A new start

The last week has been rough.

Today I took my own advice.  ”Just do it”.

No excuses, I pulled out the models I primed over a week ago and started painting.

To go back to last week.  I have Kathy the Dragoon to paint for cousin Patti.  She has been waiting for me for way to long.  Every time I got another commission, she said she would wait.  It is time to do it.

Kathy has a spear that is very easy to bend on the mounted version.  So I drilled it out and pinned it.  Before I did that I cut the on foot versions spear too.  Ooops, I had to pin them both.  Just a little distracted at the time.  Nothing super hard.  The dismounted spear has a hand on it and two points of contact with the body.  That means the spear has to be the perfect length and the two hands have to line up with the arms.  After that it was some white brush on primer.

This week I have something new.  At TempleCon I got a set of Games and Gears brushes.  New product even.  Double ended, designed for two brush blending.  High quality that sounds as good as anything I have ever tried.  I have been using Windsor Newton 7 for a year.

I did a lot of basecoating with the #2.  The point stayed very well, handle thin and thick paint.  I like the Ferrule a lot.  It is thicker and easier for me to hold.  I used the #0 and it didn’t feel like a tooth pick in my fingers.  They cleaned up nicely and the point still looks like new.  I will have to use them for a couple of month to see how they hold up to a lot of painting.

I know this is just one day of painting.  The G&G brushes are as good as a WN7.  I will post more as I continue to use the.

I also did something I have never done before.  Tonight I put money in this kickstarter.  My finances are not the best right now.  I like these brushes a lot and I want more ASAP.  There is only a couple days left so take a look at the kickstarter and put a little bit of money in this one.  You won’t be disappointed..

I did the basecoat on the dismount and her torso too.

Glad to be back.  Till next time.

Just do it..

The last Waltz

I lost a friend today.

We got Maih thirteen and a half years ago.  An energetic puppy known for sitting on the couch and barking at anyone walking in the neighborhood.  Not an angry bark, more like, come play with me.

One of her early nicknames was Crazy Puppy.  So full of energy.  She had her favorite toys. A stuffed Carrot survived all these year.  Not much fuzz left on it, the squeaker was long dead, but even in her last weeks she would play tug of war with it..

Chasing a ball or playing soccer (she was the goalie) ranked up there too.  When she was young she would chase a laser pointer till she couldn’t run any more.

In the last few years she wasn’t as active, but she became closer to us.  She would walk up and put her paw on my leg asking for me to pick her up and sit next to me on the couch.

She would go to bed before I did.  Get the bed warm.  She snored, kicked and stole the pillow too…

When I was sick she would stay next to me.  When I had a bagel she wanted some.  Well, she wanted a little bit of everything.

Over the last week her health got really bad and we lost her today.  This home will be to quiet without you.

Farewell my friend.  We will never have another one as good as you.

On the Road – The Forest is next…

Monday….

I took about two tables at the Whiz to do the terrain I was working on..  Pretty simple really.   A lot of the plaster blocks had come unglued.  I had to fit them back together or find replacements.  A little like doing a puzzle..

First things was some old plastic tree bases glued down on bases.  Two or three on a base.  The trees have been lost or broken so the bases really look poor.   Dug around the edge, used some needle-nose to pull them up.   Filled the hole with some brown then green flocking stuff…   They won’t win any awards, but they look better.

Some of them needs some black primer, brush on Gesso primer comes to the rescue again….   The wood glue took a couple of hours to come close to being solid.

While I waited I did some brown on the dirt around the buildings.  The buildings also got some grey on the stone.  A little help from Soulreclaimer made things faster.  He drops by during his lunch hour.  Company always make painting easier to do…

Sorry there isn’t much more to say about it.  I am tired after a day of work…

I need to write a list of stuff to pack.  I already have some stuff staged and ready to go.  Prize supports, stuff Lost Hemisphere had shipped here, my models, cards, Low Tide board and materials.  So much more to do…

Tomorrow.   Off to the LGS to pack up Grace O’Malley, exchange models, commissions and some other stuff.  I will also be spending several hours working on the Forest.  Around a hundred trees to finish…

Sometime tomorrow, I need to clean out the car.  When I get home I will pack everything to make Thursday morning a little easier.  Up early and off to Paul’s.  Pick up a rental van/truck.  Load all the terrain, prize supports, scenario boards, paperwork and other stuff.  Are you tired yet.  I am ….

