Works in progress, actually progressing!

 

So five buildings for my current What a Cowboy! campaign. The first one is a resin model that really resists paint. I thoroughly washed it, cleaned it again with TPS and even used sealant to try and give the paint something to adhere to. It sort of worked.

So, to be fair it is the peak that lost paint, the other section was where a roofing piece that had been glued on fell off with very little effort. As a result it is important that I stop touching this model, so I have glued it to a base, in this case a clip board with the clip removed. The earth is a textured craft foam sheet that I think really painted up nicely. It has enough texture that comes out when dry brushed. The fence is from Renada. 

Wash applied

 

Before and after sepia wash.

Getting started on the new buildings

 

So, with 13 new buildings, lots of scatter terrain and a bridge to paint I figure I better get started. I went for the low hanging fruit first, the mostly stone buildings and the all wood building. First up were the churches.

I used an assortment of craft paints, mostly shades of grey, but some taupe, tan and other muted colours added in.

The stone work was primed rattle can black with a spray dusting of grey. Then some/all of the following paints were over brushed/dry brushed and/or dabbed on to the stone work.

Some AQMF painting projects that I am working on

 

Originals on the far left

So, I have been playing a few games of All quiet on the Martian Front lately and, as a result, I have pulled out my collection of AQMF unpainted stuff. I have far more unpainted than painted American tanks and given the escalating engagements it was high time that I started to finish off my collection. 

The first challenge was how to replicate how I had painted the original tanks. Thankfully I had a vague idea of what I had done, so some quick testing of some old craft paints and the addition of a new highlight colour and I was on my way! 

A great matt green paint as the primer

The selected craft paints, new addition on the end

With the green sorted out, I then decided look for a new colour for the other half of my unpainted American tanks. For these I went with Vallejo British Uniform. Thanks to a fellow gamer, John, I have an idea of what to do next. Thy will basically look like some of the WWI British tank paint schemes.

Trenches still in the WIP column

The other big thing for AQMF is a trench system. This one is from Ironclad miniatures. It is a 15mm system, I really should have gone with the 20mm system as the AQMF figures are 18mm. So I have been bulking up the various pieces with clay, bass & balsa wood and lots of glue. 

A while back I finished off the two flattened ruined buildings but never got around to posting an pics.

New project, Fantasy Naval

 

Pirate & Dwarf submersibles

So, I started work on these, inspired by a game of Galleys & Galleons that I recently watched. Most of the ships are from the old GW dame Man O War, with a few ships from the GW game Mighty Empires. Based on a cursory scan of the rules I figure I have more than enough ships for 3 fleets, Dwarf, Empire & Pirates. I also have a reasonable amount of sailing ships that can be used as merchants or even as a fourth fleet. 

The assembled armada

Priming day today, 22 items primed!

 

Okay, for those of you in warmer climes this may not seem all that exciting, but those of us in snow bound Canada where the temperatures have been sub zero for many months now, a chance to go out into the garage and get some stuff primed in above zero temperatures is just too great an event.

WIP courtesy of a recent Hobby Day

 

Some ghostly hounds

So, we had a Hobby Day this past weekend. Six of us got together in my basement to work on various projects, with very little overlap. I was not very focused but I feel I was fairly successful. I managed to make some progress on some barrow downs, some Dwarf leader figures for Fantastic Battles and even started painting some new Ninja warriors.

3D printed barrows

New year new project(s)

Currently working on refining my Fantastic Battles Dwarf army. Last year(?) I finally got around to painting some very old RAFM Roman Dwarves. These fellows really did not fit with my existing Dwarves for Warhammer so they were a perfect choice to be dedicated figures for Fantastic Battles. So I had painted them in three easy to identify colours and based them on 60mm x 60mm bases.

Well I knew then that I was not done with that army, but it has taken me a while to get back to it. As it stood there were only a bunch of foot troops and some heavy weapons stolen from the Warhammer army. It was time to correct this. This past Saturday some friends and I had a hobby day, a chance to get together to chit chat and work on stuff. So while I did spend some time building some Halfling forces for a future project I did trot out some Dwarf light archer fast infantry. This will be a better representation of a light troop for my Roman Dwarves, they will be auxiliary troops.

