Lead Adventure League Round 2 - Valkeeri

Now that Round 2 of the LPL is over with, I can show the entry for that week. This group will finish out the Valkeeri models I own- another beastmistress Controller, some Stygian Panthers and the last two jetsleds. The beast's color scheme is probably due to all the episodes of He-Man I've been watching with my five-year-old.

I received the 'Retro Raygun' rules designed for the Hydra Miniatures figures a few days ago- it's a great looking book with high production values and some nice pulp sci-fi artwork. If you are into the genre it is definitely worth picking up.

 

 

Hydra Miniatures Webstore

Lead Adventure League Round 1 - Samurai

My first entry in the 2015 ten week 'Lead Painter's League' was a group of Samurai from Kingsford Miniatures. They've been primed and shuffled around my desks for over a year now,  and because Round 1 was 'armor' theme for bonus points, it seemed obvious to do them. Samurai are all about the armor :)

Market Tables

I started the third and final phase of the North African terrain project, the market. After considering using some laser cut tables from a variety of manufacturers I decided to go old school and make my own. They're a little rough but once stained and covered in goods and trinkets they should be fine. 

 

... More Mud Brick

I completed several more East African mud brick buildings over the last two weeks and finally managed to get them photographed. A mission house, guard tower, and a few huts. This pretty much finishes up the mission station for Darkest Africa gaming, and huts can be used for slaver villages in the lakes region as well.

The figures are mostly from Eureka Miniatures 'Pax Limpopo' range. The pedestrian version is a converted British figure from London War Room, which is no longer in business. I'm not sure who makes him now, if anyone. I imagine this guy to be a Kurtz-esque madman with some sort of mysterious pheromones that give him an unlikely advantage with the native gals. They were painted several years ago so please don't judge the wonky eyes too harshly ;)


I've also been painting in my rare moments of free time, but I can't show those images because they're intended for the 2015 Lead Painters League and I'm a stickler for the rules :)

African Chapel

The roof for the chapel has been finished. I had some warping problems and had to keep it under some carefully stacked books to maintain the shape. This building is intended for Darkest Africa games and represents the fruits of missionary activity, and a building the slavers will want to burn down...

I still need to make a little crucifix or cross to hang on the wall but this little side project is more or less done. 

I started a mud brick watchtower as well. I intend for it to have a magnetized door, and a thatched roof that slopes on four sides. I figure I'll need about eight more buildings of various types to finish out the "Arab" slaver villages and the mission stations. 

North African Buildings Part 4

Two weeks ago my wife broke an ankle at Roller Derby practice. Naturally this reduced my free time to almost zero, which explains my recent lack of posts.

I have however managed to complete phase two of the North African terrain, as well as the mud walls. The latter took a lot more time than I expected, considering that I intended them to be a side project.

I decided that I wanted doors that could open or be removed, so I imbedded a magnet in the wall and the base, and drilled a hole to accept a nail  in the door.

I used a thick plastic-like cardstock material for the bases. 

After painting the walls with a thin coat of wood filler, I painted them a dark brown gray. 

The bases were painted with another gritty wood filler, then painted brown. I drybrushed them with a mud color, then stained them with a MinWax wood stain. The walls were painted/drybrushed with a layer of Martha Stewart crackle specialty finish ("Sandbar") I bought years ago.

I also started a chapel for the African village. The roof has been very problematic so it isn't finished yet. 

Walls, planters, and the chapel after staining, but before the final whitewash.

Finished walls and planters.

After all the planters were complete I glued in the trees and cycads. These are eBay palms with some airbrushing to give them a more natural color and a little depth. The fountain received some clear resin to mimic water after it was painted and the decorative tile (a printed border) glued in place.

Next up for this project is a market, which will be a few buildings with 'storefronts' and some free standing stalls.

Arco Flagellants

Another entry from my 'Abandoned Projects' series. I painted these guys about four years ago- prior to my Lead Painter League participation, which is when I really ramped up my quality. Before that I was pretty lazy, relied on washes far too much, and often didn't get all the mold lines. I based them about six days ago :)

These were among the first figures I took on when I started the Sisters of Battle army, mainly because I wasn't real crazy about the sculpts and I wanted to get them out of the way. I modified four of the hoods a bit as I really hated the stock versions, and added some new electro-flails courtesy of the Empire Flagellants.