ZN Games Wild Satricon - 23-020

I'm a bit giddy about this miniature - not because it's going to win any awards - but because I had a Friday night with some free time and was able to start and finish a complete miniature in a single night by keeping the paint scheme simple and using a lot of drybrush and wash techniques.

Looking on my shelf I found this Wild Satricon from ZN Games and their Unearthed Hyperborean Age line of miniatures. As are the other models, this miniature is very 2d in appearance (which is why the pictures only show front and back) and sits on an octogonal base. Like the other ZN Games models, I've swiped the base with a bit of drybrushing.

2014/12/30 - discovered the sculptor as Phil Lewis.

As to the pictures - they're not too bad - having a lot of painted metal on the miniature freaks the camera out - too much light is reflected off the model and trying to adjust contrast and brightness either darkens the other details or completely washes the metal out. So the end result is some ok looking pictures - I actually think the model looks better in my hand than what I can present here in picture form.

Lately I've started to put down the sculptor to each of my painted miniatures (and even started a sculptors page) - however, I can't find any data on the internet about ZN Games and their miniatures. If anyone has any further information then please leave a comment or send me an email to my gmail account which is rickajr.

Painting Instructions for Wild Satricon:

Step 01: Undercoat model with Black primer
Step 02: Use Boltgun Metal on all armor
Step 03: Use a heavy dousing of Devlan Mud as a wash over all armor
Step 04: Highlight with Boltgun Metal on all armor
Step 05: Wash all armor with a watered down mix of Chaos Black and Devlan Mud
Step 06: Final highlight all armor with Boltgun Metal
Step 07: Use Scorched Brown on legs
Step 08: Drybrush Bestial Brown on legs
Step 09: Drybrush mix of Bestial Brown and Bubonic Brown as highlights on legs
Step 10: Use Terracotta on plume
Step 11: Wash plume with watered down black
Step 12: Drybrush Terracotta on plume
Step 13: Drybrush Blood Red on plume
Step 14: Use Bleached Bone on hooves and horn
Step 15: Wash hooves and horn with Devlan Mud
Step 16: Highlight hooves and horn with Bleached Bone
Step 17: Use Snakebite Leather on gloves
Step 18: Highlight gloves with Desert Yellow
Step 19: Use mix of Snakebite Leather and Bestial Brown on axe grip
Step 20: Wash axe grip with Devlan Mud
Step 21: Highlight axe grip with Snakebite Leather
Step 22: Final highlight axe grip with Desert Yellow
Step 23: Use Terracotta on axe wood
Step 24: Wash axe wood with Chaos Black
Step 25: Use Shining Gold on all ornaments
Step 26: Wash all ornaments with Devlan Mud
Step 27: Highlight all ornaments with Shining Gold
Step 28: Use Dwarf Flesh on face
Step 29: Wash face with Devlan Mud
Step 30: Drybrush Codex Grey on base
Step 31: Drybrush Fortress Grey on base
Step 32: Drybrush Skull White on base

Setup and Undercoat a Model

During the summer months I'm typically very busy with the kids sports and therefore don't have a big block of time to paint. So I've been working on prepping and undercoating a whole bunch of miniatures. I have something like 30 ready to go. Another 20 on my desk which have been assembled and cleaned (from mold lines, flash, etc.), but not based and undercoated.

I've been wanting to try a hand at producing a how to video - therefore why not start at undercoating a model. I had a bit of time today and had a great time making a video on how to setup a miniature on a spool and then undercoat with black spray paint. Here's my first mini-painting tutorial...



Well that was a lot of fun! It took a bit of time but I had fun putting the video together. You have to think through all the scenes and the dialog for each. I had a basic idea but did a lot of winging it with the dialog. As always, let me know what you think and I'll try doing this again - maybe something on making the stone base effect - good for an rpg session as most take place in medieval town, castle, dungeon, or cave.

Reaper's Labella Demornay - 2105

Another rainy day, another figure! An opportunity to sit down for a few hours and crank out this wonderful sculpt. I've had this one sitting on the shelf for awhile (ok - I have a lot sitting on the shelf for awhile primed and ready to go) and it struck my fancy.

I originally had worked up a purple/pink paint scheme in my mind but I changed it at the last second to use a base of Terracotta and work that up to a mix of Terracotta and Skull White - the end result is more of a deep and dirty pink. I've improved my wet palette setup and that really helped - not only to get the flow of the paints and brush, but also the speed at which I can put down layers has dramatically increased. Here's a picture of the new setup:



What I've used is the plastic tray from a Reaper Miniatures blister pack. I chose this for it's size and that it's square in depth (the GW plastic is sloped on their blister packs). The "sponge" is from a GW blister pack - it is exactly the perfect size to fit inside the Reaper blister pack flat. Then I cut a piece of Wilton parchment paper (which I stole from my wife's kitchen) to fit neatly over the top of the sponge. Wet the sponge and wet the parchment paper on both sides and walla... an easy to create and use wet palette that keeps the paint thin for hours.