Then we will probably grab a late lunch.  Drive to Warwick and wait until we can unload.   Then we get to set things up.   After that we have to check the paperwork and plan the prize support.  Maybe we can squeeze in some dinner too…  Not sure where or then that will happen.

If I see you on Thursday and I am distracted, it is because there are a few dozen things that need to be done.  Stuff has to get done.

That gets close to the end of Thursday.  I know I have forgotten stuff, but…

Just do it…

On the Road – is this Kansas?

Have you ever driven from coast to coast?  I have done it several time.  Life in the military.  I have driven on Rt 70, 80 and 90.  The old joke about I spent a month driving across Kansas applied to yesterday.  Doing the exact same thing over and over reminded me of driving in several great plains states.  Mile after mile of the same thing.  Feeling like I could go for hours without turning the wheel.

It has been a busy week and the next seven days will be over the top…  TempleCon seems to do that every year.

All the model for TempleCon are finished and clear coated…  An theme list, an exchanges, a commission and then some..

Thursday I got to work on some more trees

I did a lot more than you can see here.  More clay, some brown paint on the clay.   I worked Friday and Saturday which leaves Sunday, today and Wednesday to get ready.  Tuesday I have some hours too..

Yesterday it was all about cutting.  A lot of cutting.  A metric butt ton of cutting..

Before ……

After…

Those stacks are 128 1′ circles and 128 6″x12″ rectangles.  It takes a lot of time to make over 2300 feet of cuts…   Yes, I did the math.  For those of you who are think “WHY”….  Those are steamroller templates for TempleCon.  Enough for 64 tables of the same scenario.  Yes we need that many.  We expect full tournament and over 500 players this year.

Today, I will be working on some ruins,  They need to be repaired.  So some glue first, then a lot of painting.  I don’t expect to finish the ruins today.  Wednesday will be for finishing touches and packing up.

I don’t think I will get any painting done this week.

More when I can get a minute…

Just do it…

Grace O’Malley – Update #24 – Is it done?

I planned on doing this on Monday.  I had a phone asking me to work an extra shift.  So…. here I am on Tuesday doing what I planned to do yesterday.

First thing was to stain all the plank bases.  Pretty easy, I just used an old paint brush.  This stuff dries in about an hours.  Well, it is dry enough to handle after an hour, but it takes a dry or so to really dry.  I might need to touch up the stain if there are light spots are sand down areas that are thick.

After it dried I blacked all the bases.  Honestly they are all sloppy from gluing the planks down.  Never win an award..   Shrug, look good enough to put on the table.

I got thinking about what to do for colors on the facings.  It is a Thamarite army, almost everything can be used in other Mercenary list.  What color is appropriate for a most of  the models?  Gold came to mind.  For duplicates models/units, I used Silver then Copper.  Fiona and Ragman are the only two Thamarites, so they are Purple.

I had another problem.  I forgot the charger for my phone.  I didn’t get all the photos I wanted before I killed the battery.  I am sorry, I will get some better photos and update this post as soon as I can.

Someday I will add a Galleon to my Mercenaries.  Not sure when, I have the feeling they will be hard to keep on the store shelves for a while.

Only three solos, I can only hope that another Thamarite solo wanders into the game some day.

One of the reason I wanted to do this list was the models.  The Sea Dog crew, Mr Walls and the Press Gang models have so much personality.  A lot of fun to paint and every easy to make them individuals.  The Lass, the guy with the lantern and sack man stand out so much.  I love the badger in the pocket.

The Sea Dog as far as the eye can see.  That is twenty two Sea Dogs, Mr Walls and three Riflemen.

I might have done enough striped plants.  This photo make it clear that I need to touch up the stain.

