Last of the Dungeon Saga Ghouls

I missed the last two ghouls and have managed to delete the images so they will be shown with the rest once I have painted them all up. So here is the dwarf ghouls. Probably the most detailed of them so a little more interest in painting them.

I went with muted colours as lets face it they have probably been dead awhile. They certainly have been sitting in the box a few years without much thought of getting round to painting them that's for sure.

This will just leave me a pair of ghost like chaps to do. Indeed they are up and ready to be started as I have just about finished the two SYW battalions on my desk. This is also where a slower production kicks in as I went back to work today. Shorter days (hurrah) but six days instead of five a week (boo) and worst still lone working for the next couple of weeks. 

Still I will still get more time to paint than I have in recent years and I actually have more fire to do so. All this said, unless things settle down soon we will be back to the start and the second wave will smash us all the way back to the start.

Dungeon Saga More Ghouls

I have been keeping to the idea of slipping in a couple of Dungeon Saga figures in between sets of other figures. OK it's only been going for a few posts but it's still counts right?

As has been mentioned before the detail is a bit soft and as they are playing pieces for a board game I am not too fussed about the results though I am not unhappy with the finish I just did not put a lot of effort in.

This gives me four of the eight standard sized ghouls the last four are more detailed being a pair each of knights and dwarfs but again I doubt they will be long on the table. I did these in a short afternoon.

In the background you can see the next lot awaiting primer having been cleaned up and in some cases built. Next post should see my army for Lee and my display game complete. Not bad given we should have ran it a couple of years ago.

Gripping Beast Levy Archer unit for Saga

Had a few days of reasonable paint time this week so managed another unit. This time 1 point of SAGA levies. That's twelve figures though in fact two guys don't have bows.

Fairly basic paint job, base colour, ink wash and picking out of the main colour to look a bit more polished than a block and wash job.

I already have one point of levy archers so these are going to head over to Ebay. I originally got the castings off a friend who I was painting up other figures for. That means I have had these guys for about seven years! 

Under prep at the moment I have a bunch of 6mm and once those and the next lot of 15mm are done I should finally breach the 3000 unpainted figure mark. 

Ghoul Friends for Dungeon Saga

I started painting through the monsters of Dungeon Saga about a year or so ago but got distracted. I now have cleaned up and ready to paint all the ghoul figures and will do them in batches of two matching figures.

Typical of this set the detail is a bit soft but not too bad. Given they are just for this game I did not want to spend too long on them. After all they tend not to stick around on the table for too long before they get killed and removed. That said I did not want them to look sloppy either. The flesh had a basic flesh coating and then highlighted to add a pale tone then washed in Nulin Oil. I also washed them in skin tone ink going over heavily where damage showed to look that bit more gruesome. 

Two others are fairly basic but the last four will be a bit more tricky. Then it's two ghost types and then onto the larger models that are MUCH bigger. In the background is the next group. A point of Saga bowmen levy so plenty to get stuck into.

Cowboys - First in a Long Time

I think I got these guys with others from Dave D so many years ago. I still have a few foundry mounted and dismounted ones to do yet. Possibly get these done further through the lockdown.

I went for neutral colours for the most part. These will just be add in's to any of the sides that I have painted up but the one in pink is more of a general type whilst the other seems to me to be more lawman.

These were a nice quick paint, I had been suffering a bad headache and at such times I can't read and don't tend to watch TV anyway so painting is one of the few activities that does not seem to aggravate it, as long as I stick to the larger scales.

Russian Snipers by Black Tree Design

Back to trying to catch up with the painting done during the Challenge. Towards the end I was finding less and less time to both paint and post hence the ten day gap between posts. Given I was on holiday last week and found I had even less time kind of is ironic.

Black Tree produce some really nice figures with most of their WWII living up to this reputation. I have painted these figures up before so knew what I would be getting. They tend to be fairly good regards flash and clean up with mould lines easy to remove. 

The snow smocks being white need more attention than you might think. I did a base spray of white but then used ivory, off white and normal white to shade them and give them some depth of colour. The flesh and equipment just received the one colour before adding a wash to all none white parts.

The last four are a big contrast to the previous eight with the snow really making them stand out. I use Scenic Snow by Deluxe Materials and have tried a slightly different approach this time and like the finish better. Showing more of the ground work kind of improves the overall look for me.

Black Tree tend to add a lot of detail to their figures than some other companies leave off. It does add to the time to paint but the end result is far more satisfying and looks the part.

I have about twenty more figures left to paint for my Sniper Reminders and once these are done probably won't do any more.

I have changed the tufts to a winter look as well after Curt's recommendations from last year and he is 100% right these do look better.

So the Challenge is at a close and I finished 31st after spending quite a bit of time in the lower twenties. Slightly disappointing as I thought I had a chance of finishing in the top 25% but given that I finished of 1019 points and doubled my original goal I am overall very happy.

Indeed I enjoyed this years challenge more than any of the previous challengers, possibly as I was not sticking to any one theme over much but the addition of a Minion to run each days submissions was a great idea and saved Curt's sanity. It meant that each day a fresh adjudicator would jump in after a seven day rest and each of the five brought a great deal of humour and style to their days entries. I had Peter who really got into the swing with his intro's, so a big thanks to Peter and would love to be teamed up again next year.

