Mechanical Doves

Forgot to post this the other day so here they are. Used them in a game the day after they when painted and they were awesome fun...squishy but fun. The dove sitting on the Mimic Chest turned out good and is bigger than having it sit on a book on the base so pretty pleased with that model too

Also had my order from Wayland Games turn up so haven't been doing much more painting but are looking forward to putting my new crews together. Super stoked actually as it means that I will have a few extra models to have in my crew selection at BattleCry even if it will probably be the first time I have used them hahaha...not sure which crew I'll start on but it will probably be Ironsides since shes supposedly the complete opposite of Colette and gets stuck intothe fray rather than hiding out. The Oxfordian Mages in her box set have a ranged attack option that I can use with Colette's crew too. Time to put some grey plastic and glue together...back soon

Reaper Mimic Chest

The Reaper Mimic Chest is painted but the pics are pretty bad, also the mould lines which I completely ignored are super visible but meh...It's for a model that is meant to be sacrificed in game anyway so it will be on and off the table fairly quickly in games it's used in once I turn it into the base for one of my Mechanical Dove models as originally intended.

That been said my old Malifaux 1.5 metal Mechanical Doves and the newer M2E Mechanical Rider for my Colette crew arrived yesterday so woot woot!!! Perfect timing and I'll make a start on them early next week. I've entered the BattleCry Malifaux event for 2016 in an effort to learn to actually play Malifaux a bit better so the doves turned up just when I needed them..can anyone say super excited to play a tabletop game again!!!! Yusssss!!!!

Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the Mimic Chest so far, I will post it again with the dove on it once I've completed them. The chest turned out ok and the transition from wood to fleshy tones on the top with the evil looking greenish yellow eyes worked better than I expected. I gave it a purplish coloured tounge to help tie it in with the rest of my Colette crew who all have purple somewhere on the models to help make the bright ostentatious clothes colourings of the show girls and mannequins try and unite them as a combined crew somehow.

And the doves that will be up next are here... the Mechanical Rider is such and awesome model that I will need to source some Gamin or more Mannequins to take advantage of it and actually use it in a game. I won't make a start on that just yet but will really enjoy painting it once I have some fodder for it to spit out 

Reaper Bones Gnoll Warrior

Well its been a while but I have finally finished the Reaper Bones Gnoll Warrior. The fact that I knew nothing about what a Gnoll Warrior even was and the total lack of preconceived ideas as to how it should look helped me, but also hindered my colour choices; however it also made it a fun model to paint.

I wanted it to look a little bit like a tiger or some form of brightly coloured jungle beast and had decided to try and have blueish coloured metals to contrast with the brighter orange and yellow skin/fur I had chosen? That's where it all became unglued....

After finishing the model and applying the final sealer coat everything turned upside down. The sealer reacted again with the inks, even after leaving them to dry properly. It washed out the orange and yellow skin tones considerably, making a complete mess of the highlights and all but obliterating the yellows. That I could live with, almost, but the blue metallic ended up so muddy and monochromatic it just looked like a blue solid colour and nothing like a metal surface...arrrggghh!!!!

As this wasn't going to be a playing piece and was really just for fun/painting practice it wasn't all that bad but I needed to try and rescue it with some form of detail added into the finished piece. A quick dry brush over the skin/fur almost worked and the decision to make the metal areas blue washed out mess the base of a quick grey toned drybrush rather than a repaint with metalics seems to of worked too. It has sort of inspired me to try out NMM at some stage but I think I need a lot more practice though before trying that. The end result is what I am going to call my first attempt at NMM

Here he is...

Next up is going to be the Mimic Treasure Chest. I want to paint that to be the base for sitting one of the old metal Mechanical Doves on that I am waiting to turn up for my Colette Malifaux crew rather than just have the dove sitting by itself...the fact that I will be using that model as a gaming piece and that it is a smaller model than this Gnoll is should hopefully get me back into a more productive routine of painting.

