CURRENT PROJECTS
Prince August Cast Your Own Figures Orc Catapult and Crew
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This is a great vintage Prince August figure set that I cast using their "Fantasy Armies Cast Your Own Figure" line that was popular back in the 1980's. I used to see their ads for this range in Dragon Magazine. The catapult and orc crew were pretty easy to cast with the exception of the orc commander. I could not get his sword to come out of the mold in one piece, so I ended up using some miliput to fill in the gap. After applying the base colors to the catapult I brushed on some Army Painter Quickshade strong tone pigmented varnish.
Mines of Moria Project
 moria prep2.jpgGetting ready finish up Mines of Moria scenery. |  moria prep1.jpgPrepping to finish up painting of Mines of Moria. |
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 goblin lot.jpgMoria Goblin lot. |  Moria3.jpgMines of Moria. I constructed these tunnels out of polystyrene tiles and carved them using a hot foam cutter. Tacky glue was used to glue the polystyrene layers together. |
 Moria1.jpg |  Moria2.jpg |
 Moria bridge 3.jpgThe bridges were constructed out of balsa wood. |  Moria bridge 2.jpgI broke up a few of the wooden slats in the bridge to make it look old and decrepit. |
 Moria bridge 4.jpg |  mc1.jpg |
 cart2.jpg |  mine cart on track.jpg |
 full mine cart.jpg |  mine cart.jpg |
 bridge rail1.jpg |  bridge rail2.jpg |
 bridge rail 3.jpg |  barrel 2.jpgThese were sculpted with air dry natural modeling clay. I brushed on a layer of Tacky glue thinned with water to help the clay bind and add some more protection to the sculptures. |
 barrel 6.jpg |  barrel 3.jpgOnce the clay was dried, I undercoated the barrels and crates in black paint. |
 barrel 4.jpgI used dry brushing so the black undercoat will show through giving shading. |  barrel 5.jpgOnce the barrels and crates were painted, I hot glued them to polystyrene bases, which I had undercoated black and dry brushed with grey paint. |
 barrel 1.jpg |  Barrel spillage.jpg |
 scaffold 1.jpgMining scaffolding was made out of balsa wood. These are the x beams that I added to the scaffold frame. |  scaffolding5.jpgHot glue was used to glue the scaffolding and ladder. |
 scaffolding3.jpg |  scaffolding4.jpgIn order to create enough space for a miniature to stand on the ladder, I took two plastic bases stacked together to measure the space between each ladder rung. |
 scaffolding3.jpg |  scaffold2.jpg |
 Moria rigging.jpg |  crane1.jpg |
 crane2.jpg |  crane undercoat.jpg |
 Morica cave3.jpg |  Moria cave2.jpg |
 Moria cave1.jpg |  project table.jpg |
 moria cave.jpg |  Moria dry brush1.jpg |
Lord of The Rings
I just started painting some Games Workshop Lord of the Rings miniatures from their Battle Strategy game. Since these figures will be used for wargaming, I undercoat them in black paint and layer the colors on using a lot of drybrushing. I do add some ink washes to their faces and sometimes over their clothing and/or equipment. This technique can be done quickly and produces attractive looking figures.
Prince August Cast Your Own Figures -Dwarves. Double click me.
Phase 1
These are half a dozen Dwarves I casted up from The Prince August Classic Fantasy series. They have a Viking flavor to them. After I removed them from the mold, I used a hobby knife to trim off the excess metal and remove mold lines. What I couldn't get at with the hobby knife, I used a small modeling file to sand rough edges down. Once the models were cleaned up, I took a small metal wire brush and scrubbed each one of them vigorously to remove any residue. I super glued each figure to a nickel. This provides the perfect sized base and adds some additional weight to the figure, which I like to have. Next time around, I will switch to using metal washers instead of coins.
Phase 2
I then apply some FastMache to the bases using a plastic sculpting tool. FastMache is basically a fast drying paper mache, that when dry, can be sanded. It is wonderful for making all kinds of landscaping for dioramas. Railroad model builders swear by this stuff. It's cheap, easy to work with, and looks great. After applying the FastMache, I let the figures set overnight to dry. You can use a hair dryer on the FastMache to speed the drying process up. Here is a link to find amazing stuff:
http://www.amazon.com/Activa-FastMache-Sculpting-2-Pound-Bright/dp/B000KEPSF8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371361852&sr=8-1&keywords=fastmache
Phase 3
Once the bases are dried, the next step is to primer the figures. I used spray car primer I picked up at Walmart, which is less expensive than buying the primer they sell at gaming stores. I try to give the figures a light coat of primer, otherwise there is a risk of blotting up the primer and obscuring the details. The whole purpose of priming figures is to help the paint to stick to it. Most of the time I use white primer, but for Orcs, Goblins, and other dark and dreary creatures, black primer can be used to good effect. These Dwarves are now prepped and ready to be painted! I will be posting more pictures as I start the painting process.
Phase 4
Make an assembly line with the figures and start applying the base colors; paint from the skin outward. Since these two dwarves are covered in plate armor, I choose to paint their armor black and then hightlight it with silver and give it a wash of brown ink for a weathered apperance. For their helmets, I think I want to give them a bronze look, so I will highlight them with gold paint and give a redbrown wash of ink.
Phase 6
After the figures were painted, I brushed the bases with a bit of rubber cement and sprinkled some modeling grass on top. Once dry, each of these figures will be sprayed with a matt protective sealant.
I used an earth brown ink wash on this dwarf's cloak followed by dry brushing tan mixed with a little white paint onto the folds in order to create the shadowing effect.
Phase 5
My goal was to give these two figures a dark, battle hardened, look to them, so I washed their armor with redish brown ink. Once dried, I did another wash with black ink.