Saturday 30 November 2013

Short Round Finished... Sort Of...

Well I have taken this mini as far as I can atm. I did try painting the New York Giants logo onto the cap, but it ended up looking more like an Yves Saint Laurent glyph, so I gave it up and painted it over.

Also, the pin stripes on the cap are not quite rigt; there should be more, and they should not emerge symetrically from the center.

But, Shorty is a Yankees fan, I hear you yell.... Well, yes, but his cap sports the Giants logo. If you don't believe me, scroll further down, and the evidence will be presented ;o)








To me, he looks ready to punch someone...
















And, if a hard-boiled, two-fisted stance is not enough, theres always the slingshot.....


 I have learned one thing from painting theis min: Never EVER paint the base before anything else! The grease on my fingers seem to make the brown paint rub off and get on the painted parts, and you can see that i had to repaint the sleeves - and re verse layering never results in guite the same shades as originally.

Well, it'll have to do for now. Maybe if he suffers some battle damage, I'll go over the entire shirt, but ONLY maybe...


























As promised, som caps to look at:




Roger Breshanan's 19?? cap


Short Round's cap


Yankees 1921 Replica

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Didn't Paint Much Today...

...I was busy siphoning my first homebrewed keg of mead into another keg after fermenting had stopped.

The taste is fine, but as you can see, it needs to settle/clear before being bottled for storage.

I did fill 3 bottles for tasting, though - some of my friends will surely appreciate a glass or two... :D

After about a month in a dark, cool place (our conservatory, covered with a dark cloth), the mead should be ready for bottling (and a few Christmas drinks), and then I should leave it on storage for 1-2 years to give it a rich flavour. Well, we'll see if it survives that long...



Short Round WIP - Part 3

I managed to get around to doing his trousers today:

Layer 2: Codex Grey
Layer 3: Codex Grey with white added
Layer 4: Codex Grey with even more  white added.

I think the contrast between Codex Grey (the deep shadows) and layer 3 is a bit too much; I think I'll mix a shade in between next time I 'm doing grey.

Shoes are basecoated Ushabti Bone, which seem awfully yellowish, but I hope I can work it up to a non-greyish white to look a bit like the sneakers he's wearing in Temple of Doom.

I overdid the painting on of folds a bit; I have a tendency to make the darker areas too narrow, leaving too little space for the lighter shades. It's a matter of practice, I guess...

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Spray Priming Miniatures During Winter?

I think I've laid a golden egg... well, maybe, if this contraption works as intended.

Constructed out of 16 mm chipboard, angle brackets, screws, wooden lists, and some wood glue to support an old kitchen ventilator (I don't know the exact English term for it, but it's the kind sitting above the stove, sucking out the steam from cooking) I had kept for just this purpose, when we got a new one a couple of years ago.

It took me ages to clean the grease from the ventilator, but now it's ready for use. You see it here on top of my elevated gaming table, btw - another home-build construction for my hobby.

 I just need to get one of those flexible tubes to attach here at the top, so I can lead the fumes out of a window while spray priming. I really hope this works as planned, as it will allow me to start new paintjobs unhindred by cold weather.






Here you can spot the lists supporting the ventilator.

I glued them in place, then fastened them with a lot of brass screws.

You can also spot that I'm not very accurate with a power jigsaw; I couldn't see the lines I drew without my glasses, and they clouded with moisture because of the dust mask I was wearing.

It sucks getting older and losing one's full eyesight, I tell ya'!

Well, it won't matter when spraying, I guess...



Short Round WIP - Part 2

Ever so slowly, but coming along nicely....
I got my chainsaw to run today, so I haven't spent much time at the painting table, but I managed some progress, anyway.

On top of the Warzone Trench Brown on the shirt I added a layer of Vallejo Khaki Grey, then painted folds with old GW Kommando Khaki, highlighted with a mix of Kommando Khaki and White.

I had to fiddle around to even out the contrast between Khaki Grey and Kommando Khaki, so I have made a mix of those to use as an intermediate layer for the next time I need this series of colours.

I just watched a few minutes of Temple of Doom, and it seems that the trousers should be a mid/light grey, so I've given them a base coat of old GW Codex Grey with a little black mixed in. Next layer will be Codex Grey, then Codex Grey with some white added for top layer and highlights.

I need to sit down and watch that film, so I can figure out what colours to paint the belt and the shoes.


Monday 25 November 2013

Short Round to the Rescue!

I finally started painting this Bob Murch sculpt today (in between cleaning zombies, going to the physiotherapist, and the dentist, paying a bill, and ordering SAGA dice, and some X-Wing ships):

The sculpt is not accurate depiction of Short Round (Temple of Doom), as he is wearing a black/charcoal jacket and a buttoned shirt, but I think it will fit the bill nicely enough with the right paint splashed on.

Short Round WIP #1
We were missing a 'Clever Child' for our first game of Pulp Alley. and I have decided, that everytime I fall short on extras for the game, I'll paint examples of the missing pieces before the next time we play.

Black primer, and some leftover old GW Bestial Brown on the base.

