The Final Push – Lawnor approaches 100% painted

Models remaining:
Batch: 0, Normal: 27, Luxury: 10, Modular: 48, Bits Box: 3, Terrain sets: 13, To Ship: ATO Wave 2, TSoH, KDM
Models Finished in Collection: 3005 Models since start of project: 691 out of 63 completed and still not done!

Atnas, the Child Eater, from the Gamblers Chest for Kindgom Death.  This leaves 2 more models and I can call that box done for now.

Models remaining:
Batch: 0, Normal: 28, Luxury: 10, Modular: 48, Bits Box: 3, Terrain sets: 13, To Ship: ATO Wave 2, TSoH, KDM
Models Finished in Collection: 3004 Models since start of project: 690 out of 63 completed and still not done!

With all that done, it’s back to finishing off the non-modular game content from The Gambler’s Chest, which is just Atnas, Crimson Crocodile, The Gambler, and The King.  Crimson Croc is done, and I’m currently working on Atnas, while playing a fresh KDM campaign against the Dragon King

With Aeon Trespass completed (Until wave 2 arrives) it was time to get Kingdom Death back to the table.  With the big box out, the first thing I did was sleeve up and put away all the cards from all the expansions I’d gathered.  Turns out, they don’t all fit in the core box so I decided to make my own deck boxes to store the excess.  I went online and found a box template generator and printed some to paper, then glued this to an old cereal box as a test piece.  It worked well, but I learned two things:

1: Measure the card dividers, not the cards
2: Make the lid 2mm wider and longer than the box.  This allows you to add extra card to the corners for reinforcement and still have the lid fit

The Gamblers Chest came in a very pretty sleeve you are meant to throw away.  It doesn’t fit any more once you’ve built the models and junked the cheap box they come in.  I’d put it on one side as I’ve been hoarding good card for craft projects.  It’s time had finally come.

Instructions:
1: Glue the templates to the inside of the card with a glue stick.  Cut them out first, but leave a healthy border so the glue goes beyond the edges you want to keep.
2: Score along the inside of the folds to preserve the pretty finish while encouraging folding
3: Fold everything before applying glue, then superglue the tabs together and use paperclips to hold everything in place.  Leave it longer than needed to dry.
4: Add some PVA glue over the tabs.  Trust gravity to have it run between the tabs and the walls.  it will pool and it will run, so be prepared to contain the mess, and rotate the box every so often so it gets in all the crevice’s.
5: Using the scraps, cut out some strips and fold them along the middle.  Use superglue to attach these over the outside of each corner of the box to help reinforce it.  Use paperclips to hold these in place.
6: Make 1000% percent everything is dry and fume free before any game content goes anywhere near it.

That was the end of the big bulk project.  I decided to paint the final model in the Aeon Trespass core box.  I’d finished the game so I thought I’d finish the last model, even if it’s not a game piece.  He was mostly flesh and I’d found a spare KDM base insert so I thought I’d paint the Grovelling Survivor from the Spidicules expansion.  Pretty sure he only exists because there was space on a sprue, so may as well use it.

While painting them I found another Godtear warband going cheap on ebay.  It was broken.  His arm had come off so it was clearly trash no one would buy so I bid him down as I would have to go to all the trouble of repairing the model.  If only I knew anything about building toy soldiers?  However will I cope?

Models remaining:
Batch: 0, Normal: 28, Luxury: 10, Modular: 48, Bits Box: 3, Terrain sets: 13, To Ship: ATO Wave 2, TSoH, KDM
Models Finished in Collection: 3004 Models since start of project: 690 out of 63 completed and still not done!

It’s been a while since I updated this post.  I had the bright idea to bulk paint the remaining 28 KDM survivors together, and paint their bases and lanterns all at once, and then varnish together.  In theory it saves time.  In practise it means I don’t finish anything for months and my motivation suffers.  I was also distracted by playing a lot of Aeon Trespass, which I’ve now caught up to date with the releases, at last.  I also then ran in to the issue that I had a whole lot of photos to sort with and tidy up, and no time or motivation to do that, but it’s done now, so expect a whole lot of pics incoming.  I’ve also bought some stuff and had some preorders arrive:

Gained: 19 models
Painted: 34 models

Anyway, on to the pics.  Once again, I have tried to de-pornify models where I could.  I like looking at naked ladies as much as they next guy, but clothing and armour feel preferential when fighting monsters.

