PUP-date: Get It? Ugh.

Okay, I'll admit it. That has to be a new low in horrible puppet puns. As I write this I am debating taking that title down and doing something a bit more clever and less completely stupid, but at this point the stupid is almost charming and I now it's far too late.

Anyway, here's a novel thing for a blog about painting: I actually managed to sit down and do some painting! It feels good, but a little strange. Anyway, here's the update.

Necromunda

Since my trip back to Colorado for the holidays, I have been eager to get back to my roots with Necromunda. Colorado always puts me in the mood for Necro, with all my old friends and the same old gaming groups. When I go back to my old store, I still see my a large percentage of my terrain collection, sitting in a celebrated and 'special access only' section of the gaming room. I find this very cool. When my brother and I visited the store, Gamer's Haven in Colorado Springs, CO, we found that, in addition to all the nice terrain, the shelves are stacked with all the simple terrain we'd built over the years. There's something quite fun in the moment you realize a piece of terrain you built 15 years ago is still being used in games. Then you feel old when you realize the players are roughly the same age as that piece of terrain.

I've thrown in a couple old pictures of the aforementioned terrain. These are from one of those large scenarios that really make people remember Necromunda. The game involved more than a dozen players, over 70 zombies and one massive spider. It was a simple scenario based on "I Survived the Zombie Lair," but made for a memorable game. One day I'll have to create a full write up on it.
For now, my craving for Necro has been satiated with a trip through my collection of Plano cases, thinking about what gangs I want to build and which ones I want to strip and repaint. The trick with Necro is that I get too deeply engrossed in too many projects, so I'll have to make sure I choose one gang at a time, work it to completion and move on. This has worked for the last few gangs I finishd and is the only way I'll get anything done.

Puppet Wars

Yes I've been working on Puppet Wars, so at least that horrible pun above won't go to waste. These models continue to be fun to paint and I the game is a blat. Despite my puppet count sitting somewhere in the 80s now (I'm gonna sell some of them) I still look at the project as something I can accomplish quickly. Delusion, you say? Well maybe. But I like how simple these puppets are to paint, while still being detailed enough that I can get some good practice on a variety of techniques.

So, updates.

The Ronin is first up. As you can see, I've decided not to go through with Non-Metallic Metals on the puppets. There are some models that require more attention and will look better with NMM, but by and large, I am going to save this for my Malifaux stuff. The reality is that, between washes and all the new techniques I've been workig on, metallics are much easier to work with and will allow me to finish the models much faster.

That said, here is the latest work I've done with NMM on the Witchling Stalker. I'm starting to get the hang of the technique and the large knife and chain on this model were great practice. This guy was just plain fun and I'm glad I have another one waiting for me.

Next on the list is LadyJ. This was actually the first puppet I started painting, but I set her aside when one of her legs broke. After playing in the P-wars tournament at Gencon where I frantically glued models into their bases, some of the models were damaged when I went back to clean the models and mount them on their painting bases. I fixed this easily enough by removing her entire right leg up to the pant and replacing it with a brass rod. I did the same with Pokey Vik and they both seem to be holding together well.


The Cherub was a nice break in thi group of mostly drap colors. His wings are simply undercoated white, with dark bits based in Charadon Granite. The quill of each feather is picked out in dark brown and the whole thing gets a Devlan Mud (Umber wash in Vallejo-speak). Just a small highlight picks out the detail and he's done.

Finally, there's the Razorspine Rattler. I went with my tried and true technique for rusty metal here. In Vallejo colors, I start with a basecoat of dark flesh and washed it with Umber just to pick out the details. From there, I stippled Dark Flesh, then Parasite Brown, Fiery Orange and finally picked out some edges in Boltgun Metal. I'll be using the brassy color on is jaw for Malifaux and its pretty easy to achieve. I basecoated GW Tin Bitz (is that not around anymore?) washed black, highlighted Tin Bitz, then Tin Bitz mixed with Gold (the darker one). 

In the next couple of days, I'll be completing another three puppets, my first Piglet, Pandora and the Guild Hound. Once complete, I'll be over 10% complete with the puppets. Long way to go...

More to come.

-Nick