DLBlog 3: Drug Addicts & Laser Burns

On The Bench

This past weekend I put in the time to complete a handful of Malifaux models to finish up the thematic group for the master Jakob Lynch, the drug-pushing gambler enslaved by the mind-controlling horror that lives in his casino's basement.

First up are the Depleted, the unfortunate patrons addicted to the drug Brilliance who have been nearly sucked dry of their life force to feed the beast's hunger.

In the past I have always used Reaper paints, but used Scale 75 paints for the first time when painting these guys. I'd heard good reviews about this relatively new line of paints and seen some impressive results, so I picked up a few of their paint sets. They have a super matte finish, which I find perfect for skin tones. The paint also has a very fine pigment which is great for thin glazes, although it takes quite a few coats to get an even base coat.

This is also the first time I've tried starting with a midtone basecoat and glazing in the shadows, rather than my typical method of dark base coat, wash, and several highlights. I think it turned out very well, especially with the dark red hue to make the skin look bruised and feverish. I especially like how the faces on the two shorter minis turned out.

Next up is an Illuminated. Those newly addicted to Brilliance undergo 'beneficial' mutations well-suited for combat. Their new-found power of short-lived, however. Over time their condition deteriorates until they are in the same state as the lowly Depleted, only to be wholly consumed by the Darkness.

This model is a kit bash: body from the Malifaux Female multi part kit and arms from an actual Illuminated. Jakob Lynch's box set comes with three Illuminated models. Two I have already painted, but the third wasn't to my liking, so I stole its arms and glued/green stuffed them to this chick.

I didn't use the Scale 75 paints for this model's flesh (as I was a bit frustrated at first trying to base coat the Depleted) and I reverted back to using Reaper medium and pale flesh tones. I'm not quite as happy with this model. After looking at the picture the highlighting, especially on the claws, could use some more work.

Finally there is the Hungering Darkness himself, an ancient Spirit of Malifaux that feeds off of the Brilliance-addicted patrons of Lynch's casino.

Figuring out a suitable color scheme for this guy had me stumped for quite a while. This sculpt isn't terribly liked in the Malifaux community. Affectionately nicknamed 'Huggy', it is a pretty goofy model to begin with and, depending on the paintjob, can get much more so. I wanted to stick with a simple paint scheme to avoid a mishmash of colors over the large surface area, so color of the main body parts is the turquoise scheme common throughout my Lynch crew. I wanted to keep the focus on the central portion of the model and away from the tiny slug tail and large protrusions on the side of the head, so for the rest of the body I applied a mix of black and iridescent medium. In the fluff Huggy is a spirit composed of the ethereal drug Brilliance, so I thought the glossy sparkle would be appropriate, and it came out better than I expected.

And here's the Jakob Lynch family photo.

And the paint streaked hand that signifies a good day of painting.

Next up in the paint queue are the Viktorias and their sisters in battle. You may remember seeing Matt's excellently painted versions in a previous post; these Viks are some older metal sculpts that I prefer the look of so they'll have a bit different aesthetic. I've had these ladies primed and based for a while and it's about time I give them the attention they deserve. I'll be trying out the Scale 75 metallic paints on their armor plates.

Hobby Storage

In the past couple of weeks I've picked up a few new ways to store all of my hobby toys. The first is a pair of paint racks from Burn In Designs. They are laser cut vertical paint storage racks specifically made for dropped bottles. With my collection of Reaper and Scale 75 bottles they were perfect for me. Each row holds up to 11 bottles; with 8 rows that's a bunch of paint stored in each rack. The top of even has a tray to hold misc items, like Citadel/P3 pots or other tools.

The pieces fit together very nicely. They recommend wood glue to hold it together securely, but only the the top lips and bottom legs require it, the rest firmly slots together.

I was previously using a very large nail polish rack which only held a little more than a single Burn In Design rack. Upgrading to the vertical racks is much more space efficient and aesthetically pleasing.

My second storage acquisition is a nice little display case. While in the Lake of the Ozarks last weekend I happened across this gem at a shop's going out of business sale. With 12 compartments perfect for storing Malifaux-sized Crews I snapped it up. It even has a mount on the bottom that allows you to spin it around to easily access all sides. 

The only downside was that the light wood color wasn't too my liking. After a quick tear down and sanding I applied a darker stain which is drying as I type this. In the next update I'll have pictures of it back together and filled with minis.