Models remaining:
Batch: 0, Normal: 42, Luxury: 11, Modular: 48, Bits Box: 3, Terrain sets: 13, To Ship: ATO Wave 2, TSoH, KDM
Models Finished in Collection: 2970 Models since start of project: 6556 out of 63 completed and still not done!

With 2023’s targets finally met, and a little time left of my Christmas holiday I set about building all the remaining non-modular playable survivor models I have, and got them primed.  In the process I noticed that the herb gatherer is a really annoying build.  Take a look at the pics below.  you see how you need to paint the base before gluing the “water” on?  Now you see those 3 bits of plant poking through?  Those are separate pieces that can only be glued to the base, through the water, once the water is glued on.  This means she needs to be painted with 3 sub-assemblies that are basically tiny blades of grass.  Whoever thought that was a good idea needs to be fired.  I painted them on the sprue and made her my first job to get it over with and make sure I didn’t throw the sprue away by accident.

Since taking those pics I have gone back and applied two more coats of gloss varnish to the water and it now looks a lot clearer and wet.

I have also fully painted the white lion fur on 7 models, applied a base coat to all the unattached bases, and started work on the only 3 Dragon King armour based survivors.

I’ve also got back to playing Aeon Trespass.  My Hobby Pledges for 2024 focus more on me playing games this year.  I’m buying all these expensive campaign games and I actually want to play them.  Cycles 4 and 5 are supposed to arrive Q1 this year and I want to finish Cycle 3 before they get here.  At my current rate it should take around 6 weekends of play to do that, so being done before the end of Q1 should be simple enough.  We all know no KS gets delivered on time, especially with Chinese New Year happening around the shipping date.

Models remaining:
Batch: 0, Normal: 43, Luxury: 11, Modular: 48, Bits Box: 3, Terrain sets: 13, To Ship: ATO Wave 2, TSoH, KDM
Models Finished in Collection: 2969 Models since start of project: 655 out of 63 completed and still not done!

That just leaves the Survivor minis for Kingdom Death.  That’s 35 models done in only 22 days.  One more than my target, and 2 days quicker.  Over a year I made a net dent in my pile of shame of one whole model.  Progress is progress, and my PoS almost grew instead.  Out of those 43 Normal models remaining I think I now have 30 built and primed, and have some paint on one of them.

Models remaining:
Batch: 0, Normal: 48, Luxury: 11, Modular: 48, Bits Box: 3, Terrain sets: 13, To Ship: ATO Wave 2, TSoH, KDM
Models Finished in Collection: 2964 Models since start of project: 650 out of 63 completed and still not done!

That’s the Godtear stuff done.  On to the monster minis from Kingdom Death.

Models remaining:
Batch: 0, Normal: 57, Luxury: 11, Modular: 48, Bits Box: 3, Terrain sets: 13, To Ship: ATO Wave 2, TSoH, KDM
Models Finished in Collection: 2955 Models since start of project: 641 out of 63 completed and still not done!

I’m posting this early new year, but I had everything finished with 2 whole days to spare.  I even had the next 27 models built and primed before returning to work on the 2nd.  It’s time to share some finished pics.

4 days left. I got the first 3 models finished today, and made progress on the reamining two in the 2nd pic. Then I got a game of Godtear against an almost 7 year old. The third pic is my freshly painted minis against his Christmas presents. He’s had then two days and they’re not even primed yet. Bloody slacker! He gave me a tough first 2 rounds, but I won out on rounds 3 and 4, but he made me work for it. He plays very well.

5 days to go. I spent 8 hours today basing and varnishing 21 Godtear models (pics another time), but managed to find time to finish the Godhand, and paint this red cloak. I have visitors tomorrow but hope to get some painting in. I still want to get 4 more models finished, and it looks like 2 if my 5 days will mostly be used for socialising, and basing and varnishing. Thank God some of these models are very near completion.