Croe’s has been done the longest.  I have one problem with this unit.  No good way to attach the swords/crossbows to the back of the model.  Not the end of the world, just a pain in the ass.

Am I done.  I want to make the facings a little thinner, touch up the bases a little more.

I’m sure I have will have a little more painting to do before I pack up for TempleCon, but most of my free time will be doing prep work.  More Templates, finish the trees and paint and finish some other terrain.

Till next time,

Just do it.

Grace O’Malley – Update #23 – conundrum

The internal debate about the planks is still not resolved.  The perfectionist is worried about the bases not coming out well..   If I screw up painting a model, I drop it in the “dip” jar and do it again.  If I screw up the bases, I can’t strip them.  I would have to remake 48 plank bases (all custom cut)…

I have a little bit of sanding to smooth the wood and to see it I can remove some of the white primer around the feet and some paint drips.

I can do them all one color, uniting all the Pirates with one base.  If I do that I can use facing makes to distinguish the models.

I think the Oak and Walnut are neck and neck.  I can’t picture the whole army with reddish bases….

The other option is to divide the models into units/groups.

Fiona, Battlegroup, Doc – Walnut – dark for Tamarite

• 10 sea dogs + Mr Walls – Walnut
• 6 sea dogs – maple
• 6 sea dogs – oak
• 3 sea dog riflemen – one of each?
• 10 press gang – walnut
• 6 press gang – oak

Kell, Ragman, Croe’s Cutthroats are on dirt base because they are not pirates

I need some sleep, with snow on Tuesday, I need to really get this done tomorrow.

Just do it…

Grace O’Malley – Update #22 – Just four!

Today I got to sit down at the Whiz and pick up where I left off.

There was a 40k tournament going on.  The tournament judge was painting too.  Having someone to talk to made the day quite pleasant.  Ruth dropped off the last four Sea Dogs.  They had some basecoating done.  I took the colors and tried to build on them.  I picked up and sandwich at the Deli next door.  It is so nice to have door opened between the store and the Deli.  Really good stuff, seven days a week.

So much for getting side tracked.  I finished all four.

Nothing really special about them.  I tried to use some dark tones.  They are all cultists.  The leader had brown pants, a dark blue coat and a light blue shirt.

I added some red stripes to his shirt.  Purple cuffs and lapels to his coat.  the black hat has a fuzzy edge, white with a hint of light blue.  The rest of it is pretty standard for what I do.

The others next one green pants and blue sash.  I had just heard a Billy Idol song on Pandora and I saw his hair with bandanna  around his forehead.  White hair, purple bandanna, brown leather vest with some brass accents.  Any well dressed pirate would be proud to be dressed like that.

The next one has Grey as a base color.  He has black bandanna, tan and off white pants.

The last one is has a light blue tunic, green vest, purple hat, off white pants.

60/60 model painted.

Fiona The Black

* Buccaneer
* Freebooter
* 2x Mariner

Doc Killingsworth
Kell Bailoch
Ragman

• 10 Croe’s Cutthroats
• 10 Sea Dogs, 1 Sea Dog Riflemen, Mr. Walls, Quartermaster
• 2 Sea Dogs, Sea Dog Riflemen – Thanks Ruth
• 4 Sea Dogs
• 6 Sea Dogs, Sea Dog Riflemen
• 10 Press Gang
• 6 Press Gang

You might have noticed that I don’t have anything left to paint.  Honestly, I need to give every model another look see.  Trying to make sure the edges and corners don’t have the paint rubbed off.

The next thing is to stain the bases.  I may sand them down a little to remove some of the paint & stains.

I have three option.  Oak, Maple, Walnut.  I am looking for some feedback.  You have pictures of all of the pirate models.

The Maple if darker and has a red tint.

The oak is a very light tan, almost a blond color.

The Walnut is a dark brown.

What do you think.  I have not made up my mind.  The dark seem to fit the Thamarite theme, but it leave less contrast with a lot of the models with dark colors.  The maple, I just don’t know how the red will work with everything.  The oak seems very neutral, but again, I am not sure..

Considering there are 5 units with plank bases,  I could use different stains to identify different units…

What do you think?

