“Delays possible due to snow”

Right well this week I thought I get stuck in to some of the miniatures I bought from Salute last weekend, but I’m rather ashamed to admit that I can only post a “work in progress” report as I haven’t been able to get them finished. So it is with my head hung (very) low that I shall be writing this week’s post.

Saturday and Sunday were both on shows on the painting front, Saturday as I was out (obviously!) and Sunday as I was still “knackered” from the day before, so it wasn’t until I got home from work that I sat down to look at what poor figures were going to have to endure my stumpy fingered machinations with the paint brush, my gaze soon falling upon the 28mm Yeti’s and 15mm Snow trolls I’d pre-ordered from Copplestone Castings (now available through Northstar Miniatures) for pick up at the show (this was a right kerfuffle in itself, but that’s another story!). Now my cunning plan is to use all of these figures for “Frostgrave”, as Snow trolls as per the rule book (might have to reduce the stat’s slightly for the smaller 15mm chaps). The only things that show the smaller figures 15mm origins are a few little skulls dotted around the thongs about their waists, so first job was to dig out the old “greenstuff” and cover these up by turning them into additional draw string bags. Then it was time to mount everyone op onto two pence pieces. Here I hit snag number two… the two bigger chaps bases hung over the edges of the coins, now I considered mounding them up on bigger washers but the “overhangs” were so small I decided to cut and file away the edges of the bases till the fitted (luckily their feet were sculpted inside the boundaries of the coins). A little “tetrion” filler blended in and covered the rough edges I left on the bases.

So it was Tuesday before I could get them outside (I love a bit of good weather don’t you?) and spray the little blighters matt black. Then I painted them almost totally with butternut (makes you wonder why I bothered with the black doesn’t it? Yes me too!), them the furry portions of them were dry-brushed firstly in coffee and then cream. Flesh came next I didn’t want them quite as bright blue as the ones in the rules book so, I mixed some blue grey with some leather brown and used the result as an undercoat, I then dotted in the eyes and mouths with a little dark red before I mixed more blue grey this time with pale flesh and highlighted with this. Their eyes and teeth were added next, the eyes dotted in with lemon yellow and the teeth in cream. Bags, belts and the shafts on their weapons were then all undercoated in chocolate brown, and then the various different materials were either highlighted in butternut or leather brown. I then went around and repainted the stone blades on the smaller trolls weapons along with the shields on two of their backs and the odd bit of amour, then the stone blades were dry-brushed with dark grey and them light grey. And that is where I’m up to as of this moment, not that far to go now so I should baring major disasters (don’t tempt fate, Roger!!) be able to get them finished by next weekend fairly easily, so I might add a couple of other figures into the mix as well, we’ll see.

Till next week, cheers Roger.