The World Of Twilight

Well, as I'm such a slow painter, I thought I'd post a more recent project up until I have some Twilight to post.

It was painted around summer last year (told you I was slow :P) and is a Guild crew for Malifaux. I present Perdita Ortega, and her family (click on the image for an embiggened version):

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Malifaux/OrtegasGroupShotS.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Malifaux/OrtegasGroupShotL.jpg)

All comments and criticisms welcome! (And yes, I already know my photography is lacking a bit of focus/lighting, sorry... :-\ )

Those are some lovely Ortegas! I really need to get around to finishing all my Arcanists and Outcasts...

Cool. They look like a right bunch of cowboys!  ;)

HN

wow stunning Ortega's! 

Malifaux is a cool game, I have Rasputina's and Seamus's crews :)

Those are lovely models.
I've got the rules, but I've never had the time to collect a force and play  :(

The card based aspect of it and "cheating fate" is really cool......you do have a ton of special abilities and things to keep track of though.....:(

Ramos and leveticus mainly here. My other half has learned that Pandora does not like Leveticus, ohoho. Good choice on Seamus, I've got him around somewhere, but never used.

Seamus and his undead hookers are awesome! I have his copycat killer which is a fun little mini aswell :)

Leveticus has a reputation of being one of the hardest to master....

I have a small number of the minis actually painted!

http://brandlin.blogspot.com/2009/02/slow-start-to-year-blog-wise-but-i-have.html (http://brandlin.blogspot.com/2009/02/slow-start-to-year-blog-wise-but-i-have.html)

Thanks for the comments!

Malifaux is a great game; I feel it takes the best bits of WM, and combines them with very clever card mechanics. The rules are tricky because there are a fair few odd interactions, and because Wyrd have grown *fast* and I feel the guys are struggling to keep up a bit! The game revolves around scenarios (primary objectives) and schemes (secondary objectives) which are partly random, and partly chosen. The hard-to-remember stuff is on the model cards too, which really helps. If you like WM but wish there was more story and fewer models, then it is probably the game for you.

I have rather a lot of crews, but only the Ortegas are finished. Rasputina's lot are close to being done however, and there are eight more crews to follow after that... Should get them finished when I'm about 80!  :D

Anyway, another huge love of mine is 6mm Sci-Fi. Namely Epic40k, of which I have a rather obscene amount (but still much less than 'hardcore' collectors!). I started a Squat force for it recently (end of 2010), but work and then the Christmas break intervened soon after and I still have to get back to them. I only have a (poor) finished picture of the Colossus war engine:

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Epic/04FinishedColossussm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Epic/04FinishedColossus.jpg)

The Brotherhood on their custom bases are still awaiting some love:

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Epic/05WIPBrotherhoodsm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Epic/05WIPBrotherhood.jpg)

And finally, the Goliaths are actually 80% done, including their bases (which are finished), but no progress or finished pic yet. I do have this one showing where they began prior to their undercoat though:

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Epic/06WIPGoliathssm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Epic/06WIPGoliaths.jpg)

nice minis mate!   :)

I have a couple of 6mm armies for Future War Commander

I love the dark realm Andrayadans :)

Very nice Squats there! That's making me want to paint my AdMech titans, blimey. Now I want to get more done on not only Malifaux, but Epic too. Poor Twilight!

Squats...? Didn't they all get eaten by Tyranids?  ;)

I like the paint job on the Colossus. Any plans to add runes?

HN

Well, I did want to add some insignia in white, but not the classic Norse/Celtic runes. I always liked the way the Squats were portrayed in Epic, and hated them in WH40k. So when I got mine, I thought about what I most liked about them and their background, and came up with:


So I decided to make them an Ad-Mech flavoured army, and use a similar colour scheme too. That would allow me to cross a lot of the common equipment over to a future Ad-Mech army if I ever wanted to. The reds, greys and metals also fit in very well with the colours and minerals of their home worlds.

For the insignia, I wanted to do some techy Ad-Mech style runes/symbols, but incorporating a few 'classic' Squat symbols too - anvils, hammers, wings etc. I felt that doing all the insignia at the end would be best though, as I could judge what I wanted and where more easily then, and then do them all at once.

