M20s and a Jeep!

OK so HOWDY Again. My client is happy with the M18s so YAY GO ME!

Now the M20s are up for review. I was not entirely sure how to proceed with these guys, but I came across a modeling sight that had some M20s done up and a couple of pictures of M20s from the field in France. It's amazing what a google search will turn up.

Anyhoo, I took one of the more intersting models and split up the markings on the vehicles so each one would have some character.

The jeep I kept simple so the driver and officer would stand out more. I think they turned out pretty decent and am happy with the results. I have a few jeeps of my own and I think I am going to follow the same approach for my own. I was thinking of tryin to include a standing gunner on the jeep, but with the position of the MG and the stadning figure, the models physically did not fit, unless I was going to have the gunner standing on the rear lights/bumper. Would'nt look good at all.

The jeep needs a little grass and maybe some small basing details to finish it out. I am going to do this along with the infantry tonight so stay posted as I hope to update this evening.

So feel free to comment, praise or complaint, it is all good to me.

Thanks!!

HELLCATS FINISHED!!

So Howdy. OK so they are not entirely complete. I still need my client's approval before I can call them done. I do feel really good about them though. I am very pleased with the way they turned out and I think there is something special about these figures I have done up.

In any event I marked them up with some simple slogans and put unit markings on them for the 67th Armored regiment, 2nd Armored Division, " Hell on Wheels" I like this unit because they were in every theatre since the US entered the war and have a illustrious history.

Next up are the Utility vehicles and the Jeeps, then the infantry!

Hellcats! Rawwrr!

Howdy. Up for review is an almost finished M18 hellcat platoon for Flames of War. These are a commission set. I apologize for the poor picture quality but one of lamps was left off when I was taking the pictures and so they came out a little yellowed.

Still all in all I am pleased with them overall, my client wanted a little rust and oil stains here and there along with a bit of dusty grit. I think I have achieved what I am looking for with that, I carefully applied some weathering techinques so the fronts of the vehicles look dusty, but not covered in mud. I think that looks sloppy and not quite a realistic. The M20s I think need something more, what I am not sure of, but they seem lacking something. Maybe a nice big star on the front end, but I am thinking something more. Ultimately it is up to my client what he wants, but he has said he will let me handle most of the details like that.

I had thought putting " The Wild Bunch" on one of the M20s would be cool, but the more I thought about it, it seems like that would be more fitting on one of the tank vehicles. I will leave it to my client if he likes it or not. he may not share my opinions of "personal touches" on armor, at least for US armor. I do not think I have ever seen a US vehicle without some kind of something on it. Sometimes it is too small to translate well on to a mini, sometimes it is just overwhelming and really guady, but still it is there...Well except maybe for a jeep or two...

I know the jeep needs a star, and will look much better when the crew is done, as will all the vehicles, but I like to look at them for a while before I put the crew in them to make sure the vehicle looks "right" before adding drives and such.

The machineguns will be done separatley. I may or maynot attach them before shipping because they have a tendency to break off in the mail. I will have to see how well they fit into the holes before attaching them.

The M18s need some last little details. Serial numbers, any slogans or "nose art' my client may want. Maybe another star on the sides of the hull. I have seen images of them on the turret and hull, turret only and hull only, so it is really quite open as best I can figure.

Thoughts? Thanks!!

Happy New Year

HOWDY and Happy New Year!

So I finally got the Sherman Commission complete and am moving on to the next one. I am doing a Flames of War Hellcat Platoon. Very cool models. Will post some pictures of them in the next couple of days.

I also have some more Shermans I will post here later. I seem to get a lot of shermans now a days. Maybe with all the late war hub bub they are more popular. I don't know, but they are a neat model and I never really get tired of doing them.

I picked up the Flames of War book, the art of War. A very cool book. I picked up a few pointers in there and I would recommend to anyone who wants to get some good ideas and guidelines on what a lot of Flames of War, or WW2 gaming in general, figures and models should look like. While it is not entirely comprehensive, it is a very good resource I think.

In the meantime, I have an older figure I did early year before last for your review. He is a Hasslefree figure named " Mad Dog". I fell in love with this guy as soon as I saw him and he was a real joy to paint. Hope ya'll like him!

