A Noble Task!

An impromptu visit today to Lone Star Comics #1 in Dallas, TX was quite
enjoyable.  They had a great clean store, friend employees, and a nice
selection of many miniature games....although no Privateer Press /cry

I found a great little miniature from Reaper's Pathfinder line that I look
forward to painting.  I hope I can do her justice!

Meet Queen Ileosa .

Get your paint on!

I Lava Good Base!

Here is a full recap of my lava bases including "How to Paint"

Design - Cake texture form - Walmart

Add Green Stuff -

When cured remove and mark out your bases

Cut out - glue to your bases

Painting step #1
Black Primer

Painting step #2
Red Gore brushed liberally all the way to the top edge of the crevices

Painting step #3
Blazing Orange brush again in all crevices but not all the way up the sides so some
red is still showing

Painting step #4
Golden Yellow paint thinly along the bottom of the crevices leaving both red and
orange showing

Painting step #5
Skull White painted only in the deepest parts of the crevice where lava is the hottest.
This is a spot highlight only

Painting step #6
Fortress Grey dry stippled on the very top of the rock for an ashy porous look.

Finished product with the Salamanders!

Get your paint on!

Brush with Disaster!

So about 10 days or so ago I went to an art store in San Antonio, TX.
I asked for Winsor Newton series 7 brushes and the guy pulls out a
brush from under his counter that was a series 707.

A quick google showed me that it was a limited edition short handle
series 7, so I went ahead and got the brush.  I was so eager to get my
hands on a great brush.

Unfortunately, it was and it wasn't.  Heres what it looks like.

Mind you thats AFTER i reformed the head 1x.  It was much much worse when I got it.
I ended up getting the brush free, so I can't complain toooo much, but now I know
much better how a good brush should come.  The ONLY merit this brush has is that
the second it gets wet....it snaps to a very clean point and holds it without fail until
completely dry.

In Memphis, TN I stopped at another art store.  They also had Winsor Newton series 7
brushes on hand.  This is when I was enlightened to how a high quality brush SHOULD
come.

They come in a protective outer tube + the brush end itself has a protector on it;
and boy do these have rock solid tips!

I got my favorite 2 sizes  0 and 000.

I want to in the future try the Raphael 8404's and / or Rosemary and Co 33's.
All of a sudden though, I am very wary about buying brushes I don't get to see
before I pay!

All that a side, boy do these babies lay the paint down sooooo nice.
Time to get the paint on!

Memphis Motherlode!

So we were able to make a pitstop in Memphis on Sunday.  And boy 

did we score a LOT of great stuff.

The main reason for our stop was to go to the factory GW store to pick

up our ForgeWorld order that had come in.  If you order it directly there,

you can pay at the register....US dollars with no conversion fee AND 

they ship it for free!!!!!

We had a great visit with Dave in the shop there.  He was kind enough to tell

us about a model that had been sent to them on accident by ForgeWorld and 

were trying to sell.  We were able to make a spot purchase of the new Contemptor

dreadknought!!!

Every time I go there it makes me wish I lived near there.  They have great events

running all the time!

After that I made a stop at a local art store.  I stocked up on some great additons

to my ever growing pile of painting gear!

Check out my next post for the best things I acquired!

Sha'cea sashay!

It's a commission even if I don't actually get paid isn't it?
Why? For the chance to paint more models to grow personal
talents.  Makes sense to me!

Well enter the tau of the Sha'cea sept.

Roughly 4,000 pts of it....so I'm starting small with a kroot pack

All primed and ready!  Time to bust out the color palette and convert them
all over to dropper bottles.  Wait have I mentioned I hate GW paint pots?
Kroot colors along with my first new paint!

Salamander Update

Well, LA Totally Awesome...is totally awesome!
All the models are stripped and with the new additions in
the previous post...work can continue.

First of which is more lava bases -

The start of basing for the tactical squads.

New Goodies!

Had a chance to swing by the house, and pick up all the latest arrivals.

Crafting supplies and new army additions galore!  Can't wait to dig in!

Taking a bath

Time to work on the lascannon marines for tactical squads.
I'm using some old caked on paint versions from someone else's
army.  So time to clean them up.

After 24 hours + in my well used and yucky tub of simple green
The pewter was just fantastic...but the plastic was mostly untouched.

