Nomad Spektr Update

Sometimes Infinity models can be taxing. Sometimes high standards can be taxing. 

The level of detail and intricacy of Infinity models can be very demanding on a painter and I've decided to call this gent a done deal...for now. 

I need a break. 

Next up on my painting table is a nice change of pace - a 40k Dreadnought. It'll be a welcome change before I bring brush to Infinity figs. 

Airbrushing Infinity Miniatures Follow-up

Following up from my previous post about airbrushing miniatures, here is another picture of the Nomad Spetkr in progress. You can see the foundation of the airbrush work is still there, but I have accentuated the lights and darks and added a lot more color with a traditional brush. 

Because I have sprayed highlights from above, it helps reveal where the light hits the model and takes out some of the guess work of zenithal highlighting. 

Any questions?

More to come soon.

Next topic: First Impressions of Matte Medium!

Airbrushing Infinity Miniatures

Airbrushes have come from the realm of scale model painting to a well-established position in the tabletop miniature hobby, and rightly so. Airbrushes not only help speed up the process of painting, they also lay down such gentle and thin layers of paint that don't obscure the delicate detail of Infinity miniatures.

I typically use an airbrush as a beginning stage to lay down my foundation color on large areas of the miniature. Join me and I'll take you through my 5-step process that gives me a nice base-color with a little shading and highlighting as a basis for the rest of my shading and highlighting work.

Step 1 - Choose your colors.
You need your base color, a shading color, and a highlight.
In this case, my base color is the now out of production (OOP) Hawk Turquoise from Games Workshop.
To shade it, I chose OOP Dark Flesh from Games Workshop.
Side note: lately I haven't been using black to shade my models, but instead choose a color opposite of my base on the color wheel for shading. More on that at another time.
The third paint I chose was Vallejo Model Color Pale Blue, which is a really nice Turquoise with a little more green and white in it than Hawk Turquoise - perfect for highlighting.

Step 2 - Base Coat.
Mix your base color with some thinner (whatever you use - I use a mix of water and isopropanol) in a cup and load your airbrush. Apply a decent coat over the entire model as I have done below.

Step 3 - Shade

Mix your shade color into your base color and add some thinner. Don't over do it, you don't want your transitions to be too stark. In my case, I added OOP Dark Flesh to my OOP Hawk Turquoise in about a 1:2 ratio.  

This is where the fun begins. Apply this color only in the lower parts of the model and the areas that would actually be shaded. If it helps, try to spray from an angle underneath the model, shooting upwards. This is why I have attached my models to these old paint pots as I can handle the models well spray and get different angles that I need. 

See below. 

Stage 4 - Highlight

Pull out your highlight color. In this case, I didn't mix my highlight into my base color, since they are already very similar hues of color, but different values. 

With the highlight, I hold the models at an angle and spray downwards onto them. I do this from varying degrees until I am happy with how it looks. At this stage, the contrasts will be a little too strong so we are going to tone it down a bit. 

Stage 5- Tie it together

As a final step, I mix my base color with a lot of thinner. I want a translucent coat to go down, that won't remove all the work I've just done. 

Now what I do is spray the model all around at a 90 degree angle, hitting the models mid-section and lower. I leave the brightest highlights alone at the top of the model. See how it looks below. 

And that is how I get a nice foundation of my base color, shaded and highlighted before I break my traditional brush and go to work. I'll still do a fair amount of shading and highlighting - especially some hard-edge highlighting, but at least this gets me 75% of the way there. 

I hope you've found this useful and inspiring. Get out your airbrush and see what you can do!

Tim's Latest Yu Jing Models

This week, I've decided our post would be able  the recent Yu Jing models I've finished. For me, they feel like some of the best miniatures I've painted, but as I look at them in photos, I can see all those little imperfections that make that untrue. Must not get all flustered about photos though, in person they look very different and are still a source of pride. 

The first one is my Gui-Lang Skirmisher. This little guy was lots of fun to paint. I love painting flowing  robes, cloaks and capes and this guy's got a great pose to boot. Unfortunately there was a mold line going right across his face and even over his eye, so he lost a ton of facial detail in the cleaning process.

