Howdy! Been a while, I know...I missed you too!

There really are not any real excuses as to why I haven’t updated the blog lately , the  truth is, I just haven’t.  I also haven’t been painting as much as I would like but that is because of a shitty ass retail schedule a bunch of closes and not actually getting to sit down to paint until well after 9pm on most nights.  Again not real reasons…heck not even valid excuses.  I need to get back into the saddle when it comes to painting.  Plain and simple. 

Now in an effort to get back into painting, I am going to do two things. 

1)      Finish up the Mountain King – Just need to finish up the Troll Whelps crawling all over the big’un

2)      Paint up two battleboxes

a.       Cygnar (My original Warmachine faction)

                                                               i.      Stryker

                                                             ii.      Ironclad

                                                            iii.      Lancer

                                                           iv.      Charger

b.      Alternate Trollbloods  Battlebox from the Journeyman League Rules

                                                               i.      Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls

                                                             ii.      Dire Troll Mauler (already painted previously)

                                                            iii.      Pyre Troll

                                                           iv.      Storm Troll

Next Monday I am being sent down to Fairfield to train for my new job, I am supposed to be down there for a month, yup a month…well at least 4 Monday-Friday Weeks. 

So during that time I am going to work on painting up both Battleboxes.  I ordered in Hoarluk and I purchased the plastic Pyre Troll Kit and Storm Troll Kit (very nice kits FYI).  I also had to order in a new plastic Charger kit, since the one I originally got broke. 

For the Cygnar Battlebox I am going to a slightly modified ‘studio’ blue theme.  I drew inspiration from the IKRPG Book and the picture they have of the Ironclad being given its Quake Hammer on page 301.  It is a bit more on the purple-side than I am thinking about going for, but the thought did cross my mind to do the purple scheme.  Really I just want the one white shoulder pad and the white cowl around where the ‘jacks head is. 

For the Trollbloods Alternate Battlebox…well I am going with the scheme I already have but seeing that the Storm Troll and the Pyre Troll are both ‘elemental’ trolls they will differ vastly from the scheme I am using on the full-blooded Dire Trolls and Trollbloods themselves.  Should be fun and make painting them up pretty interesting. 

I figure I should be able to do each battlebox in 2 weeks. 

Other notes of interest…I won two painting contests this month.  The Sons of Bragg won the Unit Category at NorCon 2013 and my Searforge Commission list which consisted of every painted ‘jack I own plus Gorton Grundback won the best painted army at the Convergence of Cyriss book release event held down at Matrix Games.  Pretty cool but in all honestly, I still have a baker’s butt-ton to learn about painting compared to my friend’s Jody, Aaron, Jon, and Kaleb. 

The Mountain That Walks again...

Some photo updates of my progress on the Mountain King.

More pictures to follow as I slowly work on the Mountain King.

The Mountain that Walks.

It was pointed out to me the other day that I haven’t been updating the blog as much.

Tis a true statement. 

I have been rather lax in my updates lately and I am hoping to change that now that some major life events, which have caused some upset in my painting schedule, are calming down.  It has been a rough February and March, but I shall not bore you with details. 

I have been getting in some painting lately.  Not a whole lot but some.  I started in on Durgan Madhammer got about ¾ done with him and then decided I didn't like the colors and so dunked him in some of my favorite liquid, Super Clean, and stripped the paint off of him.  Now I just need to reprimer him and start over =)

I have been working on the largest model I own to date and that is the Mountain King.  There is the book release event for Gargantuans at the end of April that I am going to go to, so I want to have the Mountain King painted up for that.  I have gotten his skin tone done and really, I just did a quicky couple of layers.  Base coat, wash, and then lots of drybrushing. 

The detail on the skin is amazing.  Cuts and scratches not to mention musculature, so rather than have my bumbling hands muck up the awesome detail…I just drybrushed the entire model (five or six times). 

Yup, I took the cheaters way out.  

