Precinct Omega's Random Thread of Randomness

[precinctomega]

You'll have to ask my client.

And now for something completely different; a Forge World Brass Scorpion:

This is assembled, but the plates on its back and the front claws haven't been glued into place and won't be until the whole thing has been painted. The plan for this is to do a lot of masking and airbrushing before I go brush-to-model.

R.

[Daniel36]

Haven't seen that guy in a while, or ever painted (FW's own notwithstanding)...

They must've not sold well. I am anxious to see what you are going to do with it.

[precinctomega]

A bit of fun I threw together over the weekend:

It's for sale!

Here's the sales blurb:

In these dangerous times, one can never be certain that a tentacular threat might not be lurking, just out of sight, perhaps hidden in the non-Euclidean geometries of that sinister crack in the wall or summoned from hellish dimensions by the misguided meddlings of those that ought to know better!

Others might quail at the sight of cyclopean interlopers or of formless shoggoths when these monstrous denizens of a parallel universe interrupt an otherwise perfectly excellent afternoon tea, but not you! No! For you shall produce - perhaps from a dainty handbag or a convenient ticket pocket - Professor Omega's Aethyric Derringer! Pre-charged with a guaranteed four, full-strength blasts of aethyric excresence, this handy device is a must-have for the modern adventurer or adventuress, perfect for those occasions when more serious hardware might be inappropriate or even rude!

Lovingly hand-crafted*, this essential tool of any modern explorer in the realms of the Unknown can be yours!

***

IMPORTANT NOTE: Professor Omega's Aethyric Derringer is a non-firing prop and will not actually blast Deep Ones, Old Ones, Shoggoths, Night Gaunts or any other Cthuluesque horrors into convenient, fun-sized blobs of protoplasm. This device runs entirely on imagination.

Approximately 130cm/7" long. The item is made mostly of plastic and has been hand-painted with a metallic/wood finish, given a coat of satin varnish to preserve the paintwork and gloss varnish on the "wooden" areas.

*From and old toy and found items.

R.

[precinctomega]

And now that Brass Scorpions is airbrushed with several layers of different shades of purple and red:

R.

[precinctomega]

And a quick Flesh Tearers veteran squad for a client:

R.

[Catferret]

Ooh, I like the shade of red you've gone for on the Flesh Tearers. Very reminiscent of dried blood rather than the usual red GW use.

Nice work.

[precinctomega]

It's a 90/10 mix of Blood Red (actually I used a Vallejo paint, but it was basically BR) and Mordian Blue. Funnily enough, the same one I used on the final coat on the above-illustrated Brass Scorpion.

R.

[TheCount]

R.

Some really cool stuff in this log havta give it a proper look through!,

Just a quick question what paints ya use for the base here trying to get a similar style for my ww2 stuff, Cheers.

[precinctomega]

IIRC, that one was painted with Graveyard Earth and then drybrushed with Dheneb Stone, but it was quite a while ago.

R.

[precinctomega]

This one is a little different. I was sent this model as one of a batch of three as a free sample from Stuart (I think that's right) of Silent Spectre Minis. I should hasten to add that this was, by quite some way, both my favourite of the bunch and at the same time the least well sculpted. The other two are dwarfs, one being a space-type dwarf adventurer and the other a more classic fantasy/steampunk dwarf hero type. I'll get to them in due course.

So, a review of this mini:

First glance was not promising. The model was obviously inspired by Daniel Craig's character in Cowboys and Aliens, but there were a number of glaring failures in replicating this impression and a number of more subtle failures. The most obvious one was in the sculpting of the face.

I should hasten to say that Stuart is a decent sculptor. Not world-class yet, perhaps but talented and promising (and a lot better than me!). This face does not do his skills justice. The eyes were barely present, the nose crushed, the mouth no more than a jutting lower lip, the cheekbones non-existent (on Daniel Craig!!) and the ears too low.

Other aspects of the anatomy were fine... but only if one chooses to forget the Daniel Craig connection. Otherwise, the legs and **** are both far too fat and the neck too short. However, they are well within the parameters of the 28mm "heroic" type miniature.

Looking beyond those gripes, the sculpting is definitely OK. Not bad, but not great. The hat is a bit too small (it's the right size for the head, but the head is too small for the body; assuming a "heroic" type, which is implied in the rest of the sculpt), the buttons a bit too big and the thing on his wrist not sufficiently prominent. If I were going over the green with Stuart instead of the cast miniature I would be pointing out all the points of detail he failed to incorporate from the source images: the boots could be pointier; the chaps lack the seaming detail of the movie; several elements of detail are missing from the belt, and the waistcoat should show a clear delineation in the sculpting between front and back (I painted it on, but it's not on the sculpt).

Finally, on the sculpt, the tab for the slottabase is too wide and I had to file it down substantially for the mini to fit in the slot. I found this the case on all three minis and it's very annoying.

***

Now to painting.

The model is a breeze and a pleasure to paint with two exceptions: the face (where I basically had to make it up as I went along) and the wrist-thingy, which lacks the definition and detail essential in such a critical element of a sculpt of this sort.