 

Next up is the Shaolin Monk. He was also a lot of fun to paint, but took a lot longer. The model has a lot of detail that I struggled with and the orange paint I chose was so sorely pigmented that I had a tough time getting the orange bits right. I'm very happy with the face though.

Finally, I recently finished this Husong remote. It's a total reaction bot that I really loved painting. It was a bit of an experiment. I started with an airbrush to get a layer of darker brown down, then top-coated it with yellow-brown you see there. I ended up with the nicely blended basecoat. Then I took out my traditional brush and went to work. This model really only took about 3 painting session because of the airbrush. It was finished with little effort and I am happy with the results. It's not display quality but it will work. 

Feel free to post any questions and comments. I love constructive criticism. It's what drives me to improve with each session. And no criticism is too harsh, if it's well-founded. 

As a side note, I'll have all my Infinity models out on display at the NOVA Open Infinity Tournament in Arlington, VA. I'll be on hand as a rules judge in the event, but I'd also be happy to share some of my painting secrets there. 

Yu Jing Works In Progress

 I've been working on a couple Infinity figures from an earlier generation - with some scale differences. Apparently these were some of the early models to come out for the Infinity Yu Jing range. They weren't the first though - there is one god-awful Shaolin Monk model that was included in the first Yu Jing starter pack. This one is a later sculpt. Seems that Corvus Belli was working on a heroic scale in those days and has since scaled down to more lifelike sculpts. This monk stands a whole head taller than current models in power armor. I'm not bothered though, he's a great model. 

Even though he could be passable as a finished model, I'm not satisfied with a couple things, like his flowing orange robes and his chain rifle, so I'm going to be working on those before declaring him finished. His companion below is an odd model. She's doing a flip, which seems like a good idea but as a model, it's a bit strange. See most models have a focal point - the head. This is where a lot of the character sits and provides the viewer with a centered point. This monk model has no focal point so your eyes sort of wander and get lost. You're not sure where to center yourself. And the painter has nothing to really embellish with detail. 

The Gui'Lang Skirmisher on the other hand is a great dramatic sculpt. I've painted him in muted tones with Khaki and Chocolate brown. He's almost done though. In games he's been doing ok, but he isn't the hero I thought he would be. Armor 1, even with Camo Level 2, does not provide much protection when the bullets start flying. Though I expect him to be a regular sight in all my lists. 

Yu Jing Tiger Soldier and Airborne Deployment Thoughts

My latest Infinity model, the Tiger Soldier; Medium infantry, Airborne Deployment L3, combi rifle, flame thrower, mimetism, great statline. Mimetism probably makes him one of the best Airborne Deployment units in the game, as does his BS of 13. 

I often like to drop him down using L3 deployment (deepstriking), but occasionally I'll switch to L2 (outflanking) which is a little safer. Even if you use a combat drop, he has a 60% chance to land where you want him. 

Airborne Deployment is great for flanking the enemy and creating less clear lanes of advance. A crossfire effect is pretty nice too. Sometimes he'll be positioned in such a way that the enemy can't do much without taking AROs from multiple sides. 

He's been painted with GW paints, Vallejo paints and old school GW inks. 

Container Buildings Showcase

or "But WAIT- there's more!"

Once all the buildings were done, I realized that there really should be some form of external traverse, so it was off to the hobby store to pick up some Plastruct ladders and stairs. You can see in the photos that there are three different lengths in order to be more useful.


Rather than make the ladders permanent, I carved out "hooks" from styrene sheet, making the ladders much like what you'd see on a large motor boat. They're removable and slide on and off the roof top ledges very easily. I'll probably paint them, eventually.


At the Home Depot one afternoon, I decided to check out the plumbing isle. They have a large number of metal and PVC fittings that have terrain potential. I picked up a pair of PVC pipe end-caps for about $3.50 each. Once painted and given a bit of greeblie plumbing, they look quite good. Also, they're very sturdy.


In order to not lose my mind entirely, I asked OSH if he'd be willing to paint up the wall sections that I'd built earlier. He agreed, so I whisked them up to his place on the weekend. There are close to 25 segments, but it should be an easy job. As fate would have it, he managed to snag a very large painting comission the next day, so the walls will wait.