Thanks for reading. See you next week!

DLBlog 2: GenCon 2015 The Other Story

My first trip to GenCon was last year with Matt. We finally made the decision to attend late into summer, and by that time any event that didn't accommodate hundreds of people (none of which I was interested in) was completely booked. So most of my time was spend in the vendor hall, which was a perfectly good experience for me. I had only recently gotten into the miniatures and board gaming hobby and everything I saw was new, interesting, and shiny; it was a total blast. On the drive home from Indianapolis we had already decided to attend the next year.

Flash forward to 2015. We procrastinated with our hotel reservations so we didn't get a room within walking distance of the main event, but we were ready at our computers when it came time to sign up for events. We each had about a half dozen events on our wishlists and clicked 'Submit' the second it let us. About 45 minutes later, after entering the line about 4000 spots back, I ended up getting just one of the events I was excited about attending.

Well, that was disappointing. Down 3 of the 4 painting tutorial classes I was most excited about (airbrush class with Angel Giraldez, freehand class by Marike Reimer, and a true metallic metal class) and the True Dungeon Matt and I wanted to try, I was in the same situation as last year through no fault of my own. No worries, I'd hang out around the vendor hall again where I had so much fun last time.

This year I also brought along one of my miniature dioramas. It wasn't specifically built for GenCon (but for an online contest earlier in the year) but it was decent enough that I wasn't ashamed to enter it into a big contest.
It ended up placing in the Bronze category, which I was pretty pleased with considering my time invested.

'Professional' pic of my entry

Entry in the final Bronze category. Got me a pin!

After entering in the painting contest, I had all the time in the world to explore the Con; Three entire days to wander the halls. With just the single painting event and not being one to nose my way into open gameplay scattered throughout the con, the vendor hall was my spot. But, different than last year, I wasn't a newbie to the scene and wasn't going into this wide eyed and inexperienced. I frequently watch preview videos and reviews of new games and keep up with gaming news. I knew what I was interested in and where to find it so I quickly picked up the games and miniatures I wanted and skipped by those that didn't interest me. A few games I was on the fence about and wanted to try them out, but hovering around demo tables for up to an hour while the current group wrapped up wasn't my idea of a fun time. So back to wandering it was.

After about a day and a half I had seen all I initially wanted to see. Luckily, after meeting up with Matt between his MtG events, we spent time in Artist's Alley where I had never paid much interest before. There is some really amazing artwork to be had and I picked up a few pieces by NEN which are by far my favorite buys from the con.

NEN's booth

Amazing Harley Quinn and Daenerys Targaryen watercolors by NEN

The rest of my time was spent between looking for gifts for others, lounging in the auction hall (where I bid on some Harry Potter memorabilia that quickly shot out of my price range) and some last minute entries into speed painting competitions.

This was my first time entering any kind of speed painting event. if you're not familiar with the concept, you typically have 45 minutes to paint a surprise mini to the best of your abilities with just a crappy brush and a limited range of paint colors. This is where I had the most fun of the entire con, in part due to being not placing too shabbily in most of them.

Dark Sword, Wyrd part 1, and Wyrd finalist speed painting minis

The first mini is from a Dark Sword competition. I didn't place in that one but did come away with a pretty cool mini. Second is a Wyrd Rail Golem. A $35 mini, not bad for the $2 entry fee. This is a huge model, so it was a challenge to base coat the whole thing evenly, let alone focus on details. Went for a bronze color with oxidation effects, red glow from the boiler vents (disappointed in how those turned out) and a blue base, as I paint the rim on all my Malifaux minis according to their faction (much to the chagrin of Matt). Painting the base last also leads to the judges getting their grubby mitts also over it, hence the terrible splotchy look. I placed 2nd with this mini which qualified me for the Wyrd championships.

Dark Sword judging

Wyrd round 1 judging

The third mini is an alternate sculpt of Kaeris, also from the Malifaux line. This was a limited edition mini, another $35 freebie, this time for no entry fee! Same brass w/ oxidation for the wings, and a purple cloak and brown pants. To make it hopefully stand out from the rest of the pack I did a blue fire effect rather than red/orange, pink streaks in the hair, and some color splotches on the base that look like grass and flowers if you squint hard enough. Got third place and scored a Games & Gears brush set and some Wyrd plastic lampposts. Quite a haul for the measly entry fees and quite a boost to my painting self esteem as well. I considered stripping the models down and painting them a bit better, I decided to keep them as is to commemorate the experience.

