Painting Guide: Dwalin

First, I have to 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.).  I currently only have the 42 bottle 2015 Mega Paint Set II, so there is a lot of mixing of paints to get the right color. (I’m hoping to get the Veteran Warpainter Upgrade Set with an additional 82 paints that just came out on the first).

The first dwarf to arrive for tea of Games Workshop's Escape From Goblin Town set miniatures is Dwalin of course.  Dwalin was probably the toughest dwarf to paint due to the pose and the axes strapped to his back.  The sculpt is good though the handle of the mallet snapped in the center sometime after gluing him together and before painting.  I could not glue it back together so I wrapped it in some green stuff making the center part of the shaft thicker than the ends.  Dwalin’s scar and head tattoos are not sculpted so they require some freehand, something I am working on and my wife’s Valentine’s Day gift of a magnifying glass should help with.  Overall I really like this sculpt and he certainly portrays one of Thorin’s “best warriors” rather well.    

1.   Paint the flesh using Tanned Flesh.

1a. Wash the skin with Red Tone to get the ruddier tone of the Dwarfs.

1b. Wash the skin again in Flesh Tone.

1c. Highlight using Barbarian Flesh.

2.   Paint Dwalin’s hair with Uniform Grey.

2a. Thin Matt Black with water and paint over the hair.

2b. Highlight the hair using Ash Grey. Use a 5/0 or 10/0 brush to paint fine lines for this.

3.   Paint his trousers in Angel Green.

3a. Highlight the trousers with Green Skin.

4.   Paint Dwalin’s armor in Army Green.

4a. Highlight the edges of the armor panels and raised bumps with Necrotic Flesh.

4b. Wash the armor in Green Tone.

5.   Paint the tunic (sleeves and below the belt) in Necrotic Flesh.

5a. Wash the tunic with Green Tone.

6.   Paint the under armor panels (between the Tunic and the Armor) Leather Brown.

7.   Belt, Chest Straps, Boots, and Gloves are painted in Oak Brown

7a. Highlight with Fur Brown.

7b. Wash with Strong Tone.

7c. Highlight with Monster Brown.

8.   Paint the fur on his shoulders and boot tops in Fur Brown.

8a. Wash the fur in Strong Tone.

8b. Highlight with Monster Brown.

8c. Do a final highlight with Desert Yellow using a 5/0 or 10/0 brush to paint very thin lines.

9.   Paint the weapons shafts (Mallet and Axes) in Oak Brown.

9A. Highlight with a mix of Oak Brown and Leather Brown in a 2:3 ratio.

10. Paint the Axe Blades & Pummels in Plate Mail Metal.

11. Paint the Buckles, Mallet Head, Toe Caps, and Knuckle Caps in Gun Metal.

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 based the miniature with coral beach sand for the rocky/sandy caves of Goblin Town and added some Highland Tufts from The Army Painter Battlefields range.  I then painted the edge of the base in Angel Green. 

Next week the Dwalin’s brother arrives and Bilbo begins to wonder what Gandalf has gotten him into.

Weekly Workbench 11 Feb 2017

So, in order to have a more timely posting schedule (though, with the Hobbit Tutorials, I have 16 more weeks of posts in the hopper), I am going to start this weekly feature showing what I have going on during the past week.  This should come out on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings while the Tutorials will remain on Tuesdays until I run out.

First up, I finished all 13 dawarves of Thorin's Company to include basing.  All that is left is putting the overcoat to seal everything.  This will take place tomorrow when temps climb back into the 60's.

All that remains for the Escape from Goblin Town set (other than catwalk terrain) is Gandalf the Grey and the special Radagast the Brown miniature.  Those will be getting hit up this week and then I think I will start painting my Beyond the Gates of Antares' Boromites and Ghar finally.

Seeing as we were out at the Fredricksburg Expo and Convention Center for an event I stopped by Hobby Lobby and picked up some supplies:
-Model Master Gray Primer is what I usually use when not using The Army Painter colored primers.
-Model Master Lacquer Overcoat (Flat) is what I use to seal my miniatures now that I am back in the US (I used Tamiya in Okinawa).
-Tamiya Extra Thin Cement, I usually use the regular but they did not have it and I was almost out after a spill.  When I got home the top was stuck on and I crushed and broke the top off trying to get it unstuck.  So now it resides in the regular Tamiya Cement bottle after cutting down the brush to fit.
-Vallejo Retarder Medium, now that Thorin's Company is done and I have a bunch of standard figures (Ghar, Boromites, USMC, IJA, Wargs, ect.) requiring mass painting I want to try something besides water to thin and keep the paints wet on my pallet much longer.  The Army Painter finally came out with a Warpaints Mixing Medium, which is good as their paints (with the exception of Matt Black) tend to be thick, and I am looking forward to getting some of their's soon.
-2 x Hobby Brush Sets.  I bought a set originally for the four year old to paint his Reaper Bones figures with, found they worked as well if not better than the ProArte and Army Painter brushes at a fraction of the cost I decided to pick up a couple more packs and so I could stop being told how I am stealing his brushes every time he comes into the room.

