PTS IX: They Call me Schultz

It's time for another action-packed installment of Paint Table Saturday, campers. The paint table part and explanation of the Hogan's Heroes reference will follow shortly. First, some old business requires attention.

The Helping Hand Challenge, a year long undertaking initiated by Chris at Duke of the Blood Keep, joined by Ant Master at Deviant Designs Deeds and myself, is over. My final offering wasn't quite done when presented. That has been put right:

 

Little different from last time, I know. Just the face, base, and some touch-ups.

I painted nine of the intended twelve minis plus two that sneaked in uninvited. Whether or not that's a respectable performance is a matter best left to future miniature-painting historians. For now, I present the HHC class of 2014/15:

On to new business. Two perribos (a type of devil) from Fractured Dimensions are next in the paint queue. They're pictured below along with a couple possible skin-tones. After this test I'm leaning towards the greyish-pink. Regardless, their faces/heads may end up a different, pale color as a nod to the evil clown vibe these guys have goin' on.

Zomtober is only a few months away. (Hmm. That came out of left field. Where's he going with this? Let's read on.)

Between now and then I intend to focus almost exclusively on Fractured Dimensions miniatures, principally those from the IMotOP Kickstarter. There is a reason for this. I may not elaborate further.

To quote the good sergeant, "I know nothing. Nothing!".

Axe me no Questions, I'll Tell You no Lies

In my last post, I claimed that the Otherworld halfling's NMM plate mail was pretty far along. That was pretty far from the truth as it turned out.

The armor was my most extensive attempt at NMM to date. What can I say? It took longer than expected. I did enjoy the process though and hopefully learned a few things along the way.

The NMM tutorial from James Wappel's Painting Pyramid Kickstarter proved invaluable. Chock full of great info. I would've been lost without it.

Colors used on the armor.

I've been lagging behind in the Helping Hand Challenge and so it may seem rash to have added the halfling and badger to the roster. I have no regrets. They were already prepped and based. It seemed like their time.

When he was first prepared, the badger was intended for an outdoor setting with ample ground cover and what-not. As part of the HHC he wound up instead as a grey miniature on a stark grey base. I tried to warm up the greys used on the fur as a contrast to the cool grey base.

The Dwarf Mercenary was very straightforward. The stripes on the pants were a late addition.

Plodding Right Along

The travel brochure made no mention of this.

Limited progress is progress nonetheless. In that spirit I post many pictures and a few words on what currently occupies my paint-table. (The short version: lots of basing, experimenting with new materials, very little paint.)

New toys: mica flake gel & red oxide paste

Minis attached to bits of cork

Red oxide paste used to conceal tabs and texture cork

2nd mini from the right is not attached & will be painted separately

Grit, gesso, green stuff, & first use of mica flakes (fungal growths?)

And then there were five: guy on the right is a double from my KS rewards

A mouth full of metal

Mouth gouged out & a newly sculpted tongue

The view from the flip side

Testing to see if 25mm base will result in a top-heavy miniature

Extra ballast in the form of fishing sinkers

Mica flakes as leaf-litter and the return of the cockatrice

Left leg is shorter than the right, hence the Captain Morgan stance

More nearly forgotten minis resurface

For more info in using mica flake gel see James Wappel Miniature Painting and 28mm Victorian Warfare. I'm very pleased with the material so far but will reserve final judgement until I actually see what it looks like painted.

Speaking of which, it's time to get some paint on these guys. Peace.

Shadow Demon Blues

The shadow demon is complete and The FF Project has gained another member:

(L to R) Blindheim, Shadow Demon, Forlarren

The mini allows a nice contrast between the very simple scheme on the actual demon and the abundance of color on the base. The colors used on the demon were Reaper Military Blue, P3 Frostbite, and GW Chaos Black.

The three-part WIP photo below shows the base in various stages of completion: A) black wash and grey/white drybrushing over grey primer,  B) the basic colors glazed on followed by some selectively applied washes, and C) highlights and some stronger shadows where needed.

Revisiting the construction of the base for a moment, the Reaper treasure mound was too large for the base until I reduced its size with my trusty motor tool. I had a pretty good idea of where the demon should be mounted and tried to work things out so that point wound up at the base's center. This required the removal of everything behind the chest. The resultant void was filled in with green stuff.

The coin-pile was extended to the front edge of the base with some stretched plastic sprue cut into disks and embedded in more green stuff. 

And finally a few more pics of the end result:

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Many blogs that I enjoy feature ongoing projects bound together by a common theme. Prehistoric Pulp at Laughing Ferret, Folk Horror at An Evil Giraffe, and Secret Project at 28mm Victorian Warfare are prime examples of this sort of thing. Not wanting to be left out in the cold, I'm initiating The Fiend Folio Project; miniatures inspired by the first edition's Fiend Folio.

Some will be direct representations of entries from the book, others may wind up using those entries as a starting point only. I won't pursue this to the exclusion of all else but will instead revisit the project as the mood strikes me.

I actually got the ball rolling last year with a forlarren and a blindheim. This year's first work in progress is a shadow demon.

This uses the body of a Wyrd sorrow, the head from a RAFM night-gaunt, and the wings from a Reaper succubus. I made a base using a Reaper treasure pile and attached the mini; concealing the pin with some green stuff.

 

Hopefully a fair representation of the subject as rendered in the original (plus horns).

Now for some paint...