Finshing Old Projects & Starting a New One

I started out the year well but hit a slump in the late spring and into summer.  In July I picked up the brushes again, then I took a week to demolish our master bath.  Fortunately for everyone involved, a contractor is rebuilding it.  I've also relocated my painting area to an old entertainment center/cabinet as our hobby/guest room is being converted to a bedroom for our third child due in January.  As those projects wind down I hope to start posting more frequently.

I have been trying to finish off everything on my desk.  Tonight I spent 2.5 hours sealing 98x15mm and 12x28mm miniatures.  I use a brush-on coat of black or brown paint mixed with varnish to add shading, then do a final coat of clear varnish or spray after it has dried.  I tend to do this in larger batches, but this one was huge.  Below is a picture.

On the left side, there is a 15mm Axumite DBA army (Feudal Castings).  On the right side, the front group is assorted 15mm Hellenistics (l-r): Egyptian phalangites, thorakitai, and some Asiatic archers and slingers.  The mounted figures are 2 prodromoi.  Behind is most of a Sub-Roman British DBA army (Splintered Light); only the 9 heavy cavalry are missing.  I still to need to add the shield decals.

The 28mm figures on the green board are all for my Doctor Who project: 6 Ogrons in front and 6 human guards behind.  The group of figures in the rear just had some minor repairs done.

Still in progress are a dozen 15mm cavalry, then I will be concentrating on a new project: a 28mm Scots army for Saga.  I've started prepping a unit of 12 levies; I need to glue their javelins on and they will be ready for priming.  I'm looking forward to painting the Scots, it has been a long time since I started on a new rules set.

Jason

2012 Project Update

Just a short update on the progress I've made on my project list.

I have stalled on the Doctor Who guards I mentioned in my previous post; the base colors are finished but the highlights need to be done.

I finished the 16 Romano-British spearman and am happy with how they turned out. I primed a couple of R-B archers and my next batch will include the other 16 spearman.

I've made most progress on the Hellenistic project. I painted 8 Thorakitai and 8 mixed Persian/asiatic light infantry in April. Currently on the painting table are 8 pikemen that I am painting as Egyptians that the Ptolomies raised for the Raphia campaign. I am using Gladiator 'poorly equipped phalangites' so they look different from the regular phalanx. I'm also repainting 3 old figures as Seleucid Persian agema. They are Museum figures and I had to replace their broken spears. As my 5-year-old daughter was watching while I did that, I gave her a quick lesson on why you don't want to get superglue on your fingers.

Game Report - Doctor Who

I've finally downloaded the pictures off my camera of the Doctor Who Miniatures Game scenario I ran at the Siege of Augusta convention on January 20th.

The game featured a joint attack on a coastal UNIT base in Scotland by the Sea Devils and the Master.  It was loosely adapted from one of the scenarios included in the DWMG rulebook.  I had designed it for 6 players, but we squeezed in a 4th UNIT player.

Here is the table just after I set up the terrain.  The Sea Devils entered from the ocean on the left of the table; The Master and a group of hypnotized thugs entered from the far edge; UNIT was spread around the rest of the table.

A shot from the beginning of the game.  The Sea Devils are advancing up the beach and UNIT is moving to hold them.  The Brigadier is leading from the front behind the middle clump of brush, Captain Yates is in the ruined building at bottom right, while Sergeant Benton is observing from atop one of the oil tanks.

The Sea Devils focused their efforts on the flanks.  Here they are moving forward on the left flank while one of the Master's goons attacks the cottage from behind.

At the other end of the table, the Sea Devils are attempting to destroy the storage tanks.  In the distance a Sea Devil is lurking next to one of the houses.

Late in the game, UNIT has fallen back towards the buildings.  The Doctor and Leela spent the whole game in the HQ building working on an invention, which he completed on the last turn.

The Master is captured by UNIT.  He had previously disposed of two soldiers on the ground floor but his luck has run out.