Third Time's the Charm!

OK so Howdy. I am finished with the Sherman commission I have. My Client has made his last detail requests and I think I have it now. All that remains is to make sure all is as it should be and then box 'em up and mail them off.

It seems I have had more than a couple people ask me to do whole armies for them. While I don't mind doing whole armies, I do my best work on small units, one at a time. I tend tio get burned out doing the same thing over and over again so I try to keep it fresh and different. Keeps the creative juices flowin'.

So if you have a figure or small unit I might be able to help you, if it is something that interests me. If you have a large number of figures or whole armies, there are a large number of very good painters/ paintshops that would be a better way for you to go.

Not that I don't appreciate the request. I am flattered you guys think I am all that. However, I feel it is better if we both get what we want and come out happier for it on the otherside.

So feel free to make a query, ya never know.

On to more inportant things. I hope you guys out there like what I have done with these tanks. They were a lot of fun to do. My next commission is a US hellcat platoon and after that a dear friend of mine asked me to take my airbrush and paint his Leman Russ tanks for him. Since I will be assembling and painting 8 of my own, Its not a big deal to do a few more. I hope to get a lot of things done around the holidays and start some of my golden demon projects for the summer shows. I know it "seems" really early, but to be competitive and get that much sought after Slayer sword, it takes a huge amount of time and attention to detail, so I don't want to feel rushed. Slow and steady wins the race, or something like that.

Another catchy phrase is " I guess I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue", but that's just a silly line from one of my favorite movies. :)

Some Shermans Again!!

So howdy. Things have been busy and crazy round here last few weeks. I was out of town for a while and then I was really busy with work and family and the Thanksgiving holidays.

Anyhoo, I have finished the 4 76 Shermans I was commissioned to do. I am rather pleased with how they turned out and all I need is for the commissioner to check them out and let me know if there is anything else he would like done to them.

I have several other things I will be working on over the next few weeks. I am hopeful to get several Panzers ready for Ebay sales, along with some other oddball items. I'll do my best to keep the blog up to date, I have been rather bad about keeping it up, but life is what it is and I do the best I can with what I have. I also hope to be able to go to Gamesday this year. I am not sure which one I will be able to attend, but I will be working on a number of things in preparation for them.

Hope everyone out there had a good Thanksgiving, and I also hope ya'll are looking forward to a Merry Christmas!

Some Shermans!

Howdy. So anyway I am on the recovering end of a very long year of very serious illness. Needless to say I an glad to still be around and I owe it all to my Lord God looking favorably on me and the tireless devotion of my wife. Good things come sometimes when you least expect itor deserve it. That being said, I am very flattered and touched from the good wishes from my friends, family and people I don't know nor have ever met.

But enough about me, and onto more lighthearted topics. I recently accepted some work from a gentleman who liked some Sherman tanks I did a while back and asked if I would do some for him as well. I normally don't do commission work anymore, but I was wanting to paint up some more tanks anyway so it was not something that would put me out.

What I mean by put me out out is not that I don't want to paint things for people, but you get to a point where it becomes less fun and more work and you are not motiviated to paint the figures. Then there is no passion for what you are doing. Whenever this ceases to be fun for me, that means it is time to do other things. My hobby should always be something I enjoy, and if I can pick up some work along the way that looks fun or challenging, so much the better.

Hope this all makes sense. I never want my painting hobby to become a chore, and have more than several times refered people to other painters because they wanted me to do something I really was not inclined to do.

Anyhoo I have some work ing progress shots of these tanks. I was really intrigued by the regiment and its history. These tanks are from the 66th Armored regiment, the " Iron Knights". They used to camoflague their tanks and the regiment is still around today. I primed in black and gaver a base coat of GW Catachan Green mixed with black as a base coat then added another coat of pure catachan green. The Camo was a mix of Vallejo Mahogony Brown mixed with black and the a second coat of pure Mahogony Brown as the base. Camo netting/foliage is green stuff. I used a mix of browns, greens, greys and some black for the netting. Any combination of those colors should yield the same results. Just gotta pay attention to where the colors are so the browns and greens are still apparent.

