Ben's Bits n Bobs

[Ben_S]

If I get chance (depending on the weather and stuff), then I might make another entry too. My gf likes ducks, so I ordered this guy:

The intention is to paint him as a statue (probably some kind of bronze) as a Christmas present (if I can keep her from seeing it before then).

 

[Ben_S]

The duck lord turned up. Here he is (32mm scale), next to Frostgrave/Gripping Beast figures:

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I did manage one coat of primer on the dwarfs on Friday, but will have to wait to finish the job.

I spent some time this afternoon assembling TT Combat MDF, but it's nothing that interesting to look at. I do have to work out how to fill some gaps though.

 

[MusingWarboss]

That idea is completely quackers.

*silence*

Thank you, thank you. I’m here all week.

Where’s my coat?

 

[Ben_S]

Not a lot to show, but I have the dwarf statues primed:

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I want them to be a grey stone, so I suppose I could say this is half done already...

(More seriously, I need to remember how to paint stuff.)

 

[Ben_S]

I made a start on painting last night, by trying to drybrush grey over the primer. But I was rather heavy-handed and overdid it. So, then I tried a brown wash (simply very watered down craft paint), applied before the grey had fully dried. I hoped this would add a bit more colour, instead of a flat black/white mix. But, again, probably overdid it a bit and had them looking rather more brown than I'd intended:

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Still, I did another (better) drybrush of grey over this and I'm reasonably satisfied with the result:

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This is probably tabletop ready, given that it's only terrain. I might try adding a bit more, but equally I might end up leaving them here...

 

[Fold]

They look good Ben. As said elsewhere some moss and other weathering would really sell the effect and finish them off. Maybe a few chips and cracks (though that’ll require some repainting), water marks etc… I might be tempted to push the highlights with another very dry lighter dry brush too.

 

[Ben_S]

I was working from home today while my gf was at work, so I realised I needed to push on with the duck lord statue.

My original plan was to try following this recipe but then I, er, didn't.

Starting from a black basecoat, I did a heavy overbrush of burnt sienna, then added some metallic bronze drybrushing for highlights and a bit of wash for shading.

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I have a greeny-blue craft paint called Lagoon that I've used for verdigris before. As it happened, I still had a jar that I'd watered down to make a wash. (I think it was just paint and water, though perhaps I added some washing up liquid - I don't remember now.)

Here's what it looks like wet:

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Looks a bit of a mess there, I know, but the effect is better once dry:

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I managed to do everything today, even gluing him to the base. A few bursts of spray paint and the brown/bronze in quick breaks during the day, then the wash applied this evening while my gf was having a bath. Again, it's at a point where I could call this done, but I might do a few more touch ups.

 

[MusingWarboss]

He looks perfectly fine to me!

If you wanted you could desaturate some more of that paint with a grey and add the occasional bright bloom up but that’s down to you.

Not every bronze statue has to look like it’s been in the open air for decades or a century or more.

 

[Ben_S]

They look good Ben. As said elsewhere some moss and other weathering would really sell the effect and finish them off. Maybe a few chips and cracks (though that’ll require some repainting), water marks etc… I might be tempted to push the highlights with another very dry lighter dry brush too.

I decided you were right and did a bit more.

First, I added some green stippling to the pillars. First, with 'sage' (a very desaturated green that really didn't show much at all) and then a bit more with 'soft green' (which did show a bit). It's mostly fairly subtle, but does add a bit of variation:

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As for cracks, the models did have a few lines, which I assume were down to wear on the mold. (Remember that 2nd edition space marine powerfist?) So, I applied some Agrax Earthshade to accentuate these:

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Now, I think I'll call this a finished set:

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Which means I have a FYSC entry. It might even be my first this year. (I'm not sure of that - I may have managed one or two earlier in the year, but it certainly hasn't been a productive year.)

 

[Brendan Flynn]

That duck is reviving memories of Runequest back in the day.

 

[Ben_S]

Anyone following this plog probably already knows that I'm a fan of the Northstar plastic X-grave/Oathmark models. But you do end up with a lot of spare heads and arms. So, I recently picked up a box of Arab archers/spearmen from Gripping Beast (I paid just under £20 on eBay, for 40 models) and set about converting them into cultist-types:

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Still some clean up and gap-filling to do, but I'm happy with this start.

The box is eight identical sprues of five, so not a lot of variety. Three of the five have left arms attached, but separate from the body (so I cut those off). There are two without arms, one of which is my favourite of the lot but the other my least favourite - the pose is intended to be either firing a bow or throwing a spear/javelin and looks a bit awkward doing anything else. It's the one seen here holding a lantern.

These can serve as faceless mooks for Frostgrave or indeed a range of fantasy or pulp games. I intend to do some with guns (from Stargrave kits) too.

 

[MusingWarboss]

They seem to work remarkably well. Is that one guy lobbing a skull??

 

[Ben_S]

Is that one guy lobbing a skull??

He's not supposed to be. I originally tried that arm on the lantern guy, and he really did look like he was about to lob it.

 

[MusingWarboss]

He's not supposed to be. I originally tried that arm on the lantern guy, and he really did look like he was about to lob it.

He would’ve looked like a shot putter!!

 

[Ben_S]

I ATE'NT DED.

I was away over Xmas/New Year, which meant no hobbying then. And, in truth, I haven't done a lot since I got back home. But I have been plugging away at the TTCombat MDF;

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Now I have basic assembly done, I want to do a bit of filling and some detailing - though I don't want to add too much of this (it's far too time consuming).

 

[Ben_S]

The current comp is for a Retail Experience (or a Cleaner). Several people have suggested food-related entries, such as Hive Guys franchises. I had a similar idea, but based on a local independent cafe:

I've long thought that this would suit a partially illuminated sign: CAFE _H_IVE.

If you're not sure what I mean, something like this:

But this idea is about as far as I've got so far. Not sure whether I'll make it for the comp or not.

 

[Ben_S]

A little progress:

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I used some cable ties to add texture. That was reasonably successful.

I did also try filling the peg holes (with filler - spackle I think in the US) but that was rather less successful, because you can still see them. But maybe not as much as before. Perhaps they won't show too bad once painted.

 

[MusingWarboss]

Perhaps they won't show too bad once painted.

They won’t!

Zone Mortalis Top & Bottom

• MusingWarboss
• May 17, 2020
• mdf zone mortalis

A quick photo showing the benefits of adding filler over the visible MDF mounting points.

I used filler on mine and then used a cork block with some sandpaper to just smooth them over and once painted they really aren’t visible. Maybe occasionally you get one that is slightly visible but still, far better than raw wood joints visible.

Also a big fan of using big cable ties (I used mine to hide the lasered in cable on the columns) and fly mesh. Oh and that classic - serial box card! You’d be surprised what a few strips layered can do.

 

[Ben_S]

This is just a 'look what I bought' rather than a post of real substance, but those with long memories may recall that I was working on some ~20mm GoMo stuff a while back. After going to some trouble to hunt down the trucks I wanted, progress there seems to have stalled. But browsing the middle aisle of Lidl today (or what I like to call 'the Midl') I saw these Airfix kits reduced from £6.99 to £2 each.

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Too good to pass up. Probably worth it just for bits. They come with (tiny) paints and glue, plus brushes that don't look too bad.

 

[SuboptimusPrime]

Your Lidl middle aisle is VERY different from the ones around here...