The Golden Boy

I'm starting to reach the end of my backlog for 28mm, a recent bout of illness, the ongoing plague, and the usual enforced isolation of rolling lock downs has given me ample time to make solid progress on my pile of shame. In my case so much so, that I only have a handful of projects left. At the time of writing all I have is a Blood Bowl team and a bunch of scale model kits.

The nature of scale modelling requires the use of airbrush work and highly organised staging of the project, especially in the painting stage. Which often means waiting for a free weekend for some airbrush time, or just weather that is generally amenable to the usage of rattle cans outdoors. This has often left me without something on my hobby desk that I can do in bits and pieces, which is what minis are great for. So to ensure that I have something on hand to paint I've gone through a lot of my old minis and stripped some of the older character sculpts to be painting fodder for these situations.

The subject in this case is Captain Tycho. Like every kid that got into Warhammer 40k at the second edition boxed set I had a Blood Angels army, and I was up sold this particular model one night at a games night. Say what you will about GWs predatory sales practices, at least the mini they sold me has a nice, iconic look.

Another reason for this project is my contentious relationship with true metallics. They've never worked quite right for me and I've never enjoyed doing them. This goes double for gold and since most high ranking Blood Angels officers have gold armour, like the primarch, I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a solid shot at doing an all gold power armour paint job. Since Tycho was already in the pile he seemed like a decent distraction to pass the time. A bunch of my other projects were on hold, either waiting for the weekend or on materials to complete.

Throughout this article I will refer to a lot of paints with a shorthand to describe which range of paint they are part of. 

VMC - Vallejo Model Colour

This range is designed for scale modelers and tends to provide more natural and earthy colours. All of the technical paints that I use for this project are part of this range.

VGC - Vallejo Game Colour

This range is designed to compete with Games Workshop for the fantasy and sci-fi market. It has more vibrant colours than the model colour range. This tends to be my range of choice for middle of the road paint jobs as they work well with many of the technical paints from the model colour range

GW - Games Workshop

You all know who these guys are, they aren't quite the hegemony they used to be, but many of their products are still quite useful for getting a good paint job, especially for reduced effort.

Stage 0 - Preparation

This is the universal stage for almost all my minis without exception. The one break from the image posted above is my newly adopted habit of fully painting the base prior to the miniature. I do this so I can do dry brushing without having to work carefully around the feet of a painted mini. Of course prior to this step I prime my model along with the base work already glued down. My primer is an all over coat of Corax white, as I am a firm believer that white is the superior primer for achieving a good result, but it does mean you have to work a little harder to get coverage. My usual method for painting the base is very much like 2000s GW house style. A Black rim, brown base with static grass. My method for achieving this is as follows.

1. Paint gravel on the base all over with VMC German Camo Black Brown. This will require at least two coats, as it will need to first soak into the sand or gravel on the base before you get good coverage with the second coat.
2. Over brush with VMC Flat Earth. This stage is a halfway between a dry bursh and regular brushing. You want to lightly drag your brush with a load of paint that isn't completely wet across the surface to build up the earth tones over the black brown. Be careful that the paint isn't too wet or runny, if it is you will flood the black brown. Once this is complete the majority of the base should be the earth colour which then graduates into black brown in the recesses.
3. Dry brush with VMC Dark Sand. This layer should provide some sharp contrast with the other colours and give the base a lot more depth. Keep this as light as you can ideally, though you can make it denser to taste.

Once the base paint job is done I left the rest of the base for the end of the model, as I find that rimming the base now will only end up rubbing off during the painting process. I also don't apply any flock until the very end as well.

Stage 1 - Armour

Since the majority of the miniature will be this colour, I started with the armour. This is generally a no-brainer, as I wanted to get the most surface area done before I start to pick out the detail. Normally I'd also consider doing deep detail as well, like suit linkages, but due to the nature of metallics it is better to do one entirely before moving onto regular colours.