The points ended in a draw; UNIT's heavy losses were balanced by capturing the Master.  Most importantly, the players had a good time and I enjoyed running the game.  Thanks to Crooked Dice (the creators of DWMG) for sending me a bunch of  DWMG/7TV postcards to hand out to players and passersby.

Jason

2012 Project #1 Completed

It took me 6 days after posting my 2012 project list to complete my first project.  I finished the 32 Axumite infantry March 2nd; the 4 mounted & 1 elephant were completed on March 7th.

I wanted to work on my Doctor Who project so I de-flashed 9 miniatures (6 guards and 3 other gunmen, all Copplestone) on Friday, then had to wait until Tuesday afternoon to prime them due to heavy rain and high winds.  I also added a new project to my 2012 list: a 15mm Romano-British army.  My friend Mike and I bought a bunch of Splintered Light Miniatures years ago and split them in half.  They've been patiently waiting for attention ever since.  I picked out 16 armored spearmen, superglued their shields on, and primed them along with the DW miniatures.  So far I've painted the metal areas on the Brits and the base coat of black on the guns/boots for the 28mm.

Jason2012

2012 Projects

Well, January and February have flown by.  I spent most of January preparing the Doctor Who scenario that I ran at Siege of Augusta.  I'll have some pictures of the game in my next post.  After Siege, I started painting an Axumite DBA army that I purchased at the convention from Time Portal Hobbies.  I finished most of it in 1 week, then illness/work/family intervened and I haven't painted a thing since.

I have spent some time thinking about my 2012 plans though.  My first project is to finish the Axumites.  Second, I have more Doctor Who miniatures to paint, either single character figures or small groups of 6.  I'll be doing those in small batches throughout the year with the aim of having them all done in 2012.  Third, I want to fill in some holes in my 15mm Hellenistic collection and already have all of the unpainted lead.  Fourth, I have a 15mm ECW Royalist army that I started on in late 2010 but only finished a few units.  I'd like to make some progress on that as well, but it depend on how quickly I proceed on the other projects.

I'm ready to start painting again and intend to get started this week.  Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Jason

Doctor Who Project - Sea Devils

I thought I'd get one last post in before 2012 arrives.  This post covers my28mm Sea Devil force for my Doctor Who project.   Despite appearing in only two stories over the years, 1972's The Sea Devils and 1984's Warriors of the Deep, the Sea Devils are one of my favorite monsters from Doctor Who.  They are a race of sentient aquatic reptiles that went into hibernation in the prehistoric era to avoid a catastrophe caused by the Moon being captured by Earth's gravitational pull.  Their 'alarm clock' failed to go off and their scattered colonies are still in hibernation.  Their land-dwelling cousins are the Silurians, who have appeared in 1970's The Silurians, 1984's Warriors of the Deep and 2010's The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.

My Sea Devil force consists of 26 miniatures, plus 1 allied Silurian.  I bought about 2/3rds of them directly from Black Tree Designs and the rest on eBay. Three of them are from the old FASA line of Doctor Who miniatures.   For these photos I divided them into 5 squads of 5, plus 2 leaders.  I painted them at various times in 2010 and 2011.

I painted them in a color scheme similar to their appearance on the show with one difference; the clothing of the unarmored Sea Devils had a turquoise color on tv that I've never cared for.  I substituted a metallic blue that was from a very old bottle of GW paint.  I think it looks good with the skin color and is suitably aquatic.  I painted their weapons with Ral Partha/Iron Wind Copper, and the skin is a base of GW Terracotta highlighted with Howard Hues Middle East Flesh.  The armored Sea Devils are painted in P3 Black with a drybrush of Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey.  The bases are painted with one of the Ceramcoat tans, I forget which one.  When I initially based them I used sand from the beach at Charleston, SC.  However the grains looked too big to me, so I substituted Woodland Scenics ballast.  They were sealed with 2 coats of Krylon Matte Finish.

They are based on slottabases with metal washers underneath to provide balance and for use in my magnetic storage system.

You can click on the photos for close-ups.

First is the Sea Devil leader (l) and an allied Silurian (r).  I painted the details of his armor gold in order to distinguish him from the others.

