I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat; Freebooter's Fate Challenge Day 3

Ooops, I may have got distracted last night playing Medieval II Total War... that game is the devil when it comes to productivity.

But better a few hours late than never, here is day 3's update.

Not much progress to show for it unfortunately, but I did finish another three models, albeit fairly simple ones. The Oncas are big cats one of the Amazons specialist can include in your force. I kept them simple, since they're only cats. No one likes cats, right?

So yeah, not my best work, but they'll do for gameplay. I'm now 7 down out of 18, after 3 of 7 days... someone do the maths on whether that is ahead or behind, too many awkward numbers for my head. Hopefully tonight I can get a few more Amazons finished.

In hindsight, I totally should have painted one as grumpy cat...

~ Alex/Magos

Shivs and Stilts; Freebooter's Fate Challenge, day 2

Update! Day two of the Freebooter's Fate Challenge, and the 4 models from yesterday are done. I was hoping to get started on another batch as well, but fussing around with these models all evening prevented that. Tomorrow I'll have the whole day to paint though, so hopefully will have more progress.

I promised yesterday that today I'd talk some more about the models. As I mentioned, they're sculpted by the very talented Werner Klocke, and are quite nice models, especially the females. One of my absolute favourite things about this range is the pewter base inserts. As you've probably noticed, basing is not my strong point, and while I'm working on improving that, these inserts are a great idea, simultaneously providing character bases, and extremely solid anchoring points for the models (each insert has slots for the models feet, which have pegs). They also give the assembled models nice weight and stability, particularly valuable on top heavy sculpts like Miedo a Morir.

So then, onto the finished pics!

Male coscritti:

Female coscritti:

Battitore (Stop, what time is it? That's right, hammertime):

Miedo a Morir:

Sorry some of the photos are a little blurry, my terrible photography skills strike again I suppose. Feel free to let me know what you think, feedback is really appreciated, especially on the OSL and NMM, since I'm unpracticed at both.

~ Alex/Magos

Silent Footsteps in the Dark; Freebooter's Fate challenge, day 1

Day 1 of my 'paint all my Freebooter's Fate in a week' challenge!

Yes, Freebooter's Fate, the small fantasy pirate skirmish game with a lovely range of models sculpted by Werner Klocke. If you don't know who Werner is, you need to expand your model knowledge. He's one of the best known miniature sculptors, and has models in a number of ranges, most notably Reaper's catalogue, and his charming female miniatures are sometimes referred to as 'Klockenbooty'.

I'd known of FF for a while, but the relatively high cost kept me from getting into it, however a few months back I picked up all the rules, cards and two sizeable factions, all BNIB, for a steal. I'm keen to give the game a go, and if I enjoy it might look at expanding my factions, but for the moment I'm happy with the two I have, Amazons and Brotherhood, conveniently my two favourite ranges of minis.

I'll ramble some more about the models tomorrow maybe, but I'm fairly exhausted tonight and have to work tomorrow morning, so I'll keep this fairly brief and get to the pics.

Inevitably, after a week of balmy weather, winter returned today with rain and wind, meaning I had to wait until late afternoon to get a chance to prime. I have 18 minis all up to finish, and I'm planning to break them into batches to hopefully make it more manageable. First up, the Brotherhood, a cult of nefarious assassins. Their models are a mix of nobles in masquerade finery, and common cut-throats, wearing ragged outfits. I've started with the commoners, keeping the colours suitably motley and muted, while the nobles will be far more riotous. 

I didn't manage to get them finished tonight, but they're about two thirds done I guess. Skin, some cloth, details and weapons are not close to done yet, plus there's the OSL from Miedo a Morir's lanterns. I'm only aiming for a nice tabletop standard with these guys, with 18 models to do, I can't afford to be too finicky. If I can achieve my goal of a week to have the whole collection finished, that will be reward in itself.

Ok, pics, finally.

