Stuff what I been painting

It’s been a month of Bushido (like most of 2024). I’ve managed quite a lot of scatter terrain, including some rice bales, temple statues and a spherical prayer stone.

I also finished of Rokuro, an angry Tengu who fights for my Bushido faction.

So a reasonably productive month (for me at least) and some good steps toward reducing the pile of shame. However, while I’ve been very reserved this year, adding just over 40 models to the pile and therefore on course to actually reduce the pile, November saw a deviation from my good behaviour. I managed to pick up an Ebay auction for a future project that I’m planning that added a handful. And then my son and I visited Warlord for their tour (which was great) and they give you a number of free minis as part of that. So overall, the pile has grown in November and also grown during 2024. I need to paint hard in December!

A couple of months of finishing stuff that had been on the painting table for some time but just not quite over the line. So good to clear some stuff off the desk to create some working space!

We start with some Bushido models. The Two Lone Swordsmen and an MDF sum ring

Then we have a 3D printed Goblin Loony for Blood Bowl (painted up to match the colour scheme of my Ork team from earlier in this project).

I got stuck into some FoW models. In particular 4 8.8cm AA Flak teams and 6 8.8cm Anti Tank gun teams (although only 4 are pictured). Because you can never have enough high end anti tank gun options when you’re the Germans.

So that’s 14 models completed in the period. I did add 7 new models, mostly 3D prints that need to be worked on, but that’s a reduction in the pile over the two months. And, for 2024, the pile is down 8 overall! Progress is being made.

Slow months for painting for various reasons. Let’s start with the numbers. I added 11 new models to the pile in June, mostly 3d prints but only completed 5 models. August was a complete wash out.

But what was completed? In June, I knocked out The Wanyudo and an MDF Japanese peasant hut.

In July, I completed The Grey Pilgrim and Fuwa Kaidan and her pot that she spawns from.

Just a few updates for May.

First up, three kami for Bushido. In order, the Kami of Sapping Silt, Kami of Blighted Earth and Kami of Choking Fog.

And to prove that I’ve painted something other than Bushido models, I’ve finally finished off four stands of German 105mm Howitzers for Flames of War. I’ve modeled these to be behind a wooden emplacement which is just cocktail sticks cut to the right size and then glued together. This was also the first FoW models that I’ve tried an enamel pin wash on. Works very well and I’ll be repeating for future models.

Not the most productive month for getting things completed but there is a lot in progress at the moment. I’ve added the same number of models to the pile that I’ve painted, so a break even month.

2024 started well, with a lot finished in Jan and then work happened. And then life also happened and things somewhat went of the rails. But, things are starting to level out now and hopefully, I can get back to a bit more hobby.

But to quickly cover the past 4 months, in January I had a terrain month painting up some Japanese graves, a cooking station, a washing station, some objective markers, some lanterns, a pond and a well.

February I managed a couple of fire kami painted in about 10 minutes

March I managed Ikiryo. The flowers are not free hand, just nail art transfers but they work rather well.

April was a month of nothing finished. So, after 4 months of 2024, here are the scores on the doors.

Still just ahead on the year in reducing the pile of shame but April did see 13 models get added (Salute was to blame!).

2024 started well, with a lot finished in Jan and then work happened. And then life also happened and things somewhat went of the rails. But, things are starting to level out now and hopefully, I can get back to a bit more hobby.

Anyway, a whistle stop tour of the last 4 months painting production.

In January, it was mostly a terrain month as I finished off some Japanese graves, cooking station, a washing station, a well, some objective markers, a load of lanterns and a pond.

I didn’t get as much finished in December that I had hoped. I’ve still got quite a few models on the painting bench that are close to being complete but just haven’t quite got there.

I did however finish off some MDF terrain that has been sitting around for a while.

I also finished off the rest of my Cult of Yurei starter force with, in order, Risu, The Pennagalan, Mo Ises and Ibara.

I was lucky enough to get some more models for Christmas, so this added to the pile of shame resulting in the pile growing in December rather than shrinking. But over the course of 2023, I painted up 107 models, which given that I’m a particularly slow painter, is pretty good going. The pile did however gain 204 models, so it has grown during the year. Maybe 2024 will bring about a reduction in the pile….

