Painting Pirates for Åcon: The Chinaman

Well, I was, but I just learned today that the Pirate game at Åcon is cancelled...

But here is the Oriental part of Captain Etton's crew.

There is something wrong with his forehead in this pic, I have to check if it is an actual painting error or just a speck of dust.

I have another two WIPs, but, frankly, my motivation for painting them has vanished into thin hot air, and next week or so I think I am going to spend most of my leisure time working on the driveway.

Ooops, I just noticed that I forgot to paint the buckle! Well, he will go back on the pain(t) station at a later point.

Here is the entire crew so far. I wonder if it will ever grow any further...

From this picture it is clear to me, that the thing on the Chinaman's forehead in the first pic must have been dust - or perhaps a bit of flock. Well, well...

Painting Pirates for Åcon: The Marksman

A former plantation slave, Eagle-Eye the native South American took to buccaneering before signing up with Captain Etton.

He is deadly with the musket, but always brings a knife to a gunfight (just in case).

Artizan Designs Buccaneer.

Painting Pirates for Åcon: Setting the Mood

I am getting ready for Åcon. The bottle is, of course, solely for reference purposes 😏

Painting Pirates for Åcon: The Fencer

Some of you may have wondered about all those vacation posts. Well, here is why I have had nothing else to show; I have been cleaning and painting minis for a Bring-and-Battle Pirate  game at Åcon 2020, an annual private gaming event in a Summer Cabin garden in Esbjerg.

Here is the first one - a Black Cat Bases fencer I got in a mystery bag deal many years ago.

I have not come up with a name for him, yet, but I imagine him coming from a wealthy family, getting into bad company, and then being disinherited by his father - leading him into a life of crime in order to uphold his dandy lifestyle.

Somehow he ended up as part of Captain Etton's crew, and here he plays the part of the archetypal swashbuckler (although he always brings a gun to a swordfight, just in case).

Copplestone Ngoni Female Archers WIP

One of my long-term projects is painting some forces for Congo, and to that end I purchased some mixed Copplestone Africans quite a while ago.

As I also want to play some Paleo Diet in Africa, I thought I would add some archers to the spear-armed Zulus I painted back in 2016 (time flies!); I have four Zulu riflemen almost ready for primer, but I do not wish to use firearms in Paleo Diet.

It also struck me that I can work on an African warband for SAGA Age of Magic, and thus keep myself motivated for getting some minis painted from time to time.

This batch I intend to use for small breaks from Rohirrim, whenever I need some change, but I hope to get the eight Royal Guards painted fairly soon, as I need them to have a 'pure' six-points Rohan warband (and Age of Magic seems to use larger warbands than 'historical' SAGA does, so I shall see myself adding some riders to the mix this summer, too).

DIY Desert Mat

I have been working at a 3x3 (approximately) test piece painter's felt desert mat, as I am going to make a 6x3 Tatooine mat for Star Wars Legion, and I wanted to start out with a smaller one that can also be used for smaller games like Pulp Alley, Strange Aeons, Sellswords & Spellslingers, etc.

I started out by painting some patches in various earthy colours; red-browns, light terracotta, khaki, etc., an drybrushed them with Buff Titanium. I did not like any of the results, as they turned out way darker than intended, and I decided to paint the entire mat with Buff Titanium, ending up giving it two coats.

I then mixed some white and Buff Titanium and drybrushed the entire surface, and I think it turned out OK, As you can see, the (used) felt had some wrinkles, and I should probably have ironed it before painting, but I wanted to get stuck in right away, and - hey - with some terrain pieces on top, the wrinkles should not be all that noticeable!

3D Printed: Pulp Alley Solo Deck Holder

Yesterday, I printed a deck holder for my recently acquired Solo Deck (plus boosters). I also got Tomb of the Serpent with that order from Sally 4th, and I really should be ploughing through it, instead of posting this... 😏

Pulp Figures - Rebasing Done!

A quick cleanup of the filler, and they can get a quick spray with black primer to caver the new bases.

