Sunday 28 February 2016

6 Projects: part 1

Introduction

My last post (here) provided a snapshot of many of the projects I've started recently, but not made much progress towards completing.  Comments made on that post were sympathetic, encouraging and (possibly) slightly shocked by the scale of my undertakings.

That being so, I thought it would be worth using further posts to track my progress on all of these builds over the next few weeks.  It'll allow all of my readers (and myself also!) to verify that none of the models have been sidelined, forgotten about, pushed to the back of the bench or otherwise neglected.  Of course, it'll be thoroughly embarrassing if I lose motivation and then fail to complete some or all of them in the next month or so.

So (deep breath), here is part 1 of the 6 Projects meta-project!  Or should that be part 2, regarding last week's post as part 1?  Aw, heck - I don't know!  Anyway, see what you think...


6 Projects, Part 1


=>

First up: my horses.  These have been primed and then painted with their base colours (a mixture of browns; yellowish, reddish, pale and dark).  I'm not planning to do any of the more complex horse colours here, such as dapple grey, but I will have a mixture of browns, bays and American Paint horses!


No change

I've not done any painting on the statues, though I have looked up colours for marble on the Internet.  Sadly, that's just left me confused; there are too many options!  Does anyone have a good recipe for painting marble in 28mm?


No change

The step pyramids have been completely neglected over the past 3 days.  I suppose I can't quite figure out how to finish them: does the polystyrene need to be coated, with white glue or something like that, to make it stronger?  Will paint hide the polystyrene's "bubble" texture?  Will the paint also hide the scribed stone block pattern?!  And so on...



=> Finished!

The Rock Top Gang are now painted and sealed, ready to be put away.  Just when you thought that I hadn't actually achieved much after all, right?  Hah!

Mind you, the painting on these models is fairly crude; it's basically block colours and then a wash for the whole model.  Apart from the eyes.  Those mad, staring eyes will haunt me forever...


No change

I've not done anything with the Frostgrave miniatures either.  It will happen, but I just need to get some of these other things off my workbench first...


=>

The jungle cannibals have moved from a box of primed figures to the workbench.  They've had skin and hair painted; so far, so good.  I'll probably do eyes & loincloths next, then it's a simple matter of shields, spears, bases, masks, bows, ornaments and so on!


Conclusion

I don't know whether you think that this is significant progress or not, but I'm quite pleased with what I've achieved so far, especially since it really represents just over 1 day's solid painting.  Part 1 ends with 1 of the 6 projects completed and 2 others advanced somewhat.

26 comments:

  1. Progress is progress no matter how small. Its better than nothing being done at all and you'll find yourself get to a certain point with a project and then it will snowball to completion.

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    1. Indeed, I find that once I get into a project, it's surprising how quickly it can be completed.

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  2. A big thumbs up from me for getting the Rock Top Gang painted. They look good. Mine are a lot brighter but I've seen numerous colour schemes for them.

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    1. I was trying to keep the Rock Top Gang in colours that (sort of) matched the stat cards which came with them, though I'm not convinced that this has been very successful. For me, it was a somewhat rushed job...

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  3. That certainly counts as progress in my books.

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    1. Thanks, Michael. I'm quite pleased with my progress so far.

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  4. Any progress is progress. Keep it up!

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    1. Ah, that's the thing, isn't it? It's easy to start with a rush of enthusiasm, but keeping it up is harder. We'll see...

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  5. Any progress is progress. Keep it up!

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  6. You're brave outlining all the projects you have on the go. I keep most of mine hidden away in a dark corner, only to see the light of day when some progress has been made...

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    1. Well, it's not quite *all* of the projects I have on the go. In fact, it's not even most of them. If I'm honest, it's only a small proportion, really :-( ...

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  7. What a cracking idea for a series of postings Hugh, and hopefully its as inspirational as it looks. You can really see the huge progress you've made in some camps and doubtless the others will soon catch-up. that Rock Top Gang look very well-painted too. Love 'em!!

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    1. Thanks! It's definitely my plan to put myself on the spot here, in the hope that I'll rise to the challenge - if only to prevent becoming hugely embarrassed if any of these 6 projects falls by the wayside over the next few weeks!

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  8. Paint won't hide the bubble texture of polystyrene. It shouldn't obscure the scored lines, though. I'd suggest using something like one of Vallejo's textured pastes to give a more stony texture.

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    1. OK, that's good to know, thanks! Hmm, I don't have anything like the Vallejo product you mention; I wonder if I could manage the same effect with something already to hand?

      Ah, it's problems like this that can cause a project to slip off the "ready" list into the "sometime, maybe" list :-( .

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    2. Do you have something like polyfilla already around?

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    3. I update my advice!

      This guy has much more experience with this stuff than me: http://goatmajor.org.uk/afreeq/wargames-buildings-using-styrofoam/

      He seems to just use paint and is doing just fine!

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    4. Thanks, that's really useful!

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  9. I think it is good progress! yes some projects have not changed, but some have moved on significantly and one is finished. If you had just showed the finished project we would all be like "WOW that's good!" It is just the fact that some of the others have not come on as fast!

    But I say it is all GOOD to see and I love the way you have done this blog post!

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    1. Thanks, Clint. I think you've got it in one! Much appreciated.

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  10. It's all good and it must surely be a bonus getting even just one of the finisjed in a week.

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    1. Thanks, Joe. I was a bit surprised that I managed to finish the one group of models whilst still making at least some progress on other sets. But yes, it's a considerable boost to my plans :-) .

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  11. As long as you get back to your project sooner than in a couple of years, I am sure a few days set back is nothing to worry about!

    I only made smaller pieces of terrain with Styrene, but I have always coated them in PVA and sometimes I mixed some sand in. This is to get a harder surface (hopefully it prevents chipping!) and to prevent it from soaking all the paint.

    It has been a while since I've done it, but I think the lines I inscribe with a pencil were still showing through adequately after painting and drybrushing.

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    1. I'm thinking at the moment that I'll try a coating made from a mixture of paint, plaster and white glue. It might work, though I would practice on some scrap bits first!

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  12. At least you're making progress on more than one project ... currently mine read as 99% no change with 1% some change. :)

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    1. Well, I suppose that the point of putting these 6 projects into the public eye like this was to spur me on to complete them. After all, I can't disappoint my readers, can I :-) ?

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