Raiding the Dusty Wastes

So I sat and decided to take a bit of a break from Saga (Yes, I admit to my transgression, I have come back to my project only to self flagellate.. flatulate? Lol). I only did so to recharge my batteries. It also is due to the fact that I wanted to get some non-painting work done.

I’m in communication with a 3D sculptor from Russia and a printer here in the US to get a copy of my idea together. I’ve painted some non-Saga minis (relax already, its only for a short time) and now I’m tackling the Big Projects I stated I’d be doing. I have only a few more basic Saga posts left before the major Age of Magic stuff comes around.

In looking at the paint so far all the turbans tie my dudes together with a color element. This element needed to be centered on the head honcho, his attendants and the waving banner which marked the fearless man of action. With that in mind the banner needed to be reworked. To say that I hate the prospect and ensuing work is an understatement; I really liked the way my first run of the banner looked.

Oh, did I forget to mention I changed my mind about a color scheme? Well blow my nose, I did in fact do something radical yet again.

So it seems like when one wants something it can’t just *poof* appear as they wish, huh? Well, I’m currently dog-sitting at a friend’s house and unable to do hobby this week. I’m negotiating with The Russian about my upcoming digital project and have arranged payment to be made (its all hush hush type stuff for the rest of you lot not to know yet). The printer is back and gladly awaiting the gig on Fiverr as I have other tasks that I’ve decided to go ahead with otherwise.

I’ve fallen victim to expanding my force with more minis that “I had to have” which means I’ll, of course, need to get more bases to give it all a grand presentation when this is all said and done. Ugh… can’t I just do this all on clear acrylic? Pffft! Dash that nonsense. I’m glad that my Age of Magic assets are taken care of with regard to MDF basing already on hand as I just need to actually get them, assemble the parts, base and paint. Those are just the little details, right?

I swear that all of this really will be worthwhile to those of you following along on this meandering … Squirrel!!! Seriously though I’ll set out my next steps:

• Finish the command corps paint scheme and basing
• Finishing touches on all the regular troops (faces/weapons/basing details)
• Finally rework the banner and get it printed
• Receive and paint up another mounted unit (the one I saw and said “That must be mine.”)
• Show first unit of expanded options from an Age of Magic battleboard

Here is the glorious leader of my Arabian Knights forces, Hasn Al Qlb al’Akrab, in all of his glory for regular Saga. I was quite pleased with going back over the whole thing with Testor’s Dullcote. The rattlecan version of the formula seemed to just seal the figures and make it all glossy. Making certain that I had the glass bottle variety all shaken before loading the airbrush and doing short bursts of coverage has given this command group real definition as the matte settles the details of the paint. Admittedly it would look all the better once I got my banner on the pole for the flag bearer but for the moment it looks damn spiffy as I work regular work and set back the time to play with Photopea and edit the design. I’m also thinking about how the hell to get it printed as I neither have a printer nor am willing to just randomly get it as a Fiverr gig. I think that the amount of cash that I’d need to shell out would be more than just one flag, therefore requiring more work to design and have things on hand to add to models.

On the command group I’m rather happy with the design work that came out from the masking. It does need more work in order to perfect this technique and might well be better suited for simpler curves on models for flowing fabric. Then again I might revisit the spray duration as either short bursts that are drawn over or lower pressure continuous spray with a quick pass. Other than that the design work for the clothes was the only other technical component that I think I managed with the minimal amount of fouling. I might be wrong there but for freehand I’m not stressing too much since I think there’s enough detail to keep the eyes wandering. The waterslide decal from Little Big Men definitely gave a front view something to arrest attention while a mixture of tufts from Army Painter litters the ground nicely. As Lloyd is fond of adding horses to the total model count for cavalry I think dropping four models on a 60mm base as I have has worked well.

