Star Wars: Command project pt. 2 - Jedi - Completed

So my thoughts on the first of these figures that I've painted up:

1. They have a surprising amount of detail for figures that cost very little and are intended for kids. A testament, I suppose, to how far the industry has come.

2. That said, they don't have that much detail.  The hands on the Jedi, for example, were pretty rough.

3. The bend in the lightsaber was pretty frustrating.  Reminded me of GWs FineCast FailCast product lines.  But unlike those products, the price point is orders of magnitude lower, so it's much less frustrating.

Anyway, the Jedi is complete... next up is an X-Wing Pilot ... adventures in Orange!

I'm pleasantly surprised at how well the lightsaber came out ... but trying to achieve depth of blending and shading with browns is a real challenge.

Star Wars: Command project pt. 2 - Jedi

So I picked the Jedi that comes with the Episode IV 'Desert Escape' playset for my first model to paint up. I think on some level he's supposed to be Ben Kenobi, only he lacks a beard and world weary look, and also appears in some of the Episode II sets for Genosha and such.

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Command-Desert-Escape/dp/B00P45N2C4

No matter.

For now, I've started with Vallejo's Chocolate Brown for his boots and bathrobe, Iraqi Sand for his pants, flat flesh for his skin, and Earth Brown for his inner robes -- all followed by a heavy wash of GW's Agrathax.

Obviously nothing done yet on his lightsaber -- which tends to bend a bit (*the only model from the casts I have that does this).  And I don't know how to paint it up to glow when there are no hard edges to speak of.

Still ... not bad for a guy from a $10 set.

More to follow.

It's not a bathrobe ... it's a Jedi bathrobe!

Nordvolk pt. 1 - Armed Villagers

I ran into the Westwind Miniatures 'Nordvolk' range at a con in Maryland over ten years ago ... and instantly fell in love with them.  At that point they were brand new and VERY affordable, so I snapped up a good 85% of their range (*excepting their cavalry, which didn't appeal to me ...).

http://www.westwindproductions.co.uk/catalog/index.php?cPath=1_16

They're very close to actual vikings -- or at least close enough that they scratch that itch for me. So when the ennui of the 40K painting grind set in, I decided to take an offramp from the Grimdark and go see what I had in the old boxes that I'd never gotten around to.

In retrospect, I've been long overdue to do this.  Painting up these guys was a great reminder that I love the hobby as a hobby ... not just as a means to put Ultramarines and such on the tabletop.

So without further ado, my first tranche of that Nordvolk range:

12 done so far ... another 12 still in the box. My goal here was to create a unifying set of colors - no actual uniforms after all - while still allowing for individuality and the fact that some villagers amongst these greybeards would have gone viking, and so would have the gear to reflect that.

They're big minis - each sits on a base GW would use for a Chaos Warrior or Black Orc.

Lots of beards and pelts to paint ...

What I love about the range is that each unit has 3-4 sculpts in it that are sorta 'characters' - unique poses that give that unit flavor. Or in this case, beer.

Why, yes, he IS painted up like a garden gnome. How could I not?

Reminds me a slightly taller, angrier Balin.

One of my favorites... I was very pleased at the combination of Vallejo 'Field Blue' and 'Chocolate Brown' for a color scheme.

Side Project - Vikings (Sort of...)

I say sort of because Vikings didn't have horned helmets.

Anyway, it's another 'commission' for a buddy of mine.  A Reaper mini, if memory serves.  Been sitting around for years and now it's finally done.

The two shots below were taken right after one another -- one with the flash, and one without.

AND it's got me moving on painting up the Nordfolk collection from WestWind minis.

http://www.westwindproductions.co.uk/catalog/index.php?cPath=1_16

Star Wars: Command project pt. 1

I found these in Toys-R-Us and Target -- $10 gets you 8-9 54mm-ish figures depending on the pack.

My plan is to see how well they paint up ... they're made of nice hard plastic, and I've given them a wash to get the release agent off the casts.

Next step will be to see how well they take primer.