Back from the Dead

 Boy, it's been a while....

Hello all! It's been a hot minute since I've posted here. Life tends to get in the way of this sort of thing. Pursuing an engineering degree has certainly put the hobby on the back foot in general, I suppose.

I have been picking away at hobby stuff in the meantime. Christmas break has allowed for some free time to work on things - Christmas gifts included. 

Notably, I've been working on a squad of 3rd Edition Striking Scorpions I got second-hand from the FLGS. These are added to my growing Eldar army, which, if I can keep up the blog posts, will be shown off soonish alongside the other armies I've worked on in the meantime. 

Striking Scorpions - no Exarch yet, though.

Other pursuits have included a rapidly deepening addiction to building Gunpla kits. This Christmas has delivered the HG 1/144 GFreD, which was a pleasant build experience. Quite a few stickers, though.

He's very dramatic. 

I will try to post more frequently on here - I recall the blog posts I made previously being fun to write.

Watch this space, and happy holidays!

Mini Painting Update

Hey all, I took a break from the blog for a while, but in that time I have painted a few new things. I finally am getting around to posting them now, so I won't waste anyone's time.

I am working through the box of Reaper minis the old man got me and my sister, and among those are a set of orcs with 4 melee fighters, a bowman, and a champion. Painting these took altogether too much time, with me taking a break of about two months inbetween the first orc and the rest of the unit. I eventually decided to just get things done and batch painted the unit.

After finishing the orcs, I painted Reaper's swamp troll. This model's details were pretty crisp, but I ran into some bubbling in the paint. Im not sure what caused it, so if anyone reading knows, feel free to leave a comment.

After that, I got to paint one of the mantic games elves. I still have another one waiting, so I may put it in the next update. This one I converted to have a shield from a box of vikings.

Speaking of vikings, I painted a bunch of them too. I plan to use these for Ravenfeast and Dragon Rampant. I batch painted these, but like in most of my projects, I get bored halfway through and took a break for three weeks.

That about covers things, aside from dragon or two (which hopefully will get their own post). Until then, stay safe and stay healthy. 

 Happy painting, 

FP01

The Tomb of Horrors Awaits...

 Hello all, welcome back to the blog.

Today I'll be showing you all how I painted Acererak, creator of the infamous Tomb of Horrors.  I got the model at the local game store a little while ago, and finally got around to painting it. 

Reference for the paintjob.

To start off with the undercoat, I first covered the whole model with black gesso, then sprayed white primer from above. This makes it so the surfaces towards the top of the model would be brighter than the surfaces on the bottom. This will help reinforce the highlights on the model later. 

Next I put on the basecoats. Black for the robes, purple for the dangly robe pennants, medium green for the face brooch, light green for the skin, gold for the neck decoration, red for the trim, brown for the staff, khaki for the skill and bones, and dark gold for the crown. I then hit the smoke around Acererak with thinned green paint, so the transition from black to white primer could be seen through the green tint. This gives the illusion of the smoke thickening as you get closer to the bottom.

Work in progress.

Next, I painted everything except the smoke and the robes with Agrax Earthshade. This brought out the detail in the model, and added definition to the different materials. 

Third, I added highlights to the model. I added grey to the robes, pinkish purple to the dangly cloth bits, tan to the wood and bones, light green for the brooch, lighter green for the skin, and light gold for the neck and crown. I left the red alone, as it was a small area and was surrounded by dark colours. I then overbrushed the top of the smoke with white, to further reinforce the smoke effect. I painted the base black, painted the eyes red, then called it done. 

The finished product.

 And there we go, Acererak is done, ready to trap the latest adventuring party. I am happy with this model, and I am excited to use it in the future. 

Happy painting,

FP01

Top 5 Guides for New Hobbyists

 Hello folks,

This time around I am going to share my top 5 recommended guides for those just getting into the hobby. These are all videos discussing the very basics of the miniature wargaming hobby, so if you are an experienced hobbyist, these may not be for you. Still, read on, as there may be new knowledge you did not know that could be useful to you.

Please note: these videos are in no particular order, as I think they are all fantastic guides in their own way.

