Still going through the pain-in-the-ass that is the flooring of the place, I'd promised myself not to get any more models until it had all been sorted out; well, as it's dragging on a bit, I ended up buying a bundle. That being said, it was a mix of new models (for me) as well as a couple of old friends. I ordered a beautiful Lilith sculpt and the Bubba/Elvis from Hasslefree Miniatures. I've painted Bubba a couple of times in the past, and he's so easy to let your creativity free wit him. I plan on a pale blue jumpsuit this time (Red and White previously). From Badsquiddo, I went for one of my favourite duos - the Action heroine badasses. Like Bubba, they're perfect for letting your imagination loose; although quite simple figures, they still offer the opportunity to give them full-on personalities. I also got a pack of Feudal Japan Widows. I've only ever painted a couple of models from this range, but thought I really needed to change that. The models have some...

Even though there are any number of examples of homemade painters wet palettes, I thought I'd add mine to the collection too - some part of it maybe helpful? As you can see, it's not pretty, but it works for me. One part though has been a bit of a pain for a while. That part is the parchment. For a while a I had a stack of industrial/trade grade silicon parchment sheets, the problem being that once they ran out, I couldn't seem to track down any more - no makers name. So, I fell back on good ole shop-bought baking sheet ... Now, while this hasn't been a major problem, I found that it didn't take long for the wet sponge and the paint to break through the paper - gradually - and I starting noticing fibers in the paint. Not ideal. Well, to cut a long story short, I stumbled across double-sided silicon baking parchment. Yes, I know, slow on the uptake, but I hadn't thought of it! Anyway, so far it's holding up MUCH better that standard single-side parchment. As ...

Well, I finally completed my WW2 Sniper diorama. And, I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with the result. Not perfect by any means, but my first real try at putting together a simple diorama scene from start to finish. After a few tries at making the brick wall, its look once painted is one of my favourite parts of the whole model. I have to say that the quality of the Life Miniatures figure is worth noting too; a real pleasure to paint. I decided to keep the stand simple, but next time I think I'll make a dark-stained one rather than the lighter, nature wood look. Again, for my first real attempt, I'm happy with the result.  

I've always wanted to try and make a – as I call it – prestige piece.; a single figure or diorama. Nothing elaborate or overly complicated, but something worthy of shelf display for someone. In the past, I have painted pieces that were display models, but these were either large individual figures (as you can see; Hammerstein) or more akin to background displays (Jungle adventurer), rather than a scene or a still. Even though I have a couple of commissions on the go, I couldn’t help myself and bought a 1/35 Red Army sniper, with the idea of finally putting some energy into a scene diorama. Apart from the want being at the back of my mind, I was also inspired by the incredible model and painting work of Sascha Herm . As a follower of both his twitter and facebook, I’ve been knocked-out by he detail. So while I take his work as a means to galvanize my own try, just to make something even passable will be – for me – a step in the right direction. And so … Before the mo...

I’m slow. In so many ways – make of that what you will, but I’m slow. It’s probably a cheap excuse when you’re a model painter, but model painters are – I believe – not production machines. We have our own styles, prices, times … It’s part of what draws people to commission them. T hey may like the style a certain painter paints, or how quickly they can finish a batch. I’m loathed to class myself as professional ; Not from any selflessness, I certainly don’t see myself as the worst painter in the world, but I’d be lying if I didn’t feel a little twinge at fellow artists who have any number of model-painting levels (gaming, display, museum )! Me … I just paint to, what I see as, a good gaming standard. I know that, for a shorty post, this may seem meaningless, but in the past, I would fall behind on a commission or even a self-set limit to get some figure done for the shop, and end up rushing, only to look at the final figures and thinking: shit; THAT coat could use some more h...

I’m done with making promises about posting here. I never seem to be able to stay on point with writing anything that maybe of interest to anyone who might stumble on it. But, given such oddly shitty times, I’m posting something. A long process (long from delays of my own creation) of completing a couple of commissions has been compounded by the muddy waters that the Covid virus has been causing. Again, not an excuse, but a far ole chunk of the blame. Regardless, I have been reasonably pleased with how most of them have been turning out. The toughest part of painting commissions – for me anyway – tends to be repetition. Sometimes having to paint the same or very similar figures back-to-back can get tedious. And while I’ve tried a few methods for elevating the problem, I found that simply sticking to one figure at a time helps. Not the ideal solution, maybe, but not bad. Luckily though, I’m currently working through a selection of figures with some beautiful variation: A few ...

I have finished models to show and some old projects that have - in best zombie traditions, given the time of year - risen from the grave. Or, in this case, risen from the back of the painting desk and nearby shelves. To start with, I finished a second set of SAGA Shield-maidens and Villagers from Stronghold Terrain, plus one of two Frost Giants from the Conan boardgame by Monolith. The Giants are part of the expansion set, Nordheim. As you can see from the photos, both are the same, but I decided to make them differ, giving one an obvious Celtic feel and the other a more traditional cooler, frostier scheme. The SAGA Shield-maidens and Villagers will soon be joined by a selection of character figures - also from Stronghold Terrain. The two I've nearly done are Harald and Halfdan, but I'll be making a start on a number of others soon ... The Wanderer, Ivan, Ubbe Ragnarsson. As well as the above, I have had a tidy-up of the painting desk and its surroun...

A short post and a round-up of current projects, starting with another couple of sets from Stronghold Terrain; shield-maiden warriors and civilian/villagers. As always with Stronghold Terrain, these sculpts have plenty of character and action to them, making them a pleasure to paint. As you can see, I'm in the process of prep'ing; filling shoulder joints and evening out the bases before adding sand and undercoating. Next we have a selection that will eventually be added to the shop; the last two female action gunners and Roxlade - a witch/mage character from Westfalia. I purchased the latter more out of curiosity than anything else. The model was on clearance at Bad Squiddo, which seemed a pity as it's a nice sculpt. So not too sure if its still in production? Manufacturers/Suppliers: Stronghold Terrain Badsquiddo Games Copplestone Castings Westfalia

A real random collection of completed work here. As my usual regime regarding this blog, I haven't posted in ages, despite saying I would. Yup, I know. Sorry. Anyway; as well as making a dent in a current commission, I also painted a few side-line models for my humble Etsy shop . These few models came from Lucid Eye , a manufacturer I've only recently started getting models from. Starting off with a beautiful piece based on the paintings of Jim Fitzpatrick - an Irish Goddess figure - but I ended up purchasing a set of surreal steampunk-style characters called Hypnocrats as well as a set of Skeleton soldiers. All, I have to say, were beautiful sculpts and a real pleasure to paint. But, back to the main bundle I'm working on ... A few weeks back I finished a selection of figures from Zombicide Green Horde and Black Plague. Recently I've completed a couple of sets from Great Escape Games ' Dead Man's Hand game. I've included a few sample pictures h...