To add more color, I ordered some transparent flurorescent acrylic sheets for use as holo-boards and force-field walls. I'll post those next time.

Container Buildings Completed

or "I'm not dead yet"

So four months have passed sice I posted progress pics of the g*ddamn buildings I've been working on for my own collection and for the NOVA Open Infinity gaming. Personally, I am pleased with the results, but I am just about burned out on terrain. The first 3 were very entertaining, the next 3 were fun, but by the 18th it was getting annoying. And the walls? Don't even get me started on the walls. You know how some things "drive you up the wall"? Yeah- I had to build my own walls for that. As for the driving, I ponied up for some cars from Antenocitis, but that's for another post.

After staring at the originals, I decided that the tan colors lacked visual interest, so I re-masked the windows and misted over the base coat with a lighter color. Still unsatisfied, I added additional masks of squares and rectangles to creat various panel effects.

OSH and I had a terrain day that helped hammer out the 8 units for the NOVA Open. He got to play with his new airbrush, and that allowed us to add even more color variations. Still in the tan-to-gray palette, though.

After all the paint was dry, I penciled on a single mid-hight horizontal line on every unit, then slapped on a few stickers (posters, corporate logos, etc.) and custom decals (building numbers) printed out on an inkjet printer.

A Tribute to Simo Hayha

It was during the Winter War (1939–1940), between Finland and the Soviet Union, that he began his duty as a sniper and fought for the Finnish Army against the Red Army. In temperatures between −40 and −20 degrees Celsius, dressed completely in whitecamouflage, Häyhä was credited with 505 confirmed kills of Soviet soldiers.^[3][5] A daily account of the kills at Kollaa was conducted for the Finnish snipers. Besides his sniper kills, Häyhä was also credited with over 200 kills with a Suomi KP/-31submachine gun.^[5] Remarkably, all of Häyhä's kills were accomplished in fewer than 100 days at a time of year with very short hours of daylight.^[6][7][8] The unofficial Finnish front line figure from the battlefield of Kollaa places the number of Häyhä's total kills at over 800.^[9]

Häyhä used a Finnish militia variant, White Guard M/28 "Pystykorva" or "Spitz", of the Russian Mosin-Nagant rifle, because it suited his small frame (5 ft 3 in/1.60 m). He preferred to use iron sights rather than telescopic sights to present a smaller target (the sniper must raise his head higher when using a telescopic sight), for more reliable visibility (a telescopic sight's glass can fog up easily in cold weather), and aid concealment (sunlight glare in telescopic sight lenses can reveal a sniper's position). Another tactic used by Häyhä was to compact the snow in front of him so that the shot would not disturb the snow and reveal his position.^{[citation needed]} He also kept snow in his mouth, so that the vapor of his breath would not give him away.^{[citation needed]}

The Soviets tried several ploys to get rid of him, including counter-snipers and artillery strikes. On March 6, 1940, Häyhä was shot in the lower left jaw by a Russian soldier during combat. The bullet tumbled upon impact and exited his head. He was picked up by fellow soldiers who said "half his head was missing", but he was not dead: he regained consciousness on March 13, the day peace was declared. Shortly after the war Häyhä was promoted from alikersantti (corporal) to Second Lieutenant by Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim; no one else has gained rank so quickly in Finland's military history.

Thank you, Wikipedia. 

Terrain: Habitat and Office Block

Or “Windows? OMG! They have windows!”

UPDATE: I've uploaded a PDF file for blank windows and doors that can be used for masking templates and filled windows and doors which have blue gradient fills and can be used as basic stickers.

Since moving from one milieu to another often entails a change of scenery (ha ha), I felt that the usual Ruins just wouldn’t cut it for Infinity. To remedy the situation, I started making some nice clean walls. What good, though, are walls if you don’t have something to put them around? Here’s my answer:

Always looking for cheap terrain options, I found some 8”x5” acrylic boxes at the Container Store near my office. They were on sale for about $3 each, so I snagged six of them and decided to create some intact buildings. With complete walls. And windows. So totally not 40k.