The first squad consists of armored Sea Devils, "Elite Group Two" for those of you who are Doctor Who fans.

The second squad of five:

The third squad of five:

The fourth squad of five:

The fifth squad of five.  This one has an extra leader figure, with armor details painted in metallic blue to match the rest:

And just to show that I haven't just been shuffling around the same miniatures, here is a photo of the entire force together.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

28mm Buildings

This post has pictures of two 28mm resin buildings I painted in late October/early November for my Doctor Who Project.  Both buildings are made by Ainsty.  I ordered from them for the first time last summer and they were great to deal with and shipped quickly from the UK to the US.  I washed both buildings with warm soapy water and primed them with Krylon Fusion Black spray, followed by a thin coat of acrylic black to cover any areas that the spray missed.

The first building is a ruined cottage.  It is being defended by a group of UNIT soldiers from a Cyberman who is just appearing around the corner.

The chimney is painted in several layers of Americana Heritage Brick.  The wood beams are  painted with a series of drybrushes: Vallejo Medium Camo Brown, then Howard Hues Colonial Khaki, then a light Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey.  The walls are Privateer Gun Corps Brown and the exposed inner wall bits have a drybrush of Ceramcoat Oyster White over the brown.  The stone floor is painted with Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey, Ceramcoat Storm Grey and finally Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey.  I finished the model with a black wash and 2 coats of Krylon Matte Finish spray.

The second building is a Security Checkpoint.  I am going to paint something on the sign but I haven't decided what yet.  Two guards from Wolverine Security are manning the post.  The majority of the building is painted with GW Fortress Grey; the blue sections are Vallejo Oxford Blue, which is also the base color for the guards' uniforms.  The roof is removable which comes in handy during games.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

Even More Terrain!

I have been working on painting all of the resin terrain I own for my Doctor Who project and have almost finished.  I have 2 small pieces that nearly done.  Over the weekend I primed 2 buildings, a van and a TARDIS.  Then I will be finished.  Of course then I will have to buy more!

All of the terrain pieces in this post are from Acheson Creations, purchased at the last few Cold Wars conventions.  They were all washed in a dishwasher to clean off the mold release agent, primed with Krylon Fusion black spray paint, then a coat of black acrylic paint was brushed on.  The ground on all the pieces was painted Vallejo Flat Earth and flocked green. Finally they were sprayed with 2 coats of Krylon Matte Finish to seal them.

All pictures have 1 of the 28mm scientists from my last post to show the scale.  Click on the pictures for close-ups.

First is a group of oil drums pieces.  The one in the middle is slightly different from the other two.  I gave them a drybrush of Howard Hues Middle East Flesh for a rusty look, followed by a very light drybrush of Howard Hues Colonial Khaki and a black wash.  Howard Hues paints are thick and great for drybrushing.  They also last a long time without drying out, I have some that are over 10-15 years old.  I 'borrowed' the color scheme from my friend and fellow gamer Mike Demana. For a lot of great terrain and miniature pictures & tips, see his website at http://home.earthlink.net/~mikedemanagames/. 

Next are 2 more pieces of oil drums; these have a tarpaulin spread over the drums.  I used the same paint scheme for the drums, while the tarp has several coats of Jo Ann Fabrics craft paint Olive Drab.  I bought that color when I was considering the color scheme for my UNIT troops.  It is thin and doesn't cover very well so this is the first time I've used it.  Both pieces are the same and have opposite sides showing.

Below are 2 pieces of stacked wooden crates.  Both pieces are the same but they are positioned to show opposite sides.  I used 2 drybrushes of Vallejo German Camo Medium Brown, 1 of Howard Hues Colonial Khaki and a final drybrush of Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey.  They were finished with a black wash and 2 coats of matte spray.  The colors look different, the right-hand piece is much darker.  I painted them at different times so may have done heavier drybrushes on the left-hand one or even left off the black wash.  I suppose it will add a bit more variety to the battlefield.