Cheers, thanks for looking, comments always appreciated :)

~ Alex/Magos

It's All Greek to Me; Byzantine history and plans for next week

No pics tonight, just a quick post to try and get back into the daily post swing of things.
I didn't get any painting done today, instead, I made a snap decision to pull out a game I have and set myself a challenge for the week - painting everything I own for it in time to play a fully painted practice game or three next weekend. Not going to reveal the game, but suffice to say, it's not on my poll. Anyway, I spent the afternoon assembling 18 fiddly metal models. Argh. My glue must be losing its potency or something, so many little pieces that just wouldn't stick together. But now they're all assembled and based, so hopefully tomorrow the weather will let me prime them and I can get stuck in.

In other news, while painting/assembling over the last few days, I've been listening to this podcast. Really interesting and convenient overview of Byzantine history focusing on twelve significant emperors. As something of a fan of the Byzantines (mostly thanks to many hours of Medieval Total War), it's been excellent listening, thoroughly recommend you check it out if you like history.

So anyway, stay tuned for tomorrow's update, wherein I reveal the sum of the challenge I've set myself.

~ Alex/Magos

Saving the Galaxy with the Power of Mediocrity; Jacob joins the team

Sorry for the radio silence, been in the hobby doldrums a bit for the last week, struggled to find much motivation. So instead, I mostly played Counter Strike and Mass Effect 2. Oops.

I decided to break the drought tonight by painting another of my small collection of Mass Effect models, this time choosing Jacob, the perfect victim for a quick and dirty hour of work, simply because, well... he's kind of bland.

My main Mass Effect playthrough, with John 'revenant to the face' Shepard, didn't find much use for Jacob (or anyone who bothered with tricksy powers, really...), but I've gotten to appreciate him a little more in subsequent playthroughs. Still, he ranks near the top of my least favourite of the team (Samara, Thane, Kaidan...). That being said, he's still a pretty good character, can't fault BioWare for that, no sir. He just isn't a Miranda or Garrus. I will say this for him though, he has one of the best scores from the soundtrack as his loyalty mission's theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l99D2BJBW_M

His uniform is, unfortunately, a subtle blend of greys, black and white, which is basically a pain to translate into 28mm. I've done my best, and I think he's come out recognisable at least.
The miniature is one of the Kev models from Hasslefree, pretty close I think, but rather short compared to other 28mm minis. He's armed with a Harrier, not a weapon he can use, but as a Cerberus agent, it still seems appropriate. Also it's one of the most deadly weapons in the game, who wouldn't use one eh?

And while this isn't new work, I painted this model before I started the blog, so I figured I'd put some pics of it up here. If I have more periods of unproductivity, I might upload some more pics of older models. So far this year I've painted 140 minis, only about half of which are on this blog.
Moving on, this model represents Shepard in his Edmonton Blood Dragon armour, which I've used on and off in game. I don't mind the armour, and this Yu Jing Hac Tao is a pretty close match. I'm happy with how it turned out, I even managed to recreate the blood dragon splatter on the chest, and the 'metallic camo' colours of the weapon, which is meant to be an M99 Sabre, a weapon I absolutely adore.

So that's it for this overdue, rambly post. I'll hopefully have more to show soon, possibly a couple of lovely Red Box minis if I get off my ass and finish basing them so I can prime them. I've also pre-ordered one of the new GW carnosaurs... I may hate the evil empire and their ways, but I can't resist a giant dinosaur. Got big plans for that model, we'll see what I can do.

~ Alex/Magos

One... Two... a False Start on some Infinity; WIP ALEPH

I went into town to see Pacific Rim yesterday, wow, fizzz, what a movie. Giant stompy robots fighting giant alien monsters, what more can you ask for?

So far my poll has received a paltry 1 vote, for Infinity, so I figured I might as well answer the call and get started. I'm not going to waffle too much about the result, simply because I'm not at all happy with it. The super fine detail and crisp edges of Infinity models REALLY do not agree with my painting style, which works fine on organic stuff like flesh and cloth, but just looks sloppy and crude on these kinds of models. So,  I'll be starting afresh, trying to break out of my usual style and go for a clean, flat finish with crisp edge highlighting... it's going to be interesting to see if I can pull it off.