To start with I did some undercoating on the areas that will take the gold, this does help minimize the number of coats required to get an even coverage of the metallic. For this stage I picked VGC Leather Brown because it is a similar tone to the two gold paints in the VGC range I have available. Nothing fancy at this stage, just one coat, I don't care a great deal about the coverage.

Next up is the gold itself. For this stage I used VGC Glorious Gold to achieve my first base coat. This took two layers. One for the initial colour and the next to even out the first coat.

Next I over brushed some VGC Polished Gold over the previous gold colour. I did this to create some variation with the shine, and to aid with providing some highlights. This only needed one coat, as we've already established the overall gold with the previous layer.

Now the gold is pretty much done, we need to establish our shades. I have always had a hard time shading gold, though the general consensus seems to be that reddish browns are the answer to that, especially given how popular Reikland Fleshshade is for this purpose. I ended up going with two distinct shade layers for this gold. The first was my main shade, the second was a targeted recess shade.

For my first shade I opted to use VGC Terracotta as I am very fond of this colour as it is a very rich reddish brown, and when mixed with water and glaze medium, it can make a great shader for many colours.

To apply the shade I used a glazing technique, where I start at the top of the part I want to shade, say an armour plate, and drag my brush from top to bottom. This means that everywhere is coated, but the majority accumulates at the bottom of the surface, just be sure that it doesn't form blotches. Once the piece is dry, I reapplied the shade but this time I didn't start at the top. Instead I aimed one quarter down from the top and repeated the process from there. Then I worked my way down by increments until a graduated shade had been built up on the surface. I repeated these steps until I had the desired shade. Afterwards I used a slightly thicker mix of the glaze to try and pin wash some of the more recessed details in preparation for the second level shade.

The next level shade was the same Terracotta colour, but a little thicker, and with some VGC Dark Fleshtone mixed in to really make any recesses pop. After that I moved on to highlighting.

I felt like I'd lost the luster of the gold, so I grabbed the VGC Polished Gold and reapplied it on some of the more broader and exposed areas. After that I applied my one and only highlight to the gold, an edge highlight of VGC Sliver on the sharpest areas and a few of the upturned areas. After this stage I called the armour done and moved on to the intermediate details.

Stage 2 - Intermediate Details

This category is broadly anything that isn't the armour, silver toned metallics or the skin tones. For this model, the weapon, the wing details on the buckle and pauldron, and some of belt kit and loincloth, the pauldron trim, and the purity seals, seemed like items that needed to be distinct picked out out at this stage.

Intermediate details after all bases, shades and highlights applied.

Trim and Wing Bit

For this part I used VMC Black I used the VMC black rather than the VGC because VGC tends to have a glossy finish, and VMC is very matt. After that I didn't apply and further shading as black can't be shaded. Instead I applied highlights with VGC Cold Grey and called it done.

Wings and Belt Buckle

These parts are the wing iconography on the left shoulder pad and the belt buckle. My method for these doesn't stray too far from the traditional citadel method for painting such designs. To start with I base coated the entire thing with VMC Ghost Grey then gave it a wash of VMC Black mixed with glaze medium. After it dried I found the effect to be a bit to dark, so I base coated again and washed with GW Nuln Oil, and liked the effect much more. Once the wash was dry, I re-layered the mid tones with Ghost Grey, then picked out the sharpest edges with VGC Dead White.

Weapon

The weapon was base coated with VGC Bonewhite as I wanted a nice, warm white for this part, much like the bone white armour of the Deathwing. There was no real thematic reason, I thought it would look good. To shade this component I then mixed a shade using VMC Glaze Medium and VGC Leather Brown. To make this wash I mixed one part shade colour with two parts glaze medium and two parts water. This results in an extremely pigment thin liquid, that when applied like wash will tone the upper surfaces and accumulate in the deeper ones. Once the wash was dry I re-layered the basecoat of Bonewhite, then gave all of the sharpest edges a highlight of VGC Offwhite.

