USUTHU! Anele is Finished - Sort of...

By far not my best work ever, but I rushed to get him done, as he had been sitting half-painted on my cork-holder for several months, because of me getting first my God of Battles Skeleton Warrior unit ready for the table, then painting Dark Ages civilians like a madman for a while.

The colours used for his skin are

1. F Dusky Flesh Shade
2. F Dusky Flesh
3. F Dusky Flesh + F Dusky Flesh Light

I think I may need to mix Dusky Flesh Shade and Dusky Flesh to get a smoother transition, as I am not happy with the harsh contrast between the darkest and the mid layers.

I also consider dropping Dusky Flesh Shade as part of this colour series, and instead use a dark 'chocolate' colour like C Scorched Brown or Coat d'Arms Negro as base colour, and mix an intermediate shade of that and Dusky Flesh.

I may do both - I am experimenting a bit on the last of the initial four married Zulu warriors, and the result I get from this is likely to have a lot of influence on my final decision on this.

The rest of the colours are pretty much the same as the other two Zulus I painted.

Barbarian Queen

As with many of Mark Copplestone's masterworks, I have been wanting to get this little beauty for quite a while.

I do have a project in mind for it, but it is a long-term one, and as soon as I get her painted up (and this will be one of my rare pure labours of love, as paintjobs go), she will feature in all kinds of games, as much as I can shoe-horn her in (Pulp, Colonial, Victorian Sci-Fi, Modern Horror, you name it), be it as a fun sideshow or a main protagonist.

The long-term project I have in mind is - slowly - buying and painting nice female Barbarians one at a time (Hasslefree, among others, has some that are on my wishlist for this), and building a small collection/warband to use for various purposes.

As with all plans I make, only time will tell if I actually get there, but I am slowly changing my approach to painting, and tend to enjoy painting single miniatures without having to get them ready for specific purposes, in between painting for warbands/units with a set number to reach, and this bodes well for that kind of project, I guess...

Fine Young Cannibals!

The next part of the North Star order I received yesterday is primarily destined to become part of my slowly evolving Congo project, but will also see action as part of, for instance, Pulp Alley Cannibal leagues to make life miserable for leagues of intrepid explorers.

I went for the 'Extreme Cannibals', as they are very cliché and fitting for use in Pulp games, too (and will probably be very fun to paint).

I do not know if they are Mark Copplestone sculpts, the North Star site has no sculptor info I was able to find (so if anyone out there knows, feel free to tell me), but I suspect they are not, as I think they lack the typical Copplestone features.

These Cannibals come without spears, so I ordered a pack of 50 mm wire spears, too, which sould last med a long time (I could have cut down some of the 100 mm wire spears I have, but I got lazy).

When you say 'Cannibals', you have to also mention the fat king/chief of the tribe, and as this pack comes with a crone witch/shaman (H. Rider Haggard reference? - I just learned that he was actually of Danish descent!?), I simply had to get it, too.

I shall probably not paint any of these until long after Christmas, as I have the seasonal minis and another bunch of Zulu warriors to keep me busy for now, but it is my intention to get them painted within an overseeable future. Of course, my Butterfly Syndrome may kick in and make me do something completely different...

LAF BoB Painting Club: The Dragon Lady

I almost forgot to post this. I finally finished it over six or seven 10-15 minutes sessions yesterday and today (I started her more than a month ago, but she was paused because of my Horisont Blood Eagle project, and I did not get back to her properly, first because of a bit of painting fatigue, and then because of the trouble at work).

She is done now, though, and I can turn my attention elsewhere.

Madame Sung, proprietor of a fine ladies' establishment, and rumoured to have close ties to the Jade Dragon Tong.

I probably need to either build or buy some building complex to house her business...

Attack of the Snow Goons

With my North Star order arriving earlier today, I also got these shady characters. I have no idea what I am going to use them for, just now, but I expect to paint them up during this winter, one at a time, in between painting other stuff (and then I might think of game involving a plot to destroy Christmas and Santa fighting the good fight to save the holidays - we shall have to see about that).

This is not all, though. I may post the rest of the stuff I got later this evening, if I can find the time and energy for it. Right now I am going back to the prepping station to continue cleaning up St Nick and Assistant (I hope to get filler on their bases later today, and be able to prime them tomorrow).

More December - This Time of the Fun Kind

Although I am almost in a stupor, hobby-wise, my suppliers are not, and the orders I made a while ago, before succumbing to workplace stress, are now being delivered.

I saw my GP yesterday, and got sick leave, for now until and including December 19th, which means that I now have at least a fortnight to focus on all the positive things in life - and afterwards I decided yesterday that I simply WILL NOT let my ailment ruin my family and hobby life.

As on cue, my North Star order arrived this morning, and allthough I cannot keep my focus for more than about 10 minutes at a time before having to rest my head, I am determined to get St. Nick and his luvverly assistant prepped and painted before Christmas. It may take me the rest of the day to get them cleaned up and started basing, but I shall not give in to the urge to just sit idle and do nothing but watch some braindead tv-shows all day!!!

In a few moments. I am going to take a long walk with Molly, my fantastic dog (1/4 Golden Retriever, 3/4 Yellow Labrador), who can always be trusted to comfort and support when needed, and afterwards I am going to pull out the needle files and start getting these two great Mark Copplestone sculpts ready for some brushwork.

I got more minis with this order, but I shall post about those when I have to pause in between prepping these minis.

That, and I need to get some scenic snow....

December Has Come

I will not lie. I am hardly making any progress on the hobby front at the moment, as I have come down with severe stress due to impossible psychological conditions at work.

I called in sick earlier this week, and I have an appointment with my GP tomorrow (could not get one earlier), and I expect to have to take sick leave for at least the rest of the month. I shall then start slowly building up myself  again, resting a lot, taking even more long walks with the dog than I use to, and spending a lot of time with my family.

I also hope to be able to resume work on my hobby projects, soon, but at the moment I find it difficult to concentrate for more than 5-10 minutes, which means that I can hardly put more than one colour on one mini at a time, before having to rest and/or do something else.

It has taken me almost an hour to write this text, as I have been re-writing passage after passage, but I think it is necessary to explain my sudden absence from this blog to those of you following my feeble attempts on producing something worth looking at for fellow wargamers and hobbyists.

The game I had scheduled for Saturday evening was canceled, not because of my condition (I think it would have meant a nice diversion, although I don't know if I would have been able to keep focus), but because my opponent had a sick child he could not leave, which is perhaps by far the best excuse in my book for cancelling an appointment.

In the meantime, my family is trying to spread a little light in the darkness surrounding me at the moment.