Finecast, Greenstuff and Mephiston

Welcome back citizens, this week aboard the Folly of War I take a look at Finecast and turn my hands to developing my sculpting skills. I finally took the plunge and invested in my fist Finecast miniature. For those of you who have been living in the eye of terror for the last year, Finecast is GW's all singing all dancing resin cast miniatures. There has been a lot (understatement of the year) of complaints about this new substance but I was willing to decide for myself about whether or not I liked it.


This is what my Mephiston would be based
on.

Firstly, the cost of Finecast is high. Compared to other miniature companies that use resin to cast their models (Privateer Press etc...) the cost of Finecast is huge. Now the model I wished to use was Astorath the Grim and he cost me £15. Even if I was using the whole of the miniature (I only needed the body for a Mephiston conversion) it is still steep. So far not impressed. Next up, Quality. GW prides itself on the on the quality of their products. Unfortunately, this particular model must have tip-toed by the quality control monkeys as the Jet Pack for the model had been obliterated by an air bubble. This was hugely disapointing as I expected the model to be fully formed (and gold plated at that price). There were also several other parts where the model had smaller bubbles and to top it off, the axe had snapped into. Things were not looking up and if it wasn't for the fact I did not need the pack I would have returned said model post haste. I am glad I didn't because something amazing happened...



His Jet Pack obviously over heated!



Having worked with metal miniatures for a long time conversion work with this material was (lets be honest) as painful as sawing your own leg off with a spoon. For my Mephiston conversion to work I had to made several modifications to Astoraths legs and feet. If I had been working with a metal mini I would be still sawing and pinning and not writing this. Finecast was a delight to work with and allowed me to repostion with the bare minimum of effort. On top of this when it came to painting the model I was amazed at the detail that could be seen on the model. Each muscular grove in the armour can be picked out with a brush meaning that washes and inks sit better on the model.

My final verdict... 5/10. If work shop can sort out the casting issues I don't mind paying for excellent quality models but I want excellent quality and air bubbles will not do. If you have had any problems or indeed successes comment below.

Disco Meph is in the house.

So on to Mephiston himself. I love Mephiston. He is possibly one of my favourite characters in 40k. The Vampire/Space Marine has got awesome rules and a fantastic back story. Nothing, not a thing could keep me from having him in the army...except when someone pointed out his current model looks like a 70's disco dance. I was not going to tolerate such a smear on Mephiston's honour. I would re-Vamp him (see what I did there... cause he is a Vampire and.. erhem). I knew that Astorath was the perfect stand in as he has the same armour but there was one tiny snag. Meph has a cloak and I have never sculpted anything larger than a playing card on a hat. So off I went into the warp (Internet) to find tips on how to make cloaks.

So here are some top tips on how to make a greenstuff cloak.

Tip one: Use vegetable oil! This kitchen cooking staple is great for working with the very sticky green stuff. I used to use water but found that it dried to quickly and I ended up with green stuff mess. I also lay the green stuff on cling film this allowed my to shape sheets of green stuff without leaving finger prints.

I first, needed to create a thin (2mm) sheet of green stuff, large enough, so that it is the same size as the model that will be having the cloak. I Smothered the green stuff in vegetable oil and pressed it flat between to sheets of plasticard. When I was happy with the shape I laid it flat on the cling film. Once the greenstuff had cured a little I chopped it into a triangle shape using an oil covered knife. Finally, to create the effect of flapping in the wind I used paint brushes.

Tip Two: If you over lay the paint brushes in an over and under pattern you can create a smooth finish.

Once the whole thing was dry I then attatched it to my newly converted Meph and Ta Dah...

And give us a twirl Meph...

 

Overall I am very happy with the out come. I feel that I have kept the style of the original model but updated him to match the current range of GW's Blood Angels. Well of I go into the warp, Mephiston leading the way. I can't wait to see him on the battlefield. Thats all from me this week so I'll see you soon.

Storm Ravens (It doesn't matter how hard that pilot flaps his arms it ain't taking off!)

The Storm Brick!

Power down the warp drives, seal those bulkheads damn it! Welcome aboard The Folly of War having only just made it out of Warp Space in one piece (Derbyshire). With no communication relay or astropathic choir I have been a drift in that god forsaken place known as the Eye of Terror AKA The Peak District. As we all know time flows mysteriously in the north and my painting hands have not been idle. My Blood Angel Army is taking shape and after calming down about not being able to take a storm talon I took the plunge and brought its bigger cousin the storm raven. Its a good job I got one too, as the price increased by a whopping 25% last week and only I missed the price hike by a matter of days. 

Que Damnbusters Music!!

Love it or loath it the storm raven is a huge kit but to me has the aerodynamic finesse of brick with go faster stripes painted on it. It was time for a quick refit. Now I'm not saying that my conversion work has turned this model into something as sophisticated as a euro fighter but it is a damn sight more believable than what it was like. First thing to go was the tail and with the help of Jose' in Heroes and Legends I extended it to give it a more helicopter look. Secondly, I added stabiliser fins to the nose so that it would give the front more lift therefore not ploughing into the ground as soon as it took off. These were made from the unused tail wing. Finally, I removed that awful turret from the top and placed the las cannons under the wings. Now I know that in game I should have the turret but the aesthetics of the model needed addressing (in games I will just measure from where the turret used to be). I mean, why can't you save the galaxy from the alien and the heretic and look good at the same time?

