More Retribution, Finished Gnolls, and Vallejo Alcohol Understanding

Finished off the gnolls from Center Stage Miniatures. They paint up pretty well but I did find another 'weird' thing about them. The inside of the mouth is like SOLID behind the teeth. Not a big deal as I don't think anyone is going to be picking them up to look. For the most part, painted with Reaper paints from the Heavy Gear set and a few trusty Games Workshop ones.

I touched the initial picture up in Google +. Worked much better than doing so in Facebook which I don't think has any real photo opportunities outside of tagging.

Good old Mage Hunter for my Retribution force. I want to say... Narn? I had him long before Privateer Press threw the figure from the Iron Kingdoms RPG side into the Warmachien side.

And the actual Mage Hunter unit. I don't have the commander with them because he's already in storage. Looking over them, I'm going to have to mark their front soon I suppose. I'm well at the point where I have more then enough for a 15-25 point game.

And my latest works. I'm still doing these guys and I have a 'new' warcaster in the back there. He's the guy with the strange cable connection on his left arm to his back. Yeah, I didn't get that one connected at all. Anytime you have three pieces, two of them separate, it's a difficult thing for me as I tend to be all thumbs. I did the initial priming with Vallejo Panzer Grey and used a Badger 105 to lay down some Minitaire paint. No problem with it. Didn't need to be thinned. I did see some people note that it takes a while to dry, but when I use my airbrush, I also have a hair dryer next to me so I take care of that particular problem at the same time.

Lastly, I wanted to note that in a recent update, I had problems with the Vallejo Alcohol metallic. Turns out I was indeed using them incorrectly. Due to their heavy pigmentation, you cannot use them from the bottle. You have to pour some out into a palette and work with it from there. I've done that a few times now and yes, that works MUCH better.

Center Stage Miniatures: Gnoll, Facebook Exclusive Review

The other day I received a package from Center Stage Miniatures. It was not one I had hopped for but... this is one of three gnolls I bought from Center Stage Miniatures. It was a 'Facebook' exclusive to test their new store, or at least their Facebook store. I bought three because that was the 'sweet' point.

I was also hoping that they would send the already existing miniatures from their 28mm Demons and Devils Kickstarter like the giants I ordered as add ons but alas, it was not to be. Probably too complex for their minds to keep it all straight. Mind you that's after I mentioned to them several times they could hold the order if that would make it easier for them to send out multiple bits as opposed to sending out one huge order but again, it was not to be.

In terms of the miniatures, they are small for gnolls. They stand about regular 'human' size for 28mm range. If you're using them in true 25mm scale though, they would be huge! Huge I say. Is it a problem? Not really. They're kind of hunched over and while the normal gnoll may be eight feet tall or so, that will probably only bother a certain type of painter/GM.

In terms of cleaning, they weren't bad. A lot of extra bits from vents I believe they call it. Little extra bits of metal that you could twist or clip off.  No 'flash' so to speak and mold lines were not visible. They clean up nicely.

The pose is a bit static but has one problem that I hate in a miniature from any company. The wide leg stance that won't fit into the base. In terms of fitting into the base, they are two piece miniatures. The body of the figure, including weapon, and the base. The base is a round lipped with a slot in it. The figures would not fit into that slot under any scenario outside of clipping off the tab.

In my example, I used Happy Seppuku to make a 'cracked' earth base and stuck the gnoll straight onto it. I figure if they pop off I'll then have to use some super glue or something but usually the green stuck works pretty well in terms of keeping the figures on the base. I don't know when I'll get to paint them but I'm thinking soon. The green stuff has to cure, and that's stuff I did today so it'll be at least till tomorrow. Then it'll be time to bust out at least two color primers... black and maybe vermin brown?

For the figure, one of the things I do like about the stance, is that if you're into converting, the close two handed grip on the short mace, looks like it would be very easy to do some conversion work and give a 'leader' type a great sword or another 'great' weapon. I didn't go that route on my three because I have a few Reaper gnolls  so I have no need for a leader type on these three and will just use them as standard fooder.

Looking over at the new Kickstarter Center Stage is doing, this puppy is going to have a slight modification and become a flind. I find that a little offsetting not because it's an 'exclusive figure'. I wouldn't weep to see 'exclusive' become 'exclusive' for six months or something along those lines. No, I find it odd because those bad boys are the often larger and stronger versions that use a flindbar and well, like I said, this guy isn't that big to start with. That's okay though, I'm sure the Center Stage guys know what they're doing and as I said, among the 25mm crowd it will be huge.

While not available in this format anymore, it will be available in another format soon and if you're looking for some extra muscle for your gnolls, this is a good figure to pick up.