 

Next is another version of Acheson's oil drums (on the right) and a set of wooden barrels (on the left). I painted the barrels with the same wood technique as above but left off the final grey drybrush.  The bands are painted with Ral Partha/Iron Wind Steel, one of my all-time favorite colors.

Last are 2 larger pieces, a dead tree and a standing stone.  I originally bought the tree for use in a camp diorama for a 28mm Gallic army.  As the army is still unpainted perhaps it will still be used for that someday!  It is painted with the same wood technique as above.  The standing stone was drybrushed Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey, Ceramcoat Storm Grey and Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey, followed by the usual black wash.

I will have some free time this week to take pictures, so I may photograph another 15mm army, it's been a while since I've posted one of those.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

Doctor Who Project - Scientists

Today's post features a group of 4 28mm scientists for my Doctor Who project.  You can never have too many civilians/hostages/cannon fodder.

The miniature on the left is a Black Tree Designs (ex Harlequin) official DW miniature of Professor Kettlewell.  He was the creator of the Robot in the first 4th Doctor story, 'Robot'.  I based his clothing on scenes viewed on my ancient videotape recorded around 25 years ago.

I believe the other 3 miniatures were manufactured by Brigade Games, but I threw the packaging away a long time ago.  I do know I purchased them in a pack from Brigade at Cold Wars 2010.  The one with the blue blouse appears to be leaning to the right in the first photo but it is due to the angle of the shot.

Paints used were a mix of Vallejo, Coat d'Arms, Howard Hues, Ral Partha/Iron Wind and craft paints. The red and blue also have a wash of the original Citadel inks from the 1990s.

Click for a close-up view.  Here is the front:

A rear view.  Lots of white lab coats!

These were fairly quick to paint.  I intend to get some more scientist types as I come across them.  I have my eye on the 3 scientist set by Crooked Dice as they look very nice.

I took pictures of a bunch of terrain and my Sea Devils at the same time as these photos, so they will be the subjects of my next posts.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

Doctor Who Project - Security Guards

This post covers a group of six 28mm security guards for my Doctor Who project.  They are Artizan Designs figures, from their 1960s-inspired Kiss Kiss Bang Bang range.  The packs I used are KKBB204 (Guards) and KKBB 206 (Guards II).  I purchased them from Brigade Games at Cold Wars 2011.  That is a quick turnaround for me!

I'll be using these figures for various purposes in my games, from security guards to mercenaries to unwitting tools of alien invaders. 

When I was deciding the color scheme, I chose blue for the jumpsuits.  Five of the 6 figures have a triangle insignia on the right arm, which I painted yellow.  I am a life-long Ohio State Buckeyes fan, and their archrivals are the Michigan Wolverines, whose colors are blue and yellow.  So it seems fitting to name this group of evildoers 'Wolverine Security'. 

I used a variety of hobby and craft paints, including Vallejo, Ral Partha/Iron Wind, Reaper, Privateer, Howard Hues and Ceramcoat.  The jumpsuits are Vallejo Oxford Blue, with a drybrush of Oxford Blue & White on top.  The final step in painting is a black wash.  My first application of Krylon Matte Finish spray resulted in the dreaded 'frost'.  It was removed with a coat of brush-on gloss finish, followed by a repaint of the guns and boots.  Two coats of matte spray under less humid conditions, from the same spraycan, and they were done.  The figures are all based on slottabases, with metal washers attached on the bottom with epoxy for storage on magnetic sheeting.

I have mixed the 2 packs together and am not sure which figures came in each pack.  First group of 3 guards:

Second group of 3 guards:

I like how they turned out.  I may add some more figures to Wolverine Security in the future, once I have cleared some of my painting backlog.

For my games I use the Doctor Who Miniatures Game (DWMG) rules, available for free on the internet at http://www.drwhominiatures.co.uk/ and with an active Yahoo group.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

More 28mm Terrain

I have finished some more resin terrain pieces for my Doctor Who project. 

Before I get to the new stuff, I realized after my last post that I neglected to include a figure in the photos to show scale.  So below is a picture with a selection of the boxes from that post, along with a 28mm Artizan figure.