Note the tail has been completely
reworked using plasticard.

I have also built and painted a assault squad. Pictures next week as I want to base them before I unleash them on the world. Whilst up north I also managed to make a quick visit to Warhammer World and pick up some MK 5 Heresy Armour. I am a MASSIVE fan of forge world and the new (old) armour that they are producing. Mixing these with the MK 3 Iron Armour I have I'm going to use them as Sternguard. I especially love the alternate pattern bolters I got as the have chain bayonets Wooo!

Right then, off to make repairs to the ship and hopefully I'll have her up and running by next week. Till then May the Emperor Protect.

Secret Diaries of a Zombie Call Girl.

Hello mid week gamers. I thought I'd do an early post this week as I'm off to Arnhem to see the streets for myself. I am very excited and expect to see many a photo and inspiration for another Flames Army. Anyhoo to the real reason I'm posting. My Malifaux crew of 25 points is complete. This has been a wonderful project and I have really enjoyed thinking about how I could make the links to Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland.

Firstly, I would like to thank my girlfriend for the choice of colours that these ladies of the night are adorned with. I recommend that if you ever find yourself thinking about the colour of uniforms or clothing go ask your partners. Women's innate ability to choose the correct shoes to match their outfit seems to work in the miniature world too! Never before did I think that I world hear the words "I wouldn't be seen dead in that!" (pun intended) Followed by an argument about how a pink dress should be accessorised. Taking fashion advice for your models is worth doing as I am sure you will agree. So again, thanks Joolz!

I am very pleased with how Madame Sybelle has turned out. Based on the Queen of Hearts I spent a lot of time free hand painting extra hearts on the bodice and the fan. The flesh of these zombie ladies used a mixture of tallarn flesh and rotting flesh in varying amounts. This is blended with purple wash to give a translucent appearance to the skin. The skin was then given a liberal brushing of a mixture of the old GW paints chestnut and red inks. Their glossy finish gives the blood splatter a suitably wet finish.

Finally, I painted Alice using the Bete Noir model from the range. This gave me a chance to practise painting white in a different way to my usual method. Using the same technique of base, shade, base, highlight I managed to achieve the desired result. This model is very simple as there are not to many accessories on it. To give the model that extra something I added some extra blood splatter across the dress (you can't have enough blood!)

Well I'm off to explore the Dutch countryside hopefully 30 corp will make it to reinforce my position and bring me back in time for tea... Or maybe it'll be a Bridge too Far!

Wraiths, Paints and...Bicarbonate of Soda?!?

Gribbly Green Menace

This week has been a very exciting week for me in the world of miniature painting. I got my very first (proper) commission and its for a model I have been dying to paint for a while. I often find that there are models out there that I would really like to get my paws on but have no need for them in the armies I do. The reason for this project came about after a conversation with a colleague at work. I was talking about how I had started this blog and showed her some of the pictures of stuff I had put up. She asked me if there were any "Grim Reaper" models, as her boyfriend likes to collect them. At this point my eyes lit up and I immediately showed her the Cairn Wraith GW model. Impressed, she asked me to paint one for his birthday and low and behold here we are!! This is one of my favourite miniatures available at the moment and for a plastic (yes I thought it was finecast too) model the quality is outstanding. I've gone with an unearthly green colour scheme to give it a supernatural glow. This has been one of my more easier projects as the majority of the model is robe.

Woot!!!!!!

In addition to this exciting personal news something else has caught my eye with the up and coming release of the new paints from GW. I can't wait to get the mega paint set of these as they have increased the range to also include glazes and powders, its like Christmas, Easter and New Year in one! I asked a GW staff member why the change and he told me that: one, the company that will now produce the paints could increase the range and two (more importantly) the paints will now be manufactured in the U.K. Why is this a big deal? Well, in my mind U.K. manufacture needs all the help it can get at the moment especially in the current economic climate so all I can say is bravo GW.

Weapons of choice: Super Glue and Bicarb.

Finally, a strange one. A couple of weeks ago I was speaking to a chap about super glue (bare with me on this). I mentioned to him that I couldn't stand using the G9 spray rapid cure, which is very good but leaves a horrible smell making me feel ill. He said to me have you ever tried Bicarbonate of Soda.... At this point as I looked at him blankly thinking had I accidently walked into aa cookery and baking class. Many days past and the conversation was filed in the back of my mind. I forgot about it until yesterday. After, purchasing the latest Wargames Illustrated I read to my amazement that one of the articles in it suggested the same idea and that I give it ago.

Upside down Bete! 30 seconds after
Bicarb application.