Loincloth, Belt Pouches, and Seal

All of these surfaces were base coated with VGC Gory Red. After that I applied a wash of 50/50 VGC Hexed Lichen/VGC Dark Fleshtone. The reason for this is that if we apply our colour theory, purple is the shade colour for red, but I also wanted to darken it a bit more with a brown colour, and Dark Fleshtone was already in front of me at the time. Once washes were dry I re-layered with the base coat where appropriate, then applied edge highlights of VGC Bloody Red.

Inner Suit

These are the black flexible joints that connect the various sections of the character's power armour together. My method for these is fairly simple as I dislike painting these parts on space marines in general. I always start with a grey colour, in this case VGC Stonewall Grey then I shade down with a mix of VMC Black and VMC Glaze Medium. In between every application I let the paint fully dry. Doing this results in the deepest recesses having a gradual shade built up, while the ridges of the connections remain grey. I repeated these steps until I was happy with the final result.

Scroll Work

I cribbed heavily of GW house style for doing scrolls and parchment, why fix what isn't broken after all? To start with I used VGC Khaki as a base coat, which is basically identical to Ubshanti Bone. Next up, I shaded with a glaze/colour mix of VGC Charred Brown. Then re layered mid-tones, Then highlights of VGC Bonewhite to finish. I saved the writing on the scroll work for the final details stage.

Stage 3 - Skin and Hair

After all skin, hair and face details have been applied.

To do the skin I started with a base coat of VGC Elf Flesh. I applied two even layers until I was happy with the coverage. I then mixed up a wash of VGC Tan  and VMC Glaze Medium. I find that Tan is a great colour for shading flesh, though I accidentally made the wash a bit to thin on the first application, so I ended up going back with a stronger paint to medium mix for a second pass. While the wash was drying I base coated the hair with VMC Buff. This is the base for Tycho's blonde hair. I've always had a hard time with hair, and blonde is my second most difficult to paint colour apart from pure black. The purpose of starting with Buff is that it will be our highlight colour and we will be shading down to our mid-tone. I did by mixing up a batch of VGC Scrofulous Brown with VMC Glaze Medium as a wash.

Again, all of these washes take some time to fully dry, thanks to the glaze medium. I'd definitely recommend having another project on the go, a nice video game, or a book to pick up while it dries.

Once these were dry I immediately re-layered all of the mid-tones on the skin with Elf Flesh. Since the facial detail is very well defined I got a lot of good contrast happening. I then highlighted the face with VGC Pale Flesh paying particular attention to the laugh lines, the eyebrows, cheeks, and the chin. This completed the facial details. To finish up the hair I applied some highlights at the roots and the tips of the hair with VMC Buff and left it at that.

 The eyes aren't much of a problem for me, granted I've had a lot of practice and the right equipment for it. The trick with it is to have a brush that has the ideal point for eyes, and use a very thin paint, but not so much paint that it will run. Since my eyesight is pretty bad, I used an optivisor to help see what I was doing in the final stages of the application.

The colour I used for the eye itself was VGC Offwhite. Then I applied the pupil, slightly towards the nose, leaving more white on the outer edge of the eye. The colour I used for the pupil was VMC Black Grey. With the eyes done the face is now complete. From here I went on to the silver metallics on the model.

Stage 4 - Silver Metallics

Broadly speaking, I consider every metallic that is not gold, brass, or bronze, a silver metallic. This ranges from silver jewelry and almost black gunmetal. My method for painting these details is broadly the same. However, for different metal types I did slight modifications to my base method. I'll go into full details for each.

After all silver metallics completed.

To start with, I base coated all silver metallics, regardless of their final colour with VGC Gunmetal. Then once they were completely dry, I gave them all a very careful wash with GW Nuln Oil. I think this is my favorite style for metallics, though if you feel like it, you can also get similar results with direct application of a very watered down black paint.

This is where the two set of metallics diverged. The first category of metallics are utility metals that are non-ornamental. These include the metallic components of the weapon, and the various connecting hoses on the armour. For these I simply applied a highlight with VGC Chainmail Silver and left them at that. The other category of metallics are the ornamental metallics, these include the necklace and the various blood angels gem sockets on the armour, I also did part of the belt buckle this way. From the current shaded gunmetal, I gave these pieces a layer of VGC Chainmail Silver then highlighted with VGC Silver, to create a shiner silver metallic. The only other metallic I completed at this stage were the bolter shells visible in the magazine. This was simply a layer of VGC Brassy Brass with a GW Agrax Earthshade wash.

