[Archives] Empire Captain with Hammer and Pistol

Empire Captain with Hammer and Pistol, Empire Duelist with Sword, Empire Duelist with Brace of Pistols, and Empire Captain with Sword and Orc Head are the last batch of miniatures I painted before starting this blog in 2015. These four metal miniatures were painted to be used as part of a Reikland mercenary warband for the Mordheim skirmish game. This model was used both as a Reikland Captain in Mordheim and as an Empire general/captain for Warhammer Fantasy Battle. The giant hammer, cloak, ornate armor. plus the grizzled bearded face gives the impression of a high ranking veteran soldier. A perfect model for leading an Empire army.

Notes: The original binders notes are on page 39. The record for the work I did on both this model and the Empire Captain with Sword and Orc Head were poorly kept as I was preoccupied finding a new place to live at that time. Like all the other models I painted for an Empire army, I kept the red and white color theme as the main emphasis on the model. I did not paint in his eyes, but with how the helmet gives a natural shadow over the eyes, it does not look too bad; however, looking it up close...painting eyes will be one of my main areas I want to improve on.

[Archives] Empire Captain with Sword and Orc Head

Empire Captain with Sword and Orc Head, Empire Duelist with Sword, Empire Duelist with Brace of Pistols, and Empire Captain with Hammer and Pistol are the last batch of miniatures I painted before starting this blog in 2015. These four metal miniatures were painted to be used as part of a Reikland mercenary warband for the Mordheim skirmish game. Not only was he used as a Reikland Champion, he was also used as a Empire Captain in Warhammer Fantasy. Except for the sculpted blood, I really liked this characterful model. I think it is that pose of him wiping his blade after lopping off the head of an Orc!

Notes: The original binders notes are on page 38.  The record for the work I did on both this model and the Empire Captain with Hammer and Pistol were poorly kept as I was preoccupied finding a new place to live at that time. For the model, I tried to keep the red and white color theme of the Empire that I had started with the Battle Master Empire infantry; however, since he is going to be a captain in the army, I wanted to give him some unique color to separate him from the regular troops. This turn out to be a light brown boots and hat compared to the deeper brown boots of the regular troops. I stained the sword's "Sigmar" engraving with a red wash, not entirely sure if I wanted it to be either a magic sword with a slightly red shine or blood soaked inside the engravings. Even though I did not paint the eyes, the shading seems to be good enough to give the impression of his eyes looking downward at his sword.

[Archives] Empire Duelist with Brace of Pistols

Empire Duelist with Brace of Pistols, Empire Duelist with Sword, Empire Captain with Hammer and Pistol, and Empire Captain with Sword and Orc Head are the last batch of miniatures I painted before starting this blog in 2015. These four metal miniatures were painted to be used as part of a Reikland mercenary warband for the Mordheim skirmish game. This model was used to represent a Reikland Youngblood, This model and the Empire Duelist with Sword are part of an Empire Collector's Miniature series from Games Workshop. Like the Duelist with Sword, the Duelist with Brace of Pistols looks more like a person in gear for a fight, but not necessarily equipped for war.

[Archives] Empire Duelist with Sword

Empire Duelist with Sword, Empire Duelist with Brace of Pistols, Empire Captain with Hammer and Pistol, and Empire Captain with Sword and Orc Head are the last batch of miniatures I painted before starting this blog in 2015. These four Empire metal miniatures were painted to be used as part of a Reikland mercenary warband for the Mordheim skirmish game. This model was used as a Reikland Youngblood. Nowadays, the difference in the level of detail between plastic and metal models is fairly low; however 5 years ago painting this miniature, the difference is quite huge especially when compared to the 1990s plastic models I had been painting. I also noticed how the the model can still look pretty good due to the detail of the model offsetting my rather simple paint job! Unlike the previous fantasy Empire models that I painted which are more soldier-centric in theme, the duelist looks more like a noble that is in gear for a fight, but not heavily armored for war. This makes it fit well for role playing games and as a mercenary in Mordheim.

[Archives] Hills, Citadel Modular

The Citadel Modular Hills are out of production terrain pieces from Games Workshop.

Four separate pieces combined into one large hill terrain.

Notes: The work on the Citadel Modular Hills were done simultaneously with the Citadel Hills. For both hill types, I wanted it be a medium green color with patches of other grass colors. Having 4 pieces of 2 unique sculpts, there are multiple configurations that I can use the versatile modular hill pieces. They can be used as table corner pieces, combined two together for table edge pieces, or combine 4 pieces together for one large hill. The original binder notes were on page 29.

