I've been fairly blushing of late with being asked to paint a few models here-and-there for Annie at Bad Squiddo Games , and recently I've been even luckier - and not a little humbled - to have been sent a few of the new models for Bad Squiddo's latest Kickstarter: Women of WW2 - Resistance. I recieved Hannie Schaft and Freddie and Truus Oversteegen. I wasn't given any direct orders on colour schemes, but Annie liked the idea of Hannie being in a red dress. Other than that I tried not to be too fussy on patterns, so just kept that to Freddie. I had planned on doing a muted plaid for Truus, but thought that being in a heavy coat and thick socks - clearly in resistance mode - she'd more likely be wearing as plainer clothing as possible, so went with a brown for the skirt and green for the socks. Having painted a few models for Bad Squiddo in the past and knowing the quality of the sculpts, of course I'm going to be somewhat gushing over them, so obviou...

I like to think I'm fairly competent when it comes to making certain types of terrain for gaming use. Rocky outcrops are my bread-and-butter when it comes to stuff I make for my Etsy shop. But I have been wanting to extend a little into more diverse pieces, such as buildings. And while, in the recent past, I have dabbled in the odd ruin or platform here-and-there, I wanted to try a few more substantial bits. Skipping back a little, one of the first testers of some new-type (for me anyway) terrain was very basic. I'd recently bought a basic hot-wire cutter for foam and tried it out on a few spare lumps, just to find my way with it and to see what the results would be. The end product was nothing special - it was the wire doing the work - but I was quite pleased with the look of the slant outcrops. And, just seeing them in their natural white styrofoam, made me think of, initially, painting them up as simple white snow wastes or icebergs. In the end I decided to go fo...

A random selection of models, painted here-and-there between other projects. As much as I try, sometimes models lure me all too easily to paint them. On the positive side, they can act as palate cleanser when other painting gets a little mentally tedious. The first is a real grim piece from Bad Squiddo Games ; the Ghoul Matriarch. Squiddo has quite the range of ghould models - all just as beautifully horrific - and the Matriarch is the de-facto leader or figure-head of the ghoul horde. This resin model has some really nice detailing, with exposed bones, boils and a cowering male ghoul beneath her rancid foot. Nice. I went with a soft purple/violet for the skin, more to make her into a mix of ghoul and fantasy being rather than the pale sallow skin, that might suit more traditional ghouls(?) ... I know, ghouls are dead common, eh. I also made a basic ye-olde wooden sign with the Bad Squiddo logo to it, but this is for another model I was currrently painting (that'll sho...

  Very quick post here, just to show orf a slight variation I made to a pack of May Queens from Bad Squiddo Games. Having already painted a set in a traditional folksy style, with off-white gowns and flower garlands in their hair, I thought it would be interesting to paint another set with a more occult dark look to them. I didn't want to be too cliche and go outwardly satanic, but certainly strange, maybe other-worldly. As you can see, I also carefully straightened the staff on one of the figures and added some flames with green-stuff. Nothing outstanding, but I'm reasonably pleased with the result. Part of me wanted the skin tone to be a little more soft grey blue than it turned out, but, again, I quite liked the result. Anyway, that it really. Very short post on how a different colour scheme can change the nature of a model. And I know I'm somewhat biased, but these sculpts lend themselves so easily to variation when it comes to painting. Highly recommend picking up a pa...

Safe to say that all model-painters and model-makers have moments like these, so I know it's not the end of the world, but I'm venting a little here mainly because I just managed to sort them out. So maybe I'm documenting how I dodged a couple of bullets. Firstly an older miniature with a small hand, which I was conscious of being easily snapped off ... but still managed to snap off. Yup. A real pain. It didn't help that there was barely any meat to drill into to pin it. BUT I just about managed it. As a billy bonus, I didn't stab myself with the pindrill either.   As you may be able to see in the photos, I twisted some copper wire strands to make the pin, rather than my go-to floral wire or paperclip. With the glue, I'm reasonably happy with the result and light taps give me confidence that it's good to go (and get undercoated and painted!) And so tiny crisis one is done then another appeared. This one was mostly my fault (sort-of). Someone purchased one of...

  First micro-update on the painting of the bundle of ole Hasslefree models I received last week. Biting away at five pieces a time, and we start with Ekaterina, Finn, William, Grant, Baker. Quite a mix of characters here; from the moody and professional to the, well, pretty creepy. The colour brief is specific in some areas, but I'm also allowed a little free-roam, so had a little fun with the trousers of Finn (yeah; that sounds wrong. Pfft). Reasonably happy with the result. I tried to go with something that was cyberpunk-logic with regards to fashion without being too over-the-top. Next on the table will be Giant, Ken, Jade, Gruff, and Morgan. Another interesting mix, so should be fun.