The Improveometre

So, my last post discussed attending Meg Maples' Masterclass painting clinic. Since then I have been inspired and have spent a great deal of time at my painting desk. One of my current projects is a Nippon Goblin team (by Greebo). I had, before the class, painted the skin areas of one of the Oni Trolls for this team and was a little bit disappointed with it. Over the last couple of nights I decided I would start the other one and see what could be done...

Well it is incredible. The difference is overwhelmingly obvious, which the depth of shading and smoothness of blending improving out of sight.

It's a very satisfying comparison which, IMO, completely justifies the money spent on the class and the brushes I am now using.

Let me know what you think and, if you get the chance, go and enrol in one of Meg's classes before she leaves Australia (or, if you live OS, enrol when/if she comes close).

Light Box Awesomeness

Hellooooo!

I feel like I've been neglecting the Studio (and the Hall for that matter) recently. Unfortunately, real life has been extremely busy... but you don't care about that. Fortunately, Southern Shrike Bowl 4 was held on the weekend and, amongst other shenanigans, tomfoolery and games of Blood Bowl, the organiser Adam brought along his light box.

I've wanted a light box for a while, but it's something I haven't yet sprung for. I'm not entirely convinced we were able to get the best shots possible, but I was able to take some pics of some miniatures that are slightly better than previous pics posted.

So, I thought I'd share and see what you thought...

Oh, and how did I fare at SSB you ask? Well, 8th overall in the gaming stakes (4-0-2 record for the weekend) with the Duskrunners, most touchdewns for and, yes, best painted team. There was some stiff opposition this year though, with a number of very well-painted teams showing up and making the affair a very colourful one.

But without further ado...

Some pics of the Duskrunners, starting with my new, sculpted and painted air elemental (counts as a wardancer) "Eurus the East Wind" who, incidentally, has to have come close to tournament MVP!

The earth elemental (counts as a treeman), "Cruac the River Bed":

The team:

And Jordell Freshbreeze:

The Drakwald Ravens are not my oldest Blood Bowl team, but they are the one that I have run with for the longest, through a stretch as the Marienburg Ravens, and back again. But the old miniatures are looking a bit shabby. This is the first "test" piece for the new incarnation of the team, which will be the next generation of players. This one is one of twin daughters to the old captain/blitzer Jock "the Hammer" Hammerstein: Jacqueline "JacHammer" Hammerstein (the other twin will be Samantha "Sledge" Hammerstein). I still have to add clumps of grass to the base and some more detail (a name and number) on the base itself).

And now a bunch of models you have seen before. Some of the Razorbakz:

The sculpted Ice Vixen:

And the diminutive flings of the White Acre Weed Pullers:

I hope you enjoy them. I'll also put up a pic of another project I've been working on recently... but that's another post.

Drop Bears #1 - fire in the hole!!

I thought I'd share some older figures as well today. These are limited edition figures that were created for Eucalyptus Bowl. They are full of character, and I have several more of them, which I hope to use as the basis of a goblin team. In addition to these two is one with a whipper snipper (chainsaw) and one with a bowie knife.

But here is what I have painted so far of the Drop Bears:

Koala Ten (standard "goblin"):

Tinny Bomber Seven (goblin bomba):

Unfortunately you can no longer get these figures, and Tom from Impact! recently noted that we're extremely unlikely to ever see a re-cast, so I'm very lucky to have these. I absolutely love them and can't wait to see my full team done.