Just posting an update on what I’ve got finished. All of this for our Bushido set

Firstly, some terrain. A batch of trees, something that I have never made from scratch before. And some terrain pieces that can be bought as part of your Bushido warband

I 3d printed a couple of temple lion statues

And the Cult of Yurei models Umeka (in blue) and Yama Uba (in red)

I also spotted that my spreadsheet was wrong. The number of models supposedly on my painting bench according to the spreadsheet seemed far too low compared to the groaning that the bench was giving out under the weight.

I have a project running here that I started some time ago to build an Italian hill village for Flames of War. It’s taken a bit of a back seat for a period of time. Early in the project, I designed some buildings firstly out of laser cut mdf which I wasn’t happy with and then using a cad package, I made some STL files that I got printed. I wasn’t really happy with any of these but they did create a set of test subjects for a colour scheme for that actual buildings.

I wanted to see if I could paint them quickly and after much searching of reference photos, I settled for a light sand colour. I found a cheap rattle can paint online which I’ve used to paint the walls. This was a mistake as the paint was poor and splattered out of the can. For the real buildings I’ll use my airbrush and some proper modelling paint.

The roofs went through a series of experiments before I settled on a white primer and then a Sienna ink applied over the top. I’m quite happy with the result and will be using this on the final buildings.

The doors and shutters were just an elf green that I had lying around.

This is all 15mm scale and I couldn’t help digging out a sherman tank to give myself some idea of what the games will be like when I finally get round to finishing the project.

First up, this is now a multi award winning project.

I’ve still been very much on the Bushido path this month and completed Mokoti, some Japanese lanterns, a drum, a sake display rack and completed some bamboo scatter terrain.

And some actual progress on the model count this month, with both the pile of potential and the number of models on the painting table going down, albeit by a small number.

More Bushido stuff got painted up over the last few months. We have Taiyo.

Next up the ghost wielding Hozumi Maha

The fox like Ryokeen

And some 3d printed plague rats

My spreadsheet tells me that I’ve completed 6 models in the two month period. I’ve also had the 3d printer working overtime and I’ve added 23 new models to the pile and started painting a further 17. This puts me behind where I was in June. But, the good news is that a number of the models that I’ve started are close to completion, so I hope that I can turn the numbers around over the coming months.

I should probably change the description of this project as I’ve said that this is stuff that I’m painting that isn’t linked to any other project. But everything this month is linked to my Bushido project….

This month, I’m going to start with the numbers. This is because I’m very proud that I went a whole month without buying anything new. The Models added to the pile column kept a zero, so well done me! This meant that the total pile actually reduced in size and, while not back to the size at the beginning of the year, it has shrunk. A step in the right direction.

This month I have managed to paint up,
2 Shisa models (effectively bronze temple statues)
1 Torii gate
1 Shinto shrine
7 bits of fencing
1 measuring stick
1 prisoner transport

I also got rid of an old V1 rocket for Flames of War that was never going to get finished

This month, I have mostly been painting terrain for Bushido.

So May was quite a productive month in tackling the pile of potential, with 26 separate models completed! Down side is I also picked up some FoW models with the new Berlin book and added 27 to the pile, so that’s an increase to the pile rather than a decrease, albeit by just 1. Maybe June will bring about a decrease…..

I rounded off April by finishing off some models that I’ve had on the painting table for some time for different reasons.

First up, we have a very old Grey Seer. I started painting this chap years ago before he got discarded and forgotten in a shoe box of other half painted figures. I fancied trying some blending from the grey into the green using glazes as part of the overall job. I think it’s turned out OK but could probably have done with some more glazes to really smooth the transition.

The base does need to be finished off by removing the excess basing material and painting the edge but otherwise all done.

I’ve also completed four 12cm Heavy Mortar teams for my FoW German forces. These will add a little bit of punch to the support teams and, as I’ve modeled them behind earth works, I surely get permanent cover and bullet proof cover don’t I????

These have also been on the painting desk for a while. I started and got a little bored with batch painting various shades of field grey, khaki and other drab colours.