SAGA Gripping Beast Vikings

I have painted up another point of Viking warriors armed with spears. This will allow me to field a few spear armed units which I think should give my force a more realistic look. Indeed I now have enough Viking figures to look beyond Saga if I wish.

I went with quite basic colours and no high or low lighting leaving it to the ink wash to make these look a bit more appealing. I have also swapped out the Griping Beast shields for Black Tree shields where possible.

I really like the poses and amount of detail on these figures, just enough to break up each figure but not so much that it's a bit of a drag painting them.

I mixed the colours so that no two figures have the same tunics though two from above look the same in the photo. I still have quite a few of these left so may do a few more during the challenge, I will have to see.

I also mixed up the tufts across the eight models to keep them looking nice and varied. For Saga I am thinking a few units like these, a bow armed axe fodder and some elite troops. I have some more berserker types as well.

Here they are all together, now I just need to get myself organised and get a few more games in. The Boy has his Anglo Danes and I know Lee has done a bit more work on his faction. Before that though we have a games day of 6mm Naps with a side of Dead Mans Hand, I have some buildings to get done.

Curtgeld Otto Schindler.

The theme for this years Analogue Painting Challenge is risk takers and after a few ideas that were bouncing around as possible Cath came up with Otto Schindler. Immediately I was thinking of the film and it did not take long to come up with a firm idea of what I wanted to do. Whilst Schindler never came into contact with the girl in the red coat it struck me that it would make for a iconic piece, Doing it in greyscale both fitted the piece and Curt's own interest. 

All I needed was the figures, after both Cath and myself had trolled the net it was apparent that I would have to do a bit of work as no supplier seemed to do perfect figures but with little work I could have the girl. Schindler would take a bit more effort.

I finally found a figure in Dixon's gangster range that was mostly what I wanted. I had to remove the pistol from his hand and drill out the hand as well as lower the arm so he would look like he is reaching out to the girl.

The last thing was to cut off the cloth cap and replace with a hat similar to one that Schindler is seen wearing in the film. Originally I was going to have her running away from Schindler but in the end I wanted to try and give the imprecision that they were reaching over a impossible gulf.

Next up it was working out which greys to use for which part. I bought a further four greys for the project though I think I just used the three on this model. The girl had to have the red coat but all the rest would be greyscale and after looking at a lot of images from the film I finally set myself the look I wanted. In fact the final piece actually comes from a mix of several different images so I don't owe the finished figure to any one image.

Not that the building did not have it's issues, cutting off the cloth cap cost me the back of his head. Fortunately I was able rebuild the hair with some modelling putty. I also had doubts about the hat, originally it looked too small but once painted looked OK.

The girl was really simple as she has a lot less shades to work with. The red in reality is a little less intense than on these images.

I was going to add snow to the girls side of the base but in the end went for barren ground with no grass whilst adding the splash of colour on Schindlers side of the base. Again this was to try and project the idea of being worlds apart and I am really happy with how it came out.

Imps and Rats

I picked up these figures from next to the bring and buy at Castle Donnington last year for use in roleplaying with the kids. I just never got round to getting these quick paints sorted.

I have no idea who made these but they are very nicely sculptured minis. I based the winged imp on a Leven Miniatures statue base which suited it rather well.

I am most impressed with the red of the winged imp as it came out how I imagined it. Rather quick to do but looks like more time was spent on it. I now just need to come up with a use for them.

Again these were bought from the same second hand trader, three are not really enough so I will be picking up more as I come across them. I used three different browns for the base colour before drybrushing other shades over the top as I want them to look a little different but not hugely so. I used black ink on the pink tails whilst still wet which produced a nice varied pink effect that I feel looks more like a rats tail than I otherwise would have achieved.

One of the imps and these rats bases have old GW dungeon plan tiles on their wooden bases. This will help them fit in when I use them with the tiles in dungeon bashes.

The Lady And The Wolf

Last of the figures I painted up before the painting challenge began is this two figure piece that Cath bought from Spirit Games about fifteen years ago! I had started it about a year ago and it became lost at the back of the table. I would look at it occasionally but never picked it up. With the challenge about to start I did not want to get into anything too big so this and a few other bits that were part done got a go and finally got finished.

I went for a very plain look, the idea is the women lives in a very rural location, think Dancers with Wolves vibe. I wanted her to also be quite old so went with lots of grey in her hair. It's also nice to get a female figure that keeps the boobs under cover, quite a rarity I am afraid.

It's not easy to see from the pics but the wolf pelt is actually somewhat different in colour to the live wolf's. It was not an over long paint which just makes the time it took for me to get round to it even worse.

So I can finally give the figure to Cath, no plans for this so it's just for fun really. 

Pre-Challenge Painting - The Cleric

I also did this quick paint before the challenge started, this is the second character for my wife in the family D&D sessions. As it's number two I did not go to town on him and as such it's a bit basic but will serve.