Stage 5 - Final Details

This is the stage of the miniature where all the colours are down and things look significantly better. Which means this is the time I took a break and had a think about what details and additional flourishes I wanted to add to the final result.

All final details applied, ready for final basing.

Blood Angel Gemstones

The blood drop gemstones were a bit difficult for me. I started with various layers of Carroburg Crimson and Bloodletter over white, but I didn't think they provided a sufficiently red result. So in the end I went with a contrast paint GW Baal Red as an initial layer, then put in a dot for reflection, then overlaid the dot and the Baal Red with GW Bloodletter as a glaze. I was fairly happy with this result.

Redone Mask Eyepiece

Not much to say here, I didn't like the red for the eyepiece, so I substituted it out for GW Waaagh Flesh. Even though there are no other green details on the model. I was happy to do this because the green contrasts nicely with the red details, thus balancing it out a bit in my opinion.

Decorative Detail on the Weapon

I painted this the same way as I did the wings and belt buckle detail, not much to say otherwise.

Freehand Text on Scroll Work

To finish off the scroll work I sketched out the impression of  writing on the smaller purity seals, using VGC Gory Red to give the impression of a leading illuminated character and then the main text with a very thinned down VMC Black.

The writing on the shoulder bad was a bit more difficult. I'm not great at freehand, and I generally find these tasks quite challenging. The trick to painting text on scroll work is that you need to start at the center of the scroll and work your way out. In this case since Tycho is a five letter word I painted a C in the dead center of the banner, then a Y to the left of it and a H to the right. I then added a T to the left of the Y and an O to the right of the H. This resulted in the text going down nicely and being mostly centered on the scroll.

Chapter badge and scroll work.

Freehand Chapter Icon

This part was the only stage of the model that I would consider a definite fuck up. But it was getting towards the end of the project and I wanted to wrap it up, so I didn't feel like trying to redo or remove it. I attempted to sketch out the Blood Angels chapter badge on my wet palette as practice. Once I was happy with the result I tried to translate that effect to the curved surface of the shoulder pad. I initially used VGC Gory Red, but gradually tried to define the shape more with VGC Bloody Red, and VGC Hot Orange. In the end I couldn't quite get the impression of the wings that I wanted, so I left the design as is.

Final Basing

Once all of the work with the miniature was done, I black rimmed the base with VMC Black and once that was dry I glued some patches of static grass on the base with Modge Podge. Thus completing the miniature.

Final Results

Shoulder pad freehand aside, I am very happy with how this mini turned out. I'm not sure I quite hit the mark with attempting to shade the gold armour, but the overall effect against the other details is still quite good in my book. I think the gemstone details came out pretty well, definitely a point in favor of the contrast line for doing a fairly complex and usually annoying detail very quickly.

Overall, it was a fun mini to paint, and it was nice to paint a single and not worry about the rank-and-file waiting for their turn behind him. I hope to do more of these one offs in future as it makes good fodder to write about, and is generally far less time consuming than a full army, even a small one. Anyway, that does it for today. Good luck with your own painting.

Ground Worth Fighting For

It has been a good long while since I've posted something here, over a year as a matter of fact. It is not that I haven't been busy, far from it. My shame pile has been shrinking to the point where it may well disappear in the near future. Most of what I have left tend to be scale models rather than miniatures, and for both, I have been staying away from online shopping in order to avoid growing the pile anymore, not that there has been much that I have been interested coming out of late.

For a rundown of what I've been doing you should definitely visit Little Mangs of War which is now the home of my miniatures painting progress, and I haven't been feeling the need to post as often as I used to, which allows me to focus on quality again. I've even dusted off the SLR and practiced lifting my photo game and I have to say, the results have been promising.

