#mageknight

The gang’s all here...

From left to right: Jimothy (Ranger), Aramis (Wizard), Edrick Thorne (Rogue), Hogan (Warlock). In the background is Rondo, a notable NPC and Jimothy's new best friend (as of two sessions ago).

Jimothy and Aramis are Reaper minis. Edrick was picked up from a random bin at the local store—I think he may be a Zombicide: Black Plague mini. Hogan is also Reaper, but I modded him for the pegleg and quarterstaff. Rondo is a repainted HeroClix Hulk figure.

JIMOTHY is a Silvanus Scout desperately trying to get people to sign off on his merit badges. Somehow, the lil' bastard is the most powerful member of our party.

ARAMIS is a chaotically curious little alchemist who will wake a demon just to see what it does. He's going to get us all killed at some point. I still don't know what class of magic user he is, and I kind of love that.

EDRICK THORNE is the least scrupulous rogue this side of the Evergale Sea. I think he has some people principles, but absolutely none when it comes to money and valuables.

HOGAN the warlock (my OC). A farmboy whose leg was amputated by a threshing machine at age 13. After the accident, desperate to keep helping his struggling family, he apprenticed with the local weather wizard. But when that wizard was killed in a tragic, unnatural flood, Hogan may have accidentally struck a supernatural bargain to save his town from destruction. Not giving anything else away in case a party member reads this blog ;)

First post in forever.

Due to work and travel, I haven’t painted anything in over a year. These are my two “warm-up” pieces I just completed to start getting back into the swing of things—admittedly I was a bit lazy with these. Both are former MageKnight clix figures.

A few years ago, MK figs were really cheap to buy in large lots on eBay, and I discovered that many of them were not bad sculpts under the hideous factory paint jobs.

Jimothy and the Lizard Bois

Completed model of our intrepid ranger Silvanus Scout. I confess that I’m usually pretty lazy with basing figures (see all the Lizardmen), but with Jimothy I’d like to turn a new leaf and give them just a little more love.

Here’s one for the Bad Guys.

The morning dawned on quite a round-up. Finished the third mini to be completed at my new desk, which brings the count up to the two Bone Golems you see pictured above, plus Larry the Purple Necromancer, keeping watchful (and totally evil) guard over Fort Breadmaker.

The glow from Larry’s staff is my first attempt at OSL. I wanted to keep it understated. When OSL is heavily pronounced, a small part of my brain is aware of the disconnect when playing a game in broad daylight...that the glow just wouldn’t read in such an intense way under such circumstances. Just the world I like to live in, not a pronouncement on anyone else’s painting preferences.

A note on the metallics...

After struggling for some time to find a way to blend and shade genuine metallics, I have to extend a heartfelt thanks to Wargames Illustrated and two articles by Simon Bradley in the June and July 2017 issues (on painting armor and chainmail, respectively). A derivation of his techniques was used on all three of the new minis, and I love the results. It’s hard to read in the photographs, but when done right the metallics pick up just right in the light.

My mix varied slightly from the article, so below is what I used on mine. One of the biggest differences in my application rests in the fact that I wasn’t doing a whole figure clad in armor. I was thus able to use fewer mixes than the article describes to smooth the transitions. These were all small parts, so it only took 3 shades or so to get the job done. But I’ve never been happier with my metals.

Vallejo paints are designated VMC (Vallejo Model Color).

Bone Golems:

Base - Reaper MSP 09214 Black Primer

Layer - 50/50 mix VMC Natural Steel + Flames of War Russian Green

Highlight -  VMC Natural Steel

Smaller Highlights - VMC 70.997 Silver

Larry the Necromancer:

Larry’s Dark Armor Bits

Base - Reaper MSP 09214 Black Primer.

Layer - Reaper MSP 09205 Blackened Steel

Highlight - 50/50 Mix Blackened Steel + VMC Natural Steel

Highlight - VMC Natural Steel

Smaller Highlights -  VMC 70.997 Silver

Larry’s Gold Medallion Bits

Base - Reaper MSP 09214 Black Primer.

Layer - 50/50 mix Flames of War Khaki Grey + VMC 70.801 Brass

Highlight - VMC 70.801 Brass

First Mini at the New Desk

Per the sagacious advice of YetiTheBear, I needed to get some painting done!

More of a speedpaint than anything else, but I needed to stretch the magic fingers after so long away.  Also got to practice (on a very small scale) a new armor technique picked up from Wargames Illustrated a couple issues back.  I’ll throw out details on that when I get a better picture of Mr. Bones P. Golem III, Esquire later this week.  Can’t wait to try it out on something with more armor.

At bottom, a Giant Squid I’m painting for a Nautilus diorama by Pegasus Hobbies, which I bought for a friend of mine who is an ardent fan of Jules Verne.  It’s got a long way to go.  WIP pics as they become available.