The Conclave concludes, and a note on personal style

The Inquisitional Conclave comes to an end! To check out the results for all of the various entries, take a visit to the Neverness blog post here: The 2020 Inquisitional Conclave

First, let's address the timetable. I had the whole month of August to paint this single miniature. I even got off to a good start (kinda) and bought the model early in the month! AND I made a post about it! But then, I said a dumb thing.

"...I should have a better update next week!" 

Pretty par for the course for me, but still. I did fully intend to do at least one update post before the final "here's the result" post. I really did. Instead, though, I ended up doing what I always do...

Finish 99% of the whole project in a single 4-hour-long sitting at the last minute.

I can't decide if it's a good habit or a bad one, to be honest. On one hand, it tends to be a complete "follow the muse" type of experience, while on the other hand it means I sometimes have a difficult time repeating a certain color or effect if it occurred while I was "in the zone" so to speak.

Hmmmm maybe we should just jump into the specifics on the Inquisitor... BUT WAIT! This is a blog, after all, so before we go too far let me preface this by saying something about my personal style and my biggest influences. It's my blog and I can do that if I want to, dammit!

I've long been on the path of dirty, grimy, macabre realism. Not all projects/minis call for that, but if a project can make sense and gives me even an inch in that direction... I'm going grunge, and busting out da powdah. It's probably been five or so years, at least, since I started coloring my minis using washes and inks, priming light and working to dark instead of the standard "prime it black and work up" that most people tend to favor. I think that method, going light to dark, has been a huge influence in my push towards this particular "grimdark" aesthetic (as all the cool kids on the internet now call it, apparently). Now, as far as reference material and influences, I typically never use them. I scroll a lot of galleries and posts of painted minis and save the ones I like best, sure, but I'm not one to actually put a reference up while I'm painting myself; I tend to just... see where the project takes me. However, in all my scrolling and saving, I've found two key style influences that I go back to over and over again, just pouring over the pictures and absorbing the style. 

First, one that most probably won't know: The Garden of Hecate

Still some of the coolest miniatures I've ever seen!

A blog centered around the macabre, insane creations of a true genius for the craft, I just don't have enough good things to say about this. I saw this image somewhere a couple of years ago, probably Pinterest, and exclaimed, "Holy shit, this person GETS it!" and then I tracked the picture back to the blog and found a smorgasbord of content just like this. I've honestly never even delved too, too deep on that blog, just in an effort to save it for myself over time. It's all so wonderful, I don't want to consume it all just yet. 

Now, for number 2 (though really this is the biggest influence for me for many years, I've only just recently acknowledged it): John Blanche, famed artist and creator throughout Warhammer history.

So filthy. So beautiful.

This madman does things seemingly without effort that I can only dream of ever achieving, and almost every single piece I look at leaves me with a feeling of, "Dammit why didn't I think of that? I wish my brain would just me create things like that." So now, I consider myself a follower of the Blanchitsu Way, striving in my efforts to create such luridly messy and colorful works.  

Okay, so now on to the Inquisitor!

Freshly assembled, with a new head that I took from an Exorcist kit and on a base I 3D printed

Lately, I've discovered that I adore oil paints. They do the messy blending and moving around that I want them to do, with an extended working time and the ability to create effects by adding paint and then removing it, or even just thinning it selectively once it's already on the model, with some thinner. I'm still learning a lot every time I sit down with it, but it's reinvigorated my enthusiasm for painting lately and I'm honestly enjoying the struggle. The weirdest hurdle has actually been priming the minis, because it's very easy to remove the rattle can stuff with the thinner!

I started with a black primer, then gave it a heavy zenithal of bone white. I already knew I was going to covering all of this pre-shading up with the oil paints (when using acrylic washes and glazes you can very much use this pre-shading throughout the whole process, though) but it's a strong habit of mine because it helps me spot all of the details and different elements of the mini I might want to pick out. Like I said before, I just sit down and see what happens... I'm not much of a planner.

I started with some Vallejo "Liquid Gold" paints I picked up years ago after seeing them on a YouTube video of a guy painting some Grey Knights. When I first got them I was pretty disappointed, and I actually didn't care for them because I missed the fact that they weren't water-based when I bought them. Turns out I just needed to level up a bit, and I think I'm finally at the point where I'm ready to use them more. They're still a bit of a unique tool in my arsenal because they're actually alcohol-based and you use isopropyl instead of thinner/mineral spirits when you use them, and they dry within seconds of the paint hitting the model. They also have a very, very strong shine to them, as they are basically just some very nice metallic flake suspended in the alcohol solution rather than an acrylic gel. I started off just covering all of the armor with Old Gold, then giving it some depth with Copper, and finally giving the high areas some extra shine with Rich Gold.

