Tuesday, January 26, 2016

More Kevin Adams lovelies and some other ones.

Painting has been a-happening.

I sorted through my lead hillock and discovered I have enough eldar to last a lifetime. And Harlequins. And Eldar Dreadnoughts.

First up is, I haven't a clue. Ral Partha, TSR 1995 it says on the base. Some catalogue diving and google searches and I can't find it. I suspect it's from the Planescape range. I get a Mihali, of Tekumel, vibe off the critter. Initially, I thought it was a dragonkin. It was only when I'd got the greens going that I realised it was more canid. What can I say.


As I was layering the cloak, I realised that every bloody miniature I've painted recently has some kind of blue on it. I think I need to do more colours.


Dragon Bait's Gnome Alchemist, from their first campaign. Kevin Adams did a great job on this range. I painted the bulk of this one last year. I think I was waiting to paint her sidekick and didn't take photos then. This line of miniatures has a lot going on detail-wise,  I am very pleased with the smoked glasses and the wick on her bomb. I was far more deliberate with the palette of colours and it works, which is something I don't say very often. The photos don't quite get across the pale, scorched look I was trying to get to her face.


Dragonbait Half-Elf Warrior, Kevin Adams again. The scales are pink, starting with a very dark red and moving through pink to white. In the second Dragon Bait campaign there is an elvish cleric that I want to pair up with this mini.


And here it is! The first mini I have actually started *this* year. Yes. It is indeed a new year miracle. An impeccable Kevin Adams sculpt for Dragonbait; the elven bard. I made a very deliberate choice to move away from the colour blue and got straight into the purple instead. I realise she isn't finished (and actually, neither is the mihali up the page), I've forgotten to do the metal. I really like the skew-eyed John Blanchian look to her face.

John Blanche's frankly amazing interior illustrations for Steve Jackson's Sorcery! gamebooks.

Now for a comparison shot of 35 odd years of scale creep.



The miniature in the middle, Lissandra, is from the dawn of the 80s. The flanking miniatures are from 2014. Striking.

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May your craft be sharp and the paints stay fluid.

Saturday, January 2, 2016

2015 sucked and blowed. Some modest 2016 goals.

A little bit of bandwagon jumping, with probability of being sucked under the wheels, it's the 2015 year in review!

I painted a grand total of about 13 miniatures. Some witch elves, some harlequins and eldar, one COlony 87 civilian and a dungeon adventurer.

I purchased more miniatures than I painted  (which is not the hardest thing): the third DragonBait indiegogo campaign, a copy of 3rd edition Talisman with most of the miniatures, some boxes (yikes! Current GW, really!) Skitarri, the Colony 87 kickstarter, plastic skaven and more eldar than I really should have.
 

I like what I painted and I like painting, but this was the year of the black dog. The black dog is exhausting. I hate the black dog. It gets on the furniture and pisses on all of my good stuff.

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2016 goals.

The big one is to paint. Nothing fancy, get the paint on the plastic slash metal.

If I want to have a goal, it's to finish the Dark Elf army. Or paint more than I buy.

I'm ordering Frostgrave (Osprey), which seems to be a spiritual successor to Mordheim. I'm thinking painting bands for this would be a concrete thing too. 

Playing a game of something would be nice.

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May your brushes hold their shape, your mold lines be few and your year good.