• As far as progress along what I’ve mentioned I will be done with the regular troops finishing touches as long as work doesn’t run me down too badly in the near future.
• The banner will be worked on and hopefully printed quickly. I might need to do some digging as to where I can get this done aside from an office supply store. I’m not keen on the idea of what kind of color balance I’d get with that.
• The ultra interesting and most excellent unit that I needed to possess has arrived. I’ve cleaned the models of flash and mold lines. I’ve added weapons that needed to be put on. I need to repair/modify a few details here and there but all is will with regard to them. I’ve already got paint schemes in mind and I’ll be ready to go quickly.
• My expanded option for Age of Magic is underway and I’m busy in the background making things happen. I’ve dropped The Russian as my ultra secret task seems to be below the commie mutant bastard (see the game Paranoia). I’ve opted for a secondary source and I’ll be getting more work done that Gerry can’t peer over the electronic fence upon my progress like the neighbor in the series “Home Improvement”. He’ll just have to wait like the rest of you. People should be glad that I don’t resort to the measures of German intelligence and start doing my typing on an  actual typewriter to avoid digital sneakery.

So I went back to do all the facial hair and eyes.  It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I found a way to cheat! A Pigma Micron 005 black pen is just the right size to consistently make eyes in scale without killing your own or going insane with trying to stop the jitters caused by nervous twitches or caffeine. Aside from that I revisited all the foot soldiers to paint over their kanjar (those beautifully curved daggers) on their belts. Feeling feisty I also thought “Should I finish off any other oddball detailing? Eh, why the hell not?”. It was then that I finished the  cavalry in its entirety and all other bits and bobs for the footmen. With that done I tossed on some tufts for fun and visual effects before spraying all parts with Testor’s Dullcote for all the matte parts. I went back over my metallics with VMC Natural Steel and washed with GW Nuln Oil. No undercoat with gloss black to start as I think there’s only so much effort I can put in before getting overwhelmed by the growing scale of this project…. which reminds me. The skirmish trays from Litko really help to keep things organized.

Things can only be taken to a greater level from here as the fantasy of Age of Magic demands the fantastic!

I just got in my model for the alternate version of what I wanted to put Hasn Al Qlb al Akrab upon as a beast mount. It appears to be larger than expected. (snicker… smirk)

I’ve read the rules for Saga basing with the understanding that there needs to be a base attached to the model and it can’t be greater than the dimensions for the type of unit being fielded. Well, I’ve gone to the source at Studio Tomahawk and asked if there could be some clarification if limbs of beasts in Age of Magic, that happened to extend beyond the base limitation for unit type, were permissible if attached to a smaller base.

So I now wait for the ruling and hope that the odds are in my favor and I watch my opponents soil themselves when my leader comes to the table on his tiny 60mm base. Then again the 90x120mm monster base might still be of use for a Behemoth.

Edit: After reaching out to Studio Tomahawk the official ruling was to leave it in the hands of the players and any event organizers to decide legality I’ve also done some reading again for the max size of a warlord on a beast and will be changing the basing to a 80x50mm rectangle with rounded corners on a radius in order to be more realistic about base sizing. I made a call directly to Litko Game Accessories to arrange procuring them and await a response after leaving a message.

I got my other 3D printed model in. Woot!!!

I initially thought that there needed to be a genie in my Arabian Knights force. I didn’t think that the Disney adaptation of Aladdin’s story did the tale justice despite  Robin Williams doing his wonderfully manic comedy. I thought the portrayal of the djinn as played by John Leguizamo in ‘”Arabian Nights” was more appropriate in attitude.

I took my visual inspiration from the anime/manga series “Magi” and tossed an image of a cosplayer onto the entry of making my opponent cry. Thinking about the family environment that is a gaming store I drew that back and used my knowledge of the 3D work being done around the Internet to think of what company might give me what I needed. I went back to the company Artisan Guild that I knew had done the Scorpid rider as well as mess load of carpet riding thieves and a genie under the Spellblades project. Lo and behold I wasn’t let down as they had more sculpts to print which would fulfill my option for the battlefield.