5. Goobertown Hobbies Painting Fundamentals

Great guide for painting, done by the Bob Ross of miniatures.

We are starting with this video by Goobertown Hobbies. In this guide, the viewer is shown how to do the basic techniques of miniature painting in a step-by-step, easily digestible guide. The viewer is shown, using a limited palette of paints, how to paint a set of fantasy miniatures to a nice, tabletop-ready standard.

4. Tabletop Time Complete Guide

Painting with a touch of comedy.

This guide, by Tabletop Time, is a good source of information on how to paint miniatures using the basic GW Intercessors + Paint Set. It shows how even with only a few paints you can make some miniatures to put on the games table. 

3. Black Magic Craft Miniature Basics

Great for the grimdark.

From a terrain maestro to a painting prodigy, this guy has a variety of talents to share. In this video, he shows how to paint a swordsman in a simple scheme with easy techniques. 10/10 would learn from again.

2. Squidar Miniatures - Things I wish I knew

Tips from a master.

This video is great for hobbyists looking to avoid some mistakes or pitfalls that are commonly made by new painters. This video goes in-depth about things you can use, tools you need, and general hobby techniques.

1. Midwinter Minis - Build and Paint Your First Warhammer Models

Step-by-step goodness.

This video is a great step-by-step guide for the entire building and painting process, going into detail about what techniques to do, how you do them, and what you need, using two people's first models as examples. The methods shown in this video are easy, achievable, and produce a good looking model in a simple, quick process.

And there you go! Five videos perfect for beginners to the hobby. These videos, and their related channels, are the perfect places to start for those interested in the miniature wargaming hobby.

Happy painting,

FP01

Emplacement Build Guide

 Hello folks, Today I'll be delivering to your eyes an in-depth guide on my emplacements, as promised previously.

These were simple to make, and quick to build. Not including drying time, I think the set of 4 emplacements only took about one hour to make in total. These are an easy way to add to your gaming table or diorama, or to fill out your terrain collection. 

Now, let's get started on the build.

Step 1: Measure and Cut Out Parts.

The cardboard base.

The first thing you need to do is to measure a 5 by 20 centimetre rectangle out of a material of your choice. Cardboard, MDF, and foamcore are all great options. Cut this out, measure 32mm up from one of the long edges, then draw a line running through that point. This will act as a reference for later.

The foamcore wall.

Next, do the same on a piece of foamcore, except make it 1 inch long on the short side. This will allow your average infantry model to see over the wall, but still be in cover. As before, cut this out. Also, if at all possible, use a new blade on your knife for this. If the blade is dull, the foamcore could tear as you cut it.

Step 2: Prepare Foamcore. 

Just add water.

The next step is to peel the paper backing off of both sides of the foamcore. Depending on the brand, you could just peel it off with no extra effort. However, if your foamcore is like mine, the adhesive for the paper will make it hard to peel the paper off. If this is the case, you can simply run the foamcore under hot water so the adhesive weakens and allows you to peel the paper off. 

Texture time.

Next, add texture to both sides of the foamcore. This will add to the concrete wall look. I did this by stabbing at the foam with an old, gunked up, stiff brush, but you could use rocks or a ball of scrunched-up tin foil.

Step 3: Assemble the Parts.

Where to glue the foamcore.

The next step is to glue the two pieces together. Glue the foamcore so that it is in front of the line as shown in the picture. This will make sure there is enough space for a miniature with 32mm base to stand on the space comfortably.

Tile time.

Next, glue some cardstock rectangles to act as tiles for the larger section. These do not need to be perfect, so you can eyeball their size.

After this, add any damage to the wall you want. For mine, I added a hole in the wall, as if it was blown up. If you do this, don't forget to add rebar using paper clips.

Step 4: Basing.

Pointy.

To base the emplacements, start by gluing spikes onto the small side, at an angle pointing outward. These could be made of sprues, toothpicks, cocktail sticks, or really anything long and pointy. Next, use PVA glue to stick small pebbles, sand, and other small stones to the front of the base in a way that hides the spikes' connection to the ground. The aim is to make the spikes look as if they are embedded into the ground, so make sure to cover them in your basing material.

Step 5: Painting.