As an aside, Infinity models are just plain trolly to assemble. This unassuming chap is like 10 pieces. Corvus Belli must have access to better superglue than I. Seriously, those shin pads come separate, just crazy.

But anyway, for now, here's what two hours this evening turned out. Ugly, isn't it? Oh, and just to be clear, this is only a WIP, I'd still have a lot to do even if I wasn't starting afresh, but I'm just not feeling it.

Hopefully my next post will have something a little prettier.

~ Alex/Magos

Something from Long Ago; the first model I ever painted, unearthed

Sorry for the lack of painting progress, my desire to paint seems inversely related to the proximity of 40k to my painting desk... strange how that works.

Instead I've been spending my time playing FTL and ME2, I'm using an Engineer for the first time in singleplayer, though so far I'm investing more of my levels in flashbang grenades... so lulzy to spam flashbangs into low level enemies at close range. Although having spent so many hours playing a soldier, anyone else feels really fragile on hard difficulty, have to hug cover.
All this means there's a good chance I'll chip away at the Mass Effect skirmish game some more, we'll see.

On the hobby front though, I've been going through some old boxes of models I haven't touched in ages, in amongst the victims of my teenage hobby years (no talent or money but boundless enthusiasm produced lots of horrible 'conversions' and ugly paintjobs) I found this guy.
While he may not look like much, this orc archer happens to be the first model I ever painted, over a decade ago in the GW Adelaide store. Not bad for an 11 year old who'd never done anything more than fingerpainting before.
I thought I'd post some pics of where this hobby all began for me... come a long way, though I'm always looking to improve.

Would love to hear about other people's first models!

~ Alex/Magos

Spruiking Hobby Things; links to things I like, and a poll

No pics this update, thought I'd take the time to mention some hobby related things.

First off -->
Poll. Somewhere there to the right. I'd love to know what people want to see more of. I can't promise to always work on what people want, as you've seen, I change projects on a weekly, even daily, basis, but if people really want to see a certain thing then I'll make it a higher priority to work on.
Some of the options aren't things I've yet posted on here, just giving you a taste of some of the other projects I have up my sleeve...

Next up, a Kickstarter project you should definitely back: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/409030043/warmachine-tactics
In case you haven't heard already, Privateer Press are running a Kickstarter to fund their first video game, based off their awesome tabletop game Warmachine. The Kickstarter is already funded after just a few days, but the more they raise, the more content there'll be. Check it out, and throw some money at the screen. You can even get awesome LE sculpts of upcoming WM models as rewards.

I'd also like to shout out a blog I follow and you should too: http://stazmatt.blogspot.com.au/
I mentioned it in a previous post, but thought I'd do so again. Matt does some awesome work on a range of modern-historical and sci fi projects.

Finally, for anyone who likes Space Hulk, a guy on WAU has been working on an advanced rules set that introduces heaps and heaps of new races and models to that venerable game. I don't play myself, but reading his thread definitely makes me want to...
You can read the thread here, which includes both the rules and his awesome modelling and painting projects: http://www.wargamerau.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=148656

Anyway, that's all for now, thought I'll probably do more of these 'random hobby things I like' posts in the future. Vote in the poll, check out the links, and I'll return soon with pictures of models. Still working on that space marine...

An Ultramarine Ultramarine; WIP space marine

Not much to report today, just some WIP pics of the first marine. Can't say I'm loving painting him, after the sheer joy of painting the RBG zombies, it's hard to get back to the grind of a model full of nooks and crannies. I like the elegant simplicity of models like the zombies, you don't have to fight the model to paint it, it's simply a canvas to work with.

But anyway, WIP pics. He's blue. His trim is red, since he was originally a member of the Third Company. I'll be giving the different squad members trim from a few companies, to represent the cobbled together nature of the squad.

