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Manda’s (Amachan) ‘Oiling Up’ Project

Manda’s (Amachan) ‘Oiling Up’ Project

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Project Blog by amachan Cult of Games Member

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About the Project

In this project I will go through some experimentation with painting in the Grimdark style and using those lessons learned to develop my own, more gritty paint style. I will be using oil paints for the first time in combination with acrylics, enamels and some wax paints, hence the title...

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Chronic Illnesses Suck....

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I tried doing a little bit of painting and this is all I got done in half an hour. 😩 Chronic illnesses suck…..

Chronic Illnesses Suck....

Stupid Duplicate Post..... 😩

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Stupid Duplicate Post….. 😩

Dark Dwarf Pounder

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The Dark Dwarf Pounder from Reaper Miniatures is done.

Dark Dwarf Pounder

I have even included a picture of the mess on the bottom of his hammer.

Dark Dwarf Pounder

And I am also trying something new with a 360 video.

Which for some odd reason Youtube decided to put in the shorts thingy and not as a video like I was intending….. 🤦‍♀️ I blame Google….

Bloody Hammer!

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I finally managed to get the final steps done for the dwarf from Reaper Miniatures.

I completely forgot to take pictures of what I was doing as I was doing the final steps. Too be honest, I haven’t been very well after the funeral for my aunt last week. So here is how I did all of this.

First of to do the snow I made a mix with Greenstuff World Terrain Series Snow Powder Realistic (11190), PVA glue and some water. I have literally been puzzling to get a right mixture so I don’t really have any ratios for that mixture right now, but it was quite runny with some solid bits in it. I used a silicone brush to gently apply it to bits of the base. I then splattered on some AK Interactive Blood Effect (AK11260) and put a blob of AK Interactive Viscera Effect (AK11261) on the bottom of the hammer. With a brush and a bit of AK Interactive Blood Effect (AK11260) I darkened it and blended it in with the hammer using some water as well. I then blobbed some of AK Interactive Blood Effect (AK11260) on the snow on the base as well. Finally I finished of the rim with Vallejo Panzer Aces Dark Mud (70.316) and this is where we are.

Bloody Hammer!

More pictures to follow when everything has cured and dried.

The Copy Cat Catastrophe

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When Dave spilled coffee on his new “Smart Copier 3000,” it began duplicating everything in sight. First, his cat, Mr. Whiskers, multiplied into two, then four, then eight identical furballs—all equally annoyed at Dave’s existence.

Panicked, Dave tried to unplug the machine, but it had already scanned him. Seconds later, two Daves stared at each other in horror.

“Uh… hi?” said Dave 2.

“Great,” sighed Dave 1. “Now I have to share my snacks.”

As they argued over who was the original, the copier went berserk, creating Daves and Mr. Whiskers by the dozen. Soon, the entire neighborhood was flooded with sarcastic Daves and judgmental cats.

The chaos ended when Dave 57 tripped on Mr. Whiskers 114, knocking over the copier and breaking it.

Dave 1 sighed in relief—until Mr. Whiskers 72 glared at him. “Feed me. All of me.”

Dave never touched another copier again.

Written by ChatGPT to fill in a duplicate post…..

DWARF!!!

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I got quite a bit of weathering work done on the dwarf from Reaper Miniatures today.

I started with the oils. For all of these I thinned the oil paint significantly with mineral spirits, applied it with a brush. Then cleaned off the brush and brushed the oil paint in for a soft blend. First off I did some highlights of the eyebrows and beard with AK Interactive ABT 502 Oils Titanium White/Snow White (AKABT001). I then really wanted to get a bit of a rosy nose and cheek kind of feel and used Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Warm Red (ABT025) to achieve that. Then to add a little bit of a lighter tone on top of the head and the ear I used Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Sunny Flesh Tone (ABT145). I did a bit of a highlight on the pouch on the back with Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Faded Dark Yellow (ABT020) and the wooden handle of the hammer with Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Burnt Umber (ABT006). I then put a little bit of the AK Interactive ABT 502 Oils Titanium White/Snow White (AKABT001) on the eyeballs.

