Zany Zhanshis Zoom Away From Zombies.

With today (and tomorrow's) rain, I'm not really able to work on much.  Thankfully, I had two of my three Yu Jing Zhanshis (those are their basic line infantry) already primed and base coated, so I was able to get them all painted up and ready for dipping.  Unfortunately, I don't think the third Zhanshi will be ready for dipping due to rain.

I also was playing around with the scenic stuff I have on my coffee table....

They're running, I might as well have them running away from something.

Vehicles finally see some work!

Yes, I'm surprised too!  My vehicles are finally getting some work done on them.

It doesn't look like much has been done here, but I did start painting the Landraider's tracks and I've not only kitbashed the first set of guns, but they've been magnetized to the hull as well so that they can turn.

My Razorback is seeing some work done on it.  I've dirtied it up a little more and started the hard line highlighting on it as well.  It's actually nearly done.  I had to do some repair work on the magnets on its top panel since some popped out and I've installed magnets into the door so it can stay shut.  It isn't pretty, but the rear door can freely open and shut now.

This is entirely new.  I bought a Devilfish gunship for my Enforcers.  I know this is a Tau vehicle and I don't really care.  I'll be using it as an objective for my Enforcers in Deadzone.  I'll need to put something on that landing pad I've got coming.  Unfortunately, one of the drones that goes onto the front was actually missing from the box.  Hopefully GW can send me a replacement.  I'm not entirely set yet on the colors for this thing.  What I'd like to do is paint it grey and white with yellow striping to match the Enforcers, but that color scheme will be a major pain in the ass.  Alternatively, a camouflage scheme could be cool, but then I have to decide what colors to use.  Desert?  Urban?  Low Visibility?

A Dark Angel

I only have one picture to share.  On a whim I bought one of the Dark Vengeance Space marines via ebay with some other stuff.  I have no particular desire to ever actually use Space Marines of the Dark Angels chapter, but I wanted to try painting one up just to have one.  So I did.  Here's the results.

I was really surprised with just how well he turned out.  I'm so pleased with the job I did here that I actually would consider doing up a few more.  Now, while I do want to do a few more green Dark Angels, I kind of have an urge to do some up in the old Rogue Trader/Pre-Heresy colors.  They're nothing special, just black with some red markings.  Nobody ever seems to paint them in those colors anymore and since those are the ones I remember from way back when, they're the colors I always associated with these guys and they're the ones I prefer.  Someday I'll get around to doing one.

A nice, lazy Sunday afternoon

My dog was out enjoying herself in the sun and I had to snap some photos.

She started posing for the last photo.

I've been working on my Infinity figures lately.  I've been posting the pics in this thread on Dakka Dakka.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/556038.page#6146257

Anyway, here's a few I've been working on...

These are the line infantry for the Ariadna faction in Infinity.  I've already showed these guys, but here they are all finished up.
And all of my Ariadna together.

The newest one I've finished is a member of the Ahl Fassed regiment, which belongs to the Haqqislam faction in Infinity.

The Ahl Fassed regiment is supposed to be made up of former mercenaries and war criminals.  Basically, they're people trying to escape from a dark past through military service.  They're apparently also supposed to keep their faces covered at all times while on active duty.  I kind of wish there were more figures for this group as I like their armor.  But, she's the only one.  I tried to make the base look like parched desert terrain, but I'm not so sure about my success there.  It'll have to do though because I'm not changing it.

Here's the next figure I've got painted up.  This is the Domaru Butai I've mentioned several times.  He's sort of a test run for how I'm going to be painting my Yu-Jing faction.  The light infantry won't have quite the same colors though.  I plan of them having mostly dark colored uniforms with white armor plating.

He's still missing his swords and he hasn't been dipped yet.  However, I like how he's looking.  The glowy light effects turned out great.  I got that effect from using some Vallejo Fluo Yellow that I just picked up today.

The good guys wear blue

What's this!?  Two updates in one week!?  Gasp!

This is going to be another miniature update.
After some excitement last night I'd rather not experience again, I managed to get another Infinity figure completed.  This time it's a Veteran Kazak from the Ariadna faction.  I love the way these guys look.  I wish I could get my hands on the out of production version, but sadly that one just doesn't seem to be available on Ebay.  So, he'd been spending some time curing after being dipped and last night I not only dull coated him, but also cleaned up a few small spots and painted up his base.  Here he is.