Wyrd finalist lineup

At the end of the con I came home with an armful of Malifaux stuff (my preferred skirmish game and miniatures-for-painting line), some art pieces, the speed painting haul, and Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn (excellent card game I was able to demo).

Overall I had a great time at the Con, but I'm not sure if I'd like to attend again. Not getting into my preferred events left a bad taste in my mouth right off the bat. When 60,000+ attend this thing its understandable, but its grown a bit too large for what I'm most interested in doing. By keeping up with board game releases throughout the year the vendor hall isn't as exciting as it used to be. With the speed painting events being by far my favorite thing I've done at the con, and my hobby interests shifting more from playing to painting, I plan on looking into different conventions that focus more on the hobby aspect. Adepticon or ReaperCon may be on my radar for next year.

Bonus! Things I forgot to talk about during my first memory dump:

Fantasy Flight In-Flight Report. Sweet to be the first in the know about their new releases!

Dice Tower Live Podcast

My favorite of the cosplay parade. Guy dressed up as the buff 'Shame!' nun from Game of Thrones. Ringing his bell and shouting "Shame!' the entire time. Brilliant!

Some shiny uncut Magic cards. Always cool to see.

Stay tuned for next time (shooting for every Wed) where I'll chat about what's on my painting bench, some laser cut wood hobby organizers I've begun using, and a cool pickup I scored while at the Lake of the Ozarks!

DLBlog 1: An Intro with Too Much MtG

Okay! Let's try writing a blog post. Bear with me if it doesn't flow too well; this is the first time I've tried writing anything coherent outside of work emails since college.

I'll start off with my history with the gaming hobby. I started out as a casual Magic: the Gathering player sometime in 1995, when Fifth Edition was the latest and greatest. While wandering around during recess I found a stray Kjeldoran Dead half-buried in the dirt near some old metal picnic tables. I suppose some kids from an earlier recess were playing, declined to regenerate the poor skeleton, and it found its way into the dust, destined to hook another poor kid on the cardboard crack.

The next time I was at Toys"R"Us I picked up a Portal starter set and played some games here and there with a few friends. That hobby waxed and waned over time until I had graduated college 15 years later and found myself in Kansas to start my career. I didn't know anyone in the area and after a few weeks I saw a hobby shop just down the road had this thing called Friday Night Magic. I still had my random assortment of cards from over the years so I threw some together and made he journey up to the shop. I quickly found out that none of my stuff was legal for the standard format, so I just creepily hovered around and watched other people play for a bit before heading out.

The next week was a prerelease event for Rise of the Eldrazi, I joined in, and proceeded to get sucked into the Standard format. Every week or so I would find myself ordering the cards for an entirely new jank deck (Polymorph, Death's Shadow, Kiln Fiend, junk like that). I eventually progressed to modified net decks and was a fairly competent player (Level 0 judge) and started placing pretty high up in the rankings. I caught Matt's eye after thoroughly trouncing him with my Unburial Rites deck and we quickly became friends after that.

Standard became too much of an expense compared to the time I played each week, so I drifted into the realm of EDH and that's where I remain to this day. I have a handful of EDH decks and I'm gradually trading off the miscellaneous card for pimped out cards for those decks.

That was a longer MTG story than I had planned for, so I'll just skim over the intro to the more interesting parts of the hobby. The local game store also had a board game night which Matt talked me into going to. Combine that with my Lovecraft kick at the time and I immediately picked up Arkham Horror and its billion expansions. And logically that lead to this:

I'll go ahead and blame my intro into the miniatures hobby on Matt, too. After board games led to X-Wing miniatures my collecting habits led to owning multiples of the Millennium Falcon and Slave 1. I couldn't have identical looking unique ships, so I commissioned Matt to give them a custom paint job for me.

After he saw that I was interested in some Malifaux minis the shop had recently gotten in he convinced me to take up a paintbrush and try my hand at one of the finer sides of the hobby. Here's the result of day 1 of  "Lessons with Matt":

Which again, of course, led to this:

Anyway, mini painting is now the primary focus of my hobby time and I expect it to be the main focus of my blog content; detailing new techniques I'm trying out, new minis I've bought and assembled, stuff like that. There might also be some board game happenings and occasional MtG stuff as well.

I'll cut this off here and jump into my experiences at GenCon next time to complements Matt's mini-series. Thanks for reading!