Workbench Wednesday 4/29/15

Greetings!! Just realized it's been a week and a half since I have posted! I've been working on some more Space Wolves in the meantime. I've finished a Caestus Assault Ram, Diemos Predator and Sicarian. The Caestus was particularly rewarding as it was a rehabilitation project and I think it turned out really well!  I'm finishing up Logan Grimnar on Stormrider (tonight, in fact), before finishing the Wolves with some Long Fangs and a Rune Priest. 

Logan on the Bench:

My commission que is growing!!! I want to take a minute to thank my clients for their faith in me and their support. It's been a fantastic start for this fledgling enterprise! In the que are a Squat Warband for an INQ28 style game, some Blood Angels, a large Necron army, a Bushido faction, some Skitaari, and a couple of the new Knights that will be released this week!!! I'm really excited for these projects, and again am so thankful for the opportunity!

I will endeavor to update more regularly with WIPs as well as some other projects that I have in the wings for me personally. 

Salamanders Firedrakes Terminators - painted for eBay

In an effort to do some advertising of sorts, I picked up some Salamanders Firedrakes Terminators and painted them up for an eBay auction.  When they were released I knew I wanted to paint them up but as I wouldn't be playing Salamanders I had little impetus to purchase them and paint them.  Since I've shifted to doing commissions, I can justify painting almost anything!

I had a great time painting them, though there were some challenges.  The green mid-tone went on very glossy for some reason, and was only toned down with the use of Tamiya matte sealer (amazing stuff).  I also had some trouble getting good pictures of them, as I prefer the black background to the white.  The black background was just too dark; and while I'm not 100% happy with the white, they look pretty good.

Products used:
Paints: Badger Minitaire, Vallejo Model Air, GW, P3, Game Color, Secret Weapon Miniatures Washes
Airbrush/Brushes: Badger Patriot, Badger Sotar 20/20, GW Brushes
Bases: Secret Weapon Miniatures
Pigments: Secret Weapon Miniatures

Workbench Update! 4/20/15

After a very busy week with family I am happily back to work on some Space Wolves!!! These are more tanks and infantry for the same client, and I'm happy to be working on such awesome models. A Caestus, a Sicarian, a Diemos Predator, Logan Grimnar, an awesomely kitbashed Rune Priest, and 10 more Long Fangs. On the bench right now are the Caestus, the Sicarian and the Diemos Pred.

The Caestus is a reclamation project (which I will document in its own post when it's finished), and is turning out beautifully. I can't express how happy I am with the Blood Claw nacelle motif. I wanted the nacelles to match the shoulder pads of the troops that will be embarked on it. I find touches like these really help tie vehicles in with the infantry when you look accross an entire force. A lot of work ahead of me, but I'm loving it!!

One of my favorite parts of the painting process is taking off the masking tape/fluid/Saran wrap and seeing the composition as a whole or the weathering effect, etc. for example:

All ready to go!

Finished Comission - Blood Angels Land Raider

Had a lot of fun painting this model.  It's nice to paint such an iconic tank in such a vibrant color scheme.  The client wanted it to be close to the Codex Astartes color scheme, though I wanted to break up the red so I painted the gun housings a bright yellow.  I think it turned out really well! Really pleased with how rich Badger Minitaire's Angelic Blood is.

Workbench Wednesday 4/8/15

Another week, another update!!! After finishing up the Space Wolves I've been working on a Blood Angels Land Raider. I was a little nervous about getting the red right, as I haven't used the Badger Minitaire red paints too often. Have to say I'm really really happy with how it's turning out! Just detailing, oil wash and weathering to go. Current status of the workbench:

To the left of the Land Raider is my next project: 5 Salamander Firedrakes from Forgeworld; destined for CMON/eBay. After that it's on to more Space Wolves!!! 

Finished Space Wolves Commission

Really enjoyed this project! I've never actually painted Space Wolves before, so it was a great opportunity to paint the puppies! This project presented a particular challenge in that the client already had a sizable army that had been painted by another studio and as such I had to match the color scheme as closely as possible.  I enjoy a challenge though, so I was happy to do it!

It was also a great opportunity to use Secret Weapon Miniatures' Instant Scenery Kit: Winter.  I haven't played around with snow basing very much, but Secret Weapon has a great snow basing tutorial on their website here, I highly recommend checking it out if you're going to do snow bases.

The Long Fangs are painted to a High Tabletop Standard while the Fenrisian Wolves are painted to a Tabletop Standard.  Without further ado...

The Edge - Kickstarter Backed!

I backed The Edge kickstarter from Awaken Realms yesterday, and am hoping to bump my pledge up to the Ultimate pledge level so I can get my hands on ALL THE THINGS!  I really love the steampunk gothic feel of the miniatures and the painting challenge they will pose.  Part of this is also  a search for inspiration in my painting in general.  I feel like I'm painting in a very crisp GW style but want to branch out and push myself more with different projects.  For commissions, obviously I will deliver what the client is looking for as far as aesthetic goes; but in my personal painting I really want to start pushing the envelope.

To do this, I feel like it would be good for me to branch out into different game systems and different models so I don't have a pre-determined idea as to what the color scheme should look like and how they should feel.  I am looking forward to painting some Dark Age (particularly Kukulani) as well as some Infinity and Arena Rex when they become available.  I also want to branch out into some historicals, so I may start with some Bolt Action.  Looking forward to these and other projects in the near future!