6 days to go. Nothing finished today but I’m getting very close with everything. I’ve just finished the leathers and may decide they want further highlights tomorrow. I have to base and varnish all the Godtear stuff in the morning as my friends 6 year old is due round on Wednesday for a game and I want to play with my new toys. He’s actually quite good, especially when Fireman Sam isn’t on in the same room and he can focus.

8 days left and one more model done, leaving 6 on my tray and a goal of 5 more.
The final Bone Eater was finished today when I painted the “packed lunch” over her shoulder. With the flesh and the lion pelt painted on everyone else the end is feeling much closer. Currently working on the hair, with 3 more scalps to go.

I’ve been on leave for 1 whole day and I’ve got a whole lot more done than I’d hoped. I’ve finished 4 of the 5 Bone Eaters. The fifth has a whole other model slung over her shoulder. I painted the swords on the Godhand and the Bone Eater Survivor (Same name, but different character from the same box. That’s not confusing at all) with the Bone Eater blades. Then the Smog Eater flesh went smoother and faster than I thought, and their masks and smoke were all done in time for a few episodes of Lower Decks before bed. That’s 7 models finished today.
My target of 33 models was wrong as I apparently can’t count. Helena has 7 models in her box not 6. So thats 34 models I want to paint. This leaves me with 6 left to paint, all of which have work already done on them, and 9 days left. Tomorrow it’s Survivor flesh and Lion pelts.

Another weekend gone and 2 more days of work invested in this.  On Friday evening I pin washed and highlighted all the steels I’d previously airbrushed, and started work on the remaining Godtear flesh areas.  On Saturday I finished off the skin, and got Helena and her followers finished in one day.

Sunday morning I decided to focus on Keera.  She was the last Godtear model left to go.  I painted the Godhands cloak at the same time as it’s the same colour.  She took most of a day to do. When se was done I didn’t feel like doing anything too demanding.  It was getting late, and Keera’s colours had all been hard work to get solid coats for.  I decided to paint whatever that monster is on the Imitation Butchers base.  He will be kneeling on its corpse with an axe raised.  His hand is part of the base so I need this painted before I paint his skin.

I finished it kinda quickly so gave in and started work on the Bone Eaters.  The base colour for the skin was airbrushed. Painting the bone will likely mess that up so I got to work on the bone before shading and highlighting the skin so I can work messily, clean it up easier.  The bone is now based, and will get washes and drybrushes tonight.  I should have everything but the skin done on them by the weekend, and can then either go crazy or find my zen by painting their skin.

My inner Dave Gorman is now screaming “So what’s that done to the graph?” (If you don’t get that go watch this.  It’s a hilarious true tale of obsession, futility, and tequila.  It’s split in to 20-30 minute episodes so it’s not as demanding a watch as you might think.)

Anyway.  The numbers.

That’s 21 of 33 models done, with 10 days left. I’m 10.4 models ahead of schedule, but there’s only one Godtear mini left. I’ll have to actually put effort in to the remaining Kingdom Death models.  I’ve 12 models left, and 10 days off (and 3-4 evenings free).  It’s all KDM.  There’s a unit of 5 similar models, and a unit of 3 similar models.  That’ll make them go a little quicker.  I’ve also done some work on everything, even if it is just laying down the first base coat.  I’ll also possibly need the best part of a day for painting the lanterns and bases, and varnishing everything.

I’m ahead of the curve, but only because I got all the quick wins done first.  All I have left is the slow, hard work.  I suspect I’m going to mostly be setting up dominoes too.  Getting 70% through a model then realising I’m better off getting 50% through another and then painting the same colour on them both at the same time, but then realising I need to do work on a 3rd model before I should do something on the second.  Once the two units are done I might not be able to finish anything until I can finish everything.

