Helldrake you say?

So the Helldrake is coming along quite nicely, now that the base is finally looking like I want it to. The first layers of weathering have been added and are drying. Soon it will be time to add a bit of pigments and call this one done.

I'm also really happy that I finally found a use for the monoliths I got from Secret Weapons Miniatures about 5 years ago......

So here are a bunch of pictures to make up for not posting about this model in a while.

Major Announcement Time!

As I promised at the begging of the year, I have been expanding the blog. So far I have worked on different models. I have started on the product reviews (stay tuned for more and better!), and now for the next. 

We are officially launching the store today!

The first product that we are offering are dice trays. Not just any dice trays but cognizable trays that don't cost a fortune! The trays are made from real wood, with the most durable felt we could find (and believe me we tested a lot of felt).  You will be able to add lettering to the sides and logo's or pictures to the bottoms, to truly make your dice tray unique! All this for the low price of $45. 

So what are your choices? 

You can choose felt in Red, Black, Blue or Green. We will have three differnt fonts avaiable for the lettering on the sides and logos on the bottom will be 6in by 6in. The Dice Trays themselves are 9in by 9in so they offer plenty of room to roll dice, carry models, cards, or anything else you can think of. 

So come over to the store and check it out! 

http://www.flightmedicgaming.com/

As a side note the blue tray is the only one showing right now (working on it!) You can still order any colors you would like. When checking out you will be asked what text you would like, Just let us know what color felt you want and we will make it happen!

Oh and I'd bet you'd like to see the trays. This is one of the trays we did for the one and only Menoth John.

And now for something completely different.

As much as I would like to have my Khador fully painted before Warmachine Weekend. I am kinda burnt out on painting that much red.

I've had the Retribution Battle Box sitting around for a while so I figured it's time to get this painted up and on its way. The tradition Retribution paint scheme is this strange white and blue that honestly looks horrible. I figure that they are really just a bunch of angry elves and elves are traditionally green and brown. So naturally I went with green.

I am using the same ink technique I have been showing on the Khador jacks, just this time with a green ink instead. I did find out that the green ink is a bit more opaque than the red, which is a bit strange as they are the same brand, but hey that's how life goes sometimes.

I was able to get to the second highlight followed by the send ink to smooth the blends and now the models are waiting for the first gloss coat to dry so I can keep on keeping on.

With out further ado...... Have some pictures.

Warmachine Weekend Prep.

Hey everyone. It's been a while since I posted last. School, work, and family have taken up my waking hours over the last few weeks, and let's be honest. While my hobby is wonderful and stress releasing it's still only a hobby and has to take a backseat to real life sometimes.

That being said I finally had so much "need to paint" backed up in me I went downstairs and got some stuff done. I put together eZerkova and her body guard, two units of Greylord Ternion (for her list) and The Butcher 3 unit. Now before you ask, yes that is quite a few pins and all of the pins in Butcher are large. Like 1.5mm thick brass rod large.

Then it was prime time, after a few hours of curing I was able to get the reds onto the Butcher and that is where I stand now.

With only 60 days to go before Warmachine Weekend it's time to put the peddle down and get to work Here is a list of what all I have to get done with before I leave for St Louise. 

Butcher 3 and his dogs

A full unit of Iron Fang Pikeman with Black Dragon UA

Tactical Arcanist Corp

The Full WGDS

2 units of GreyLords

Koldon Lord

Saxin Orik

The War Dog (just needs to be based). 

Full Unit of Greylord Outriders. 

Ayana and Holt

and anything else I am forgetting. 

It's gonna be busy so expect quite a few posts over the next two months!

Tournament Tray Reduex.....

In my ever widening approach to not getting my Iron Fang Pikeman finished, a friend had seen my tray and asked if I could make him one as well. Naturally I jumped on the chance to help a buddy out and to play in the wood shop. Let's be honest, how doesn't love to play with power tools?

I started by figuring out how many of what type of bases were needed, then headed to the local hardware store to pick up a piece of scrap wood (for free!). After that I asked my wife to do her amazing sign/graphics/vinyl cutting juju and she created a fantastic template that would work. We secured the template to the wood and basically drew quite a few circles. This gave me a guide on where to cut and most importantly where not to!

With the board in hand it was time to go to the drill press. I used Forschner bits and set the depth to about 5mm below the level of the board. This gave me a good cut and prevented me from drilling too deep. It took about 30 minuted to drill all the holes and we had this.

The next step was to sand the whole thing. The goal is to get it nice and smooth to both prevent splintering and to make it easy and smooth when I apply the paint.

After sanding I used a bit of Wood filler to cover up the drill holes in the middle of each cut out. I did not do this on my previous board and now I wish I had. The wood putty dried in about an hour and then it was time to sand that down to level.

