6 Projects: part 5 (and last!)

Introduction

If you've been following my blog for any length of time then you may remember my "6 Projects" meta-project.  The idea was to document progress on 6 hobby activities that I had undertaken at the same time.

Having so many works-in-progress at the same time should allow me to make good use of time waiting for paint or glue to dry; if one project was stalled then I could just work on another one!  Also, I hoped, there would be something of interest for most every reader in there and the encouragement thus generated would spur me on.

Well, that was the plan!  For a few weeks, I stormed ahead and completed 5 of the 6 sub-tasks quickly and easily.  But then I suffered the hobby equivalent of a breakdown and all but gave up for several months.  Even my blog postings have been infrequent and sparse over this period, though I never stopped completely.

Well, I can now announce (finally) that the 6 Projects task is complete!  This article is the last thing I do before I can close off that stream of hobby work.  You can only imagine the sense of relief that I am feeling right now!

Previously Completed

Remember these?  I finished all of the first 5 collections of models in the meta-project many months ago, pretty much meeting my self-imposed targets.

The Last Task

I'm very pleased to say that the 6th and final task of my 6 Projects effort has now been completed.  These are the Frostgrave figures for my "blue" warband and they are largely responsible for killing my model-making mojo.  It's not any fault of the models themselves, but simply that I found the amount of detail on them to be somewhat off putting when I was feeling under pressure to achieve my various goals.

Actually, I finished these figures about 3 weeks ago.  However, I then went away immediately for my annual summer vacation (to Galloway) and wasn't in a position to document the achievement until my return.

...or is it the end?

You'd think that I had had enough of Frostgrave models for a while, wouldn't you?  Well, I took some sprues on holiday with me and in some quiet moments between sleeping, hiking and cooking I built another 8 figures.  These will form my "red" warband when/if they are eventually painted.  Who knows - I might finish these really quickly.  It could happen...

6 Projects: part 4

<== Part 3 is this way

Introduction

Earlier this year, I started my "6 Projects" meta-project.  The first 3 articles were posted from late February to early March, but around the middle of March I suffered an almost complete model-making and blogging meltdown.  It's time to try to recover from this, so here, for the first time in 2 months, is another 6 Projects update.

Previously Finished

Well, the good news is that the previously-finished statues, turtles, cannibals and horses are still complete!  That may be unsurprising, but it's part of the deal that the status of each sub-project is mentioned in every update, so there we go.

Newly Completed

Finished: 3 pyramids and 4 ceremonial bowls (which can be used to top the pyramids).

The 5th project (the pyramids) has been completed since the last update; they are ready to be used in a game (and indeed, can be seen in action here).  In the end, I decided not to model vines & creepers, snow drifts or any other clutter over these models so as to keep them as generic as possible.

I can't help feeling that the pyramids are a bit bland as they are, so I might make some separate snowdrift or jungle "scatter" pieces to fit on the base models.  Hmm, if I do that then does it still count as part of the same project?  Perhaps this task isn't quite as complete as I had thought...

Lagging Behind

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My first Frostgrave warband made from the "official" figures is slowly acquiring colour.  However, there's still quite a way to go before they're finished.  Mostly, it's details such as hair, weapons, backpacks and other accessories that yet need to be painted, as well as the bases.

These Frostgrave figures are proving to be a real millstone around my neck; I'm finding it very hard to motivate myself to work on them.  They've taken so much effort already, but there always seems to be more detail that needs to be painted.  It's quite depressing!

Oh, well: 5 projects down, just 1 to go!

6 Projects: part 3

<== Part 2 is this way

Introduction

Last week, in part 2 of this series, I had completed 2 of the 6 projects, some of the other 4 had progressed and some hadn't moved at all.  Let's see what I've been up to over the past 7 days, then...

6 Projects, Part 3

Still finished!

The horse herd is finished, but not packed away.  I reckon that still counts as completed, even though there have been a few comments against this position!  I even wrote an article about how I paint horses for wargames, using these to illustrate my simple (but fast) equine model colour recipe.

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Finished!  I finally plucked up enough courage to attempt the marble plinths and it wasn't as bad as I had thought it might be.  Consequently, these are done; I'm not planning any further work on them.