I think the figures from Reaper, this ones a metal figure and rather is a bit on the heavy side. You can't see the high and low shades on the white very well as the camera did not pick the detail up. It's quite subtle anyway as I don't like the in your face style of shading on white.

I like the shoulder armour, it's a couple of faces so I used brass and then washed in ink to bring the details out a bit.

Lots of detail on the back and I have to say that I really like the adventurers that come with backpacks or other bits and bobs, makes them look more realistic. The crossbow comes as a seporate piece to be glued in place, made life a bit easier.

Clearing up the Table

I wanted to get my painting table cleared of half painted mini's before the challenge started, not that I tend to have many half painted figures as I normally just paint to completion but I did have a few.

This is another figure for use in roleplaying with the kids but this ones for Cath. Her only instruction at the start was that the inside of the cloak had to be a bright red, well put a tick in that box!

Later Cath mentioned that she now wanted the main colour to be a form of blue which I kind of went for but with grey being the main influence. In the end she rather likes it which is good enough for me. I really liked how the colours came together in the end.

The figure is a Reaper model cast in metal and was a joy to work on. I painted the sword up black as I wanted it to seem like it's magically enhanced so as not to show in the dark. 

A Little D&D Post

Seems like forever since I last posted any finishes. Well a mix of lots of work, prepping for the coming challenge and painting up a group of figures for my Santa Clause present has left me a bit short of things to post.

At least I will get to post images of the Santa Clause post Christmas. Fortunately I have found time to paint this figure up for my daughter who plays a Magic Used in a D&D campaign I am running for the kids.

It's a Reaper Miniatures plastic Bones figure that my daughter choose way back when we visited Spirit Games who have a truly excellent range of wargames and boardgames products.

My daughter picked blue hair but left most of the rest to me own imagination. Some of the details really crisp such as the hair and skirt whilst other details is rather thin.

I wanted to go bold for colours, what else could I do with blue hair LOL. Most of the colours are shaded rather than using ink, the spear was an exception, mostly as I was not 100% what is supposed to be wrapped around the pointy end!

Anyways, she likes it so that's the most important part and it was a fun diversion between prepping and the high detail of the other figures I have been working on. I hope to get a couple more fantasy figures finished before the Painting Challenge begins and I doubt I will be doing any more prep before the 20th so most of my time at the table will be finishing off part painted bits and bobs.

Armless or Harmless Pack Finally Finished

I originally painted just the one figure from the pack, Gary A gave the figures to me and my son along with a mini mountain of Gripping Beast Vikings. I can't remember the details and I am hoping the supplier will get in touch again so I can post his details if any one want's to get some of these novel figures. I plan to use mine as villages in Saga and roleplaying.

For the most part I have gone for a fairly plain earthy look as it suits my campaign rather well and the not warrior Dark Age villager would have been rather more drab than the wealthier warrior. I really like the poses of these two, the one on the left should be looking at the other whilst that one says "What?"

The only exception to the drab rule is the guy drinking out of a flagon, something makes me think he is the gaffer of the poor bloke on the right, he is lugging a couple of bags of merchandise.

Mr Peter Pointer is rather down on his luck since he bought his clothes and is no stranger to dirty work, but is to a bath and the idea that clothes get washed before they drop off. The fellow having a wizz was painted up during the challenge so has been seen before.

The house in the background is a Loki creation he gave to my son at Christmas and was the perfect background for these shots. The castings were not as crisp as some but much better than the last Gripping Beast figures I cleaned up but have a lot of charm and great facial expressions, hopefully I will have the details so you can get some if you wish.

Gripping Beast Shieldwall

After painting up the little fellows I wanted a bit more larger scale painting and as such went for a bunch of 28's. These are the now unavailable shieldwall set (x4) that Gripping Beast used to sell. I can see why they were removed from sale as the amount of mould lines was painful and in some cases really difficult to remove. Also I had to drill out a number of hands to allow spears to be put in place. However I hope they are re-released as they are nice figures once you have sorted these two problems out.

I plan to sell them just got to decide if I need to sell them as a job lot or four sets and of course the thorny question as to how much?

 I am not sure how well these would go down with the SAGA players as they seem better suited to actual shield wall games than the more spread out skirmish style of play. That did not stop me basing them on 2p's though.

I went for bright again rather than the dour Dark Age look that is favoured by many. Not that I have anything against the dark look it's just that I agree that whilst dies were often not colour fast as today the way they were washed would have limited the die loss and you tended to dress up for battle.

I mixed in simple and more complex shields into the mix. All the figures are lacking in armour so I suspect these would be the less experienced and willing of the men involved and as such were less likely to have the posh shields of their more experienced comrades.

It's a fairly basic paint job with single colour and ink washed but on the light side so the shading is somewhat more natural. I am not such a fan of the high contrast way of shading.

So that's twenty figures, four sets of the shieldwall figures and an extra four general spear men to beef it up a little more. I have also found a further six large shield types that would mix with these well so they will also make it to the paint table, not sure if that will be this month but it's a definite possibility.

So if any one is interested in these send me an email (button near the top on the right) happy to ship at cost anywhere in the world. Now it's back to 6mm Napoleonic's that are so close to finishing.