Mystic Mountain Productions Cheap Paper Structures

This week, I discovered Mystic Mountain Productions' small but growing line of paper buildings. You can find their products at RPGNow and Wargames Vault, which basically are the same companies. They also have a Facebook page. Right now, they have seven kits available.

Their Town Square Clock Tower is a FREE single-layer PDF useful for just about any setting. It looks nice and should be easy to build. Might as well give it a try for free!

Their latest model, the Merchant's Guild, really caught my imagination. I could see it housing one of my eccentric West Wind Victorian characters or a modern spy-fi game needing an interesting Tudor-inspired building. The multilayer PDF is $5. I've asked if it comes with a single-layer version so I don't have to print it on my stored inkjet printer. (I use a monochrome laser printer for all my daily printing.)

West Wind's GH-47 Nosferatu #2: First Fig Finished

Early last week, the weather broke here in Central Florida long enough to take a couple finished miniatures outside and give them a good spraying of Testors. Below is the finished figure from the second of West Wind's pack of Nosferatu, or would that be Nosferati?

Since we last saw him reaching out to touch someone, I painted his nails, painted the metal things on his outfit (I have no idea what they are!), and highlighted his collar thing using P3 Trollblood Base. All in all, I'm happy how he turned out. I really wanted to paint black nails on him because I felt they really "sold" the miniature. However, I never want to paint nails again! They are quite fiddly.

This figure really needs to be on a base that looks like stone or something because his outfit rides along base edge. I really don't want to bury it in brown ballast and dead grass. I just have to order some green putty/epoxy stuff for the base.

Go ahead. Pull my finger. I dare you!

Darn it! I can't open the crypt door! I just did my nails!

You'd be grumpy too if every time you put down your arm you'd have the other one pop up instead!

And now for something you never get to see--the back side of water! Oh wait. Wrong ride.

Okay, people, who got the sticky blue stuff all over the floor? I just got done cleaning it!

I'm not touching you! Hee hee. I'm not touching you!

Painting Nosferatu: The New Spring Fashions Have Arrived

After some thought about what color to paint the figure's cloak, I decided to use Dark Cherry from Folk Art craft paints. You can see the preliminary results below. On the workbench, it looks creepy and just a bit different than the basic black all the other Nosferatu seem to be wearing this year. (Being a fashion designer for a hip and mod Nosferatu trend-setter is such demanding work!)

Plus, these progress photos better show some of the highlighting I did on his hands and fingers. Of course, I still need to paint his fingernails, along with lots of other work. But so far, so good. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I will use them on the other three Nosferatu I have to paint.

"Trust me. In this outfit, you will be the envy of all the other Nosferatu!"

"It's the holes that say, 'Look out, world, I'm just a bit dangerous and rebellious today!"

"No problem. We can let out the sleeves, giving you a skosh more room when reaching out to touch a friend."

Bumbling About While Basing My Rioting Victorians

Sorry for the long delay between posts. I've been taking a bit of a holiday lately, trying to spend more time doing family things while we still have time. This is the second part, so to speak, of how I do some of my basing. Basing these Victorians turned out to be quite frustrating, mostly because my brain was on a mental holiday in the Islands the entire time, leaving me to fumble about in the dark without a brain.

Of Mice And Men...
When thinking and posting about how I wanted to base my rioting London thugs and mob figures, I decided not to cover their bases in ballast and static grass as I have done on most of my other figures. I also didn't want to base them on sculpted cobblestone bases and such because I just don't have those talents right now. So I decided to go with a grey gravel base that looks like a street or gravel driveway. You can see some of my experiments in the photo below.

The figure in the middle was my first test. I figured that since I was going to paint the sand grey, I first would paint the putty grey because I feared that I would not be able to get my brush into some of the tight spaces where parts of the figures came very close to the height of the base. What was I thinking??? In order to paint the putty grey, I would still need to get in close to where I feared getting in close. Sigh. There went some wasted time!

India Ink? Hmmmm.....
So I decided to just begin with a layer of ordinary sand glued to the dried wood putty, as seen on the figure to the far right, and go from there. Then it dawned on me. Why not try a wash or inks? They could flow into those tight spots, then I could simply paint close to those areas but leave some ink as a border, kind of like how we paint figures. I figured I use black India ink for that base shadow color, then paint some shade of grey over it. That's what you see in the figure to the left. Again, it was a stupid idea that went nowhere, just causing me more work. But, the India ink did work well.