Next I need to do the highlights, add the dirt and grit to the tracks and some weathering all the tanks. I still have some slogans and unit markings to add and just a little bit of "bling" to make these little beauties stand out. I am really enjoying working on these tanks. Its a nice refreshing change from plain dark green all over everything. Hopefully I will have them done in the next week or two. I have a business trip out of time for a week and I don't know that I will be able to do anything till next Saturday.

As always, C&C welcome. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Take care out there.

Don't ya just hate it when....

They change all the account information and you forget it, and then you do the little search thingy and even google can't find it for you....

Sheesh.

Anyway it is good to be back. I was really sick for a long long time so not much for posting, even if I could remember my username and password.

So I have been working on a number of things. Finished a German WW2 Fallschirmjager platoon. They went up on Ebay a while back, but I do have some British Commandos and MG platoons in the works along with some Panthers and a Tiger or two.

I am also making steady progress on my Eldar army. Got a few finished Dire Avengers as you can see. I think they are alright looking, but I am not to keen on the little face details so I will probably go back and clean it up.

Hopefully, I can remain healthy and productive. I have several minis I am going to post as time allows.

New Directions

Howdy. I have to admit I have been in a bit of a rut of late. Caught a nasty bought of brochitis and was laid out for 2 weeks. Add on top of that a lack of motivation to accomplish things. I was on and still am on a real high from Chicago, but lots of things have stimied my attempts to get anything going with any seriousness. Is seriousness even a word?? Oh well, ya'll know what I mean.

So as I layin down in the depths of illness misery it came to me. Diversity is the way to go. I often look at minis I like to paint with the intent sell them. But as I look at a lot f what I have, I am not sure whether or not they are marketable. Sometimes things do very well when put up for auction, and sometimes, not so well. But the thing that ocured to me is I do historical minis very well, and none of those have ever done badly, plus they are a pleasant change of technique and style from the more common Sci-fi fantasy types most tend to see.

So with that in mind, and my desire to begin playing Flames of War in earnest, I am going to be painting lots of historical minis for sale and personal use as well as the fantasy and sci fi figures I am also very fond of.

Add to that I finally have venue to try and form a painting group here in town and things have been on an upswing last couple of days.

For your viewing pleasure, I have posted my lastest 15mm project. Waffen SS in Autumn camo smocks. These guys are almost done, all I really need to do is finish up the command section and an objective and then they are ebay bound.

What I am not going to sell are my British commandos. I will post some pictures of them in the next day or two, just ya'll can see what I have. On the workbench is a unit of German Machine guns and Brit machinguns as well as my long awaited Eldar army.

I am also almost done with the Bloodthirster I am doing for a friend, almost a year to finish it, and then I have a project long overdue for the Miniatures page. Those will be worked in and completed before the end of the year if all goes well. I got a lot of catching up to do, but slowly I will get it all done.

Anyhoo, comments are always welcome, and if you have any ideas for Historical units you would like to see done, let me know, I am not too discrimantory, but the end is to try and sell most of them. Although if I like them enough I will certainly exercise my right to keep them for myself.

It's October!!

HOWDY. Wow, it's been almost a year since I started this and while I have not been as attentive as I would have liked, I certainly have been busy. I am slowly getting things done. The Blood thirster commission is coming along and if it ever stops raining here in Houston I have another commission to do. For the Miniatures page I will be doing a Hordes boxed set of Trollbloods. Humidity has been killing me here. Makes my primer go all fuzzy. SO after one unit of choas warriors turned fuzzy I decided to wait it out. No one wants fuzzy trolls. Maybe an ogres or two but not a troll.


The guy I have here is an Arch confessor I painted a few years ago. I am rather fond of him, but sadly no one really notices the details on him. Oh well, sooner or later he will be appreciated by more folks other than me. This guy was my firat foray into Non Metallic Metallic. I think it came out pretty good considering it was my first attempt.

2 versions of red and gold

Howdy. Over the last week or so I have been working on a number of things. One if my Vostroyaans Imperial Guard and the other is my Epic scale Space Marines, the Crimson Guard. Both are using red and gold, although in the case of the epic scale it is more of a yellow gold color thana true metallic as on the vostroyaans.

