Kyra & Lavarath WIP 4

Got Kyra almost completely base coated and finished the front piece of the saddle.

A Rant About Painting Snobbery

So, I managed to get myself into a discussion regarding miniature painting that posited that a person was not a master painter if they had not perfected the art of Non-metallics metals or NMM. (For those that don't know, NMM is using regular paints to represent the reflective properties of metals with out using metallic paints. A subcategory is Sky-Earth NMM goes further by trying to show what is reflected in the metal) If you peruse my photos you can probably guess where I stand on the subject of NMM. I've never bothered to try it for a couple reasons. NMM forces the painter to commit to where the light source is, which is great for static displays and photography but not so much for anything else. If I were a staff painter for a company painting figures for catalog images, yeah, I'd be all over NMM because that's what it is good for. But mostly I'm painting pieces to be used in a game, so NMM doesn't work as well and the time investment is not ideal for large numbers of figures that will be handled frequently.

Now, that isn't even what got me irritated. NMM has it's place. It does require a learned skill. Where I got irritated is when it was inferred that "If you can't paint NMM you ain't crap." Not an exact quote, but basically the summary of the opposing viewpoint.  Then it devolved into an elevation of miniature painting into the realms of high art like the Renaissance masters. It's the snobbery that irritates me.  Miniatures are designed to be game pieces.  They are marketed to be game pieces. They are sold to be game pieces. Don't make yourself out to be a modern day Monet because you practiced and can do NMM.  Given enough practice most can pick it up. But do not look down on another person's work because they did not use it, or some other pet technique. For the vast majority of the people who partake in this hobby, be it just the painting or both painting and gaming, it is for the creative release and escape from the rest of the world.  There are enough douche-bags out there, we don't want to deal with them in realm of our hobbies. For someone to stand there and dictate what a miniature's paint job is or isn't based solely on the techniques involved is the height of pretentious self-involved ostentatious snobby douche-baggery. (yes, it's a word, I swear) To borrow a phrase from actor Tim Daly, be a little less douche.

We're in this for the fun of it. If somebody shows their work and asks for feedback, focus on the basics unless they are attempting something more advanced. Be honest without being a dick. Offer encouragement without being overly sweet about it. But for crying out loud, don't tell them that it is worthless because they didn't use your favorite technique.

Krylon Camo Spray Results

Trying something new.  As I mentioned in a previous post I got a new phone that the blogger app works on, so I'm trying the camera on miniatures and attempting to post directly to the blog.

I finished the test of the Krylon spray paint earlier this week. Here is a comparison shot with the Krylon painted figure on the left and one painted with Reaper Terran Khaki on the right. The khaki and the wash are the only differences.  (The color I originally used for the wash had dried out so I used MSP Brown Liner which brought out the detail better but gave the overall figure a different feel.) The Krylon is a bit more grayish than the Reaper paint, but it is closer to what I had in mind. Overall I'm happy and don't think the difference between them will be too noticeable at arms length aside from the level of detail.

Edit: let's see if I can add a picture after the fact.

Kick In the Pants

When the Robotech Kickstarter ended I realized that sometime in the near future I'm going to have over 100 new miniatures in the To Do List and resolved to reduce the amount in the Cabinet of Shame.  Over the long weekend I did get a very little bit of painting done, but nothing major.  Since I ended up having to stay home with one of the boys (he got pink eye over the weekend) I decided to complete something, so I finished up the half painted GZG UNSC figures that I had base coated with the Krylon camo spray paint.  They turned out quite well and are the last of the infantry figures I purchased for that force.  All that's left are the gun drones and that group will be finished...well until I get some rides for the squads that is, but that's going to be some time coming I think.  

After the gun drones I think I'll finish the Heavy Gear figures that have been languishing on the table for quite some time.  They are Hunters from the northern faction IIRC, been a while since I looked at my HG stuff.  They may end up being used as 15mm robots or as smallish mecha for 6mm more than actual games of Heavy Gear.  After that I'm not sure, though I'll probably opt for stuff that I've started but never finished which means there will probably be a dragon or a giant back on the table.

I might get around to taking and posting some pictures tonight after I seal the figures.

