Well Paid Killer

I have to admit, that despite the successes of joining the MyMiniFactory tribe for Carnevale, there are clearly miniatures that my FDM printer would struggle with.

Let's be honest, it's most of them.

This has meant that I won't be abandoning traditional methods acquiring miniatures, despite continuing to print what I can.

Given that I knew that the more delicate a miniature was, the less likely it was that I'd be able to get a half decent version printed, I've been keeping an eye out for bargains.

This led me to spotting a Rialto Assassin on eBay and I swooped in to add it to my Guild forces, which, along with the addition of the Black Lamp, are experiencing a significant step up in the quality of their membership.

Rialto Assassins are, predictably, assassin's that are based in/on/around the Rialto Bridge in Venice and have thrown their lot in with the Guild.

The model has a really characterful pose, but had a couple of issues. Firstly the small punch-dagger in his right hand had broken and needed replacing, which was a somewhat fiddly job that incurred a lot of swearing.

Secondly, the model comes stood on a gondola pole which would look stupid sticking out of the street. Therefore I removed it and went looking for an alternative item of a appropriate height. The best fit was a bag of gold, which seemed appropriate.

I'm not going to waffle about the painting. It was contrast paints with a bit highlighting and washing.

Obviously, printing continues apace with this covered well and two more street tiles, all done with the same sponging method.

I went for a heavily corroded cover for the well using Nihilakh Oxide technical paint, suggesting that the metal involved is copper.

I'm pretty certain I can now do a 2'x2' board, but I've not tested that theory and will continue to print tiles between other jobs and hope that something a bit more varied (but useful, unlike the circular tile this month) turns up in the tribe.

Acquired: -85

Painted: 530

Lead Mountain: 215

I like big bots and I cannot lie

I don't know whether my return to painting Fallout miniatures is tied to the release of season 2 of the Amazon series, but it does seem to have a certain degree of synergy to it.

Primarily, I picked up the Mirelurks and this Sentry Bot because I was ordering from Modiphius around Black Friday and had a bit of spare spending money.

Whatever the true cause, I grabbed a Sentry Bot because I really like the shape and design of them. They feel imposing and threatening whilst also being ridiculously impractical.

The model I picked up is actually a Space Sentry Bot for Fallout Factions as it's apparently a variant found in Nuka World. Having only played Fallout 3, I can't confirm whether this is the case.

I think I might have made a mistake in building the model because I always intended to paint it army green, like the Sentry Bots I encountered in the Capital Wasteland, however I put the bubble helm on instead of the smaller regular head.

I think the bubble helm is a Space Sentry Bot think only and they appear to all be white-grey in colour.

I realise just after id built it, but decided not to worry too much about it rather than end up hacking at superglued resin.

In terms of painting, I kept things simple. Indeed, it's this simplicity that I really like about painting robots.

A sprayed undercoat of Death Rattle Green from Colour Forge, followed by picking out the silver bits and coating the wheels in Black Templar contrast paint and then drenching the whole thing in Agrax Earth shade.

I finished off by sponging on some chip damage. detailing the the yellow nozzles of the big weapon and painting the bubble helm gold. In theory this should be transparent yellow, but I lack the skill to achieve this effect. I figured gold was a decent compromise.

I actually took more time over the sculpted base which has tiles, bottles, tin cans and machinery parts and sets off the rather plain model well.

I'm enjoying this, but don't have anything else for Fallout. I might see what I can cobble together if just hope that Santa brings me something nice.

Acquired: -95

Painted: 527

Lead Mountain: 209

Shelling Out

Every year, the normally pricey miniatures for Fallout Wasteland Warfare get somewhat drastically reduced in price for Black Friday.

Every year, I either forget this fact or don't have any spare cash as I'm busy buying Christmas presents.

But not this year.

Due to reasons I won't go into, I found myself with a bit of cash to spend on myself around Black Friday. Some of it went on Shelob, whilst the rest went on a few bits and pieces from the Modiphius website.

A pair of Mirelurks were first in the basket as they are, for me, the most iconic Fallout gribblies given the amount of time I spent slogging my way through sewers filled with them in Fallout 3.

I also like them because they are reminiscent of the Garthim in Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal, which I learned today was an influence on their design, along with (would you believe) the Droideka Destroyers from Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

They are resin miniature which comes as a pair (both the same sculpt) and were remarkably easy to put together with only a little bit of clean up required.

As they are based on the Mirelurks in Fallout 4, I opted to go for a paint scheme reminiscent of how they appear in that game using the paints I had available.

I also figured that this would be easier than the more cartooninlsh colour palette of the Fallout 3 Mirelurks.

A black undercoat was first dry brushed with Vallejo Brown Violet, before a lighter dry brush of Vallejo Khaki. I picked out a few details including the claws in Ratskin Flesh and the smaller pickers were picked out in Wraithbone. I then gave the whole model a wash of Seraphim Sepia before giving the face and edges a light dusting of Wraithbone to pick out details.

And that was it.

Sculpted bases were done quickly and the Mire lurks were ready to lurk in my games of Fallout Wasteland Warfare.

I enjoyed doing these so much that I'm half tempted to do something similar when I finally get round to painting my 30 year old Genestealers.

Acquired: -95

Painted: 526

Lead Mountain: 210

"Let go of him, you filth!"

I know I might have said that I was sorting of doing a Men of the West force for the Tale of 4 Hobbits series, but as you can see. I've gotten a touch distracted.