I feel a Sally 4th order coming up - especially as I also want the new MDF laser-cut tramp steamer, albeit a bit on the expensive side (I have been waiting a long time for somebody to bring out such a kit).

I shall then have to make a Hinterland order, to get the pulp characters (and maybe a pack or two of the Hussars), but that will have to wait a while, yet.

Firstly, if my finances permit it, after our summer vacation I shall get a copy of Star Wars Legion, which I have been wanting to try for a while, so the pulp stuff must wait until Autumn.

Pulp Figures: Finishing the New Bases

A long time ago, I decided to re-base these two fez-wearing characters, and they recently surfaced from the mess on my prepping station.

I put filler on the bases and in the hole on the underside, and tomorrow I shall remove excess filler from the underside, and finish building up the base.

I think it may be about time I get that Pulp Alley Solo Play Deck...

Rebasing Giant Skeleton WIP

A couple of years ago, I bought a Khemri job lot army with a lot of almost painted skeletons, and a few wholly painted centerpieces.

This Giant Skeleton was one of those, and I have just relieved it of its plastic base, and glued it to a large washer instead.

It will get some filler on the base alongside the other ongoing re-basing projects, and when done should find use in a lot of different settings and genres, just like Nagash.

My prepping station is beginning to clear up a bit along the edges, and I think that I should actually have space for working with one of the larger Bones models in a week or so - if I can keep up steam and get some more models cleaned and based at a reasonable rate.

Ancient Lead: Nagash WIP

More than 15 years ago, I bought a fairly large Undead job lot from a friend who wanted to get rid of his Undeads after his first game with them, where he lost in the first turn by having Nagash killed by an Empire cannon, and his army crumble to dust.

Most of the old army has since been turned into my God of Battles Lords of Undeath army, but I still have some bits and bobs, mainly metal, stowed away here and there, and the original Nagash model was among those remnants.

The parts had separated, and the mold lines had not been cleaned very thoroughly, so some weeks ago I set about getting him in shape for a new coat of primer. In the meantime, my mind has been set on other things, but today I gnashed my teeth and got the last work done in one setting.

I think it has taken me about three hours in all to get him to his current state (new basing, et al), but now I can put filler on his base and soon get him primed.

My main motivation for getting him table-ready is to use him as a Death God for OGAM, but he shall see service in a great many different games and genres, such as Broken Legions, SS&SS, Strange Aeons, Pulp Alley, and maybe even God of Battles.

Well, enough about that for now, and back to the painting or prepping station!

When a Good Man Goes to War...

I have had this old big Grenadier fella standing cleaned on my prepping station for ages, but now I think it is soon time to get him painted.

I slabbed some filler on the base, roughed up the edges of the large washer, and today finally primed him along with another two batches.

He is going to serve multiple purposes - actually I can see a lot of uses for him, so getting him ready for the table might work as a catalyst for getting back into some stalled projects.

I need to paint Lea's Sellswords & Spellslingers party, and at least some of Sharpe's Chosen Men, first, so I shall not commence work on him right away, but I actually look forward to painting him, as it is an interesting piece with a lot of potential for a nice paintjob.

Christmas Wars: The Mystery Machine

I did not get around to painting a mini for the Chrismas Wars project in January (although my skeletons and Vikings can probably be used for it), but I accidentally got myself a Mystery Machine for the Scooby gang!

I got it in exchange for making a donation to a charity of my own choice, and I made one to Danmarksindsamlingen Saturday evening, this year aimed at helping starving/malnutritioned children in third world countries.

As you can see, it will require some filler, and I shall have to cut a piece of clear acrylic for the windshield.

I may opt to use this for the post-apocalyptic version, adding some wire mesh to the windows, and perhaps some additional defensive bits and bobs,

Christmas Wars: Basing The Scooby Gang

With my God of Battles two-units-in-one-go sub-project almost finished, it is time to get the monthly mini for my Christmas Wars project ready for the pain(t) station.

I think I am going to paint Fred up, first, and I thought I might just as well get some filler on the bases of the rest of the gang right away.

