Marienburg, Undeadish, etc! (plague)

Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

Provided I can get back to the painting table sometime soon, what will I be working on in 2016? Well, like most wargamers/painters, that's subject to constant shifting attention... Although I do think I stuck to my one little project pretty well last year. I've got one or two things to finish for other people first. But after that, I've got a rough idea of some things I want to work on for myself in 2016. In no particular order, here are a few:

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I took a few minutes to try out a possible solution to needing plastic shields similar to the old elf shields. It's polystyrene sheet, cut to shape, headed and formed around a dowel. Still needs a bit of refinement -- not quite there yet. White it mine, grey is a GW shield.

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Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

Your output is amazing! I've just gone through the last 13 pages and picture after picture of inspiring units fills each page!

I love the colour tones of your undead. Makes them so distinct from the colourful living troops!

Keep up the good work!!!
 
Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

Masterwork":2f5uvc7m said:
I love the colour tones of your undead. Makes them so distinct from the colourful living troops!
Click to expand...


Thanks! That's what I am hoping to achieve -- a striking contrast between a riot of color on one side vs. a drab & limited pallette on the other.



I finally grabbed a few hours today to paint! As much as I need to wrap up some painting for others, I really needed to do something for myself (fun, no pressure, etc.) to de-stress a bit. Plus, I really didn't have that much time, so it was speed painting rather than nice detailed painting.

I painted up a small unit of skeleton guard (old 4th ed. Citadel wights.) Not as good looking or dynamic as the Warmachine Bane Thralls I used on my first unit of skeleton guard, but they have a certain retro-charm. Plus I got them in a trade for some other old figures, which is more agreeable with my limited gaming finances.

I think my home-made shields turned out pretty decent looking!

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Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

I just love this thread 023.
As someone who has his own collection of Nightmare Legion (and friends) in the painting pile I find your thread (and blog) inspirational. Keep up the great work; I love it all!

One question, I can't see a join in your gaming table. Did you cover over it or are the two doors separate pieces, and the join is just difficult to see?
 
Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

Thanks!

As far as the gaming table/doors, it depends on the photo. I disguised the joint with Photoshop in a few of the bog photos (where I blacked-out the junk in the background of the room as well.) The joint is visible in this photo, perpendicular to the road:"

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Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

Shocking, but yes -- another update.

Two reasons for this. One is that I got Stuff! In the Mail!

I'm relatively (just since last year) new to the Lead Adventure Forum, and as time allows, I've been catching up on some of the great projects documented there. One of my favorites, and most inspirational, is that of DeafNala. If you like colorful, high fantasy, with some hints of oldschool (circa 1980s) Warhammer & White Dwarf miniatures, and comics like Gobbledigook, the art of Froud, Bode, Bakshi, etc. then check it out. All of it. Somewhere around page 201 there is a link to a Photobucket account full of photos, too.

Somewhere in response to my praise and worship, I received an offer of some mushrooms, and a significant batch of both painted and unpainted ones recently showed up on my doorstep.

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They're even better in person! So now I'm churning around several plots on how to make use of them on my own gaming table. I'm a little intimidated about painting the unpainted ones, so I am trying to decide on a good way to paint them so they are different, but work well with DeafNala's own painted 'shrooms.


I have also just sacrificed some more of my much needed sleep in return for some much needed painting time. I really wanted to finish up one other thing of my own that's been sitting half-complete since... I don't know, spring or summer? I wanted a hodgepodge unit of beastman-esque skeletons. I painted half of them ages ago, and the rest included a few more that needed built, plus a few metal figures from the Cursed Company.

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There's a mix of figures & minor conversions here. Stock figures include a skeletal saurus, orc, and two skaven from the Cursed Company, and two skeletal dogs from Mantic. The rest are 4th/5th ed Citadel plastic skeletons with various additional animal skulls & bits.
 
Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

Cool stuff. And, a great idea for making those shields. I might try the same thing as I need more High Elf shields!
 
Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

Thanks!





My phone has trouble photographing white, so this is hard to see. But I accidentally started making this tonight.

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I saw one of these Bones orcs when I went to a local store to pick up a few paints I needed. Still some work to do, like the weapon and tail. It's a bit of an experiment. A prototype, perhaps...

This idea -- and specifically, using certain Reaper orcs -- has been in my head for a while. I've had some ideas about my Althammer setting and campaign, too. And I've been thinking about a few different ideas for some more minor players and also the "historical" context. Eventually I'll write a bit of my own, but for now, an excerpt from WFRP "Marienburg: Sold Down the River" for some of the inspiration.

