Inspired

 Hello Sports Fans,

Today we bring you an unusual update. This one comes on the heels of painting models. Crazy I know, but it could just be true. I recently was invited to a hobby night. I know a few people that like to gather every once in a while and just put together or paint models for the evening. No game playing, no dice rolled, just communal hobbying. I find them to typically be very fun and encouraging. Nothing like peer pressure to put glue to plastic, or paint to brush.

That particular night, I did not put paint to brush, but instead went with the glue to plastic option. I built myself the dreaded EightyEight anti-aircraft gun used by the Wehrmacht during WWII. Warlord has decided to team up with Italieri for certain plastic models. These are fairly detailed models with lots of little bits and the barest of instructions. This 35ish part model took me most of the evening to build as it was quite difficult at times. There were some positives to the kit as well, like molded fittings for certain parts. Some of it would almost be considered snap to fit even. I did finally get the gun built and will be looking for an appropriate base to put it on. The scale did seem a tad bit off though for typical Bold Action. Will have to see how it looks on the table in the future. Now this kit had four (double sided) pages for instructions. I then reached over to start work on the Panzer III model from Italieri...which was 70ish parts with a single double sided instruction page. At that point I was neither drinking, nor could afford to, so the kit went back into the box.

By this time you are probably wondering...didn't he talk about painting models? Well yes, I did. But in the course of that evening, it were the other participants that were doing actual painting. Most were young lads I had not met before. They were quite excited to be working on their 40K models. I gave out a little advice here and there as I'm a somewhat experienced painter. But all in all, it was simply great to see people really excited about the hobby as a whole, and going guns blazing to get paint on models.

That was the inspiring part. The following weekend, my family spent it at the beach for my daughter's birthday. Knowing how low key we keep things, I brought three sisters of battle models that had been primed. These are part of a larger army that I bought in the hopes I could convince my wife to play. We had talked about a color scheme long ago but at this point, the best we had gotten was priming a few.

I had purchased the new warpaints set (the middle tier one) and decided to try them out. I grabbed a handful of colors I thought would be useful and brought them along, including my Valejo spepia wash. Over the course of the weekend, I put paint to brush and got all three of them about 98% done. I'm sure there are some fine details I will need to go back and add or clean up, as well as finish basing. The faces are going to be a bear as they are very detailed and my old eyes don't see so well anymore. But alas, I will give it a try. 

Here they are in their current splendor....

First up, the battle sister. She was my first test model for the color scheme. I was going with the Order of the Golden Light....a small order that apparently all have been Martyred and thus they come back to life when needed. Neat. Clearly my photo skills need work, but this gives you an idea at least. I did record each color I used. These typically have a black outter color for the cloak and a white inner color. However, seeing how I like washes, I went with a dark grey outter color and a light tan inner color...to make them more neutral and less bright, plus it is easier to shade grey than black. I think it plays off the gold armor quite well.

Next up is the Canoness. Now this model was quite hard because she had so much cloak and not much else.There also wasn't any great place to add a touch of red to (I did go with red prayer beads). She will probably need a bunch of detail work added to make her really pop on the battlefield.

Finally, is the Sister Superior. I think she came out quite well. My paint style lends itself to looking better in hand than on the tabletop...and the neutral scheme might just all blend together when seen from a distance...but I don't mind that. I like painting more realistic than stylistic. She will benefit a bit from more detailing as well. But that might wait until the majority of the army is done. I found a good consistent theme to go with and I know the order of how I am painting them. So the trick will be to continue and get the combat patrol done and then look to expand the army further. The basing needs more work too, but the pumice I added and little drybrushing is decent enough for now. 

Well there you have it. Three newly painted models...stuff I'm actually very happy with. Now just gotta prime some more and keep on painting.

Until next time....