WIP: Fianna Kelt

Alright! With the base work completed it was time to start working on the lady who would be perched on the base. Above you can see the palette I used for her skin hair and eyes. I also used a very good skin tutorial by another member of C'MON to find my colors and use for reference pics. Let's see how things went...

WIP: Skull Final Touches

Let's finish this base up shall we? Above are a few shots of what the skull looks like with the various moss and lichen and washes. Of course there is more to do, so much more...

WIP & On Display: Canadian Gobo (RT Era Space Crusade Gretchin)

Back to 40K for this post! Well, retro 40K really.  As I mentioned, while I worked on the Fianna I needed a fun project to keep me painting but take some of the stress away from the home stretch. You know that point where the project is almost done and you just want to finish it, but you kind of start to rush and risk screwing the whole thing up? Yeah, we've all been there. So to distract me a bit I decided to paint up the mini above which I got in ME 32 over at C'MON...

WIP: Testing Moss And Lichen What I See - Plus 2 winners!

Congrats to Mike Madani of Australia who won this mini on Ebay for $41 AUD. Mike requested that the charity for the matching donation be made Unicef and their current efforts in the Philippines. A good call since every Canadian donation to that cause is being matched by the Government of Canada! The other winner after the jump....

Auction, Giveaway & Skull WIP

You still have until Monday to win this beautifully painted mini.  Details after the jump...

WIP: Ivy, The Sword Maiden - Prep & Charity Auction NOW LIVE!

Hey! Welcome back. Over the next few weeks I'd like to share a few projects I completed while chipping away on Sleeping Chibi. The first is a vignette of a Kelt Fianna from Rackham and a Celtic patterned skull from MDC. This one is for an eBay auction that will go live Monday and all proceeds will go to support disaster relief related to the recent brush fires in Australia. It was a really fun project on a tight time line. It elevated my painting to a new level and helped me really feel as though I am have some success on my quest to becoming a cabinet/display level painter.

WIP: Sleeping Chibi Base & Farewell Finecast

Didn't have a lot of time this week, so this'll be a short one ;)  I did the preliminary wash above with the colors you'll see after the jump...

WIP: Sleeping Chibi Dragon Details & Fire, Plus A Movemeber Giveaway!

I am in the home stretch with this one! Let's see how far I got...

WIP: Sleeping Chibi Base

We've got 2 parts to the base on this diorama and they need to match so this should be fun. Another little walk through. If you'd step this way...

Side Project: Sheldon on Display.

Here's that side project I was talking about. I scored this fine figure in a eBay auction held by some guy named James that no one has every heard of...o_O  Okay, no more lies (that may also be a lie). Let's get into why I got him and what I did...

A Call For Aid & A New Project

Sleeping Chibi is on hold for a few weeks. As you can see there is a new project on the desk. Let's find out why...

WIP: Sleeping Chibi Dragon

So we left off finishing up the knight. Well, now it's time to break down how I did the dragon (his main areas at least).  I started by pushing the mid tones that were started in the airbrushing phase with the colors above. Very watered down. Let's see how that looks...

WIP: Sleeping Chibi Knight and Goodies I Got

Where did I leave off? Oh yes, blinding rage over the Gold NMM. Well, as you can see from the picture above I was able to fix it up and barring a few more tweaks I am now happy with it. Let's take a look at what else I did with the knight...

WIP: Sleeping Chibi Skulls & Knight

Well, that pink foam sure doesn't help showcase paint jobs now does it? I'll have to remember to avoid that in the future ;)  As you can see, the skulls are done. Let's see how the rest turned out and what the Knight is shaping up like...

WIP: Sleeping Chibi Base Coats, Pre-shading & Skulls

Now the painting begins in earnest. Pre-shading & base coats were first!

WIP: Sleeping Chibi - More Fire, Tools of The Trade & Preshading Minis + Basement Complete

Frankenstein was a wuss. "Fire bad."  Pfffffft! Fire good. Look how nice that base is. Let's take a closer look...

WIP: Sleeping Chibi Base Detailing.

So I finished texturing with Apoxie sculpt and rocks. Then, as you can see above I added some textured paint and carved out some flag stones. Let's see what else i did to make this base interesting...

Playing With Fire

This one will be a quick one. The basement demands more paint and the new miter saw calls to me! The flames above were sculpted from green stuff with the pinch, pull and twist method.

