Welcome one and all to a brand new year, and you know what that means…brand new miniatures! Yes I’m sure you the same as us have many resolutions that you likely won’t be sticking to, but one thing that usually does stick (likely because it’s an excuse not to paint the stuff you already have) is to start a new army! Whatever game is your bag, I’m sure there is a new force that’s been tempting you for some time. So go on, treat yourselves! In the meantime, let’s look what we’ve been treating ourselves to.
Boba Fett (Shatterpoint) by Sam de Smith
Yes, I’m still on a Shatterpoint kick. I was lucky enough to get the Vallejo Model Color paint set for Xmas and it’s an absolute godsend. Model Color differs from Game Color as it has slightly higher pigment density and less flow – thicker, basically – but also more muted and Military style colors, as these are paints designed for military modellers rather than fantasy/ sci-fi hobbyists. This is perfect for recreating the exact shade of panzer green that was used for boba fett’s armour, which I have many memories of failing to recreate with gw colours in the late 90s (love those mk.5 helmets though). Extra Opaque Yellow is like Averland Sunset with less mustard and more pop – think of it as emergency sign yellow – and the red was just… Red. Basic, model color red. I do resent having to freehand the mythosaur, mind you. The fire was done with trans orange blended into Smoke; the only non VJ paint was the (inevitable) Nightshade wash over the grey prime, which was then highlighted up with Game Color Wolf Grey. The browns were done with model air leather, which is a brilliant cheat over primer (basically using like Contrast), and then edges and scratches picked up with Deck Tan – which inexplicably doesn’t actually come in the model color set, despite being the best paint they’ve ever produced. Anyway, he was a joy to paint from start to finish!
Legionaries (Hail Caesar) by Neil Parker
For his month I got around to working on my legionnaires. They are 28mm although they do look small compared to regular miniatures for fantasy. I bought these a while back for a Gurps Rome RPG campaign which is about to start, so having something thematic for tactical encounters I thought would add a nice touch. For now, I’ve just painted a bath of five, two with pilum and three with gladius (to go with my two-man scorpion crew).
These miniatures I found to be fairly easy to paint as they are well sculpted and I used a range of paints from Vallejo (Chainmail Silver, Bloody red and Leather brown) and Citadel (Kislev flesh, Nuln oil and Reikland fleshshade). Simple colours for simple miniatures, but they look good especially in a unit.
I started with the metal parts then moved on to paint the flesh. Once this was done then added the shade elements and then went over again with the base colours to bring out highlights and to cover large shaded areas, but kept odd patches of shade and details to bring out the best in the exposed flesh areas. The red for the uniform was a later addition with the addition of leather at the end.
The boxset comes with shield transfers which I usually find quite fiddly, but it’s worth the effort for the added level of detail. They are going to be great to use as guards, city vigils or regular soldiers and they will be quite distinctive.
Spider-Man (MCP) by Ross Coulbeck
Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spidey can! How that simple tune has delighted fans for decades. While many superheroes can come and go in our attentions, there is something I’ve always found memorable about spidey. Maybe it’s that he’s just trying to do whatever he can, even if it’s helping an old lady cross the street. I honestly love this model.
Another reason this model is great is it’s so easy to paint and yet produces an amazing result. As is common I started off with a White Scar spray undercoat to
make the contrast paints pop. Before we get on to Spidey, let’s talk the terror he’s tackling, aka Venom. For him I got out my trusty Basilicanum grey (which I will never spell right first time). I applied a heavy coat to most of his form, trying to avoid the eyes and mouth. I then used Blood Angels red on the tongue and inner mouth to make it really stand out. After fixing some mistakes on the eyes and teeth, I left the eyes white and used Reikland Fleshshade on the teeth to give a sort of bone look.
Right, onto Spidey. Honestly there isn’t much to say. Again I used Blood Angels red on the red parts of his costumes, making sure not to put too much on so it settled into the grooves nicely. For the blue half of the costume I used Frostheart, which always gives such a vibrant colour. I tidied up the eyes and carefully added a black outline, plus made his chest spider black too. Then finally there was the web, which I decided to go for a sort of slightly dirty white look for, not sure if it’s perfect but it looks decent. That was just very light Nuln Oil over the white basecoat.
And that’s pretty much that, now Spidey must swing off to save the day again. Cya!
