First Brush - Relic Knights

I have just completed my first Relic Knights figure and I am really pleased with the result.

The game is rooted in anime, so it presented me with the chance to use some really bright colours, something I have not done for a while.  My plan was to paint them up quickly and play the game - they are not the best quality minis and this seemed like a chance to have just have some fun.

Well, I did the clean up faster than normal, meaning the mini was covered in mold lines, but I still really enjoyed the painting.  This an alternate version of Isabeau Durand, dressed as Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bepop.  I copied the colour scheme as closely as possible, using red gloves instead of the signature red jacket.  My Isabeau died her hair for this role but did not get her hair bobbed.

So this is my first big-eyed anime miniature, also my first go at stockings.  Generally, I'm pleased with the result but wish I spent more time on the cleanup.

There's a really nasty mark on the base that will need to be repainted.  I did not see it until I looked at the photo!  Funny how that always happens.

Thanks to Dais and EsperWatkins - I had a good look at their versions before I started work.

Hope you like her, any feedback appreciated.

Relic Knights Bases

We have just played our first game of Relic Knights and it was really good fun.  But like every other “first game”, the rules were a little tricky to follow.  One problem was that each unit has many unique skills and we are not totally familiar with each of the little guys yet.  I had an idea that means we might not have to remember so much stuff.

One of these skills tells you which colour cards generate the power for generic powers, and also how many of those powers can be used.  For example an Essence Master use yellow cards and a Creation Initiate uses green cards.  Masters have more abilities than Initiates. 

To help remember this, I thought of placing correctly coloured crystals on the bases, larger crystals for the Masters, smaller crystals for the Initiates.  I’m also planning to paint the edges of the bases in the faction colours.  Here are a few work in progress shots to show how it looks.

Here's a Creation Initiate - small green crystal.

And an Essence Initiate - small yellow crystal.

Suicide Queen gets two.  Her insert is on the base already and has the faction shading.  I'll find a better shade of green before I count this as finished.

There are skills that are more generic and don't apply to any particular colour - Esper Initiate and Master.  I was not sure which colour to use, perhaps grey/white but I went with two colours per crystal in the end.

I've made a start on some Corsair bases too, and actually finished one mini:

I have not seen this idea mentioned elsewhere, and I hope other people find it useful.

Back At It!

I have really let my blog get behind.  I have not been painting as much as I’d like, but at least I have a small backlog of minis to show.

Here are some Fortune Hunters from DeepWars, an underwater skirmish game from Antimatter Games.  I really like the copper helmet, deep sea diving gear and I could not resist getting some of these minis from their Kickstarter campaign. 

There is a lot metal on these guys and I did not feel up to NMMs.  However, all the metallic paints are shaded with 3-4 different shades and then washed.  It’s really hard to get good pictures; I’ve tried a few times and this is the best I can do.

Sea Dog:

Heavy Support Trooper:

Templar Shadow Slayer:

Big Game Hunter:

Warband:

I think the Sea Dog is my favorite, with the Big Game Hunter a close second.

All these minis can be seen on CMON, please vote!

Vanguard - Three Heroes

More Sedition Wars minis.  Back to the blue-grey Vanguard forces, this time with the heroes. These guys are not quite so uniform in their colour scheme, but there is plenty to tie them back to the force.

Here we have Kara Black, force commander, Akosha, sniper, and Morgan Vade, the medic.  I might come back and work on the OSL, but I wanted to get these ready for a game tonight.  I had some trouble cleaning the mold lines, but I think the overall result is pretty good.  A little more contrast here and there would be good, such as the skin, but I like them.

Akosha's cloak came out pretty well and I was pleased with Vade's latex gloves, snap!  Akosha's hair was fun and I am looking forwards to some colourful anime minis that are in the mail (Relic Knights).

In this final shot, you can see how the heroes fit in with the troops.

More to come soon, I have some Strain ready for photos.

The Strain: The Cthonian!

I'm getting near the end of new models for Sedition Wars.  This is the top of the food chain for the Strain, the Cthonian.  I think he's the only Strain unique character at the moment.  This was the first Sedition wars mini that I painted "out of order" - the only other Strain figure to come is the Phase 4 Grendlr which is a Phase 5 figure.  The Grendlr is in progress, but it's a complicated figure.

Many people have gone with a fairly monochrome colour scheme, because the mini looks pretty uniform; wires, cables and shielding all over.  Most monochrome colour schemes look great; some how mine looks plain and flat.  I'll have to come back and tart him up a bit.  I might shade the shielding on the top surface of the weapons (shoulder pads?) and ink the pine cone weapon.

I think this is the best OSL I've managed, but it is still a bit off.  I think the green need to be brighter, but whiter looks odd and it's already 90% yellow and 10% green.  I'll need to read a bit more.

I am a little disappointed with the figure.  There is a lot of shading in the metallics (4 shades, from a dark gun metal to bright silver) and 0-3 layers of smoke ink.  The blue is Tamiya weathering powder "Burnt Blue".  There's a "Burnt Red", I might try this on the shoulders.  To tie back to the other Strain, I have painted the weapon tentacle the zombie flesh colour.  Not bad, but overall not what I hoped.

The Strain: Phase 3

Progress continues to be a bit slow, but I cleaned up and primed the last of my Strain: the Brimstones from Phase 3, the Phase 4 Grendlr and the Phase 5 Cthonian.  While I painted the Brimstones, I started on the other models, so they are on their way, at least.

Like the Scythe Witch, the Brimstones have more armour than the smaller Strain.  I went with metallics on the armour and shaded some of it blue.  That make have been a little over done, but it's not too late to correct. I painted them  before assembly, and as a result, they do not sit flat on their base.  I'll need to work on that, maybe holding them flat on the base while gluing them up.

Here's the front view:

And back:

I used the hot water trick to change the pose a little.  One is raising his paw, the other is wagging, I mean, swishing his tail.  It's hard though, because the plastic is pretty chunky.

Say cheese:

The Strain: Phase Three

Here is the second Phase 2 model, the overly large Quasimodo and my first Phase 3 figure, the sleek Scythe-Witch.  I need to paint more often.  I think I am improving, but I if did a little more, I think I would improve faster.  I'm still not quite getting the results I want, although these are plenty good enough for table top play.

The Quasimodos are huge.  I had to weight the base to stop them tipping over.  Steve McVey, the game's creator, says there was a scale miss-communication between him and the sculptor.  I like the size, but a 35mm base would help.

I hoped they would be a little more green - the inside joke with the purple pants would have been more obvious.  Not much I could do with the poses here, the minis are too solid to heat and bend.

The Scythe-Witches are quite the opposite.  The spur/whip thing is pretty sturdy really, but I still managed to break all three.  There is a lot of detail on the these minis and it was too much for my eyes.  I think I'll ink them after the undercoat, just to get the details to pop.  The metal on these guys is bit smoother and shinier and I've given it a bluish cast.  All will be revealed soon.

By heating them in boiling water, I manage to pose them a little.  Out of the box, they are all exactly the same.

I'm looking forward to the final model.  Almost done now.