The first step was to invert the lid and box, then superglue the two parts together. This means that the top of the box is now the bottom, and the upended lid is now the roof. In one move I created a taller building with a slight railing around perimeter of the roof.

The second step was to add some sort of dividing structure in the middle of the long walls. In my example, sheet styrene runs vertically and is then capped by a length of half-round rod. I had to remove two-inch lengths of the lip (now at ground level) under the original lid in order to make room for eventual door placement.


The next step was to create a simple Adobe Illustrator file for windows and doors which was then printed on to self-adhesive label paper (about $1.50 per sheet from Staples). Once printed, I cut out the windows and doors, scored around the curved corners of the windows with a very sharp knife, then stuck the windows on the boxes. The idea was to use the windows as masks for the forthcoming spray paint. When I had all the windows attached, I finished scoring the outlines of the windows. The partial scoring was done before placement so I could get the control needed to follow the curves. This also allowed me to not have to worry about the windows coming completely apart as I peeled them off the backing paper.

I spray painted the exterior of the boxes with Rustoleum Fossil, then added some highlights with Gloss Almond. When the paint was dry, I added the stickers for the doors. Once the doors were securely attached, I hit the whole thing with dullcoat to both kill the gloss and protect the finish.


The final step was to go back and remove the windows/masks. This was tricky, since I only wanted to remove the “glass” parts that I had scored earlier, yet still leave the window frame attached to the box. It was a good idea, but in practice the stickers came off very slowly and left a LOT of adhesive behind. I managed to use rolled up duct tape to essentially remove adhesive with adhesive, but it took a long time. Fortunately, I had MST3K to keep me occupied. When the last traces of adhesive were tacked up, I went back with a cotton swab and isopropyl alcohol for a final cleaning.

The units are stackable, and look good for tabletop use. You can see through the windows, and that means we can declare them as open LOS, obscured LOS, or no LOS. I may hit the units with highlights later on, but I’m going to have to get the adhesives out from under my fingernails first.

Hobby Tutorial: Celestial Guard (part 3)

or "Yeah, they were all yellow."

My enthusiasm for the hobby ebbs and flows, and after my last post it was at a relatively low point. Since then, I've taken a quick vacation to sunny Los Angeles where the weather is always warm, the sky is always blue, and the wimmins are usually lovely (which reminds me- one of these days I'll have to do a tutorial on silicon mold making...), and managed to recharge my batteries. I also acquired a new camera and I'm hopeful that subsequent pictures will be superior to earlier pictures. Upgrading from a 12 year old Nikon Coolpix 950 to a new Cannon G12. Woo hoo!

The idea here was to minimize the level of effort in painting by blocking out areas of one color at a time and then applying washes. Starting with the lightest color and working to the darkest, it will allow you to cover over any overpainting or slip-ups. For the Celestial Guard, that meant starting with the body armor, which is a dark yellow/light orange. The process is illustrated below.


Step 1 shows the basic color applied. In this case, Vallejo Flat Yellow. In order to preserve as much detail as possible and also provide a solid layer of color, I went over the miniature with three very light coats of paint. To prevent my paint from drying out, I use a wet palette. It's simply a re-usable Zip-loc plastic container with folded paper towels at the bottom, soaked with water, covered by a single sheet of parchment paper cut to size.

Step 2 shows the miniature after the first wash was applied. Gryphonne Sepia, straight from the bottle. The primary purpose of this was is to create shadows, and as the first wash, it was used somewhat liberally.

Step 3 shows the miniature after the second wash. Ogryn Flesh, again straight from the bottle. This wash warms up the sepia from Step 2, but also adds more depth to the shadows.


Step 4 shows the miniature after the third wash. Baal Red, straight from the bottle. This wash pumps the overall color into a more orange hue, but can easily overpower the prior washes, so I apply it very quickly and do not allow it to linger in one place to pool up under any circumstance. Gotta be quick on this wash.

Step 5 shows the miniature after applying highlights of the original Flat Yellow. This brings out the contours of the figure and allows for some further definition of fabric seams, armor plates, and other prominent bits.

On my Celestial Guard, the armor uses the most numerous washes, so I've used it as the example here. The pants (green) and padding (gray) are more simple but follow the same process.