So its bath time again!  Only this time in my new stripper.

I'll post my review of it asap!

Green stuff...whats that?!

I did a lot of touchups on 3rd company tactical that I've previously shown.
Added 7 new ones.  Added chapter symbols and flames on the shoulder pads.

BUT...i can't do thier bases...I'm out of green stuff. Don't you think in all the city
of San Antonio, TX that I should be able to find some?   /SIGH

I went into "San Antonio's Gaming Mega Store" and asked for green stuff.
The guy behind the counter says...."What's that?"  REALLY?!

So anyway here they are done and ready for bases.....
Left -

Right -

A couple honor badges -

HOOAAAH!

Drop what you are doing!

Made a few changes to my paints.  No not replacing brands, YET.
My paint pots although brand new from the GW mega - paint set are
all gloopy and just irritating.

In my endeavor to become a better painter, I'm thinning my paints,
blending, shading etc. and the GW paint pot is not friendly to that.

First I got a retarder medium....on the cheap version

Food or medical Grade, I'm not sure which from Walmart pharmacy $3.
Mixed with water 3:1.  And as I'm typing this I just realized that picture...gives
the next one away! LOL!

I got a few dropper bottles...poured my gw pots into them....rinsed that out with
the new solution I just created...poured that into the droppers....added a couple
of stainless bb's for mixing...   VOILA!

Ready to use!

Objectively speaking!

Well, the final part of this months entry to my gaming groups painting challenge are complete.
In recap,  400 pts + 3 objective markers for Sept.  See my other blogs for the
landraider and scouts.

Last night, I was able to complete the objective markers for the Salamanders.

#1  Objective Marker.

Yes, thats a marker!  Aw cmon, be objective!

#2  Battlefield Maintenance

Remember this?  Well it came from....

You just never know when your forces will need repairs!


#3  Finally everyone's ultimate objective is to..well....open a can!

Hopefully the Salamanders can do just that!

It is a game after all right? right?

Wrap up -  Sept goals are complete 13 days early woo hoo!  Next up to get started
on Novembers tasks. 400 more points and a piece of terrain.

Sally forth!

Wet Palette Review / Observations

I like the experience I have had so far using a wet palette.
On a side note however, I may just go to using a retarder as
I still have several issues with the different palettes.

First  Privateer Press' P3 Wet Palette -

In my not even remotely humble opinion -

I like the size of this palette...especially for mobility.  As I am in a truck 24/7 that
is a BIG plus.

I don't like that the paper that comes with this palette / sold for this palette by P3
isn't the exact proper size for the palette.  Reusable and ready to use are big pluses.

I don't like the sponge.  It's too coarse and doesn't flow water well at all to keep the
paper wet.  I will be pulling mine out and replacing it with cut to fit Bounty paper towels.

I don't like the hinged lid.  It doesn't always stay open, gets in the way, and is NOT
water tight.

At $17-19, save your money and buy the papers separately for a different container
or find a cheaper alternative altogether.


On to Masterson's Sta-wet

This palette comes in a variety of sizes.  I believe that the one I have is the smallest.
Caveat that by saying the smallest available at the art center I was at.   It is however,
at the very max for tolerable size for me personally in my limited workspace.

I like the removeable lid.  I don't like that again its not water tight.

I like the sponge.  It is very fine and feeds water under the paper fairly well.
I don't think I will ever change it out unless  I just get crazy results from a paper product.

I don't like paper that has a lot of prep work.  The included paper has to be boiled
and / or prepared separately.  Too much headache and also impossible in my environs.

At $8-9 dollars, a  decent palette.

DO-IT-YOURSELF:

This sandwich container IS water tight. It's lid is removeable.  It's a very manageable
size.  It costs about $1.50.

I will end up padding this with paper towels and using the P3 parchment paper cut to fit
more than likely.

There you have it.  There are many palettes out there beyond these, but you should have a
grasp of how they work and what they cost.  Try one if you like!

Scouts Final Update -

This months progress :

Landraider - complete

Scouts - complete

Objective markers - materials gathering

Now to the scouts...

Before...static grass only - 

After...textured, painted, and minimal grass -

Why does it feel like the objective markers will be more work?  We've got a couple fun ideas!

Stay tuned!