Long Silence...

 Hello all! 

Long period of silence. Lots of interesting changes. In the interim, I have retired from wildland firefighting, traveled, moved to various parts of the USA several times and now split my time between the UK and various locations in the USA (Atlanta, northern Vermont & Rochester). The interim period also saw my book, board game and miniature collection reduced.

I still contract paint but currently only for one figure manufacturer...and that is diminishing as I've tired of painting things I might not ever want to paint. I guess I'm not mercenary or disciplined enough. I do enjoy painting.

Retirment saw me stumble into being hired as a professional gamemaster for a tembuilding exercise. Another company learned of it and hired me for their teambuilding sessions. Since then, my clientele has grown and is extremely varied. I am considering offering up my services on one of the various sites. The games I run vary: Sword & Sorcery (D&D/AD&D/D&D 5th Ed./Pathfinder/DCC), SciFi, Horror, Cyberpunk, Modern, and Spy operations.

I intend to post pictures of those Vikings started in 2019...yes, they were finished a long time ago. I will also post some other photos from contract painting.

All the best,

Mark

Brigade Vikings III: Metal, Wood, & Flesh

My preferred method of painting is to work from the innermost levels of the figure outward: thus, In paint flesh and hair and then work out through the various layers of clothing and equipment.

Except...

I always paint the metal armor of chain and plate first. It's a messy process of drybrushing that has a tendency to got little bits of metal around. Naturally, this includes the various sword, spear and other weapons. Here are a series of pictures showing chainmail and some helmets in progress.

Shade Coat

Mid-Level

Wash
Highlight

Following the armor, I paint the wood of any spears, axes or other hand weapons.

Then, it's time to do the flesh, hair, clothes, and lastly equipment. Here are the results before Clear coat and basing:

Brigade Games Vikings: Shields

First in the process is to prime with Black and then damp brush white. I neglected to photograph those stages; but here is a shot of the shields after I applied the metal shade to the bosses:

Next was to paint and stain the wood emphasizing the wood grain. Then, I painted the leather handles and the steel rim...which should be leather, but the commission dictates.

Finally, shield patterns were accessed from various fan sites for the show Viking. Here are the results:

Brigade Games Vikings II: Mould line correction

Sometimes after cleaning and priming one discovers mould lines...it's frustrating but definitely worth the time it takes to correct them. Take a deep breath and look before you start the scrape and file...

I found six figures that needed remediation.  Three had very faint lines which required another scrape with a knife. The fourth was a mystery how I had missed the lines. The fifth actually required some careful filing as the line ran from hair to forehead to neck. The sixth was an accident...it seems the Vikings had trousers with a seam down the side and I scraped the primer but not the seam before I realized my mistake.

Here's the process I followed: clean the figure up. Next brush paint on some black primer. Let the primer thoroughly dry.  Repairing the prime levels is a slow process as you need each level to fully dry. I tend to leave them perhaps an hour unless I use an oven.  When the primer is ready, dry brush on skeleton bone and let thoroughly dry. Finally, dry brush white on the figure and dry.

Brigade Games Vikings Painted awaiting basing...

Recently, I was commissioned by Brigade Games to paint some of their Viking figures. A total of seventeen figures were sent. Packs 12-19. I started them some time ago; but haven't posted until now.

These are the figures after I spray primed with Games Workshop Black, zenithal spray primed with Skeleton Bone by Army Painter; and damp brushed with Vallejo White. I neglected to take pictures at each stage...but here is a photograph of them after I glued on a mixed sand.

Looking over the photograph posted on Instagram, I did notice a mould line or two that escaped the preparation the first time.

The next step is to correct the mould lines and apply base coats. 

Of Armies and Hordes

Recently, I have dusted off my game credentials and renewed writing, editing and consulting for various game companies. My projects span various genres. In addition, I have been encouraged to republish several rules sets...stay tuned.

Andrea Sfiligoi of Ganesha Games has written Of Armies and Hordes. I was privileged to involved in the editing of these new rules. Of Armies and Hordes is an outgrowth of the excellent Song of Blades and Heroes game system. I've kept mum about the rules. The publishing date is imminent. As we get closer, I will provide more detail. I can say they  are an area movement system that is exceedingly flexible and provide for either one-off large battles or entire integrated campaigns with minimal record keeping.

Andrea has allowed me to post the front cover artwork.

This Week in Wargaming

From 2008 until 2015, I wrote a weekly update on new releases, gaming tips and various other wargaming related topics. It became a PDF newsletter called "This Week in Wargaming" which had a large subscriber list with issues being sent out to individual emails, and posted on various sites. The newsletter had actually been an outgrowth of a weekly update email sent to friends seerving abroad and with limited communications. Overtime, it morphed into a PDF.  The BLOG also grew out as some subscribers indicated a prference for reading a BLOG or receiving an email update about the BLOG. There was much overlap. The following spanned across the hobby and the population of wargaming and was quite extensive.

Later, I stopped running the newsletter and the BLOG as other elements of life intervened.

Now, I am considering bringing back the newsletter. If you were a subscriber or would be interested in the same, please drop me a line and let me know your thoughts...