I am almost done with the bottom portion of the Mtn King that would be impossible to reach if he is glued to his base, i.e. certain areas below the belly.  Once I finish that up I will glue him to his base and then just go on a crazy painting spree to finish him up in short order.  For that to happen I need to put one more layer on the leather belt and then give the model a thorough once over before I glue it down. You can see the parts where I have had to hold the model by the top 'mountain spire' so that I could paint the under-carriage.  When I get him glued to his base I will reprimer the top portions of the mountain with my air brush.  

Just wanted to give a quick update really. More to come, more often, I promise.

One Third the Flavor, One Third the Fun

Finished up Tor of the Sons of Bragg Character Unit.  Man, I love these trio of Trollblood Fellcallers, stumpy legs and all.  Not really sure what the sculptor was thinking giving the unit the bowed legs but I love the unit.  Fun to use on the table top as well.  

When the unit hits...boy does it hit hard (if the Dice Gods are in your favor that is and you have made the prerequisite sacrifices before the game started)

They are a pricey little unit at 6 points but they fill a nice roll as a counter-strike unit.  Run the Sons of Bragg up the flank and use them to drop annoying solos or to take down a heavy beast/'jack or to even roll into a unit and just tie it up for a turn or two.  Keep them in reserves and use them to counter-strike anything that gets a bit close to your Warlock or to even clear out a lane for said Warlock to wreak face

So next I move onto Tor's duel-sword wielding brother, Rhudd.  Hopefully I'll get him done a bit quicker...go ahead and roll your eyes now but hey in my defense I did say hopefully

Adopt a Fell Caller, Save a Trollkin for life

I wasn't even really planning on painting up the Fell Caller but when I was base coating the skin of the Sons of Bragg Unit I had a bunch of extra paint left over on ye'olde wet palette and I didn't want to waste it so...I base coated the Fell Caller, Skaldi Bonehammer, and the Sons of Bragg.

I still had a good sized blob of paint on the palette and decided to wash the models and then do the skin highlight on them.

Once I was finished with that whole layering up of the skin, I picked up the Fell Caller to look at him and then I just picked out a color and started painting.  Well of course life got in the way of painting and the Fell Caller has been getting some sporadic painting love across the week and tonight I finally finished him up.

I have kind of a mixed reaction to this model.  I like certain parts of the model and then I dislike certain parts.



Like: The leathers - I thought they turned out really nice
Like: The skin - loads of shading difference in the muscles...getting better at it. I should probably add a third 'lighter' layer
Like: The armor plates - I dig the 'highlighted' armor

Dislike: The eyes - Damn it!! they just look off to me
Dislike: The torch - I tried doing a 'yellow' fire like effect and feel I failed horribly...oh and I hate the grey colors on it
Dislike: The bronze chain mail - definitely used the wrong colors there.  I really like the Vallejo line, but I think GW has the metallics down like no other
Dislike: I used a different glue than the Zap-a-Gap that I know and love, so I didn't notice a glob dried on the joint connecting the main body to the upraised sword until I had the model primed and dusted...I painted up the glob to look like fur but it is still irksome that I missed that while the glue was still wet.  I could have cleaned off the glob of glue.  Needless to say I won't be using that shitty-ass glue anymore.



Eventually I will go back through and attempt to fix up the 'dislikes' but for the moment, I am going to keep chugging along and finish what I started even though I am going to miss the deadline for a Slightly More Possible Dream 2012 by a ludicrously large margin.

And now to start working on the rest of the Fell Callers in the list, the Sons of Bragg.  I am going to paint each one up individually, so pictures to follow as I complete them.  Once they are all finished I'll toss up the group shot.

You know...eventually I am going to have to paint up Borka Kegslayer, I mean sheesh...it is his army after all.

SHOW ME YOUR WARFACE!!!!

Well I don't think I am going to meet the deadline for the Slightly More Possible Dream Painting Challenge.   

 

I paint too damned slow and I have only painted up two models!   