Braaaiiinsss; some zombies escape the Red Box

Expecting Space Marines? Nope! What then? MERCS? Warmachine? Mass Effect? Historicals?

Nooooope, ZOMBIES!

Trust me, we're only scratching the surface of my list of armies and projects... I'm giving my mate Staz Matt a run for the title of biggest hobby butterfly lol.
Anyway, I was missing the joys of batch painting, after all these single minis I've been working on. That might sound strange, most painters hate the grind of batch painting, but I find it enjoyable, so long as the models aren't overly complex - pouches, belts and buckles give me nightmares.
Last year I backed Red Box Games' first Kickstarter project, producing a bunch of Tre Manor's amazing sculpts in plastic. Unfortunately the project turned into something of a disaster for Tre, who finished sculpting all the models last year, but couldn't deliver many of the rewards until the last month or so, due to the guy doing all the casting for him being slow and having terrible quality control. Not Tre's fault, and I at least was content to wait. My pretty plastic pieces showed up last month, and I've been slowly putting them together. Overall, the cast quality isn't great, air bubbles mostly, but there hasn't been anything a tiny bit of GS doesn't fix, and quite a few casts have no flaws at all. The sculpts, at least, are every bit as gorgeous as I knew they would be - Tre's models always have so much character and charm, his sculpting style reminds me a little of the great Paul Bonner's artwork.

So, wanting a fun batch of models to batch paint tonight, I cleaned up and primed one set of nine zombies. I got two of these sets as freebies with my order, and they're very nice minis. I highly recommend them for any fantasy skirmish/RPG that needs some brain munchers. 5/9 of the models are wearing trousers too, and could fit into a modern setting nicely.
The models are a little on small/frail side, compared to usual beefy warrior models, but this seems reasonable for the corpses of random peasants/villagers.

With painting them, I've tried to vary the flesh tones while keeping them looking dead. I'm very happy with how the flesh has turned out, let me know what you think of it. I didn't go too heavy on the gore, since I wanted to keep the paintjob largely intact.
Oh, and ignore the still-drying white glue on the bases. I'm impatient...

Now, enough waffle, time for pics. As an aside, the red robed dude is the village priest, while the beefy blue cloak is a blacksmith. Figured I'd add some character to the horde.

"The lowliest form of undead creature is the thrall. Animated corpses of the freshly slain, these soulless creatures have no intellect or willpower, and will mindlessly follow a necromancer's orders. They are not inherently aggressive, and if uncontrolled will often wander aimlessly until rotting away. When under the power of a necromancer, they form an unflinching wall of corpses between him and any would be attackers, though their dead hands and stiff jaws provide little offensive threat."

As always, feedback appreciated.

~ Alex/Magos

Omega Symbols for Everyone; more detailing of space marines

Not much to report here, just a few more pics as I continue adding detail to the squad. I'm making these idea up as I go along, but so far haven't had too many disasters. The omega symbols are quite easy to make, a lot easier than sculpting them certainly. I just use a thin slice of plastic tube , cut the top off it and then cut that cutoff in half to make the 'ears'. If people are interested I'll make a small tutorial.

Pennants are cool, or not?

My favourite detail so far, I added a power pack to the sergeant and hooked up his plasma pistol to it, makes it look much more serious as a weapon I think. Was a nerve racking procedure, making two seperate strands of wire line up with four separate points.

Thanks for viewing.