In between that I applied a coat of AK Interactive Moss Deposits (AK676) over the rocks on the base and when that was dry to the touch removed the excess with a cotton bud without mineral spirits.

Then I grabbed my silicone sculpting brushes for highlighting the edges of all the metallics. For the armour I used AK Interactive True Metal Iron (AK459), the hammerhead was done with AK Interactive True Metal Steel (AK457) and all the gold details were done with AK Interactive True Metal Gold (AK450).

DWARF!!!

And that’s it for today.

A Little Muddy Update.

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Just a little bit of work done on blending the model in with the base and the base itself for the dwarf from Reaper Miniatures.

To do this I started with my airbrush and applied a coat of AK Interactive Fresh Mud (AK016) over the base and the legs.

A Little Muddy Update.

And then first used a woollen dauber and then some cotton buds, both without any mineral spirits to remove the excess.

A Little Muddy Update.

The effect from not using mineral spirits is different to when you do. In the future I will not be doing the AK Interactive Fresh Mud (AK016) coat with the AK Interactive Streaking Grime (AK012). The AK Interactive Streaking Grime (AK012) will be done in 2 coats with mineral spirits, then I will let that cure. And then do a coat of AK Interactive Fresh Mud (AK016) like I did in this post without mineral spirits.

New Hose, Dirty Dwarf.

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The new airbrush hose is here! So that means the first layer of shading/weathering has gone on the Dwarf from Reaper Miniatures.
Trying something a little bit different to see if it makes any difference in the end. I put on 1 layer of AK Interactive Streaking Grime (AK012) with my airbrush.

New Hose, Dirty Dwarf.

And then when that was dry to the touch I put on a second layer of AK Interactive Streaking Grime (AK012).

New Hose, Dirty Dwarf.

Before the second layer dried I put on a layer of AK Interactive Fresh Mud (AK016) around the base and legs.

New Hose, Dirty Dwarf.

Once that was dry to the touch I first went in with a woollen dauber with some mineral spirits to remove the majority. Then cotton buds with some mineral spirits for the harder to reach areas and then finally with dry cotton buds to finalize this stage of weathering.

New Hose, Dirty Dwarf.

Now this is going to have to dry properly for a bit.
With this miniature I am testing a basing scheme for a more Nordic scheme instead of the Mediterranean style I have done with previous models.

A Shiny Dwarf and a Problematic Hose.

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After a matt varnish I went over the metallics again to make them shine once more.

A Shiny Dwarf and a Problematic Hose.

And that is all I can do for a week or so as my airbrush hose rapidly disassembled itself…..

A Shiny Dwarf and a Problematic Hose.

Tossing a dwarf in here....

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I have finally been able to do a bit of painting and got the base acrylic layers done on this dwarf from Reaper Miniatures.

Tossing a dwarf in here....

Greenstuff World Spider Serum

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Does Greenstuff World’s Spider Serum work? Well I have to say, yes it creates quite a good spider web effect. Be sure to use your airbrush pressure between 1.5 and 2 bars and keep 30cm distance from the model as advertised. This is really important here. And you can get these results with it.

However…… Be prepared for your workplace to look like it hasn’t been used or cleaned in years…..

Greenstuff World Spider Serum
Greenstuff World Spider Serum

But it does work, although I think it might work better for Halloween decorations around the house. I just need to find a good model to do some tests on further, but for now I’ve made enough of a mess…..

Hanna of Vil

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Skill 5
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That is Hanna of Vil from Hasslefree Miniatures finished, now she can live in a display case so that the axe may never break again….. I give it a week.

And since this is a repaint of a model I painted before, here are the old pictures.

Knocked off the axe again!

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I started with my mud mix (AK Interactive Diorama Puddles (AK8028) with a little bit of Vallejo Pigments Natural Sienna (73.105)) on the base and I decided to also put some over the boots to see what that will do.

Knocked off the axe again!

Then I went to the axe with some AK Interactive Blood Effect (AK11260). Initially brushing it on and then with a little cocktail stick I moved it around a little to create this effect.