 

Aside from jacked up schedules at work, it is very hard for me to paint when my daughter is awake.  She has to be at the center of it all and that means right at my painting area and wanting to touch and paint everything in sight...but enough excuses.  I finished up the Dire Troll Mauler for Borka's battlegroup.

 

As you can see he is very angry and has very very large hands with which to rip your 'jack apart with

 

 

I did a lighter shade on the belly and the palms but it doesn't quite show in the photograph like it does when you are holding the model.  Next time I think I need to mix in another drop or two of the lighter grey with the basecoat to help separate it out more.

 

 

 

Over all I am pleased with the model but I think next time I paint up a dire troll I am going to leave much 'thinner' lines in the recesses of the musculature.

 

This guy really is just plain angry and those are some rather big meaty firsts!

Borka's Troll Axer, Krugg

I finished up the Troll Axer.  Not 100% sure I like the fact that I painted the entire front arc, but so be it, it might grow on me and if not, I'll just paint over it with black.

I have already put down 3/4 of the shadow grey basecoat on the Dire Troll Mauler and some of the dark fleshtone on the 'spines/hair'

Hopefully I'll have the Mauler finished up by tomorrow night or at least almost done.  

Borka's Drinking Buddies

There is an event on the Privateer Press Forums called “A Slightly More Possible Dream” that I have decided to take part in.  Basically, you have a 35 point list and you have one month to paint it up and then you play in a tourney with other folks who have done the same thing…now I am horrible at meeting painting deadlines, Nov 16^th in this case, but damn it, I am sure going to try!

Well I am going to be painting up a 35 point list (or trying my damnedest to do so) and while no one else is participating in Redding, I still plan to play the list in the next tourney and see how I do. 

I did choose a list that is not very model heavy because as the world’s slowest painter and I wanted to make sure that I have time to paint it all up.  Now I have been playing this list quite a bit lately in casual play and so far it has treated me well.

Borka’s Drinking Buddies (for a Slightly More Possible Dream)

Borka Kegslayer – WB: +5
Pyg Carrier
Dire Troll Mauler - PC:9
Troll Axer - PC: 6

 

Fell Caller Hero – PC: 3

Trollkin Champion Hero – PC: 3

 

Trollkin Champions – Leader & 4 Grunts: PC: 10
Skaldi Bonehammer – PC: 3

Sons of Bragg – Wrathar, Tor & Rhudd: PC 6

Just about every model in the list has weapon master which I really didn’t notice until I was staring at the cards one night while I was playing a game and Borka is just fun to play.  I love the sculpt for the model and his fluff is pretty great also.  On top of that he has some pretty solid spell list…and considering he only has three spells that is saying a lot.  I gave him a Mauler and an Axer and so far they have acquitted themselves rather well on the battle field.  The Trollkin Champions + Skaldi + Champion Hero + Fell Caller Hero is a pretty brutal combo that, pending the love of the dice gods, generally tend to wreck face pretty well.  The Sons of Bragg are a great character unit that can stand on their own and are a viable threat to most pieces on the table.

The one down side to the list is of course the low model count.  When you think about it, I only have 14 models on the table and one of those models is carrying a keg and doesn’t do much other than top off Borka with a few extra Fury.  I mean once I start losing models, the games tend to go downhill rather quickly for me. 

All in all, I am really enjoying the list and have even bought a few of those ‘crutch’ models that make the Trollblood synergies really come to life.  I have a full unit of Fennblades + UA and I picked up a unit of Kriel Stone Bearers + UA but I shall not get ahead of myself.  Before I put any paint down on any other model until Nov 16^th (other than primer of course),  I must and shall paint up the above list.  I’ll post progress pictures as I finish up each model.

On the plus side, there is a possibility that the armies painted up for this little painting shin-dig could end up in an issue of No Quarter.  How cool would that be, my table-top quality models on display in a magazine. 

HAHAHAHA epic…extra incentive…must finish painting them up!

Off to the painting table I go!