What I did was put a couple dabs of Terracotta (shade) on one side and a bit of Terracotta and Skull White mixed (highlight) on the other. Then I brought them together in a mix and blended the two colors so I had my entire spectrum of shade through highlights. The wet palette kept the colors in a prepped state for hours. From there I was able to paint. This is a thousand times easier than trying to mix into the white plastic tray the various colors and have them dry out after 10 minutes.

When I'm finished painting, I throw out the parchment paper and wring the sponge out to let dry. Simple cleanup. I suppose it would be easy enough to make a couple of these wet palettes in the case you wanted to hold different colors for a complex or large piece. I found the single palette had enough room (it's about 3" x 2") for everything used on this project. I haven't tried to save the paint overnight but I'm guessing a bit of plastic wrap over the top would do the trick.

Painting Instructions for Labella Demornay:

Step 01: Undercoat model with black primer
Step 02: Use Terracotta as base coat on dress
Step 03: Wash dress with 50/50 mix of water and Devlan Mud
Step 04: Layer Terracotta up to a 50/50 mix of Terracotta and Skull White
Step 05: Use 50/50 mix of Bronzed Flesh and Pallid Flesh on hands and face
Step 06: Wash hands and face with Devlan Mud
Step 07: Add more Pallid Flesh to mix and highlight hands and face
Step 08: Use Scorched Brown on hair
Step 09: Use Bestial Brown on hair
Step 10: Use Bubonic Brown on hair
Step 11: Use 50/50 mix of Bubonic Brown and Skull White on hair
Step 12: Use Shining Gold on necklace and belt
Step 13: Drybrush Codex Grey on stone base
Step 14: Drybrush Fortress Grey on stone base
Step 15: Drybrush Skull White on stone base

Games Workshop's Armoured Skeleton With Spear 5

Rainy days are good for something as I was able to paint up another awesome looking GW archive skeleton! Just as before, this skeleton from Games Workshop is circa pre-2000 - I've always liked the strong look of GW's armoured (british spelling) skeletons. Long ago I went to a GW Games Day in Baltimore and picked up some bits including shields with skeletons on them - I used one of these instead of the boring round plastic shield. I also tossed out the tiny base and mounted him on GW's one inch base - then gave it my standard dungeon look.

Painting Instructions for Armoured Skeleton With Spear 5:

Step 01: Undercoat model with black primer
Step 02: Use Vomit Brown on bones
Step 03: Mix Bleached Bone into Vomit Brown on bones
Step 04: Use Bleached Bone on bones as highlights
Step 05: Mix Skull White into Bleached Bone on bones as final highlights
Step 06: Use Snakebite Leather on leather armor
Step 07: Wash leather armor with Devlan Mud
Step 08: Use Terracotta on the halbred shaft
Step 09: Drybrush Blood Red on the halbred shaft
Step 10: Use Boltgun Metal on all armor, studs, and blade
Step 11: Wash all metal 1/4 Asurmen Blue, Devlan Mud, Chaos Black, Water
Step 12: Highlight all metal with Boltgun Metal
Step 13: Final highlight all metal with Chainmail
Step 14: Drybrush Codex Grey on base
Step 15: Drybrush Fortress Grey on base
Step 16: Drybrush final highlight Skull White on base

Reaper's Hell Hounds - 2522

I'll put up some more pictures over time of each individual hound.

These hell hounds came together in a two blister pack from Reaper Miniatures. They had been sitting on my shelf for a long time and about a month ago while I was painting my daughter came into the hobby room and asked what she could paint. It had been several years since the last time she painted a model - so I was quite surprised. I grabbed these two models off the shelf and I asked her to paint these - I figured it was mostly a layer of brown with a few layers of drybrushing.

She asked me about the fire coming from neck and I showed her Laszlo's excellent painting fire tutorial on a miniature - gave her a brief explanation on Laszlo's white to red and not red to white.

She proceeded to paint like mad that afternoon - finished one, and most of the second. A few weeks passed and she told me that I should finish the remainder. So I did the last little bit on the second, touched them both up, added a wash of Ogryn Flesh to the fur and Devlan Mud to base.

Overall I'd say she did amazingly well and now I have two well painted fiery hounds to add to the completed shelf!

Reaper's Vernicia - 2460

A drow or dark elf - I like the little spider Reaper puts on the base to symbolize the drow miniatures. The picture taking on this miniature was a real pain because of the spear length and the dimension of the spear brings the tip a lot closer to the camera than is the remainder of the figure.