Anyway, my dad has been keeping himself busy during lockdown with his 3D printer. Which is interesting because I have found myself in a situation where anything I find on thingiverse I can have in quantity if I want it, and all I have to do is ask. Since the printer in question is not a resin job, the print quality is not there for miniatures, but for terrain it has been perfect.

To that end I have decided to continue my half abandon terrain projects that I've had on the burn for a long while, especially for game system that I play more regularly than others. This does mean my dad's 3D printer will get more of a workout, but I have no doubt that terrain crate, or any of the other non-gw manufacturers of fine wargaming terrain will get some of my business.

Completed Projects

The Reclaimed Sector

I started building this one some time ago as my go to set for almost all systems at the 28mm scale. It is a combination of assorted wargaming trees that I build up over the years combined with some MDF ruined wall sections that I've done up to simulate water damage, moss, and rot.

Not pictured is my box of rocks and hills. To provide some elevation, and for variety I have a box of aquarium features, some lumps of coral and modular wargaming hills, both 3D printed and from manufacturers.

The Imperial Ruins

I have a decent collection of the usual modular 40k ruins which work great for games of regular 40k, Necromunda, and Kill Team, but I find them distinctly jarring when using them for other systems and settings. I have enough to set up a regular ruined cityscape, the close confines of the underhive and these also pair well with my Reclaimed sector board if I want to do a semi-industrial landscape or the fringes of a barely colonized Imperial world.

With this in mind I have a few ideas for a couple of new projects I've been kicking around mentally, and stand to be a lot cheaper than usual due to the access to a 3D printer.\

Upcoming Projects

Gaslands

Gaslands is a great little game, but due to the strange scale I'm going to need to have a serious think about a Mad Max style desert map. I've already got enough rocky outcroppings to break up the lines of sight a bit, now all I need are some drivable hills, appropriately scale vegetation, buildings and ruins, as well as some rusted out hulks from former battles. This is probably going to be the most challenging of the projects.

Battletech

A set of Battletech terrain shouldn't be too hard to resolve, most of my smaller trees would look quite at home on a Battletech board, as will my rocks and hills. However, the built environment is going to be a challenge. Fortunately thingiverse has plenty of options to explore and even better, they are easy and quick to paint. I think will be able to throw up a variety of  desert and woodland battlefields before too long.

Stargrave

The drive for this project has definitely been a desire to play some sci-fi skirmish games on a board that doesn't resemble the usual grimdark horror of the 41st millenia. This will mean a lot of 3D prints to fill out a frontier spaceport or colony world, and Mantic have a lot of options with their terrain crate offerings, though I am open to other suggestions.

Anyway, as I start to finish these projects I'll remember to throw up some photos as I go, that is all for now.

A Brief History of Lord Ethan's Exiles

Lord Ethan's Exiles are a mercenary outfit that tread the fine line between respectable mercenary and outright piracy. This ambiguity has often served as a benefit to their potential employers. The prospect of letting a privateer mercenary company loose in your rival's frontier worlds is often a sound investment if destabilizing your opponent is the ultimate goal rather than taking territory. This deniability is one of the major selling points of the Exiles. Their refusal to standardize their livery and an iron clad guarantee of client confidentiality has carved them a decent niche as the perfect outfit to carry out any desired false flag operation. They are the most active on the Periphery, though they often frequent fronts where low intensity conflict between great houses has been going at a low burn for some time.

Battlemaster BLR-1G "Bakunin"
Owned by notorious pirate Vivian Black
confirmed operating with the Exiles.

A selection of Battlemechs that have been positively identified as serving with the Exiles.

Origins

The Exiles were founded by Lord Miles Ethan, a veteran Mechwarrior from minor Davion nobility. He underwent his trial by fire in a succession of special operations units where he acquitted himself well in the field and was well liked by his subordinates and superiors. His promising career was cut short after an investigation initiated by the Davion Privy Council uncovered a massive smuggling ring run by many high ranking Davion officers, of which Miles was one of the leading figures. Miles avoided arrest and used his black market connections to flee Davion space and set himself up on in the Periphery as a pirate adjacent mercenary. After working for a few relatively unknown groups for several years, relations with Mile's last employer turned sour over a botched raid that turned into an ambush. He resolved it by leading a mutiny against his employer, seizing their Dropship and significant number of Battlemechs with the majority of the crew behind him. After marooning his old boss on an airless moon, he found himself in a position to take command, which he did. Rather than take a top down approach, he created a command council, which had three members of noble birth and three members of common birth, with Miles acting as a seventh member to break ties, thus Lord Ethans Exiles were born. The Exiles now have a solid reputation as a reliable unit that doesn't ask questions and well always ensure that the confidentiality of their clients is protected. Due to this, they are regularly employed by almost every one of the great houses and their practice of deliberately non-standard livery makes it hard for forces on the receiving end of the Exiles to distinguish them from regular Periphery pirates. At the time of writing they are estimated to have at least three Dropships, a well equipped but small Aerotech squadron, and a large and eclectic mix of Battlemechs, enough to field two full companies at last estimate. They are also known for backing up their Battlemechs with ground vehicles and infantry elements, often to serve as the smash and grab element of their force while the Battlemechs provide cover.

Shadowhawk SHD-2H confirmed operating with the Exiles
Note the non-standard woodland camouflage that is commonly used
by planetary militas and the factory red right leg. This suggests that
this battlemech was salvaged and brought back to operational status
after an engagement with a planetary militia.

Examples of the Exile's ground and Aerotech assets. Note the lack of unified livery or markings.

Composition

The overwhelming majority of the Exiles are political exiles from across the whole spectrum of the Inner Sphere. Lowborn ex-revolutionaries and disgraced nobility from the highest echelons of the Inner Sphere fill out their ranks, with a large number of more traditional pirates and fringe elements to make up numbers. Leadership positions in the company are almost all elected and prize money from the completion of significant contracts and war booty is fairly evenly split among all members of the company. If someone is lucky enough to survive several years as a member they are usually able to cash out and start a comfortable new life almost anywhere in the Inner Sphere. Despite this, the Exiles often take difficult or legally and ethically compromised contracts that often don't make it through the Mercenary Review Board. Despite this, service in the Exiles is a high risk / high return opportunity and there are plenty of desperate mercenaries in the Periphery.

Unknown Awesome AWS-8Q "The Smiling Tiger"
Rumored to be Lord Ethan's command battlemech

Wolverine WVR-6R in battered house Draconis livery
Confirmed to be in the service of the Exiles.

Current Operations

It is unclear if Lord Ethan remains in command of the Exiles, but the company has still retained his name. There was a credible rumour circulating that Lord Ethan was killed in a Skirmish with a House Davion kill team. This is difficult to verify as the Exiles go to great lengths to conceal the identities of their members. Even if it were true, the company does not seem to have suffered or degraded in combat performance with his demise. Instead they have continued to expand their operations and client base, the specifics of which are difficult to verify due to the highly irregular nature of their business arrangements. Regardless, if one has the right underworld connections, contact with the Exiles can be established and missions arranged even now, assuming you are willing to pay the full fee upfront and have both questionable ethics and no regard for personal honour.

Unknown Catapult CPLT-C1 in services with the Exiles
livery suggests possible Star League salvage.
(Uniform standard drab for desert operations.)

Unknown Thunderbolt TDR-5S confirmed in
service by the Exiles in the livery of the
elite Draconis unit "The Snow Spiders"

Twitch Instincts

I have come to hate video production, it takes what joy I got out of painting and sucks it away with checking camera angles, fighting the auto focus and not being able to paint at a leisurely pace that unwinds the brain. I also can't do Twitch. I generally do fine until someone actually joins the stream and starts to talk to me. In an instant what was a pleasurable meditative state becomes remarkably stressful, and I am very much not here for it. So with all that said, I think I'm done with painting entire projects on video. It is not fun and if I am going to do any more videos they will be very small technique demonstrations, which when pre-planned, are much easier to shoot and edit.
Rant done, now on to what I've been doing with myself lately.

