A Painting Manifesto

May 04, 2017 by David Springer in Miniatures

Vacant blog is sad blog.

The origin of this despair has been abundant productivity. Not the painting kind of productivity, but producing a software product productivity. Hopefully I will get the go ahead from the copyright holder to post said product, but until then, peaceful silence for all...

But painting! In the highly occupied month of April, I only completed two models. I believe that is the worst month in the past year, maybe since I started painting. However, I think there was a hidden benefit to having put down the brush for 4 weeks.

Perspective.

Specifically the rejuvenation of my perspective on painting.

Slipknot and Killer Croc from Knight Models's Suicide Starter Box. I did a bunch of experimenting with these models, and none of those experiments turned out great...

The reality is that my painting queue is 624 long. 624. And I truly do want to paint about 90% of it. That is a lifetime of painting unless something changes... Or about three years at 15 models a month.

So something changed.

I had two Batman models from the previous order to complete, and decided that I would power through them. The result was actually quite excellent:

Completing the Quick Response Force. Really pleased with how they turned out in a short amount of time.

In my post-mortem for the two, I reached nirvana, or at least a state of greater understanding, and wrote down a series of guiding statements in the form of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development:

As a painter, I favor:

Contrast over blending
Dark lining over washing
Faces over outfit
Getting it done over getting it right

As with the earlier Manifesto, the stuff on the right is important and should/can be done. However, the stuff on the left is more important and is where more emphasis should be placed.

These statements form my style. They give me the freedom to work on contrast instead of making sure my blends are prefectly smooth. They also let me put more time into the face than the clothes, guns, swords, or backpacks.

Style is good. For now, this is mine.

Batman (the Miniature Game) Beginnings

February 20, 2017 by David Springer in Miniatures

It's tough to say which superhero in the current twenty-first-and-a-sixth-century-pantheon-of-superheroes reigns supreme. One thing is for certain; Batman is on the Mount Rushmore of superheroes.

Batman's resurrection with Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy has kept Bruce Wayne in popular culture while previously popular heroes have languished.

I'm looking right at you, Superman.

Catwoman, Damian Wayne Robin, and Batgirl from Knight Models' Batman Miniature Game.

For about five years now, a small Spanish company known as Knight Models has been manufacturing DC miniatures for a skirmish game set in the Batman universe. The models are in 35mm scale, and all are cast in a white metal.

I should stop now and say that Infinity has spoiled me.

I struggled for hours with Catwoman's round face.  I never could get her face to be worthy of the sexy Selina Kyle.  In fact, I decided to just leave her without makeup in my final attempt. — I struggled for hours with Catwoman's round face. I never could get her face to be worthy of the sexy Selina Kyle. In fact, I decided to just leave her without makeup in my final attempt.

As great as the Infinity models may look, all of the details on Infinity models are exaggerated to make painting easier. I have always found it surprising that folks coming from Games Workshop games struggle to deal with the details on Infinity models. Now I understand their pain.

Batgirl from Knight Models' Batman Miniature Game.  I love this sculpt, and a happy accident made it even more awesome. — Batgirl from Knight Models' Batman Miniature Game. I love this sculpt, and a happy accident made it even more awesome.

BMG models are wonderfully detailed. Look at Catwoman's suit, it has two textures. The underside of Batgirl's cape has a very subtle texture intentionally applied to it in order to help the cape have more sheen.

But all of the details are shallow.

Damian Wayne.  The least popular version of Robin.  Still, this is a wonderful job by a superb sculpter capturing so much of his character. — Damian Wayne. The least popular version of Robin. Still, this is a wonderful job by a superb sculpter capturing so much of his character.

These are not models you rush. Too thick of a base coat and the details are gone.

And now I feel spoiled by Corvus Belli's line. Even when the Infinity line is considered difficult to paint, the details on BMG sculpts are so tiny that they're easy to lose.

That's not to say that the BMG figures aren't fun to paint. Quite the opposite. It's an exquisite experience having so much character emerge as you paint them, something that Corvus Belli's sculpts often lack.

These three models took about a week from assembly to completion, and I'm excited to dive into more.

The Monthly Best

February 14, 2017 by David Springer in Miniatures

There's more to miniature painting that simply completing forces.

... Duh.

Sometimes when you get in a groove, you wind up in a rut. That's where I was stuck after painting forty Anglo-Saxon and Viking Warriors in five weeks. Burnout was on the horizon, and the easy way to stop a fire is to stop putting wood into it.

A break was needed. Something different. Something without cloth or chainmail. Science fiction would do the trick, so Drakios and Hector from Infinity were chosen after an intense hunger games competition between toy soldiers. Okay, really just a hunger games for my head, and my heart.

The Tinbot, Hector, and Drakios from the Steel Phalanx of Infinity.

Determined to reverse the burnout from painting that many little soldiers to a low standard, Hector was volunteered as the model to receive the best paint job. The shift from focusing on speed to giving myself as much time as I wanted to finish helped reverse the burnout and motivate me to pick up the brush again. Nearly twelve hours later, triple the average Infinity model paint time, Hector was ready to put his chubby face on display to the world.

The ultimate intent of doing a model to the best of your ability each month is simple: deliberate practice.

Hector showing off his back side.  I think this is the best view of the model, but that has more to do with the color choices that are obvious from this angle.  Had I chosen a better color scheme, the model would be much more interesting. — Hector showing off his back side. I think this is the best view of the model, but that has more to do with the color choices that are obvious from this angle. Had I chosen a better color scheme, the model would be much more interesting.