So, I did. Having just bought Bete Noire for my Malifaux crew I set about the difficult task of basing her on the Wyrd Metal bases ( a nightmarish task). Wandering into the kitchen and rummaging around my girlfriends baking cupboard (she makes exceedingly good cakes) I found some Bicarb. Massively sceptical, I gave it ago and could not believe the results. Bete Noire was instantly stuck! Who would have thought it Bicarb the Rapid Cure. Try it out and you will be amazed. That's it for this week, I have almost finished my 20 point crew and will have pictures up soon.  I also plan to play a couple more beginner games with Animatronica, but if your ever down Heroes and Legends I play almost everything (except Fantasy, what the hell is a square base?) The new episode of Failhammer is out too, which are always worth a listen. I often find myself painting with it in the background. Right I'm off to super glue more stuff. Bye.

  

Its All in the Cards

Well all in all a busy week for gaming. My Malifaux Crew arrived and I got to learn the rules (a bit) at my local club run by the Heroes and Legends guys. What an interesting game! Its nothing like I've played before as it uses cards not dice. The idea being that you get the same amount of good luck to bad. You just have to know when to use it. Each player takes it in turn to activate a model, which makes the games very tactical. I was using Seamus and his Rotten Belles whilst Animatronica was using his guild force (Criid's Witch Hunters). Malifaux is not the easiest of games and I've learnt that I'm gonna have to play many more games to understand more of the possible combinations and effective tactics. However, both games that I played were incredibly enjoyable and I can't wait to play other Crews.

Seamus, himself is finished and was a joy to paint. As I mentioned in a previous post I wanted to him resemble the Batman Mad Hatter and I feel I have achieved this. I added a bow tie and a 6/10 card using green stuff and then used pictures from the game as reference. The base is from the Wyrds Graveyard base pack. A word of warning these models are a nightmare to put together and are very fiddly. When painting the skin I used the Eavy Metal Painting guides. If you can still get them they are brilliant and it amazes me why they stopped doing them in White Dwarf. Now for those of you who are squeamish stop reading now..........

OK.
Still there?

Well Seamus is known in the game for being very overly "friendly" with his zombie friends. I wanted to give a very subtle hint of this in the model. Using the old chestnut and red inks from workshop I painted a bloody hand print onto his chest. I felt that the model needed this as his stomach is very bare. Originally the plan was going to go to be a tattoo but reading Seamus' background I thought it needed to be a little more grim...

Now I'm going to finish the rest of the Crew and raise hell in the streets of Malifaux. Madame Sybelle is staring at me from my painting table (I've never been more creeped out by a model). She is going to be based of the Queen of Hearts so I will be free hand painting lots of little heart shapes...wooo. I'm also going to look for some dolls tea sets that I can add to the bases further reinforcing the theme of Alice in Wonderland. Well off I go for another week into the warp to do battle against countless enemies (or as some people may call it work).
Seeya.

Alice, Alice? Who the Hell is Alice...

Alternative Seamus

Often than not I find myself as far as possible from my painting than I'd like to be. This can be a problem when it comes to finishing painting deadlines for tournaments (and blogs). However it does give me a chance to reflect and plan new projects. After being inspired by the gorgeous Malifaux models painted by friend and fellow gamer Animatronica, I have ordered my own fiendish crew to roam the twisted streets. Having been torn between the Neverborn and Ressurectionists, I settled on Seamus The Mad Hatter. This disturbed individual raises his crew from the remains of Belles to act upon his darkest commands.

Batman's Mad Hatter

The models are brilliant using twisted humour to shock and disgust. Now, whilst going on one of my thinking walks around the Cambridgeshire countryside (I say countryside, I mean a small park). I came up with an idea. I want to exaggerate the idea of Seamus being "The Mad Hatter" and have been toying with the idea of basing the crew around the book "Alice in Wonderland". Recently, I have just completed Arkhem City the Batman game and loved the encounter between him and the Dark Knight. With this in mind I have the beginnings of my paint scheme.

The Plan:

I want to base the crew using The Mad Hatter's Tea Party as theme. I love the idea that Seamus is constantly searching for "Alice". In the future I may incorporate this into the crew possibly with one of the Rotten Belles. I'll try to add features such as the 10/6 card and the bow tie using green stuff. The current scheme for Seamus is too bright in my opinion so I'll be toning it down so that it matches the Batman version.

Madame Sybelle

The crew will also include Sybelle. Keeping in line with the Alice in Wonderland theme I feel that this model screams out to be painted like the Queen of Hearts. I will be ditching the black bodice for a red. Multiple references of cards may also feature heavily. The rest of the Belles will be painted in a variety of colours probably like the ones on the box. This should make my crew stand out but still keep a dark edge.

Overall I am really looking forward to this project and I should be able to start making the models this week. On top of that Animatronica and I will be playing a couple of games to get the hang of the rules, this week. This is going to be a game I'll have to learn from scratch as there are no dice involved. Who knows it might even catch on. Anyway I'm itching to get started I just wish the postman would hurry up and bring me those models. I don't want to be late for the Tea Party...