A Couple Buildings and What's on the Bench

OK, so the whole prioritized list thing went all topsy turvy. I ordered Sara the Seeress with a few CAVs earlier this month because, well, because I had a few extra bucks in my monthly allotment. Sad isn't it. Anyway, I got that for Aprile on the condition that I actually paint it. The impending arrival of a bunch of DRM minis for use with FWC will most likely also affect things, nay, already have affected things.

In the last week I've finished up a couple of my JR Miniatures 6mm buildings. The paint jobs aren't fantastic, but they match the casting of the pieces. I've also managed use colors other than gray as well on them. :gasp: I'm trying to figure out why all sci-fi buildings are painted gray. So my goal is to have a colorful down in sandstones and blue and steel and other colors.

I've got a start on the Gladiator II and the Centurion. The legs to the Centurion need a touch up though as the gray is nearly indistinguishable from the green. I used the airbrush on them and I have to say that I have to be careful to not obscure detail with the ProPaints when using it or thin them even more than I have. I've managed to add three projects to the CAV list. Mainly a Black Lightning Dictator with the arms having been donated graciously by Lanse (Froggy the Great on Reaper's boards) and two Moguls (Kahns with Gkw-12y Gauss Cannons). Unfortunately the Dictator I ordered has some bad mold lines and soft detail. I'm very tempted to request a new one but don't really want another pair of Dictator arms. Maybe if one of the Kahns aren't up to par I'll ask for new pieces.

And then there's Sara. When asking Aprile about the base she said she doesn't like my flock. And that she just wanted a sand base. Well, I didn't feel quite like cutting off the integral base because it's a horrid pain in the butt. So I got out the greenstuff and filled around the edges out to the edge of the washer that she's glued to. Then it had the standing on the pitcher's mound look. So using my immense sculpting skills added a rock outcropping. Aprile's out of town till tonight so I have to get design approval before moving on, but the plan is to have Sara done tomorrow. The upside is that if I count the two buildings (which I probably shouldn't) I've averaged a mini a week so far this year.

Wednesday I get laser eye surgery so next weekend probably won't be very productive. Hopefully it doesn't screw with my ability to paint minis. I doubt it will, but I'm concerned about a reduction in clarity when looking at small details...like on miniatures.

Depending on how things go I may take some pictures tomorrow. But I've also got to start getting ahead on my college homework so I'm not trying to do it during my various holiday vacations that are planned.

Side Project

Couldn't sleep last night so I grabbed three of my GZG 6mm tanks and painted them up. Mostly because they'd be quick and I wanted to try out my new ProPaints. First off, let me say this: I love the ProPaints. Excellent coverage without obscuring detail, even when I over thinned the paint. I slapped down some Yellow Olive, drybrushed some Desert Yellow, then a wash of Slime Black. They turned out decent. I painted them kinda quick and dirty so the drybrushing isn't the best, but it gets the job done. Just need to detail some items with black then seal them. Pictures posted hopefully this weekend.

WooHoo!

I love it when I randomly get a gift certificate for my favorite miniature and paint producing company! Just placed an order for just shy of half of Reaper's newly reformulated ProPaints and a third of it was covered by the certificate! (just a little excited here)

I'm pinning a good deal of hope that the coverage helps speed up my painting, well after I learn how much thinning is too much thinning that is. :)

I probably won't get them 'till next week, but hopefully by then I'll have made some progress on Biker Chick Sophie and be all energized to finish her so I can move on to finishing up some CAV models. I really want to do a comparison shot of my Rach models as they were originally painted with Apple Barrel paints, then MSPs, and now with Pro Paints. I think I've got a 60 Dictator started that should be a good candidate for the MSP model. I think (heavy emphasis on think) my Kahns were painted with the Apple Barrels.

In other news, I've completely managed to make a great first impression in the new office. Somebody managed to find some assorted painted 6mm Soviet armored vehicles in a storage closet. These would've been used for sand table planning sessions. Obviously they grabbed my interest and after a brief inspection (without looking at the manufacturer's mark on the bottom) I said to myself (out loud) "looks like GHQ." Which ended up with me explaining what miniature wargaming is. I'd already flat out told them I'm a geek, but I think that just gave away how deep it goes....