Throwback Project - Secret Weapon Tablescapes Rolling Fields Test Tiles

These terrain pieces were part of Secret Weapon Miniatures' Tablescapes Tiles line. Each 12x12 inch tile is made of sturdy injection molded plastic and locks together using clips. I received a box of sixteen tiles as a Kickstarter backer reward several years ago. I choose the Rolling Fields tiles as the ones with the most utility. Uneven natural terrain featuring a dry creek bed works in any number of settings ranging from fantasy to modern to sci-fi. Secret Weapon Miniatures seem to have phased out the Tablescapes Tiles line and the Rolling Fields are no longer available on their website.

The pair of tiles I painted and detailed as test pieces.

I decided to pick out a couple of tiles as test pieces rather than tackle the whole box of sixteen at once. Some of the techniques I used were tested on the Games Workshop Moonscape Craters earlier this year. Using spray paints cut down painting time considerably, even though I ended up waiting for periods of moderate humidity to get the painting done. I also used a post on the Secret Weapon Miniatures blog for inspiration. The techniques I used differed from the ones described in that post, but they were handy as a reference.

Comparison of the top and bottom of the tiles. The underside is unprimed and unpainted, showing the original color of the plastic.

Preparation
There wasn't any flash or mold lines to cut off, so I went directly to the other kind of clean up. A short soak and some scrubbing in warm soap and water did the trick.

Spray Priming/Painting - First Layer
I sprayed Krylon Camouflage Ultra-Flat Black over the upper surface, using two thin coats to get into all the recesses. Experience has taught me that Krylon Camouflage bonds well to plastic, so I was able to skip priming the tile.

Spray Painting - Second Layer
Next was a coat of Krylon Camouflage Ultra-Flat Brown. I wasn't worried about getting it into every nook and cranny. Any black still showing in the recesses would appear to be shading. I could still see the black through the brown in some areas, but I decided against another coat of brown. Since soil is not uniform in color, I felt that such variations made the tiles look more natural.

A trio of warriors make their way over the dusty badlands.

Spray Painting - Final Layer
I used Krylon Camouflage Ultra-Flat Khaki for the last coat of spray paint. It was applied at an angle so that some of the previous coats would still show through, especially in the recesses. Krylon Camouflage produces convincing natural colors - as the name implies - and the finish has little or no gloss.

Detailing
The brush work started as I painted the rocks using FolkArt 2561 Steel Grey. Looking back, the rocks really shouldn't be the same color. The later highlight and wash layers disguise their uniform color, but I might try for more variation for the next batch. Also, I didn't paint every single rock - just picking out the larger ones was enough for me.

A certain landing party explores another arid planet.

Highlight
I drybrushed a little FolkArt 420 Linen over the surface of each tile to bring out some of the raised details and provide more color variation.

Wash
I mixed a wash using FolkArt 231 Real Brown, a little Liquitex Matte Medium, and water. Then I reached for the biggest hobby brush I own to apply it to both tiles. The final step was to wipe off the excess with a sponge. The wash also seems to have settled deeper into the recesses of the flatter tile, resulting in a darker color. The effect isn't too jarring in most lighting conditions, so I'm not concerned enough to try to correct it. There is also some pooling and streaking visible in some areas.

Close up of the two tiles placed together. Note the slight color difference between the two tiles.

Flock and Static Grass
I decided to go light on the greenery for the first pass. It's in keeping with the dry, desolate look I was going for with the paint scheme. Besides, covering up the texturing on the tiles seemed like a bit of a waste to me.

Overall, the paint scheme turned out the way I wanted - suggesting a place where it hasn't rained in awhile. Maybe it's a little too dry. I may go back for another pass with the flock and static grass. If nothing else, it will cover up some parts where I got a little too aggressive with applying the drybrushing or wash. After that, I'll start knocking these out a tiles or two at a time.

Reaper Bones 77065 Norgol, Irongrave Knight

This was an unplanned Saturday morning speed paint. I was looking forward to spending Saturday spraying primer and paint on some ongoing projects. Those plans went into the bin when I woke up to the sound of rain hitting the roof. I figured that painting this figure would be a good way to help fill a cold, gray morning.

I'm pretty sure that Norgol doesn't use that ax on wood.

Primer Layer

Norgol got the mix of FolkArt Glass & Tile Medium and an appropriately colored paint that I generally use for Reaper Bones miniatures. In this case, black for the armor and brown for everything else.

