Spring/Summer Cleaning of my Pile of Shame

In classic GentlemanSpy fashion I complete neglected to check the details of the Spring Cleaning event, thinking it ended in Sept rather than mid-June. Thusly, I am making this my “It’s not snowing yet” clean lasting until the first week of September. What is summer but a very hot and dry spring anywho? As June was exceedingly busy, I managed to finish my June dudes only in the past few days, hence the “June” set.

The first is a set of 10 Canadian D-Day Dodgers from Warlord Games British and Commonwealth infantry range. The second are a set of Crow Scouts from Brigade Games’ Plains War kickstarter. They’re wonderfully detailed and I really enjoyed painting them. Turns out a good weathered union uniform blue is a base coat of Tamiya Blue with a thin layer of GW Thunderhawk blue overtop.

The last set are a quad of Wasteman miniatures from Oldschool Miniatures, along with a protocol robot from Alternative Armies. I’m quite pleased with the robot, as I used many thin downstrokes of white to create the illusion of static.

Next up, a whole lot of metal and resin chaos.

May was a very busy month professionally for me, so I was not a particularly dedicated painter. Unfortunately, my 15mm Funj project is on hold indefinitely as I’ve grown very sensitive to super glue, and a project of that size requires me to purchase a respirator. Worse for my spring cleaning, I purchased another oldschoolminiature mystery box, filled with tonnes of metal love that has been promptly added to my PoS.

The past month consisted primarily of two particularly cool paint jobs with a evil dwarf painter and a Not!Gungan diplomat by OSM, my first fully completed terrain piece, and a horde of giant rats.

Next up, more OSM mutants!

My first project was a series of one off characters I had based but untouched. Salazaar Space Snakeman and Brooke Skeletal Spaceman by Diehard Miniatures, and two undead dwarfs and a Goblin Barndoor Sticker by Oldschool Miniatures.

As always I loved playing with bone, rust, and rotting flesh on the undead. However I took some great advice given to me and tried to keep the rust attached to the crevices and joinery of the metal. Further, I tried to use AK Dry Dust diorama paste to make some chunky, bumpy rust growths. I like the effect but it’s too subtle right now so next time I do it I’ll certainly have to be more aggressive with the little stony bits to ensure a proper rusty outgrowth.

Other than that, I have found that contrast paints work quite nicely for effects. Using Wadzag Dark Yellow as a tarnish wash for metal and using a lighter yellow contrast colour for the glow off the snakeman’s lights worked okay. Unfortunately I used the Wadzag dark yellow on Brooke’s tunic which meant I couldn’t use it as a tarnish effect, and making me rely essentially on a Agrax Earthshade wash. Ah well, better luck next time.

Next up, completing my Funj Sudanese 15mm project!