Puttering Along...or not

I've had the first of the six gobbos for Dreadball base coated for about two weeks now. Going back to work and other commitments have sapped my energy. That and the potential for going to ReaperCon has generated an amount of excitement for some painting competition entries. On other fronts, I've got the Rebel Miniatures Merka V primed and ready for paint. It will be used with the Rebel Earth Force Marines which will represent the "America in spaaaaace" faction of my barely visualized background world. I've also started the preparation of my Khurasan Miniatures Mekanoid Dictator. Something I've learned about the Rebel and Khurasan resin kits is that they exhibit much more of the stratification that is resultant from the 3D printing prototype process. I think I was spoiled with Reaper's CAV figures, which did show some stratification but not nearly as much as these kits. In the long run though nothing some wet finishing sand paper can't deal with. The detail on the kits is amazing though. Especially on the Dictator. Right now I'm envisaging it in a blue/gray digital camo pattern with either dark gray or metallic undercarriage. I suppose I should really focus my painti....oooh look! Shiney!

Short Update

Had surgery about a week ago and have been on convalescent leave. Unfortunately the pain meds have effectively squashed my desire to paint. I have managed to complete two dreadballs, assembled the Dreadball goblin strikers, and started to put pigment on the Orc guards. Hopefully the pain subsides a bit before my leave does and I'll be able to knock out some serious progress in the next week and be able to actually play a game of Dreadball, which I've had for a little over a month now.

New Year's Eve Rush

For some reason, I seem to get more painting done on New Year's Eve to finish off minis for the year-end wrap-up than I do on any of the other 364 days. Now that I've got a good camera again, the will have plenty of pics for yall tomorrow.

Black Lightning Dictator

I finished this last weekend, just didn't feel like messing with editing the pictures. A little background on this first, Black Lightning was Reaper's volunteer demo organization and for a while they used to give these unavailable-to-the-public arms for putting on a Dictator 60. My understanding is that the fluff was that they were prototypes of the gauss cannons used on the Dictator 70. I was never a member of the Black Lightning program, though I had bounced the idea around in my head a few times.

A couple years ago a friend of my sent them to me with the promise that I use them. I almost immediately assembled the model, but then I deployed, then moved, and have just now gotten around to painting it.

I'm not entirely sure that I'm happy with the painting on this. My CAV painting ability has apparently decreased somewhat as it has been a couple years since I've painted one as I've been focusing on my startships and 15mm. Well, as much as you can call my frequency of painting "focused." This turned out only partially what I was seeing in my minds eye. I'm thinking that once I get back to my former skill I may strip this one and start over.

United Federation of Planets Squadron Complete!

Finally finished with all of my Feds. Of course this doesn't mean that I won't buy more in the future....

Here are the pics of the newly completed BC and DN. Followed by the whole group. (Still trying to figure this camera out, all of these ships are a stark white.)

I'm also almost done with the Black Lightning Dictator.

Two More Feds Done

I finished the Federation Dreadnought and Battlecruiser tonight. Probably will take some pictures tomorrow. These are the last of the Federation ships I have. Might try to make some progress on the Black Lightning Dictator tomorrow, but we'll see. In associated news, I still haven't settled on a theme for the Kraken.

First World Miniature Painter

The upside of 15mm figures is that you get a bunch well detailed figures for your money.

The downside of 15mm figures is that you have to paint that bunch of well detailed figures.

Progress

pStryker is now basecoated with the exception of the base. I'll get that last. Painted a bit more of his armor blue than is usually depicted. Thanks to my....meticulous...method of painting he's taken pretty much all afternoon to basecoat. Though a few spots got redone in a different color after realizing that two of my paints are very similar in shade.

Cygnar Lancer

Finished the Lancer today. Not my best work by a long shot, but more than suitable for gaming purposes.I think that next time around I'll base in the lighter blue and wash with with deepwater blue rather than base coat with deepwater then paint over with the lighter blue. Overall though I'm pretty happy with how it came out. For a light 'jack it's pretty bad ass lookin. Unfortunately, all the metallic paint made it hard to get decent pictures

 

Progress

Got two of the three basecoat colors down on the Lancer. Also have the better part of the Ironclad prepped, though I've decided that from this point forward it'll be paint, then assemble for these models. Too many finicky parts that fit too closely together.