These statues ended up a totally different colour from my first idea.  Initially, I had planned to do bronze statues on a white marble plinth.  After a while I changed my mind though; I decided against the metal colour because stone statues just seemed more likely in a pseudo-medieval setting and therefore more appropriate for Frostgrave or similar games.  Once I had painted the statues grey/white, I wanted a contrasting plinth, hence the black/green marble.

Pyramids not changed, but top details started

I've not make any updates to the step pyramids themselves, though I have thought about doing it often.  It just keeps falling off the bottom of the "to do" list...

At least I've started work on the large stone bowls that will be used (optionally) as the top details for the pyramids.  These might have held wood & oil and been beacons, or perhaps they were used to store blood during sacrifices to the Sun God.  Who knows?  Whatever their original purpose, the bowls are somewhat broken and obviously haven't been used in quite some time.  They come as a set of 4 from Fenris Games.

Still Finished!

The Rock Top Gang have now been boxed, though I haven't yet found anywhere to store the box!  At least I now have my "Forgotten King Upgrade Deck", which will make it easier to use these in version 2 games of Super Dungeon Explore.  That deck took some effort to find, I can tell you!

No change

Once again, the Frostgrave miniatures haven't had any attention.  Perhaps now that my workbench is a bit clearer (because of the completion of other projects) I'll be able to work on these figures?

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Finished!  The 15 cannibals are complete and can now be added to the 16th tribesman whom I painted up as a plot point a few weeks ago.  These were great fun to paint and although I probably have enough for any conceivable need in Pulp Alley, I'm tempted to get some more.  This is not so much to threaten Tarzan in my jungle-based games, but rather because I'm eagerly looking forward to Studio Tomahawk's upcoming "Congo" rules.

Since Darkest Africa has been one of my oldest interests in literature, though somewhat latent in gaming terms, I'm thinking of collecting a force of 30 or 40 jungle cannibals.  Of course, I'll then need a force of Arab slavers and perhaps a rather larger expedition of white men & native guides than I have already.  Hmm, what else might I need, I wonder?

Conclusion

Last week, I suggested that I might be able to complete all 6 projects by the end of week 4 (i.e. 7 days from now).  4 of the 6 are finished, but can I progress enough on the other 2 in just 7 days?  I guess that is still possible, though as always the amount of model-making time can vary from one week to another as work, family and other demands on my time fluctuate.  We'll see - not long to go now!

Part 4 is this way ==>

6 Projects: part 2

<==  Part 1 is this way

Introduction

In part 1 of this series, I showed how I was progressing on 6 concurrent model-making projects.  As it turned out, I made no progress at all on 3 of the 6 projects by the time of that post (though I did manage to complete one of the others).  I thought when I started this series of articles that I might force myself to make progress, if only to avoid disappointing my readers.  Let's see how well (or badly) I've done in the 7 days since part 1.

6 Projects, Part 2

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Once again, the herd of horses is first to be reviewed.  Well, I'm pleased to announce that these are finished (if only just!)  They're maybe not the best paint jobs I've ever done for horses - I think I'd call them "decent wargames standard" - but I'm pleased to have completed them anyway.

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The statues are progressing in fits and starts.  They ought to be quite simple to paint, however I just can't get the right technique for painting marble.  I've read several tutorials, but my first attempts were so dismal that I gave up and overpainted them.  I'm still hoping to achieve a dark green stone effect on the plinths though, else they might look a bit barren & sterile.

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Some limited progress has been made on the pyramids.  I've finished the scribing of the blockwork and have added stairs to each one.  Yet to come: some filling, painting/covering and the still-to-be-seen top details!

Still Finished!

I'm glad to report that the Rock Top Gang which were completed last week are still complete!  They haven't been put away yet, as I haven't found a nice, safe box in which to store them.  That doesn't disqualify them, right?

No change

The Frostgrave miniatures remain untouched.  I'll need to do something with them soon; this is becoming embarrassing...

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My Congo tribesmen have moved on quite a bit.  They've had their eyes, bases and loincloths painted and I've started on the shields as well.  There's plenty more work needed, mostly on the more exotic figures with masks and headdresses.  Still, I'm pleased with the progress on these so far.

Conclusion

How many weeks will it take to complete all of these 6 projects?  At the moment, I'm thinking I might be done after 4 weeks (i.e. "Part 4"), though I'm prepared to eat my words in a fortnight from now if not everything is finished.  Surely it won't be more than 5 weeks, though?  It can't take that long...

Part 3 is this way ==>

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

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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...

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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.