May....

 April slid through this area like a bad burrito through an intestinal tract. As a result, things got a little out of hand and touch. So without further eloquence, here's my current going into the end of May update.

Figures

In my recent batch of Reaper Fantasy Figures I have been working on, I've used some of the tricks, tips, and techniques from the RVE that I did last year on some of them. I've been working with some washes, and shades, and am really liking how they are coming out. I am having an issue with my sealers though. 

Gloss sealer last longer than matte, so in this bunch I did a double/triple layer with a layer of gloss, and then 1-2 layers of matte to cut down on the shine. This only seemed to work 50/50, and some of the figures still show a shiny that I am not really happy with but will learn to live with as the other option is to strip and repaint. (NO!).

First up is a Reaper Cleric/Fighter with Mace. Ready to bash in some skulls. He was a pretty fun and easy "Bruiser" type to do. Agrax Earthshade did wonders for the leathers on him. 

(An angry guy + a footman's mace coming down on the head = pain and death....)

Next up was a Reaper Halfling in the classic "adventuring style". 

(The picture is a blurry thanks to my crappy I8 camera and the fact that it's old and dying. A better picture is coming soon., I promise!)....

Followed by an *ahem* "Courtesan Lady"....

I worked with a new pink basing style for the yellow this time. 

As yellows and oranges are notoriously hard to work with, one of the easiest cheats for yellows is to start with a base foundation color of pink. Yes pink. From there it seems the yellow seems to build up quite nicely. Yellow shading still eludes me though....

 

("It's a lonely old night good sir. Would you care to buy me some wine?"....)

A pic of a bard and a cat. The bard is the figure for a occasional recurring character known as "Jarrald, The Aspiring Bard." (Trust me when I say that there is a reason WHY he is "aspiring"....)

The figure is from Wizkids Royal Court Box Set, and the cat is from Reaper. The original plan was to make him a Siamese but I said "No!" when looking at the paint scheme. 

("The wheels on the cart go round and round...."  *MEOW!*)

Next up was a Reaper Cleric. For this one I wanted to try some green patterns and shades as well as blue eyes and the strawberry blonde look. I think I got it down quite well. Currently she is being used as the figure for an evil priestess in our D&D game. 

(Snappy dresser, strawberry blonde hair, cute face, charming smile, and those blue eyes...AND an evil priestess for a possible snake cult!  What's not to love with this gal?....)

And of course, a tired old lady....

Here you can see the results of the glossy sealer showing through two coats of matte. I might try to cut this down with some brush on also. 

(Ol' Lady Kelka isn't happy. She's old, tired, sore, cranky, and has seen enough bumbling adventurers stumble into the village on their way to the massive "Castle of Doom" on the mountain above her village to know who will soon be dead.)

Part of the Reaper Bones Brinewind set was a fishwife, so I decided to also play around with the yellows on her.

(Helma cries out to the folks in the market square, hawing the fresh fish that her husband catches. "This one will make a good supper or even a good stew!" She says as she holds it up, bloodied cleaver at the ready to remove the head if the shopper wishes it after they purchase it.)

I realized a while back that I didn't have a "classic adventuring wizard" in my collection of figures, so out of the Reaper Bones sets I got, I grabbed this guy and started working on him.  During the painting I realized that I also wanted to try one of the effects that I learned while at RVE and decided to try a simple star nebulae on the back of his cloak.

It was easier than I thought it was going to be and the overall after results were very, VERY nice!

(Derlin the Wizard carefully decides if the cannon fodder he is looking at will be successful on making it up to the Castle of Doom, to retrieve the magical item he needs and wants...)

(The back of the Wizard showing the starry nebula on his cloak. It was easier than I thought it would be to do this on a figure that size.)

And of course, what classic dungeon group wouldn't have an evil enemy to face?

Another Reaper figure.

For this guy, I decided to play around with some blood and rust effects as well as metal effects to see what I could come up with. I'm pretty proud of the "Cheesy 80's evil being character look" that I was able to get from him.

