Lead and Paint

Alright you silent masses, I see the page count going up on these posts without comment, and  let it go, as really, what's to say. Well your time as mere spectators is at an end! I require you to speak up and speak your mind. I put before you a set of pictures, and it is up to you dear reader, to pick which of these sets of minis I am to paint for this month's Colore ton Monde painting challenge!

As noted previously, the challenge this month is to paint a pair of minis, with a link between the two, be that as friends or foes. I have had a bit of a rummage, and this is what I have come up with.

1 Ten and the Master
Heresy Miniatures IIRC, and a nice duo. The best of frenemies. The last of the Timelords finds out he is not alone, only to find the other remaining is his greatest nemesis.

2. Amelia Pond and the Raggedy Doctor
I do prefer 10 to 11, but the Amy Pond mini will be a challenge to get right, for me at least. Again Heresy minis.

3. K-9 and 10
What's not to love about these two. Of course K-9 has more of a relationship with 4, or even Sarah-Jane, but I don't have minis for those two. Again Heresy.

4. Khador Kayazy Eliminators
Privateer Press miniatures. Wonderful sculpts, and very dynamic. I think they go very well with the scenic bases I put them on. Of course these two are a matching pair, a unit of two. What beauties!

5. Harold and Val

Another Heresy set. This time as part of a little diorama that has been stuck on hold for the longest of times, mostly just because I have no need for it in game, but it is one that I would like to finish eventually. The base for these two is already made, it just needs painted (like these two).

So there you have it, and surprisingly, no Dystopian Legions. Maybe I need a break from them to get my mojo back. What say you we give it a week, then count up the votes, after all, February is the shortest month, and I do have to paint them in that time.

Get voting!

EDIT.
I have created a poll on another post, so please vote there. For the two votes I have already recieved, I shall add them on to the tally at the end of the week, and thank you again.

I get easliy distracted. I am almost finished one project, but a 2 week break from the brushes, a box through the post from Heresy miniatures and oops! Shinybloodyitis is a royal pain in the buttocks.

I went with the 2nd from the left

What use is she as a gaming model? That's a good question. To be fair, my actual gaming is so limited recently, an excersise in modelling and painting is enough of an excuse to go with, but let's play the 'what if' game. I have based her on a large (40mm) base, and as such she can be used as a hero/warlord in SAGA. This would of course take my miniature count for SAGA to 2, both of whom are worlords, but I feel this is a moot point, as I think both models are nice little vignettes, and both were a joy to work on. This does mean I will be looking out for some regular viking models to complete the warband to a playable state.


CP models Viking Berserkers

CP models Anglo Danes

CP models Skraelings

Bronze Age Miniatures, have a small but perfectly formed range of Vikings and Picts. Including some nice historical (i.e. not half naked) female Vikings.

No longer eligible for July's 'Colore ton Monde', but finished just in time for August's (and still eligible, as it's a female model). She may not be wearing a bikini, but she's certainly going suffering from a case of the "non-historics" there with that chainmail.

There's a shield to add to the standard bearer, but I'm not sure if he actually needs it, as it seems to work without. I'll paint it up anyway and see.

As to Freydis's shield, it's finished in the most basic fashion. I may very well go back and redo it. Either in bronze, or with some kind of freehand design and a steel rim.

I'm very happy with the standard. I like the deep red colour with a little bright red to draw the eye. I'm also happy with my experiment in blonde hair. Much more realistic than my earlier yellow efforts.

close up if the standard. Less shiny IRL.

Some WIP shots after the cut.

Polyfila and sand, with a bit of water to make the base. Freydis was originally just placed there to make sure the correct size and shape of hole was left for her, with the plan being to remove her for painting. However, the basing agent seems to have stuck her tight, so I waited for it to dry, then gave the whole base a good coating of PVA. The standard bearer still comes off easily, so the two can be separated for undercoating and painting.

As I mentioned previously, the going is slower this month, so I don't know if I'll get this finished in time (we're half way through the month already). I may have to undercoat some of the other single minis I spoke of to make sure I have an entry for July's challenge. A burst of an evening or two should get this one going on the paint though, so fingers crossed.

Chop chop chop went the cutting tools, and on we go with this month's challenge: to paint a mini I have yet to play. In this case, I'm going with a game I have yet to play, Saga. As previously mentioned,  I have bought a couple of viking minis, and plan to turn them into a command base.



The mini in its original form



The plasticard for his base was a kind donation from Guillaume. A little polyfilla and sand will be added once I decide on the placing for Freydis. I did think to use some green stuff to cover the rest of his legs in fur, as I'm not a fan of the peddle-pushers look he's got going on.

I also got some shields from the bits box of my FLGS. The dwarf shields I picked up, although blank, were too small for these guys. There was one larger orc shield, and a chaos shield that seemed the right size. the insert in the orc shield is, I think, from the LoTR Rohan minis. I have seen a few of these minis turn up in Saga blog posts, as they are more historical/dark age in their look than a lot of GWs other stuff. The boss is just a done of green stuff to fill the hole. The other shield, on the left, is a chaos shield. I liked the torn cloth look, although the spike is a bit too much, and if i go with this one, I'll round that off.

What do you guys think? Which one to use?

I think, in the end, the Freydis will not be going through as much of a conversion, and may keep her current shield, unless I find a good way of separating her arm from the shield it is now attached to.

Sculpt by Werner Klocke

In a direct response to this post, and a wander down to one of the other gaming stores in town who have a large selection of Reaper miniatures, I selected myself some completely historically inaccurate vikings. The first was this little lady, who could depict Freydis Eiriksdottir. The second was this standard bearer, with whom I will complete a little vignette to act as the chief of a viking horde. Yes, they are rather fantastical representations of Vikings, but to my mind Saga, or at least the sagas on which the game is based, are not entirely historical accurate renditions. They tell a story, and as such, I feel there is some leeway in how I chose to represent my band.

A search online suggests that there are no hard and fast rules for basing Saga minis, but that leaders seem to be on 40mm round bases as a general rule. I was kind of hoping it would be 50mm bases as a, I have some of those, and b, they alow for more space to arrange the figures, but 40mm it shall be.

Not a round shield.

I think the first and major changes to both minis will have to be the shields. Ingrid's shield is a nice shape, but from all I can see, the Viking shields were round. I'm not entirely sure how easy that will be to change, as the left arm is firmly fixed to the current shield. Unless I find some shields that come attached to arms, it may have to stay.

On the Standard bearer, I feel the small knife he's holding in his left hand is really out of place. It kind of unbalances the mini, and really, why would you bother with a knife, if you're the standard bearer, you're looking to be holding a shield to get a bit more cover, to at least keep that flag flying, or maybe to cover the chief.  I kind of like the idea that he's resting the shield on the ground, but that will mean finding a large shield.

I like the dragon head.

Also, I'm not sure I can keep the horns. The wings, I'm kind of okay with, as he's the standard bearer, he's flashy and stands out, but the horns are so cliched. I know by fielding these minis I am already quite far off the historically accurate track, but even so, I think the horned helm may have to go. A shame really.

As to the diorama, I plan it to be really simple, just a placing of the two minis on the appropriate base once these simple changes are made.

Off to source some local viking shields, or at least plasticard to make my own.