Base Layer

I decided to go old school for the armor on this chaotic-looking fellow with some of my surviving Citadel Colour paints. The armor, ax blade, and pommel got a coat of Codex Grey. All other areas were painted with Reaper 09284 Lonestar Leather. The furs did not receive any further layers of paint except for the wash.

Metallic Layers

The armor and other metal areas were painted with Citadel Colour Boltgun Metal and highlighted with Citadel Colour Mithril Silver. I applied a layer of Secret Weapon W003 Armor Wash to bring out the details and tone down the contrast between the two metallic colors.

Cape, Ax Shaft, and Horns

I used Reaper 09292 Bathalian Chitin to provide some contrast with the rest of the color scheme.

Gloves

Reaper 09110 Oiled Leather was used as a highlight to make the gloves stand out from the rest of the browns.

Wash Layer

Secret Weapon W010 Dark Sepia was applied over the cape, ax shaft, horns, gloves, and furs. It worked well, but it is more runny than I'm used to.

Basing

A one-inch steel washer glued under the integral base gives the figure a little more heft. Reaper Bones figures tend to tip over otherwise. Glued on sand provides texture and a couple of earth tone craft paints gives the basing the appearance of dry ground.

That cape and those furs would normally keep in the warmth, but I'm not sure how helpful they could be over all that metal armor.

Norgol is another figure from the first Reaper Bones Kickstarter. I'm planning on picking up the pace on my unpainted miniatures pile in general and my Reaper Bones collection in particular during the coming year. At my current rate, my grandkids will be inheriting unpainted plastic miniatures.

Not my best work, but a fun figure to knock out on a weekend morning.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Haul 2020

As with last year, I took advantage of the post-Thanksgiving sales to pick up a few gaming-related items. This year's sales-inspired online shopping spree was more restrained than previous occasions. Adding to the project pile didn't interest me, so I focused on things that would aid me in finishing the projects I already have lying around.


From Secret Weapons Miniatures

I developed a liking for washes put out by Secret Weapon Miniatures over the past year. Their washes offer specialized effects for specific projects. They act as glazes - shading and providing an additional tint over the base color.

Brighter than I thought they would be.

W015 Acrylic Wash - Blue
W016 Acrylic Wash - Green
W017 Acrylic Wash - Purple
W025 Acrylic Wash - Just Red

Many projects use these colors as a base. I purchased these washes as potential replacements for the old Citadel products Asurmen Blue, Thraka Green, Leviathan Purple, and Baal Red. The name of W025 - Just Red - reflects the number of red washes on offer from Secret Weapon Miniatures. These washes are much brighter than I expected and the Green is more of an aqua - more towards blue than yellow. We will see how these turn out.

A couple of things that looked interesting.

W001 Acrylic Wash - Soft Body Black
W006 Acrylic Wash - Parchment

Soft Body Black is intended to provide shading without too much of a change to the overall color. The other "soft" washes I've encountered tend to be browns, so I'm interested in seeing how it turns out. I got Parchment to fill a niche that used to be filled by watering down Citadel Washes Gryphonne Sepia - shading a color representing paper or an off-white cloth like undyed linen.

Do I own a base big enough for what's in the box?

W008 Acrylic Wash - Baby Poop

I got a couple bottles of Baby Poop with a specific project in mind. This product worked great for the Reaper Bones #77113 Eldritch Demon I finished early this year. The particular green/brown/orange color over a green base provided the "cosmic horror awakened from a long nap in a pit of deep sea slime" appearance that I was looking for. That project tested the color scheme for something I'm planning on tackling next year - Reaper Bones #77194 C'thulhu. I hope that two bottles (plus what's left of the one I already had) will be enough!


From Warsenal

These look a little dull due to the packaging. Note the one on the right where I removed the protective backing.

Fluorescent Scifi Screens - Communication Array in Blue, Green, and Red

I purchased these to provide more detail for the various "bash bits together" projects I have in the works. These were originally made by Warsenal for their Communications Array (the original one, not the one currently available from their site) and they also offer the screens used for their Tech Console. Note that the dull appearance in my photo is due to the protective backing - I removed it from one screen to show the piece's transparent appearance. I have to commend Warsenal for making these available for scratch building.


Kudos to both Secret Weapons Miniatures and Warsenal - both for offering their products for sale and for their customer service. My orders were filled and shipped promptly.

Bombshell Miniatures Bug Spray

This is "Bug Spray" from Bombshell Miniatures, based on artwork by Matt Dixon. This 32mm scale miniature was introduced as part of Bombshell's "Babes" Kickstarter back in 2012. It is no longer available for purchase from Bombshell Miniatures.

