Weekly Workbench 29 October 2017

    Missed a post last week, not due to lack of progress as I had plenty of that, but due to not having time to get pictures taken and a post up.  So we will cover the last two week's worth of work in this post.  First though, I have to thank everyone for the overwhelming response to the Birdhouse Towers post, 1399 views, which is almost double my next highest view post!

     First up is Shep's war band, all finished and based and ready for the Skeleton Run!  From Left to Right: John the Archer, Bill the Infantryman, Gu'ard the War-Hound, Sam the Thief, Bubba Timehopper the Chronomancer, Clara the Apprentice, Robin the Thief, Captain Harkness, and Bob the Crossbowman.

    Next was Duncan's war band, finished and based as well.  From Left to Right: Soul Launcher the Archer, Viper the Infantryman, Thief 1, Bob the War-Hound, Zombie 1, Bone Crusher the Summoner, Zombie 2, Quick Shadow the Apprentice, Thief 2, Captain Tough Nut, Death Arrow the Crossbowman.  He still has a number of his summoned creatures that need to be finished but the basic war band is done.

As you can tell from the boys' warbands I gave them all textured bases that I made.  The first step was to drill holes in the MDF bases and add some rare earth magnets.  This allows the miniatures to be moved in their display cases without worrying about them crashing around.

I then used my textured rollers and green-stuff to make the bases.  I used the Cobblestone for Shep's and the Frozen for Duncan's.

Base colors for the Frozen were Army Painter Ice Storm and Space Ship Exterior followed up with a Blue Tone ink wash.  The Cobblestone base colors were Army Painter Field Grey and Dungeon Grey with a Dark Tone wash.

I then did a highlight of Gorgon Hide and another Blue Tone ink wash before using Vallejo Black Primer for the edges on the Frozen.  For the Cobblestone they were dry brushed with Castle Grey and a second Dark Tone wash with Vallejo Black Primer on the edges as well.

I also got the Eternal Guard Skeletons based as well, just in time for the Skeleton Run for Dark Alchemy Campaign of Frostgrave.

Realizing I would need more than five skeletons during the Skeleton Run, I knocked out these Reaper Bones skeletons as well, using the Vallejo Grey Sand Ground Texture for their base, it makes nice snow when painted.

This weekend I started work on Ivy's war-band, here are her Knight and Archer, both from Dark Sword miniatures.

Here are her two thieve's from Wizkids HD Minis.

Last is her snow leopard (summoned during her first game), and Crossbowman from North Star.

Saturday night Shep got in his second game of Frostgrave, completing the aforementioned Skeleton Run of the Dark Alchemy Campaign.  The battle report should be out this week.

Here is the update for this week.  A little behind on Ivy's war band and I am probably going to switch to Mugzy's instead of Gideon's this week as I will have a paper to write for C&S this weekend which will take up some time.  See you all next week!

Weekly Workbench 15 October 2017

Lots of work done this week on the first of the Frostgrave warbands and a bunch of new goodies arrived as well.  I also set my self a schedule and some goals for the Tabletop Commanders' Winter Warmer Challenge.  I am slightly behind but will be caught up tomorrow.  As I am following the schedule to get everything done I will not be breaking it the post into categories as almost everything for the next six weeks should be Frostgrave related.

First up, the skeletons of the Eternal Guard from Alternate Armies had The Army Painter Dry Rust Effect applied to their steel parts and Military Shader wash applied to the copper pieces for oxidation.  They were then dull coated and now just need to be based, more on that later.

Duncan's warband is off to a great start with all his main party from North Star being painted and washed with Strong Tone.  They just need some quick highlights on selected miniatures and a dull coat before basing.  Here we have his champion and two extra zombies he may raise into his service.

His two thieves and his archer are nearly ready as well.

Also coming along is his crossbowman and war hound.

One of his extras, his fire giant warrior from Reaper, which on a rare chance he may be able to summon to help him, is also being worked on.

Now onto the goodies that arrived this week.  First up is the shipment from Footsore with a bunch of Arthurian legends.   

 Guinevere was their special miniature exclusive for September and I purchased several of the court to get her.  First is Lancelot and Merlin.  Also arriving are Bors & Tristan and Gawain & Galahad.  I will look forward to painting these in December and once I complete the collection with King Arthur and Mordred making a nice diorama with them.

I also received a shipment from Green Stuff World that included four rollers and their silicone guide rings.  The four rollers I chose were the plain, frozen, cobblestone, and wood.  I also received some more green stuff epoxy putty as I will be making a lot of base tops and some MDF 25mm and 40mm round bases. 

I also ordered from the small boutique company, Dark Sword Miniatures, in order to pick up some female characters for the girls' warbands.  The miniatures are all of outstanding quality; supremely detailed and with mold lines nearly invisible.  In fact, half the miniatures did not even get scraped as I could not find the mold lines.  I cannot wait to start painting these and I will definitely be ordering from them again.

