Slow and steady wins the race!

With nursing school, my kids all in school, and my wife in school as well (let's not forget about working while we are at it!). It's been a rare gem to find time to paint.

That being said, clients must be a priority as well. I started working on a clients Privateer Press, Legion model called the Strider Death Stalker. First thing to know that this model is really cool. It has just enough detail to make it interesting, without going overboard and making it a burden to paint and look at. The simplicity of the model also means that doing it right comes down to highlights shading and color choices (but don't they all really?).

To start the models were cleaned and pins were set into place. The nice thing about these little gems of white metal is the fact that it's only two pieces. So the whole body and the bow arm. I decided to paint them separately, as the bow would get in the way of about 1/3 of the body for painting (and of course it's the detail part!). Pins also were put into the feet to attach to the base later.

Ah yes the bases..... I wanted to create something special for these. As they are on 30mm bases there isn't all that much room to tell a story. The client asked for ice theme and I love me some crushed glass. I started out with Secret Weapons Miniature - Swamp bases as they suit my purpose fantastically. They have tree stumps and most importantly a deep lip which makes poring resin a non-messy breeze.

So here are some WIP shots. Stay tuned for more next week.

Please note the resin is still drying on the base so it looks like white soup at this point. 

Moar Conquest WIP.

Well I was a good boy and got a bunch of my reading done for class, so I decided to treat myself with a few hours of painting. As I am still waiting on my next commission project to get here I chose to keep working on the Conquest.

I started by working on the fire in the boilers. Of course this thing is so big that it has three! Then it was on to working on the blacks, and let me tell you...... there is a lot of black on this guy, not to mention the black needed for undercoating the metalics that are yet to come.

So have some WIP shots and keep painting!

The nursing school life.

Well after a 60+ hour week of studying and classes plus a shift on the ambulance at work. I finally had an hour of free time to actually paint!

I wanted to work on a project I haven't had much time for over the last month due to commissions and other life stuff. So I grabbed my Conquest and got to work.

I was able to lay down the under-highlights and the coats of red ink. I got the gloss coat on and had enough time left over to clean out my airbrushes.

Hopefully more to come this weekend.

The Blind Walker.

This was an interesting model. The studio paint scheme is very dark with greens and browns, which lets the candle light really shine through (sorry the puns write themselves!). How ever the client requested a version of the model where the gator was albino. This led to a few challenges the biggest of which was how to create a color scheme that did not all just blend together or be super contrasting. I think I found a good balance with a bit of bright color mixed in.

Also when taking on this model I knew there was a good deal of detail. I really had no clue how many bones, skulls, and candles there where. It's like if GW decided to put all the skulls in one place.

Anyway. I think it came out really well. I also went a bit beyond for the customer and created a custom swamp base.

Let me know what you think.

Review of the Badger Patriot 105 Xtreme.

It is with a heavy heart that I write this review. Please understand that I am a Badger fanboy. I use a Badger Patriot 105 (regular) and a Badger Renegade Khrome. These are my favorite airbrushes. So much so that when given the opportunity to use the Harder and Steinbeck Evolution and Infinity CR+ (see my review here Harder and Steinbeck Review) I went right back to my trusty old Badger Airbrushes.

With that let's take a good in-depth look at the Xtreme.

Here is the word from Badgers website

http://www.badgerairbrush.com/Patriot_105.asp

The Patriot, Model 105, is a comfortable, reliable, cost-effective, user-friendly gravity feed airbrush, designed for use by experienced, as well as novice airbrush enthusiasts.  Its two angle needle tip precisely mates with the Patriot’s cone shaped nozzle, enabling a single needle/nozzle configuration to spray a variety of materials, while eliminating the need for multiple needle/nozzle variations.  It has a 1/3 ounce permanently mounted color cup with a convenient spill-proof cap.

The Patriot’s body design provides exacting balance and long-term user comfort. 
The Patriot is a low maintenance airbrush, easy to clean and simple to operate; it will spray any properly reduced paint or airbrush-ready media.

Developed to deliver precise performance and fine line detail, the Patriot is an ideal airbrush for custom art, graphic arts and illustrative work. The Patriot airbrush will operate at 30 PSI, as well as lower pressure settings (10-15 PSI) and is ergonomically balanced for hours of comfortable airbrushing.