"Bug Spray" going to work.

"Bug Spray" seems to draw from a variety of genre sources. Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley - particularly her depiction in Aliens - may have been the inspiration. The clothes would not be out of place on Tomb Raider's Lara Croft. And the purple hair (as seen on the original artwork) reminds me of Leela from Futurama.

Painting this figure is part of an ongoing effort to complete the out of production products in my collection. I also wanted a straightforward miniature painting project - no hydrophobic plastic to deal with or parts to assemble. This was also a chance to try out a couple of the Secret Weapon washes I picked up awhile back.

Skin
Reaper 09044 Tanned Skin. A clean, even layer was important to provide a foundation for the later wash layer.

Hair
My initial approach was a base layer of Reaper 09025 Burgundy Wine with Reaper 09024 Amethyst Purple applied as highlight. The results were disappointing. There was too much contrast between the two layers. I applied some watered down 09025 Burgundy Wine to better blend the two colors and darken the overall appearance of the hair. Next time I decide to try for purple hair, I might try reversing the initial process - using 09024 Amethyst Purple with some thinned down 09025 Burgundy Wine as a wash.

I'm not sure if the weapon is supposed to be a flame thrower, a plasma projector, or just a BFG.

Shorts
I went with a clean layer of Reaper 09158 Olive Drab and relying on the wash for shading and details.

Top
Reaper 09074 Palomino Gold with 09009 Lemon Yellow for highlighting. There was a strong contrast between the layers, but I knew that the wash I planned on applying later would bring it down.

Leather Accessories
The boots, gloves, and belt all got a clean coat of Reaper 09284 Lonestar Leather. It is a good color for relatively new leather. I would normally apply another color for a more weathered appearance, but I wanted to see what the wash layer would do.

Band Aid
Preserving this detail from the original artwork was a nice touch on Bombshell Miniature's part. Reaper 09233 Bright Skin is too pink to be useful as a skin tone, but works fine for a plastic adhesive bandage.

Weapon
I dipped into my last bottles of old Citadel Colour metallics for this part. Boltgun for the body. Tin Bitz for some of the details with Shining Gold as a highlight. Again, I was relying on the wash layer to bring things together.

Note the adhesive bandage on the right knee. A nice touch on the sculpt!

Weapon - Wash Layer
Secret Weapon W003 Armor Wash. The black-brown brings out the details and gives the weapon a used look.

Almost Everything Else - Wash Layer
Everything except the weapon, the hair, and the adhesive bandage got a layer of Secret Weapon W005 Flesh Wash. Secret Weapon calls it a "medium orange/brown tint" on their website. The tint turned out darker than I expected, but the dirty look fits the figure. The wash works well with the Reaper 09044 Tanned Skin to produce a sun-kissed tone. There is a shine that I initially found a little annoying, but I realized that it helps sell the idea of sweaty and exhausted woman who is having a bad day.

Reaper Bones #77113 Eldritch Demon

Been making some progress on my pile of unpainted miniatures and unfinished terrain projects.

This particular project has spent time on and off my work table since I received it with the rest of the original Reaper Bones Kickstarter's backer rewards. The initial plan was to use this miniature to test a paint scheme to eventually use on its much larger cousin. That fell through when I couldn't find a way to produce a satisfactory green. I tried various combinations of base colors, highlights, and washes over the years. Nothing came out quite right until recently.

The key, it turns out, is Baby Poop.

But more on that later.

Look! He's waving hello! What's that he's saying? "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!"

The Name

"Eldritch Demon" isn't the most accurate name for this friendly fellow. "Eldritch" is fair, given its obvious Lovecraftian inspiration. "Demon" isn't really descriptive of an extraterrestrial being, though. Fortunately, there is a wealth of alternatives:

• Star-Spawn of Cthulhu
• Cthulhi
• Xothian
• Li'l Cthulhu
• Cthulhu Junior
• Baby Cthulhu

The Paint Job

The results of my previous attempts formed a dark green-brown base for me to work with. The original primer/base coat is FolkArt 869 Glass & Tile Medium with a little brown paint. That coat is buried under multiple layers of paint, washes, and failure. Couldn't complain about lack of coverage, though.