Now for the fun part...... painting. I used an all purpose oil based enamel paint for this. I wanted something that would both seal and protect the wood from drops, scratches, getting tossed in the trunk etc.  A quick note about this paint, it's sticky and takes hours to dry between coats. So I recommend getting outside if the weather permits, grabbing something cold to drink and a good book or your fully charged electronic device of choice and go at it. Also wear gloves when working with this type of paint. It's a bear to get off your skin.

I started by painting the underside. It's quicker and a flat surface so its easier to put up on blocks for when its time to flip over the board.

After this dried for a few hours it was time to turn it over and do the front....

In this step you want to make sure to get paint into all the nooks and crannies. as any light color will show up starkly against the black. Additionally make sure as you go that extra paint is not pooling into your cuts. It would suck to get this done and then your bases don't fit because the paint made the holes a bit small.


Now its just a matter of waiting a few days for the paint to cure then I'll varnish it and add a few vinyl decals and blam another board is done, and the Iron Fang Pikeman will still be sitting on my desk.....

Ruin 3.0 - The inking continues....


Hey sports fans. This is just a quick update as I have not had much time to work on painting over the last few days (silly school, work, family getting in the way.....)

I was able to get the second layer of ink onto the model. Just to refresh your memory I used a P3 - Red Ink for this layer. It has a bit more of an Orange tinge to it which balances out the pinkish/purple of the FW - Red Ink of the first layer. I find that when using both it gives a very nice rich red color.

As you can see in the pictures below if we have done the job right using the inks and highlight colors underneath we have achieved a really nice contrast between dark and light. For these pictures there is no light directed at the model. You are seeing the highlights that simulate where the light would hit the model.

After the ink was fully dried I coated the model (where the inks were applied only) with a gloss varnish. This step is critical to seal in the freshness, well to keep the ink in place as it will rub off and interact with the paints that will be applied later if its not sealed properly.

Up next I am going to tape off around the buckler on the left hand, the club in the right, and the ruins around the head. I am basically going to repeat the process of what I did with the reds, but will use greens to give it a glowing look. Something like an OSL but without the light source shining onto the model itself. I hope to get an almost ethereal glow if I do it correctly.

Pinning. What is it and why you should do it.


Let's take a moment or three to talk about pinning. If you are putting together metal or resin models you should really be pinning. Here are a few reasons why it makes sense to do so.

1. It keeps that pesky hand/arm/head/backpack etc from falling off on the game table.
2. Number 1 is especially frustrating when it chips the paint.
3. Geez now that I have glued the arm back onto my already painted model I have glue everywhere ruining the paint job I just spent 10 hours on....
4. It's a great way to have something to hold onto if you are painting your models before assembly.

So how do you pin you ask? Pretty easily really. There are a few things you will need to get started.

A good jeweler's pin set. I personally use the P3 version as it's under $10 and the drill bits have been stayed the sharpest and broken the least of the ones I have used. GF9, Army Painter and GW all sell them as well. PRO TIP- STAY AWAY FROM THE GW BRANDED ONE. It cost 3 times as much for the same darn thing. Don't through your money away buy some shiny models with it.

Most of the pin vices come with a few different sized drill bits and a bit of brass rod. I find for most 28mm models that the 0.85mm drill and rods are the right size for the job. If you are going to pin something big and heavy, I use the 1.5mm stuff.

You will also need a good pair of snips. For the longest time I just used an old nail cutter and that worked well for 0.85mm and below. If you are going to pin with anything bigger I would recommend getting a good set of metal snips. Again you can buy these from all the miniature companies, but why pay $20 for something you can pick up at Home Depot, Lowes, Menard's ect for under $10?

I'd like to also talk about using pinning to your advantage during modeling/painting.

I am working an a PP model for a client called the Blighted Bather. This thing is tiny. The body is white metal and the cauldron is resin. I don't know about you but to me that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen if I had just glued it all together.

I started like every other model, cleaning off mold lines and snipping off the odd spru/extra bit of metal. Then it was time to figure out where and with what to pin.

If you look at the model you can see that the metal legs go into the resin and the torso of the model goes into it as well. The "rubber ducky" sits on the base. As I am using a scenic base the ducky will be put into one of the recesses and will have clear resin applied around it to simulate water keeping it secured. I pinned it anyway so that I have something to hold it onto the cork. I then figured out the angle to pin by placing the pieces together and using the drill as a guide. Then its just a matter of drilling into the different pieces. Once the legs and torso have their pins. I take a dab of bright paint and put it on the end of the brass rod, and use the pin as a guide placing it down on the bit that it will be pinned to. This gives me a target to drill into. Drilling then becomes easy. Just make sure to make your hole deep enough 1/8th" should do. For priming and painting I like to put filler rod into the drilled holes. This will keep them free of paint and let me find them easily. Pro Tip - don't glue in your filler rods, just place them in the holes as you will need to remove them later.