Hobby Tutorial: Celestial Guard (part 2)

or "It’s over. Prime”

A relatively small post here, but I’ve been busywith the NOVA Open and subsequent recovery thereafter. Having been an Army Appearance Judge over the weekend, I’ve realized that my own stuff isn’t up to par. How’s that for a kick in the pants? Anyway, since part one of this tutorial I’ve been otherwise occupied and in my free time have been determinedly plowing ahead with the “completion” of my Ultramarine vehicles. The only progress made on the Celestial Guard has been priming.


I could have waited a while longer to post, but since it has been well over a week, I figured now would be a good time. Also, the weekend at the NOVA Open and a quick trip to the local Penn Camera finally convinced me that my Nikon CoolPix 950 is a dinosaur and needs replacement, ergo, no photos for at least 2 weeks. Even with a lightbox and tripod, it’s a pain in the butt to get any decent photos. Here’s a close up of my Sniper. You can see that the prime coat is not 100% perfect, but does cover the majority of the figure without obscuring the fine details.


Over the years I’ve used several varieties of primer and have narrowed it down to a few reliable types: Armory (white or black), Tamiya (white or gray), Mr. Surfacer (500 or 1000), and Floquil. I only use Armory on wargaming miniatures because the can is relatively large and relatively cheap compared to the other options I’ve listed. If I’m working with resin figures, I’ll usually hit it with the Mr. Surfacer because that brand is a self-leveling primer that does a great job filling small file marks and scratches that resin kits tend to be prone to. Tamiya, though good, is rather expensive for the quantity you get, and as a result I usually only use it on my regular scale models. Same for Floquil, although I have found that it provides the best adhesion to metals (white metal, brass, steel, or otherwise).

The other reason I’m posting now is because I have just been reminded of Why Not To Paint In Highly Humid Conditions. Now, not everybody primes their models before laying down the first layer of color, and I’m happy for you and Imma let you finish*, but for tabletop wargaming it’s a really good idea to prime your metal and resin figures, and IMHO if you are going to do it for those you might as well do it for the plastics as well.

So here’s my personal observation of the day regarding humidity: If it feels sticky outside, don’t spray paint, prime, or airbrush, or dull coat, or gloss coat, or anything. Don’t. If you do, you will wind up with some sort of terrible frosting nastiness that will ruin your work thus far, create terrible discord within your own humors, and allow pure evil to seep into the world unchecked. Do I exaggerate? Well, yes, but that’s not the point. The last thing you want to do is ruin the finish on 20 tactical marines, or a 5-man Celestial Guard squad that you spent weeks painting. Folks, it only takes 2 seconds to make this mistake. Do yourself a favor… think before you spray. Fortunately for me, I only messed up one vehicle, and usually a second coat of sealer will clear up the problem**

When I started dull coating this morning, the humidity was only in the mid 40% range. When I painted the final vehicle later in the evening, the humidity had almost hit 70%. I knew it had gotten worse out, but I didn’t think, and now I have to wait until both the model and the weather dries out a bit.

When priming (or using any sort of spray paint) there are other things to take in to consideration. For example- always shake the spray can vigorously and for at least a minute to make sure you’ve thoroughly mixed the contents. If you haven’t, you might have solvent shoot out and ruin your model, or have some sort of half-mixed watery mess spew forth. Also, be aware of the distance between the spray can and model. If you are too close, you’ll get too much paint on the model and the paint will start to run. If you are too far away, the paint may start to dry before hitting the model. This will cause a pebbling effect… the surface will look sandy. If you’re lucky, you can “dust” off the offending pebbles. Another nasty effect is known as “orange peeling”, and that’s where the paint refuses to adhere to the model and forms a very uneven surface, often with visible gaps. This happens because the surface of the model hasn’t been properly cleaned of dirt, oils (from handling), solvents or glue (from assembly), or mold release (for resin kits) and the paint just wont’ stick. If you are really unfortunately, you’ll have to either sand off the bad paint or strip the model and start all over again (as me why my Ultramarine tanks all have sparkly instead of smooth cannons…).