That is when I got my final idea. Why not simply buy some grey India ink and apply it right to the sand. Just one problem--no one in our area sold grey India ink. Plus, I really like using Bombay India inks from Dr. Ph. Martin. They make excellent inks, and retail for $4 a bottle. Plus, I get them at a 20% discount from the local art store, using my faculty discount. (I've included a little video I found showing why one person thinks the Martin inks are better than Liquitex inks.)

But Martin does not make grey ink. No problem. All I had to do was mix black ink with some white ink---voila! Grey ink! But this is me we're talking about. Well, I got out my little plastic mixing pallet, the one with the six little indentations to mix paint in. I splunged out a bunch of black India ink into one of the indentations.


No 50 Shades of Grey For Me!
Then I began droppering in some white India ink, mixing it about to form a grey. I droppered in more white. And more white. And more white. Funny how the black wasn't turning into as light a grey as I had thought it would no matter how much white I added.  Oh well. It looked pretty good regardless. So I began brushing it on some bases.

It worked great! The grey just flowed right into every nook and cranny, staining deep into the sand and dried putty. I even was able to "paint" the edges of the fender washers with it. Plus the ink sealed in the loose sand. This was fantastic.

Why Do I Only Think About Planning When I'm Halfway Done? Sigh.
Only then did I realize that I never thought about the ratio of black-to-white ink in that pallet. How was I going to recreate the same color when it began running out? Oh well. Mixing more by trial and error, which worked pretty good over all.

Then I let the figures dry. Ok, I became impatient and got out the hair dryer. Then I noticed that the ink dried darker than it looked when wet. Are you kidding me!?! Sure, it wasn't the light grey I had envisioned when wet, but I didn't think about a more charcoal look either.

Back to start! This time, I began with white and added slowly added black until I got a nice light neutral grey I had envisioned. This is the way you make grey ink! You need very little black to the white to make any shade of grey.

I Definitely am Not an Art Major!
I then grabbed one Victorians and brushed the light grey on the base. Of course, it didn't flow as well over the dried ink as it did the raw sand. I dried the base with the hair dryer and looked at the figure. It actually looked worse with the light grey base! My son thought the same thing. Weird! So back to the charcoal grey look. This time I mixed a paint jar of the grey ink so I could use it on future figures.

Done and Done!
So there you have it. My bumbling adventure painting/inking the bases on these Victorian figures. I'm glad it's over and am happy with the results. They look pretty good on the table under the lights in my room. (The photos of them are below.) Afterward, I went onto finishing the bases on my Splintered Light figures. But that is a post for another day.

Take care!

Painting Nosferatus--Flesh Color Suggestions Needed

I recently began working on West Wind's pack GH-47 Nosferatu 2. Below are some progress shots of my first attempt. To be honest, I am really stumped what color I should paint the flesh. Until now, I've always used the P3 Paint flesh colors, like Kardic Flesh and Midlund Flesh up to the, lightest Ryn Flesh.

Anyone out there with suggestions on what colors to use for painting the flesh on these classic vampires? I have many others to paint. It doesn't seem like Reaper makes any "vampire triads," which seems odd considering how many horror minis they make. Also, I'd appreciate suggestions about what colors to paint the coat and cyberpunk collar. Once I began drybrushing the white, I realized this fellow had more going on with him than I thought when it was bare metal.

1) I drybrushed the flesh white to make it easier to apply the light flesh colors over the black primer.

2. A sloppy shot of the mini somewhere in the process of painting from shadow to highlights. Yeah, I paint flesh sloppy. ;-)

3. The colors I wound up using for the Nosferatu's pallor. The Khaki gives it a bit off an odd tint that doesn't show as well in the photos. I'd rather not do this again, though!

4. I always clean up my messes. :-) The dude has a beard! I didn't realize that when it was bare metal. I fear I might have made the lower lip a bit too red that it's too noticeable?

