Avatars of War Trolls!

Avatars of War has made some really great models over the years and these trolls are no exception!

Their .stl files print well, came presupported and gave my fussy machines little problem.

I elected to do three trolls with great weapon in blue to be used as Stone Trolls.

These were done quickly using the zenithal primer method followed by a basecoat of Blue Black wash (Secret Weapon). Colors were blocked in and the whole model washed with Soft Tone ink (Army Painter) 

Blue highlights are Deep Sky Blue (Vallejo Model Color).

Whites are the Reaper Bone Triad.

Metals are Engine Metal (SW) brushed up with Chrome (Vallejo Model Air)

Browns began as Heartwood Brown (Reaper)

The same process was used on the six common trolls except the base wash was Sewer Water (SW).

Vomit is Hexwraith Green (Citadel) brush up is Reaper Copper Verdigris.

Glass bottles are Copper Verdigris with shading from Hexwraith Green 

Reds are Maroon Red (Reaper) highlights Neo Burnt Red (SW).

Greys are Stone Gray (Reaper) brush up Misty Gray (Reaper).

Brassy metals are Brass Casings (SW) Flesh Wash (SW) brush up Chrome.

Bases were previously addressed and were printed in clear resin to to get the translucent effect on the crystals.

Everthing was sealed Dead Flat (Rustoleum) then crystals, eyes, glass, blood, tongues, and gems were spot varnished with Gloss Varnish (Vallejo).

Atlantis Miniatures: Wood Elf Warband

 

Atlantis Miniatures take on the wood elves is deliciously feral. Cast in a very high quality resin they are easy to handle, finely featured, require little or no clean up and take paint well. 

They are not your happy woodland tribe full of song and drink... oh no!...they are the wrath of the wood and are festooned with horns, bones, and living companion creatures.

I've imagined this as a Kinband that share a lot of common features.  The red, blond, and sandy hair for example. 

All of them share the mystical green/blue elven cloak and most have a skull attached at the waist, often with belts or strings of red beads.

There seems to be a correlation between the presence, and size, of antler like horns and the social status of the individual.

These first two are typical of the offering which usually has a male and a female version of each type of character. Here we see two Spell Caster/Wizard types.

I've further imagined this group to be travelling in a swamp so the bases are water soaked with stones and dead trees dominating the theme.

The set included a couple of scenic bases for specific models and a generous amount of scenic scatter like mushrooms, stumps, roots, and small animals. The remaining features were quick sculpts of greenstuff. The result was an entire warband with unique, but coherently themed, bases. It was a good approach and a nice alternative to the usual limitations of commercial base sets where there would be between 5 and 10 unique bases that would have to be repeated in various aspects throughout the project.

Here are two Assassins/Scouts, again in male and female versions. 

 

The druid is the only model that does not seem to have a female version.

These elves are obviously Hunters and use a lot of animal components in their wardrobe.

Below are grouped by weapon type. The warband has Bow, Spear, Pole arm, and Sword represented.

Bows.

Swords.

Many of the cloaks have complex embossed symbols.

The Elf Princess and her Guard all with a type of Polearm.

The Princess is differentiated by her blue cloak but she retains the mystic green hooded robe. The Princess and the Prince lead their family's infantry in its grim task.

As for infantry... all that remains is the Prince, and a small group of spear.  The rest of the warband is the cavalry lead by male and female Warlords.

Undertown Table progress and Post Apoc scatter

The current state of the Undertown Table. 

I've mislaid the LED lights so am skipping them for now as they will be an easy retrofit. The Data Trust is not pictured here as its currently getting the interior resins done.

 This is for Sci-Fi settings like Infinity (Its actually a Made for Infinity Line from Antenocitis' Workshop ) Warpath, Deadzone, Cyberpunk, etc... It'll, of course, work for the Grimdark of 40K, Kill Squad, and Inquisitor as well... with a few Gothic doodads added to represent the presence of the Imperium... ya know like confession booths or an incongruously ornate religious structure... maybe a big old statue of some Imperial saint or space marine.... that sort of buisiness.

