Mei Feng Box (Ugh)

I am not too happy with this one. I am not sure if it was my color choices, the execution, the speed which I finished them in or just the models themselves, but something just didn't jive with me. 

I actually painted all 6 of these models at the same time. Assembly was where I had the first issues. Some of their arms (especially Mei Feng's left arm) just wouldn't go together well. Either way, I was off to a bad start. 

Next, I decided that I didn't want to go with the typical orange color scheme. It looks good, but I have seen too many models that look the same. 

So, I decided blue was the best bet for their pants.  I figured they could be dressed in denim. 

Well, here they are. After I chose blue, I wasn't sure what color to go with next. I ended up playing a bit of Star Ocean on my PS3 and one character has a blue and pink outfit. Pink!  Of course that'll work. So I splashed pink on them. 

I don't think that the pink turned out horribly; but it just isn't exactly what I wanted in the end. I should have gone with a lighter color. 

Mei Feng was my least favorite to paint. I kept missing parts of her skin, especially around her neck and shoulders. And I also don't like how her shirt hangs under her armpits. Next, you'll notice a load of blood on her left arm...that is to cover up the messed up arm connection. 

Finally, her face!  It is just too plain and I cannot be bothered to make her look prettier. 

I am actually the happiest with this guy. His skin turned out well, I think. But, I couldn't quite get the pink to work on the chest part. I ended up going over it a few times and the paint ended up being thick in that part. 

Hmm, the silver streak on his waist...didn't notice that until just now. Damn. 

The main issue I had with the three rail workers were breaking pieces. I snapped off a few arms and the one guys bandana a few times. This just annoyed me to no end. 

But, they were basic and after I decided on blue and pink, the rest of them were easy to finish. 

The flame was my last model. It was rushed and I just dry brushed it. 

So, overall, this box only took me a few hours to paint. I did it "assembly line style" and was watching a speed running stream while doing them. I bought this box fairly impulsively a few weeks back and don't really have any connection to the crew or faction. I am not sure if they will ever see the light of day after this. 

Next up is Seamus. I assembled his box last night and those damn Belles were also a pain to put together. Maybe I should just go back to beasts and fat dwarfs. 

Da Clash! Franky, Norbit, and Raoul

I had a bit of extra time yesterday. That meant I had more painting time. I was able to pound out the last three Da Clash! models. 

I painted up Norbit, Franky and Raoul. 

Norbit and Raoul were awesome to paint and I think they turned out very well. 

Norbit presented me with my first opportunity to paint a chibi style eye. I hate painting eyes. I am not very good at it and most of the time, my brushes are not sharp enough to paint the eye well. So, when I was presented with this massive eye, I knew I had to try something different. 

I looked up a few examples online and basically just followed the pictures. In the end, the eye turned out quite nice. It is not as round as I would like it to be and the color transition is not the best; but, for a first try, I am very happy with him. 

Raoul was next. 

I just purchased some new blue paints to do denim with and I decided to try them out first with Raoul. I really think I nailed the clothes on this model. 

My only slight regret with Raoul is the dark brown I used for his hood and the blood on his axe. I don't think either turned out ideally. 

The last model was Franky. 

I actually assembled Franky first and had intended to paint him first. But, as I looked at him more and more, I could not decide what colors to use for his costume. 

I ended up going with blue, green and pink for his costume. I am not too sure if this was the correct color scheme or not. 

Franky was actually painted very quickly. I think I mostly just wanted to get him done. 

So, all 7 Da Clash models are done and now I just have to actually try out the game. 

These characters were all very different from what I am used to and I think they were great for trying out some new things. 

As of right now, I am unsure if I am going to purchase any more of the characters. I think that mostly depends on whether or not I like the game. 

Da Clash! Fraaanz

I finished Fraaanz off last night. So far, he has been my favorite to paint. His skin was really easy to do and had a lot of great detail that really popped out with some drybrushing. 

The other reason I enjoyed painting Fraaanz was because of green. I just love painting green. I find that it goes on very smoothly and it is also a fairly easy color to shade. I just love green. That's all. 

The only two slight complaints I have about this model is his tie and his eyes. The tie is a little bland. From a distance, it looks fine; however, I feel that it would look much better with a bit of a design to it. Maybe one day I will add some stripes or dots. And his eyes were a last second thing. I actually forgot to do them at first. So, I ended up just doing them quickly with some red and white. 

In the end, I think Fraanz has turned out the best out of the 4 Da Clash models I have painted. I have just 3 more to go. 

Da Clash! Pr. Minus

Pr. Minus was my next Da Clash! model. Unfortunately, Minus was the one miniature that was missing a piece when I got my order. His right hand was not in the box and instead of trying to get a replacement, I just decided to green stuff a tentacle.  

I went with a tentacle because I feel like the professor is mutating in some way. He already has something strange going on with his head and the model already has a tentacle crawling out of his coat pocket. Who is to say that the pocket tentacle isn't growing out of his hip?  

Well, here he is. 

I tried to be a bit more colorful with this model. For his lab coat, I decided to not go with a bright white and instead a dirty gray. It was just easier to do. 