Till next time,

Just do it…

Back on the Road – Two weeks left

On the road to TempleCon.  That is what this is all about right now.

So many little details.  Not to run the whole convention, just to run the tournaments and iron arena.  We have more space this year.  I don’t remember the exact number, 20-30 more sounds right.  That means table tops, trees, hills, ponds, you get the idea.  It also means we have to transport that stuff..

We have one less SUV to transport stuff this year.  The only way we can do it is to rent a truck.  A large hit for a tiny budget.

What supports terrain and expenses at TempleCon.  T-Shirt sales.  This year we are have another Midnight Madness T-Shirt.

These will be on sale in the TempleCon merchandise booth.

I have several things to do in the next two week.  Yes, two weeks from now a lot of people will be waiting to see what PP is announcing ….

I have a lot more work to do on Trees.  There are tubs or ruined building to be painted and bases.  We also found a way we could afford to make templates for the tournaments.  Last year we used paper circles (you know the real name of them).  Two do two tournaments at once we figured we needed 64 tables worth.  That means 128 sets of templates.  128 one foot circles and 128 6″x 12″ rectangles all cut from this rubber shelf material..

Guess who got that assignment….  Your correct.  I spent hours yesterday drawing line on this stuff and cutting it out..  The rectangles are done and a few of the circle.  A LOT of circles left to do.

So, no painting yesterday…  but I managed to stay busy…

Till next time,

Just do it..

Grace O’Malley – Update #21 – So close…

I had some time on Monday and today to paint.  I got a late start today.

Just three or four inches.  Waited for the trucks to clear the street.  The snow-blower did the rest.  Well, some shoveling too..   Got to the Whiz about noon.  Not really any reason to hurry.

Six Press Gang left.  Damn that sounds good.

There is the Lass, the boss (big coat and a badger), Sackman, block and tackle, two guy with table legs.  What you saw last time was mostly basecoats.  Most of them didn’t have the hair done.  A bunch of striped pants too.

I tried to take one model and detail it start to finish.  Well, I did that until I did a wash, then swapped to another model.  The one with the wash went to the back of the line.

The Lass need a lot of lighter skin, eye shadow, pink cheeks.  Shading on her cloths.  I decide to make her a blonde.  The boss didn’t need a much work.  His jug and the Badger got most of the work.  His watchcap is black with grey highlights.  His cigar got a nice orange glow like he is puffing away…

As I look at this photo, I need to do a little work on that lantern…

The next two, sackman has a coal black hat with a red/white pompom and off white on the brim of his hat.  I tried to make his pants look a little dirty.  A lot of shading on the sacks.  The guy with the table leg has some yellow piping on his cuffs, brass button (all of them have brass buttons).  His pants are actually three colors.  light blue, then white, then dark blue in the middle of the light blue.  The trick to doing stripes is “Don’t worry about it”..  They don’t have to be straight, even or perfect..

The last two.. The block and tackle one has yellow trim on his leather vest.  Why, I don’t know, it look good I guess..  Big gold ear rings too..  The guy with the table leg has horizontal stripes, brighter blue.  One of the locals asked if he just escaped from jail..  Maybe he did..  White piping on his coat, slightly lightened Greatcoat Grey.

Nothing remarkable about any of these.  At least it doesn’t seem like it when I have done this many.

I finished these up and Ruth showed up.  We talked about that last unit of Sea Dogs.  She can’t finish them any time soon.  She has a new job (less time) and school is taking more time too.  I should get the model tomorrow.  They are partially done.  Not sure how much is done.  I will take some before & after shots..

Once those four are done, I will finish all the plank bases.  Then do a clearcoat on them.

Looks like the Galleon is coming out on 30 Jan.  The Whiz won’t have it till Thursday or Friday….  Nope, no Colossal for this list..  At least not before TempleCon.  Sadness, well maybe just a little.  I had hoped that 120mm of goodness would come out this week, giving me two weeks to paint it.  Worry not, I have a LOT of TempleCon work to do…

56/60 model painted.

