Retribution of Scyrah Battle Box Part 2.

Check me out.... I actually got two nights of painting into the same week. Still avoiding my Khador Red so work continues on the angry elves.

I started by blocking in everything that is going to be silver (any shade of silver) with black. I used P3 Thamarite Black is its a fantastic matte black that goes on really smooth. Once that was good and dry it was time to add the silvers. for most everything from the smoke stacks to the weapons I used good old P3-Pig Iron. On the Arc-node I used Vallejo Model Air - Chrome to give it an super shine and to pick it out from the rest.  The silvers will be given a good slathering of P3 - Armour wash which is a very light blue wash that really gives a good hint of older iron.  After that it will be onto the golds and a surprise or two.

Anyway.... Have some pics.

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.

Kodiak Display getting ready for Warmachine Weekend.

Hey everybody. I finally had a bit more free time to work on the Kodiak. I really am digging how the display is coming along.

I started with the clay and the trees. Then moved onto getting a "rock" set in for the Kodiak to stand on. Followed by some happy moss and some little bushes to break up the color. I also have a rusted out Menoth Jack thing to give a good contrast to the greens.

Then it was onto the snow. I searched and read and spoke to a few fantastic people in the hobby and found that Secret Weapons Miniatures - Crushed Glass is the best snow effect around. A few words of caution when using this stuff. It is CRUSHED GLASS!!! Wear a friggen N95 mask. You do NOT want this stuff in your lungs (lungs + glass = no bueno). Also wear a pair of rubber gloves and use this stuff on a surface you can dump out. Be safe ok?

So yea basically you use a clear resin like Still Water then dump the glass onto it. It drys and BLAM snow....

Ok I'll stop yapping. Have some pics.

Time for a quick side track and talk a bit about inspiration and motivation (with a non-paid shameless plug thrown in).

What gets you going? Why do we sit there for hours and paint? Personally it's about stress relief and the feelings of accomplishment that I get when I finally finish a project. I love to take pictures of the models, to post them on the blog and wright about how I took a clump of white metal, resin, or plastic and turned it into something that might, in the loosest possible terms be deemed "art".

Now I don't know about you, but I can't sit in my painting room and work with nothing in the background. My mind wanders and get distracted. I have found that listening to podcasts or watching YouTube videos helps me tremendously. Listening helps me focus and turns what might have been a 30 minute painting session into something that can last hours, and generally has better results.

So what do I generally listen to?

My go to is Painting with Menoth John. John has a weekly show on twitch.tv that airs in the US at 8pm Eastern. He also makes the show available on his YouTube channel pretty much right after the live show airs.

What make's his show unique and inspiring to me is multi-fold:

1. He is a good painter and has enough skill to make it interesting to watch and learn a few things.

2. His co-host John (yea its not as confusing as you would think). Is a great Ed McMahon to his Johnny Carson. Co-host John does a fantastic job of keeping everyone on topic and has great insights on gaming as well as media.

3. Special guests! John reaches out to both the painting and playing communities and finds guest hosts that are extremely knowledgeable and entertaining. Some guest hosts have included fantastic painters such as Shoshie from Shosie's Magnificent Miniatures, Ashton Holbrook from Red Model Painting, and the list goes on.

4. Alcohol abounds. How can you go wrong with a few camera's a live show and shots?

5. These folks actually listen to the audience. One of the Johns is generally in the show chat and interacts with the audience.

So there ya go. If you are looking for something to paint to/along with. Give them a try. I think you will find them to be worthy of your time.

P.S. Again this was a non-paid shameless plug. I am not affiliated with the show, but did want to spend the time to give them a shout out and a thanks for making my hours of painting more enjoyable.

The Galleon had a run in with gravity. 

So my beautiful, wonderful, amazing, understanding (you get the picture) wife. Took the Galleon out of my display case to show it off to a friend. Sadly gravity ensued. I was able to get it back into one piece with minimal damage to the paint job. Pinning had really helped in this instance as the glue gave way at the pin points making it fairly easy to clear off the old glue and put it all back together. 

I figured while I had it out I might as well get some good pictures of the model as all I had before where pictures I had taken with my iPhone back in the day. 

So here are the old pics followed by the new. 

Butcher and his little Kodiak friend.

Not a big post but lot's of pictures.

I finished up the Butcher tonight and got the Kodiak done as well. So now its time for a beer and some rest.

Butcher 3.

I love a lazy Saturday. I was able to put about 4 hours into this guy today so far and now I'm just waiting for the Gloss varnish to dry so I can start in on the Oil Washes.

I started with getting all the Grey/Black onto the fur lining of the cape then adding all the different browns to the model. I used three main browns (well 4 if you count the undercoat for the golds). The outside cape thing is P3 Beast Hide. I've not used this brown before but its got a really nice almost cream look to it and goes on really smooth. I used P3 Blood Tracker Brown for the things hanging from the shoulder armor, and am I am totally blanking on what I used for the under-vest (that professional blogging right there folks.....).

You might notice in the picture above that the face is Green. I have seen this technique before but hadn't tried it yet so I figured, hey why not. I am impressed at how it really brings out the flesh tones and leaves decent shadows underneath. 

Silvers were added and as I still have a bit of the old GW Bleach Bone around I used that on the skulls. (seems appropriate given how much GW loves skulls).

Here is the model after the first Gloss Coat. It needs to cure for a few hours and then I'll start applying the washes. 

More pictures to come soon.