FOW SMG Teams started

so I got the first two teams glued down ..then used some hamilton beach sand to and thinned out elmers glue to cover the integrated bases.

The color is really close to the same as the bases that I drybrushed..I still need to dullcote them and add some static grass.

But I'm wondering..think I should be blending in the sand with some brown and linen white paint drybrushed?
I did that for the HMG crews but I just dont' know if its a waste of time for so little difference on the dirt.

anyways opinions always welcome :)

soviet smg teams progress

The two HMG crews are dullcoated(i skipped glosscote due to the figures being dipped) and added alittle dead grass flocking some mold lines from the plastic showed thru..but not to bad. My buddy doesn't like the red edges to the base and thinks it should match the ground color but I'm not sure..I kinda like having the Trim Soviet Red.. I don't think the top  ground basing will match the tables we play on anyways..

So I think I got the process worked out. I'm using Spackle instead of woodfiller on the base holes. once filled I press the mini's down so it creates a footprint that puts the integrated base at ground level without a visible lip.

When its almost white(dried) I pry out  the figures and let the base spackle finish drying then using uniform grey colored primer prime them up.
After that sewer wash over the base then drybrush and paint little details.

I got a couple popsicle sticks glued together and got a stand made by a buddy so I can paint and dip them all as one and the stand makes it easier to hold the popsicle stick while painting.

I should be able to work on about 8 to 10 mini's and 4 bases all at the same time doing it this way. Using desert Yellow colored primer as a base cote for the figures seems to be working out fine

so I got these guys painted..dipped and the bases painted and ready for tomorrow as well as got the next two bases prepped and primed and the next set of 8 figures basecoat primed..
If all goes well .I should be able to do 2 teams a day this way....Red Bear Assembly line engaged

Soviet FOW army painting begins

I decided to switch back to the flames of war stuff..I can get some figures done pretty easily.
These guys are gonna be 100% quick basecoat..then dipped tabletop standard. I just dont' have it in me to try and do super detailed painting on 15mm figures.
The bases I'm using are the sculpted plastic ones so Ill just be base coating..then dry brushing and detailing stuff like rubble etc then gluing figures down and blending.

heres first 6 figures and two bases started.
These are Soviet summertime uniform colors. following the Flames of War basic soviet color guide.
I did the brush on dip technique and I hope that buy the time the dip is dry the two bases will be completed.
I'm thinking of painting the edges of the bases Soviet Red but I'll wait to see how the drybrushing turns out. I plan to use the same colors I did for the woldwrath base since I really liked the tones I got with that.

Laurana Leather highlights

got back to working on Laurana. I decided to finish the basing material and drybrushing before painting the boots this time.
I tihink it blends into the brocoli base pretty well..with a little static grass it should be pretty seamless.

Then I worked on the leather straps/pouches and boots.. it seems like the instructions at this point kinda ran out of room or .. its just very  brief in its direction at this stage of the final touches..I think thats to bad I've been enjoying the direction so far in these kits.

So I did some hightlighting of the leather and boots..and now from the zoomed in photo I can see the back parts are pretty rough heh.
I'm really not sure what to do with the gold trim ..perhaps highlight with some brighter gold paint from other kits?( I have new gold from something

Besides that just need to work on the scroll and the rock and she's almost done.

I used some of the dark brown thinned to almost a wash to clean up the transitions on the back of the book case and canteen.
then used a little new gold to highlight the gold along the top ridges of the bracelets and belt buckle and book case..not really sure what else to do that isn't outside the scope of this kit.
I finished up the scroll following the directions..its abit rough in the transitions but I think its ok. I ended up using black ink to shade the rock and do text..which is very shallow and tiny..sheesh hehe.

I think I'm done painting her and she's ready for a glosscote/dullcote and flocking. While she's drying over the next 24hrs its time to start on Tsuko.

edit: all done sealed and flocked

Ok WoldWrath is really done

laurana cloth highlights

mixed up the green/blue wash to shade the shirt..I think I had abit to much blue in it.. for the highlight I found I needed to reapply the plain green first then mixed the yellow/green to highlight the shirt.. Much much more challenging to not overdo it..it goes from not enough to much very quickly.
For the skirt I mixed a couple shades ..nice straight lines down a crease is tough not being wavy ..I can see from the photo I gotta touch up the hind area, I hadn't noticed it wasn't blended well.
I think thats enough highlights for the cloth..tho I could go abit brighter if thats the concensus.

The cloth was definately the most challenging simply due to the subtleness  of the definition.

laurana hair

I went thru the process of basecoating the hair..then shading the undersides and deep creases with a brown wash ..then mixed the highlight color and applied a couple layers of highlights.
I think its ok..maybe needs one more tight lighter highlight?

Overall She's coming together pretty good..
Im starting to get a feel for how thin the paint should be and how to not overload the brush to much so it pools when when you brush it on.

looks like next up is painting the cloth.

I applied another highlight layer to the hair around back and top and got the basecoat of the shirt and skirt done.

laurana highlighting

got back to working on Laurana. I applied a couple layers of highlights using the ratio of rose skin and linen white perscribed...I'm not sure its very apperent tho..maybe I thinned em down to much..I can see the difference on the face but the body looks very close to the mid tones..not sure if I should add more linen white and redo.

after that I did the eyes and Lined all the flesh.. I've never done lining before other then using a dark wash to line creveses so this is new.. We'll see how it all works out.
Over all I'm happy with the eyes..the left one not as much but its more hidden so considering how small they are I'll take it.

