Fin!

It is done!

While it comes much, much later than I anticipated, I am pretty happy with what I have done here. It took a while to accept that not everything was going to be perfect, and to allow myself to learn as a went. Once that sunk in, I really pushed myself, trying new techniques and just putting in the brush time.

The biggest difference came, of course, here in the last week of work, as I got to attend some really great painting classes last weekend at Adepticon, one led by Chris Borer and another with Mathieu Fontaine. I decided I wasn't going to go back over each model, as I would drive myself nuts and really turn this into the project that never ends. I am ready to move on, and very happy with overall look and feel (not that I couldn't go through and find half a hundred things to fix...).

Now comes the best part: finding a happy home for these models! I started this project with the firm intention of selling them and having 100% of the proceeds going to the Livestrong Foundation. This is what has really kept me from ever truly putting them on the back-burner, and has really pushed me to do my best. I am going to do my research and look at how to design a good Ebay page and then link it to Livestrong through their Giving Works section, which allows my profit from Ebay to go straight to the LS Foundation.

Without further ado, the army! (Sorry for the crappy pictures, I'll work on taking better ones soon)

Battlegroup done(ish)!

Here they are in all their glory:

As long as they are at arm length and you squint a little, they look great! Painting large areas of yellow is one of the most irritating hobby experiences I've had (Imperial Fist players must all be masochists). One fleck of metallic paint took four or five layers to just mask, not completely cover. Luckily the weapons and energy pipes/things were straight edge highlights, and behaved moderately well. I might go back and do a few touch ups, but for all intents and purposes, I'm calling these guys done! All that is left are the 12 stormguard, and I have a can of black primer w/ their name on it lol.

Cheers, Gith

When last we left our heroes....

After a slight three month detour, I'm back with an update. The Christmas time goal obviously did not happen, and life has been rather crazy (all for the best). However, I still had the odd moment to pick away at the project, and those moments add up to give you these bad boys!

It feels really good to finish up a measurable chunk, and has left me rarin' to go after the next: the last two jacks. I've got base coats down on them and, since they are mostly black hull and steel, they should go pretty quickly. After that, its more black and steel armor for the storm guard and then we're done! New goal is to be done w/ the jacks before the end of February, and then finish this group up by the end of March. 

I picked up a can of The Army Painter matte varnish to protect them from basic wear and tear, but haven't been able to test it yet. Anyone have any positive/negative experiences with their varnish?

Cheers,

Gith

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