First try with artificial water

 Hi everyone, let's go for something completely different, something I've never used before: artificial water.

First time here? If you have a look at the rest of the blog, you will soon realize that I don't base my figures very often. The reasons why were already explained in several posts in the past, you can read some here. But I must admit that a well based figure is much more interesting to watch, so I wanted to improve my rustic technique. I've been watching several tutorials on the subject these past days, and my eye was caught by the representation of swamps, particularly putrid swamps... a good place for zombies :)

So I bought a bottle of still water, mixed some with black and green washes, and poured the result on a painted base: grey rocks, dark brown sand, some dark green grass and a light green area for the water itself. The result is this (28mm Mantic figure):

 

Since it is a first try, I'm rather pleased with the result, but it's far from perfect. Several problems:

 - I didn't fill the gap between the figure's round small base and the square base itself, so it is still visible under the layer of artificial water

- I stuck some adhesive paper on the edge of the base to prevent the artificial water from running off, but the surface of the water twisted along the edges - I had to cut the excess when dry to have a flat result

- I didn't think of simulating the mud created by the zombie advancing in the water

I'm not sure to know how to remedy these problems, and even less sure if it is reasonable to base complete regiments this way... but it was real fun to do :D

Hope you like this small experiment, any advice is welcome :) 

A Wraith King to summon them all

One post about historical figures, then one post in Fantasy. Ok, I know, I should be painting Winged Hussars, or Vikings, or even Sassanids, meaning I should finish what I have started first. But I've started so many different projects than any new figure can complete an existing army.

Today, after a Norsemen warband, I needed a bit of fantasy. I also needed to clear my desk, and decided to paint the biggest figure on it - a wraith ! A wraith king to command my undead army, and summon dozens of skeletons, zombies, and other horrible creatures - a good option to replace my old vampire general.

So, what does he look like ? A big, howling spectre.

This mini doesn't come from any 1/72 fantasy sets, but from a pack of Undead troops designed for Battlelore 2nd edition. There are several types of figures in this pack: skeletons, knights on big horses, spectres and a zombie dragon - you can expect to see more in the next months. 

The skeletons are larger than the Caesar ones - they seem to be 'real' 25mm figures. The spectre (or wraith) is a big figure, but I find his size ok compared to the horde of skeletons and zombies (Caesar and Dark Alliance) around him.

That's all for today - hope you find him frightening :D

Pirates of the Caribbean: skirmish on the dock

Hi everyone!

My Flying Dutchman crew needed to raid, they found a small coastal town with a dock, and even opponents to fight against. Come on, the battle begins!

1. Skirmish on the dock

2.The Making of

First of all, let me introduce you the two teams. I've already painted a small group of Zombie pirates, three crewmen of the Flying Dutchman, from left to right:
- Palifico, whose head is covered with coral
- Maccus, first mate of Davy Jones
- Hadras, already presented here.

I also added a zombie pirate, though he should be crewman on the Black Pearl. All Mars minis.

To defend the dock (and the city), a few mariners took their poor weapons and tried to stand before the horrible crew. They are Hät minis, from mini set #8325 British Marines and Fighting Sailors.

What about the dock ? No, not scratchbuilt alas. It's a piece of scenery I bought once in a local shop - just needed to paint it. It is designed for 28mm figures, but I thought it might be ok for 1/72 figures. Ok, the crates and coffer are a bit too large, but I think it works well enough.

And what about the sea ? My first idea was to paint some piece of paper to represent water, waves and maybe the coast, and I think I will do something like that one of these days, but it will take days before it is over, and I wanted to take pictures today (first day without rain for at least one week), so I needed something ready to use. Mrs Philotep (nicknamed NeferCaro on this blog :)) proposed me some blue crepe paper. Nothing extraordinary, but good enough. The first pictures looked like that:

Nice but really flat. Then she went to the kitchen and came back with some plastic film. A layer of plastic over the blue paper, and this was it:

Brilliant, isn't it ? It is maybe a common trick for miniature sceneries, but I didn't know it, so Mrs Philotep takes credit for this very good idea!

Last thing (see the edit below), I changed the color of the sea to turquoise with my computer, and there you are:

Hope you like them all, even the ugliest ones :)

Edit: I just found a way to replace the blue of the sea by some turquoise, which is much more realistic, so I've replaced all the pictures in this post.

Deadcember... new zombies

Dear fellow painters and readers, let's dive into dark Fantasy again.

As you all know (and if not, see here, or there), Orctober has been a chance to complete an Orcs and Goblins army. In november, I came back to historical figures, but with unusual subjects (for me): Peninsular War and American War of Independance... and at last, the Ancients saw reinforcements with some Greek Hoplites. I've also painted many other individual figures but not units, so they probably will be displayed later on this blog. In case you're curious: a C'hin heavy warrior, two Norman foot warriors, a Spanish Caetratus, two servants for a Greek balista, a Samnite... to be continued.

But we are now in December, also known as Deadcember! I don't think I will spend the whole month painting undead creatures, but part of it, yes :)

I have an Undead army for HOTT which was almost finished, I only needed a few more zombies. Here they are!