~ Alex/Magos

Edit: Oh, and for the lulz, here's a list of all the pieces I ordered for this project:

12 x 25MM ROUND BASE (MARINE) (BD01) = £0.84
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD HEAD A (RCS41) = £0.67
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD POWER MAUL VARIANT (RCS24) = £0.67
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD SHOULDER PAD B (RCS57) = £0.17
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD SHOULDER PAD H (RCS63) = £0.17
2 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD LEFT ARM (RCS32) = £0.68
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD RIGHT ARM (RCS33) = £0.34
11 x SPACE MARINE REAR TORSO (SM84) = £1.87
2 x SPACE MARINE STANDARD MK7 BACK PACKS X5 (SM116) = £1.34
1 x THUNDER WOLF RIDER CHAINS SWORD D (TW21) = £0.34
1 x MKII CRUSADER ASSAULT LEGS A (FWHA22) = £1.68
1 x DEATH COMPANY BACK PACK E (DC15) = £0.34
1 x SANGUINARY GUARD TORSO A (BA07) = £0.50
1 x SPACE MARINE PISTOL IN HOLSTER COMMANDER (SM56COM) = £0.10
1 x SPACE MARINE VETERAN TORSO MK8 (SM93) = £0.67
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD HELMET E (RCS45) = £0.67
1 x SPACE MARINE MK6 STANDARD LEGS (SM109) = £0.67
1 x SPACE MARINE MASTER CRAFTED PLASMA PISTOL (SM04) = £0.13
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD HANDLE BARS RIGHT (RCS30) = £0.34
1 x SPACE MARINE CHAIN SWORD & BIONIC ARM (SM22) = £0.34
1 x SPACE MARINE MK6 CORVUS STUDDED SHOULDER PAD (SM78) = £1.01
20 x SPACE MARINE MK7 SHOULDER PAD STANDARD (SM117) = £0.60
1 x SPACE MARINE BACK PACK ICON "B" ULTRAMARINE (SM64) = £0.13
1 x SPACE MARINE HEAD WITH GAS MASK (SM35) = £0.17
3 x SPACE MARINE PLAIN TORSO "C" (SM87) = £0.39
2 x SPACE MARINE MK7 COMMANDER LEGS (SM108) = £1.34
2 x SPACE MARINE FLAMER (SM46) = £0.68
1 x SPACE MARINE TERMINATOR HONOURS VETERAN SHOULDER PAD (SM69) = £0.10
2 x SPACE MARINE HERESY TORSO "D" (SM88) = £0.26
2 x SPACE MARINE MK7 STANDARD LEGS (SM114) = £1.00
2 x SPACE MARINE GRENADE HOLDING ARM (SM45) = £0.06
1 x DEATH COMPANY HEAD C (DC47) = £0.67
2 x SPACE MARINE KNEELING LEGS (SM110) = £2.34
1 x DEATH COMPANY BOLTER A (DC35) = £0.34
5 x DEATH COMPANY LEFT BOLTER ARM (DC40) = £0.15
2 x SPACE MARINE MK7 SHOULDER PAD WITH LITURGY PLATE (SM71) = £0.20
1 x SPACE MARINE AQUILLA TORSO "A" (SM85) = £0.13
1 x DEATH COMPANY HELMET F (DC50) = £0.34
1 x SPACE MARINE MK7 IMPROVED OPTICS (SM27) = £0.50
1 x FINE CAST STERNGUARD VET E (SMM05) = £4.02
1 x SPACE MARINE CHAMPION / CRUSADER HELMET (SM34) = £1.01
1 x SANGUINARY GUARD LEGS C (BA04) = £0.67
1 x SPACE MARINE BOLT PISTOL WITH ARM LEFT HANDED (SM43LEFT) = £0.17
1 x CHAOS MARINE BOLT PISTOL D (CM47) = £0.17
1 x SPACE MARINE CHAIN SWORD POINTING CHARGE (SM20) = £0.67
1 x KHORNE BESZERKER PLASMA PISTOL (CMB26) = £0.17
1 x KHORNE BESZERKER LEGS D (CMB13) = £1.01
1 x KHORNE BERZERKER TORSO A (CMB14) = £0.34
1 x CHAOS RAPTOR CHAINSWORD C (CMR13) = £0.34
1 x CHAOS RAPTOR HELMET D (CMR28) = £0.67
1 x CHAOS RAPTOR ARM RIGHT (CMR36) = £0.13
2 x THUNDER WOLF RIDER BOLTER IN HOLSTER (TW29) = £1.34
1 x SPACE WOLF MARINE HEAD Q (SWP69) = £0.34
1 x SPACE MARINE SKULL TORSO "B" (SM86) = £0.13
1 x SPACE MARINE CHAIN SWORD RIGHT HANDED (SM44RIGHT) = £0.17
3 x SPACE MARINE MK7 STANDARD HELMET (MIXED) (SM28) = £0.09
1 x SANGUINARY GUARD HEAD C (BA52) = £0.34
5 x SPACE MARINE KRAK GRENADE (SM54KRAK) = £0.35
10 x SPACE MARINE AUSPEX (SM62) = £0.30
3 x SPACE MARINE HEAVY BOLTER AMMO CRATE (SM68) = £0.39
5 x SPACE MARINE COMBAT KNIVES X2 (SM51) = £0.50
1 x DEATH COMPANY BOLTER E (DC39) = £0.07
2 x DEATH COMPANY BOLTER C (DC37) = £0.14
4 x SPACE MARINE STANDARD BOLTER (SM40) = £0.40
2 x SPACE MARINE PLASMA PISTOL WITH HAND (SM03) = £0.14
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD BOLT PISTOL D (RCS28) = £0.67