Then, I blocked out the xenos weapon and skull, and her head with some acrylic stone and bone white, so that I could do some oil washing and clean-away. When working with the oils/enamels, you can put layers of acrylic paints/sealers if you don't want anything "below" that color removed when you start using the thinner to clean off paint. As long as the acrylic paint is completely dry, you're not going to accidentally remove any of it with the thinner unless you're really pushing down or using a rough cloth or q-tip or something.

 

Okay, so at this point the muse took me, my ASMR meditative breathing videos were going in the background... and I didn't put down a brush with a coherent thought to take a picture or take a drink or get up for anything until the point in this next picture, several hours later. Like at least 2 hours, probably 3 is more realistic? I honestly couldn't tell you. Believe it or not, there are only 4 added colors in the next picture, as well as black and white acrylics for a couple of things like the eye and eye patch, and the highlight on her hair. This is a couple of different enamel browns, Burnt Umber and Saddle Brown, I think,  shown just above and left of the mini (I didn't end up using the redder one on the right), and a Testor's "Green" and Testor's "Yellow" (like the little ones that come in a model car learn-to-paint kit you'd find at Walmart, lol) to do the dragon. Oh, and Red on the purity seal. Shit. So 5 colors. Whatever.

That was all I could do for that particular night of work, because oils have a slower drying time than a typical acrylic paint. I left her to sit for roughly 24 hours and then painted some Desert Sand acrylic on the base, then as soon as that dried I dusted her with some dulcote from a rattle can and applied some red oxide weathering powder (aka "da powdah" as mentioned in many previous blogs) which sticks down nicely to the drying (extremely thin) layer of dulcote without clumping. This time, though, I went a step further and used the same method as when cleaning away the oil paints, and with a q-tip and some thinner gave the base some variation and depth by cleaning some of the powdah back off.

And that's the completed project! All in all, I'm quite happy with her, and hope to have her accompany my growing Adeptus Sororitas / Sisters of Battle / Whatever We're Calling It Now forces on the field of battle sooner rather than later. 

...not gonna lie though I actually really like the name Adeptus Sororitas better it's so macabre and serious and nerdy hnnnnnnngghhhhh...

Hope you enjoyed the post! Sometime in the near future (...must stay vague on time commitments...) I've got some pictures taken already to do several new posts, primarily about the Adeptus Sororitas force I'm building to combat the treacherous armies of my son's T'au. But I do have one special one planned that should be a fun surprise! Well, for me, anyway. *shrug*

The Inquisitional Conclave (2020) begins!

Short entry for today (but I guess anything is better than my typical nothing...) just showcasing my entry into Neverness's new annual August challenge:

The Inquisitional Conclave

So, yeah, that's the first post for it. And this isn't included there because I'm late, for multiple reasons, but really because I had to go buy an Inquisitor (somehow I didn't have one and I didn't have a great idea for any inventive conversions). 

Unless this post IS in there? Did he edit it and now this is included? Are we stuck in a time loop? Damn the warp!

Anyway, the Inquisitor I'm choosing to use for this is actually GW's newest Inquisitor model, "Ordo Xenos Lord Inquisitor Kyria Draxus" or, as her friends call her... well with a title like that, she probably doesn't have friends. I actually don't know! I think this character is new and is in the recent campaign books for the Necron reawakening stuff, but I've read none of it. I just really like this model's armor and the lil' baby dragon that she's using like a falconer. And while I appreciate her shiny bald head, I actually plan on switching it out with one of my extra Sisters of Battle heads because she's going to be used with that army anyway. I hope. I mean, it's my current project, and my track record does kinda suck on completing projects and ever using the minis to play games, but I'm trying dammit.

Action shots! Look at that shiny box! Look at that sprue!

That's it for this week, but I've actually already assembled the body sans head, so I should have a better update next week!

How do I do this, again?

Hello!

It's a... it's been a minute.

Some stuff has happened since my last post.

I mean, I went to NoVa and played toy soldiers, had a good time. Ended up coming home a day early because I'm a homebody and missed my kiddos, but overall got what I wanted out of it. I'll post in more detail below.