Fiona The Black – Done

* Buccaneer – Done
* Freebooter – Done
* 2x Mariner – Done

Doc Killingsworth – done
Kell Bailoch - done
Ragman - done

• 10 Croe’s Cutthroats – done
• 10 Sea Dogs, 1 Sea Dog Riflemen, Mr. Walls, Quartermaster
• 2 Sea Dogs, Sea Dog Riflemen - Ruth
• 4 Sea Dogs – partialy done
• 6 Sea Dogs, Sea Dog Riflemen – done
• 10 Press Gangers – done
• 6 Press Gangers

Till next time…

Just do it.

Back on the Road

It has been over a week.  Ups and downs, nothing great, nothing tragic..

I had three days to paint last week and today.

Black Cat is done.  She came out a lot better than I thought she would.  I did the hair and fur in a light bluish grey.  Then did some Morrowan White.  Simple and straight forward.  The body (upper) was all black and I did some dark grey shading.  The skin, not a lot of that got as much shading as I could.  The mask is black and I tried to do her eye too.  The chain is cold steel, a black wash with silver highlights.  The connectors in the chain are Molten Bronze and a little brass balls.

I have had some people tell me I must have done a head swap.  I think I will take that as a compliment.  It wasn’t easy to carve the armor from around her neck and find a chin under all that metal.

The base is home made, cork in two layers.  Trimmed it down until she is almost stepping off the front.  Painted Black, drybrushed dark grey.  Added some Renaissance Ink flocking paste.  Fine work well for a little snow.  I painted it a light blue grey and touched it up with Morrowan White.

My last exchange model is Magnus the Traitor.  The colors I chose, Exile Blue, Traitor Green and Rucksack Tan.  There are some others..  I wanted to do his shoulders in Blue.  He used to be Cygnar.  The cloak is Traitor Green and the pants are tan.  A lot of metal on him.  Mostly Pig Iron with a black wash and a little steel for highlights.

A lot of work on his face, tried to make him look like he hadn’t shaved in a while.

I did a light blue edge on the blade.  Well, it is magic.  Not sure I like it.  I may try to make it a little less obvious next time I go in.  The cloak has Traitor Green, Thornwood Green and Battledress Green.  I also used a little Menoth White Highlight to bring out the tips.

I tried something on the engine stack in the back.  Looking at this picture, it didn’t work.  Fix that on Wednesday.  The engine door needs some touch up too..

Other than that I hope he gets a good home and a lot of table time.  I might have to do this guy for me too. I really like the way he came out.  If the exchange doesn’t happen, do I get to keep him?

Next I moved on to the Press Gang.  Six to go.  It is nice that there is only one duplicate model.  As with all the rest of the pirates, everyone will be different.  Taking this to extremes I guess…

Here they are after a little work last week, nothing fancy, black shoes, some tan, some flesh..

I had a few hours today and had some fun adding some color to them.  I hope I didn’t got to crazy with the stripes.  That is where I stopped today.  Still a lot of detailing to do.  Damn that yellow/orange is bright.

• Template, Scenario table and terrain work for TempleCon – Progress..
• Finish Grace O’Malley
  1. Six Press Gang – 70%
  2. Galleon – only dreaming
  3. Seven Sea Dogs - 43% (Ruth’s doing these)
• Major Katherine Laddermore – gift
• BFF for LH (best friend forever caster & jack/beast)
• Troll Cav & Dragoon – 40% - commission
• Work on Project Rolling –
• Dark Eldar various – commission - Will it ever end?
  1. …
• Project Sisters
  1. Stalker 60%
  2. Stalker 60%
  3. Machine Wraith 20%
  4. Machine Wraith 20%
• Another project for me, after Grace O’Malley is Complete……
• Magnus the Traitor – exchange 
• Mage Hunter Assassin – exchange
• Grey Knight Stormraven – commission

My wife has gone Flu paranoid.  I go to the game store and she worries about me getting sick.  She goes to the Gym and supermarket and there is nothing to worry about.  Sure, right, that make sense.  Honestly, it is a nasty one and it seems to be everywhere.  Shrug, keeping my fingers crossed..

Till next time…

Just do it..