Ok here are some pics of what I am talking about.

Here is the pin vice and a leg that is about to be pinned. 

Here you can see the legs pinned and the place holder pins in the cauldron. 

This has the torso and the ducky on pins in the cork ready for priming and painting. 

Well there ya go, Pinning is not hard and it will save you so very much hassle down the road. Please add some comments and questions. 

GW Models for a change.

Well I finally got to working on some 40k models for a friend.

I had been putting these off for a while, but today inspiration struck. I wanted something flashy that will work well in contrast. These are undercoated in an almost neon green bordering on yellow. I am using a kinda modified hairspray technique to get a crackled paint look. I am really digging the purple and green together.

This one should get pretty interesting. I am thinking that any silvers will have to be very very dark, almost like the dark bluing you would see on real rifles. And for the golds I will be using Vallejo Red gold to give it a good dark look. Stay tuned this one is gonna be fun.

I found something....

I had found myself in a part of town that I normally don't go to and remembered that there is a small Game store off the main strip. I had a about an hour before my next class so I decided to stop in and see what they were all about. It was your typical Magic, GW, all the other games type store. A bit small but looked like it might be a good hang out. I was browsing the walls and happened upon an old (like more than 5 years) Metal PP Juggernaut. This is like the model that made Warmachine for me back in the day. It's a big hunk of white metal, it's solid and just downright cool. They offered me an amazing deal on it (thanks Patreons!) and I picked it up.

 Apparently my memory was a bit fuzzy cuz I forgot about the old "Khador Gap" the old metal models didn't quite fit together right. So as I assembled it I noticed a few spots that need to be filled and filed. I'm glad PP has come a long long way on these. But for nostalgia purposes this is gonna be fun.

So have some pics! Its assembled and I am letting the glue cure before a soapy water bath and then some priming.

So very many gaps to fill! How cool and towering is this model though?

Behemoth Finished!

I was finally able to sit down over the weekend and finish up this model. I really love how it came out. Using inks to create color is just an amazing technique that I plan to use a lot of in the future. The depth of color is just unreal, and it really knocks down the airbrushed look. I wish I were able to take a picture that truly captures just how rich and deep the color is.

The base is very basic and bland, and there is a reason for it. It is made to fit into the diorama that I am working on. So please judge the model without the base.

I cant wait to get another model and try to make it even better using inks.

Also I want to give a HUGE shout out to my Patreon donations Thank you for helping make this possible. I would ask if anyone else is willing to pitch in. I have ideas of bigger and better things but can only do it with your help. If you can spare a dime please do here My Patreon every dime of this goes to models, paints, brushes etc. Nothing in my pocket it all gets put back into the blog and eventually a YouTube channel when I can afford the equipment to do it.

So have some pictures and scroll all the way to the end for a spoiler of whats up next.

Here he is on the diorama base 

And the spoiler I promised.

Diorama 7.75

To answer your first question, Yes my numbering system is completely arbitrary.

OK, that out of the way. I was actually able to sit down for a few hours and paint! Behemoth's matte varnish had dried over night and so the hair brushing could now begin.

I used Vallejo Game Color - Black, and yes you are correct I have repeatedly said to not use strait black on your models. Always go a shade lighter. You are correct, however the black in this case is needed and will be highlighted up to the point of not really even noticing it was strait black to start with.

Then it was on to the metallic colors. The silver is Vallejo Model Air Chrome. I wanted the silver to be really bright and shiny so when it is knocked down with a wash or two it still has a bit of a gleam to it.

The brass..... Oh the brass. I started out with Vallejo Game Air Brassy Brass and I am honestly disappointed in it. The coverage is still fantastic but it is way to brown. I mixed it with about 2:1 Vallejo Model Color - Brass and it gave me a good mid-tone brass. Then it was time for a quick wash. I used Vallejo Game Color - Sepia Wash as a first wash to bring down the silver and brass.

Now to let it dry. and then it will be time to work on details like highlighting the black, adding battle damage and washing it again.

So here have some pictures.

Diorama - 7.5

We last left off at the over highlighting and it already was starting to look rich with a good depth of color.

I went to the Hobby Lobby yesterday and got some artists inks. I grabbed the FW stuff that is made for ink pens an airbrushing. It comes in a decent sized glass bottle with a glass dropper built into the cap. How cool and old timey is that?

When I pulled some out to put into the airbrush I noticed some stark differences right away to the P3 ink. This stuff is much thinner and more vibrant. I tested shooting it through the airbrush at 10psi and had to turn it down to about 5psi to get it to shoot without spidering.

I laid a very, very light coat down over the flesh tones and man it just looks amazing. The model is drying right now. I hope to get to at least varnish it again tonight so that I can finish this up on Friday and move on to the next model.

Take a look at how its turning out so far.