Had some primer issues with pStryker.  Whatever you do, do not use Rustoleum auto primer for miniatures, it'll leave a nasty texture all over your figure. Thankfully a few hours in some simple green and a good scrubbing got the offending primer off and allowed me use my normal primer (duplicolor sandable primer).

I'd show some WIP pics, but the blue is very dark right at the moment and wouldn't show up very well.

Next Up

Finish the Klingon C8 dreadnought, and have started painting a Federation New Light Cruiser. Also got the beginnings of the GZG UNSC infantry prepped and a handful based and ready for priming. The UNSC are going to be the Terran Expeditionary Force in my own little background for Tomorrow's War, which I need to do some more work on. The TEF will be using primarily grav vehicles like the one I finished earlier.

Speaking of which, I'll need to buy at least three more platoon's worth of figures for my primary protagonists in the same setting. One is a mid-to-high tech corporate army, the second a mid-tech republic, and the third a low-to-mid tech socialist dictatorship. I wish the Pig Iron Productions heavy troopers were available in 15mm as they'd be perfect for the republic forces, though I think I'm going to either use Khurasan Federal Army figures or Rebel Miniatures Earth Force Marines, with tracked vehicles (most likely Rebel or Combat Wombat). The corporate force will be most likely be Micropanzer British SAS (with helmets). I haven't settled on figures for the socialists yet, but I'm leaning towards the New Vistula Legion troops from  PicoArmor.com. There will also be a smattering of mercenary forces making appearances like the Felids and others. Critical Mass games will probably see a few packets ordered from me after I get the primaries done.

Candy, By Your Command

Pictures as promised. The picture of Candy isn't all that great, which is probably a good thing since the painting isn't either. The Basestar is a little more blue than in the picture, but the metallic paint made it difficult to get the exact color.

Another Couple Down

Finished up Candy, though it just rained so sealing her will have to wait. I also finished the Basestar/Battlestation. I have pictures of both, but don't feel like editing them at the moment. I will say this, I'm not entirely happy with Candy. While I realize that it's been a looong time since I painted a figure showing any amount of skin (or a 28mm figure at all), I have several examples sitting on my display shelf showing that I'm a better painter than what I accomplish with her. I did finally get her face to not look entirely like a racoon's, but it is not my best work. The upside is that the cloth turned out reasonably well.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get around to editing and posting pictures, but no promises.

Out of Practice

No pictures yet, but I did some work on Candy last night. I've determined that I'm horribly out of practice when it comes to skin tones on 28mm figures. Bad enough that I'm considering stripping the paint and starting from scratch. Everything else is ok, but I managed to screw up the skin, which is a large portion of the model in question.

Grav Tank Done and Other Progress

Finished the grav tank this weekend as well as some decent progress on Candy.  Still not entirely happy about how the wash came out on the tank, but it gives it a real gritty appearance if nothing else. The colors are spot on for how I want to paint the infanty and spider drones though.

I also got the base coat down on Candy. I've learned that Reaper ProPaint Scarlet Red would make for a great hair color, though here I'll be using it as the shade color.  Keep in mind that the base coat is going to be the shadow colors for the mini so it's a bit darker than the finished product. That said, I think the exposure was a bit long for this one as I think the camera was trying to make the Reaper Master Series Ghost White a true white.

On other fronts, cut out a couple hills from some scrap blue insulation board leftover from a prior home improvement project (of which I still have the better part of an 8x4 board *grin*) and looking to play a game of some sort with Aprile tomorrow, probably CAV.

Grrr

Well, I could call the grav tank done, but I wouldn't be happy with it. What I intended to be a wash did exactly the opposite and after conferring with a friend it would seem over thinning of the paint is probably the cause. So I need to go back and fix some spots and do a more painstaking darklining of panel lines and joints. Right now it just looks dirty and flat. So learn from my mistakes, thin your paint, but don't over thin it.

However, getting frustrated with that I did get quite a bit done around house, to include washing and polishing the motorcycle. Something about all that gleaming chrome begs for a ride...