Next are the new pieces I painted last week.  These 3 pieces will form a small graveyard.  They are all from Acheson Creations, purchased at Cold Wars 2010 or 2011.  To prep them and to remove the mold release agent, I washed them in the top rack of the dishwasher (minus the heated drying cycle).  Then I primed them with Krylon Black Fusion spray paint, followed by a thin coat of acrylic black. 

I used a series of 3 drybrushes: Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey, Ceramcoat Storm Grey and finally Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey.  The exposed brick was painted in Americana Heritage Brick.  The bushes were given a coat of Armory Medium Green and a wash of the original Citadel Green Ink.  Finally I gave them each a coat of black wash, then 2 coats of Krylon Matte Finish spray.

I like how they turned out and will probably get a few more pieces from Acheson to expand the graveyard the next time I see them at a convention.  A 28mm Copplestone figure is included for scale.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

28mm Terrain

I recently painted some terrain for my Doctor Who project.  As it is my first full 28mm project, I will need a lot of terrain.  This post covers the first of several batches of resin terrain I have underway.

This first batch consists of assorted crates & boxes from Ainsty (http://www.ainsty-castings.co.uk/).  I ordered a variey of items from them in July and received them quickly.  Their resin pieces had little or no mold release agent on them, so I just gave them a quick rinse in warm soapy water.  I then spray painted them with Krylon black fusion primer.  After letting them dry overnight, I gave them a quick coat of acrylic black paint to cover any missed spots.

Before going any farther, I want to note that the method I used on these crates was borrowed from my friend Mike Demana (http://home.earthlink.net/~mikedemanagames/index.html).  For a detailed explanation of how he paints wooden objects, read the July 27, 2011 entry in his Projects section. 

After the black I used a series of drybrushes.  First Vallejo Medium Camo Brown, then Howard Hues Colonial Khaki, then a light Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey.  I did 2 coats of the Vallejo brown because it is a thinner paint than the HH brown Mike uses and 1 coat didn't cover well enough for my liking.  I then gave them a liberal coat of black wash (actually satin finish with some black paint mixed in).  After a few days to dry, I sprayed them with Krylon matte finish.

The first picture is 2 large & 3 medium crates.

These 5 crates are smaller, and 3 of them have separate lids with guns inside.  I painted the packing material grey, then off-white.  I really like these and may use them as objectives.

Here is a picture from above so you can see the contents.

I am really pleased with how this first batch turned out.  I have several buildings and a police van from Ainsty and a bunch of resin scenery from Acheson Creations that I plan on painting over the next month.  Now that the South Carolina weather has cooled off a bit, I can spray outside again.  I have some completed figures for my Doctor Who project that I will be taking pictures of soon.

Until then, thanks for looking!

Jason

Back in Action

After a long hiatus this blog is active again.  My painting this summer has alternated between bursts of activity and weeks where nothing gets done.  Vacations, work, kids, all have absorbed my time.  What I have painted has piled up waiting to be varnished for 2 reasons:  with little free time, I want to paint, not spend time sealing; and the summer heat and humidity in South Carolina prevent me from using any sprays outside.

I did spend Saturday night clearing up most of the varnish backlog.  Now I can get the figures based and clear some room from my workspace.

On the left are figures for my Medieval Ireland project: Scots pikemen, various Irish and English billmen.  The middle is an army of Hobbits (Splintered Light figures) for HOTT.  The right has 2 units (6 figures each) of commanded shot, one with yellow coats and one with blue, for my English Civil War Royalists.  The 28mm figures in the front are for my Doctor Who project (l-r): a Sea Devil, 2 versions of the Master, the 3rd Doctor, 3 scientists and a Silurian lurking behind them.  there are a couple dozen more Sea Devils in the storage tray underneath the sheet of styrene.

I have some armies lined up to take pictures of, so expect more posts soon.  My painting plans for the near future include the last few foot figures for my Medieval Ireland project (already underway) and a bunch of terrain I bought this summer from Ainsty.

Thanks for looking!
Jason