I've wanted the Shelob miniature for a long time, but have never gotten around to buying it. It has dutifully sat on my Christmas list each year and been steadfastly ignored due to Mrs Cheaphammer's profound arachnophobia.

However, with the impending arrival of a new plastic version made me realise that I did want the classic metal model before it disappeared and so we cut a deal that as long as Shelob is never left lying around, the last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world could enter the house.

To put it bluntly, this beast is an absolute swine to assemble. Spindly legs, a bulky metal body, indistinct sockets and no instructions combine to make for a frustrating experience.

Throw in the fact that trying to slightly adjust to stance of the back legs caused me to snap them and gave to pin them on again and I was left wishing I'd waited for the plastic model.

I found painting equally frustrating as there's not actually much to work with on what is pretty much just a big black spider with tiny eyes.

I've seen plenty of people, including Games Workshop, lean heavily into real world spider colouring (particularly black widows) or more exotic patter choices to make Shelob more vibrant.

However, I went for something more film-based which seems to be patches of more fleshy coloured areas, especially around the head. I'm satisfied with the end result, but I feel I could have been more ambitious.

The In the Clutches of Shelob set comes with Frodo all wrapped in webbing. Although there is a separate base provided, I decided to use him a scenic detail on Shelob's base as I can't think of a meaningful reason for having a separate miniature apart from as terrain in a single scenario.

The set also includess Sam armed with Sting and the Phial of Galadriel, which is a miniature I'm not massively impressed with, as the face is a bit janky (on the other side) and there are quite large blocked in sections between the cloak and Sting.

I will probably stick with my original Sam for most purposes.

Am I happy to have finally added Shelob to my collection? Yes, but...in hindsight I might have been better off all round waiting for the almost certainly significantly more expensive plastic set, which would be easier to assemble, have clearer details and include a better version of Sam.

Ah well...

Acquired: -95

Painted: 524

Lead Mountain: 212

Take It To The Bridge

I've recently got hold of the December STLs for the Carnevale Tribe on MyMiniFactory and they've left me a touch confused.

There was another file for a street tiles, but it's circular. No idea how to use more than one of those. There are some pillars, but nothing for them to support.

This has meant that, for now, I've gone in a slightly different direction.

I decided that I'd have another play with printing a miniature, despite only having an FDM printer, and whilst I was printing that I would paint up the last of the four bridges I bought when I first got into Carnevale.

The character in question is a Black Lamp, mysterious figures charged by the Guild to carry enchanted lanterns that grant a degree of protection against the magic wielding factions.

Meanwhile, the bridge is the Ringhiera Bridge, a slightly more fancy affair than those I'd already painted.

I opted to try printing the Black Lamp as the sculpt did not feature a lot of extraneous detail (something FDM struggle with) as most of the model is swathed in a heavy robe.

I opted not to print the separate hand holding the lamp pole as there was no way it would print successfully, and so instead I raided the bolts box and found a hand holding a staff (from a Frostgrave wizard sprue) and a lantern and kitbashed a replacement. I also needed to replace the short blade that snapped during support removal.

Happy with my construction, I tidied up the rest of the model as well as possible so that you really have to get close to see issues and got painting.

It's pretty much all contrast paints over Ghoul Grey from Colorforge, with metallics picked out. I highlighted the skin and used Hexwraith Flame technical paint for the eldritch flame of the lantern.

All in all, I'm really pleased with how this came out and I'll be experimenting a bit more with printing some of the sturdier looking Rashaar sculpts.

The Ringhiera Bridge is a more ornate and fancy bridge and so I added more colour than the other bridges I've painted and included some good as well.

I think I'll use this near the bigger and more ornate buildings, helping to indicate a more wealthy area.

Only a little bit of progress, and as I had a bit of a splurge on Black Friday and picked up a few bits and pieces here and there, and with Christmas round the corner, I feel like I might be going a little bit backwards.

Acquired: -91

Painted: 522

Lead Mountain: 219

We Don't Need Another Hero

I've already painted two versions of Aragorn and Legolas, so why on Earth have I done another version each?

Well, a couple of reasons really.

The first is simple, I have the models. I still have about a dozen Lord of the Rings miniatures knocking about unpainted after I lost impetus when Matt ruined everything by drowning Frodo in a swamp.

To address this issue I've joined in another 'Tale of four...' series on Arbitorian's YouTube channel, with the aim of putting together a 500 point force for the newest version of the game, culminating in an event in February.

Looking at the motley assortment of heroes I have, I've decided that the best fit would be for me to paint up a 'Men of the West' list featuring Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf, Merry, Pippin and a handful of Men of Rohan.

I'm not sure if I'll actually go to the event for several reasons: I don't actually own the newest version of the game (and don't intend to buy it); the event is in London; and I think this list is likely to be a bit rubbish.

This is a shame because otherwise there is absolutely no reason to have second cloaked version of Legolas.

At least he's painted.

There's a slightly stronger reason for having another Aragorn as this model is the armoured Battle of Helm's Deep version of the character.

I still intend to play through the Helm's Deep scenarios in the War in Rohan book, and so he will be useful then

The astute amongst you (which is both of you) will probably be aware that this is the wrong model for Aragorn at the Black Gate in the Men of the West list.

I don't care. He's incredibly unlikely to ever be used in that context and this flimsy excuse is getting things painted, which is something I need to do as I keep buying and printing new models.

Acquired: -94

Painted: 520

Lead Mountain: 218