Last item worked on this week is my LCM (6) from Sarissa Precision.  I got this for Christmas two years ago but did not want to assemble it before leaving Okinawa for fear of it getting damaged in the move.  It was a little beat up when I finally found it today buried in a box of books still waiting to be unpacked but went together fine and looks good.  I was reminded of it as one of this week's EWS lesson was on all the "L" ships for Navy.  Looking forward to landing my M3 "Satan" Flame Tank against some Japanese defenders in Bolt Action with it.

See you all next week!

Painting Guide: Bilbo Baggins

First, I have to 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.).  I currently only have the 42 bottle 2015 Mega Paint Set II, so there is a lot of mixing of paints to get the right color. (I’m hoping to get the Veteran Warpainter Upgrade Set with an additional 82 paints that just came out on the first).

The first of Games Workshop's Escape From Goblin Town set miniatures is Bilbo Baggins.  Overall I like this sculpt with the exception of the face.  There are no details for his mouth (which is closed) so the thin paint line for his lips kind of disappears.  Other than that I am really happy.  He comes with two right arms, one holding his walking stick and one with him brandishing Sting, which is the one I went for.  Bilbo was done very simply with plain colors and limited washes and highlights as compared to the Dwarves.

1.   Paint the flesh using a mix of 3:2 of Skeleton Bone & Barbarian Flesh.
1a. Wash the skin with Flesh Tone.
2.   Trousers are painted in Oak Brown.
3.   The Vest is painted in Angel Green.
4.   The Scarf is painted in Desert Yellow.

5.   I painted the coat in Chaotic Red (finally found that missing bottle!)

6.   Stings blade is painted in Shining Silver.
6a. Next, wash Sting’s blade in Blue Tone to let Bilbo know goblins are about!

7.   Sting’s pommel and hilt are painted in Gunmetal.

8.   The Hair (head and feet) is painted in Desert Yellow.
8a. Highlight the hair in both spots with Demonic Yellow using thin lines vice dry brushing due to the fine detail.
9.   Last, paint the buttons in Weapons Bronze.

Some last notes:  
A. I did not wash any of the metal on Sting as it is a legendary weapon and I feel would not have the worn and dingy look once cleaned from the troll liar.
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 (not used this for Bilbo) is a good black wash similar to Citadel's Nuln Oil.

I based the miniature with coral beach sand for the rocky/sandy caves of Goblin Town and added some Highland Tufts from The Army Painter Battlefields range.  I then painted the edge of the base in Angel Green.  

Next week the Dwarves will begin to arrive for their meeting and recruitment of a burglar!

Doctor Who: 12th Doctor Set

Back this week with the second half of my daughter's Christmas present, the 12th Doctor and Companions set.  Once again I used Warlord Games' painting guide online for each character using Army Painter paints.  The 12th Doctor is only into his second season so his list of companions is a lot more limited than the others at this time.

The 12th Doctor is played by Peter Capaldi whose first appearance was way back in 2008 when he played a Roman citizen in Pompeii during the eruption.  His appearance here is the 12th Doctor's classic look with red or black cloak, black sonic sunglasses and electric guitar.  This miniature was nicely done and easy enough to paint (though the guitar was a little tricky with such small details).  Unfortunately the sunglasses bled a little onto his forehead and I need to repaint the face when I get the chance.

The first companion is the crossover companion from the 11th to 12th Doctors, Clara Oswald played by Jenna Coleman.  She is also the main companion of Doctor and finished her last show at the end of last season (2015 as there was no show in 2016).  She has since moved on to play the title character in the British historical drama Victoria.  I was initially disappointed in the sculpt like I was with Billie Piper's Rose Tyler, feeling the face did not do the actor justice.  Looking at it now I feel the face is much closer to Jenna's then Billie's sculpt, I just need to keep working on my skills. She has a simple outfit for this one and I am very much looking forward to her version with the 11th Doctor.

The next three companions are known as the Paternoster Gang and make their first appearance in the 11th Doctor episode "A Good Man Goes to War", a very good episode.  The group makes various appearances throughout the 11th and 12th Doctor series but never stay long.  They are present when at the first appearance of the 12th Doctor following his regeneration.  