The paintjob on these is pretty simple, and requires only 4 colours and some gesso.

The first thing you need to do is give the whole emplacement a coat of gesso. Either white or black will work, but in this case I used white. Next, mix up a few shades of grey and coat the wall with a dark grey, hit the tiles and surface underneath them with a medium grey, and paint the spikes with a light grey. Then, mix black and burnt sienna to make a dark brown, and paint the sand and gravel on the front of the piece with it. once everything has dried, stipple the large rocks with medium grey to the point where only a little brown is showing in the recesses. After that is done, coat everything in very thinned black paint. This will go int the recesses and bring out a lot of detail. Lastly, drybrush everything with a very light grey. Oh, and dont forget to paint the rebar with some silver, if you chose to add it to the piece.

The finished emplacement.

And there you go! Now you know how to make easy emplacements for tabletop wargaming. Feel free to create variations and to experiment. These are fairly basic, so there is a lot of room to expand and improve upon the design. Now go and make yourself some terrain!

Happy painting,

FP01

Enplacement Overview

 Well, I'm back again for the third post today. I wonder if I'm going at this too hard?

This time i'll go over the build and paint of my emplacements, as shown in the previous post. You can expect an in-depth build guide whenever I get around to building some different shapes. 

My first step was to cut out some cardboard as a base. I tried to go for about 5 x 20cm, but ended up with bases that while close to the same size, were different enough that one could tell they were different. C'est la vie.

This one is my favourite. Warped to all heck but still the best.

I then cut out some foamboard to the same length as the base and peeled off the paper to reveal the foam underneath. It didn't come off perfectly, often tearing and leaving bits of paper on. The larger bits were peeled off, and the smaller bits were left on as extra texture. A side effect of this was the damaged looking tops of the wall, which I think is a plus. 

Rear view of one of the solid emplacements.

Next I hot glued the foamboard so the back edge of it was 32mm away from the back of the emplacement, leaving room for most basic infantry models, who usually are on a 25 or 32mm base. However, the space is large enough for models that have a larger base (like my deamon prince).

I then used a combination of PVA and hot glue to glue small pebbles and sand, along with spikes made out of sprues to the front of the emplacement, along with tiles made of cardstock on the rear.

Corner view of an emplacement. 

I painted the emplacements with various shades of grey, mixed from white, black, and burnt sienna in varying amounts. Medium grey for the gaps in between the tiles, light grey for the tiles and rocks, dark brown for the dirt, dark grey for the spikes.

All surfaces were then drybrushed with an even lighter grey, and I filled in any spots I missed in the previous steps. This brought out the details in the piece.

Some of my Iron Warriors manning the emplacements. Medrengard stands!

I will eventually glue some green flock onto the emplacements to represent grass, but that will come later, once I get a chance.

Happy painting, 

FP01

Paints For Terrain

 Well, first proper post, so lets get on with it.

Recently I have been building some emplacements for use in Warhammer 40000, and I ran into the decision on whether to use craft or miniature paints.

Miniature paints on the left, craft paints on the right.

While miniature paints generally have good coverage, pigmentation and mix well, they are expensive (around $7 a pot). This means that it can be prohibitively costly to use them on large terrain pieces. Therefore, I found it better to use the craft paints. These do not like to thin or mix well, but their pigmentation is above average, even compared to some miniature paints. 

Chaos Space Marine painted with miniature paints, emplacement painted with craft paints.

You can see what I mean in the picture above. The emplacement has patches of white where the paint didn't cover (note: I am only talking about the brown bit. The other parts are white because they haven't been painted yet). In contrast, the Chaos Space Marine is covered fine. No white spots there.

However, the craft paint has one huge advantage: its price. The whole box of 9 paints only cost about $4, while you'd be lucky to get one miniature paint at that price. While paying extra is a sacrifice I'm willing to make when it comes to miniatures, on terrain, craft paints are the way to go. Besides, when it comes to poorly covering paint, two thin coats is better than one thick coat. 

Because of this, I recommend using craft paints on terrain if at all possible. The inexpensiveness, high pigmentation, and ease of countering their downsides makes them a great option for your terrain painting needs.

Happy painting,

FP01