On Hector, the focus was smooth blending and a stronger Zenithal highlight. The result is good, but in the end doesn't quite fit the model. I think he would have turned out more interesting if I had simply done diffuse lighting, making everything pop.

The turn of this post is that even painting models as quickly as possible can be deliberate practice with a little thought applied to the process. For example, these wolf pelts that I recently painted on a few Berserkers.

Saga Berserkers parading their wolf pelts. Thankfully, the animal rights group hasn't found Saga or Vikings yet...

The pelts were an easy combination of dry brushing and applying washes. The focus was painting them quickly, but some before and after thoughts on them, as well as feedback from the experts at my FLGS, help turn it into something more than just painting quickly. Those extra efforts and thoughts are the key to improving.

This post was originally intended to emphasize the value of painting a model a month to the best of your ability. It is a good idea, and will help you improve your painting. Instead, I would rather exalt finding the nuance in all of your painting. It's in this nuance, and the celebration of it, that improvement lies.

A New SAGA

January 04, 2017 by David Springer

Vikings are the coolest.

Full stop. There is nothing more awesome than bearded dudes angrily destroying everything in their path.

Go back a month, and you'll find me drooling over this amazing picture of SAGA Vikings from Gripping Beast. Turns out, the rules behind SAGA are surprisingly cool for an "old man's" historical game. (Yes, the therapy has not yet helped me accept that I am an old man.)

I got hooked.

My FLGS had a few Gripping Beast army packs in stock. They also had a cool Black Friday sale that involved rolling a D20. As an ALEPH player, I dutifully rolled a 13 (either a crit, or more to my luck, a miss by 1) and went home happy with 13% off my order of a plastic Saxon Thegns box and a 4 point Crusader starter army.

Most of the first group of Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Danish warriors.  In total, I painted 30 miniatures in a little over 3 weeks, a personal best. — Most of the first group of Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Danish warriors. In total, I painted 30 miniatures in a little over 3 weeks, a personal best.

The Saxon box was cracked open first. While these are technically my second line of plastic miniatures ever assembled, I gave up on Malifaux after assembling the first Crew box. Screw you, Electrical Creation...

The most important part of assembly was figuring out what army I was actually building. I settled on building 31 Anglo-Saxons and 13 Scots. A box of Gripping Beast Plastic Dark Age Soldiers will flesh out both warbands.

Three days of glue later, all 43/44 models in the box were built and primed... Because I forgot to glue one of them to their base.

The Hearthguard models practice prior to the big battle.

The recipe that I am using for the chainmail armor is simple. Start with a drybrush of Reaper's Blackened Steel, then do two highlighting drybrush sweeps of Lead Belcher and Runefang Steel. It looks pretty good, and I am able to get through a group of 8 in about 20 minutes.

The tunics on these guys are super-basic. I am just base coating them and hitting with a wash. For the next batch, I want to be a bit more selective on the wash to clean them up and save some time.

RelicBlade Project Wrap

December 30, 2016 by David Springer

When I saw the first few RelicBlade minis on Ash Barker's weekly painting recap, I thought they looked cool.

Current RelicBlade Lineup. L to R: Cave Bear, Wild Elf Druid, Thief, Cleric of Justice, Questing Knight, Relic, Dark Wanderer, Dark Watcher, Pig Men Horde. — Current RelicBlade Lineup. *L to R: Cave Bear, Wild Elf Druid, Thief, Cleric of Justice, Questing Knight, Relic, Dark Wanderer, Dark Watcher, Pig Men Horde.*

After painting my first set, I have confirmed my hypothesis.

My favorite sculpt of the box was, to my surprise, the Druid. The sculpt was clean, and little details kept popping up as I painted. She was a joy. In fact, she's the only figure on the box that I do not have a vision for the next paint.

Advocates from RelicBlade. L to R: Spirit Hammer, Cleric of Justice, Wild Elf Druid, Thief, Cave Bear, Questing Knight — Advocates from RelicBlade. *L to R: Spirit Hammer, Cleric of Justice, Wild Elf Druid, Thief, Cave Bear, Questing Knight*

The sculpt I thought I would like most was the Questing Knight. I did enjoy painting him, and like how he turned out.

I definitely have ideas for the next version. I think the sculpt has an air of tiredness to it, and I want to paint him as a seasoned adventurer wearing a hodgepodge of equipment.

Dark Wanderer and Dark Watcher from RelicBlade.  A very beginner-friendly sculpt that was fun to paint. — Dark Wanderer and Dark Watcher from RelicBlade. A very beginner-friendly sculpt that was fun to paint.

Some other highlights were the Dark Watcher and Dark Wanderer. They are featured in the coming Bone and Darkness kickstarter, but I picked up 3 of them I the original Kickstarter.

For the third, I want to paint him more like Sauron. Dark, sinister armor with red glow in spots, and a bone white skull. I am excited to get back to this version.

The Cleric of Justice is another highlight. I still think I am bad at NMM, but I love how the NMM gold turned out on her.

The next iteration of the Cleric I want to paint is a red dragon with a flame spirit weapon. I think she'll turn out awesome.

The Pig Men of the Adversary from Relic Blade.

Probably my least favorite sculpt was the Thief. Unfortunately, she had a mould line running awkwardly over her face that negatively impacted the model. Faces are the most important part of miniatures to me, and the fact that I had to struggle to get her face close to where I wanted it was disappointing.

RelicBlade was a good 3 weeks of painting joy. I experimented with airbrushing on the Pig Men to great result. I still have 4 Adversaries (bad guys) and 5 Advocates (good guys) to paint before I am at 100%, but now it is time to play!