Again, I love how this figure looks.  My paintjob actually turned out halfway decent as well, which helps.  I was afraid that the two shades of green would wind up blending a little too much together, but the dip actually helped differentiate them a bit more.  If I can get some Tank Hunters and some Moblots, they'll probably get similiar color schemes.  Maybe some camo as well, I don't know yet.

The other figure I just finished painting up.  I've had this Teutonic Knight figure from the Military Orders pack sitting on my table waiting to be painted.  I've primed him three times!  The first two the primer for some reason came out chalky and would just wipe off as a dust.  So, a couple nights ago I primed him by hand using Vallejo's brush-on primer and this morning I actually started base coating him.  After work, and just a bit ago, I got him all finished up.

The thread title is a reference to him, btw.  In the background fluff, Panoceania, the faction this guy belongs to paints their armor in blue to signify that they're the good guys.  I tried my best to replicate the shade of blue they use, but without mixing, and knowing the exact mixture, it just isn't going to happen for me.  So, this is the shade I'll be sticking with for Panoceania... assuming I don't just camouflage them or do something totally different.  I figure for the knights though, I should stick more or less to the studio colors.  I mean, they're knights.  They're all about heraldry and sticking out anyway.  As I said, this figure is supposed to be a Teutonic Knight, but those guys don't get along too well with Russians.  Instead, I painted him in the Knights Hospitaller colors.  According to the background fluff, the Knights Hospitaller primarily either do humanitarian work or they do high risk hostage and prisoner rescues.  I figure I'll probably be using these guys in some sort of horror themed games down the line, so they should be pretty good for that.  I'd like to get some of the actual Hospitaller models, but they either have older, ugly sculpts, or they have incredibly annoying dynamic poses that have them on one foot, which means they'll probably be prone to breaking.

I think next time I do some knights though, I'm going to use a grey rather than a blue.  Most of the art seems to look more like Vallejo's Sombre Grey than any shade of blue I've got.  Oh, and I tried something different while painting him.  I used Vallejo's Glaze Medium.  It actually worked pretty well.  I primarily used it on the red bits of his uniform, his sword, and the lighter bits on his armor as well as the lights.  It basically will thing out the paints for you and keep them wet longer which allows you to add a thin, more transparent layer over the base coat and create a better illusion of depth.  I think I'll be using this technique more often.

Hey, look! An update!

I haven't forgotten about updating.  I'm just lazy, that's all.  Actually, it's because I've been working on figures and stuff and by the time I finish up, it's usually already after midnight.

Oh yeah, Reaper Miniatures has another Bones kickstarter up.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1513061270/reaper-miniatures-bones-ii-the-return-of-mr-bones
As of this posting, it's already cleared $1million on its very first day.  It funded in 3 minutes, too.  That's pretty damn impressive, especially since the first Kickstarter ended at over $3 million.  I can see this one surpassing it, easily.  Who knows, this one may actually be one of the highest grossing Kickstarters ever.  Kind of surprising how much more money this thing can make than pretty much all of the video game kickstarters.  Hell, Keiji Inafune (the guy responsible for Mega Man!) had a kickstarter for a game called Mighty Number 9 that just ended today (I backed it) and it didn't even get close to $1million.   I am backing this Bones kickstarter since I missed the original and it is a hell of a good deal.

Speaking of minis though, I've been working on a couple.  I suppose that since I'm on the subject of Reaper and Bones, I can start with one I've just about finished.

My brother gave me this guy since he had an extra due to various circumstances.  Gaze upon his... um... greyness.  He's a rock monster.  You can't really do a wild color scheme with him.  I'm pleased with how he turned out though.  He's my first big Bones figure.

I've also been working on another Reaper mini...

Look at this guy!  I call him, the Fiendish Doctor Wu!

I know the mini looks nothing like him, but that is totally how I intend to use him.  I need a Black Dynamite to oppose him.

Other than that, I've also been working on Infinity figures.  I love their designs, but I'm afraid I cannot do their studio paint schemes justice.  That being said, there's one I believe I can do fairly well:  The Kaplan Tactical Services!

For the most part, I stuck to the studio colors with a few minor variances here and there.  I think I did a fairly decent job, all things considered.

"Doctor Wu commands you, kill them!"

"This won't end well."

As an added bonus, I'd decided to strip the paint off of my very first Warmachine figure.  It is one of the Myrmidons used by the elf faction.  Look what the Simple Green did to it!

He looks like he spent a few years under the ocean!  I have no clue how it did that, but the paint came off just fine and thankfully, there was no actual damage done to the figure.