Showcase: Grot Tank

Annnnnd, we're back.

I've had few opportunities to sit down at the painting table over the past nine months. But as of this past Tuesday, I am officially unemployed.

The candidate I was working for lost her election. So it goes. I can say, however, that you should never be afraid to go after something you believe in. It will always be worth it.

Now that I temporarilly have some time on my hands, I've been able to finish up the first Grot tank:

I'm really pleased with how it came out. I was worried the tank was going to be too weathered, but I think it's going set the perfect tone for the scrappy little Grot mob I'm planning.

I followed a lot of the scale model tips and tricks laid out in Forge World's Model Masterclass volumes to finish the tank off.

After applying a liberal application of burnt umber oil wash, I applied rust and dust effects with mixes of watered-down paint and MIG Productions weathering powders.

The exhaust soot is straight powder applied with a cotton swab. I also added a light dry brush of a dark metallic color to the tracks to highlight their wear.

I snapped a couple WIP shots after the oil wash and thought it would be cool to pull a bunch of shots together to show the model's progression:

Keep an eye out for more regular posts for the foreseeable future.

Up next: Details of a special painting-related trip I was able to make back in April.

So until next time, keep painting!

Showcase: Cawdor Gang Members

And now, right here, for your viewing enjoyment, the first five members of the Crimson Brotherhood:

Multiple angles of each member:

I'm really pleased with how these guys turned out. It was something to finally see them finished and attached to their bases, especially since it's been seven months in the making.

And while I hit a few snags along the way, I feel like I achieved what I set out to do, which was to paint up the first batch of my Cawdor gang to a high tabletop standard.

My next batch will be much smaller. I'd like to speed up my painting process and five models were just too many for me. I think Stahly had the right idea with two models at a time.

So, until next time, keep painting!

Showcase: Painting Studio

Because I'm still basecoating my Cawdor gang, and posting workspace photos seems to be all the rage these days, I thought I would share some pictures of my studio.

My painting studio is in my bedroom, so I don't have a ton of room to work with. I've attempted to make the space as modular as possible, which allows me to put up and break down different setups when needed.

Hobby and painting setup:

The table is an old IKEA piece. It provides a huge amount of workspace and the wood/laminate combo is pretty cool too.

The wall-mounted storage bins are Stack-On, while the paint holders are actually nail polish racks. Both work great keeping my bits, tools, and paints visible, organized, and off the tabletop.

The drawer unit under the table is also IKEA, and works like a charm keeping bigger tools and supplies out of my workspace (if you couldn't tell, I'm a bit of a neat freak).

The big, heavy-duty task lamps - the grey and black ones are from my father's old home workshop while I bought the brown one at a neighborhood flea market a few months ago - are bolted into the table for stability.

The lamps on either side house OttLite bulbs while the one in the center uses regular daylight florescent tubes. Together, the three lamps provide more than enough light for hobby work, painting, and photography.


Airbrush setup:

I purchased the spray booth new, then built the rest of the extraction unit out of a piece of scrap wood and a dryer-hookup kit from a local DIY store. It goes together fairly effortlessly and I haven't passed out from paint fumes yet, so ... that's good.

Photography setup:

The light box is a generic kit you can acquire through any number of merchants on the internets. The lights that come with the kit are garbage, but the light box and tripod are really useful.

At the other end of the room I keep un-built kits (yeah, I have a lot to get through), supplies that I don't use on a regular basis, and my White Dwarf collection:

Big surprise, the above shelving unit is also IKEA, which I'm pretty sure is the official furniture outfitter of hobbyists the world over.

Overall, this setup works well for painting toy soldiers part time. Of course, a dedicated hobby room would be nice, but that's just not in the cards right now.

Till next time, keep painting.