Wicked Dolls

This was my second batch of Puppet models and I have to say I really like the look of the basing, specifically the magical wires. I feel like it's a really evocative element. Anyway, these little guys were fairly quick except for going back and painting the stitching. I could have easily spent way more time on them, but I'm trying to avoid getting bogged down.

Feedback Requested

I'm explicitly reaching out to any remaining readers I have out there. Recently I've been debating whether to keep this blog updated so much. A few months ago I posted about having been maintaining this blog for 10 years. Well now I find myself in a situation where I'm using other means like Twitter and Instagram to share my completed works. Although this blog is somewhat helpful from a "documentation" point of view, I'm starting to debate the value in keeping it. So I'd like to solicit opinions. Maybe I should be using Facebook instead? Maybe there's some magical app or tool that makes it easier to cross-post to multiple things at once? Maybe I shouldn't even bother with some of these? I'm honestly curious to hear other ideas.

Corrupted Hounds

More quickly painted models. These were particularly challenging to get glued to bases since they have such disperse and small feet. Fortunately since they are plastic, they are much easier to get glued securely given their low weight. Hopefully they survive on the tabletop.

Changelings

These little guys were very little. Under 1" tall. Yet they were still pretty fun to paint. I'll admit that I cut some corners on these (particularly the faces), but given the size I was having enough success with thin washes that I didn't want to risk getting in there with a brush to do too much detail and end up screwing up the whole thing. Even with these I feel like I added a couple things that I'm not sure I should have done (altering the color of the shorts).

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #144

Still trying to be completely healthy. So lame.

I had intended to write up more this post, but it's going to devolve into just quick notes. First, and most important, I built this lighting arch for my desk! It was pretty cheap to build all things considered: LED lights and power cord from Amazon, aluminum bar and c-clamps from OSH, all for about $60 total. It provides great light, but it does have a different tint (slight blueish) compared to my normal lamp (slight yellowish). However it's not so much that I'm worried about it.

In addition, I got the Sonnia Criid crew on to bases and most of them primed for Sketch Style. I finished a bunch of stuff this last two weeks that finally got posted too. I'm making a bunch of bases at once. Also got my 4 Corrupted Hounds and 3 Wicked Dolls assembled. Finally, I'm nearly done with my 3 Changelings as well.

Total games played this year: 2

Spawn Mother

So this project was somewhat inspired by a similar translucent Jacob Lynch model that I had seen where the the painter had left parts of the translucent plastic unpainted to create a really cool effect. The Spawn Mother is not exactly the best option for this, but it's the one I decided to try this out with. I opted to leave the webbing parts of his fins and hands as translucent and then paint over the rest of it. The end result is subtle but I like it. However, let's talk about the challenges of this project...

First, the assembly of this model is annoying. There was a big seam on each side of the back which required some covering back up. For that task I actually painted in layers of matte medium, which worked well but it still took some extra painting work to really hide it to a level that I was willing to live with.
Then the next challenge was that since I wasn't priming it as normal, I had to paint directly onto the plastic and that was a tedious task. Eventually once everything was base coated it got much smoother.
Finally, was the task of sealing it, which was extra necessary due to the lack of primer. However with the goal of having the translucent green plastic still be properly translucent, I couldn't matte coat it. I had done some previous experiments on leftover sprue pieces and found that gloss coating it didn't have a net effect on it, so that's what I did carefully. It left the whole model looking rather wet, which ends up working out. All that complaining aside, this project was a really great learning experience and I'm glad I did it. And now I can play the Amphibious Assault scenario!

Mysterious Emissary

This project really started out of curiosity. I was trying to figure out how to merge this model's pre-designed base with my own Neverborn basing scheme. The base that it came with was pretty necessary for keeping the overall structure of the model, and although I could have ditched it, I felt it was both easier and more interesting to keep it. From there I needed to find a way to merge it with the obsidian plinth style that I've been doing for all my Neverborn models, which wasn't as hard as I expected. Once I reached that point, it became a matter of just plugging away at the project. Eventually it ended up assembled, then primed, then once I started painting it I really found joy in the project. I started with all the wood tones, working in combinations of colors to make it look obviously wooden but more a living wood than looking like dead dried wood. After that I continued on with the vines and leaves, adding complementary life-giving colors. Then I departed hard left, and did the blossoms and nymphs using my Nephilim skin tons. At first I thought I had made a grave mistake, but in the end I like the results. It creates a more otherworldly and sinister feel to this otherwise wholesome nature look.

Painting this model was a unique challenge due to all the entwining of the vines and limbs and such, but I truly did enjoy it. I'm super excited to get this model on the table eventually.