might still play around with things, but this looks like a pretty solid list, fits the fluff really well, and has some really cool stuff to paint. I'm still playing with ideas for basing, and the brainstorming ideas has left me with plenty to work with if I want to revisit this theme. Now I just have to wait...

Hello Internet!

I am starting this blog for much the same reason that other hobby enthusiasts start their own - to share what they are working on and as a form of motivation to stay with it. What pushed me to take the plunge was the continued bloom of wargaming charity projects and events, such as the Storm Wardens project, the Heroes of Armageddon conglomerate of extreme talent, and the MWC Crew just to name a few (plugs with links, I feel like a blogger already). I wanted to be able to contribute in some way, shape, or form besides donating money. Being able to help an awesome cause by doing something I enjoy? Sign me up!

While this will still be my personal blog for showing whatever I'm working on, I want to make sure that I have a project for donation front and center at all times. First up, since I've been on a Warmachine/Hordes kick as of late, will be some Cygnar painted in the Livestrong colors. Now to actually get to painting...

P.S. Some stuff I have been working on recently: