Kobolds Attack!

This week, Kobolds attack! I did something good for my tally of painted miniatures and quickly put some paint on these minute monsters.

Pict 693: Kobolds Attack!

Pict 694: Kobolds

Pict 695: Kobolds

These Kobolds are rather cute but I wasn't that happy with the sculpts (Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures by Wizkids). The detail is somewhat washed out and that makes you guess sometimes what a particular detail is. I also didn't bother to paint the three versions of the same sculpts differently. I assume that the individual Kobolds will die fast enough in combat so that it wont matter. Nontheless I'm happy to have them in my arsenal to pester low level characters. I also like the little bright red spot I did on the heads that make them stand out and even cuter.

Pict 696: Female Gnome Fighter, Twiggy

Pict 697: Female Gnome Fighter, Twiggy

After that I finished the two gnomes I had started to balance out the Kobolds in the cosmic scales. Twiggy is a cool miniature, but I'm really in love with the female gnome fighter with the crossbow. Even if she should not be used as a hero, I will use her as a bandint or similar to ambush my heroes.

Pict 698: Goblintown Walkways and Plattform

Since I wanted to have some cool scenery for those Kobolds to ambush the Gnomes in the first picture, I also painted these Goblintown walkways and plattform. I had built and primed them at the tail end of last september and even tough they paint up super fast, they lay about on my todo pile for quite some time now.

Pict 699: Hassassin Fiday, Husam Spec-Ops

Pict 700: Hassassin Fiday, Husam Spec-Ops

I finished this Spec-Ops for a tournament last weekend but he seemed to suffer from new model syndrome and didn't really help me. The Fiday was then painted this last week to prepare myself for the next escalation league I'll be a part of and in which I'll be playing the Hassassin Bahram sectorial.

Pict 701: Victor (WIP)

And lastly here is a quick work in progress of the next Critical Role miniature: the insane blackpowder merchant Victor.

Again with the Haqqislam and D&D

These past weeks did not amount to much hobby time but now after two weeks without a post, I have to show something for myself: I painted some more Haqqislam miniatures as well as something for D&D.

Pict 687: Al Fasid, Djanbazan (Hacker), Ragik, Djanbazan (Conversion), Muyib, Hafza

Pict 688: Al Fasid, Djanbazan (Hacker), Ragik, Djanbazan (Conversion), Muyib, Hafza

With the completing our Infinity escalation campaign I painted some more miniatures, I wanted to try out in the last round and some that I just wanted to get some colour on. The old Al Fasid might get used as a Nahab with Boarding Shotgun until they release miniatures for them. The two Djanbazan might have to stand in as one with an HMG until I get myself the fitting miniaure - the profile is just to good in combination with the amount of smoke the rest of my lists can put out.

Pict 689: Kern, Orly

Pict 690: Kern, Orly

After my Critical Role Kickstarter miniatures arrived (more of them in the coming weeks!), I went ahead with these two resin Critical Role miniatures. Orly was quite fun since I got to look at lots of turtles for reference. Since Kern is a half-orc, I used the colourscheme that they established with Fjord. I like the two tones even if I don't really subscribe to green orcs in my D&D settings.

Pict 691: Haqqislam (WIP)

And here are even more Haqqislam miniatures that I started. The Fiday simply has to get some paint, becaus I have that one friend againt whom my old Fiday never managed to do something relevant. With the new miniature painted, I hope to remedy that!

Pict 692: Twiggy, female Gnome Fighter (WIP)

And to add to my growing pile of WIP miniatures, here are some more figures I want to use while playing D&D. Twiggy is again from Critical Role while the female gnome fighter is made by Otherworld Miniatures who really have a great selection of adventurers and monsters.

Umber Hulk Smash!

Well, this week I finished the experiment on what happens when a gorilla and a beetle really like each other: You get an Umber Hulk. And after that I got to do something for Middle-earth as well.

Pict 683: Umber Hulk

Pict 684: Umber Hulk

Pict 685: Umber Hulk

I started painting this Umber Hulk back in January and it really good to have him finished. He sat there sulking on my desk to whole time and finally I took heart and finished him. I had two things that were bugging me about him: I didn't blend the base and I felt like the armourplates looked like one big jumble without differentiation. The first problem was easily fixed with simply a new layer but the armour plates were more difficult. In the end I went with a slightly more pinkish tone on the parts that seemed more exposed and with the bright orange eyes, I think the creature came together all right.

Pict 686: Arnor and Rangers (WIP)

And here are the rangers from last week with some paint added. The miniatures went right on top of my queue after converting them and I look forward to playing some more battle companies with them. To that end, I also pulled out the remainder of my Arnor and got them the same treatment as the Rangers of the North.

More Critical Role Miniatures and New Projects

These past two weeks were I didn't have that much time for the hobby. I however managed to paint two more miniatures from Steamforged Games' line of Critical Role miniatures. After that I started the work on some more stuff for my Haqqislam and while that was going on, my Made-To-Order models from the latest batch of Middle-earth miniatures arrived and I got to building.

Pict 679: Calianna, Kashaw

Pict 680: Calianna, Kashaw

Here are the two miniatures I finished: Calianna of whom I showed a work in progress in my last post and Kashaw, the next one down the line in my set of Critical Role miniatures. I liked putting in the pink bows in Calianna's hair to contrast the greens and browns of her clothing, but I'm not that happy with how her skin turned out. My Pallid Wych Flesh seems to have very big chunks of pigment in it so that the skin doesn't look as smooth as it could. With Kashaw, I liked the bronze armour - I find mixing different metallics together great fun to get a somewhat tarnished look.

Pict 681: Ragik, Muyib, Al Fasid, Djanbazan Hacker, Djanbazan, Hafza (WIP)

Here is the next leg in my Haqqislam journey. These six I wanted to paint because, I liked the models not since I'll be using them in an upcoming game. I managed to put down the basecolours and washes rather quickly and without getting overwhelmed by the sameness. I hope to finish them up during the next week and the getting on with other stuff again.

Pict 682: Rangers of the North (Conversion)

And lastly here are some Ranges of the North, that I ordered via GW's Made-To-Otder programm. I really like the opportunity to get some models I didn't get the first time they were around. And since I didn't pay an arm and a leg for them on eBay, I can justify to convert them a bit to make six unique poses. I especially like the fourth guy in the row - after removing the spear I gave him the sword of a Rohan Warrior while the left arm is a leftover from a Lindir-conversion.

He's Captain Haqqislam!

Since I'm playing the next Infinity league day today, I painted up a few more miniatures for my Haqqislam, among them Tarik Mansuri, Khawariij Amir, Captain Haqqislam.

Pict 672: Tarik Mansuri, Khawarij Amir, Captain Haqqislam

Pict 673: Tarik Mansuri, Khawarij Amir, Captain Haqqislam

"We can rebuild him, we have the technology!" Surely that's what the Akhbar Doctors said when they started working on Tarik. This miniature has a cool pose and I'm looking forward to using him in my games today. Just looking at the stats and reading a bit online, he seem so be a hard hitter but maybe also a bit fragile. I went for a brighter red on the turban to make him stand out a bit more and I think that will be the way I go about when painting Khawarijs in the future. The face again was a joy to paint - Corvus Belli relly knows their business (also, I think he looks somewhat like Joe Manganiello - might be a good casting?).

Pict 674: Hassassin Muyib (HRL), Hazmat HVT, Al Hawwa' (AHD)

Pict 675: Hassassin Muyib (HRL), Hazmat HVT, Al Hawwa' (AHD)

I also wanted to play with some different assets like the Muyib with heavy rocket launcher and the Al Hawwa with assault hacking device. They painted up quick enough - I really have the recipe down now and can go through the stages rather quick. The problem then becomes that the process is rather monotone and I quickly want to paint other colors.
I also painted up the Hazmat HVT from the fith Dire Foes box. For now she's going to be used in the intended way. But if I ever get myself (or when?) a Maghariba Guard, the miniature may see use as the pilot. And as with Tarik, I really love the face!

Pict 676: Vanessa Cyndrial

Pict 677: Vanessa Cyndrial

And here is a bit of a respite from all that time in the desert of Bourak: With Vanessa Cyndrial, I complete the third miniature from CR. I still the others that were released in resin and I hope to finish them up before the Kickstarter arrives (hopefully) next month. And to get even closer to that goal, I put the base colours on the half-elf / half-dragon Calianna.

Pict 678: Calianna (WIP)

Graz'zt, The Dark Prince, Demon Lord of the Abyss

For my post this week I had to do something special, because with this first photo I'll be hitting pict number 666! Of course I had to search for a devil to paint up. I found Graz'zt who is technically a Demon and not a Devil in the D&D cosmology, but with his horns he looks devilishly enough.

Pict 666: Graz'zt, The Dark Prince

Pict 667: Graz'zt, The Dark Prince

Pict 668: Graz'zt, The Dark Prince

And here he is: Graz'zt the Dark Prince. I really liked painting another Demon Lord and just with Zuggtmoy, I tried something new here. There is a great painting tutorial by GaleForce 9 themselves and it features a freehand on his skirt. I simplyfied the design, but went for it nonetheless. It looks cool, but I sure need to do this more often to feel more comfortable with the technique.

Pict 669: Naergoth Bladelord

Pict 670: Naergoth Bladelord

After I had finished Graz'zt I found some time to do the highlighting on Naergoth Bladelord here, whom I had started two weeks back since he came in a set with Rath Modar. The skin was an experiment, since I started from a base of Genestealer Purple (as you can see at the bottom of this post). I then highlighted with a 50/50 mix of Genestealer Purple and Rakarth Flesh and finished it up with pure Rakarth Flesh. I like the effect I was able to achive, but I don't know where I ever use this method again.

Pict 671:Vanessa Cyndrial (WIP)

And lastly here ist a quick WIP of Vanessa Cyndrial, another miniature from the Critical Role universe. I'm always on the lookout for cool Tiefling miniatures and this one could almost be used in a modern setting with the cool pose and the trenchcoat.

The last member of the Fellowship of the Ring

Only a quick update today since I did not have to much time to paint this week. But I managed to paint the last missing member of the Fellowship of the Ring.

Pict 664: Bill the Pony

At least since I painted the Balin's tomb Diorama last year, I had a version of almost all of the heroes of the Fellowship. But the one miniature I was missing from the list was the humble Bill the Pony. I painted him less with the Middle-earth SBG in mind however but as a beast of burden for my Pathfinder character (he's so weak!).

Pict 665: Kiri (Critical Role)

After that I also finished up Kiri the Tengu from Critical Role. She reallly has huge eyes and I had to look at a few birdeyes before I knew what I wanted to do with them. I'm happy with they turned out but the big pupils are of a bit more comical style than I usually paint.