So that’s another 5 models removed from the pile of potential. However, I and my son decided to give Bushido a try and have dived in head first. I’ve started a project on it here:

https://www.beastsofwar.com/project-entry/1815678/

This has pushed the pile of potential in April completely in the wrong direction, particularly as I have 3D printed a lot of terrain for the game. Here’s the latest update but the pile has grown by a net 73 models in the month. Still, just means I will have to work harder at getting things painted – and I’ve already started a lot of the painting for the terrain with 45 models getting at least primed in April with some further along, so I hope to get the number down quickly.

I’ve now completed three Blood Bowl teams on this project (the Human and Ork teams from the box and a Wood Elf team). Time to add some star players to be rostered.

This first star player is a 3d print and I’m going to use as Lord Borak. The base idea is stolen straight from a Gerry Can, so thanks for showing how to actually use crackle paint as I had given up on my bottle!

Next up we have a really old metal miniature. I can’t actually remember whether this was just a generic ogre or was the old model for Morg’n’Thorg. Either way, I will treat him as The Mighty Zug as he’s not really ogre sized when compared to the current models – scale creep for you.

Not the most dynamic of poses and I’m also not sure who goes on to a BB pitch wearing a nappy but I like the model. He also clearly never skips leg day either.

Last up we have another 3d Print which I’ve scaled up a little to look even more imposing on the pitch. This will be my new Morg’n’Thorg.

I’ve painted the white vest using oil paints. It takes a long time to dry but I’m really starting to like using the oils for blending. The rest is all acrylic.

I tried to splatter mud over his lower half using a MIG enamel. I’m not entirely convinced with the result and something I need to continue to work on. I copied an approach by Nightshift, a scale modeler on YouTube but he works at a different scale so I maybe I should have taken this into account first.

To update on the Pile Of Potential tally. One model got added to the pile in March. This was not my doing and was a present from work colleagues. They don’t know that I paint models but at a previous team event, I mentioned that I would really like to own a tank, preferably a Churchill. Such lofty goals are out of my price range. As I’m changing roles soon, I was presented with a 1:35 scale model Leopard tank, which was gratefully received and has been added to the pile.

The three star players do however reduce the total slightly.

I’ve always liked Blood Bowl and still have my 2nd edition boxed version hidden away somewhere. So when GW released an updated version in 2016, I got myself a copy. I had no-one to play with, but that didn’t stop me!

I painted the Orc team up some time ago along with the counters and templates. I’ve also painted a Wood Elf team (all here on this project) but the human team lay languishing in the box, just bare blue plastic. But no more, I got myself some spare minis to make a full team (because GW obviously don’t provide the full 16 players in the box) as well as a lovely ogre to add some punch.

For colour schemes, I went for a mix of my two favourite football teams, Southend United and Brighton (don’t ask). So while it’s not the most original, I like the look.

I had a real challenge with the blue. I was trying out some Scale 75 paint. It’s gel based but I found it very chalky and inconsistent in its coverage. It took several layers to get right but then looked really thick. I did consider stripping them and starting again but just didn’t have the time. These models were also the first time I tried out speed paints, in particular the white. It worked well but I’m not overly sure I’m happy with the final look. What I have learnt is I need to experiment more with both Scale 75 and Speed paints.

And here’s the team photo for the calendar

Which now means, 7 years after getting the boxed game, I’ve painted everything in it. Well done me. Here’s a recent match which the Orcs won 2-0 thanks to some violent actions from their Black Orcs that left a number of the human team needing a good chiropractor.

And now that I have a model tracker, I can update some of them as completed. Eagle eyed readers will spot that the total models in the pile has increased from last time. That’s because I’ve found some more stuff hidden away and I’ve yet to even open two boxes of WHFB models that I have. I also bought some more FoW stuff (German 12cm mortars and 88 Flak and 88 AT guns – I’ll be painting these shortly).

But I’m only 9 models away from breaking even on the pile for this year.