 First up is Mugzy's archer and knight.  She had first pick and chose this archer.  Once Ivy picked her knight Mugzy chose the mace instead of the sword or axe for her knight's weapon. 

 Ivy ended up with the Wilding Spearwife with bow based on the Song of Ice and Fire for her archer.  She then chose the the female cleric with mace for her knight.

 I also picked up two thieves and a paladin for myself.  In this case my wizard has enchanted some woodland creatures to come to his aid.  Ella the cat and Chet the field squirrel are his thieves.  The frothy UK badger will be his paladin and I think I shall name this large fellow Sunflash the Mace (bonus points to anyone who knows the reference without looking it up).

Dark Sword Miniatures also included to free miniatures in the package.

First up is this Female Mage who may very well make an appearance in Felstad one day.

The second miniature is Thief of Hearts #5, she is a little under dressed for use with the kids but she looks to be another lovely model to paint up. 

Last we have the status update for the Winter Warmer Challenge.  See you all next week for another Weekly Workbench and I will do my best to get the terrain tutorial out this week!

Painting Guide: Radagast

As a bonus figure in the pack, Radagast the Brown was included in the starter set, and while he does not have a part to play in the escape from Goblin Town, he is an excellent sculpt and comes with a sculpted base as well.  The base has a lot of hidden details I did not catch until I started painting/highlighting the base coat.

0.  Radagast started with a Matt Black under coat.
1.   Paint the flesh using Tanned Flesh.

1a. Wash the skin with Soft Tone.

1b. Highlight using Barbarian Flesh.

2.   Base coat the hair and beard in Monster Brown.

2a. Highlight the hair in Ash Grey.

2b. Add a second highlight Matt White.

2c. Wash with Strong Tone.

3.   Paint Radagast’s trousers in Oak Brown.

3a. Highlight the trousers with Leather Brown.

4.   Paint Radagast’s shirt in Desert Yellow.

4a. Wash the shirt in Strong Tone.

5.   Paint Radagast’s shoes with Oak Brown.

5a. Highlight the shoes with Monster Brown.

5b. Wash the shoes with Dark Tone.

5c. Add a second highlight of Monster Brown.

6.   Paint the log and staff in Oak Brown.

6a. Highlight with Leather Brown.

7.  The two spiders are painted Matt Black.

7a. Highlight with Uniform Grey.

8.   Paint the staff top in Crystal Blue.

8a. Wash with Blue Tone.

8b. Highlight with Hydra Turquoise.

9.   Paint Radagast’s coat in Leather Brown.

9a. Wash the top of the coat in Strong Tone.

9b. Wash the bottom of the coat in Dark Tone.

9c. Highlight the details with Fur Brown.

10.   Paint the satchel in Leather Brown.

10a. Wash the satchel in Strong Tone.

10b. Highlight the details with Monster Brown.

11.  Paint the leaves with Goblin Green.

11a. Wash the leaves in the satchel with Strong Tone.

12. Paint Sebastian in Oak Brown.

12a. Paint Sebastian’s face with Skeleton Bone.

12b. Highlight Sebastian’s spikes with Skeleton Bone.

12c. Add dots of Matt Black for Sebastian’s eyes and nose.

Some last notes:  

A. The eyes were painted between the Flesh Tone Wash and the Barbarian Flesh Highlight.  The eyes are done with a 5/0 brush.  First paint a horizontal white line and then place a black dot in the center.

B. AP Soft Tone is a good wash for flesh and other light colored items.

C. AP Strong Tone is a good general brown wash similar to Citadel's Agrax Earth Shade. 

D. AP Dark Tone is a good black wash similar to Citadel's Nuln Oil.

I added some Army Painter Summer Grass to the base and then painted the edge of the base in Leather Brown. 

Before we have the painting guide for the goblins we have the terrain tutorial I have been talking about.  In addition, beginning next week, I am going to be alternating between the painting guides and battle reports.  Shep played his first game of Frostgrave tonight and I will be putting together the 72 picture battle report this week.

I must thank TALE OF TWO PAINTERS for the inspiration for these tutorials.  Unfortunately, I do not have step by step photos like they do as I found their site after I was a quarter of the way complete.  They painted the miniatures using Citadel paints.  I felt a guide using The Army Painter brand was warranted, especially as there is no readily available conversion chart for Citadel and AP brands like the other major miniature paint brands (Vallejo, P3, Reaper, etc.).  When I painted these miniatures I only had the 42 bottle 2015 Mega Paint Set II, so there was a lot of mixing of paints to get the right color.

Weekly Workbench 17 September 2017

    A little late this week, between Cub Scouts starting up, PME starting back up, and my mother arriving a day early for her visit it really threw my week out of wack for getting things done.  This includes the Painting Guide post which will be out on this Wednesday.  I did get in a game of Warlord Games' Test of Honor on TableTop Commander's After Hours Paint and Chat Ep.99 hosted by Rocky's War Room.  The game was surprisingly easy to learn, especially online with no rule book to refer to.  I had a lot of fun and won the first scenario.  Thanks to Matt for hosting and to Bob for being a worthy opponent! I will likely look at picking this up once the Frostgrave campaigns are up and running and my SAGA war bands are completed.

Fantasy:

    Here is where the majority of my work this week got done.  First up is Duncan's Frostgrave Summoner crew.  They have been base coated and washed and now just need some minor highlights and then dull coated.

First up is the Summoner himself.

The Apprentice bringing forth some extra-planar entity.

The Captain.

Sheppard's Garr War Dog from Reaper Bones is in the same state.

War Hound in need of some highlights.

And I also finished up six large Reaper Bones rats, always useful and playing a role in the first scenario.

Playing the primary antagonist in the first scenario will be the Alchemical Monstrosity, represented by this HD Minis D&D Displacer Beast.

Need to clean up the lines and add some dull coat.

Terrain:

    Dave Graffam is  having a sale on his paper craft sets over on Wargame Vault.  Most sets are only $1.00!  This is a cheap way to quickly get some terrain on the table and add some variety.  He has everything from fantasy buildings, medieval buildings, frontier buildings, ships, walls, bombed buildings, floor tiles, and accessories. The first set I printed out and started putting together are the Wooden Crates, which will add more dimension to the Alchemical Workshop in the first campaign and find uses in other scenarios as well.  I am using insulation foam to wrap them around for added stability and durability with the kids.  After attempting to cut the foam with a hot wire cutter and an xacto knife I found the band saw works just fine and provides the straightest, cleanest, and quickest lines.

The start of my crates.

    So far I have completed a 4x4x2, 4x2x2, 3x3x2, 3x3x1, 3x2x2, 3x1x1, (2) 2x2x1, (2) 2x1x1, and (5) 1x1x1s.  I still have (2) 4x1x1, (2) 3xx1x1, 2x2x2, (2) 2x1x1, and (4) 1x1x1s left from the first 15 page printing.  The kits look really good, though I will need to invest in some other color sharpies to handle edging as the black is really apparent on the crates, and pretty sturdy on their own when printed on 110lb card stock.

That is it for this week, the painting guide will be out this week and next week will have a terrain tutorial as I finished the painting last night.

Weekly Workbench 10 September 2017

Lots of different things getting done this week with my extra time off.  The big one was rearranging the work bench from one side of the room to the other.  I no longer feel squished into a corner, the lighting is brighter, and the room is much open!

This was done in part to add an additional space for the new photo station I received.  The make shift desk is temporary, once I have the funds for a second desk I will also be adding a spray booth for an airbrush.

Speaking of air brushes, a good friend gifted me this Paasche Talon from his modeling days.  I cannot wait to put it to use!


With the four different tips and three needles I will be able to use it on everything from detail work to large area coating on terrain pieces!  This should be a great time saver and money saver when it comes to priming large items.

I will be spending a lot of time with it and reading the handy pamphlet that came with it during the next week.

Historical:

Here is a better look at my Scots Thanes for SAGA with their completed bases and shields.  Much better results in the new photo booth!

The warlord should be completed this week as...

...a package arrived from Footsore Miniatures and inside...

...were a large number of reinforcements to include...

...the Picts/Scots Handler and Warhounds!  While the SAGA Scots army list does not have a place for the warhounds (Irish Wolfhounds), I am going to place one of them on the base with my warlord.  Some of the others will likely make it into some of the Frostgrave warbands for the kids.

Also in the package was a set of Scots Warriors with Hand Weapons...

...and three sets of Scots Warriors with Javelins to use as my levies!  All the Javelin throwers were the same four out of the eight possible variants but with Footsore a month behind orders due to their furnace breaking I cannot hold it against them.

Also included was the free Viking hero Torston Oakhammer, which will be available for purchase towards the end of the year.

Fantasy:

Three wizards and their apprentices were finished and are ready to enter the Alchemist Lab in Frostgrave's Felstad city once they hire some helpers.

First up are Shep's Chronomancers: Bubba Timehopper and Clara!




Next is Ivy's Elementalists: Rhea and Karana!

And last is Mugzy's Sigilists: Mugzeritte and Meadow!

Duncan's Sumonners and Gideon's Enchanters (that he is having me redo his paint job on new models) should be done this week and then the exploration will begin!

Terrain:

Speaking of exploration, more work got done on my first foam ruined building.  I glued it to a plywood base, added rubble to the sides, a broken ladder to reach the platform, and then primed everything black.  I have to touch up some of the primer in some tough to reach spaces and then should have it painted sometime this week!

I have another terrain project I working on as well but I am going to save that for the tutorial post the Wednesday after this coming.

That's it for this week but be sure to stop in Wednesday for a Painting Guide on Radagast the Brown!  See you next week!