[Archives] Hills, Citadel

The Citadel Hills are out of production terrain pieces from Games Workshop.

Te four heroes stands on top of  one of the two Citadel Hills (left)

Notes: The work on the Citadel Hills were done simultaneously with the Citadel Modular Hills. For both hill types, I wanted it be a medium green color with patches of other grass colors. The Citadel Hills are larger than each Citadel Modular Hill; however, when you combine all 4 Citadel Modular Hills together, the regular Hills are smaller. The original binder notes were on page 29.

[Archives] Warhammer Fortress

Painted Version

I remember looking at the Warhammer fortress 20 years ago, thinking how great it would be as a centerpiece for a fantasy game setting. Now, the castle looks rather simple compare to what is available today. I still like the castle for its modularity and that I can used it for both miniature war games and role playing games. The fortress is part of a project to create an adventure site that includes a town with at least 20 buildings.

Notes: The modular Warhammer Fortress can be set up in many different configurations. It can be made into one very long wall, half a castle, or even a small fully enclosed fortress. The gate can be opened and closed and there are 4 door accessories to represent additional entryways to the the towers. The paint scheme for the terrain pieces I worked on in 2010-2011 are very simple, but effective in my opinion. At the moment, the terrain pieces are not sealed with any varnish. The original binder notes for the work done to the Warhammer Fortress is on page 28.

[Archives] King's Wall

The King's Walls from Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th Edition starter box: Battle for Skull Pass Set were the first plastic items I painted that were not from the games I played as a child (Battle Masters and HeroQuest). Since I had more than one fence, I decided to experiment with them to see if I can identify differences between painting miniatures with a white or black undercoat. With the way I was painting back then--opaque paint coverage rather than a semi-transparent paint coverage--I really don't see much of a difference. It was a fun and fairly simple terrain piece to paint. I used the painted version of the King's Walls from the box front and back cover as a template for my paint scheme.

[Archives] Trees, Woodland Scenics

Last Updated on August 13. 2016 - Trees...lots of trees! I completed 14 trees and have 26 more trees that is near completion. I just have to complete their bases. The trees. however, are currently in a storage box until I have more game room space. The original purpose for these trees was to use them as modular difficult and very difficult terrain pieces for Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Now, I plan to use them as individual terrain pieces for skirmish games such as Infinity. Back then, I decided on a general theme for my game terrains--a battlefield stomped around by troops. So overall, the ground will be patchy with grass. The original idea was that the tree terrains will have slightly more grass than the other terrain pieces as armies would not trampled forest area as much as they would in open terrain.

[Archives] Hill, Homemade

I have collected miniatures and play games with them since the early 1990s. The late 2000s is when I started building, modeling, and painting game pieces. The very first thing I built for miniature gaming was this cardboard hill terrain. When I first made this terrain piece, I was quite happy with how it turned out. Since then, I have better terrain pieces to represent hills. In the future, I would like to go back to this terrain piece and convert it into some type of special terrain.

[Archives] First Wolf - Space Wolves Wolf Guard

For a long time I have been collecting only fantasy miniatures. Four years ago, I met some people that played 40k. They got me interested in trying out the game and recommended me to try out the Space Wolves. This would be my first metal and 40k miniature that I painted. I have affectionately nicknamed him as "First Wolf."

Notes: Original binder notes for my work on this miniature is on page 33. It is my experience with this metal miniature that I decided to switch from acrylic black paint to gesso as my primary undercoat. I feel that regular acrylic black paint was more difficult to get a good undercoat coverage on metal miniatures compared to plastic miniatures. In addition, the undercoat seems to be more easily rubbed off compared to undercoating plastic miniatures. Another lesson I learned from working on this miniature is to not assemble the model completely. In hindsight, it might have been better to glue the backpack at the very end or had a plan at the beginning on what I wanted the shoulder pads to look like. The glued backpack makes painting the shoulder pads fairly inconvenient.

[Archives] The Elf

This is the Elf from the HeroQuest game. He is one of the four heroes that make up the blog's name. He and his companions--the Barbarian, the Dwarf, and the Wizard--were some of the miniatures in the 1990's that got me into the miniature gaming hobby. The last of the four heroes. I think he turned out the best out of the four. Was originally planning him to be a hero in a wood elf army; however, the hero has a bow requirement and I am not bold enough to try to add a bow to the character. The elf will be a hero for a high elf army.