Knocked off the axe again!

And then I dropped the model again….. And the axe broke off again…… But I added some splatter of AK Interactive Blood Effect (AK11260) over the model and put a bit on the shield as well where it got damaged so it looks like she punched someone in the face with it.

Knocked off the axe again!

And at this point my chronic illnesses really started flaring up so, I had to stop. But this is pretty much the miniature done, between now and the finished pictures I will most likely just paint the rim of the base with Scale 75 Scalecolor Black (SC-00) and that’s it.

My chronic illnesses have been very bad over the last couple of days so progress will be slow.

But on the positive side, this project got a Butt-Butt-Ding!!! 🎉

Why are some axes so troublesome?

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I re-attached the axe and when that was dry I started with adding a bit of AK Interactive Streaking Grime (AK012) over the join. I then added a coat of AK Interactive Wash for Wood (AK263) over the shaft of the axe and the inside of the shield. And then a coat of AK Interactive Moss Deposits (AK676) over the rock and dabbled some into the tuft as well. With a couple of cotton buds I removed the majority of it.

And then disaster happened. I did up the gold medallion on her arm and around her neck with AK Interactive True Metal Gold (AK450). I accidentality got a splotch on her forehead, don’t ask me how, but I did. I then tried to remove it using mineral spirits and a cotton bud, but that spread the gold particles all over….. So I added a bit more mineral spirits and tried to soak most of it up with a fresh wool dauber and while doing that I managed to drop the model and the axe broke off again…. I just tried to remove as much of the gold dust as possible and then decided to take a break. In the mean time I re-attached the axe again, but you can still see some of the gold dust around the model. The camera picks it up way more that you can see in real life luckily.

Why are some axes so troublesome?

When I got back to it I highlighted the bronze armour bits with AK Interactive True Metal Brass (AK460), the axe head with AK Interactive True Metal Steel (AK457) and then the belt buckle, the inner bit of the shield and the boss on the outside with AK Interactive True Metal Iron (AK459).

And that is the second weathering/shading stage done.

Why are some axes so troublesome?
Why are some axes so troublesome?

Axe -1

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The first layer of weathering/shading went on Hanna of Vil from Hasslefree Miniatures.

I started with an airbrush coat of AK Interactive Streaking Grime (AK012) over the model and then a coat of AK Interactive Earth Effects (AK017) over the base and the legs.

I then got the wool dauber out for some action and broke off the axe….. The axe was a weak point as it has broken off before I even started painting this model.

Axe -1

After some more rubbing with the wool dauber, a large pile of cotton buds and some tweezers to pick out the fluff this is the result.

Axe -1
Axe -1

I used Streaking Grime rather than the Neutral Wash I used before and rubbed it all off without using mineral spirits and I do like the effect more. Now I was going to do something with the skin tones, but I like them where they are right now. I’ll see later if still want to add more to that or not when it has all dried.

I will obviously glue the axe back on when everything has dried.

METALLIC!!! 🤘

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After the varnishes have gone on I went over the metallics again on Hanna of Vil from Hasslefree Miniatures so that they are metallic again.

METALLIC!!! 🤘
METALLIC!!! 🤘

Little by Little.

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Little by little, I got the acrylic base layers done on Hanna of Vil from Hasslefree Miniatures.

Little by Little.
Little by Little.

Slow progress...

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I made a a little bit of progress Hanna of Vil from Hasslefree Miniatures. I am really struggling with my health and can’t paint a lot at the moment.

Slow progress...
Slow progress...

NEXT!!!

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On to the next practice model, this is Hanna of Vil from Hasslefree Miniatures. My focus will be on blending in the tufts with the base and skin tones.

NEXT!!!
NEXT!!!

This is how much my body allowed me to paint today….

Skálmöld, Valkyrie

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That is Skálmöld, Valkyrie by Bad Squiddo Games finished. Not happy about the dirt speckles everywhere, lesson learned I guess.

This is a repaint of a model I did some time ago in 2019, so here are the old photo’s for comparison.

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