Pick of the Week

I've just finished watching Sons of Anarchy season 3 finale and to be honest I'm blown away. Great scenario, all the threads are closed but at the same time there's plenty of space left open for twists and turns in season 4. I cannot recommend this TV series enough. Great plot, superb performances by Ron Perlman (the guy who read those famous lines about war in the Fallout series ;), Katey Sagal (yes, Bundy's wife, she's amazing in this one) and Charlie Hunnam. Not to mention the appearances of guys like Henry rolling and... Stephen King. So guys, if you haven't already watched it, get hold of a dvd and check it out. And one more thing - the creator's blog.

Revenant Crew Rifleman attachment

Looks like the Revenant Crew is going to get more firearm support. PP showed a few Upcoming Releases today and the Rifleman is one that I like the most, check him out:

The undead Cryx minis are absolutely amazing, they're one of the main reasons I chose this army. I'll be definitely buy this one, along with the whole crew but I need to deal with my backlog first. Speaking of which, the plastic helljack has already been magnetized and is almost ready for painting. I will post an update soon.

Jack in the Box part I

Well, maybe not that kind of jack. Anyway, I finally have some time to lay my hands on the Cryx helljack plastic set that's been waiting deep in the drawer for a few months. I've already painted the metal Slayer from the battlegroup box. It was fun but I think I would have done it differently now. The model is great but the way I put it together doesn't make it look dynamic at all. This time I want to do some conversions, bend it into a more dynamic pose and of course magnetize it.



That's how it looks like at the moment, all the parts waiting to be used (I forgot to put up Malice's parts for the pic. Some serious drilling will take place now, though I won't get medieval on this one ;) I have a pretty good Idea how to do it, so stay tuned :)

Out of commission

Well, at least for the time being. I finished this one on Thursday and the commissioner has already received it.



Abrakhan guard were definitely my favorites here. Great idea and excellent sculpts.
Now I will try to make some progress on my own minis and the plastic helljack set is number one on the agenda.

Wrath Engine

PP has finally revealed how the Wrath Engine looks like. I totally dig it, the sculpt combines technology with the unique, somehow alien, Cryxian look.



If you want to read more about it, check out the latest insider on PP website.

Saruman, come forth

Painting white isn't probably the easiest aspect of this hobby. Achieving a solid color requires many layers of diluted paint. Depending on what effect I want to achieve I use different strategies. If I want just a "table-top" quality I start with Astronomican Grey and add white to this paint in a few successive layers until I reach satisfying effect. However, when I focus on a single mini I tend to start from slightly darker colors (browns, grays) and slowly build up the highlights. Thats's how I worked on the first version of Saruman. Excellent mini, I really like the way his robes are sculpted. I left this one with a bleached white cloak so that his white hair would add an additional element of contrast.

The mounted version isn't my favorite. The clothes don't look so nice on this one. It seems to me that the sculptor didn't really do his best on this one. The proportions of the wizard's body don't seem right with his right arm a little too large in comparison to the left one (which is obscured by the robes). The longish right sleeve makes him look a little clumsy. Or at least that's the way I see it.
The robes on this version were painted using Andrea white set. I followed the instructions from the leaflet attached to the box. It meant giving a solid layer of the base color (a slightly darker, creamy shade of white), building it up in three successive highlights and finishing by adding the shades in the recesses. I guess it's supposed to be a more 'professional' approach (adding shades in the final stage) and even though I'm not happy with the final effect on this one, I can see the potential of this method.
As for the choice of music to this post, there was only one option I could think of.

Harad command vol.2

I had another chance to paint the new version of Harad command group (the previous one can be found here). The sculpts are very nice and the amount of details is also pretty large. Nothing too fancy here but overall I'm pleased with the result.
I also finished painting Suladan - the old version. The new one (kiteman) is pretty terrible in my opinion. I particularly like the dynamic pose of horse and the mask. The pictures are not top notch quality as winter's still in full swing here and days are grey so good lighting is a pipe dream.
The Serpent rider is a final touch in this batch of minis. I've nearly completed my commission, only one mini remaining - mounted Saruman. I've pretty much finished it so I'll be posting an update soon.
I'm currently on a sick leave so I should get a chance to do some work on my own projects (I mean Cryx :) so stay tuned for more.
Cheers,
Viruk