Marvelous Miniatures

Painting rubble – Progress on the Ruined Coaching Inn

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:41:37 GMT

This will unfortunately be a pretty short post because I need some sleep soon. But here goes!

Priming with black AND white spray

For the first time in years I did something new with my priming. I tried the prime 2k technique best explained by Roman at Massive Voodoo. The short version of it is, spray the model with black primer. Let it dry. Spray a little bit with white primer. And then you have something like this:

Black in the nooks and crannies and white on the top surfaces is what I was aiming for.

Painting bricks

Start with 50/50 Vallejo Terracotta and GW Macharius Solar Orange.
Mix in some Vallejo Iraqi Sand or similar (like GW Bleached Bone) in the base color and add a highlight or two on the edges of the bricks.
Wash the bricks with Vallejo Sepia Shade, mostly at the sides where they connect to the ground.
More layers of wash – GW Gryphonne Sepia this time and add it all over the bricks but try to avoid painting over the highlights.
Optional: Devlan Mud and Badab Black to give the bricks a more weathered look.

Off topic – Repainted the wood

I wasn‘t happy with the wood and the stone walls so I worked a lot on them to give them a bit more contrast between each other so that they don’t blend into one big grey/brown wall. It‘s not perfect but it’s a lot better than before.

With flash.

Without flash.

Shopping spree

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:08:35 GMT

If you‘re too lazy to paint, then buy some new stuff and you’ll at least find motivation for another week or two ;)

Wash, Dry, Paint

Bought a complete set(I think they released even more colors lately) of Secret Weapon's new washes and about ten of their dry pigments. I also got some of P3's paints which I will try out on a large skin area because I've heard they mix well with water and should be nice to blend with.

There‘s also a couple of sculpting tools from P3 or Secret Weapon, I can’t remember. So no more excuses, it's time to sculpt!

Scibor & Guild of Harmony

I couldn't resist – I had to buy one of the Scibor Minotaurs because they're so god damn bad ass!
And when I was at it, I got the easter bunny dwarf and it is a really fun model. I think he has to join my Mordheim gang.

Last but not least, another cool miniature, Steampunk Dorothy from Guild of Harmony.

I'm not dead – Progress on the Ruined Coaching Inn

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 19:41:05 GMT

Damn, it‘s almost been exactly one year since my last post. I guess I’ve been busy with other stuff. At least I'm back now and hopefully there will be a lot more stuff painted during the coming autumn and winter which is the best time for wargaming :)

The Ruined Coaching Inn

This is how far I‘ve gotten on this amazing house from Tabletop World. As you can see it’s only the first floor, the other two floors are still unpainted. Stay tuned for more.

Difficult to get a good shot. I will try to shoot better ones in the future.

Sketch – Madman's house

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:00:47 GMT

An idea I have for a Mordheim building where a large tree grows inside of the local madman's house. I am considering using one of the GW trees and build the rest from scratch. I think it could be pretty cool.

Please comment with more mad ideas.

A couple of civilians getting painted

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:27:51 GMT

An evening of painting and four models half-way to being completed makes me pretty pleased because I normally paint very very slow. So this was an improvement in speed and now they only need some more highlights and they will look good enough for being caught in the crossfire in the next game.

From left you have cabin boy, navigator, surgeon and a cook.

Still the same cabin boy, navigator, surgeon and cook.

Amazed by the quality of Freebooter Miniatures

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:56:07 GMT

Today I got my delivery by airmail from Freebooter Miniatures. I‘ve had my eye on their Torpe model for a while because I really would like to have a happy and stout guy in my Mordheim gang and it’s not that easy to find a portly miniature that still look cool.

I bought a couple of miniatures, Torpe and Romerto for my Marienburger Mordheim gang. Malo Gordab and Bajo, an orc pirate and a goblin pirate for my upcoming Mordheim orc pirate gang. Two marines for Totte as a birthday present and Captain Rosso who might lead my undead pirates to battle sometime in the future. Probably way waaaay in the future because now I have loads of miniatures and scenery to paint.

A close-up look at a Freebooter miniature

Here‘s a picture I took of Mr Torpe which shows the excellent details on this miniature. The focus is on the face so the other parts might be a bit out of focus but you get the idea. Superb sculpting quality, some of the best I’ve ever seen. Don't you agree?

Pen added for size reference. I like the sculpted base that's included for all their miniatures.