Craig's character bascially wears shades of brown, so painting involved a lot of Calthan Brown, a few different washes and a smidgen of different shades of grey. I managed to include a bit of Iyanden Darksun in the pin stripes on the trousers (faithful to the movie, that) and on the stripes on the front of the waistcoat (Craig's character wears a waistcoat with a corduroy effect on the front).

Despite my lengthy reservations concerning the sculpt, I loved the concept from the start and really enjoyed painting the mini, because the process was so quick and simple. Moreover, I'm planning two rules mods for Legends of the Old West (or possibly the new Blackwater Gulch rules, although I'm yet to read them), one of which will be a Weird West setting with Elves, Orcs, Undead, steampunk stuff and suchlike (yes, a bit like Malifaux but not as fruity), and the other will be an SF version. With this in hand it looks like the SF version might come first, and Craig Daniels, Space Cowboy, can take to the stars!

R.

[Silent_Spectre]

Thanks for the review

Just to point out (as I did on Twitter, for those that don't follow me there!) this was a *fast* sculpt, taking ~8 hours to complete. I didn't use any specific reference materials (ie stills from a certain film ) whilst sculpting the mini as I didn't want to make a 100% accurate replica of the character (copyright issues etc). Finally, the face didn't cast particularly well for whatever reason - on the green it's fine, but the metal, cast version does (annoyingly) have flaws But hey, if you always got things right on the first go, you'd never grow to be better!

I'm glad you enjoyed painting the miniature, as I did enjoy sculpting it - and it's always nice to see my work 'coloured in' (and not by me!)

thanks


Stuart

[precinctomega]

A little something for a potential commercial client:

The shield is being painted separately and the base has been left un-touched at the client's insistence.

EDIT - Second one finished!

This one took less long than I originally expected because, once I started painting it, I realized that, frankly, there wasn't all that much to the sculpt. *Nice mini, but it doesn't lend itself well to elaborate paint-work.

Just got to wait for the washes to dry on the shields, now.

R.

[precinctomega]

So I went to an Ex Illis demo day at Total Wargamer the other weekend and was given, for my trouble, a free model!

So as I had it lying on my desk, I thought I'd throw some paint at it. I realized as I was editing the pictures that I had forgotten to finish the model's right arm, so look past that:

Looking past my impressions of the game, which are various, I have to say that the miniatures are, so far, the biggest obstacle to my getting involved in this wargame. This horse is, to be fair, one of the better examples of the equine species amongst the range but it still a bit "blobby", especially around its back legs. The knight, meanwhile, is a decent sculpt but, as far as I can tell, hopelessly anachronistic for its period (early 14th Century - shoulder pads? Seriously? And banding on the rim of the shield?). Moreover, the horse's tack is completely wrong (look at the buckles right by the knight's feet!).

Part of Ex Illis's appeal is its juxtaposition of historical and fantastical elements, but I'm far from convinced. Given their prices, the requirement to buy their models in order to play (to get the codes) and the low sculpting quality compared to equivalents like Perry, Victrix or even Wargames Factory, Ex Illis has slipped a fair way down my "to buy" list, even though the game itself is a bit of a winner.

R.

[precinctomega]

Finally got around to making some meaningful progress on this model:

R.

[precinctomega]

Here's an update on the Brass Scorpion:

Should have this finished on Monday!

R.

[precinctomega]

Finished the Scorpion!

R.

[Mr Feral]

That's a very impressive Greater Brass Scorpion!

The molten effect on the carapace really adds to the overall paintjob.

[Jormi_Boced]

Those spyglass minis look nice.

[juicytomatoes]

wow! The Brass Scorpion looks amazing!

[precinctomega]

A very quick little project:

This is the sort of project I'd like to keep doing once in a while just to keep my hand in. The client will be painting it. Here's a little background for this character:

Veteran Sergeant Promeus Mazda
Every space marine chapter has its heroes. Many are names that become legend across a hundred worlds, their deeds written into the histories as inspiration to generations of soldiers. Figures like Orar, Cortez, Lysander and Blackmane bestride the chronicles like gods of the battlefield. But some heroes are barely recognized even within their own chapter, so subtle is their touch and so modest their natures. Sergeant Promeus Mazda is such a man who has made the mentorship of young novices and initiates his life's work. Some of the Salamanders' mightiest warriors first learned the simple rites of bolter drill beneath the firm hand of Sergeant Mazda. Some of the Imperium's greatest threats have fallen to precise fire guided by his keen eyes and innate tactical genius.

But even the chapter masters of the Salamaders have not always recognized the value of his presence in the ranks. Mazda has never engaged with the chapter's internal workings nor made close friends or allies amidst its command structure. When not leading a new generation of scouts, he can most often be found amongst the youths of his boyhood home, guiding their learning with the same gentle words and firm discipline he serves to novices of the chapter. When deployed, he invariably exercises such a broad interpretation of his orders that his squads disappear into the smoke and wreckage only to strike when least expected and melt back into the shadows before even his brethren have noticed the decisive stroke made in their support. Too many Salamaders commanders have had their reputations saved by his intervention for their pride to tolerate his advancement. But Mazda cares little for their jealousy or resentment. He is content in his role and, if past experience is anything to go by, his service will continue for centuries yet to come.

R.