Giant Pox Rat

This was a fun model to paint, actually it will be probably be one model from the Reaper Bones models I've got that I will actually paint and use in games. Most of them are just going to be painted for trying out something different or just to put some paint on a model and keep me motivated so wont get their bases done. That being said I have no idea what game I'll use this Pox Rat for so until I have a use for it I aren't going to base this either just yet.

Might brighten the yellow on the pustles but other than that I'm happy with how it finally turned out...up next....

Apparently it's a Gnoll or Knoll but whatever it is its bigger than the tiny halfling and also a little bigger than the rat I've just painted so I'll see what inspiration takes when I paint this bigger model next

Woody Stumpwimple, Halfling Ranger

Pulled out of storage my BonesII Kickstarer box and ripped open the first bag from the box. Threw my hand in lucky dip styles and pulled out.....Woody Stumpwimple, Halfling Ranger

Looked at it for ages and couldn't think of how to paint it so decided to just grab a brush and see what happens. As it was coming along the green cloak wasn't doing it for me so I decided to see if I could make a chameleon sort or cape effect...hhhmmmm sort of works on some angles

Well that's Woody Stumpwimple, Halfling Ranger and his magical chameleon cape done, next up is this bad boy..instead of pulling out another random model I looked through the open bag and this jumped at me saying I wanna be a Giant Pox Rat...I miss my Skaven so why not...

 

M2E Starter Set completed

Today the bases were finished and the models attached to complete the M2E Starter Set..I ended up fairly pleased at how the Guild turned out but pretty meh about the Neverborn. The only one I don't mind is Angel Eyes, the rest, I guess I just didn't put the effort in that needed them to look ok. I could redo the skin and see how that looks but since they aren't part of the crew I will play with I probably won't...Enough from this waffler, here they are....

M2E Neverborn Starter set and bases

Today, it was time for the Neverborn from the M2E Starter Set...I wanted the Bloodwretches to look like some sort of bland green and dirty brown, battle worn prisoners look almost as if they were military of some sort that had been captured. The thought was to have Angel Eyes be a dark mysterious Assassin/Ranger looking character with dirty worn clothes that is out to get them back and for the Scion to be similar in his 'come get some' arms out each side and peacock chest pose.

The skin was what was bothering me and what turned out pretty bad, none of the models are quiet how I wanted them to look. I wanted a light but dark (duh, how dumb does that sound) skin tone that was dirty yet also showed somehow the black blood. I had no idea where to start. I was going to use a red and brown mix but thought it would of got lost in the muted clothes and been to dark so decided on a purple shade on a bright skin to start with...In my head it looked good anyway.

Here's what it looks like....as these are only Starter Set models which I'll probably only play with a few times anyway it doesn't matter too much.  Because of the failed skin tones, I pretty much rushed through the models and didn't put as much effort into the rest of the models paint jobs so I could make a start on the bases once they were done. Once painted I'd changed my mind on the bases and made debris ridden outdoor bases for the Neverborn, rather than making them all utilise the steel plate bases I had planned on fitted everything to originally. I think it will work better in the long run and I'll be able to make the Neverborn bases dirtier as if they are on the run or something. 

The Bloodwretches where started with a greyer skin tone but came out too purple, Angel Eyes came out ok I guess, it works with her dark clothing. The Scion was closest to what I had pictured. The problem was when I went to seal them...I tried a new Reaper Brush On Sealer that I had here which I hadn't tried before. While initially impressed with the ease of application, I don't think I had waited long enough for everything to dry before sealing them. The super viscous sealer reacted with the inks and the paints and mushed them all together and striped it out of some of the recesses...doh!!! most of it all settled down and worked ok with brushing over the skin areas and wiping away most of it before it dried.

Not that happy with the cape either but are looking forward to getting the bases done and the models finshed. That will have to be tomorrow now as I have to wait for the grey epoxy in the bases to dry before they get primed and painted...one cock up a day is enough I feel :)