Strax is a member of the warrior Sontaran alien race. Strax was forced to serve as a nurse, healing the injured as a punishment for being defeated by the Doctor during the Sontaran invasion of Earth. This is contrary to the Sontaran's warrior instincts and mentality and as such, Strax has been known to occasionally slip back to his Sontaran ways and mannerisms. In "A Good Man Goes to War", he states that he is nearly 12, suggesting that this is quite old for a Sontaran. A running gag is Strax's inability to tell the difference between genders and his obsession with using violent tactics. Strax is played by Welsh actor Dan Starkey and is seen in his butler outfit from his second appearance.

Madam Vastra is a female Silurian warrior from prehistoric Earth who was awakened from hibernation in the 19th century when her lair was disturbed during the construction of the London Underground. Initially enraged, she slaughtered five commuters before being pacified by the Doctor. She eventually overcame her race's hatred of humans and joined London society. She became a consulting detective to Scotland Yard, and a possible inspiration for the Sherlock Holmes stories. Among her unseen adventures is her capture of Jack the Ripper, whom she eats (she mentions in "A Good Man Goes to War" that she found him "stringy, but tasty all the same"). She hired a maid, Jenny Flint, who assists her in her investigations and who is also married to her. Madam Vastra is played by the Scottish actress Neve McIntosh.

Jenny Flint's backstory in "The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later" shows she was turned away from her family because of her "preferences in companionship", and saved from attackers by Vastra, who took her on as an employee. The Doctor was present at their initial meeting, during which Vastra recounts in "The Name of the Doctor" that he saved Jenny's life. She shows herself to have acquired extremely formidable skills as a hand-to-hand combatant and a swords-woman. She is shown in all of her appearances to be entirely comfortable with post-19th century technologies, time travel, and she is repeatedly seen using technology devices, and in the episode "Deep Breath" she is seen wearing and using the Sonic Gauntlet designed for that episode. She is played by Welsh actress Catrin Stewart.

Next week I will start showcasing the Goblin Town starter set miniatures from Game Workshop's Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game. I have finished all the goblins (1 post) and through a quarter of Thorin's Company (14 plus Gandalf and Radagast)  which will have a post for each model so the blog should return to its normal weekly posting!

Doctor Who: 10th Doctor Set

So now that the computer is back after a couple weeks in the shop (RAM failed and then the solid state hard drive died), I can get back to posting some updates.  The first two will be my eldest daughter's Christmas presents.  She is a big Doctor Who fan and with Warlord Games now having the license to publish Doctor Who: Into the Time Vortex I picked the 10th and 12th Doctor sets a couple of months go (now is even a better time with a drop in GBP against the dollar as these have to be ordered from the British site vice the U.S. site).  She will likely be getting future sets of aliens as they come out and I will probably be picking up the Doctor sets for myself as well.

Each Doctor set (just the 10th and 12th so far) come with that iteration of the Doctor and four of his companions from that version.  They come in nice cardboard box packaging with a plastic tray/box for the miniatures to sit in.  The plastic tray is surrounded by a cardboard sleeve that gives information on each of the characters.  The miniatures are all approximately 38mm tall, allowing them to have more realistic proportions compared to most 28mm miniatures.

Warlord Games has a painting guide online for each character using Army Painter paints and I followed each of them while painting these miniatures.

The 10th Doctor, David Tennant more recently as the protagonist in Broadchurch (with another season coming!) Kilgrave in Jessica Jones, and previously as Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, is in his classic suit and trench coat outfit.

His first companion is the first companion of the new series, Rose Tyler.  While all the models are great I feel this miniature's face does not do a good job of representing Billie Piper at all, but that may be more to my slowly improving painting ability and some funkieness that happened between the paint and the primer...

His next companion is Martha Jones in her classic red leather jacket. This was my first time painting black skin tone and my paint selection is a little limited so while I am happy with the effort I feel it should be a bit paler to truly represent Freema Agyeman's skin tone.

Next companion is Donna Noble, probably my least liked companion to date, but I think they did an excellent job with Catherine Tate's likeness.

The last companion for the 10th Doctor is Donna's grandfather Wilfred Mott.  Another fine sculpt that captured Bernard Cribbins very well.  I did enjoy him as a companion and what he brought to the Donna character.     

Next up is the the 12th Doctor and companions!

*9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) have not been released yet.  For aliens we have Judoon, Zygons, and the Silence.  There is a plastic Darlek kit in the works and a Cyberman set that will include each version over the 50+ years of Doctor Who history.

USMC Satellite Patrol in Afghanistan

It's been a couple of months since I posted.  With the move, good weather, and the need to get a bunch of woodworking done before it got too cold in the garage, painting took a back seat for a while.  When the weather got cold I stared painting again but most of my projects are gifts for Christmas so no posts until they were presented.  The first of those gifts has been presented and so I can post the final display.

The Marines on patrol are from the set I picked up at Historicon 2016 from Eureka Miniatures USA.