On my vostroyaans I used a base color of vallejo brass and then washed with GW brown ink. Actually a couple of washes to add depth and definition to the metallic. Once dry I painted with Vallejo Glorious gold and then washed again with GW chestnut ink and picked out the highlights with more Glorious gold and finally highlighted with Vallejo Model Gold. Overall I am pleased with the results as the golds have a rich deep color and a bit of a warm reddish hue.





The epic scale guys are based with GW Vomit brown, washed with a light wash of GW brown ink and then ther details picked out with GW Golden Yellow. They are nice and bright and should look really good on a nice green flocked base once complete.







Next thing I am working on is my Mortal Chaos army and I should have a few pictures up in a few days.

The beginings of the Hochland Highlanders

Howdy. Through the weird twist of fate I have wound up with a another WHFB Empire army. With a new fantasy league forming I initially decided to do Empire for the league.I wanted something different for them so I elected to create the Hochland Highlanders. With a little bit of work I have added kilts and other Scottish type gear to them so they take on a new look but yet are still distinctly Empire.

Ultimately I discovered this is going to take a lot more work than I initially planned so I changed the army I was going to play to Mortal Nurgle, with another article on them later. But I am going to continue modeling this army, but I won't be rushed so I can do it justice and make a really cool looking army.

Me and my Silver Demon

Howdy. Ok so this is not my best picture, but this a dream for me. Me with a demon of my very own. I can't tell ya'll how excited and thrilled I was at this moment. Something I had been dreaming of for close to 18 years since I first discovered GW and the Golden Demons. I can hardly explain because what I had always hoped for was the chance to go and see, and yet here I am with one of my very owm.

Things have been a little busy since I got back from Chicago, but at least they are moving along. Gotta finish the bloodthirster for my friend and I have started an Empire Army for WHFB.

I also need to get my Warmaster skaven painted up and last but not least, I need to finish up a bunch of figures for the Miniatures page. SO FAR BEHIND AND SO LITTLE TIME.

In any event, I am slowly getting caught up and getting things done. Also, school and family events are reving up again and my garage is in dire need a major cleaning.

I will post pictures of my initial highlander theme empire army soon.

Tahnks and take care

Back from gamesday

Howdy. I returned from GamesDay Chicago and what a show it was. I played in the Grand tournament with an overall record of 1 win, 2 draws and 2 loses. There were some very tough lists there and some very good players as well. Lots of really nice looking armies, only problem is I am such dork I forgot my camera.

I also entered four figures in the Golden Demon, a dream of mine for many years now and I placed with a silver in the LotR category!! I also had my Court of the young king make first cut in a very difficult 40k squad category. The competition there was unbeliveable and I amreally glad to have done as well as I did.

Anyhoo, there were lots of things to do and I had a really good time and piked up some very good tips and ideas on how to approach things so I will be more competitive in the future. Now all I have to do is get cracking and make these things happen while they are still fresh in my mind.

The picture is of my court of the young king some one was kind enough to take. It still needs a lot more work, but I think I am going to take a break from it for a while and or sell it and start another one. I am not sure yet, but we shall see.

The Bug Guy!!

Here is the guy have been working on for a long while now. He is completely done, but the picture is probably a little dark so I will take better pictures later. These pictures were for a friend of mine so he could review and comment. He has good insights and I am fortunate to get his help!!

Anyhoo enjoy!

2 Days and counting!!!

Howdy all, I have been quietly working hard to get all my entries done in time, but as one should expect there are the inevitable delays.

I have one more figure to get painting on and it is the avatar for my Court of the Young King.

Overall, I am very happy with the way all of my entries have turned out. With each exarch I am trying to keep and elemental feel to each one without blatantly showing it is an elemental theme. I want for the viewer to look at each one and say, wow, that gives me the impression of heat or water or air or earth, depending on which figure you are viewing. That is my goal, I won't know for sure until somebody actually looks at them. Chicago will be the big debute. Yippee!!!

Tommorrow I will post my bug guy because I figure it is safe to show you guys what I have worked on for the last month and a half.

