Raiding the Dusty Wastes

A great addition to my army is my cyclops. I just got done with the cork/greenstuff basing with resin columns placed for future reference. The money I’ve spent makes me very happy now that I have the model cleared of supports and started for the build portion. I’m not done with my djinn and will continue to hammer on that with paint. Having these two pieces really is what I imagined when I came across the Age of Magic rules. I will be pleased to put out posts on the sorcerer and other upcoming additions I do have on hand to build/paint.

Edit: For the benefit of Some Dude On You Tube **cough** sundancer **cough** and anybody else who wanted to search for the model, this was the custom 3D model I comissioned for. The final print stands at 135mm high and will be featured against minis in future when I’ve properly slapped it with paint.

• Levy archers
• Special levy unit – to be revealed
• Djinn
• Mage
• Special lieutenant on carpet
• Cyclops
• War machine -to be revealed
• Leader on giant scorpion
• Another monster – on standby (for most of this year now and still in box)
• Gigantic scorpion (if I can reasonably save enough money to get 3D sculpting performed again)

Looking at my upcoming move early next year I think preplanning for the event with my projects is best. I will schedule the progress of what I expect to complete until then. I doubt I will get to the mage as I think about how much effort I’ve given to detail and the time I have available.

As you can see there have been additions and the good thing about this list is the way its just progressive growth and not “I must paint this RIGHT MEOW!” Llawnor has been a great inspiration for that but I think that the spreadsheet might be a bit much to go back to. It really was a groaner to see what I had on it for the XLBS and not updated or worked on. I also must say.. John, there’s a reason Black Templars are easy. Jump on the Eldar bandwagon with Ben but spice it up with Harlequins. Pbbbbbt!

So I got off my butt and finished the twelve scorpions for my special option Swarm of levy for the Lords of the Wild. Yes, the desert is full of wildlife. The forest is damn well overrated and I think that stretching ones brain in order to utilize a minis agnostic system as well as game in some gaps is well worth the effort.

These are the vermin scorpions from Reaper minis (SKU:77125) in their Bones line. I thought that for the cost the metal was just too pricey and considered the fact that these were gaming pieces as reason enough to go with the plastic. There are two different versions of the same SKU for ayone looking for the figures. Reaper had, what I assume was, a white nylon that held detail poorly. Recently they’ve changed materials that has held much better and might be what they produce their CAV line with.

I covered the base with the same material I’ve used for the rest of the force and painted/tufted to match as best I can recall without going back through my paint log. The scorpions were painted in simple fashion with regard to their scale and the fact I wanted them to be drab as opposed to the rest of the army.

• base of AP Hardened Carapace (an odd green/brown),
• edge highlight RMS Oiled Leather,
• highlight RMS Stained Ivory

Looking at it again I think these are just ambush pattern arachnids. Overall they are quite nice to me and I’m glad to get these done before the intense packing that will occur before the end of next month.

Upgrade to my army tray completed with metal corners caps and hard rubber feet that have been epoxied into place. I’ve also looked over the long overdue progress of the army. I feel bad about not getting things done but I have Giftmas to complete (and ship out), my occasional commission work and the sporadic quick victories I want to kick out so I can feel like I’m getting things done. I guess I should switch the quick victories out as I should be getting th army done. “How do you ear an elephant? One bite at a time”. My dad is right and I should get back to it. I can still fulfill my quota of one mini painted to completion in a week with that. Beyond all that I’m happy to see my work collected so far.

Magnets are in progress at the moment and I’m thinking the archers need more power to the pull. I’ve gone back and forth on the matter but dropping them a few times in moving them from shelves and off tabletop and seeing them scatter has made this decision for me. My cavalry isn’t too bad off as they are plastic and will sit more firmly in their trays once I get them down like my dromedary (I think I’ll use this until I acquire bactrians). My plan is to show off my entire force upside down. This will be amazing as I have bigger pieces on shelf and awaiting love.