Notes: While the Barbarian and Dwarf were undercoated black, the Wizard and Elf were undercoated white. No eyes on this miniature were painted and it is very noticeable on a brightly colored miniature. Tried a lot of different paint schemes on him. The stone slab was actually the original base that got cut in a way that it looks like a stone slab. Original binder notes for this miniature is on page 10.

[Archives] The Wizard

This is the Wizard from the HeroQuest game. He is one of the four heroes that make up the blog's name. He and his companions--the Barbarian, the Dwarf, and the Elf--were some of the miniatures in the 1990's that got me into the miniature gaming hobby. My niece uses this miniature in the D&D Castle Ravenloft board game.

Notes: While the Barbarian and Dwarf were undercoated black, the Wizard and Elf were undercoated white. I think I had the most trouble with the Wizard and tried a lot of different color schemes for him. The cape look a tad bit too shiny, but the pants turned out better than I thought. I can see my layering of colors on the shirt to be fairly rough. No eyes on this miniature were painted and it is very noticeable on a brightly colored miniature. The stone slab was actually the original base that got cut in a way that it looks like a stone slab. Original binder notes for this miniature is on page 10.

[Archives] The Dwarf

Updated on October 26, 2015. This is the Dwarf from the HeroQuest game. He is one of the four heroes that make up the blog's name. He and his companions--the Barbarian, the Elf, and the Wizard--were some of the miniatures in the 1990's that got me into the miniature gaming hobby. This model seems to be one of the many versions of the White Dwarf (Grombindel and Snorri Whitebeard are other names). I have been using the Dwarf in most of my games with my nephews and nieces.

Notes: Unlike the Barbarian where I just stuck to a two color scheme for each part (base and shade), I experimented with more colors on the Dwarf (base shade, and highlight). The most obvious is the shirt underneath the mail. Looking at the photo, it appears I had too much paint on my brush when working on the chainmail. I try painting eyes, but it did not looked good. Instead I just darkened the area around the eyes. The sides of the beard had very little detail, so I tried freehand painting on those areas. The stone slab was actually the original base that got cut in a way that it looks like a stone slab. Original binder notes for this miniature is on page 9.

[Archives] The Barbarian

Updated on October 26, 2015. This is the Barbarian from the HeroQuest game. He is one of the four heroes that make up the blog's name. He and his companions--the Dwarf, the Elf, and the Wizard--were some of the miniatures in the 1990's that got me into the miniature gaming hobby, Thus, it was fitting that the Barbarian was my first completed miniature!

Notes: Being the first miniature that I painted, I went with a very simple paint scheme. Most parts of the miniature were painted with just two colors-a base color and a shade. In addition, using the same base color but with a different wash color, one can achieve a diverse range of subtle colors. For example, compare the hair with the fur and boots. I remember trying to paint eyes on him, but failed miserably; thus, I left it unpainted. The stone slab was actually the original base that got cut in a way that it looks like a stone slab. Original binder notes for this miniature is on page 9. Overall, I think it looks pretty good for such a simple paint scheme and proves that you don't need to do too much to have a presentable miniature.

[Archives] Imperial Men-at-Arms

Updated on October 15. 2015. These are the 15 Imperial Men-at-Arms from the Battle Masters game. These will be used as Empire State Troops in Age of Sigmar. Including the Imperial Crossbowmen and Imperial Archers, they were my first units of troops that I painted. This is the first unit of troops that I tried to make subtle variations among themselves. I think from now on, I will always tried to paint each model within a unit to have some differences.

[Archives] Imperial Crossbowmen

Updated on October 15, 2015. These are the 5 Imperial Crossbowmen from the Battle Masters game. These will be used as Empire Crossbowmen in Age of Sigmar. Including the Imperial Men-at-Arms and Imperial Archers, they were my first units of troops to be painted. For the paintings I did 5 years ago, I always painted with Citadel Foundation Paints after the undercoat. Having more experience, it seems to be a waste of paint if it will be completely covered up. For example, the metallic parts of a miniature does not require a Foundation Paint coat beneath it.

[Archives] Imperial Archers

Updated on October 15, 2015. These are the 10 Imperial Archers from the Battle Masters game. These will be used as Empire Archers in Age of Sigmar. Including the Imperial Men-at-Arms and Imperial Crossbowmen, they were my first units of troops to be painted. I found painting 5 of the same miniatures at one time is a good compromise between painting efficiently and reducing the tediousness of painting the same type of miniatures.