(Awaiting the party in the "Castle of Doom" is "Lord Bone", The Undead Evil Warrior King. Straight out of an 80's fantasy B movie, or a Saturday morning cartoon show, Lord Bone, (resplendent in his evil armor and with his horned helmet, (they always have these to show their evilness, it's a contract requirement), and his bloodied, ancient sword, he waits for the next group of stumbling adventurers to wander into Castle Doom so he can cut and hack through them like a gardener does weeds in a flower bed....)

New Paint Rack

My wife told me recently, "You're drowning in paint." 

I realized that she was right. I had too many bottles of paint and no way to see or access them all easily. So it was off to Amazon to get a new (2 actually) paint rack. 

The model I wanted (the five tier) was sold out at the moment, so I decided to go with a six tier one. After receiving it, I realized that while it has more tiers, it actually holds less paint, (by about eight bottles total). I think I am going to go back and reorder the original set I got. These are okay but I liked the other set better. Future plans are to build a paint rack system for my Craft Bottle Paints. Wish me luck on this one.

(This is the new rack. Here I am experimenting with eye dropper bottles, ink bottles, old Reaper Pro Paint pots, and P3 and a Citadel Paint Pot)

(One of the new racks on the right sitting next to my old racks on the left. Their location gives me easy access to them And yes, my desk is relatively clean!)

The Death Of My Dremel

So I decided to use my Dremel 4300 to work on a wooden project. Using the wood cutting blades I went to work. The wood was waaaaaaay harder than expected and the Dremel wasn't doing it too well for some reason.

Suddenly everything went wrong.

The shaft bent, the cutting blade warped and got stuck in the wood, and the bearings and bushings got knocked out of alignment inside the Dremel. 

This is now going to cause me to either A: Try to fix it myself. B: Try to send it off for repair or C: Get a new Dremel piece.

I am thinking of going with option C.

(Oops...)

GAMING....AND FOOD!!!!

So we are back into gaming with our D&D group again. 

In the last two adventures, the party has explored the town, fought some lizard like creatures, discovered that their friendly old mage friend is now missing and possibly abducted, and discussed the situation with the town mayor. After this, they have decided to storm the temple in the middle of midday service causing quite a ruckus and combat....

Let's get on with it shall we?

(The hand-drawn map of the village)....

(Snacks on the table. In this case, chips, fruit, and veggies for the dips.)

(Staying warm in the pot is my wonderful wife's (Gawd bless her!), Buffalo Chicken Cheese Dip. A very BIG hit with everyone.)

(The party makes plans to figure out how to defeat the enemy....)

(And then wisely take a break for Chinese food for dinner.... Hmmm...storm the temple or General Tso's Chicken? Decisions, decisions....)

(Entering the temple during services, Never mind the Cthulhu statue, that is simply representative...)

(Battle is joined and ended in a bloody mess...)

(The party decides to head for the side door. The one that is unlocked...)

So for the next game session we went with:

(More snacks!)

(We now have Kringles!!!!)

(Mr. Fridge is stocked with tasty drinks...)

The party discovered a secret tunnel and from there went underground, where they encountered a large 3 ft tall mushroom, which screamed loudly when they approached.  It screamed even louder when they shot it with arrows to keep it from screaming. Eventually they succeeded.

Moving down the stairs, they encountered....a red mushroom. 

Here the party had a standoff.

(The party is standing off against a red mushroom while the remnants of the purple one lie quiet and still behind them.)

(A closeup of the mushroom encounter...)

Later down the tunnel they encountered some lizardy type creatures.

(An encounter with some nasty lizardy types in the tunnels later...)

(A close up of the action...)

Finally victory was theirs and SUPRISE! 

They find a chest of treasure!

Coins and another item, (which the mage grabbed for himself).

Now if they successfully finish this adventure, they can go back to town, take a bath, do their laundry, get their gear repaired, buy clean clothes, maybe get a horse and some hot meals, buy some supplies, etc.

(Look at all the treasure...)

(A close up view of the newly found wealth...)

This is where we called the game for the evening.

The party is now in a race against time, as now the temple and it's evil(?) followers now know where they are. So they should expect some resistance and more combat.

So that is all for this post. Our next game session is June 4th and we shall see what happens!

Thanks for reading and yes, there is definitely, MORE TO COME!