Painting Instructions for Vernicia:

Step 01: Undercoat model with black primer
Step 02: Use Reaper's Cloudy Sea and mix with Chaos Black on skin
Step 03: Use Reaper's Cloudy Sea on skin
Step 04: Use Reaper's Cloudy Sea and mix with Skull White on skin
Step 05: Add more Skull White for final highlights on skin
Step 06: Use Shadow Grey on hair
Step 07: Use Space Wolves Grey on hair
Step 08: Drybrush Ghostly Grey on hair
Step 09: Use a wash of Space Wolved Grey to tone down drybrushing on hair
Step 10: Drybrush Skull White on hair - wash with Ghostly Grey - drybrush with Skull White again
Step 11: Use Imperial Purple on leather armor, gloves, and boots
Step 12: Use Liche Purple on leather armor, gloves and boots
Step 13: Use Warlock Purple to highlight leather armor, gloves, and boots
Step 14: Add a mix of Tentacle Pink to leather armor, gloves and boots for final highlights
Step 15: Wash leather armor, gloves, and boots with Liche Purple
Step 16: Use Scorched Brown on spear handle
Step 17: Use Bubonic Brown on spear handle as a wet drybrush
Step 18: Drybrush Bubonic Brown on spear handle
Step 19: Wash spear handle with Devlan Mud
Step 20: Use Beaten Copper on metal bits
Step 21: Wash metal bits with Ogryn Flesh
Step 22: Highlight metal bits with Dwarf Bronze
Step 23: Use Boltgun Metal on spear tip
Step 24: Wash spear tip with watered down Chaos Black
Step 25: Use Chainmail to highlight spear tip
Step 26: Use Blazing Orange on spider
Step 27: Drybrush base with Codex Grey
Step 28: Dryrbrush highlights on base with Fortress Grey
Step 29: Drybrush final highlights on base with Skull White

Wet Palette

If you can't tell from the Blog Archive - I've been away from the miniature painting endeavor for quite awhile - I started in 1999 when I ran across a Games Workshop store at the outlet mall and 2004 was the last big year - just before Matthew was born along with some life changing career events.

During that time away, something called a wet palette was introduced to the painting community. I had no idea about it until I made a recent visit to a meeting with the DCAreaMiniPaintingClub - a group that I was a charter member of back in the summer of 2001. It was great to see long time ago friends as well as new faces - in addition, one of the things everyone was painting with was a wet palette.

A wet palette has to be the simplest brainy idea ever for miniature painting. The idea is this - add moisture to the paint at the same rate as evaporation through a process called osmosis. The theory is easy to put into practice - water, a sponge or paper towel, and parchment paper. The water travels up the sponge/paper towel and then slowly into the parchment paper which acts like a membrane between the paint and the water. The parchment paper draws water into the paint at about the same rate as the process of evaporation.

So here's my wet palette...

I simply took my plastic paint tray and folded up a paper towel into a square until it fit into the center of the plastic paint tray. Next I poured water over the paper towel until fully saturated. Finally I cut out a square piece of parchment paper and laid that over the top. Somewhere I read its best to get the parchment paper wet - so I rubbed some water into the parchment paper on both sides prior to throwing it on top of the wet paper towel.

To try it out I threw a little bit of Reaper's Cloudy Sea paint on the paper - I did two sections - one drop that I didn't use and one drop that I threw some Chaos Black into. Added a drop of water to each and prepped them as I would have so they flow. Then I grabbed a model of a dark elf from Reaper and painted away using the mixed paint.

It was awesome! The paint stayed fluid the entire time - I was able to use far less paint, had far more control, and it didn't "chalk" up on my model (ie - stayed smooth) or cause the tip of the brush to dry out. I worked with fluid paint during the entire paint session of basecoating the mix onto the mini. When I finished, I checked the drop which I hadn't used - it was like I first laid it onto the palette - totally fluid and usable paint.

For giggles, I took the parchment paper off the soaked paper towel - lasted about five minutes before completely drying.

We'll see how my next few miniatures turn out - but I'm predicting that this is a game changer that will allow me to kick my painting up a notch.

Citadel Stage 3 Fighter - ADD02

This miniature I found in a bag of old minis that I won off e-bay years ago. It's the third stage of a fighter produced by Citadel circa 1985 for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game (ADD02). I'm quite surprised with the level of detail on this miniature - a great sculpt compared to anything else of the era. Also, very noticeable is the size difference - from toe to top of helmet is 25mm which makes him look short and squatty compared to all of my "modern" figs.

Each pack came with three stages and I've actually found that I do have the first two stages as well in that bag of old minis. The first stage shows the fighter with simple chain mail and not much "stuff". The second stage with half plate and a bit more garnishment. The final stage shown here with full plate mail and all of his goodies fully expanded. This mini has a helmet plume, a stuffed backpack, a mace, a sword, an axe, and a dagger.