I hit the raised areas with FolkArt 527 Forest Moss. Some might question the use of a craft paint, but I had a couple of reasons:

• 527 Forest Moss is a light-to-medium green with a hint of yellow. It provides plenty of contrast with the dark green-brown base, even under a layer of wash.
• It's the one thing that worked well from previous attempts at painting this miniature.
• I'm planning on using craft paints as much as possible on the larger miniatures in my collection. This decision is driven entirely by cost - buying enough hobby paint to coat a Reaper Bones Cthulhu or - if I'm ever insane enough to attempt it – Kaladrax Reborn is well outside of my budget. If 527 Forest Moss works well on this project, it will hopefully work as well on a larger version of this project.

Check out those shoulders! Must be all that time working those wings.

Next came Secret Weapon W008 Baby Poop Wash. I purchased this stuff back on Black Friday/Cyber Monday. This is my first experience using a wash from Secret Weapon. The wash flowed smoothly straight out of the bottle, coating the whole miniature without breaking and setting into the recesses on its own. The finished glaze is glossy enough to suggest wet or slimy flesh on close inspection. The green-brown-orange color was just what I was wanting for a tentacled horror not made of ordinary matter.

The claws and bony spurs are a base of P3 Morrow White and a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone Quickshade.

The tentacles and suckers are a base of Reaper 09183 Cloud Pink and a wash of Secret Weapon Dark Sepia Wash.

The eyes are a base of P3 Morrow White and a wash of Citadel Baal Red that has somehow survived years of storage.

The base was finished in my usual way:

• Paint the integral base brown so none of the Bones white plastic will show through. (The figure was glued on to the round base during assembly.)
• Brush on a layer of watered down PVA glue to the integral and round base.
• Apply sand. Allow glue to dry completely.
• Apply a mix of PVA glue, FolkArt 231 Real Brown, and water to the glued down sand. This further secures the sand to the base surface while coloring it. Allow to dry completely.
• Drybrush FolkArt 420 Linen on the sand layer. This gives the base the appearance of dry earth or wet sand.

I'm pleased at how this project turned out. I'm also happy to be able to put the finished miniature in my display case and move on. It will emerge to menace some player characters soon enough.

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Haul, Part Two

This is "gaming related stuff I picked up inexpensively at recent holiday sales" part two. Part one can be found over here. My comments explain my reasons for purchasing these specific products and present my first impressions. More detailed opinions will come later, after I've had the chance to actually put these products to use. Fortunately, I've got a couple of projects in the pipeline for next year that will give me a chance to experiment.

Secret Weapon Miniatures

This is a company that's been on my radar for awhile. I backed their Tablescape Kickstarter way back in 2013. Before that, I heard positive things about their paints and washes from various sources. Their recent sale gave me a chance of pick up some of their products and try them out for myself.

So, let's see how many words I can throw up on the screen about washes and weathering powder.

Acrylic Wash - Armor Wash - W003

As the name implies, this is marketed for shading surfaces coated with reflective metallic paints. The color is a black/brown strong enough to significantly darken the surface that it is applied to. It should work well for armor plate and chain mail as well as any time a dark brown wash is appropriate - weathered surfaces, dark cloth, and leather come to mind.

Acrylic Wash - Flesh Wash - W005

This wash is a mix of orange and brown tones. Most of the flesh washes that I've tried use red rather than orange for shading. I'm not sure what effect that it would have or how it might throw things off for me. I suspect that the difference might be too subtle to notice.

Acrylic Wash - Baby Poop - W008
I'll fully admit that I got this one because I was amused by the name. It's mostly green and brown with a hint of red. Speaking from experience, real baby poop does contain these colors, but also has a strong yellow tone. Let's attribute the difference to "artistic license" and all that. I'm pretty sure that it is intended for a certain sci-fi wargame army with a green color scheme and featuring themes of physical illness, decay, and warm hugs. I'm thinking that this wash would work well for shading zombies, aliens and alien technology based on the works of H.R. Giger, swamp creatures, and adding to a corroded appearance on a metallic surface.

Acrylic Wash - Dark Sepia - W010

I've been looking around for a burnt sepia wash since my gradual return to tabletop gaming awhile back. Back in the day, my go to was Games Workshop's Gryphonne Sepia. It was handy for shading flesh tones, cloth, and gold metallic surfaces. Unfortunately, that product is long out of production. This purchase is the latest step in finding a "close enough" substitute.

Weathering Pigment - Rust Red - WP1013

I don't have any experience with weathering powders except that they seem pretty expensive for the amount that's in the container. Given this product's sale price, I decided that it was a good way to start experimenting. The strong red color took me by surprise - I was expecting something with more brown mixed in.