So, before you prime your model- make sure that you’ve completely cleaned and prepped your model (soap and water, denatured alcohol, plastic prep…), the spray can has been properly agitated (shaken, not stirred), the atmospheric conditions are correct (as dry as possible and no wind if you are outside), there is proper ventilation (respirator mask, ducted fans, spray booth, or open air), you have proper eye protection, and are not in a rush.


*this is both a pop-culture joke AND a modeling joke rolled into a double entendre, so it’s like a triple word score.

**this is another double entendre, as the chemicals of the fresh dull coat will immediately react to the earlier coat and sort of re-activate the initial coat and hopefully reduce, if not totally eliminate, the frosting effect.

Hobby Tutorial: Celestial Guard (part 1)

or "how to build an army and rule the universe from beyond the grave!"

I’ve only been playing Infinity for about 3 months now. The first step was to acquire enough models to field a decent sized combat group. The look of Yu Jing appealed to me. I really liked how the designs reflected the artwork of Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, Dominion, etc.), and since the Imperial Service had a good variety in the starter box, that’s the way I went. Adding a box of Kuang Shi gave me just enough guys to field a strong starter force. That being said, I have found enough enjoyment in the game to add some reinforcements. I’ll be posting a multi-part tutorial covering the preparation, assembly, and painting of my Celestial Guard.



Why the C-Guard? I already have three from the ISSA box, but wanted to add heavy weapons and a Kuang Shi controller. From my perspective, I’m limited to a pre-existing color scheme, but the techniques I’ll be going over are universal.



The first thing to recognize about the Infinity figures is that they are gorgeous. Having played 40k for many years I had grown used to the Games Workshop style of metal miniatures. Corvus Belli minis are much more delicate and refined and seem to have as much, if not more, detail than many other 28mm figures on the market. They’re also extremely well cast. So well, in fact, that most pieces can be cleaned up with a quick pass of a new hobby blade and a few swipes with fine grained sandpaper (I like 320 grit wet-or-dry from K&S engineering). In rare cases, a file might be needed. Word of advice- use files that you've dedicated to working with metal, since the softer metals will gum up the files very quickly. Also, metals will dull the blades of hobby knives much faster than plastic will, so have plenty of new blades on hand. Of all the figures I’ve put together thus far only the Yaokong remotes had noticeable mold lines/offsets. You will have to be careful at this point- for the painting techniques I’ll be discussing, any pour stubs or mold lines that aren’t cleaned up prior to priming will become problematic blemishes on your paint job.



Once you’ve cleaned up the figure, you can assemble it in whatever sequence feels most comfortable to you, although I have attached the body to the base first in most cases, followed by any other pieces. For a tighter fit into the “slotta” bases, I have wedged small blobs of Green Stuff. This not only further secures the figure, but also plugs any open gaps in the base.



The delicate nature of the models means that most parts are very light, yet the excellent engineering of the parts breakdown means that you will not want for sufficient mating surfaces for your glue. Pinning is not necessary for infantry figures. You could pin larger TAG models if you want. The key to a decent bond is to make sure the attachment points are clean. I use isopropyl alcohol to rub down the model before I attach the parts with a drop of super glue. Instead of a special plastic flow applicator, I just use a short length of polished brass rod to apply tiny drops of glue at precise locations. Don’t rush this part of the process. Actually, don’t rush ANY part- if you become impatient, you’ll regret it later. Let the glue cure for several hours, overnight if you can. Another word of advice- wear some sort of eye protection. I've been building models for a long time and have had more than my fair share of trips to the ER in order to get various foreign objects out of my eyes. Most recently it was super glue, but that's another story...


I like to get my models stuck into the bases before adding any base details, but it's up to you. For my Infinity figures, I felt that a more techno-urban motif would be appropriate, so I dove into my bits box and pulled out a sheet of tiled styrene and fine ballast. I cut the styrene into irregular blocks and arranged them on the various bases, skirting the feet of the models but also covering much of the exposed slots. Don't be afraid to break the plane of the base and let the basing details hang over the edge. It's your model. Go crazy.

In the mean time, is this a possible future venue for tabletop wargaming fans?

…to be continued.