Colorul Ladies and new approach to taking pictures

A few weeks ago some cables in my old trusty Foldio lightbox snapped and I was no longer able to take decent pictures. I bought a new , smaller one from Green Stuff World and started experimenting with different backgrounds. My initial goal was to start taking pictures with black background but... well, that will take some time to master. I have, however learnt that you can easily adjust exposure while taking pics with iphone (duh! should have started doing that long time ago!). 

What it means in a nutshell is that I can adjust the focus on miniature(s) so that the background becomes pure, bright white. A good friend who is a professional photographer has once told me that the less work you do with editing pictures, the better. In the samples below there is no edition and no filters needed to be used.

Let's start with Cassandra and Arcane Effigy.

Followed by Baritone Lola - really great sculpt and I had some fun working on the skin tone with oil paints.

The last one is the most interesting example. Hinamatsuri, also called Doll's Day or Girls' Day, is an annual festival in Japan. Celebrated on 3 March of each year, platforms covered with a red carpet-material are used to display a set of ornamental dolls representing the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period (info from Wiki). Hinamatsu is a Doll that made it to the world of Malifaux. It took some considerable effort to buy it as it's been unavailable in pretty much all stores worldwide for months. I managed to get it on eBay from the US with a bundle of other M2E boxes.

In game it is one of the most efficient pieces. Armored, can deal damage that ignores armor, has a lure and good mobility. I can't wait to try it in game!

Long-overdue update

It's been almost three months since my previous post. It doesn't mean that I haven't painted anything during that time. On the contrary, these last three months have been pretty good hobby-wise, but let's start from the beginning. 

August and part of September were a bit challenging due to lat renovation. We initially wanted only to repaint the walls but ended up doing much more. I used this opportunity to prepare a new hobby corner. One of the main goals was to make sure both of my daughters have their own room, which meant that I had to move my workspace to bedroom. I wanted to have plenty of storage options so I chose modular workspace from hobbyzone.pl I also bought desk with adjustable height from @easydesk_biurka_gamingowe Solid and heavy with some additional options (such as led lighting or media port). Now that I work from home most of the time I wanted to have plenty of space to combine work section with hobby part. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the result as it uses the space to the fullest, combining high functionality with very good quality of all the elements. Below you can see the space before renovation and pictures "after".

I also finally played some games of third edition of Malifaux and even took part in two tournaments. My results were rather poor but I did enjoy several games I played. M3E does eel much faster and more streamlined and the keyword system means that I got to use miniatures I had painted for years but never used them beore (such as Gorar, Adze). I played a ew games with Eurypides, Titania, but in the end settled or Zoraida as my main master - still the aesthetics appeal the most to me and the way this crew plays is fun too.

And as for painting - more pictures can be found on my Instagram account here but below you can see an overview.

Samurai with minigun

Not much more to write other than the title. The minis are quite ridiculous and the kneeling one is really badly scaled. The sculpts are probably a nod to a BS movie called "Sucker Punch" that had some nice visuals to make up for lack of content and terrible acting.

The armor plates were painted using Red Goblin from colorshift range by Greenstuffworld. Easy to apply and they immediately give a nice effect. I applied some black ink in the recesses and lightly worked bright silver onto the edges to add it a bit more definition.

Miss Anne Thorpe

Miss Anne Thorpe is a wastrel and happens to be the latest limited miss model released last Gencon by Wyrd Games. This time she is dual faction and can be hired in both Guild and Ten Thunders (crews led by McCabe). 

In the world of the game Wastrels are children of rich families and the all have a vicious side to them. Getting to Malifaux allowed them to explore it... with impunity. Wastrels are on the cheap side and they function mainly as decent scheme runners and support minions. They have some nice offensive and defensive tricks but you can't really expect much from a 4ss model.

Miss Anne Thorpe to ostatni z modeli miss wydanych przy okazji Genconu przez Wyrd Games. Tym razem posiada cechę dual faction i może być użyta w ekipach Gildii oraz Ten Thunders (dowodzonych przez McCabe'a). W świecie gry "darmozjady" to na wskroś złe dzieci zamożnych rodzin, które zostały wysłane do Malifaux, by móc bezkarnie eksplorować mroczną stronę swojej natury. Należą do najtańszych jednostek i funkcjonują głównie jako przyzwoici scheme runnerzy albo jako jednostki wspierające. Mają parę ofensywnych i defensywnych trików ale też nie można oczekiwać rewelacji po modelu za 4 ss.

The miniature itself is very nice and has a few assembly options with some extra arms and heads. It's probably the first mini of this type that looks like an actual miss. The designers have certainly put extra effort into making sure she looks like one. As far as painting is concerned, I tried to more or less stick to the artwork, which wasn't easy as the colors used by Wyrd artists are typically dark.

Sama figurka jest bardzo ładna i co ciekawe ma parę alternatywnych wersji do złożenia dzięki dodatkowym ramionom i głowom które znajdziemy na wyprasce. To chyba też pierwsza figurka tego typu, która naprawdę wygląda jak miss. Projektanci zdecydowanie dołożyli starań, żeby na taką wyglądała. Jeśli chodzi o malowanie, to trzymałem się raczej wzoru z artworka, co nie było łatwe, bo artyści z Wyrda lubują się w ciemnych barwach.