The army has all kinds of things I wanted to add: lots of super-heavy war engines, Thudd guns and self-propelled artillery, robot maniples, tunnellers (including the huge Hellbore of Citadel legend), new non-Russ/Predator tanks, lots of VTOL fliers and a full wing of Zepplins! I've also collected a silly number (~50+) of the very old metal Rhinos (the ones that came before the plastic ones we're all familiar with) so that my slow troops can ride around in style.  :P

This was a pic of my Epic Squat collection at the end of last summer, but a fair bit more has been added since:

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Epic/01StartingMaterialssm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Epic/01StartingMaterials.jpg)

I will get back to them, I'm certain of that. But I wanted to get some other stuff finished first (Malifaux, WM, Infinity and Twilight) on the basis that I have current opponents and suitable terrain ready for them.

I thought that I'd write up a quick toot on how I do my bases for 28-30mm games that I play.

Basically, I like to weight my figure bases with lead, which I find helps to keep them figures stable - important in skirmish-level games as there is often a lot more terrain than in more army-orientated games. Plus I can make cool poses and bases without worrying that they might fall over!

Step 1
Turn the base over and using a strong sharp knife, carefully cut the slot out of the base.

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step1sm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step1.jpg)

Step 2
The base should now look like this. I normally check the other side too, to make sure that the cut is neat.

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step2sm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step2.jpg)

Step 3
For the weights, I use lead curtain weights. I got mine from Merrick & Day (http://www.merrick-day.com/acatalog/Merrick___Day_Lead_Weights_48.html) a while back.

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step3sm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step3.jpg)

Step 4
The lead weights will need trimming slightly to get a snug fit into a standard 30mm base. After a dry-test fit, I then use lots of thick superglue and stick the weight into the base and make sure it sits flat. Leave it somewhere to dry overnight.

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step4sm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step4.jpg)

Step 5
After the bases are all dry, I mix up some yellow-grey Milliput and pack the underside really well. I also add a little bit to the slot on the top. After about an hour, rinse the base under some warmish water to give the putty a final smoothing, and to ensure you clean off any excess putty off the rim or top. Leave this to cure for a day at least - preferably two or three. This allows you to sand the bottom of the bases flat and smooth. The basic base prep is now done.

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step5sm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step5.jpg)

Step 6
Meanwhile, mix up another quantity of yellow-grey Milliput and put it into a sandwich bag. Using a rolling pin (or a screw-top glass wine bottle filled with water if you dont have (permission to use) one), flatten the putty out to the desired thickness. I would suggest that about 3mm thick is good for flagstones, and 5mm thick is good for slate/concrete.

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step6sm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step6.jpg)

Step 7
Once the putty is cured, you can break it up with pliers and shape it using clippers. For the flagstones, final shaping is done with a sharp knife and care!

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step7sm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step7.jpg)

Step 8
Arrange the pieces on your base to make a slate-effect that is easy to stick and pin models to...

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step8sm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step8.jpg)

Step 9
...Or to make flagstones that look really textured and chunky.

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step9sm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step9.jpg)

Step 10
Or, ignoring making a sculpted top, you can go with the traditional sand/gravel.

(http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step10sm.jpg) (http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/MajorGilbear/Misc/Bases-Step10.jpg)

For timber/wood effects, I get the best result from plastic styrene strip dragged over very coarse sandpaper. I then weather the parts with a very sharp knife (fresh blades really help here). I like the styrene over wood because I can stick it more easily and securely, because I can control the grain, and because I feel it paints up better than actual wood does.

I also polish the base edges with fine emery/sand paper before I put the final details on top, as they look much better (especially as I use a very matte finish).

Finally, after the base is painted and the model is attached (I paint the models off their bases), I stick a circle of black velour to the bottoms. This adds the final touch to the bases, and ensures that they don't slide about on most surfaces.

So there you have it; my overly complicated (but very satisfying) method of making bases!  ;D

A cool tutorial. I be interested to see some painted examples of the slate and paving stones to see how they come out. Good job!

HN

Thanks for the tip on the flag stones

Cutting them out first looks much better than the ones I used a knife to mold from putty Il have to see what happens ?

For the flagstone bases, I actually roll long sausages of Milliput out in different thicknesses and then flatten them out; it makes getting the widths even a lot easier, and helps with tessellation of the slabs on the bases. It is otherwise still the same process as the slate/concrete though.

I did find that sculpting directly into a layer of soft putty with a knife didn't give me the chunkiness and weight that I wanted, nor the right texture. Carving cured Milliput is actually fairly easy and controlled.

Thanks for the tip, I can see how you got the shapes !

Excellent work, I found the darkrealms minis allot of effort to paint due to the epic size but the

rules are good.