The Citadel Fortified Manor Painting Guide Part III

Thu, 27 May 2010 21:50:08 GMT

This guide is taking awfully long to complete but I‘ve come one step closer to a finished building and I thought I’d share my progress.

Repainting everything black

When I did my previous step of drybrushing on this building I got it all over the place because I drybrush pretty hard. So I needed to paint black on all areas that shouldn't have been brushed in the first place. This was very boring but in the end it will save me a lot of time and make the rest of the model more fun to paint.

Drybrushing stone

After I had done the ground work with the black, it was a sweet deal to drybrush the stone parts of the building. I started with Charadon Granite and then Dheneb Stone. Both Citadel Foundation colors. And both a bit warmer in color than Adaptus Battlegrey and Astronomican Grey. I also base coated the bricks with Scorched Brown.

How-to paint tarnished copper

I made the questionable decision to ask Totte for his opinion on how I should paint the doors and he came up with the great idea that they could be copper plated doors.
I thought, well why not, and started looking for a reference picture which you can see part of below.

Tarnished copper isn't that copperish

As you can see for yourself, old copper plated doors don‘t have that copperish feel to them. They’re actually mostly turquoise and not that shiny. So I decided that I would only use copper and brass colors for small areas of the doors and decided to base coat the doors with a blend of Vallejo Grey Green and Vallejo Falcon Turquoise. Probably a 50/50 blend, don't really remember exactly.

I then added black to my mixed color and darkened the lower parts of the door with normal drybrushing technique, checking the reference picture for guidance along the way.

The door on the right shows the door after a base coat and the door on the left the first step of added wear and tear.

I continued with a mix of Vallejo Brassy Brass(the Hammered Copper is too red in my opinion), Green Grey and Black (can't remember if I also had some Turquoise in the mix…) – drybrushing it on carefully and again, looking at the reference picture for guidance.

Vallejo Grey Green, Vallejo Falcon Turquoise, Vallejo Brassy Brass.

Highlighting the doors

I used a mix of my base coat with more of the Falcon Turquoise and drybrushed it on in streaks along the door. Mostly on the upper parts. I added Vallejo Electric Blue to make it brighter and more saturated. For the last layer I added a bit of Vallejo Sky Blue for an even brighter color.

The tarnished copper doors completed

This is the final result(except that the hinges needs a wash). I must say I‘m pleased with my first attempt at creating this effect. I would love to see if any of you readers have painted any tarnished copper and how you’ve done it, please comment as always. And if you think my effort looks like shit, please do tell ;)

Shot in daylight.

Shot with artificial light.

Previous parts of this guide can be found here:

STEP 2: The Citadel Fortified Manor Painting Guide Part II
STEP 1: Oh my, that's a very yellow house

Mordheim Battle Report – Hector was not the first of the gang to die

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 00:18:25 GMT

This is the first Battle Report I've done so it took forever to put together. So you better enjoy it ;)

Please note – I am aware that the scenery is far from consistent, some is unpainted, all in all very much under construction. And the yellow houses on the right are actually for Star Wars. But if you lack buildings you make it work with what you got :)

The Scenario

A game with one side of posh, rich, fancy pants in need of an adventure — Hectors Freundliche Henkers (HFH), played by me— versus the other side consisting of men of low birth, fearlessly looking for a fight — der Riffen Raffers (RR), played by Totte.

The mission was to gain control of the five houses in the middle where precious wyrdstone could be found. The gang controlling the most houses after 8 turns would win.

Der Riffen Raffers (RR) — Attacking from the north.

Hectors Freundliche Henkers (HFH) — Attacking from the south.

Turn 1 – Moving forward

We both moved our gangs forward towards the five important houses in the middle. Totte moved his ballistic packing troops towards the nearest rooftops. Cüntz Unmensch (HFH) —the Ogre— took a few steps and was suddenly ahead of everyone else, ready to spill the first blood.

Turn 2 – Sneaking around

Did der Riffen Raffers smell the Ogre coming? They suddenly all disappeared behind the houses out of site for a charge. Sneaky bastards!

Bows and handguns where loaded and fired with puny results. The handgunner, Mathias Grabbe(HFH), actually managed to score a hit from a position far far away (rolled a 6) but it didn't have the power to penetrate Willhelm Fellers (RR) thick skull. Men of low birth are famous for their thick skulls.

Turn 3 – Getting into positions

Nothing too exciting happened during this turn. Troops moving around, moving into positions to charge. A couple of shots where fired, once again without any damaging result.

