Word to the wise!

"Don't start a new job and a new miniature project at the same time"

-The Doc

But boy are these fun to paint! 

I've finally decided to go full Warlord for my Paras, so these are the first of - hopefully - a... few more. Starting with the command surely makes perfect sense! :)

I'll be a bit laconic today. Have a look at the pictures instead! :D Looking forward to your feedback.

A para-update

After all the helpful responses here and on the LAF, as well as the poll result (thanks, everyone!) my Para production has commenced. Obvioulsy at full steam... ahem.

I am painting a batch now, but because I wanted to clarify some painting recipes I decided to finish one completely and see if I'd be happy with the result. That's also a wonderful opportunity to show you him.

So, this is what I am striving for with the Paras. The most difficult part is the face... These old Hicks minis don't have such lovely defined faces as his current ones.

So, here he is! Have a great week everyone!

An opinion too far?

I'll admit... that pun was baaaad. But I do need your opinion on something, my dear reader.

With the release of Paul Cubbin's (Cubs on LAF and the proprietor of this cool Facebook page) painting "tutorial" for his Paras in Wargames Illustrated, I was inspired to paint some Paras. Actually I started painting one for fun a few days before spotting Cubs' posts on the LAF.

Paras are a fun army to paint... if it weren't for that Denison Smock. Cubs has a great technique involving the use of a glaze medium that I wanted to understand and use out of pure interest. Below you will see two miniatures that were painted with two more or less different techniques. The one on the left has the camouflage "blocked in" and traditionally highlighted, while the one on the right is emulating (poorly) the technique used by the very talented Mr. Cubbin. What intrigued me is the introduction of a bit of chaos and a random element, since you're never 100% how a glaze will apply or dry.

Now is where you come in... I am completely unsure with what technique to proceed. I've added a poll here and I hope you may tell me if you like the Denison Smock on the left or on the right better. You will find the poll directly under the pics.

Looking at these minis I've also realised that I need to rethink the metal parts on the rifles. Looks too light for my taste.

Which Denison Smock realisation do you prefer?

Well this is awkward...

About one and a half year ago I said this blog will shut down in favour of a joint blog with two buddies, but it seems we've underestimated the geographic closeness that our hobby still relies on. After a good amount of months of joint fun, we've decided to call it a day.

Either way... I am officially restarting my own personal blog and returning to the bosom of Blogger. The Doc's Study (let me know if you have experience with a URL change for Blogger pages) will be reactivated starting today and hopefully rearranged a bit during the holidays.

What did you miss in the meantime? Well, first off, I got married. That happened.
Second... not much. I painted a couple of minis and here is a short glimpse on some of them as they were displayed on the joint blog.

• Some samurai for Ronin

• A couple of Perry Desert Rats (the box is fully painted, but I need to take some more pics) plus a Daimler by Warlord photographed in a cheesy way

• My Gorkamorka band (still growing but needs more photos)
  
  
  
   

• And some Bolshevik troops

 

 Now I hope you will allow me to catch my breath before we start this blog back up in the same mind-blowing speed I've been know to operate in. To all the people that remained followers of this blog for all this time... thank you. And welcome to any new readers.

Of Vikings and farmers

Last Crisis I couldn't resist. I had to buy Gripping Beast's Jomsvikings! Sculpted by Bill T, these are some of the coolest Dark Age miniatures around! And they paint as easily as they are beautiful. Only fully painted 2 till now, but I'm getting there.

Say hello to Gunnar and Ottar Greyhair.

Furthermore, while meeting with some friends I had my first go at a Brügelburg miniature by Lead Adventure miniatures. They are such funny looking figures, full of joke and character. This fella is part one of the duo inspired by Albrecht Dürer's "Three peasants in conversation" (linky).

Part two is on the way as well... :)

He doesn't look like Oscar!!

Well, I've never won anything like this before! Christopher aka Axebreaker, of LAF and Sweetwater fame and the incredibly talented painter of Bunker Hill, decided to give one of these (it seems currently very... hip) Liebster awards to this blog, describing it using the kindest words. Thank you, Christopher! I feel deeply honoured to be "holding" this golden man-ish thingy holding a trophy.

Now, we must of course talk about the rules of the Liebster Award, because the warehouses are still full and these awards need to be distributed to talented people!

The rules of the award are:
- "Copy and paste" the award on your blog, and talk about it a bit.
- post a link back to the blogger who gave you the award
- Select for the award your five favourite blogs with less than 200 followers, leaving a comment on one of their post to notify them that they have won the award. You need also to list them in your own blog.
- Enjoy the moment, knowing that you have just made someone's day.
- Of course, there is no obligation to pass the award, but it is a good deed really.

Well for me, my choices are clear (regardless of whether or not they have received the award before):

- RJ Painting  - Amazingly talented painter, who sadly photographs his miniatures way to seldom! I absolutely adore his painting style and he's the only painter I've actually bought painted miniatures from.

- The Leutnant's Diary - one of the best blogs around, this talented fella will travel with you from the wild forests of  Arthurian Britain to the exotic Manchuria of 1905! Inspirational every time!


- Pro Gloria miniatures - not so much a painting blog, I really like this guy. He's young, he's talented and now he is venturing into the business of producing miniatures... I like the cut of his jib and he deserves this!

- Comes Britanniae - I thought for a while that this guy was gone completely from the scene, then he posted something again in March and now he is gone again. I like his miniatures so much, that I still go through his old posts when I have the time and feel like it! I hope this will motivate him a bit to become more active.

- Conquering the Lead Mountain - not strictly within the rules, but as I am painting Vikings at the moment; damn the rules! :) This guy already has more than 200 followers, but darn it, he is one of the best around! His Roman-themed miniatures are particularly good and true works of art with very well researched backgrounds!

Now, please don't feel offended if I am not mentioning you here... If I am following your blog, trust me, I am reading every new post with joy and admiration!

SAGA Wip

My desire to work on something Dark Age-y is still going strong and I've started working on some things.In order to increase my motivation, here are some WIP pictures taken with my mobile over the last few days:

This is one of Bill T's Jomsvikings and (by Odin!) it's a beauty! Such a joy to paint. The whole range is amazing and I'm looking forward to painting every single one of them.

This is an animal pen by Grand Manner... Nuff said, really. I just wish they'd go down with the price, so I could buy the lot!

A pig by Architects of War. I am currently working on a pigsty in which this lovely, rotund fella could enjoy life before he becomes sausages!

Sorry for the crappy unedited pictures. I'll be taking some proper ones soon of these and of other stuff I haven't photographed yet.

Till soon!