Between going to NoVa and now, I've only really played a few games: I've been in a consistent D&D group, I've played a handful of games of Star Wars Legion, and then I've played some various things with my sons.

Painting... eh, really I've just managed to work on a sizable Star Wars Legion commission (pics below).

Hobby in general: I made the leap into 3D printing! It's truly like just adding an entire second hobby onto the primary minis gaming hobby, though, when you consider everything that goes into it. It's quite fun though, and has consumed a fair amount of my time.

What else, what else... Oh, the Mandalorian series came out and finished season 1! It was incredible. Everything I want out of Star Wars. Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker also came out. It was not incredible. It was not everything I want out of Star Wars. In fact, it was the first time I've ever experienced that negativity I've seen so many times before in other nerds for myself. I mean I still like Star Wars, and it was fun enough to watch, but whew man was the story and pacing/editing painful to endure. You have to remember, though, that Episode VIII: The Last Jedi is probably my favorite of the 9, haha!

Oh, and the pandemic.

No, like the real pandemic. "The coronavirus" or, by its proper name, COVID-19.

As a recording for posterity and a note to my future self: March 2020 is a dark time, made to seem even darker by the heavy shadow of the immediate future. Tennessee is behind in its efforts to quarantine and order "shelter in place" guidance to the public, but many other states and larger cities have already gone that route. Aside from the grocery store and fast food places, pretty much everything is closed. No game stores, no movie theaters, no restaurants, etc. The economy is devastated, with hundreds of thousands not working in an effort to slow the spread of the virus and keep the hospitals from being overwhelmed. Being part of the "essential" services (construction), I'm still at work every day. Well, for now, at least. It's a crazy time.

Anyway, back to the game stuff... ?

So, NoVa:

NoVa consisted of two main events for me, with a bit of other games sprinkled in at night with my travel companions (namely "Betrayal at House on the Hill" board game and learning to play Battletech with a starter box I purchased), which were Horus Heresy 30k Zone Mortalis, and Guild Ball!

The area of 30k room set up for Zone Mortalis. 

My Chaplain leads some Word Bearers to their inevitable doom. But, like, gloriously. Of course.

The Gal Vorbak prove  to be an ample distraction to a Dark Angels Dreadnought before the Breachers can flank in to save them.

My Miner's Guild learning how to play the game against some Cooks.

My Miners won Best Painted for the event!

As far as painting at home, I've really only been working on a Rebel army commission for a good friend. I'm hopefully going to wrap it up this week, though. (I'm a slow painter. I really shouldn't take commissions.)

Commission Star Wars Legion piece. Yes, it's a trap. Fishman gon' snipe you.

On the gaming front, mostly it's been playing games with the kiddos. We're several games deep into a Warhammer Quest Silver Tower campaign, as well as a Star Wars Imperial Assault campaign and a few games of X-Wing.

Soon, Alec and I will get our Rangers of Shadow Deep / Frostgrave hybrid game going, where we'll be able to play the campaign together against AI. I'm working really hard to get together nice terrain for it, though, so that it's a premium experience.

I can't remember if this is merely my son putting up with my constant character-voiced narration of Warhammer Quest, or him dealing with a particularly rough roll of the dice. Probably the former. :D

Flynn's badass murderdudesman for Warhammer Quest

Alec's sneaktastic elf assassin for Warhammer Quest.

Really 3D printing should be its own blog post, but considering how long it's been, I'm going to shoehorn it in a little bit here. This whole thing kinda snuck up on me, as I'd ignored it for years as being too expensive, but then another good buddy of mine showed me something he'd printed and related how low the cost had gotten, and now I have another addiction. I'm running an Elegoo Mars currently for my resin printing, and while it's got a small initial learning curve to get things printed and into your hands, the art of perfecting the supports for a model and positioning and all that is definitely taking a while longer master.

Also, seriously, the availability of fantastic sculpts from a multitude of different artists out there is truly astounding. And so affordable!

A fresh print!

Mandalorian Militia - converted speeder bikes for my personal Star Wars Legion stuff. 

A fantastic Arbite miniature from the patreon Monstrous Encounters, that I will use in Necromunda at some point.  "I AM THE LAW!"  

 As for what the future holds, especially with the ongoing pandemic, I'm not too sure. At least I've compiled an incredible backlog of stuff to work on should I find myself unable to continue adding to the pile of minis.  What's immediately next, though? Oh, probably just this little project of football playing frogs I've been waiting on for the past year from Kickstarter. :)

Hippity hoppity, yo.