On Display: Dark Vengeance Night Lords Chosen & Helbrute

 A group shot above. More pics below. Not great, but my usual photo area is still messed up while the basement is being restored. Enough babbling! More pictures...

WIP: Assemble The Troops!

FINALLY! The DV Chosen and Helbrute are done :) Just a little work on the bases and then it's all Sleeping Chibi. Let's have a look at these guys now that they're assembled...

WIP: DV Chosen Details & Making Waves, Plus An eBay Purcahse

That is a terrifying visage.  You know what it means if you are seeing that? No, you aren't about to die. It means I'm almost done with the DV Chosen and Helbrute! Let's see what other terrifying things I've completed on them, shall we...

WIP: DV Chosen Shading & Sleeping Chibi Base

 I'm going to have these done right around the time 10th edition comes out at this rate. ~sigh~ Let's see how things are looking with the shading stage...

One Final Yar!

Yar. I be so tired and sore - from the drywall repairs, to The Agent of Chaos's birthday festivities, and tons more. Let's meet the last of these salty dogs and be done with them fer good...

A Big Bust & M'arrrrr Pirates!

In celebration of my 50th post; I bring you my pirate avatar for the office! Let's see who else I've finished and then I'll show you the best damn 40K bust you've ever seen. It's so good I'm scared to put paint on it!

WIP: DV Chosen Flesh & Metal, Sleeping Chibi and Temporary Work Area

More work on the DV set!  I have roughed in the lighter flesh tones and started in on the metal areas too. They are getting so close to being ready final washes and glazes...

On Display: Vandella SDE Succubbus

Just a quick one this week. Had some minor flooding this Monday thanks to a powerful storm. 5 inches in just 30 minutes!!! The hobby room and other parts of the basement had to have carpet removed and the de-humidifier has been going for a few days.  I can't prove it, but I swear The Lady Inquisitor is responsible somehow - she always wanted tile down there... Anyway, lets have a look at this cute mini!

WIP: Vandella SDE Succubus

Has it been a week already?! Okay. I really liked working on this mini as a test for my Sleeping Chibi project. Above you can see how the NMM Gold turned out. Decent, and where the blends could be smoother we'll call it "stylized cell shading" ;)  I blazed through her so let's see how the fun all breaks down...

WIP: DV Chosen & Vandella Display Base

Sweet mother of God! The chosen are starting to look like something! It's getting very exciting. I finished off the bone sections. Just a few more details and it will be on to washes and glazes...

WIPs! WIPs Everywhere!

First order of business: Completed work. This is The Agent Of Chaos' first miniature. It was a gift for father's day. The very brief evolutionary branch of mammal; The Fire Dolphin. Fire plus water equals extinction.

Sure a 4 year old can finish a project, but where am I? Three damn WIPs deep with almost no end in sight! ~sigh~ I'm not bitter though. Let's see how deep a hole I've dug for myself shall we?

RIP: Milo

Today, after 13 great years, The Agent Of Chaos' trusted minion, The Lady Inquisitor's favored Lieutenant and my loyal friend, passed away.  He was with those who loved him and we will miss him with all our hearts. A more gentle and "best buddy", there never was.

R.I.P. Milo.

And God asked the feline spirit

Are you ready to come home?

Oh, yes, quite so, replied the precious soul

And, as a cat, you know I am most able

To decide anything for myself.

Are you coming then? asked God.

Soon, replied the whiskered angel

But I must come slowly

For my human friends are troubled

For you see, they need me, quite certainly.

But don't they understand? Asked God

That you'll never leave them?

That your souls are intertwined. For all eternity?

That nothing is created or destroyed?

It just is....forever and ever and ever.

Eventually they will understand,

Replied the glorious cat

For I will whisper into their hearts

That I am always with them

I just am....forever and ever and ever.

*Author Unknown*

WIP: DV Chosen #5, Vandella & Meet Mr. Masson

Finally! The tipping point were these guys start to look like something. Amazing what one spot color can do...

WIP: Dark Vengeance Chosen, Helbrute #4 & Good Golly Ms. Maul -ee

Almost done the gold on these Chosen! They are starting to look pretty good. Too bright, but that will change with the washes and glazes later...

WIP: Dark Vengeance Chosen #3 & Meet Mr. D - Plus, My Hobby ADHD

 Oh my God! Progress is SLLLOOOOWWWW with all these details -_- Let's see how slow...