I’ve had it printed at 135mm from top to what was the bottom so as to float over a base befitting an eye-catching monstrous presence. The bottom of the sash was initially what the sculpt was supposed to stand on for the print but I thought “This will not do”. I went to work removing the end of the ‘sarong'(?) with my trusty rotary tool and sculpted back the edge with a mixture of 50/50 kneadatite/Apoxiesculpt to finish off the part. Going from a 60 to 220 grit sandpaper it worked pretty well but I ended up going back over the missed cracks with superglue that I wiped to near flat and sprayed with accelerant before sanding to match.

I went back to prop the genie atop a clear 3/8″ acrylic rod so it appeared to be flying without support. It may not truly be suspended in the air but a game played with plenty of tiny fighting pastic people to converge and do combat dictated by the roll of dice is a space where the  suspension of disbelief is very much a norm.

The base proper is a 90x120mm MDF oval I laid a bit of 3mm thick cork on top of. I then covered it with the same greenstuff mix as the djinn fabric, textured it with the Greenstuffworld flagstone roller, and liberally dunked it in the same grit basing material for the rest of the army.

I went back and gave the base a spray with a combination of water/wood glue in order to get better adhesion (read: stop losing basing material) after an initial PVA layer for the sand having repurposed a Febreze spray bottle to apply it. I feel good on multiple levels for how industrious I am right now.

Bwahahaha! I’ve got camels!!! If you thought that I went crazy with cavalry then you’re in store for a treat. Yes, ladies and Germans, we’ve got one gen-you-wine, all weather and condition crack camel corps readied to be painted for action and be placed on the tabletop with two orders of Gripping Beasts’s Mutatawi’a fanatics. Of course, the paint schemes to come you might well make question that.

Yes, @sundancer , for the details required that I will paint you can hate me now. I hate me now. I ask myself “what the hell am I doing?” and I come to the conclusion that I’m making the battlespace of miniature figures more awesome. With that “inspiration” and self delusion to avoid the realization of the self inflicted masochism I will be bringing camel jockeys to the fray for all to see.

Lloyd was right about horses being a separate figure to be painted but he had nothing on the matter of these battle hardened mounts which require much more than my warriors shown earlier. Now, onward my mustachioed (in some cases) minions. We fight for foolish fancy!!!

Oh, and the scorpion base is on the way.

So I thought to myself that there needed to be an addition to my force of scorpions. I put down the cash for some Alternative Armies scorpions as I expanded the miniatures. They have arrived and I am diligently  putting them to use for my Saga force. On another plus I have received the bases from Litko that will suffice for the Saga leader on beast so I will be able to put my “big fuck off” model into play (see Eddie Izzard and beards). A bonus to this cost is the likelihood of using these in another project. This will likely be in creatures for the future.

I like being able to multi-purpose my purchases.

Keeping you all guessing as to what I’m doing is a fun game for me. Can you guess as to where I’m headed with this? It might be a bit of an oddity but it’ll fit right in.

So I’ve been put under The Rona Lockdown as of Saturday. What does one do when they suddenly have a week of laying around and languishing with chills, bodyaches, congestion and doing as much sleeping as inhumanely possible? Get the lead out and do something that actually doesn’t suck.

Here’s the first half of my camel corps that I’ve been way too busy to paint until now. I can say that my hands aren’t quite as steady as they normally are but I’ll damn well finish these figures before I get cleared to start work again. I still have a second unit of archer levy to pain but they’re nowhere near as difficult. I also have quite a few monsters to go after this so the project has some development life to go with.

Push through the suck and make as much hobby headway is the only way of coping with this.

P.S. I’ll also hit up the metallics after the second half. Right now I don’t quite trust myself yet to get around to it eventhough I wrote on the shields. I can only do so much as an above average kind of nerd.

What have I learned this week? COVID-19 sucks, to put it mildly, I was more ambitious than I knew. Breathing was more important than painting despite my desire to get work done. My diaphragm is stonger than I knew it has been for some time and I am almost clear to go back to work. Its been an up and down disease that I’m glad to be getting over.