None of the minis in my bag had shields - so I found a metal shield in my bits bin and tagged that on. Additionally, the originals came on an octagonal slotta base - I don't have any of those, so I threw him on a one inch square slotta base instead. I'll eventually get around to painting the other two and thereby complete the series.

Often when I paint I have a purpose in mind - in this case I wanted to do an old school paintjob - primary colors, wash, then highlight in a short timeframe. I like the results and the painting was done in a single session which is even better.

Painting Instructions for Stage 3 Fighter:

Step 01: Undercoat model with Black primer
Step 02: Use Boltgun Metal on all metal bits - armor, sword, etc. - except:
Step 03: Use Reaper's Blue Steel on mace
Step 04: Use Reaper's Green Steel on axe head
Step 05: Use Brazen Brass on sword hilt and dagger hilt
Step 06: Use Snakebite Leather on all leather bits
Step 07: Use Regal Blue on helmet plume
Step 08: Use Enchanted Blue on helmet plume
Step 09: Use Enchanted Blue on shield
Step 10: Use Bestial Brown on back of shield and on axe handle
Step 11: Use Skull White on shield cross
Step 12: Use Bronzed Flesh on face
Step 13: Wash entire figure with Devlan Mud
Step 14: Drybrush Lightning Blue on helmet plume
Step 15: Use Chainmail for metal highlights
Step 16: Use Bubonic Brown for leather highlights
Step 17: Use Elf Flesh for face highlights
Step 18: Drybrush Codex Grey on base
Step 19: Drybrush Fortress Grey on base
Step 20: Drybrush Skull White on base for final highlights

Chainmail Human Templar - 1288888001

Happy New Year! The first miniature of 2011 is from the Dungeons and Dragons Chainmail miniatures game produced by Wizards of the Coast circa 2002. I picked up a bunch of these off the discount rack for $2.00 each from the local hobby store. Most of the Chainmail miniatures have an interesting and dynamic pose, but the castings themselves are rather rough and most come in a number of pieces that need to be crafted together with significant gap filling. The Human Templar was the only one of the lot which was cast whole.

As can be plainly seen in the pictures above, the photos of the miniature have gone through a new process of using the digital macro mode of my Canon PowerShot SD1000 by placing the miniature on a black sheet of paper which sits on top of aluminum foil (removes most of the top down shadows) and covering the photoshoot with a white paper towel to act as a light filter. The photos are then placed into the Gimp software where they've been outlined, cut, and pasted onto a gradient blue background. The whole process is fairly quick.

I named this one Jacques as this is a Human Templar and Jacques de Molay was the final Grand Master (1292-1314) of the Knights Templar and infamously burnt on the stake.

Painting Instructions for Human Templar:

Step 01: Undercoat model with Black Primer
Step 02: Use Dark Flesh on face
Step 03: Use Bronzed Flesh on face
Step 04: Wash face with Ogryn Flesh
Step 05: Use Elf Flesh on face highlights
Step 06: Use Skull White on teeth
Step 07: Use Tentacle Pink on tongue
Step 08: Use Scorched Brown on all leather bits
Step 09: Use Bestial Brown on all leather bits
Step 10: Use Snakebite Leather for all leather bits highlights
Step 11: Use Bubonic Brown as final highlight on all leather bits
Step 12: Wash all leather bits with Devlan Mud
Step 13: Use Boltgun Metal on all armor and sword
Step 14: Wash each rivet with Devlan Mud to build a dark base
Step 15: Use Chainmail on each rivet as highlight
Step 16: Use Chainmail as highlight on armor and sword
Step 17: Use Brazen Brass on sword hilt and helmet trim
Step 18: Wash Brazen Brass bits with Ogryn Flesh
Step 19: Use mix of Dwarf Bronze and Chainmail as highlights on Brazen Brass bits
Step 20: Use Enchanted Blue on cloth belt
Step 21: Wash cloth belt with Asurmen Blue
Step 22: Use Lightning Blue on cloth belt
Step 23: Wash cloth belt with Asurmen Blue
Step 24: Re-highlight cloth belt with Lightning Blue
Step 25: Use Bubonic Brown on pants and shirt
Step 26: Wash pants and shirt with Devlan Mud
Step 27: Highlight pants and shirt with Bubonic Brown
Step 28: Use mix of Bleached Bone with Bubonic Brown on pants and shirt
Step 29: Use Bleached Bone for final highlight on pants and shirt
Step 30: Use Shadow Grey to highlight scabbard
Step 31: Drybrush Codex Grey on base
Step 32: Drybrush Fortress Grey on base
Step 33: Drybrush Skull White on base