Must have given the poor store owner a headache fulfilling that one.

The Emperor Wills It; a brief trip to the dark side, 40k

One out of left field today guys, just keeping you on your toes.

Yesterday a bits order I made a week or two ago arrived, and I dived right into assembling ~150 plastic pieces into 11 space marines. Yes, yes, that's right, space marines.
I guess I haven't really spelled it out on here before, but yes, I'm an ex-GW player, who moved on to the wonderful wider world of wargaming many years ago, and I've since given very few of my hard earned pesos to the evil overlords of gaming. Mostly because I just really don't like the games. Pretty models (and ugly ones), but the prices are also pretty discouraging here in Aus.
Anyway, don't worry, I'm long over the holier-than-thou anti-GW ranting phase, and while I don't play, I still follow the 40k/WFB news. Recently I've been tempted to try some skirmish 40k. Killteam-ish, but with a few more points and a few less restrictions I suppose. We'll see if this goes anywhere, it's a low priority right now.
But anyway, a few weeks ago a bits store had a sale, and I picked up a customised set of pieces to make a slightly more characterful squad of marines than the standard tactical box would allow. It only cost $60 for all 11 too, so cheap enough for me to not feel guilty about the diversion of funds.

The list is themed around an Ultramarine force in the aftermath of the Battle for Macragge - heavy casualties have forced makeshift squads made up of survivors, all of whom have seen enough combat to be considered 'veteran' in normal standards. The disorganisation and losses have made strict Codex adherence difficult, and marines like these will eventually end up forming the Tyrannic War veteran squads.
I used the Space Wolf codex for rules, simply because I like the flexibility and character it offers. In total, it's 250pts, made up of:

PA Lone Wolf - bolt pistol and power maul
10 Grey Hunters - 2x flamers, power fist, plasma pistol, mark of the wulfen, wolf standard
250pts

Enough waffling though, time for some pics. I meant to post the first half of the squad I'd assembled last night, but ended up simply building more instead of taking pics. So this post will be pic heavy, as all 10 GH are now done. The lone wolf is still in progress, needing more conversion than the rest. All of them are still 'WIP', as I will continue adding detail until I'm satisfied.

Sergeant - plasma pistol

Vexillarius - wolf standard (possibly my favourite of the lot)

Demi-sergeant - power fist

Marine - flamer

Marine - flamer (yes, yes that is a scoped flamer. Sometimes you just want to watch the Xenos burn up close)

Marine - mark of the wulfen

Marine - comms

Ordinary brothers -

Finally, wip of Brother Champion Heraklion - power maul and finger of doom

Phew, LOTS of pics. Hopefully you like what you see. I've tried to give each marine some character and personality, with bits from the standard, blood angel, dark angel, chaos and space wolf ranges, plus I plan of trying to sculpt some more details on them as well. I'm no sculptor though...