I would appreciate any comments you guys have on what you think, so feel free to fire away. Thanks!!

Working on More entries for GamesDay Chicago

Howdy. I have been steadily working on my figures and conversions for Gamesday. In this I have learned a lot about conversions and sculpting. One of my figures is the most ambitious project I have ever attempted and he is complete. But you will have to wait until before Gamesday to see him. Sorry, don't need someone borrowing my idea for their own use. I'm selfish like that. But once it get closer to the actual competiton I will be ore than happy to post him for ya'll to look over.

But in the mean time I have a picture of my Howling banshee Exarch conversion. I always hated the sculpt for this figure so I borrowed some bits and body parts and improved upon it greatly in my own honest opinion. To me it seems to have a much improved dynamic to it instead of the lame big girl with a pointy stick that is in the current line.

On another note. my youngest Daughter turned 1 yr old a week ago and we are all very happy about that. Now if would just stop kicking our co-depenant anxiety ridden dog life would be perfect. Ahh, well perfect is boring, nothing unexpected ever happens.

And off to Games Day Chicago I go

Howdy. Well in case anyone missed me, clearly I have been away for a long long while. Work has had me very busy and I have pretty much dropped off the face of the earth on anything not related to work, but fortunately these things don't last forever and I am happy to have a little breathing room again.

I have had a wonderful year so far though. Life is good, marriage is good, kids are good. its all good. I also finally after all these years of dreaming, I have finally gotten my ticket to a Games Workshop Gamesday. The one I will be going to is in Chicago end of July. I am really excited about this. I have a few figures already stared for the Golden Demon painting contest and I am also working on my army for the Grand Tournament.

I hope to post some more of my ideas and maybe, just maybe a few pictures of my entries shortly before the actual contest.

I don't know exactly how to go about painting and/or converting some of my figures, but I do have some in mind and if all goes well, I will have them all done in time.

In the meantime, here is a finished figure I did. I think she turned out rather well.

Been Slow going

WOW, it has been a while and so little has been done. I have been busy with work and family and as a result I have not done much painting. Ok well I have been playing a lot of Final fantasy online, but I need to cut back on that. I can get right addictiative if you are not careful.

Anyhoo, I am going to be out of town for a while and as a result I will be getting very little painted. Honestly, I won't be painting anything.

BUT..... I have started a project for a friend of mine. I have been commission to assemble and paint a Forge World Bloodthirster. I have all the parts and have begun the clean up work.

My intial thoughts are that this figure is way to expensive for the quality they provide. it has huge seam lines where the molds did not line up properly. This requires some extensive work to remove the mold line and then resculpt the details. It would be one thing if the parts were smooth and could be done with a simple sanding, but the parts are very detailed and will require a lot of hours to make it presentable. I supposse I could have let them in and just painted it, but that does'nt seem right. I figure if you are going to do something, then at least do it right.

Lastly, I submitted my Roman Signifier to TMP for the Alpha painting contest. I like the figure. it may not be the latest vogue with regard to painting styles today, but I am very pleased with the results. It is a simple but effective figure that has some real depth and character to it. I pretty much decided I am going to paint him up how I wanted to and not with what I thought would win the contest, cause at this point I honestly have nothing to prove and don't care how the contest goes. Painting this figure was a delight and I consider myself lucky to have the opporunity to be a part of this contest and share how and why I did what I did on him. I hope you like him.

Boy, have I been busy

So Howdy. Man, what a long holiday season it was for me. I started playing Final Fantasy Online again and have been having a blast doing it. Also, I have been trying to get a lot of paintig done and out of the way. Little progress has been done on my Brits, but I have finisged up my Russian Arty.

I also got my Alpha Paintig Contest Mini finished. I am in the final round and hopefully I can make a good showing.

Been playing around with the forum as well.Got a nifty header/banner logo or whatever it is called and I think it is rather spiffy.

I loaded my "desk top shot of the week". It is a concept got from Mr. Jacob Rune Nielson. I don't know if he knows I borrowed his idea, but I like it. I hope, or I should say it is my intent, to post a desk top shot of the week here every week. It will help me keep track of what I have been working and doing.