The recent plague situation has theoretically meant more time indoors and at home to paint. Despite this, the actual malaise caused by living in these times, combined with the fact that I am working just as hard at my day job from home, means that my mental capacity for such work is greatly diminished. Never the less, I primed a load of miniatures for this upcoming period of isolation. What is most remarkable about it is that I'm coming to the tail end of my last major army projects, meaning I can move on to a variety of eclectic and smaller projects, rather than endlessly batching out the same rank and file.

To start with, Shadowspear. This project was a slog, combined with a bunch of demons I got from a dual purchase. I'm genuinely glad to see the back of it and I hope never to paint another marine for several years. I bought the box mostly for the updated Chaos models and the Ultramarines were a nice bonus. With that done I think I have more than enough miniatures to throw down for a 40k game, I hope to move on to a variety of other publishers for more varied material in future.

As for the miniatures themselves, I really do like the updated Chaos models, they are scaled up nicely to match with the new Primaris and their poses are pretty good. I especially like the new Obliterators, which give them a chunky, more menacing look. This look better reflect how well they perform on the table.

On the Ultramarines side of things, I kinda dig the new tacticool infiltrator marines, Picatinny rails on the Boltguns and all. That being said, I am still very much over painting them. I also had quite a hard time with the camo cloaks. Trying to combine a disruptive pattern uniform with shading and highlighting is frequently the bane of my existence, and I'm not looking forward to attempting it on some more contemporary figure that I have coming down the project pipeline.

With the trad fare out of the way I've also taken some time to paint a variety of smaller projects, mostly from my regular opponent goblinpaladin. These were really fun, and great opportunities to try out a variety of different techniques.

The first two were some freebies that I got for picking up some old Pal Ratha minis for Goblin's fantasy army projects. In the end I wasn't to revolutionary with how I painted them, and they turned out as just another relaxing project between armies. That being said, I'm really happy with how the Elven maiden's cloak turned out. My usual deal of starting with a high highlight basecoat and glazing in the mid tones and the shades worked very well.

These minis were more of Goblin's spares from another order, and I gotta say, props to the smaller manufacturers for creativity when the major manufacturers aren't aiming for that. These are mostly figures of noble bearing from a sci-fi civilians range. I'm very happy how all of them turned out, though as usual the noblewoman's blue-gray ceremonial armour was an utter pain to get right.

These two are from Ex-Manus a local sculptor that comes around to Cancon every year.  I like supporting the local guys, so I usually pick up a couple every time I see him. I also have a 'Totally Not Kora Elemental Bender' figure currently sitting in simple green, so I'll get around to her later. I admit, the sculpts aren't the most crisp, but I certainly love the charm and imagination that goes into the characters.

I've also been working on my scale models and display painting. To start with a variety of small practice vehicles, mostly as an excuse to practice my enamal techniques. All of which have turned out pretty well, especially the use of oil paints for soft shades and highlights. I've also finished up the Huntress from Nocturna. She is going to be entered into ScaleACT assuming that it does not become another casualty of the 'Rona.

I've also had to do a couple of fairly substantial projects in the lead up to isolation, all because I was expecting to play in a tourney in Wintercon this year, thus I had to prepare a shitload of 15mm US GIs for Chain of Command. All of which showcase my low effort batch painting in its finest, complete with using enamels to shade. But now that Wintercon is dead for now, they have fallen off the priority stack, especially since the AT guns I need to finish will have to be an order away to the UK.

Also, more Battletech. Just some more 3D printed mechs and vehicles so I can fill out an Alpha Strike company. I wasn't aiming too high for paint quality, but they will do, and will certainly look decent when massed on the table top.

Also, another project wrapped up for good. I was finally able to source the paints I needed to finish my PanO, so I did. This is another project that I won't expand on for some time, especially since they will require some fairly intense airbrush work.

After looking back through Instagram, it occurs to me that I have knocked over plenty of projects which I haven't really written about. Perhaps I shall go back and write about some of them, especially since my desire to do video work has dropped to almost nothing and I would like to practice my writing.

I think that will do for now. Until next time.