 Since all the buildings have playable interiors there is a lot of flexibility between war games and RPGs.

I'm actually thinking about running a game based around the Death High series of miniatures from Kingdom Death. which are cool contemporary and near future themes that would be at home in any High School Supernatural, Horror, or Martial Arts romantic comedy... probably great characters for Vampire the Masquerade as well.

 I'm separating the terrain out by genre to see what is ready for play... the Undertown is in pretty good shape, the Forward Base needs a lot of work and the Post Apocalypse segment is just getting started.

 Speaking of the Post Apocalypse setting... here are a couple more wrecked vehicles, some recycling bins, and some very weathered payphones...

 Lots of weathering opportunities here... the recycle bins where painted Lemon Yellow (Reaper) over white primer, washed with Yellow Snow (Secret Weapon), and lined with Flesh Wash (Secret Weapon) lettering by Sharpie.

The Cars were both primered with Rustoleum Almond White and brushed up with Solid White (Craftsmart) weathering was accomplished with the Rust Series... Brown, Red, and Yellow (Secret Weapon) Silver (Vallejo) and Medium Earth and Orange Rust weathering powders (Forge World).

 Lining by Sharpie.  Window Glass Silver (Vallejo) base thin Armor Wash(Secret Weapon) Stormcloud (Secret Weapon) re-brush with silver. A lot of the rust here is intended to represent shotgun impacts but I really should be using references for those...

The Hood of the car on its side was unstable in the semi-open position so I propped it open with some cut down toothpicks... you can just see one here.

 The cars here are from Antenocitis' Workshops as are the bins and payphones.

The Payphones are heavily weathered using a stippling technique.  Brown Rust (Secret Weapon) stippled over Black Primer (Krylon Camoflage Black) Tropical Blue (Reaper) stippled over that wash with Armour Wash (Secret Weapon) stipple and dry-brush Silver (Vallejo).

Most of my immediate effort will be directed at the interior resins of the Data Trust... which will finish off the currently constructed Undertown building interiors save for LEDs.  I may sidestep into a couple of Post Apoc buildings next even though some Forward Base is already in the clean and prep queue... Squirrel!

Back to the desk!

Whiskey Jacks interior

 Whiskey Jacks got a face-lift this week  as part of the big retrofit of interior resin bits courtesy of a mislabeled box in my workshop.  The unfortunate bit is that I was also expecting to find led lights for the interiors of these and they were not in the box... the hunt is on!

The main Bar area got liquor shelves a cashier station, what looks like an off-track betting interface, 2 TV Screens, 3 interactive tables, and 6 seats.

 The resin is glued in place if attached to a wall (TV screens, cabinets, showers, etc) and attached with magnets for stuff that sticks into the room (beds, tables, chairs, coffee stations, etc...) or that might be good to remove for mini placement in some games.  There is also some kind of exterior machinery or power panel with a screen and number pad you can see in the picture below.

 The office space... which in retrospect should probably have been a kitchen... got a coffee station, cashier's interface, and a TV screen.

Being a sparsely furnished area I imagine it works more like a VIP room for dancers so it got some poster-style decorations from a Haganai cel phone deco set.  Featuring Sena and Kobato.  So I guess its now a cosplay Bar too!

 There is an apartment above the Bar that is smaller than a tenement room but furnished similarly to a flat with a shower, toilet, sink, TV, environment control, and a full size bed.  It might be an owner/operator living space, a VIP room, or just a room for rent.  Of course being situated directly above the Bar would make it a pretty loud place to sleep... even for the Undertown.

Next up are the interior resins for the Data Trust, which also includes a metal model drone to park on its roof, and a pair of SleepBox small format rentable rooms that can be deployed practically anywhere... like sidewalks or parking spaces... and are self serve.