My camels are almost done despite having to restart the blanket for one after an unfortunate incident of a coughing fit. The riders still need work as well but its all about trying to make things look fancier than they are. I’m about done with my motivation for the moment as I’d just like to be “productive” again. Earning cash would also help as my paycheck took the expected hit. I’ll be glad to get my commission work to my client so as to offset some of the pain.

Related to this year’s planned festivities, don’t worry anyone, The Noseblower will be shipping Giftmas as promised. By the time boxes go out in late Oct/early Nov this will be well behind us all. Don’t worry about quarantining deliveries as this amount of lead time for things I’ve yet to seal will ensure nothing is traveling internationally. Most things are already boxed up as is with only a few stragglers left to bundle.

I survived! I’ve had to sideline the camels for a little bit only because I was not in the best place with difficulty breathing last week. I’m back at work and making up for lost wages. In that aim I am almost done with my commission work and will be getting cash in hand.

As I lack anything new and exciting to reveal for camels I give you this…

As promised I was working with a 3D sculptor and got the cyclops created for my developing Saga Age of Magic, the Arabian Knights. The Ray Harryhausen work was taken and played with slightly but I think it came out well. My own modelling skills to get the upper torso posed better was well worth it. I can say that Fiverr is not limited to $5. This was well north of that and I still need to get it printed. I’m glad that I saved the person I worked with last as it should run me a paltry sum, by comparison, to have the resin created.

So yes, there is a running list of things to paint:

• Four camels
• A unit of levy archers
• Leader on giant scorpion (beast)
• Djinn on flying base
• A warmachine of some sort
• A huge yet to be revealed monster
• Some sort of mage that I have yet to find and purchase for painting

What can I say? I like my monstrous options. Beyond that I think that the number of warriors I have can be halved for squads of Hearthguard so no need to buy anything more in that regard. I’m thinking of maybe a couple of creatures as far as options but this really boils down to what lists I want to play. The thing about Saga is that it is mini agnostic and you can play whatever list you build for. I think that I could shuffle my minis between Great Kingdoms, Masters of the Wild (why limit the wilds to the woods?) or perhaps go to The Horde. I’ve debated on The Otherworld (a mad Arab with some Cthulhu minions as well could work) but its still in the planning if I really would want to.

Anywhat, that’s the new stuff to be printed and then I will whittle away the project until I start up on Amazons (a whole other insane project when compared to single figures).

It took a little longer than anticipated but the camels are finished. The truth of why horses hate camels has been established… clothes horses hate being outdone with fancy camel blankets.

All the freehand has been a pain but worth the final results. Now, onto the shelf these go until I finish my other units. It might just be a little bit until my next game… really my first ever of Saga… but the hobby makes me excited to think of ny first impression on my opponent. In the background I’m also doing the paint and packing of Giftmas cannon fodder so I’ll be glad to break into my second levy for less headache for details. I might’ve found an appropriate sorcerer to get printed and maybe some creatures that will round out options for multiple army lists. I’m just wondering about how The Otherworld could be made. I’ll think on it.

In other news I put down some cash for spare airbrush parts and quite happy to do so. The upcoming monsters will doubtlessly require me to break that tool out for quite a bit of coverage.

I got way too damn into my cleaning of my living space as I try and get the Giftmas presents wrapped and packed. In that, I mean that I inadvertently threw away my sprues for the Arab light cavalry and Anglo-Saxon infantry that I had lying around where I thought “they’ll be safe here”. That turned into losing the leader figure I was going to pull for the giant scorpion I have standing by for me to work on. I have since ordered a new single sprue that I will work from when it gets delivered. Onward and upward from this mishap!

I had an order of 3D printed columns arrive. It was a small shipment and I’m thankful that the pieces were hollow as it allowed cutting through and refilling with Apoxie Sculpt easy. I threw that on top of the base I’d been working on and threw on a little more filler turf. I’m quite happy with the results and will be even more so when done. The colors will be easy and so forgiving as compared to the rest of the model.