Skin was painted with the Foundry Oriental Flesh triad + a 1 to 2 mix of Oriental Flesh Light and White for the final highlights.

Shirt has been given a base coat of Warzone Trench Brown, and it's going to be worked up to a light khaki.

The trousers will be either a mid grey, or a pale beige - I cannot quite decide from the film footage.

I have forgotten to check the colour of the shoes - that must be a project for in between painting, cutting up trees downed by the storm a couple of weeks ago, and cutting down some other trees in danger of falling, cleaning zombies, and getting my first brew of mead siphoned into a new container.

More tomorrow, I hope...

Elevated Pain(t) Station

I have been having trouble with my lower back, lately, and my physiotherapist wants me to sit as little as possible (and especially NOT sit with my back bent).

So, to facilitate painting without stooping over the miniatures, I have constructed this Pain(t) Station Elevation out of chipboard, angle brackets, and screws:


The thing works wonders for my posture, and i doubles(!) the space available at the pain(t) station.

Here with lamps lit. The blue one at the right had to be repositioned, and is now placed in the front right cxorner of the station (where the ancient Citadel and Marauder knights are battling for the next free slot in the paint queue).

I paint at the left half of the station (out of necessity - the desk lamp at the top can't reach any further XD )


Horisont V: Impressions, Part 2

One thing I missed - just like at Horisont III - was a time table showing when games were presented, and, likewise, showing the opening hours of the traders' stands.

That aside, I really enjoyed the weekend, and I'll certainly be back!

More pics:

Hygge Island (SBH) of and with Vikotnik



The Infinity table. I missed the action...

I can almost taste it... almost.

Kingdom of Heaven


Templars in a tight spot...

Jens from Pardulon with a selection of his fine pieces

This is one heck of a terrain piece!

It deserves a pic without flash, too...

Pulp Alley by Dr the Viking







And a table for bring and battle with W40K Chaos warbands... I don't know if it got played at all, but it looked nice.

Sunday 24 November 2013

Star Wars: X-Wing: Quick Start Rules AAR, Episode III

My laptop had its power cord bitten by our still rather young dog, Molly, and as all the pics of this game is only stored on... my laptop... I had to get a new power cord, before I could continue this AAR.

I have now stored the pics in my DropBox so I shall be able to access them from all my units.

But, let's get to the business:

TURN 11


The AP makes a Bank Left 2, closely tailing the X-Wing.
The Rookie Pilot opts for full thrust, trying to evade the two Ties on his tail, while the Obsidian Squadron Pilot also makes a Bank Left 2 and keeps the X-Wing in his visors.

The OSP opens fire at Range 2.
The result is 1 Hit, 1 Critical, and the RP rolls 1 Blank, 1 Evade.

Only one hit is cancelled out.















The X-Wing takes another point of damage, and things start to look bleak for the rebel pilot.















 

TURN 12

Both Ties make another Bank Left 2, while the Rookie Pilot makes a Koiogran Turn at Speed 4 to be able to return fire.

The antagonists exchange some shots at Range 3.

No damage is done.








TURN 13

All combatants advance slowly while exchanging shots.



 The OSP's Hit is cancelled out.
 The Rookie Pilot has no luck, either.
 And the Academy Pilot also tries...


... to no avail...















TURN 14

The Academy Pilot loses his nerve and makes a Turn Right 1, while both the Rookie Pilot and the Obsidian Squadron Pilot makes Koiogran Turns, at Speeds 4 and 3 respectively.
 I keep rolling lousy results on the dice...
























Depressing...











TURN 15


The AP makes a Koiogran Turn at Speed 3, while the X-Wing makes a Bank Right 1 to fllow it.

The OSP flies casual with Speed 2 and opens fire.


















WHAT THE...?! 1 Hit is not cancelled out!!!












The X-Wing takes another hit. Might be time to bail out...?

















The Rookie Pilot shakes off the hit and lets the Academy Pilot have it...














 ... and actually scores an uncancelled hit!!!


















Boom! - But with the current rate of success, it will take a lot of firing to eliminate a Tie...

















The Ac ademyPilot also shoots....















...but, alas, no luck...

















TURN 16

The Academy Pilot advances with Speed 2, and the X-Wing makes a Bank Right 1, but would overlap, and must be placed touching the Tie of the AP.

The Obsidian Sq. Pilot makes a Turn Left 1, which places him just behind the Rebel, in a very advantageous position for firing.










And rightly so!














The X-Wing is blown to pieces, and the game ends with an Imperial victory.













CONCLUSION

This game was full of ridiculously bad rolls with the Attack Dice, and a lot of lucky rolls with the Defense Dice.

This resulted in a much longer game than normally, when using the Quick-Start Rules, but at least it also allowed for the introduction of almost every trick in the book. Only thing that bugs me is, I should have made this AAR using the full rules instead, but, well, lesson learned.

Soonish I shall make a report of a game of Star Trek: Attack Wing, which uses the same game engine as X-Wing, but this time I shall use the full rules instead, to give a better introduction to the game.