6 more models ready for the finishing touches. That’s 13 of 33, with 12 days off left. 8.2 models ahead of schedule, but it’s looking like I might lose this Saturday to friends popping round, and the same for the 27th. How dare people want to spend time with me at Christmas? Don’t they know there’s important things to be doing? It’s also likely to take best part of a day to base and varnish everything. I also expect the Kingdom Death models to take a lot longer than the Godtear ones.

Tonight I start work on the airbrushed steels, then focus on Helena and her followers.  I’ll probably start with their flesh tones, and paint Keera’s flesh at the same time.

Every year I set myself some hobby goals I try to achieve (2023, 2024).  Foremost amongst these goals is to paint at least as many models as I gain within the year.  I’ve exceeded this every year since I’ve been keeping track.  I was on target for this.  I should have just one more model left to go to break even.  Everything changed when the Black Friday attacked.  I got a bunch of stuff for half price I never expected to so now I’ve got an extra 32 models that I wasn’t expecting, and less than a month to get back on track.

This year I’ve completed 137 models, which works out at 2.8 days per model.  around 5 out of every 7 of those days is a work day though.  I’ve 24 days left to do this in, and 14 of those are not at work.  I’ve gone through my backlog and and picked out groups of models that work well for batch painting (Units, and models with similar paint schemes).  I painted a little under 100 Godtear models in a month when the KS landed and 20 of these models are from Godtear, so there is a precedent for this going well.  Lets see.

Here we see 35 models I’ve picked out, all built and primed and ready to go on Thursday evening.

By Saturday lunchtime they had all been airbrushed with at least a base colour, sometimes with near-full shading and highlighting.

By the end of Sunday I had “finished” the 3 dogs and their master, and the 3 dragons.  I’d finished adding extra pin washes, and extra highlights to the models I’d airbrushed gold on, and made solid progress on the samurai goblins.

By finished, I don’t actually mean finished.  My plan is to do all the basing and lanterns together at the end, and follow up with a mass varnishing.  It’ll be more efficient this way.

I’ve done some maths.  I have 14 days at home to do 33 models.  If we ignore workday evenings, I’ll need to do 2.4 models per day.  After 2 days I’ve got 7 of 33 models done, which puts me 2.2 models ahead of schedule, with a lot more progress done on others.  I’m starting with the easy wins for now, as I think some of the Kingdom Death models will go a lot slower.

I’ll try and come back with regular updates, but don’t expect anything Christmas week.  Time spent writing updates is time better spent painting.  Updates are best done at the office when I can’t get to my paint brushes.

Models remaining:
Batch: 0, Normal: 77, Luxury: 11, Modular: 48, Bits Box: 3, Terrain sets: 13, To Ship: ATO Wave 2, TSoH, KDM
Models Finished in Collection: 2934 Models since start of project: 620 out of 63 completed and still not done!

I painted 7 more models!  Yay!   Black Friday had some surprise deals I would have ben a fool to resist.  Yay!  My pile of shame has just significantly grown.  Booo!

Models remaining:
Batch: 0, Normal: 52, Luxury: 11, Modular: 48, Bits Box: 3, Terrain sets: 13, To Ship: ATO Wave 2, TSoH, KDM COD
Models Finished in Collection: 2934 Models since start of project: 620 out of 63 completed and still not done!

This weeks mission was all the Rawhide based KDM minis I had left to paint.  I’ve got 5 of them done.  I’ve also started work on the two Scouts of Death.

During Essen I ordered the Tale Spinner titan for Aeon Trespass and she’s just arrived today, so that’s 5 done, but one more to add to the queue.  She’ll be my next job.  if I can get 10 more models done before January I’ll have painted as many models as I’ve gained this year.  Any extras actually put a dent in my Pile of Shame, instead of just keeping on top of it.

Models remaining:
Batch: 0, Normal: 56, Luxury: 11, Modular: 48, Bits Box: 3, Terrain sets: 13, To Ship: ATO Wave 2, TSoH, KDM COD
Models Finished in Collection: 2929 Models since start of project: 615 out of 63 completed and still not done!

I was able to finish the Neko Twilight Knight this week.  I also did a lot of building, and started work on my next project.