Review: John King - Figone

I needed a model in 54mm representing a pirate boy. This cute little sculpt from Figone was just perfect for the job.

It came in a blister without any card, artwork etc. At least there was a piece of foam for protection. Minimalistic approach - all necessary elements (packaging, protection, model itself) were there, but Figone sure could  improve the presentation.

The resin cast was almost perfect with all details crisp and without defects. No mould lines in weird places, no air bubbles, no flesh to be removed.

Great stuff, highly recommended!

Review: Constance Blaize - Privateer Press

Constance Blaize, Knight of the Prophet (PIP 31090) is a Privateer Press model from the Warmachine game (Cygnar army).

As you can see, the sculpt is very intricate. Hail to the sculptor for all the ornaments on the armour, but they will be a pain in the ass while painting...

 Packaging comprises a pretty standard blister with a printed card. The miniature is protected with foam.

Quality of the cast is good. No troublesome mould lines, details are pretty crisp. Not the best cast I've seen maybe, but also far better than the worst.

Also, there was some oxidation (or whatever happens to metal, I'm not an expert in this field) visible on the face. Unfortunately, my photo-fu was not strong enough to show it properly on the picture and it looks just like a natural shadow. Anyway, the darker place under her right chin - that's the spot.

Summarising - good product lacking few things to be assessed as excellent.

Busy May

I didn't paint much in April, but it seems that May will be a very busy month... all of these are WIP pieces, closer or farther from completion.

That's not all I'm painting at the moment...

Funny Mini Or Not

I have a weird tendency to comment on things I see or read... stickers on car bumpers, graffiti on buildings and so on, so forth. Not aloud, mind you, it's just my own, personal, silent, internal process.

It's nothing surprising I do the same with miniatures I see. The difference is that some time ago I decided to release these thoughts to the public. It all started with this great diorama made by Julien Casses. I posted this instead of a standard comment.

People liked it and that's how Between the Lines was created - a cartoon with photos of painted miniatures, hopefully funny, surely not ridiculing painters and/or their work.

The new episode was posted at Chest of Colors just recently.

Feel free to check all episodes of Between the Lines. Who knows, maybe you'll find your own paintjob there one day...

Nameless Guard - Plans For May

The Painter's Activation event is divided into 5 months with individual theme. The general scheme is following:
March - heavy support
April - elite units
May - fast units
June - basic troops
July - heroes

In March I painted 2 basic units for my army, not heavy stuff (though I added 2 hellbrutes at the end of the month). In April, I painted 3 tanks, nothing elite. In May, I should be painting "Fast Strike" models... which I of course don't have.

I'm not good in following themes. I'm not good in getting additional points for additional tasks.

I still don't care about that. Plan is simple. Get a painted army! I'm going to stick to that.

The first unit for May are Terminators. 7 of them, of course. Four black ones are built of both good and bad space marines. Conversions are not mine, I've only added a standard for a boss. Three remaining models are plastic chaos terminators, no conversions.

Terminators will have their own transport vehicle. Land Raider will be the biggest model in the army, at least at this stage.

Finally, another plague marines unit. This time it is a unit "straight from a box". No conversions here, with the exception of a boss, who got a standard and power fist (old obliterator arm).

That's it. Keep your fingers crossed. If I paint all this, I think I will see a light at the end of a tunnel. As of now, I'm still unsure if I'm able to finish this army in 5 months.

Tag Teams

I like to paint miniatures for my friends. I choose a mini, paint it and then send to one of my friends.

What do I do for my friends who happen to be couples?

I paint two.

Tag Team Fantasy: Hansel and Gretel aka the fantasy police squad

There's a part of truth in every fairy tale... They origin from true events, but a tale gets changed, twisted and modified every time it is told. Take the Grimms' tale of Hansel and Gretel as an example.

They were brother and sister indeed, but while they were small they sure weren't children. The hag was not old and ugly, quite the opposite. But, she ate children, it was proven beyond any doubt. The wood was not as dark as Brothers Grimm say; Hansel and Gretel were not lost there, but were searching for the hag hideout, as this was their assignment. Finally, they did not use any tricks to fool the hag into the oven. Instead, Hansel put a crossbow belt straight through her chest and Gretel chopped her head off. Then, just in case, they indeed burned her body.

Tag Team SF: Hansel and Gretel 40K years later

The story of these two is very similar to the previous one. Replace the dwarfs with grymns (same names though!), forest witch with an alien ravaging some spaceship, substitute guns for medieval weapon and there you go!

Fantasy Tag Teams was made of Red Box Games miniatures sculpted by very talented Tre Manor; SF Tag Team are Hasslefree grymns sculpted by equally skilled Kev White.

Nameless Guard - APRIL's Not For Fools

Second month, second summary.

I'd planned to paint three tanks (2 Rhinos and Vindicator) in April. I did.

Hey, no one said it would be a long summary!

I like how they look together.