These minis are a mix of several sets:
- Caesar Zombies
- Dark Alliance Light warriors of the Dead
- Zombie!!! boardgame figures

In the middle of the picture below, you will recognize Red Sonja as a zombie leader :)

The two Dark Alliance minis are in the center of this picture:

I already painted these minis as ghosts, they looked very different:

As written above, the Undead army is now complete: zombie warriors, skeleton warriors, ghosts, spectres, zombie dogs and a vampire lord to rule them all... but I still have to base them. And it might be that they lack strength against my Orcs, so I should probably paint some Undead riders, including some more vampires. I'm still looking for a good color scheme, any idea ?

The Mummy returns

An update on this blog, at last!

I must explain that I wasn't interested in figures any longer. I have been away from the community for almost 9 months, which has given me a lot of time for other hobbies, such as collecting Japanese woodblock prints, or playing music in a small band.

Since I was away, I didn't even visit the blogs of my fellow figure painters - I hope you don't hold it against me too much. Well, it seems that a break was necessary.

A few days ago, I had a look at Benno's, and I discovered that Dark Alliance was about to release a set of Mummies. Mummies ? That was completely unexpected (at least to me)... but absolutely necessary for a painter whose nickname's Philotep :)

So I left a very small comment at Benno's, ordered this set as soon as I could, received the package a few days later, opened the box with excitement (a feeling long gone), and begun to paint the first minis this afternoon.

The first mummy is finished, I have taken a few pictures so that I can show you. Here you are:

Well, not my best, but I haven't touched a paintbrush for a long time. And I had difficulties removing the mold lines - something I have never been good at, but it is obvious that I must change my blade.

Some other mummies are on their way. I will take time to finish them properly, take better pictures, and write a small review about this set.

Hope you like this one anyway :)

Musician of the month: Skeleton Horn Blower

What is fun with fantasy ? There is no limit, and you can create impossible things. This month's musician is not that original, since skeletons (including horn blowers) are classical figures today, thanks to the major manufacturers of Fantasy figures. Hard to believe that dead things can walk,  even slowly, or fight, or do anything but lie... but in Fantasy, everything's explained thanks to Magic, and especially dark Magic.

... So, a dark sorcerer came with forbidden spells, a gifted necromancer, and he began to raise the dead, lots of them... So many of them that they began difficult to control. He was compelled to use a general to rule them all, and he called a mighty vampire, but the skeletons were indisciplined, they didn't follow the orders, as if they were deaf to any signal... wait, of course they're deaf! The necromancer's spells couldn't make skeletons hear the orders, but there was one spell, a very ancient one, that allowed him to create Black music, the dreadful sound of an ancient horn blown by invisible lungs, yes! So he gave that horn to one of his most disciplined skeletons, and ordered him to blow again and again, and, because of this horrible dead sound, every skeleton began to walk West against the human kingdoms...

"Why West ? What if the humans settled in the South ?"
"Then, my apprentice, you will have to learn another spell, because this is the way of Black Magic. Go back to your books and don't ask foolish questions again!"

This month's musician is our skeleton hornblower. His horn is a very old instrument that remained in an ancient tomb for hundreds of years, so it is made of oxidized metal - green oxidation for brass, or verdigris. That's what I tried to represent on this mini, together with rust on the iron parts.

A few pictures:

The fierce skeleton proved good enough to be enrolled by the Vampire general, to summon the skeleton army to go West! Er... to go to the right, as we can see in the following pictures:

 

"Eh, come back, all of you! West is on the other side !!! Who gave me an army of unlateralized skeletons !!!"

The Phantom Menace

Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of update but the weather is way too good not to live outside. Painting is not a summer activity :)

I added two ghosts to my undead army, and I took a few pictures this morning... hum, it's disturbing to take phantom pictures in summer light !

Anyway, here you are the result.

Two phantoms menacing a wizard... or summoned by him ?

The painting technique I used this time was slightly different from my usual way: no washes at all, I started from a blue base and only painted lighter and lighter layers, adding some white each time.

Figs by Caesar.
Hope you like them :)

Undead Pirates

Hi everyone, a small update this evening.

Among the most improbable minis I could have dreamed of, the Undead Pirates, or Cursed Pirates, or Fishy-Sharky Pirates (or whatever you want to name them) are certainly a reference I would not have expected to see in 1/72... but here they are, produced by Mars, and I couldn't resist the siren's song :)

Some may say that these minis are not very attractive, but I found them nice to paint.

Well, to be honest, I painted only three of them (for the moment).

I would like to use them in a naval skirmish game, but I have no rules and no opponents - any suggestions ? I wish I could buy the Napoleonics naval troops by Hät, but this reference seems difficult to find these days.

Some closeups.

Thank you for visiting this page :)

Defenders of the Empire

Hi! After a few posts related to historical figures, I am back to Fantasy. Today, I want to show you pictures of my Empire longswords - for those who know the world of Warhammer, you may recognize the colors of the Talabecland, one of the provinces of the Empire.

These troops are veterans who saw a lot of action in many conflicts, and they are required whenever the situation is particularly perilous. In the pictures below, you can see them defending a village against frightening invaders.

The Longswords take position in the village

Everything's quiet, too quiet

Suddenly, a horde of Undead surrounds them

How could they come so fast ? There is some dark magic here

The courageous men attack their enemies

A vampire Lord appears - dark magic, indeed

The vampire engages one of the swordsmen

They are too many !

The zombie dogs are ready for the the final fight

The poor Longswords are submerged - may their sacrifice not be vain

The Longswords are landsknechts by Redbox and Dark Dream Studio.
Skeletons, zombies and vampire Lord by Caesar.
Zombie dogs by Zombies!!!