WOOHOO!

Once again... WOOHOO!!!

After more than three years, closure has been achieved in the CSM Tome of Horrors I & II Kickstarter/Ponzi -Scheme boondoggle. I got a box of miniatures yesterday.

In fact, I got a box of outstanding miniatures and took many pictures of same. Worth the wait? Let's not get crazy, folks. Three years is three years, after all.

Still.. some great sculpts, unusual subjects,  & quality casting. Behold:

Babbler

Basidirond

Blindheim

Boneneedle

Bullywugs ( AKA Tsathar)

Cassomolar, President of Hell

Catterwaul

Dire Corbies

Disenchanter

Flumphs

Gorbel

Iron Cobra

Jaculi

Kamadan

Splinterdrake

Overall, casting quality is excellent. The only exception being the flanks of the Disenchanter, just below the hump, on both sides. Here the mini's surface is deeply pitted. A picture on Pacesetter's Facebook page shows an example with the same issue so mine's likely typical in this regard.

Cassomolar may be the best sculpt of the bunch. Fine work by Patrick Keith. Its small size was a big surprise, however, in view of its price ($16.95). I can't complain though, technically it was one of my free selections.

The Dire Corbies, on the other hand, are larger than expected... absolute brutes.

In making my selections I focused on certain sculptors (Keith, Kline, Williams, Prow) and subjects tied to the old Fiend Folio (11 of 15).

Very seussian

Finally, a word of gratitude to Bill of Pacesetter Games. He really pulled the fat out of the fire here. Well done, sir.

PS - Love the flumphs.

PPS - WOOHOO!!!

A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight

It's been hot lately...  hot and humid actually, in the finest New Jersey Summer tradition. Without the benefit of air-conditioning, strapping an optivisor to my forehead and crouching over a sizzling hobby-lamp, brush in hand, quickly looses its appeal.

Yes, I'm attributing my recent hobby drought to global warming. It's very much in vogue to blame stuff on the scourge of climate change; seems right that I get with the times. Perhaps I should apply for a a government grant or some such thing.

That is not to say that no progress has been made on my never-ending project: Fractured Dimensions' Bearded Devils. In fact they're just about done:

Mostly touchups and some work on the bases remain.

To further pass the buck... Asslessman at Leadplague diverted me from the task at hand with a post about an app called Prisma.

The picture up top is a product of said app. Fun, simple, and impossible to put down once one gets rolling:

   
 For comparison's sake, the original WIP pic:

In other news, a package arrived yesterday from Mike at Mortal Arrow Miniatures:

Much more on that shortly.

PTS XV: Wash Day

Copious washes have been applied to FD's bearded devils. In the shaded basecoat technique this is done to establish and intensify shadows. The trick is to do it without simultaneously obliterating the mids and highlights from previous steps (damage, yes... obliterate, no).

I used two different washes (a GW Violet/Greenshade mix and Vallejo Flesh Wash) on the shield. These were allowed to run together while wet for a grungy, rusty effect.

I quite like the result. Now to see if I can avoid slopping paint on it going forward (fingers crossed, everyone).

Next up: touchups and refinements to the aforementioned mids and highlights.

Halftime Highlights

Progress is progress and always preferable to no progress. So says the glass-half-full crowd. The opposing camp, being less charitable, wonders why FD's bearded devils are taking so damned long to complete.

Patience.

Painting time's been somewhat limited lately. Even so, I hope to finish before the snow flies ;-).

The next step in the process is complete. All the highlights are done. Now come washes to establish the shadows (the shaded part of James Wappel's shaded basecoat method).

Mold-seams magically appear,  requiring  remedial action

Lattice pattern on kilts needs special attention

Some pink is added to the vertical portion of the kilt

Block Party

Too late for a Paint Table Saturday post, the next step on FD's Bearded Devils is done. All the colors are blocked in. As with Bael and Ashratu, Reaper Cinnamon Red and Vallejo Vermilion are the stars of the show. The fluorescent orange beards are a new wrinkle.

My technique borrows heavily from painting guru James Wappel. He advocates getting all the base colors in place straight away and that's what I've done here. It really helps to see how (and, for that matter, if ) all the colors relate to one another.

When watching Wappel's videos his speed is enough to make a plodder such as myself feel ill. Suffice it to say that it took me a while to advance these three to this point.

Next step: work on the highlights. Onward.

It seems that while Mortal Arrow is no longer FD's distributor, they're still selling whatever stock they have on hand. At last check there was some neat stuff remaining.