Champion Ralf Kopfspalter and young blood Franck Doppelgonne (HFH) managed to get into cover from the bows firing at them, three barrels had oddly enough been left out in the middle of the town.

Turn 4 – The death of a piper boy

Piper boy Olaus (RR) charged into battle armed with only his flute … That kind of says it all. Young Herr Doppelgonne (HFH) pointed his loaded pistol at Olaus —fired— and that would be the last tune we heard from the blind piper boys flute.

Turn 4 continued – The behemoth charge

Cüntz Unmensch (HFH) made a massive charge halfway through town, flanking Albrecht Schpäkher (RR) and bashing the last hope out of his sorry soul. Young Doppelgonne was on fire with his pistols and knocked down Rudi (RR) with another well guided bullet.

Turn 5 – The hooligans attack

Rudi (RR) jumped to his feet and started poking Doppelgonne (HFH) with his spear who shrugged it off and pointed his other loaded gun back at Rudi. Troppenrib (RR) charged into Veyt auf Löffelsteltz (HFH) who failed to parry with his buckler and therefore got a good bashing.

The defining moment

The three swordsmen, Weissman, Hister and Gutenberg (RR) tried to gather the courage needed to charge the heavyweight ogre Cüntz. But they feared his retribution and stood there like frozen in time. That would prove to be a very bad decision.

Turn 5 continued – The dandies fight back, hard

Cüntz the massive Ogre charged straight into the scared swordsmen, showing them what true pain feels like. Cutting into their small limbs with his massive sword.

Doppelgonne shot Rudi once again, this time it was a stunning hit and he fell to the ground, anew.

The only successful fighter from RR was Troppenrib who stabbed young Benedict Seidenhand (HFH) in the chest with a well-aimed thrust. Fortunately Herr Löffelsteltz was back on his feet and ready to go head to head with Herr Troppenrib.

Turn 6 – The remnants try their hardest

The last swordsman standing for RR used his last strengths trying to hurt Cüntz but with no success. The ogre stood tall, strong, mean and mad.

Doppelgonne shot Rudi once more but to his surprise Rudi seemed to survive once more.

Ralf Kopfspalter fought back the RR's captain Altermann von Reikland and with one mighty blow he was out of action. Left bleeding on the ground with the pain and shame.

Troppenrib had used up his luck and was punched in the face with a buckler, then chopped up and finished off by Herr Löffelsteltz.

Turn 6 continued – The final blow

Captain Hector Stattlich (HFH) finally joined in the battle, hitting down hard on the marksman, Willhelm Feller, on the roof of one building containing wyrdstone. His fellow gangmembers finished off the rest of the RR gang and sent them running home with their tail between their legs.

Total success

I must say my first Mordheim battle was a total success. I beat the living crap out of Totte‘s gang (sorry Tötze ;) and I must say I’m pretty pleased. The ogre did a great job and the fear he caused turned the whole battle in my favor.

Comments are highly appreciated :)

The Ruined Coaching Inn from Tabletop World arrived and it's amazing

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:32:30 GMT

I was about to send an e-mail to Tabletop World and ask them if my Ruined Coaching Inn was on it's way or if it had been devoured by the Icelandic ashes. But to my surprise, a note in my mail later that day said it was delivered to my post office so I picked it up immediately.

Tabletop World deliver what they promise

The initial reactions were …

— My god this looks amazing, fantastic, awesome, great, wooohaaa!

The secondary reactions came later …

— This will take forever to paint!

But I can't blame Tabletop World for making a detailed piece of scenery. I think it will be a pleasure to assemble and paint. I'll add a few lowres pictures from my iPhone so you can see the amount of stuff that was in the box.

Unboxing of my miniatures from Black Scorpion

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:36:19 GMT

Went by the post office today to fetch my delivery from Black Scorpion and it was a nice surprise because all the miniatures are really detailed and plain and simple, they're awesome! I especially like the Orc Pirates, they will be a joy to paint.

My shopping list

Undead Captain
£3.00
Orc Pirates
£8.00
Orc Admiral
£5.00
Goblin Pirates 2
£8.00
Goblin Pirates
£8.00
Undead Pirates 1
£7.00
Undead Pirates 2
£7.00
Hired Hands
£8.00

Sorry about the crappy picture – just found out that taking a picture of shiny pieces of metal is a bit more difficult than I imagined.