Presently, on the djinn, I decided to try and look at the musculature which will be a little tricky. With it being such a big piece that will catch quite a bit of eye I thought taking the extra care in trying to start good blends now was optimal. A basecoat of Vallejo black primer and then one of Proacryl’s Dark grey primer to build volume before sketching with a much lighter grey from Vallejo think that there is the start for step one before trying to push up to a higher contrast. Looking over more bodybuilding images than I care to admit to in order to figure out what the highest contrast might be I’m confident that next step will be pretty easy in the blending process. All the work is going into the undercoating as I don’t want to play with trying to blend colors and layers later and end up screwing the pooch. I’ll go back over it in the end with more zenithal highlighting before I work over the fleshtones which will knock down any great contrasts that just don’t work. The rest of the model seems like it’ll be a piece of cake by comparison from there.

I finished building the second unit of levy archers as outlined thus far. I considered the idea that Gerry had floated early on to play with different colored turbans but I believe the blue ones are the focal point of it all. Honestly, with so many people commenting that they really have their eyes drawn to that feature I’m not going to change it. I decided to have some in-unit bannermen. I think that there will be greater visual interest from the feature and allow me to demarcate units in a manner that wouldn’t break from the overall motif. I’ll just trade out one model from my first unit to allow for the flag bearer and pop him into the second. Having these models means that I need to sit on Photopea more and design for some time. Making decisions on colors and patterns after getting the Arabic script written as I want will not be easy. I remember where I keep my ibuprofen and hope I won’t need too much. So far the only part that caused a little consternation was modifying the levy figures in order to accommodate the wire for the eventual banners.

Gripping Beast’s sprues for the Arab Archers and Spearmen box generally just have one arm (only one lacks both) and makes for easy modification. Cutting joints with my jeweler’s saw, from when all models were made of metal, and then pinning the right position has been pretty easy given how often I’ve done it in the past. I managed only to screw up one fist that wasn’t thick enough for the drill bit to pass through without breaking the surface. It’ll be fine as I’ve covered it with a layer of glue that will hide the mistake under the paint. All other details can be worked on and put to right so casual scrutiny won’t reveal the modification.

From here I’ll just put a hold on the beast mounted leader and keep up the behind the scenes progress for other units. The downside of these updates is that I’ve come to dig deeper into the Age of Magic book and I’ve gotten the brilliant idea of what I want to do for Legendary units. I think I might need to limit my battleboards for what minis I bring to the table. A minis agnostic system is turning out to be a little dangerous to my wallet. Each step I take from here will be calculated as to how I can afford the creation process. Hiring the sculptor for the cyclops was rough enough with minimal reference material to get the model. If I really want the big bad bruisers for the table done my way I’ll need to jump onto researching images well before hiring a concept artist, a sculptor and then a printer. Should I start a GoFundMe solely for the purpose of self indulgence in this hobby?

So I’ve had a bit more of time to think about Hasn and his scorpions after reading the Saga tome for Age of Magic. I spent the money and rented the 2010 Clash of the Titans online and it gave me the chance to screencap all the great moments that the arachnid glory hit the screen. There will be a lot more fun to be had with monsters. I just need to bother a 3D sculptor about the matter of doing a custom piece. Ugh…. I am a monetary masochist. I really should start taking donations just for the insanity I go through in order to make projects like this. For now I’ll leave the images I snagged most interesting/relevant to my percolating thoughts.

Anywho, in other news, I’ll be buying more magnets as well for my forces thus far to put onto a large magnetic tray (inpsired by this Vince Venturella video). The transportation of my forces in future, and moving in general, will be that much easier.

I think that the magnets will also be quite helpful in keeping my figures from falling over in the movement trays. The camels are especially easy to topple when they’re loose with most of the weight up high. Everything else should be pretty secure.

There are perks to working in a sheet metal shop; notably, there is no cost for scrap materials I can claim as my own that the shop is going to throw out or there is negligible cost for due to sheer amount of inventory.

