Still Alive...

Yes, I'm still alive.  After a good year and a half I've picked up the brush again...this time to paint a few more Hordes miniatures that had been sitting on my wall for a good three+ years.

First up, some Trollblood Fennblades...

And an Earthborn Dire Troll...

And finally, a Wold Guardian...

So I have some work to do to regain my brush control and to hone various techniques that I am rusty on but it felt good to see models that were in boxes on walls that were (quite literally) collected dust...and to see them finished on the table.  My 10 year old is becoming an avid Warmahordes player with me, so it will be fun to field these figures.

Tribal Hut for Hordes

Been struggling for years with how to make a decent looking tribal hut for wargaming terrain....I think I have it down now!  This is a prototype but I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  The cross-shaped totem can be swapped with banners or other pieces.

Figure Feature: Alternate Alten

There are few Privateer Press sculpts that I feel a desire to sub an alternate model for.  That being said, I'm just not in love with the Alten Ashley model(although the stogie is cool).  It's not that it's not a nice figure...I just think they have a better "Monster Hunter" in the PP stable...Seth Alkot of the Iron Kingdom line.  I really like this figure(MFKAS-Mini Formerly Known As Seth)...he has a lean, mean look fitting of the character's profile in the Minions book.  Here's my take on him...
(click on images for larger pictures)

They show him in a black coat on their website but I kind of wanted him in a more rugged, leather overcoat.  I chose Sanguine for the scarf(my story is that he picked it up from the Protectorate when he worked for them) and a military grey/blue for his bedroll(he 'kept' it after serving with the Khadoran forces).  I also chose to make his shoulder/elbow armor a nice bronze(maybe they were a parting gift from Cygnarian trenchers). 

I used cork tiling for his base(ripped it up) and accessorized with some sand grit, lichen strands and a floral bit(the flowers behind him).  You can't see it in the pic but I went over the flat, top surface of the cork with Liquitex Stucco because otherwise it very obviously appears as cork.

Thanks for viewing my "Alternate Alten"!

Figure Feature: Stonekeeper

The Shifting Stones will find themselves in many Circle Orboros army lists as will their great unit attachment, the Stonekeeper.  I was excited to paint up this solo as I really like the challenge of painting stone, gemstones and the green/gold armor plating common to Circle figures.  Hopefully you like the effect...
(click on pictures for larger images)

I'd also like to show you a photo the works in progress on my painting desk right now...

You know what they are, right?

Also, thanks to this post from the Diesel DM blog about photographing miniatures...in my opinion its the best tutorial I've seen about photographing miniatures and it was a big help to me.

Figure Feature: Mannikins & Sentry Stone

The druids of Orboros are known for their constructs.  Though the stone wolds are the more famous of their creations, the wooden Mannikins and their Sentry Stones are feared as well!

I love this little unit(yes unit...why is it still under 'solos' on the PP site?).  You have to love the character of these sculpts...
(click on images for large versions)

And I have to show them in 'dancing' formation...

Here's a look at just the Mannikins(I love the head sculpts!)...

And just the Sentry Stone...

Thanks for taking a look!

Oh, and as a die hard League of Legends player, I have to point out that...

'Fiddlesticks' was inspired by the PP Mannikins(in my humble opinion!).

Figure Feature: Tharn Bloodtrackers

Tribal allies of Circle Orboros, the Tharn Bloodtrackers are female warriors who are swift-footed spear-throwers.  They will make a nice addition to my Baldur army as they will enjoy the damage buff that he conveys as well as his armor bonus(Stone Skin).

Here's my version of the unit...

I gave the leader of the unit a streak of red in her hair...you have to love her howling war cry pose...

Here is a shot of one of the warriors for a closer look at how I did their bases.  The grass are tufts by The Army Painter and the flora are bits of a an old wedding bouquet that was on clearance at a local craft store...

One thing to note about a little "fix up" did with the painting(in case this ever happens to you):
I wanted my Bloodtrackers to have pale skin as shown by PP but after painting and highlighting I found that I'd gone too far...and their flesh was more white than anything else.  To fix this I made a very watered-down glaze of P3 Red Ink and washed it over the skin areas...presto...a more normal color without having to start the whole painting process over again!

Post Hiatus Momentum...

...yeah that post title sounds like a Harry Potter spell doesn't it?  Seriously, it has been many months since I posted and there's a good reason...I haven't painted for many months.  I used to fight it, but I've learned to accept that I'm a "hobby in spurts" kind of guy.  There are sometimes four month periods where I churn out dozens of painted models, and then I need a few months downtime to recuperate...then the cycle starts over again.  The only downside is that I don't want to let people down who follow this blog...but...well, it's how I do it. 

Anyways, here are my latest figures(excuse the rust, I'm getting my painting mojo back gradually)...
(Click on pictures for slightly larger images)

Herne & Jonne(Warmachine Mercenary Unit)...

Runebearer(Trollblood Warlock Attachment Solo)...

Trollblood Skinner(Trollblood Solo)...

Druid Wilder(Circle Orboros Solo)...

Baldur the Stonecleaver(Circle Orboros Warlock)...

Megalith(Circle Orboros Character Warbeast(Wold))...

Well that's it for now, but I've got a Circle Orboros unit on the front burner that I'll be posting pics of when they're done.  Thanks for viewing!

A Year's Progress...

Well, I've been painting Warmachine miniatures for about a year now, having adding Hordes into the mix this past Christmas.  Here's  a screenshot of my Collection Manager from the Forward Kommander program for a sense of what I have done...

 (yeah, that's 188 WM/H minis that I own now)
As you can see I've accomplished a lot...but I have many unpainted minis awaiting my brushes.  I keep my "minis in waiting" on pegs on the wall...

As my collection list above shows, I really like "dabbling" in building many armies rather than specialize in one faction.  Actually my big Merc(and growing Minion) collection speaks to this...as I like to fill out many of my faction armies with Merc/Minion support.    I've really enjoyed approaching the hobby this way...it keeps me from getting bored with the same scheme(red for Khador, blue for Cygnar, etc.) and allows to me to pick and choose some of my favorite sculpts.  Plus, its fun to hop around from faction to faction and grow my armies little by litte.

So what's in the works right now?....

Figure Feature: Grim Angus and Janissa Stonetide

Well, we all know that the Trollbloods ooze character...that's probably why I ordered too many for Christmas!  Now I'm backlogged on painting them(along with various Minions, Circle, Warmachine figures) but I am getting them done slowly but surely.  Below is a video clip showing my newly finished Grim Angus and Janissa Stonetide figures...I can't wait to field them!

Figure Feature: Minion Solos

I recently uploaded a video on my Youtube Channel of various Minion Solos that I finished painting(Pendrake, Gudrun, Rorsh & Brine) and thought folks here might be interested...
(double click video window to enlarge)

Simple "Supply" Cover Terrain for Warmachine/Hordes

I have been spending the last two months furiously painting minis for use with my gaming club so I haven't done much in the area of terrain. While some basecoats were drying on some solos the other day I threw these together and thought I would share...

They are VERY cheaply made from wooden craft bits from Michael's(the barrels, pot-shaped barrels) and modeling clay(the grain/supply bags). I am sure I could make them look prettier with a little more time but it was a quick little project.

They are meant as simple cover pieces, but I was thinking they could also make nice objective markers...or even mod a game to give the person who captures them some sort of resupply bonus.