Retribution of Scyrah:Dawnguard Sentinels

Funny story about my purchase of the Dawnguard Sentinels. See, I may have mentioned that years ago when Retribution first came out, I enjoyed the power progression article and decided to follow it. While at Adepticon last Sunday, I was in the dealer hall. One of the vendors was selling their Privateer Press stuff for 20% off. Well, most of the vendors were. I remembered I needed to pick up a unit and snagged these guys.

Oops! That should have been the Dawnguard Invictors. The armor is practically identical and the weapons are similar. The paint style is also very similar.

So I figured I'd make the best of it. First off, I hate figures with multiple parts. Every figure had to have their swords and one shoulder pad attached. After a while, I started using the two part spray where you put the spray on one side and the glue on the other. I was dead tired to gluing arms and hands to bodies. At least two of them had to have the torso attached. Ugh. The only good news in that vein is most of the fits were pretty good. In some instances I could have used some green stuff, maybe even liquid green stuff, to cover some potential gaps, but these are for table top play, not display so I said screw that.

They only have part of a tab, on one foot, so that was good news when I snipped them off to put them on the ruined bases. It was bad news when that one tab was too big to fit into the tabbed slot on the regular bases. See, I only had five of those ruins and figured I'd just use the regular bases for the rest. When I went to put my first figure in, well. suffice it to say it didn't fit. Highly annoying.

In addition, the mold lines on the shoulder plates are atrocious. I used a lot of sandpaper and after I sprayed them down, those lines were still visible.

So yeah, not my favorite unit. They would have to perform awesome for me to buy another one.

In terms of making the best of it, I decided to use some bases I had laying around. It's kind of a thing I'm doing with the Retribution where I'm trying to use at least some 'ruin' style bases on them to represent their fallen kingdom.

I also used my air brush for the main body of work. I used a few 'zenith' highlights by doing them all in a dark gray, then at a slight angle with a light gray, then from the top with white. All those primer by the way. Then doing the same thing with different shades of grey and white. I used my Badger and the new Minitaire paints. They worked very smooth. My biggest problem is that I probably needed to let them dry a little more. Didn't have the hair dryer out this time. See, when I finished, the topmost layer, which should have been white, still looked a little gray. Which it should have been pure white. Lesson learned.

I also busted out my Vallejo Liquid Gold set and used White Gold, which is a 'chainmail' color. Ugh. I don't know if it's because I haven't used them in a while but that experience sucked. The pigment was so faint that I had to go over and over and over and eventually wound up using an old brush to break up the bottom 'muck' and get the material flowing again.

So after some of this and some of that, I used a few washes on the blades to try and give them that 'glow' native to the Retribution and the darker metal on the handles.

I hate to say it, but even as I'm expanding my range in terms of the tools I use, my patience is diminishing. My... eyesight is starting to fade slightly. Not enough that I can't actually see the things, but enough that I realize I miss bits here and there. I still don't need glasses yet but... Well, the good news is they're done and I went out to Games Plus and bought the right ones. Now all I have to do is assemble them too.... but first the Mage Hunters and their commander! Who I've already finished... Initially bought him for RPG purposes. Dropped him once while painting and he did not break, but I flattened his nose. Ugh.

Army Painter and Air Brushes

While I was at Games Plus the other day, picking up an advance order for some Gale Force 9 official D&D miniatures, including a Purple Worm.

One of the guys in the store was talking about buying the figures and how expensive they were. Now I'm not saying they're cheap or anything but a few resin figures for $50 bones when Games Workshop and others are selling single figures for the $15-$30 range? Not terrible. We then discussed using an air brush on the Purple Worm. The guy wound up buying both packs.

As I was checking out though, he noticed that I had an Army Painter primer. He was a little surprised that I talked about using an air brush while buying spray primer.

Well, I enjoy using my air brush. I'm still new to it. I have a lot of paint. I have a lot of Vallejo Primers. I'm looking forward to buying some more color style primer from AK Interactive when it comes out to the states.

But to use the airbrush...

1. Get the big old box that sucks up the paint air ready and plugged in.

2. Get the compressor ready and plugged in.

3. Get the airbrush and make sure it's working and plugged in.

4. Test the airbrush on the side.

5. Paint!

Army Painter.

1. Grab the can.

2. Shake the can.

3. Spray.

While it may look like a mere two step difference, there are worlds of set up time that popping the lid off a can and shaking it up don't cover.

In addition, Army Painter sprays are good primers for the most part. Not all airbrush material is a good primer. When I can get primer in a color that's going to go a long way to laying down that base coat, why not? Alien Purple for example, will probably be perfect for the purple worm.

I try never to dismiss a tool that can be useful and while I think that the air brush has a lot more variety and utility in its use, simple is something we shouldn't be eager to throw out, especially when it works.