I had gotten the rough estimate of what size I wanted my tray to fit inside the plastic bin and then did a quick measure when I was at work. I gave a little space near the sides as I’d need some room for my hands to grab handles I’d later attach as well as the fact that the corners are rounded inside. The 24 gauge sheet steel was small enough to handle without needing huge sheets. This image comes after the initial cut that separated it from the 29″x60″ sheet and the following shear of the 29″x15″ to the final 24″x15″. I didn’t give it the extra 1/4″ that I had measured as I figured there should be some tolerance to the plan. Having worked with a friend who produced parts for ICBMs (yes, real nukes) I know there’s a hell of a lot less at stake here as well as no need for a micrometer (despite the thought it might be cool to have).

With a bit of plywood lying around from assembly and the sheeting that comes with material it seemed perfect as I was allowed free rein to what would otherwise become scrap and trashed. I picked out the 1/2″ thick material and cut it to size.

I fixed the steel sheet to the plywood with 1/4″ stainless steel self tapping screws that are used regularly for work in roughly a manner that would be even and not allow the sheet to pull up from the wood. The sides were left open as the handles would secure those areas.

I was irritated by how the taps for the screws passed through the boards entirely and how thy would end up scratching whatever surface they would sit on so I decided on going to the welding area and pulling a rotary tool with cutting wheel. It was so fulfilling to let loose and have sparks fly around as I destroyed the ends of the screws to make them flush with the bottom of the plywood.

Since its boobie appreciation month work has had us dress up in pink shirts for Fridays. Really, do we need a month to say we like boobs? I think there are other areas of interest that should be given attention but I don’t believe that neither HR nor society at large would be so keen on hearing out my thoughts.

I was none too thrilled about the fact that the rough edges and bottoms of the boards were raw. I thought that there should be some more work put into the products I would be using. I was going to be proud of what I made and the little effort of sealing the wood with polyurethane varnish was just the thing. A little paper that would otherwise be used for interior job sites went down to protect the shower. The wood, having spent many months in a storage trailer, sucked up the sealant readily for the one coat and made my life easy to avoid much cleanup.

I picked up handle hardware today and have yet to install it. I measured and made sure of the placement where I will affix them. The next step after this is the rubber feet for the bottoms and I’ll be ready to set magnetized figures on the trays

A short hiatus from painting my regular stuff here as I’ve been getting this year’s Giftmas packages ready and have been finishing a figure for Pundancer. The djinn was more than slightly irritating as I sat and pondered, more than I probably should have, what kind of fabric design it was going to get. Well, it came down to an Asian cloud motif and I set about to it. I regretted my decision at one point and moved past it. So far there the fabric is done, the  Lloyd shot when done will be awesome, and I’m on to the NMM of the belt/bracers/earrings/septum ring (the smallest of details that I’ll hit later). The skintone was actually inspired by the Grey Hulk from the early run of the comics. Most everyone assumes that Hulk is green and has always been so but he was originally wasn’t. There was also a point he was red but I think it was a short lived story arc. That aside I moved to more madness as the spears and shield were a late thought since the base looked a little naked aside from the ruins. I’ll add grass tufts to it like my other units in the end.

I have bowed to the pressure of needing magnets for my camelry and stopped by my FLGS after work this week. It has turned out to be fortuitous because I managed to snag a couple of large figure boxes from Chessex that they had ordered by mistake giving them a sale and making sure my fancy shmancy project pieces have adequate protection in my upcoming move.

As far as the magnets I’ll recommend trying to get them from places like JK Magnetics as Primal Horizon is very well overpriced and I can get so much more for the same price. I do love the shop but I need to be more frugal with my spending. This is a problem as I’ve snapped one of my camel rider’s spears again. I foresee more of the same and have looked into metal ones to avoid having to try and repair plastic. The pitfalls of the hobby.

On a separate note, the figures I believed were lost have been found. I only threw away the box. “Safe” might need to be reconsidered if I ever want to see my figures ever again.

Just a quick update as the cyclops was printed; I also found a sorcerer and a carpet to add to my forces. Johnny Carson seems to have inspired the figure and the rug really ties the room together (the Dude abides).