WIP: Dark Vengeance Chosen #2 Plus Meet Ms. K & Sar Zitani

Progress has been slow since laying down the colors with the air brush. Let's see where I'm at and why...

Giveaway winners!!!

So three people entered the giveaway  -_-   ~sigh~ A big "bust" for me  :(   Three little busts for them  :D
On with the "awards"...

WIP: Dark Vengeance Chosen, Hellbrute & Meet Mr. Paul

Back to 40K content! It's time to get to air brushing the DV Chosen and Hellbrute.  Above you can see my air brushing arsenal, courtesy of my father who has been building model air planes for decades longer than I have been painting minis. Fringe benefit: access to a mind boggling array of air brushes. Let's get to some minis shall we?

Ye'aaaARRRR! 'ere Be Pirates #1 & A Giveaway Reminder!

Welcome to the first installment of: 'ere Be Pirates!  A while ago I mentioned that I would be working on a few side projects in addition to my 40K addiction. It helps to push my painting style and can be quite fun...

Thumbs Up Or Bust Giveaway! Celebrating 15, 000 Pageviews!

First and foremost: Thank you for all the pageviews and comments! Second: It's time to show my thanks and have a little fun with a giveaway...

On Display: Dark Vengeance Chaos Lord

Finally! Added some Tamyia Clear Red to the orbs on the sword hilt and the gaping mouths, some static grass to the base and painted the trim. Let's enjoy the pretty pictures shall we?

WIP: Dark Vengeance Chaos Lord - Armour & Final Details

 Last WIP for this mini! At this point I filled in the armour, highlighted and shaded it. It was kept very dark to contrast all that bone and bronze. It would also help the lightening forks show up in later stages...

WIP: Dark Vengeance Chaos Lord - The Details

Back to 40k content! After the gold trim was finished on the Chaos Lord it was time for the details (because that is where the Devil is and this is a Chaos Lord after all). I started with the skin on his pelt. The effect was achieved with a sponge technique similar to that used to weather armour to give it a more organic worn look. A base coat of a whatever skin tone you like followed by several layers of sponged on grays, browns and flesh tones and finally a wash of whatever brown you like to tie it all in.  *Credit where credit is due: Brandon Griffith at Drowned in Plastic did it with great effect on a Space Wolf banner several months ago and I have been dying to find a place to use it!*  Next up was the fur...

On Display: The Blood Gift

Here are the display pics of my first attempt at a non 40K mini. It turned out really well and was a great way to  stretch my skills and learn new things that I can apply to my 40k subject matter in the future. In fact, I already applied the gold shading techniques I learned to the Choas Lord I am working on and few others to the pirates I am painting for the folks at the creativity factory. Enough talk - more pics...

WIP: Dark Vengeance Chaos Lord - Trim & Metal (and pirates too)

Back to 40K!  It's time for the final HQ mini from the Dark Vengeance Box - the Chaos Lord.  What I love about this mini: the details! What I hate about this mini: the details -_-  Let's get to the pics...

WIP: Freebooter LE Xmas 2006 mini - The Finishing Touches

We have come to the final WIP of this mini! First up her eyes. I painted them black. It gives her a slightly disturbing appearance with her skin tone being a little bit off, but everything else looking so normal. After the jump: some make up tips courtesy of The Lady Inquisitor...

WIP: Freebooter LE Xmas 2006 Mini - Details, details.

This will be a lengthy one so grab a snack or call for help if you feel like you are getting weak ;) I used the colors above to base coat the leather (shoes and belt), gold and hair on her respectively...

WIP: Freebooter LE Xmas 2006 mini - Dress

With the skin tones finished and looking a bit pallid, I moved onto the dress. Another scary area with lots of smooth lines...

WIP: Freebooter LE Xmas 2006 Mini - Skin Tones

Here we go with my first "stretch my skills with something different" mini. I had the same question as you when I first got her: WTF? Where's her power armour?! I'll be doing the run down on this lady as I go so you can get a sense of my process...

On Display: Dark Vengeance Company Master & Cubes

A picture is worth a thousand words right?

WIP: DV Company Master #2 & Stuff I Got

Picking up where we left off, I completed the sword part of the Company Master. I was particularly pleased with how the blade turned out. It's a dirt simple NNM style effect done in true metal. Weird I know, but entirely effective too. I didn't add any OSL as I'm bit tired of seeing it on every single power weapon out there. Let's just assume he hasn't hit the "on" switch yet ;)