So I plan to have only 4 stands of these that can be field as 4 individual company/units or more likely as 2 units of 2 companies. The figures are Oathmark from Northstar. They are really nice simple figures, not too much extraneous details and so far have painted  nicely.

These have mostly been painted with contrast paints. I kind of like the bright colours but I will no doubt do a light wash on them at the end. Again the figures are quite nice and really convey the idea of light fast infantry with quite a few running poses.

 The box also has other weapons so I will be making more stands of light infantry, nut not fast light infantry.

Fantastic Battles inspired work on my old Undead stuff

Time to resurrect my old Undead army in time for this weekends game. It was supposed to be last weekend but illness interfered with those plans. Most of this stuff was painted decades ago back when I sort of knew, or started to learn how to paint better. They certainly are not as bad as some of my dwarfs were but they do need some help. 

Dystopian Wars WIP

 

 For no good reason, I have returned to Dystopian Wars!

 

FSA

Generic landing forces

 

 

 

Stripping!

 

I picked up a third Shado two vehicle, this is not it. It was supposed to be because it looked even worse than this one does what with the shot out window and all, but somehow I grabbed this other one instead, oh well. I have never stripped, miniatures, before but felt like giving it a go this time around. So I disassembled the vehicle (2 Flathead screws was it) and dunked it in a plastic back of Simply Green.

Spray varnish issue!

So, after finally picking up a paint brush again, I decided to work on these fine VSF naval troops. Once finished with the painting it was on to the Army Painter anti shine spray varnish, just as I do with everything that I paint. This is the result of my matt varnish spraying! I have never had this problem before, sure sometimes it does not seem to get as dull as I would like, but never has it amped up the shine like this. Now the usual issues that are talked about on the net do not seem to apply. I sprayed indoors, in low humidity, and did not overdo how much I sprayed. The can was well shaken, and relatively new and yet this was the result. I waited a while and tried some more even lighter passes with the anti shine thinking perhaps I had lingered too long the first time. No joy!

Something to go on my hill/island

 

First of the Lurkers of the Deep buildings to be built and painted! So far just the base coat courtesy of some rattle cans, but all things considered a good start. So far I have built 3 of the kits, and almost finished two others.

 

So some detail work is required, but not too much I think. Soon maybe, some brave adventurers will be exploring this mysterious, possibly abandoned lighthouse.

Work starts on Infamy Infamy

 

First Roman troops start to roll off the assembly line. The first 16 troops are more or less done, just need bases finished and shields attached (maybe the odd extra detail) These are the first mass historical troops that I have done in ages, and the first ancients ever. I happily found a very short YouTube vid demonstrating a quick way to paint Romans, and well, it works. 

Basic idea starts with a spray of metal paint, then black wash over all the figure. Then 'detailed' work of the red, flesh, wood, leather and bronze followed up with flesh wash and GW earth wash. I changed the colours that were recommended in the video, but otherwise followed the style and attitude which resulted, to my eyes, with a decent figure that was done quickly, by a system that allows one to paint a lot of figures fairly quickly.

Cue montage:

 

 

All Quiet on the Martian Front Goliath; A cheap toy converted into a new heavy vehicle for the humans

 

Shot of the primed Goliath beside some AQMF infantry, and troop transport

On the painting table, many WIP's

WIP based plate metal over black primer, needs aluminum to be added

After a month of building kits (see main rants & ramblings site) it is time to get started on painting everything! 

WIP VSF armoured mechanical conveyances for the Imperial Japanese army on Mars

                    

    Time to finish off some old projects, mixed with a new one.

Some WIP shots, many almost done...

Round 100+(?) for me trying to tackle my pulp lead pile.

Far too many painting projects on the go, police, Japanese landing parties, zeppelin troops, and gangsters. The result is, not many finished in July, but hopefully 100+ done in August. Some figures are done, but for the basing. Some of the figures are touch ups, including a reporter from an old Grenadier set dating from the 80's!

Martian white apes kind of sorta done

For all the layers that are on these, there is still not enough contrast, but there will be soon...

That's better, I think.

Well, the Landship may have been first, but now I have started this...

Admittedly, a work in progress, but I feel I have made a good start of it!