FEATURES
• Single needle/nozzle for spraying all mediums including inks, dyes, watercolors, properly reduced acrylics, enamels, lacquers, and airbrush-ready colors including SpectraTex, Air-Opaque, Air-Tex, Modelflex, and Totally Tattoo.
• Single needle/nozzle sprays pencil thin lines to 3” (76mm) spray pattern

• Minimal spare parts

• Easy cleaning and maintenance
• Patented handle design produces the fastest needle release on the market

• Finger tight assembly tolerances

• Excellent for multiple applications, for novice to advanced airbrush users

• Lifetime warranty on labor and PTFE seals

First for the good:

The coating that is used on the Xtreme is seriously easy to clean. Wiping with a paper towel will remove the vast majority of any paint residue. It reminds me of a non stick pan. Color changes during a session take about half the time. 

The finger guide (for lack of a better term) is the same one that is found on the Khrome. I really like it as it reduces hand fatigue. 

I really like the balance, which is almost identical (to my hand) as the regular 105.  

Tight lines - I was able to shoot pencil sharp lines with both inks and thinned paints without issue (shooting at 20psi) 

Now for the bad:

PAC Dial . While I like the concept of this feature. I find that it doesn't really belong on this airbrush. As I experimented with it, the spray pattern did change but not to any real significant degree. More importantly when the valve was anything but screwed tight, paint would leak out of the valve, and not just in small amounts.  

Tip dry. I rarely have tip dry issues with my Khrome and regular 105. I generally have an issue with it after prolonged use (over 30 minutes or more of spraying the same color). With the Xtreme it was a constant problem, which is strange as the advertising claims that this brush reduces tip dry. (on the bright side the needle sticks out enough that you can easily use your fingers to remove the dried paint. 

Longer Trigger - The trigger on this airbrush is quite long. It is touted as giving the user more control of the paint flow. While the theory is sound I found that it just added to my hand fatigue without giving me all that much more control (your experience with this may vary, and some reviews and users swear that this is the next best thing in airbrushing). 

Pricing - The MSRP on this airbrush is $165. Most webstores have it for about $100. This is in the same range as the regular 105. 

Overall - I find that I am disappointed in this airbrush. Maybe I was expecting something that totally shifted the way I use an airbrush. Maybe I thought that this would replace my old 105. Sadly I can't say that it has done either. I tried to like this brush, I tried really hard. Sadly at the end of the day it's now back in the box sitting on the shelf. 

Lady Aiyana from Privateer Press.

I had some time while waiting on the oil washes for the Blind Walker I am currently doing for a commission. I decided to be productive. In keeping with my "under three hour per model rule (for my own mini's at least)". I wanted to work on something I had set aside and had not really wanted to paint. This young lady stood on the shelf  mocking me in silence. As that would just not do, she was plucked down and the painting began. I have seen some super detailed amazing work on this model in the past, and she is truly deserving of the time and attention that it takes if she is going to be used as a competition piece. She has all the elements that go into producing something quite amazing. I however will be using her in table top army, and she will be seeing a lot of time in battle foam. With that in mind I set out do make something.....nice.

I decided on a very non-traditional paint scheme. I went with Vallejo Game Color - Gory Red for the cape to tie in with the red of my Khador army. The complementary color for red is of course green but I did not want to go all "Christmas" on it. I used a Reaper master series green (which name escapes me right now). And the rest just fell into place. As you can see from the pictures I over exaggerated the highlights a bit. This is to make her stand out on the table top (think three foot rule). Which looks fantastic on the table but not so much in close up pictures.

So here ya go. I nice clean table top quality model that would up taking about two hours in total. Sadly the oil wash was still drying by the time this was done.

Odds and Ends.

I just noticed that it had been a over a week since my last blog post. As many of you know it's the time of year that those of us with kids love so much. It's been two weeks of getting children ready for the school year, getting my wife ready to go back to school to change careers and as many of you know I'm starting my Junior year of Nursing School (cuz you know life isn't hectic enough).

I guess what I am saying is that my posting schedule will be slowing down over the next few months. That's not to say that I am going away as I am not. I just wont be producing as much content as I have been. Basically I still love you and need you, I sadly don't have as much time to dedicate to you. So I figure when I am able to post I will really want to make it count......

Ok enough of that noise. So this week I am working on several things at once. I have a commission that is in progress on the Minions Blind Walker from Privateer Press. This thing is a huge gator with a crap-ton of bones and candles on it, and for fun they threw on what looks like the Olympic torch. I mean really how can you say no to painting something like that? I am also working on a throw back project of an old metal Khador Destroyer. This is just a nostalgia piece for me, and it will even be based like we did back in the early 2000's (no I'm not going back to the 90s with the horrible green bases!).

So here are some WIP pics. more to follow.

First some very early WIP of the Blind Walker

And here is some later stage WIP on the Destroyer.