More MDF Madness: Concrete Walls WiP, Sign updates, and found resin interior sets... whew!

A section of nearly complete Concrete Walling from the ever awesome Antenociti's Workshop.

Below are the resin tops being painted up with a variety of broken glass to discourage all but the most determined of intruders.

 Like everyone else in the Hobbyverse Antenociti's Workshop is being battered by the COVID-19 but are still able to fill orders at this time... and are super happy to get them!  If you have a moment to drop in and see what they have on offer please do.

 Left are the raw resin bases for the wall sections.  This is a hybrid MDF/Resin kit with the MDF being pre-painted and the resin needing paint.  They also have some super decal sheets to help graffiti up the walls.. I'll be exploring that this week.

 These signs were shown in previous posts and I become progressively less happy with the "see through" cut outs because the were hard to read at any distance.  I decided to do some simple backings to make them solid and more visible.

The rest of the set is getting this same treatment and I'm experimenting with a variety of backing materials from photo prints, to aluminium foil, to painters tape and beyond.

Once the Sign fronts are worked out there is an ugly mess on the back that needs covering so I've created completely different B sides.

In keeping with the Asian influences I've borrowed graphics from the Tiger&Bunny Anime series and from the super popular Hatsune Miku. 

In previous posts I did some buildings that were super detailed, inside and out, and some that were basically external MDF shells... I've since located the resin detailing packs for those buildings!  The good thing is that the resin bits in these hybrid kits are designed to be added after building construction to allow time for them to be painted as a separate project.  They are currently moving through the resin prep process and should be on the painting desk in no time!

Back to the Desk!

Antenocitis Workshop Asian Wall Set v2, Neo-Tiki Motel Office WiP, and the Accidental Dwarf Army

 Antenocitis Workshop has a couple of new prepainted MDF releases in their Made for Infinity line. 

They are well designed and are sized to be LoS obstructions even for 40K. These will be great with the Asian Restaurants or the Neo-Tiki Motel that Antenocitis also have on offer.  The wood color is actually laser charred and not paint... which makes this kit have a strong odor of burnt wood even before opening the box.  This dissipates eventually and I hit them with some Dead Flat sealer so they can be handled more casually.

 Our trusty Burna Boy is checking out the rental office of the Neo-Tiki Motel. This is a small building with a GIANT sign that services the Neo-Tiki Motel.  This is a WiP and the Neo-Tiki Motel have detailed interiors sold as a separate upgrade pack that contains both interior sets.

  The Asian Wall Set v2 makes 11 wall section and one (working) gate.

The Prepainted MDF has a covering that is a single color with details laser cut in so its not completely or 'finely' painted but it does make a great surface for adding in those extra details if you like without it looking so much like painted MDF.

 It is recommended to varnish or seal the prepainted MDF to reduce smudging from handling.  I had not though of that and wish I'd seen the recommendation before working on Hab 3 from the Forward Base line.  Once the clear acrylic components are installed sealing becomes more tricky! Its a learning process.  My current plan is to seal the interior upgrade pack before removing the components from the MDF sheet and then do any extra detailing after that... resealing if required.  The reason being that the clear acrylic doors and windows really need to be installed before the model is assembled.  Otherwise there is a significant risk of damaging the MDF.




While we're talking about Hab 3 I'm making some progress on the resin bits.  I'm interested to see what the difference is between the old resin accessorized offerings and the new "all MDF" versions.











Lastly a couple of pictures of the Accidental Dwarf Army that is on the painting desk because I has a paint mix error that resulted in me digging out The Battle for Skull Pass box set and... since I was doing the goblins to eat up the erroneous paint mix I , of course, had to do the dwarves because they were there!










These will initially get some use as Imperial Dwarves in Kings of War but will certainly find their way back onto the table in my Oldhammer games.

These guys are a uniformed army while my Freeholds will be built from Atlantis Miniatures Dwarfs and then there is the giant pile of Mantic Dwarfs to grapple with...





Back to the desk!