5. I've applied the top Morrow White highlights to the ear tips, knuckles, ect. Still, lots more work to be done on the hands. I like how it's turning out.

6. Prior to painting the flesh, I never noticed "cyberpunk" look of this fellow, especially the collar. I figured I'd paint the coat a light black but I'm a bit puzzled about the collar. What color should I paint the collar and the coat? Black? Or maybe something else for contrast? Ideas?

7. Gotta love the rotten look of the coat. Well, that's it for now. Suggestions always appreciated.

Another West Wind Thug Joins the Gang

Another figure from West Wind's London Thugs pack I finished the other day. This is the seventh figure from the pack that I've finished, leaving just one more to go. I have five more from the London Mob pack to finish. These have been fun to paint. Now I just need to give them something to be rioting about! Maybe some werewolves or Nosferatu or Pumpkin Heads or Mad Bombers. Who knows what I'll pull out of my West Wind box next!

BTW next week I'll be picking up the rules In Her Majesty's Name and see how they look. Amazon says they will have them on May 21st for $13, my kind of price for wargames rules! Cool Stuff across the street should have them for $12. I'm sure well see a flood of posts all around the blogs and forums about the rules, and Victorian gaming. I'm not sure they'll be what I'm looking for, but at that price for a print book I don't mind. It's interesting how we're suddenly seeing an explosion in VSF in 15mm and 28mm. I'm also surprised to see renewed interest in Western rules, which seem to have been quite dead the past five or so years.

Crazy Old White-Haired Victorian Dude & Stuff

Last week, my wife and son went on a mini-vacation to St. Louis, so I took a little Me Time to do some painting. My back was still bothering me, but I had to do something. Actually, the back is still bothering me today, more so after bending over to take a bunch of photos for the blog this morning. It's at week five now. Sigh. My wife and son are tired of me being cranky! It's getting better but it will probably take a few more weeks. And now I've lost my train of thought. Oh, right...back on track.

I also worked a bit on the bases of my 28mm Soviets, sealing the ground cover with diluted white glue. I feared that the glue would turn the brown ballast a bit darker, which it did. Drats.

Plus, I really improved the look of the 15mm hedges I made years ago. They don't look like Brillo pads anymore! It was really easy to do. I'll have photos and tips of that later on.Yes, lots of  new 15mm stuff in the works here. :-)

Oh yeah, welcome to all the new folks following the blog. I always appreciate it. Feel free to leave comments.

Anyway, here is the third fellow I've painted from the London Mob pack. I thought I'd try white hair for the first time. I think it came out a bit too white, so next time I'll do it differently. Lesson learned. (I'm rationalizing that he lost his Sanity roll while facing one of Cthulhu's minions, turning his hair total white. LoL.) Any tips on painting an old man's white hair would be appreciated!

Since I have a bunch of these guys done now, I'll start working on the bases. I'm thinking of using the fine ballast but painting the entire base gray. I've seen this on the Pulp Figures site and in WSS magazine for "urban" figures and like the look. Simple and easy. I just have to figure out what color gray. You guys think it would work?

I used Burnt Sienna for the coat. I really liked the color.

London Thug With Knife

Another of the figures from the London Thugs pack, this fellow is brandishing a shiv. This is the first time I've painted a figure with a bloody knife, but I felt it adds to his menace. The dripping blood was paint that dribbled down the blade all on its own, making for a happy accident! I will say, these figures sure do rock the 'staches.

If I Weren't So Drunk, Why I'd....What Was I Sayin'?

Today's lesson: Kids, don't drink and riot. It's a deadly combination. Just take a look at this fellow, who's had a bit too much of the sauce every day. Do you want to grow up to be like him? Need we say more? I don't think so.

I had a lot of fun painting this guy's face. When I finished priming him, he looked like a drunk old coot, so I just had to try my hand at making him look like one. I gave his bulbous nose a nice shade of red, along with his cheeks and lips. Plus some bleary eyes. That single tooth is also nasty. His ratty and worn jacket fit him perfectly. Sometimes I get a bit proud of my "children"! LOL. Another of the London Thugs pack.