Let me know what you think. Not sure how soon I'll get around to painting these bad boys, but if people like them, it'll be that much sooner!

~ Alex/Magos

Blueskinned Biotic Babe; Liara T'soni joins the Normandy crew

I figured while I'm on a Mass Effect kick I'd keep working on some of the other models I have for the project so far.

Liara T'soni was probably my least favourite ally in ME1, I just didn't really warm to her. In ME3, on the other hand, she's a kickass biotic, my default squadmate when taking on Cerberus, since singularity messes them up pretty good. 

For her model, I knew I was going to use one of the Infinity females. When I found Gotthammer's blog, Collegia Titanica, I shamelessly ripped off was inspired by his choice of the Aleph Sophotect, so I feel it's only fair to give credit. You can see his conversion here: http://collegiatitanica.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/mass-effect-madness-movies-miniatures.html

The model is a pretty decent match to Liara's costume from ME2. For her head, I used a hairless female head and sculpted on the tentacles. This was pretty nervewracking, since sculpting is definitely not one of my natural talents. In the end they're a little on the bulky side, less tentacles and more dreadlocks. But there's the correct number and shape, so I'm satisfied. 

Her colour scheme is two-tone white/grey, with blue trim. Not the best colours to work with, but I think she looks alright. The part I'm least happy with is her skin - blue skin is hard. My natural inclination would be to start with blue and mix in flesh tones to highlight, I've done this on my WM trollkin before. However asari skin is fairly flat blue. Hopefully she looks ok, let me know what you think.

I finished her and thought she looked a little plain, so I took a deep breath and attempted some biotic OSL. OSL is a technique I'm not very good at, and given the nature of it, it's pretty easy to ruin an entire paintjob if it messes up. In the end, it's not very noticeable, which might be good or bad.

Oh, and her weapon is an M23 Katana, both terrible, and a shotgun, which she can't technically wield... but it's the closest match to the Infinity weapon she's wielding.

Here she is next to Shepard. As you can see, Shepard is about the same height, but slimmer, than the Infinity sculpt.

Let me know what you think :)

~ Alex/Magos

Putting some N7 back in this blog; a painted saviour of the galaxy

Been playing more Mass Effect after a couple months cheating with other video games. Feels so good to be delivering ass-kicking with my trusty Talon once again. Shotgun pistols FTW.
Anyway, way back when I started this blog I promised ME miniature goodness, and so far I've failed to deliver. I've not been idle on this front, however, having sunk way too much money into the Mantic Deadzone kickstarter, since the terrain from that looks perfect for building some ME inspired boards. I've also got some Mantic Enforcers on order to use as Cerberus troops. So things are happening slowly, I just don't have much to show for it yet.
But, determined to rectify this, tonight I knocked out my Northstar male Shepard. These models are REALLY nicely detailed, almost every panel line is present. The downside is that the detail is super shallow, which makes it hard to paint. Scale wise, the models are slightly on the tall side for heroic 28mm, but also much slimmer, with smaller heads and hands. They shouldn't look too out of place though. Hopefully Northstar will produce some more crew from the Normandy.

Overall I'm happy with how Shepard has turned out. He only took about two hours to paint, and there's not much more I feel I could do, though I did realise after taking photos that I hadn't finished his skin. Black/grey flat armour is pretty hard to make look good, it just ends up looking flat and plain. I've added what details there are, he has his N7 stripes and insignia, and I'm very pleased with how the glow effects turned out. His weapon is an M7 Lancer, slightly anachronistic considering it's supposed to be an archaic First Contact War weapon, but it's far superior to the bog standard M8 Avenger.

Macro photography is not kind to black :/

For reference, here's what the armour should look like:

Anyway, let me know what you think, I always appreciate feedback.

~ Alex/Magos