Irongate Scenery - the bar

I’ve often thought that i’ve been a bit stuck in the past with my hobby, the vast majority of my collection is lead, although there is a growing resin and plastic contingrnt. So this is me embracing, what is very likely to be, the future - some 3D printed sculpts. They are from Irongate Scenery and are to be used for a bar interior that I have planned. 

Having painted these it is fair to say that I really dislike them. It is just simply the horrible texture of concentric lines that i’ve tried to hide with my paint job, that made painting them an incredible chore (even though these are very quick paint jobs). I came to the painting table with an open mind (and fully expected a different texture from what i’m used to) but I just could not muster up any love for them; sometimes when i’m painting I can imagine the decision making or see the style of the sculptor  as i’m working and this acts as a massive motivator to “do the sculpt justice”, because i’m not the keenest painter st the best of times.

Funnily enough, the warped top right table is greenstuffed from an instamold I made as there was a missing tabletop, and the familiarity of painting on that surface was much more enduring, even if there was a horrible warp to it! So maybe my bias is about familiarity or maybe I prefer painting things that have been made by hand. Whatever the reason, i’m staying away from 3D printed stuff and not grasping the future right now.

Modelling Workshop 5: The Coaching Inn and Forge (WD 143)

This is the final instalment of my revisiting of the Modelling Workshop articles from the White Dwarf's of the early 90's and the only one that I had not previously made as a teenager - the Coaching Inn and the Forge.

It was quite an extensive build and the instructions, at times, were particularly hard to follow, so some problem solving was required (which my teenage self would have struggled with). The roof to the inn was especially problematic; joining two sloping edges...

I've also made a few changes, namely the size of the footprint has increased, it always felt a bit cramped from the photos in White Dwarf and you couldn't really appreciate the two buildings. I've also improved the stable design and made a removable wall from the back of the courtyard so that the two buildings can be separated without creating an open courtyard. 

The doors, as per the article, are hinged on some paperclips.

Here you can see the forge and stable without the coaching inn and the long removable wall in place.

A better view into the forge and with it's roof removed you can see the forge itself (made from foam)

And the coaching inn by itself (pre-weathering):

And some Wip's so that you can see the construction and some of the materials/processes:

This image inspired me for the creation of the forge:

And the original article in case you're interested in re-creating this yourself:

And finally, my terrain building skills came in useful for my daughter's History homework, we worked on this together and she now has to learn the secrets of painting and in particular some quick dry-brushing and weathering techniques....

A Plague Cart for Deadcember

I converted this Plague Cart up quite a while ago and as we have entered the month of Deadcember, I thought it a perfect opportunity to paint it up. It will eventually feature in my Lost and the Damned Army as the Nurgle list offers an opportunity to have one for free (!) and it will accompany my unit of zombies and help their instability tests.

The old Citadel sculpt it great, however you'll notice a few changes and additions to my version. The sculpt of the original rider was a bit too squat and comic like for my tastes, so instead I plumped for a a more sinister Nurgle champion. He himself was given a plastic gong and bells from a Skaven kit (with all the iconography scraped off) to add [silent] sound to his impending arrival and I bent his feet a bit so that they looked as if they were gripping the shaft of the wagon.

You'll also note the addition of a Plague Doctor who had a greenstuffed mask applied over his face. This is also a contemporary Citadel from the Fighter range I believe (a thief if I recollect).

You'll also note a few additions to the skeleton pile - the original piece looked a bit scant so I added a few skulls and an additional skeleton almost falling off the back for a bit of dynamism and movement to the overall effect. His slightly pained pose looked perfect for this.

In terms of the painting I challenged myself to go for a monochromatic palette. I wanted to avoid the obvious inclusion of a spot colour of, for example, glowing eyes in exchange for a more ghostly approach to the ethereal colour scheme. I wanted this to contrast with the dark, solid plague doctor and the colour coming from the basing. This was achieved by priming white, washing with a dilute Nuln Oil, then highlighting with small amount of Nuln Oil and white in increasing quantities and then re-washing with a very dilute Nuln Oil.

The cotton wool mist effect was something I have wanted to experiment with for a while and after long consideration decided to apply it very finely here. I think it adds rather than detracts from the model; although of course, as always, I'm intrigued to hear your opinions. Overall I'm pretty happy with this model though!