The cavalry will get magnets as well like my dromedary (I’ll use this term for my camel corps until I get bactrians… eh.. on second thought I’ll skip on Mongols). Upgrading fast attack also has shown me that setting heavy camels on their spears while epoxy dries will lead to breakage. It was foreseen and I already have my metal spear replacements from Warlord on hand. It still sucks to see work get broken even when I planned on snipping the spears. Looking at the new metal spears there is a difference in thickness (plastics being thicker). Before setting them in their final positions happens I’ll treat the new spears with an etching product from Tamiya. I assume its a mild acid that will assist by pitting otherwise smooth metal surfaces.  I’ll test it on some figures I won’t miss first.

With that I am going to give the otherwise less visually stunning weaponry some oomph with creating lance pennants which is another layer of pain I’ll endure to make my army kick ass. Damn my hobby masochism.

I have been holding onto the metal spears that I picked up from Warlord for about a month now and I have quite a bit of time that has opened up for me to occupy my mind and hands with. After snipping thr plastic spears from the models I’m replacing them with some sturdier ones.

Translation has begun again in small part as I want to do some lance pennants for the camlery (maybe the cavalry too). I am tempted to add the same sort of additional details to the standard troops as well with simple single color devices but I haven’t decided that. I might get more detailed as I keep looking at banners. Ugh, I need to print some custom flags to kick things off before I go that route yet.

Details details… we’re well beyond 1001 nights.

I’ve come back to the project well after some downtime as I’ve been given the opportunity. This is where the large pieces come in for my monsters. Love for the big pieces once more (I’ll probably break this up for my own sanity instead of all at the same time one after the next).

The djinn is in need of love and I will be finishing his basing soon enough with the small details. I’ve been debating on whether or not to further detail the skin with sigils and seals according to various treatises of Arabic magic. Diving into that was a curious foray into the premise that all Muslim magic is done according to the faith of the practitioner. The relative success or failure of the work is dependent on piety and devotion according to scripture and the whim of the deity. As far as finding information on djinn the location of the basing matches accounts one of their residence primarily being in remote places.

I’ve already highlighted the Harryhausen cyclops previously and have done little to change it. I’ll be adding the gravel texture and a few small flavor bits. Its pretty much a go for the model otherwise.

I now reveal my next monster…. A roc! This model is Grimtalon from Reaper (SKU 77946). I’m too creative for my own good as I wanted to build a second head and sculpt it to the body as a second homage to Harryhausen

Alas I am well overbooked for time, effort and short of cash to try and get some more 3D sculpt work done despite inspirational imagery that would allow for the creation of such a thing. Ugh, so much going on in the head that could be built and not enough (or any) minions/funds to have work done for me. I really need to get into the villain business.

The original placement of the model was on a pair of stones that held up the bird but that doesn’t suit my sense of mini making. I’ve filled in the key on the leg which is the largest amount of greenstuff I’ve used on a single point of a model thus far but I’m not one for too much building these days.

In doing the base for this I’m using a 90x120mm oval MDF base and the green foam used for fake flower arrangements.

This crap breaks down into minute granules and gets everywhere as dust. I knew this going in and covered it with watered down PVA afterwards. It appears to be a closed cell foam so it doesn’t absorb into the material. This is not fun but the material is manageable after the glue dries and stabilized the surface to a degree. I’m irritated that the rocky texture wasn’t achieved after using a layer of plaster gauze as model train builders use for mountains. I will, however, use a thick coat of gesso over some texturing I plan to do with an air dry clay like Das. This will act as a secondary means of shoring up the shell on the foam. This is is a good way to keep the majority of the weight in the bird. I have a few ideas on additions to make before finally priming it beyond the tree I got from Epic Basing.

This portion of the project seems like a halfway point to terrain building and I really admonish myself as I fall futher afield into the arena of a Terry Gilliam production (I can do more shit!!).

Thanks to the crew’s banter over the work being done by Sarissa I found myself wandering on Ye Olde Internets for buildings that might be useful for my themed army. No, I was not disappointed in my search. Over on Turbosquid I came across a building that would work as a shell for a dice tower to get 3D printed.

It was on another site that I found some other buildings but it looks like they’d be more work to make viable

I dug into some designs for windows in order to open up the windows for some visual interest. Of course the middle would be open as other towers are and the face opposite the one featured would be where the dice came out. Some Arabesque flourishes and it would look awesome. I’m too creative for my own damn good sometimes.