As soon as these are off the prepping station, I shall start getting the last Perry French finished for the first Dol Amroth Men-at-Arms proxy unit, so that I can get the bases filled, and get those 16 models of the prepping station, too (it is rather crowded at the moment).

And, of course, there is the jungle terrain I want to build - I have to find all my plastic palm trees and other jungle-worthy plastic vegetation... Well, I think I shall do that one or two bases at a time, not bury myself in half-finished terrain bases.

Africa: Something to Raid

The last set from my recently arrived Caliver order was three North Star African Cattle (AA20). They are of course destined to be objectives to be stolen/defended, or just to provide some nice atmosphere.

Tomorrow I am going to begin work on my two planned God of Battles Skeleton Horde units, and I expect that project to take up at least half of January. After finishing those, I expect to resume work on my In Her Majesty's Name Zulu Impi. Plenty of work to do for now, before I go back to the Dark Ages (although I expect to do some work with Anna on the longhouse in between).

Africa: A Couple of Cheetahs

I actually may have this set already - I have to go check the box in which I store past HLBSC animal purchases (these are former products of said company, if my memory serves me right).

Nice, slender cats, need some cleaning up, but will look great on the table, I think.

All in all, with the wildlife I have in store, the somewhat recent purchase of a big Zulu War job lot, and the November orders from North Star and Caliver Books, I now have quite a collection for games set in the Dark Continent - I just have to get more of it painted up!

With my New Year's vow to reduce my hobby budget substantially for at least the first half of 2017, it should be doable, but I do have other projects to tend to, too...

Congo: Copplestone Ngoni Chiefs/Wichdoctors

Another pack from my November order with Caliver.

Because, you can always use some characters.

As that particular order is also the last minis I am going to purchase for a while, there actually is a chance that some of them will get painted within an overseeable future - which is always nice to know 😉

Congo: Copplestone Female Ngoni Archers

in the second half of November I put in an order with Caliver Books for some minis I wanted for my Africa/Congo collection, as I could get them with a discount, and with free shipping on orders of £20+.

I had all but given up on the stuff, as I enquired about it shortly before Christmas and was ensured that the package had gone out on November 20th.

I was not able to get through to the mail over the holidays, and then suddenly the package showed up in the mail this morning, 40 days after dispatch...

Well, here is one of the blisters from my order: I had the pleasure of playing with a nicely painted set of these in the Congo game I participated in at Horisont VIII, and I really want those models as part of my Africa games!

Chrismas Wars: Scooby and the Gang WIP

I have been cleaning up and basing Scooby and the meddling teenagers, as I think they are just the kind of material that will go well with my Christmas Wars project (as well as for other, just as cheerful settings 😉 )

I am not gong to paint any of these, until I have finished the two Skeleton Horde units I am now building for God of Battles, but it never hurts to have some nice minis ready for the paint station!

Christmas Wars: Santa's Assistant - With Snow, but Without Lipstick!

Time ran out for me on this, so I did not quite get it to the point I wanted to.

Julia was late this morning (if you know my language, you will get her name), so she forgot to put her lipstick on, and I think she grabbed the wrong pair of silk stockings, as thes eare light grey instead of white or red (or even green).

I like the way her hair turned out, it was:

1. Citadel Desert Yellow
2. Coat d'Arms Buff
3. Army Painter Skeleton Bone

I thin I could have gotten away with another highlight - shall experiment on my next blond mini!

All in all. I like how she turned out, and she is now joining Santa in our winter/Christmas scene on the sideboard, of which I promise to post a photo either later today or tomorrow. No snow landscape though - I think I shall make a mat out of painter felt, then upgrade it with some Woodland Scenics snow later this winter!

MERRY CHISTMAS, HAPPY CHANNUKAH,

and whatever festival YOUR culture/religion is celebrating right now (sorry, I am too ignorant to know them all - I celebrate 'Christmas'  more in line with the original Norse Jól, anyway, without any particular religious meaning).