His skin tone is a bit red. A friend told me to mix a little red into my skin tones to give them a bit of more realistic tone. I certainly see the merit in doing this, but I think in this model's case, I didn't drybrush enough with a lighter skin tone.  I actually still like the way the reddish skin turned out personally. 

So, Primus is done and I think I will get to the executioner tonight. 

Da Clash! Mag'Nun

Mag'Nun was the next model I got to. She was much more straight forward and I simply stuck to the original color scheme of the character. 

I actually forcused a lot on her face and ended up screwing up. I am not sure what happened, but when I was applying a different layer, the layer under the new one started to peel up. 

I ended up having to touch up a lot of things on her face and that created a few other issues. The biggest disappointment with her face is her eyes. I actually nailed her eyes originally. The white and black were well balanced and she didn't look crazy. But because of the screw up, I ended up using more wash that intended and some ended up getting into her eyes and narrowing them more than I wanted. 

I don't think her face looks bad, it is just weird that her eyes are so bloodshot. 

The rest of her was basic. Just black and white. The white went on well over the gray base. I then used a brown wash to dirty it up. After the wash dried, I did another white drybrushing to bring the white back a bit. 

Overall, I am happier with her than my Teddy. I am not sure what model I will be doing next yet. 

**Teddy Update**

New base. 

Da Clash! Teddy Fear

Teddy Fear was the first of the 7 Da Clash! models that I bought to get painted. 

Teddy was one of the harder models to put together. He is supposed to look like this. 

I found it very difficult to position his arms in such a way to hold the chainsaw up in the air.  I decided to position it down for ease and stability. 

I also had to put green stuff around his arm joints since they did not match up perfectly with this new stance. 

I decided to go pretty standard with his colors. I went with a dark brown for his hair and then tried to lighten it up with dry brushing. 

The fur is a lot darker than I intended, however, it is not as dark as it appears in the photo.

Next, I decided to go with pink and blue for the colors. I wanted something that really stood out. I also wanted the colors to show how potentially cute and cuddly this little guy was at some point in his life. 

Finally, I did his chainsaw. I went orange simply because I hate yellow. The problem with orange is that it doesn't show rust well. I had never considered this before and found out the hard way. 

To bring out the rust, I decided to use a sponge to put on silver spots to look like paint chips. I then used the sponge again with a rust color to try and cover or overlap with the silver paint chips. It worked out okay, but not ideally. 

The main thing that I forgot to do with Teddy is highlight the saw blade. I don't know why I forgot to do this. It was pretty late at night when I finished this model and I just rushed to put blood on the saw. Oh well. 

I also discovered that I don't like clear bases at all. They show any little mess up with the super glue and the fingerprints on them drive me crazy. 

I have since removed Teddy from this base and I am painting some left over magnetic Warhammer Fantasy bases I have. 

Overall, I am pretty happy with Teddy. He looks evil and from a distance, he looks very good. He will be a great character for the game. 

Next up, the Nun. 

Da Clash! Pt.1

A few weeks ago, I saw a post on Reddit about a game called Da Clash!  I was immediately drawn to the unique and fun character design. 

The game itself is a two player board game. As far as I can tell, it is a tactical 2v2 brawl where each player controls two fighters. 

The game is a D6 system and seems solid. I hope to try it out soon. 

In the box, the game comes with 4 fighters. The company also offers additional fighters that you can buy as physical models. 

The models look fantastic and have great detail on them. 

This is a completely unpainted model. Each model comes with just a few pieces and are fairly easy to put together. 

Here are the 7 models I purchased with the game. I simply based the gray. 

Unfortunately, this guys right hand was missing. I just decided to used some putty to make him a tentacle arm. 

I am starting with the chainsaw teddy bear. I imagine it'll take me about a week to get them all painted up. 

4Ground Terrain

I had tried my hand at making my own terrain for Malifaux, but it is a lot of work and I am not creative enough to do them well. 

So, I searched and searched and finally found a website called 4Ground. They have a set of 28mm terrain called Dead Man's Hand. It suits Malifaux perfectly. 

I ordered about $160 worth of the terrain and they sent it for free by UPS. Shipping is always an issue with international orders to Korea. So, any time I can get free UPS shipping, I will always take advantage of it. 

I ordered three similar buildings to what you see above. Each are a slightly different design on the front, but otherwise, they are the same. 

I also order a gallows set, a small outhouse, fences and some board walks. 

It was a good size package when it arrive and I have put most of it together. In total, it took me about 6 hours to put together everything. 

Each kit is very well designed and each building ends up being very strong and sturdy. 

Each pack also comes with a nice set of instructions that are easy to follow and clear. 

I haven't gotten around to taking any pictures of the final buildings yet. I will get to it shortly. 

But, overall, I was very happy with the kits. The price may seem a bit high, but I think they are worth it. 

I will be looking forward to trying them out and possibly ordering more in the future. 

Lilith Box Pt.2

I finished painting Lilith...last Thursday?  

I had a holiday on Friday, though, so I didn't bother posting anything. 

So this is Lilith with her crew. I really like how her body turned out; however, I am not a fan of her face. 

I am not overly good at painting faces yet, and I found that her face lacks depth. She would definitely benefit from some make up techniques, which I have no idea how to do. 

I started putting together MeiFeng last night. She will be my next project, but I think she will take a lot longer to complete than Lilith did.