The color palette we normally associate with eagles is pretty bog standard. I think that working with something to break out of the big brown bird mold is the way to go. As there’s nothing else to go on I looked at other raptors to get an idea of what was possible and grabbed these.

Dammit! I wanted to take a nice relaxing hobby holiday and break from the build and paint to recharge my batteries. I’ve had that plan scuttled as I got one of the staff to my FLGS interested in SAGA while I picked up some stuff after getting inspired by random happenstance. After talking for a while I think that I might actually be putting up a batrep at some point. I guess I need to do something more than just engineer and paint these things. Tim/Gerry… do I really have to? Lol

I’ve got another army build in mind as I thought about world mythologies. Ugh, my mind is ablaze with creativity once more and I think that I should bother some nice pleasant game companies to show off their model ranges if this kind of thing keeps up. The internet is great for inspiration and I’ve purchased a whole container of flocking light green grass… what the flock!?! I don’t want to have leftovers for a board build. Thankfully there are table mat makers for such things. Maybe I’ll just call it difficult terrain and throw it on the table. Who knows, this is a step further in doing that ‘gaming’ thing I keep hearing about around here.

The feeling of being overwhelmed by inactivity weighed heavy on me and the general ennui was something I needed to kick. I started working on the roc again and found it wasn’t as bad as I imagined it would be. It turned out more tedious as I worked a pattern for the plumage. I’ve gone back to the pushing of contrasts to see the 28mm detail level but for so light a color scheme I am limited on the palette. It only gets more challenging because the hues are all neutrals.

Taking a break from the big bird and his one tree hill I dove into painting a female efreet from Reaper’s Bones line (approximately 60mm tall) as a counterpoint to the female frost giant I painted for my friend’s SAGA army I did a while back. Its near the same size and will be a monster I can field readily sometime when we play an upcoming game and not overwhelm my friend’s force for model size. When will this game happen; I have no idea. A small 4 point match of the base game might be best to start before getting deep into the thick of it.

As far as the model painting, I’m almost done with her and I believe that the progress is coming along nicely in short order. Yet again, fabric design is once more the bane of my painting  efforts. I’ll be sure to paint naked things next year just to avoid the issue of patterns. The skin tones for this figure came out better than I anticipated.

I’d say I’m nearly done with the roc. It’s been mostly just my own taking breaks and setting it aside that has prevented me from finishing it already as the holiday season with all the socializing. In the meantime I did have the game of SAGA before Christmas and I have yet to edit the photos to make the dramatically underwhelming pictures of the game come to life. I will do that soon enough. Here is the promised efreet from last post

So I’ve upgraded to a new phone as my previous one died a good death after seven years of service. Now, as I’ve been told, I can find all the parts that I screwed up on and lament the shortcomings of my skills. I say nuts to that noise Pundancer. Here is the handiwork of the new device. I’ve switched up the settings. Here they are per the photo:

• F2.4
• 1/30s
• 7.0mm
• ISO 320
• white balance auto
• no flash

I can parse out some of the technical info but I don’t know enough to have it pact my mind too much. I just thought that the exposure of 320 was most important for the moment of me taking the pictures given the lighting and the general theme of color value.

Sitting around with my thumb up my bum has not been my recent state of being. Yes, I have been a quiet noseblower as of late for good reason. Lots and lots of work has been done in the quiet time since last time there was an update.

The cyclops has been a treat to work on as I moved on with my Harryhousen tribute. I have found that the skin tone of the model varied depending on the color saturation of the film you watch so I’ve gone with what I felt best worked. Basing was done along the lines of the film canon. Hassn’s stockpile of treasure couldn’t be more safe under his care. The problem for now is getting more base tufts and trying to paint match for the fallen rubble. I’ve used all the tufts for the rest of my force that Army Painter coproduced when they worked with Mininatur. I think the Autumn tufts match so I’ll order some of those soon. I’ve  also gone in for Vallejo’s color Buff to get the last color I remember. No Brainmatter Beige here.

There was design work for the djinn to receive a water transfer on his back. My only issue is getting white as a color for transfer color. As noted, Islam does have magical application, theoretically, so this mythological figure ties into culture and the story of Alladin without issue. It will read

أنا ملزم بإرادة سيدي.  هذا العبد يطيع إرادته ويخضع تحته.