The Mujaheddin are also from Eureka Miniatures USA and come in a 15 man pack for $32.

The Afghan house is made of cork board and bass wood, while the base is 1/4 birch plywood I had leftover from a woodworking project.  I painted the structure and base with Rust-Oleum Multicolor Textured spray paint in Desert Bisque and then dry brushed with Army Painter paints and added their Summer Grass to the base of the building.

THE MARINES

  

As I said before, the Marines are from the 14 figure set I picked up at Historicon 2016.  I was incorrect about one being a radio operator though, once I had the figures out I saw the Marine was really carrying a THOR man-pack ECM device.  Other than that the Fire Team satellite patrol is fairly standard:  Fire Team Leader with M203 attached to his M16-A4, M249 SAW Gunner, Rifleman (with the THOR) and M16-A4, and the A-Gunner with his M16-A4 walking point.  The two riflemen have AN/PEC-4s and all Marines have Trijicon ACOG scopes on their weapons.

THE MUJAHEDDIN 

The Mujaheddin are all pretty standard: all are armed with AK-47s, two have chest rigs for extra ammo and the too far forward point man has a bandoleer.  Dress us fairly common throughout the area.  The rest of the figures are all different poses with two RPGs, a Stinger SAM, a light machine-gun and a medium machine-gun.

HISTORICON 2016

Well it's been about a month and a half since the last post, this is largely due to the fact I am still waiting on a new house and living in my friend's basement does not leave me with a lot of space to paint.  However, this weekend was HISTORICON 2016 in Fredricksburg, VA, only about 10 mile from here so I made the trek down to check out the U.S.A.'s largest historical wargaming convention.

The convention was held at the Fredricksburg Expo and Conference Center.  The event, running from Thursday through Sunday, featured over 60 vendors, 71 open gaming tables, a tournament area 25 tables, a Flames of War tournament area with another 18 tables, and 9 ball/meeting rooms with 49 club gaming tables.  In addition they had a seminar room that was busy throughout with various presentations, Hobby University with six classes going on at a time, and a flea-market in the back.  Below are some of the better presented tables (or ones with games that interest me) throughout the day.  Remember to click on the pictures to see larger versions!

This gorgeous table was in the Open/General Gaming Hall and was used to play Bolt Action all day long.  I saw at least three separate games throughout the day.

This was a display table in the General Gaming Hall showing the Charge Of the Light Brigade at Balaclava in 1854.  This epitomized the theme of the convention: Cavalry.  Speaking of which, my free gift was a Warlord Games exclusive figure: George McDonald Fraser's Sir Harry Paget Flashman.

Another table in one of the club rooms focusing on the theme of the event was the one below on the Italian Wars of 1536 to 1564.

The next club table was a medieval battle with cavalry on one side of the town and foot on the other.

Another nice club table was this one featuring a First Nation (American Indian) skirmish game.  I wish I could remember the name of the rules as it looked interesting.

The next club table featured the now discontinued Lord of the Rings game from Games Workshop.  This particular game was the Battle of Pelargir.  The table ran two to three games a day, each focused on a different battle.

 This last club table was a huge battlefield featuring a war between Celts.

I was able to participate in one Hobby University class, Advanced Beginner's Painting taught by Tanya Brewer out of Fredrick, Maryland.  The course taught shading and highlighting using shades and the feather technique vice using a wash and line.  This was added some additional tricks to use when I am not just pushing through trying to get an army ready for the table.  I also learned how to use gloss finish to obscure pits and fine casting lines in hard to reach places on metal miniatures.  I got to keep the miniature which is barbarian woman from Reaper Miniatures.

The last major event of the day was catching a seminar on Miniature Wargaming the Movie with Joseph Piddington.  This was a nice back story on the documentary that is now in post production and on its second Kickstarter to cover the additional expenses of licences and film festival application fees.  This is going to be a great documentary, geared for non-wargamers, and I highly recommend supporting the Kickstarter for it!  (and yes, I know it is already over its goal).

Lastly, the day would not be complete without some purchases from some of the vendors.  While most of the vendors had some top quality stuff I made my purchases from the Warlord Games booth, the Casemate Publishers booth, and from Eureka Miniatures.

From Warlord Games I picked up the Battle of Xilos expansion with special miniature for Beyond the Gates of Antares, the Boromite Gang Fighters and Work Gang for the same, another USMC kit for Bolt Action (more diorama projects) and the The Army Painter Strong Tone can for dipping.  From Casemate Publishers I purchased Team Yankee (been wanting it for a while) and Bretherton.  From Eureka Miniatures I picked up a modern USMC squad (14 figures as they have a radio operator with them).

Overall the convention was great fun and an enjoyable experience for my first wargaming convention.  I am looking forward to Fall In! this November!