Tower of DOOOOM!!!

So hey, how you going?  Have been busy as hell of late- the only things I have been able to paint have been some production models for Bederken- you will get to see those when I launch the new range.
However I have finished one little task thats been nagging me for a while, a new paint rack.

I lashed out on one of those four level carosels, and I have to say... really not impressed.  The 'American craftmanship' the box proudly states equates to wobbly, with plastic trays too big to grip a citadel pot, and too tight to allow Vallejo or Reaper paints to comfortably sit.  That, and the thing takes up one hell of a lot of space.  I tried to love it... put brushes in the little holders... rebuilt it with different heights...I guess it suits some people, but for me, I just wanted to see everything at once and have my desk space back.

So, one night, armed with nothing but a packing knife, a metal ruler, lollypop sticks, some bostick glue, sticky tape and a bunch of MDF sheets I use to make wargaming scenery, I knocked up the TOWER OF DOOOOM!

Total cost, about ten bucks.

Its alive.  ALIVE!!

I am calling this one a prototype in a thinly veiled attempt to hide my lack of craftmanship.  Cut twice.  Measure using thumbs.
So this is the entire four level carousels contents.  As you can see, plenty of room left and I am taking up about an eighth of the space.  It holds seventy dropper bottles and slightly less citadel pots.  Two of these should do the trick, unless I get seriously addicted to collecting paint.  Hmmm....

Dave gets 'Eavy. Must be the biscuits.

I get quite a few emails by readers wanting a step by step tutorial on how I do my thang.  Since I do things a bit cack handed to everyone else what with medium rich tints and all that.  Well, since I was undercoating and prepping a heap of figures, I though it would be fun to finally do it. 
However, I decided to have a bit of retro fun and... well, Behold, a lost article from a more civilised age.

Hmmm... that looks familiar.

Next one will indeed be covering tinting and mediums!

Keeping the Karmic Wolves at the door

Today I broke my painting drought with a full on onslaught of my leadpile.  Many fell to my mighty brush this day, (I hear America has been scoring pretty good on their own to do list today as well), and I discovered one really good trick; and that trick is this... kill your karmic blockers.
There is, I dare say, one or two figures hanging around your collection like a bad smell, never being painted and draining your enthusiasm just looking at them.  For me, its been a half orc (I only have one) loitering around the fringes of my orcs, an elf archer, a samurai warrior (I do not collect Oriental fantasy figures as a general rule) and a dire wolf, the hobgoblin and the Chaos Warrior from the brilliance that is the BC2 Monster Starter Set.
  Having these figures is not good for your hobby soul- they accumulate at the fringes of your collection, gathering as a clogging sense of dissatisfaction that taints the whole.
  Today, being sick with a cold and generally unmotivated to sculpt, I tackled those figures, and the rush of vitality that returned when they where finished was astounding.  Invigorated thus by the fall of my karmic blockers, I stormed ahead and got 90% of the way through 28 figures- completing a handful of those to my liking.  Count em.  28.

Set aside a day of pain to tackle those ones, and you wont believe what it will do for your lead pile.     Kill your karmic blockers today.

Citadel FA19 female fighter with sword, Dwarf Adventurer, Talisman Necromancer,
C13 Lesser Goblin, ADD OH2 Samurai, Wood Elf

The dwarf and Lesser goblin here are what I call 'soft targets'- things I know I can paint really quickly.  On days I do not feel like a challenge, I bee line for these.  I love the old lesser goblins- I have a bag of them somewhere and now I have the smaller 20mm bases I may do up a tiny, tiny warband.  The Samurai here was the biggest karmic blocker in my collection!
I decided to go really far out with the Talisman Necromancer- slapping on a Wizard of Oz makeup to match his cartoonish look.  The FA19 female fighter is one of the best faces on any citadel miniature ever.  EVER.  Its so subtle, and such a joy to paint.  It would have made a great starter character for D&D.

Citadel BC2 Monster Starter Boxed Set 90% complete

If you have been a fan of my blog, you will know my fondness for the BC1 monster starter set.  Here you can see I am almost done painting it- just little things like shading boots and jazzing up the bases to go now!  I remember the first time I painted the dire wolf, I just painted it black with red eyes.  This time around I was determined to go realistic with the fur and really make him pop.  The hobgoblin is now a favourite of mine, having totally ignored the box art and struck out in vivid green lacquered armour instead of the run of the mill copper scales that where making me yawn just thinking of painting them.  I have a second vile goblin, and will be painting him lime green with dark blue trims and black armour me thinks.  Oh, and yes, I have the BC1 complimentary heroes boxed set now... will have to wait for a dry day to prime them up.

(left to right) C22 Creatures Chaos Hounds 1 & 3,
Unknown Vintage Wolf (middle), Reaper Wolves (top right),
BC2 Vicious Giant Wolf

So one thing you can do to get through your lead pile is rack up a bunch of figures all at once.  I hunted around my collection and found all the wolves I had, and saved myself a heap of time by mixing the colours up at once.

Mystery wolf, BC2 Vicious Giant Wolf

If anyone knows the mystery wolf, I would be glad to have it identified.  Its pretty stiff and old looking, but cannot find him on any citadel collectors sheets.  I thought he was the FF giant wolf.

I also managed to knock down some chaos familiars, Norse Dwarves and a couple of Asgard beasties- but they will have to wait for a later post.  I am tired as hell with cold!