I have a pile of potential that is, like my waistline, only going in one direction – expanding. Like my waistline, I would like it to go in the other direction, so I need to take action. I’ve decided to publicly shame myself on the size of my pile of potential in the hope that this will push me toward reducing it. This is also where the comparison of my pile and my waistline stops – I’m not in any way advocating body shaming here! 🙂

I don’t have a permanent painting station but rather a wheeled painting set of drawers that hides, out of sight, under the stairs. Alongside this, are some boxes that contain unpainted models that are supposed to be painted next. This is just part of the pile of shame and there is more in the garage. But here are some pictures showing what I’m talking about

Now I expect that my pile is not as extensive as others, but it is too big for me. The obvious answer is to actually get a paint brush out and start painting but I decided to procrastinate some more and to catalogue my pile. In this way, I can track progress and see what’s outstanding and hopefully feel a bit more positive about get things completed.

To manage this, I created a spreadsheet because everyone loves a spreadsheet. In it, I have listed all of the models in the pile. By model, I have chosen to make this either an individual model (like a FoW tank) or a base (like a FoW infantry stand). This does create some disparity in the size of effort – for example, one of the entries is a High Elf riding a dragon, which counts as 1 model whereas a FoW German Infantry HQ (2 bases made up of 6 15mm men) counts as 2 models. But it’s start.

I’ve not finished cataloging all of the pile yet as it is buried away in places, this will happen over time so I expect the Pile number will grow, but I’m keen to focus on the Completed number. So, as I progress, I plan to update the spreadsheet and keep a tally of the numbers. Here is the state of play today.

As you can see, a current pile of 405 models. Nothing completed so far in 2023. But I do have 84 models in progress. By progress, I mean undercoated as a minimum. I don’t count models that are built otherwise (as you can see from the pictures above) this number would be much higher! The negative net gain shows that I have bought more models in 2023 than I have painted, which is akin to eating lots of cake and not going on a run (to return to the waistline analogy!)

I’m also hoping to add some nice graphs to my spreadsheet because that will also help get the models painted!

Feel free to drop in here and leave pile shaming comments in this project to spur me on to get the number down!

I’ve had this mdf bridge in my terrain box for ages and thought it was time to give it some colour. Didn’t think it would take too long to paint and I could squeeze it in around work.

It’s not brilliant but looks better than an unpainted mdf bridge.

I’ve also been working on some Blood Bowl stuff and realised that I did not have any painted balls to play with. As they’re so small, this was easy to rectify!

Painting my scenery and terrain is something that I’ve always been meaning to do. It really enhances the in game experience. So as a change of pace, I tackled a couple of terrain pieces.

First up, we have an MDF chateau. I sealed the MDF first with PVA but this was a royal pain in the arse to paint. It took multiple layers, the paint was blotchy, the paint ran and several other irritating things. The upshot is I probably didn’t seal the model well enough. So this took ages to paint to even get it vaguely close to tabletop standard. I eventually got to the point that I’d had enough and it was good enough. Not the most motivating painting experience.

Next up, I 3d printed some tyres as a test print for some Gaslands terrain. The scale was way too big and better for 28mm so I mounted it on some plasticard, added some acrylic paste and painted away. Suffice to say, this was a lot easier to paint than the MDF chateau and cheered me up after the previous frustration. Not sure what I’m going to do with it now that I’ve finished it but I’m sure that I will figure it out.

While I was painting the PaK40 guns in my last update, I found a loader model who looks like he’s not holding regular ammunition. Not quite sure what Hans is holding to load into the gun, but the enemy are likely to get a surprise.

My previous entry here was the initial deployment of my US 1st Armoured Division. The arrival of these new tanks into my Italian forces set up has the defending Germans a little worried and they have called for some additional firepower. So, to plug the gap in the lines, I’ve painted up some PaK 40 Anti Tank guns. The punch on this should easily penetrate the thin armour of the M4A1 Shermans!

These two guns are the Battlefront plastic kit. Easy to put together and reasonably quick to paint. Colour scheme is a simple dunkelgelb with some brown and green airbrushed on to create a camo effect. Chipping is just applied quickly with a sponge and gunmetal. Crew are a standard German Field Grey with a wash. A quick and easy approach.

The bases are polyfila mixed with a brown paint (to avoid the issue of any chips leaving a stark white patch) over which I sprinkle some sand and small cork chips. I pile the polyfila up at the front to create a ‘dug in’ look. The sand bags are home made from greenstuff.