I am bound by the will of my master.  This servant obeys his will and submits under it.

I’ve also gone and purchased some Little Big Men Studios Arab lance pennants to add some visual interest to my forces. I may have been influenced by the Napoleonic lancers that Warren had attack a certain orky Kruzer in showing off an ice mat in studio. From there I went back into the archives of Gerry Cans and pulled a note of interest that I thought to follow up on with calligraphy paper from Japan or China made from rice not mulberry.

Doing the research on this I’m getting that this kind of paper has a tendency to bleed ink. It might be due to brush calligraphy but it might not the best suited for a printer either. For now, I can pass.

I did find another cross hobby tip for making stiffened banners. Vantage Modelling Solutions offer a resin for use on paper for stowage canvas for scale armor models and the like. I bought some when I first saw the advertisement at the point I began design work on my own pennants and other bits I proudly present to go flapping in the breeze. Testing the material shows great promise for the future.

I have gotten my hands on the OOP Reaper model, Atifa (SKU 14249) and there is great work ahead planned.

I am inspired by the character Zenobia in the film ‘Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger’, as another Harryhousen masterwork, to use as a sorcerer. This will be another work that I will likely go overboard in trying to make look interesting.

The heavens will shake and the earth erupt from the cannon fired in the field by my tiny fighting men. I went back to the last remaining sprue stuff I have and decided to set up the figures in mock placement around the 100x50mm base for the war machine option. They will be touched up with sculpted details for covering their ears as well as carrying tools for operating the cannon.

I had the cannon resized from an .stl purchase printed to roughly correlate to the size of the cannonball. I know its cheaper and lighter to get the special effect of the muzzle blast but I picked up the piece from Armorcast cinematic effects oh so long ago and touched it up. I think the details ( powder barrels, tarp and cannon balls to come) will work very nicely in future for the final mini diorama.

Patience has paid off as I have found an appropriate file to get printed as a themed dice tower. No need to go in and try to modify any files for building one from scratch. Feed My 3D Printer definitely saved me time and effort in that regard. I think I can use this as my sacred ground base for play. If nothing else the motif is maintained. I wonder if I could pack this in with the rest of my army or devote a second bag to transport.

Going back to my PoOP (Pile of Overwhelming Potential) I pulled what I’ve been building and decided to show off the idea. Despite a small setback with the flying carpet print breaking its going well enough. The repair was small and I hope to be able to just hide it under paint. The floppy cape was mandatory as it shows so much movement. The sword was from a Reaper minis bits pack and needed only slight work as the original hand came off while removing the previous spear. I don’t recall if the Lieutenant figures get 40 or 50mm bases but this is just a quick bit of work to get scale on one of the flight bases I picked up in the past.

With amazing majesty Hasn has made allies and commands a presence within his land that has attracted the attention of wise and able sorcerers. Those who wield powers beyond those of mere mortals have even pledged themselves to the service of this mighty leader.

Here I have found the end of procrastination in finally getting around to painting these figures. Yes, it is well worth the self flagellation in order to see these images where my work is done. I’m quite pleased with the result of trying out the Vallejo Xpress Carribean Turquoise for the mounted sorceress. The contrast is stark in person and may well be worth using heavily for the large Amazon project. I’m also happy with the freehand of the bearded floating fellow as I got fed up with seeing open space of that brilliant dark blue and the golden hue before committing to just painting.

Irritation with the average seems to be a running theme it seems. I should temper that. Really, who am I kidding? You all know me better than that with the level of this bonkers project.

Continuing the path of working on this force I have fallen prey to my wont of being a hobby bumblebee.

A hobby butterfly simply flutters and alights gently on projects to then go onto the next one. A hobby bumblebee will roam in similar fashion but drop unceremoniously with heavy impact onto a project, collect the pollen of effort and then buzz off to fall onto the the next unsuspecting project with the same reckless abandon before returning to the hobby hive and turn out a sweet reward, by some unknowable magic means, from the accumulated stores.

I have found more minis for the project to add as monsters from the most recent Reaper Bones Kickstarter being sold as singles. Eventhough I could get the Elemental Scion box I purchased the Scions of Air and Fire. The male efreet will pair nicely with female featured previously. The djinn will just be fun and may or may not serve as an additional beast.