Next up Her Hair :)

splash effect

I really hope this works out :)

after a few days

woldwrath transportation

so multitasking as usual I've been working on a way to transport the woldwrath ..(and the celestial Fulcrum in the future) to the game club.
So I picked up a container and some craft foam from walmart for about 20bucks.
heres what I ended up with...Just need a Velcro strap or bungee cord to ensure no accidental drops from the lid opening

Barrow Rat finished and Laurana continues

Gloss and Dull Coted the Barrow Rat. I ended up just basing it on top of a 30mm base fillin in the front and back and letting the ends extend out..the integrated base really didn't fit on anything less then a 50mm base and well I don't think it suits it.. I think it turned out ok this way.

I decided to start on laurana for the LTPK #2
I mixed the basecoat color and applied for step one last night and then applied the midtone for step two.
I might not have thinned it enough ..or maybe worked with to much paint on the brush ..seems to be abit stark between the two but Blending Layers is something I've never figured out well at all so this is good practice. I do think perhaps that a wet palette isn't the best idea for layering paint since it needs to be so thin..its hard to not have it run out into a big thin puddle and separate..

Welp here she is so far

LTPK #2 primed

While waiting for the barror rat to dry figured I'd clean up and prime the figures from kit #2..I can see from the photo I missed some mold lines under the staff on the left will have to clean that up.

splash test

first part of splash test

gonna try using the outside of a glass..we'll see in a week..its a bigger diameter so thats good :)

barrow rat start

I got the base done on  Anhurian and glosscoted him..after its dried I'll dullcote and then add some flocking to the base.
Moving on to figure 2 the barrow rat heres after doing the basecoat,the wash and then drybrush of the basecoat color to bring up the highlights.

finished up the next stage painting the flesh areas and the warts..tho they kinda look like brutal pimples.
next up the claws and teeth

spend some time working on the next two stages of the kit.. painting the mount claws and eyes..
all thats left now is the base I think.

learn to paint kit #1 continued.

went thru the instructions for the leather and detailing..tho I didn't try to dry brush the the boots. Think all thats left is the base..which I think I need to transfer this to a base so I can glue some sand grit around the grass area before doing it.

I might do some more work on some highlights on the leather etc but I'd say this is pretty much  at the finished stage based on the  instruction booklet.

Besides being sick as a dog with a summer cold this has been agreat deal of fun. After spending so much focus on large figures lately this back to basics is extremely refreshing.

Welp here he is.
 

here he is with a finished base

woldwrath dullcote and complete

I finally finished it up..still torn on wether to add some more ripples to the water but for now its done.
Now to figure out how to transport it so I can bring to LFGS for some games.

learn to paint kit #1 cont

I noticed I missed the bottom of the pants before(I thought they were part of his shoes) so Went back and cleaned that up..as well I tried to thin the liner under the eyes just a smidge..tho when its dry..It might not amount to any difference heh.

So Lucky me I seemd to have found the magic formula of how much black to add to white primer to end up with a real close color match to the metalic true silver.......ya! lucky me! So basecoating the armor was a wee bit of a pain but its done.

I've never used inks before..I assume you mix the same 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of water with it?..I'll get to that after dinner I think
So here he is so far.

ok I got the inking done..started by trying to use a 1:1 ratio and that was a mistake..it make it very grey..so switched to straight black ink for the wash. When that dried I tried very carefully to drybrush the true silver highlights back up.

This is where I struggle I always end up with a fine mist of over spray from the areas I drybrush..even if I dont touch the cloth I can see a fine spackling..I tried my best to clean it up without actually repainting it all.

I think personally for me doing the armor first before anything else makes more sense just cuz the technique of drybrushing the silver does look great but I want to do more..but I don't want to ruin the rest of the paintjob..

In all likelyhood I'm way to agressive with my drybrush swipes in general :)

So here he is so far..I have some Polished silver that I had ordered before..I'm temped to use that for some Lining Highlights after its all done.. Just to make the edges pop abit.

ltpk#1 continued

So i got some more time to spend on this fella.

I got he eyes and mouth lined

 and then did the whites and iris area..which on the first one ended up on the side so I did the other to match and he's simply glancing to the left to look at that fluter he saw out of the corner of his eye. After that I basecoated the shirt and pants.

Then  I did the wash over the cloth which I think I might have done a bit to dark..and drybrushed up the highlights on the legs,arm and shield and back of the head and just used the detail brush to highlight the raised sections of the cloth around his face.

I'm tempted to do some layering to brighten up the legs but I am enjoying just sticking to the plan and following the directions.
I think I'll leave it here for the night and start the metal tomorrow.

woldwrath almost done.

just a quick pic of it finally fully assembled..gonna let the glue/greenstuff cure overnight before dullcoting it ..then all thats left is ripples and splash's

quick pic with other figures for size comparison

woldwrath left arm gloss cote

I finished up the gems and applied a coat of gloss cote to the one side of the arm..in a few hours I'll flip it and apply to the otherside..I should be able to glue it to the main figure tomorrow night.

In the meantime I've primed the two figures for the Ltpk1 with white brush on primer with a small drop of black paint added to make it grey.

applied a couple layers of  tanned flesh for the basecoat

 then the wash of intense brown and just dry brushed the skintone back up.