Retribution of Scyrah

When it comes to actually assembling an army to play one of the many games I own, I'm terrible at it. When No Quarter #34 came out in January 2011, it featured a power progression article on the Retribution of Scyrah. I had a few of the figures and went out and bought some more of them so that I could try out a force for the then new edition of Warmachine.

Well, I finally finished off the "Battle Box List" which consist of Garryth, a Chimera, a Griffon, and a Manticore.

I shouldn't say "finished" as I need to do a few touch ups on Garryth. When I was painting him I dropped him and broke off his arms. I just reglued them and realize I want to touch up his eyes, a few thin layers of pure skull white and a few other bits.

Ironically enough, they NOW have a real battle box for these guys so I may wind up buying that as well and testing out my airbrush. I think since the base body is almost all white anyway, I can build up the layers a bit better than I did with a brush.

I find that when I'm working with thin paint, it's very difficult for me to cover up the brush strokes. They may not be TOO bad in the image but they're pretty visible when the figure is under good light.

Crowdfunding miniatures perfect for OA, L5R and other Eastern Styles

Over here on http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kensei-fantasy-creatures--2, we have an Indiegogo campaign for Kensei, Fantasy Creatures. The company has already past its funding. Lot of miniatures and a lot of different levels. Nice thing is that you can get some great deals, some bonus figures, some exclusive figures and all sorts of other benefits.

Over here http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1093338811/east-asian-village-for-28mm-gamers, we have EastAsian Village. Which has also blown past its starting goals. http://www.renaissanceminiatures.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page has a lot of their current material. Some nifty stuff.

I haven't backed either.

With no lease and people looking at the apartment and my future living location up for grabs, I don't think it wise to just up and spend hundreds on miniatures.

Well, that's part of it. There's also the physically moving stuff to storage ahead of time just in case.

There's also just the 'general' money issue mind you. with so many Kickstarters I've backed still leaving the customer high and dry, not only in terms of product, but in being 'part of the process', I'm not really motivated at this point.

When speaking of that part of the process, I've seen too many Kickstarters start off strong. To get the money in, they show WIPS, they show stuff they've done before. They're on the comment board talking about what they're going to do.

Once it actually starts? Maybe a few WIPS here and there and maybe some connection with the crowd, but yeah, that initial rush is dead.

There are a few that do better than that though. The guys at Stoneheaven, http://stonehavenmini.blogspot.com/ , for example, excellent job all the way through the Kickstarter funding to delivery.

I may cave mind you. The Kensei bit is especially appealing but...

Save Versus Poverty!

Well, outside of one recent RPG backing of a Kickstarter, I've managed to avoid several I wanted to become involved in.

For example, Zombicide 2 looks fantastic. I like some of the figures in the original set. I haven't backed the second one because I've never PLAYED the first one. Completely my fault, but if I haven't played the first one, no matter how shinny the stuff from the new one looks, what are the chances that I'm going to suddenly become a gaming fool? Not good I suspect.

Hell Dorado just had a Kickstarter and they have a fantastic range of figures. I own several figures from the range but no the core rule book and I've never played it. I have painted some of the characters and still have several that are primed and ready to paint. Again, save!

Empire of the Dead had a fantastic value going for it's expansion but again, it's a game I'm not into. Many of the miniatures are a little too specific for the genre. And it's one that I think I'd enjoy, but without the actual dedication or time to playing the games I've got now, or finishing the ones I'm into now...

Mind you, there are several still ongoing that I'm tempted by. Dwarven Forge has a lot of dungeon terrain and I've used it in the past. It's a little awkward to carry around and set up when you have a lot of them going so I haven't used it in a long time. The new sets are meant to be less expensive than the previous ones while keeping the quality. I'll keep an eye on it.

Drake looks fantastic. I could easily see myself using several of these figures for my dungeons and dragons campaigns. But... I'm looking at a shelf of unpainted figures that includes characters from Freebooter, Warmachine, Malfiaux, Warhammer, Warlord, and a few other ranges I can't name off the top of my head. Ditto for Torn Armor. Some of the larger figures in particular look mighty tempting. The minotaur brothers? The golems? But... the whole money and time and new game thing...

Another problem though, outside of possible move, which will require massive funds, and lack of time, and the material I already own, is the stuff I've already paid for that has not come in yet including a large batch from Red Box Games, Reaper, and Dark Platypus. With many hundreds of dollars there unaccounted for in terms of my possessions, can I really 'man down' more hundreds for toys I'm not going to use?

For now, the will save is made and the answer is no.

Anyone else find themselves conflicted between supporting some great ideas and having the dreaded real life issues hold you back?