Survival of the oddest?

 Well another small update, just a few figures to show, but plenty more to take photos of. These are  two figures from Alliance's Survivors (Antizombies) and one from the Stalker (set 1). This figure is the same pose as the one from this post. As you will see I have made some "minor" changes. I hope that you enjoy these pictures I hope to bring you more soon.

Adventurers we need you! To dish up justice, to knock it out of the park, to, um, to put many holes in things?

Actually I think you other two can go home. I am sure the big guy has got this?

I must say that the fighting chef seems to be a favourite amongst my friends. When asked who would be their pick for a character he was a consistent first choice!

So let's take a look more closely at this conversion. A dark and sinister twin to the previous figure. While the other figure could have been a heroic saviour, or a pretty run of the mill action hero, this one is more likely to play the villain, the tooled up henchman or final boss.

Right off the back, my misgivings. The contrast on the camouflage did not show through well. While being dark, mysterious and threatening there's not enough contrast (mask aside) to really make the figure pop. Especially after the varnish (I am improving at varnishing figures to avoid this).

As for what I love, it all works together. The exoskeleton, made from bits of wire and greenstuff, looks like it is meant to be there, the helmet was a joy to sculpt and looks very good and the mask is correctly proportioned which is hard to get right I have found.

At the end of the day not my best work, not my worst. But certainly a good antagonist to role out against our heroes.

Speaking of heroes, I hope to bring you some very soon. I have been using the time gained by working from home to get more done. I now have quite the collection ready to share with you so watch this space.

In the meantime I wish you all a very good day/night. I look forward to hearing your comments and seeing what everyone else has been up to.

German UAV Operator in Multitarn

So this is something of a preview, something of a first look. I have a bunch of modern and cold war Germans that I will slowly get around to painting. Now for the modern Germans I wanted to go as modern as I could, but also as interesting as I could. As such I have decided to paint these miniatures using the Multitarn pattern of camouflage that has not (yet) been adopted as standard.

Given this is a sneaky look at something we'll encounter later what could be more appropriate than a UAV operator?

This pattern is basically the classic Flecktarn pattern but using the, very popular, Multi-Cam pattern colour scheme. I want to take this moment to say a big thank you to Youtuber SIC, whose Flecktarn pattern video tutorial was invaluable for me when painting this miniature. Now why use this specific pattern? Well the joy of these Multi-Cam inspired patterns is that they are supposedly usable in multiple terrains (hence the multi in the name). Which means that these figures can also be used in a variety of terrains. Now obviously there's a flaw in my thinking: If the Bundeswehr does not adopt this pattern these figures will not be usable at all! Not to worry, these figures will still be useful to represent Orotinia, the neighbour of Oronegro and the brainchild of Archduke Piccolo. I highly recommend his blog as well.

This photo was taken the same day as the previous zombies, expect more content soon from this photo shoot. ;-)

Now something I was not too happy with was the wash I used, I decided to add one, which I usually do not do for camouflage patterns, instead using painted shading in tight places. I think the wash reduces the contrast a little too much.

Another slightly different thing I did was add a painted camouflage pattern on the gun, again the wash has reduced the contrast of the pattern that I am not too happy with.

On the bright side I got to try out this Multi-Cam painting set from MIG. Have to say I am very happy with the paints.

This figure was quite the joy to paint and I look forward to painting more of these Caesar figures.

Well that's all for today. I hope that you like this miniature, if you have any tips please let me know as I can use those in the future miniatures. I do have quite a lot on the workbench and in the "production line" so there'll be some I need to clear off before I can get stuck into the rest of the Germans.

But until next time I hope that you all are safe and healthy. I wish you all a good day/night.

Back from the Undead

 Well between coming in and out of lockdown, illness, breaking my arm and the all consuming reality of full time work... it has been a long time since I could sit down and make a most, or at least felt up to it. So yes, here I am back WITH the undead (please do not shoot me for the puns, I know I deserve it but still). One of the things that I have been quite enjoying during these trying times is painting zombies, they are relatively quick, relatively easy, but oh so satisfying. So here's my little horde as it stands right now, as you can see I have been experimenting with photography. Not entirely satisfied, but they will do.

Got Braaiiiiinnnnssss????

These two have to be my favourite, I really like how they both turned out.

Fun fact the one on the right somewhat resembles a co-worker, which terrified me while I was painting and was actually unintentional.

One in the middle was very fun to paint, tried to make the skin as gross as possible. Something I mean to outdo with a later miniature.

Zombies are far less threatening from behind.

And here's the B team, not as happy with these guys, sorry.

Okay the crouching one is pretty cool, the others need to go back to zombie school.

The big zombie makes a comeback, here with his.... groupies? Do zombies have groupies?

And the bikini zombie was quite fun to paint, messing with skin tones is certainly advised.

Well that's all for today, more is on the way but it will take some time. Although there will be posts as I do have some completed stuff that is ready to show right now. But I will wait another day before posting those.

One thing you will notice is the gloss. I have varnished these figures. I used Humbrol Clear Satin Varnish, but when applied from the brush it seems far too glossy. I am not that happy with the look but I do value that protective cover for the paint. I used the Matt Varnish before, but that killed any shading the figures had and made them generally quite lifeless. Maybe I should apply it with an airbrish? If you have any tips (or should I say, if you could pick your braaaiinnnnssss?) I would love to hear them.

Anyway that's all for today. I wish you all a very good day/night, stay safe, stay healthy and I will catch you around.