But sometime after the departure of the Elves and the Dwarfs and before the arrival of Man, Chaos and evil came, spreading like a cancer from the north and the south. The Skaven, digging their tunnels like cracks meant to undermine the continent, burst forth from the abandoned mines and ravaged the surface. Within a few decades, the land was a ruin: the herds were slaughtered, the waters poisoned and the groves cut down. Marching like vermin into the north of this realm, they found the Fimir, a race of reptilian giants who themselves were remaking the land in their own blasphemous image.

War was inevitable. For how long it raged, only the Fimir and the Skaven know, and certainly no one is asking them. The Skaven built great castles to hold their conquests, and slowly they pushed the Fimir back. In the end, there came a cataclysm that decimated both sides. Whether it was a last desperate effort by the Fimir, an attempt at final victory by the Skaven, or even a rebellion by the earth itself doesn't matter. Great waves of magic washed over the land and the earth convulsed and cracked. In a night, the castles of the Skaven and the holds of the Fimir were thrown down as the very bedrock heaved, broke and sank. Their armies were destroyed and their minions crushed or swallowed whole. By dawn the next day, only the land itself remained, nearly empty of life and hiding its wounds under a thick blanket of fog.
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Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

Here is a little more work and some better photos. The tail is pretty crude. My putty has been sitting around unused for a year, and I think is past it's "best by" date. So it's a pain to work with -- plus I haven't done any detailed sculpting/converting in a very long time! I initially thought I would prefer a plain tail, but I think I would like to see what it looks like with a clubbed end. I don't care for the scale & taper (not enough) of the tail, either. I've tried drawing & building a few quick weapon forms, but haven't got anything I'm really fond of, yet. (This is not glued in the hands yet.) I'm going to try a knobby or spiked cylinder mace head next, maybe later tonight.

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Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

I like where you are going with the Fianna Fimm (The weapon is great), but I'd say go with alot thinner and shorter tail :)
 
Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

Haha, thanks. I think some paint may reveal that it's not quite pro level sculpting. ;)


After trying a few other weapon & tail options. Also chopped down the boots and sculpted bare feet after someone on FB pointed out that the boots looked out of place. Not perfect, but good enough for a "rough draft." Going to try a quick paintjob on it & see how it looks. If I still think the idea has potential, I'll try doing a few with cleaner sculpting, more detail, etc.

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If I do continue on, I *may* try making a mold for a few heads and tails, so I can convert a bunch of these without having to sculpt each individual. If I get *really* caught up in this, I may try finding some unarmored bodies. Maybe a robed one, too. ;)
 
Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

I've apparently had some sort of fire lit under me with this little side-quest. Started painting, not quite done but so far I'm really liking the way it's turning out. I can also see some of the things I'd like to do different next time, details to add, etc.

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And a shot with some other large figures, plus my usual reference model, to give a sense of scale.

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Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

Thanks!

Started working on some new heads. A couple seem OK, a few others might only be good enough for practice.

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I might just go ahead and sculpt a bunch after all, instead of casting. I would still love to try casting, but that involves some of practical problems that I'm not sure how to overcome. Besides, I think still need more sculpting practice before I've got some good enough bits to make it worth the work to cast anyway. On the other hand, I would love to be able to make castings, then clean those up further, maybe sculpt some variants, and then use those for final casts. Does anyone with resin experience know if I can get good quality casts for heads and tails like this without using a pressure tank? While I would love to use it, the tank is what presents the most problems at the moment.

I should probably start thinking about getting some more orc bodies.

In addition to the orcs, I might check out this ogre body, also sculpted by Tre Manor. Hopefully it's a similar size. http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/Bo ... test/77105

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Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

Wow...the painted one looks superb! And it looks like he is going to be joined by some well kitted out friends in short order!

Keep it up!

Cheers,

blue
 
Re: Marienburg vs. the Undeadish

Thanks. Still working through the process for getting some more done.

I worked to get the stars to align so I could do an initial test mold & casting and...

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The silicone was totally solid in the jars. So... waste of money, waste of time. Getting frustrated ready to give up.

Also (finally) finished a 120mm hoplite for a friend. Can't get a decent pic, and I although I'm generally happy with it, I screwed up the composition of the design on the hoplon. I don't have the time nor patience to repaint the whole thing, unfortunately. So... no pics.

But I do have this little guy for the Oldhammer forum's chaos village...

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