While painting this mini and several others I've shown on the blog recently, I was listening to the Empire trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. I read some of Feist's novels (the Riftwar and the Serpentwar saga along with some stand-alone titles). I thought it might be interesting to return to this universe after a long break and decided to start with the Empire Trilogy as this seemed like the most reasonable choice (at least as far as chronology is concerned). The series follows the story of Mara, a young noble who has to stop her temple education as her father and elder brother are killed in a political intrigue. She is forced to enter the Game of the Council, a relentless and cruel struggle for power in the empire of the Tsuranuanni. 

The books read quite well even though at times it seems like they could be a bit more complicated as it seems like some of the problems faced by the protagonist are too often "miraculously" solved. Despite that, it wasi nteresting to see a different perspective on the Riftwar and learn more about Tsuranuanni society and its strict honor code. I thought the parts about Black Robes were the most interesting. This elite assembly of magicians that functions outside law was already presented in previous novels by Feist but here more was revealed about their hidden agenda. 

I've also read a very nice book I got as a Christmas gift from my wife. "Wilki" (Wolves) by Adam Wajrak is a fascinating journey into the Białowieża Forest, where the author has spent a big part of his life, working as a correspondent for one of the biggest Polish newspapers. He got a chance to observe nature closely, and to learn about wild animals and their habits. Wolves have always fascinated me so it was really great to get more insights into their lives and learn more about how a pack functions. The author debunks many myths about these magnificent animal. He is really passionate about his job and this shows as the book reads very well. There are also some really spectacular pictures in it. I enjoyed reading it thoroughly and will probably try to read some of the other works by Wajrak.

My six weeks with Ten Thunders - a summary

My Ten Thunders painting project started in August. In total I painted 18 miniatures during the last 6 weeks. Not a bad result I think.
Working with bright, vivid shades was definitely a great experience. If you look at my earlier works you'll immediately notice that I tend to favor rather dark colors. This project enabled me to stretch my painting skills and get out of my comfort zone in order to do something different. Finding a balance between those bright color schemes and a darker painting style that comes to me naturally was a big challenge but it most definitely was a great experience. In the pic below you can see the whole batch (the Neverborn and Mccabe's crew seen at the back were not part of this project).

For once my glass cabinet was filled with bright colors

Here are links to previous Ten Thunders - related blog entries (in the order they were painted):
The Torakage
Ten Thunders Archers
Low River Monks
Dawn Serpents
Ototo
Mistress Misaki and Shang
Yamaziko
Oiran

Oiran

These are probably the most challenging minis I've ever painted for Malifaux. They are beautifully designed with an amazing number of details and really well defined features. What makes them so hard to work with is their size.They are just so tiny! It was a solid practice of highlighting small surfaces as well as a chance to work with colors I don't normally use. It's definitely a good idea to paint something that is not necessarily your style once in a while as it allows you to improve your painting skills.

In game the Oiran are a very interesting minion. At mere 5ss they bring in an amazing ability in the form of Lure. It has an impressive range of 18' and (if successful, it's resisted by WP) forces a model to move its Wk towards the Oiran. It's easy to pull of with Ca8 and a built in mask as the TN is 12. The Oiran also give friendly models within 4' +1 to Wp. They also have a few tricks up their long sleeves in melee with some interesting triggers.

And that completes my TT project. I'll write a summary of my work with this faction in a separate blog entry. For now I want to focus on preparing a few terrain pieces for my gaming board and after that I have quite a few Neverborn models to work on.

Yellow Thunder #5 The Teacher

Yamaziko may look inconspicuous but this elderly lady is a force to be reckoned with. Misaki's teacher and mentor can be deadly with her weapon of choice - the yari (with an impressive range of 3' + 40 mm base that allows her to engage more targets). She hits hard too with very solid 3/3/4 damage profile.The ram trigger is automatically included, which means that moderate and severe damage can cause blast damage. Yamaziko is honorable, which means that she gets + to dmg against masters and - against peons. Her age brings wisdom, meaning that she has a chance to learn what the other leader's unrevealed schemes are.

Did I mention her age? Well, yeas, she is also stubborn, forcing a - to Wp based attacks that target her. She is also relentless, giving her immunity to horror duels. With a Wk of 4 she may seem like a slow henchman but she more than makes up for it with nimble and an extra free Wk action. Her Df 4 and 8 Wd look unimpressive at first glance but she has a nice trick up her ancient sleeve. Her (0) action forces any enemy models targeting a friendly model with 3' to suffer 4 damage. She definitely brings a lot of options with her and all of that at ss cost of 7.

The main challenge I had while working with this model was a large gap left after gluing in her right arm. A lot of GS/LGS was pushed in and smoothed over to cover it up completely. Her facial features are very well defined so painting this part was easy enough. I avoided drybrushing her hair as it would just mess them up and worked the highlights carefully up with detail brush.  There are quite a few little items she is carrying with her tied to her weapon. A lantern, a piece of cloth and a third item I initially had trouble recognizing. It's actually a mask so I chose to paint it red, similarly to Ototo's mask. I also used a different color scheme for her to make the model stand out more. I did include a touch of yellow though.

