How I Paint: Greenskins (Gremlins and Piglets)

There seems to be a running trend recently, with most of my blog posts originating from the Facebook group 'A Wyrd Place' (which if you're a Malifaux fan, you REALLY should be in!). Someone mentioned that they'd need to learn how to paint gremlins and pigs. 

Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to have an actual task to do. I really enjoy responding to suggestions. However, I decided not only to do a painting guide, but to prove how fast it could be by Live-Tweeting it all AND timing it. More on that later. Anyways, below you'll find a brief guide for painting Malifaux Gremlins and Piglets. This method does also work for goblins and orcs of all varieties too.

How I Paint(ed): Herald of Obliteration

A couple of weeks ago I received a 'Herald of Obliteration' box (Tara's crew, Nightmare Edition) from the USA courtesy of one of my commission clients. Whilst I'd built, based and painted (well, Tara and Karina) his translucent 'Herald' crew, this crew was part-payment for the job, and thus mine to do with as I pleased.

Herald of Obliteration

Nightmare Edition

After the break, I'll discuss how I painted this crew in a little under 1hr 40mins from brush up to brush down (yes, I've actually started timing them).

A Few New Models

Just a short post this time. I wanted to show off a few new models that didn't quite fit into other posts. 

First up is Angelica, for Colette's crew. Angelica is the Mistress of Ceremonies and apparently likes to bring her foot stool with her on all her outings!

Second up is the Mechanical Rider. I thoroughly enjoyed this model as it's very different I every other Malifaux model I've painted. I tried to keep as close to the box art as possible, which made the metal interesting. 

Thoughts, comments and critique are, as always, welcome!

Children of December: Rasputina

I mentioned previously that my first ever box of Malifaux was the 'Children of December' box - Rasputina's crew. I also mentioned that, since I had rebased my Arcanist crews, I needed a new CoD box. Below are the results. 

Rasputina

Wendigo

Ice Golem

Ice Gamin

Also, after months of searching, I finally managed to find a Snow Storm. Or rather, I gave up trying to source one in the UK so found a good site based in the USA that had reasonable shipping charges. 

That arrived at last and I thoroughly enjoyed painting it. 

Snow Storm

As usual, any comments or questions you may have are welcome!

M&SU Assets : Ansalea Kaeris

Today I finally finished painting the last Arcanist crew to complete the Faction (excluding Ironsides as no models currently exist for her or her crew) - Ansalea Kaeris and the M&SU Assets Box. 

How I Paint: Ice

I'll be honest, one of my favourite types of blog to write are the How To Paint series. It was also the thing I enjoyed most about working for Games Workshop - teaching people how to paint. If I could find a way to do that as part of StormFront Studios (My Commission Painting business) I would be one happy bunny.

Ice Golem, painted using this guide.

Today, I wanted to show you how I paint ice. You'll need the paints above, and a good drybrush. I use the Citadel Large Drybrush for every step shown below. There are also other ways to paint ice, this is just the super-quick way I do it.

Hire A Crew: Dark Debts (Jakob Lynch)

This week, in between painting commissions and hospital/doctor visits (nothing overly serious, just considerably uncomfortable) I managed to paint up a Jakob Lynch - Dark Debts crew.

This crew is always troublesome for me. I really like Jakob Lynch's back story, and a part of me always wants to hold onto him and his crew, expand it with some Beckoners, Mr. Graves, Mr. Tannen, and maybe some Depleted, and have it as a B-Side Crew.

The Star Theatre

Today I built and painted my Showgirls crew. Okay, so Colette Du Bois herself was already built and painted, but here's the rest of them!

Colette Du Bois

How I Paint: Flames

I'm often asked about my painting, and I've been compiling an FAQ for a while; it might even make the light of day eventually. Beyond the usual "How do you paint so fast?", one of the most common questions is as to how I paint fire and flames on my models, and I must admit that I see an awful lot of models where the flames just aren't believable and it really lets the model down on what may otherwise be a very pleasant painted miniature. That's not to say I always get it perfect...

Now, of course, this is how I paint flame, and that in no way makes it the only way to paint flame. In fact, you may find this method may work with your miniatures and painting style, but it may not. Just as I once saw a tank wonderfully airbrushed and weathered with a commander poking out the hatch painted by hand in bold, bright colours, a mix of techniques and styles can make a jarring effect, and not in a good way. In that example, the tank looked gritty and real, the commander by contrast looked overly clean and cartoony. Both facets were exceptionally well painted, but together they just did not mesh. My style tends to be quite... heroic, in the sense of comic books and animated films. Grit and realism is not my thing, so if that's what you're looking for, sorry. Back to Google, and good luck!

Still here? Cool. Let's show you how I do it.

Elitism

Today I wanted to talk about something that has bothered me for a long time. I've touched on it before when I talked about the social nature of our hobby, but now I wanted to take a more in-depth look at the canker at the heart of our hobby.

Elitism.

A Christmas Review - Pt1

Earlier in the week I said I'd do an unpacking, an examination and a review of a few of the new Christmas Special Edition releases, in particular; the 'Eavy Metal Edge Paint Set, and the four basing kits (Badlands, Northern Wastes, Death World and Under-Empire). I've had a few days of playing with them now, so I thought now would be a good time to share my thoughts.