I Wanna Be Your Sledgehammer

I wanted to make some posts the past few days, but life has been a bit crazy here at the HQ. My wife took ill yesterday, her blood pressure skyrocketing,  and had to go to the hospital. After a bunch of testing, she came home this afternoon. Luckily, all the tests came back normal. Just one of those weird moments where stuff happens but the docs can't figure why. Of course, I'm am totally wiped!

Anyway, here are some pics of another London Thug figure I finished the other week. I did some wet-blending on his vest, seeing if I could remember how to do it. I liked the results, which gave me the encouragement to paint more figures. I used craft paints, which are more difficult for wet-blending than hobby paints made for it. I painted his hair reddish for a change of pace. One of these days I'm going to write a rebuttal post against people who criticize these figures as inferior because they look too cartoonish. I love the look!

Would anyone be interested in the colors and triads I used for these figures? Just wondering.

Ok, that's enough for today. I'm beat!

A Peak at the Lead Mountain: Gothic Horror

The other night, I was lamenting about my frustrations getting back into painting my 28mm miniatures. It was one of those weird nights, I guess. Well, here is a photo from my "lead mountain" awaiting painting.

West Wind Gothic Horror
Folks, this is where my painting journey began 5 years ago. At the time, Jeremy and I were enthralled with the Van Helsing movie, which we had seen for the first time. We watched the DVD over and over again. So for my first painting project, I wanted to paint some Gothic Horror figures for gaming the movie. At the time, Old Glory had just lost the  Gothic Horror/Vampire Wars license, so I plunged into the Army Card to get as many of the Gothic Horror figures as I could for Van Helsing and some mummy-hunting Pulp gaming. Some of my first posts on this blog were about these figures, and an Old Glory pirate. As you can see, I haven't progressed very far with the Gothic Horror project! Of course, other things began catching my eye, like 15mm WWII and then 28mm WWII. As you can see, some other odds and ends also are crammed into this box.

GHL-4 London Detectives
Looking at a box full of blisters is boring, so here are photos of some painted West Wind Gothic Horror figures. These are the four figures from the London Detectives pack, which doesn't have any photos online. The fellow second from the right was the second 28mm figure I had painted and was seen back when this blog was new. That's why he looks like he's standing in mud! I also thought he'd make a good Pinkerton for Western games, so he got a duster color for his coat.

The latest figure of the bunch to be painted is the gent on the far right. I was so thrilled with him because for the first time I was able to paint fairly straight stripes on a figure, in his case the trousers! (My hands tend to shake a lot while I paint or do anything--it's a problem I've had all my life--so I have to brace them and the figures like crazy.) The others were done in between over a few year period, which explains why they all look different--I was trying to learn how to paint.

You know, I really love this pack!

Get Off My Lawn, You #$*# Kids!

Well, today ends the first week of teaching a new semester. As always, it took quite a bit out of me, especially by the evening. As I'm getting older, it seems to be taking more out of me than it used to. (While sitting on the sofa in the afternoon or evening, I'll suddenly fall asleep without realizing it. Ahhh! I've become my grandmother!) So no model work got done, and I was online very little this week--usually to check the forums during an office break or other "breaks." I haven't had any time to even glance at all the blogs I follow! Anyway...

Below is a West Wind gentleman that I had painted a couple years ago. However, a couple weeks ago I decided to tweak the original painting a bit. I applied new highlights to his coat for better contrast. I also highlighted the scarf, beard, gloves, cuffs, and other bits. I love this guys and always think of him yelling "Get off my lawn!" My only gripe is that his scarf is sculpted very oddly once it wraps around his collar. Part of it just seems to end halfway down the right collar. Not much we can do about that, but it's a mistake that just bugs me. This fellow is painted using only craft paints, except for his flesh, which is always Privateer Press Paints.

Another London Thug: Ah, He Don't Too Tough To Me!

This is the third figure I've finished from the West Wind London Thugs pack. These guys know how to rock the 'staches and 'burns! While I use many craft paints, I also use some model paints. I recently bought Vallejo's #124 Iraqi Sand and have come to really love the color, which I used on this fellow's jacket and the the previous figure I posted. It's just perfect for 1800's clothing. At the moment, I can't remember what highlight and shadow colors I used with it. I thought I had written them down, but I can't find the paper. I really really need to get more organized! LoL. Until next time...