Yellow Thunder #4 The Mistress and her Pet

Misaki and her personal totem, Shang, have one of the nicest stories that I've ever read from the world of Malifaux. As a child, the Oyabun's daughter devoted most of her time to honing her martial arts skills. Her diligence wasn't the only thing that set her apart from other children though. She claimed she could see what she called foxfire. It was something she started referring to as her special friend. It wasn't until after she's crossed the Breach on her way to Malifaux that her unique companion really came into being in the form of Shang.

 Misaki is a true assassin. She moves very quickly around the board and hr charge has a range of 8' and ignores other models and buildings as long as her target is in line of sight. Add a 2' melee range to that and it becomes clear that she must always be taken into account by opposing player. What's more, she has the Stalking Bisento upgrade, which potentially gives her a chance to dish out as many as 4 attacks in a round. If you add a Recalled training, she gets + to all her flips for one turn, which makes her a true melee monster. Her other Melee attack, Thunder, gives her a chance to do blast damage (which she ignores). This can be very effective against certain crews (hello Dreamer!).
I've already mentioned mobility. With the Next Target trigger she can push up to 4' in any direction after damaging her target. If she doesn't manage to jump out of the engagement, she can always turn to a Misdirection upgrade. As long as you have a mask in control hand, she can pass on the damage to any other model within 2' (apart from the attacker).

Misaki is probably the most complex model I've ever painted for Malifaux. Her pose is very dynamic and the number of details can seem a bit daunting at first.I found choosing colors for each of these a bit challenging but ended up throwing in a bit of red and turquoise along with a touch of blue and green on the metal parts.
I used a Zen base insert for her base. At first I didn't really know what to do with this special effect she's creating but in the end decided to make it look like she was splashing water. I needed to make a few changes to the base for it to happen.

 I really like the design here. Shang is a truly unique totem and painting him was a lot of fun. I chose a rather simple base for him as any detail would probably be lost there. He's pretty big and barely fits into a 30 mm base.
In game he bring in some help to Misaki in the form of healing action and some potential damage output. Still, with a Df of 5 and only 4 wounds it's probably a better idea to keep him in the back (but within 6' of Misaki).

And here's the finished crew. I normally paint using much darker shades so it was a nice change. Somehow it seems to me that the Ten Thunders get the most amazing miniatures as they're unique in design and have very dynamic poses.

Yellow Thunder #3 Little Brother

Little Brother to friends, The Thunder to enemies, Ototo is not a person you want to be standing against when he's angry. He is a true giant of a man (which is reflected by his Ht 3 and 40mm base). He has 12 Wd and is Hard to Kill. He can easily move through shorter models (which means pretty much everyone in the game except really big and nasty monsters). He can also heal himself but that's not always the best option for him as he gets significantly better when reduced to half of his wounds. And all of that without any upgrades... His relatively low defense of 5 and his SS cost (10) are considerable downsides but whatever the situation, he is always a force to be reckoned with (and to be shot at!).

The miniature is pure awesomeness. Probably the most dynamic one that's been released so far. I really like the positioning with the giant Tetsubo as it hits the ground,  creating some kind of magical effect. His hair flows nicely in the air and the material on his clothes is folded appropriately. 

I had lots of fun working on this one but struggled a little with the chest area. I generally prefer to put the miniature together and use GS on all the gaps before I start painting. In this case it caused some problems as his chest area and upper thighs were really hard to get to. Fortunately, I had no trouble reaching his mask with a brush and ended up painting it red to add an element of contrast. The eyes are bright blue to look like some king of magical glow but you can't really see that in the picture...

Dawn Serpents

The moment I saw Mako's article in Wyrd Chronicles #13, I knew I wanted to paint this miniature. I ended up getting two so I thought I would work on them using different color schemes.

Before painting I prepared the bases. I used some resin casts that had been lying in my bits box for ages. I really liked Mako's idea and I thought it added a more "magical" feel to the Serpent. With this repositioning it looks as if it was floating majestically instead of just flying up. 

As usual, my camera couldn't handle red and the color on the more fiery serpent looks off in the pictures. I think I actually like this version even more as it seems more "classic" with the choice of colors easily associated with dragons. At the same time, I have to admit, the color scheme I took from Mako's article makes the beast look interesting too. 

 In game, Dawn Serpent offers some nice anti-magic powers. Ca actions targeting it lose suit. As far as resilience is concerned, it is Hard to Kill and it can heal 1 damage for each model with Ca within 6' with a (0) Tactical Action. Obviously, it flies so with a Wk of 6 and 40 mm base, it can move around the board efficiently. Its melee attack has solid profile and automatically includes Poison +2 condition. It can also breath fire into enemies (with blasts, why not?) from 8' and set them on fire. The only downside is a relatively high cost. At 10ss you'll probably think twice before choosing it for an encounter. Still, it can work well against certain crews.