Playing with paint

So, with a Chaos Villager to do for a painting challenge on the Oldhammer Forum, and the deadline looming, I dug out the assembled and undercoated model to do something with it. I pinned it to the miniature holder I'd picked up from Hobbyzone, because I wanted to do the base separately anyway (I had no wish of trying to paint the lower half of the model with the anvil in the way).

 I was a bit stuck for ideas, so decided to play around with a few things. I went with Darkstar's Tarnished Steel. I was a little disappointed so moved on to other bits, in particular, basing the leather with XV-88, as I couldn't find my beloved Steel Legion Drab. Like, seriously, I can't find it and it's really bugging me.

I then tried a bit of a wash with a P3 Chestnut Ink I originally got to experiment with water effects and hadn't used since. It ended up with a really nice rich colour, but with too much of a gloss finish for what I was trying to do - there are totally leathers that would suit that, but I wanted this to be a more dull flat colour, so I'll need to bring that back again.

I then put a Nuln Oil Gloss wash over the leg plates, and some sort of dark wizardry occurred. They suddenly looked amazing. I need to tidy up the bits where I got brown ink on them now, because otherwise they're pretty much perfect.

The anvil had been based with the Forge World Iron Hands Steel paint, though it seems to froth up into bubbles whenever I shake it. I don't think that's meant to happen.

OK, I'm back from mailing Forge World to ask them if that's meant to happen. I drybrushed the anvil with the Tarnished Steel, then did a Nuln Oil Gloss wash. Still want to play with it more, but liking it so far.

The metal bit of the base, I did the same as the anvil. I'm wanting to play around with colours a bit more, so I'm planning on really playing around with the cobblestones once the matte Nuln Oil wash is dry on that.

Oh, if you want this miniature, you can totally get it from Anvil Industry.

Salute 2014: Miniature Companies - New Friends

If your first thought was "What in the name of sweet baby Jesus is that?" then that is the exact reaction that got us investigating this stall in the first place! This is a game called "Stalagbite" by Midlam Miniatures. Now Midlam do an excellent range of adventurers and dungeon monsters very suitable for D&D players and so on.

So, this is their giant demo version - the version they sell is much smaller, but apparently they have a lot of people mentioning they're interested in the larger version. The Stalagbite models are also extra to the game, but easily worth it for the sake of making it look more awesome. The idea is that you are dwarf adventurers, trying to mine stalagmites for gold and treasure - but some are actually nasty bitey monsters that might have you arm off!

Otherworld Miniatures had a lot of good D&D type stuff. Their giant spiders are really good, to the point where some arachnophobes in my party were giving entire cabinets a wide berth.

This is Thundercloud Miniatures, who are just getting started by the looks of things. They've also bought the rights to one of the GoblinAid miniatures, now that's winding up. I look forward to seeing what they come up with.

I have never painted a bust. I now own one (actually from Infamy), but Dark Star Miniatures very nearly got me to part with some cash for one of theirs!

This adorable orc with the big tusks was the one who was tempting me into something like this, and I still absolutely intend to get one within the next couple of years.

The alien head is adorable and an awesome painting challenge. I think Sim managed to purchase one of him while I wasn't looking.

Ax Faction had a beautiful case full of miniatures, and I managed to fluff up the big group shot. Still, this was the latest release, a girl riding a giant rabbit / hare. And why not? Their women do seem to be rather lacking sensible outdoor wear, though.

Now, I've seen quite a few bits and pieces from Anvil Industry on the web before - mostly their release announcements through Tabletop Fix. I will certainly say, I'm definitely very impressed.

The dogs in this shot are brand new - and do interest me a bit. Most of the rest of what they do are definitely intended to be Space Marine alternative sculpts - and I'd really rate a lot of them alongside the Forge World Horus Heresy ones in terms of quality - but just design wise, I much prefer the Forge World ones from a personal taste point of view. They are also looking to come up with their own game soon (called Afterlife), which I will watch curiously.

This was their display table. It's a huge multi-level building / 'skyscraper'. I think it's awesome, and really want to try playing Infinity over it.

And finally, lets save the best creepy clown company in the industry until last. Mad Clown Miniatures are associated with British Indie, and one of a number of small wargaming companies which seem to be taking off at the moment.

Who did I fail to take photos of the newer people?

Well, there is Smart Max. They make Smog 1888 and Mauser Earth, which are very pretty games I'm considering taking up in the future. I seem to have done a lot better with photos of the stalls I'd not seen before.