Octopus Overlords

Our DM game us new minis for Christmas. Everyone had a good enough painted mini but these were customized from Hero Forge. This means he gave everyone else a mini and I got mini and a job.
I did mine first. The Kobold Liaison of Sarathil v2.0





The Bronze wash I used is a lot more prominent in these pictures than in person.

That's a really cool gift.

For those looking for some good brushes. This is his 3rd kickstarter I backed. The other sets were good and this one should be just as good.
Ghost Brush Terrain, Flats And Filberts - Kickstarter

I looked at that previously, but can't afford Kickstarters right now (and there are a couple of biggies coming up soon!) I can vouch for his dry brush set. I love mine.

For those of you who use flat bases and don't enjoy sculpting, Reaper just launched a new Base Boss Kickstarter. The prices are great, and Reaper's quality is always good. This time they're doing lipped bases with sculpted inserts. You just pick the size, drop in the insert, and have a custom base ready to go. They have said that they plan to increase the number and variety of inserts before the end, too.

I just came across this video, and found it had really good information, even having been painting for ~33 years. It's worth seven minutes.

Side note: Talassar Blue plus Gryph Charger Grey makes great bluejeans.

Blackhawk wrote:Side note: Talassar Blue plus Gryph Charger Grey makes great bluejeans.

Absolutely.

I've had these shots sitting here for probably two weeks...







In the end, I think it came out to 25-30 minutes per miniature. The next set is going considerably faster, as a lot of the time was spent coming up with techniques and deciding on colors.

Setup for a Pulp Alley game last night. Ace Burnham’s Flying Circus looking for The Hyksos Map at Alem’s Warehouse of Antiquities.

I was just notified my Army Painter Speed Paint set has shipped! Not sure if I'll get to use it this weekend, but I'm hoping to.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Mar 01, 2022 10:55 pm I was just notified my Army Painter Speed Paint set has shipped! Not sure if I'll get to use it this weekend, but I'm hoping to.

Btw, BGG had a thread about how Speed Paints reactivate when acrylic paint is applied on top, meaning you would need to varnish them before adding another layer of paint. I think whether this matters depends on what your paint workflow is. If Speed Paints would be it on a mini, then probably not a big deal. If you layer on top, then you'd have to think about where these fit in your workflow.

Oh wow, I hadn't seen that. I'd been getting really good results from the GW Contrast paints and doing some finishing details with acrylics on top. That definitely changes things for me and what I'd been used to doing, so thanks for the heads up!

Malificent wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 1:04 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Mar 01, 2022 10:55 pm I was just notified my Army Painter Speed Paint set has shipped! Not sure if I'll get to use it this weekend, but I'm hoping to.

Btw, BGG had a thread about how Speed Paints reactivate when acrylic paint is applied on top, meaning you would need to varnish them before adding another layer of paint. I think whether this matters depends on what your paint workflow is. If Speed Paints would be it on a mini, then probably not a big deal. If you layer on top, then you'd have to think about where these fit in your workflow.

Wow! I didn't order any Speed Paints, but that is basically a deal breaker for me. I use Contrast as my base layer and then add highlights and details. Weird that this hasn't been mentioned by any of the other reviewers.

baelthazar wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 10:19 am

Malificent wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 1:04 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Mar 01, 2022 10:55 pm I was just notified my Army Painter Speed Paint set has shipped! Not sure if I'll get to use it this weekend, but I'm hoping to.

Btw, BGG had a thread about how Speed Paints reactivate when acrylic paint is applied on top, meaning you would need to varnish them before adding another layer of paint. I think whether this matters depends on what your paint workflow is. If Speed Paints would be it on a mini, then probably not a big deal. If you layer on top, then you'd have to think about where these fit in your workflow.

Wow! I didn't order any Speed Paints, but that is basically a deal breaker for me. I use Contrast as my base layer and then add highlights and details. Weird that this hasn't been mentioned by any of the other reviewers.

I think most of the other reviewers, for the purpose of the review, were only using Speed Paints and just doing direct comparisons to Contrast Paints.

Even though they don't fit into my workflow as currently structured, I might still try some out. Being able to reactivate is kind of like being able to erase a little. I would just have to be ready to varnish when I felt a layer was complete. The added time might make the point of using the speed paints pointless but won't know until I try.

I ordered a full set. It might be helpful to add clean details but not being able to highlight would be a problem.

I have an Army Painter dark metallic paint that activates with later coats. It’s annoying but I got it to work.

To be fair, I was only applying detail work with some of the Contrast paints because of how they weren't what I was expecting when being applied and/or dry. If the Speed Paints work in such a way as to truly not need any finishing detail work or highlights, then that's fine. If I want to go the extra mile on an important figure and I have to seal it first before detailing, so be it. The need to spray seal isn't great (no brush on sealer), but until I can actually start using the Army Painter stuff, it's hard to say how it'll all work out. I'm confident time will be saved overall, at least.

The time saver isn't over contrast paints, it's over traditional painting methods. The different versions of contrast paints (Instant Color, GW Contrast Paints, these) all have their unique pros and cons. Just like the previous 'hot' method (the Army Painter dips.) None will give results as good as manually painting the pieces (for instance, highlights are on raised areas relative to the surface, not relative to the light), but all are faster.

Sorry - that's what I meant. Contrast+acrylic highlight/ detail is still faster than all acrylic. Speed paint + matte + acrylic highlight would still likely be faster than all acrylic.

The box just arrived, so that's great. I didn't realize Army Painter started (maybe with these?) putting mixing balls into their dropper bottles - that's great.

Smoove_B wrote:Sorry - that's what I meant. Contrast+acrylic highlight/ detail is still faster than all acrylic. Speed paint + matte + acrylic highlight would still likely be faster than all acrylic.

The box just arrived, so that's great. I didn't realize Army Painter started (maybe with these?) putting mixing balls into their dropper bottles - that's great.

I think they started doing that with their air paints line…

Also, I'm jealous. These are going on my long term wishlist.

I really am curious to see if they are more consistent (?) than the Contrast paints. I know some of it is me and what I'm expecting, but the wild variations in the GW line really knocked me for a loop. The colors that work, really work. The ones that don't? Complete disappointment.

I've been painting all my core space figs and I find myself really only using about 6 different colors from the GW contrast line. I'm trying to expand that though with the latest minis I've painted.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:39 pm I really am curious to see if they are more consistent (?) than the Contrast paints. I know some of it is me and what I'm expecting, but the wild variations in the GW line really knocked me for a loop. The colors that work, really work. The ones that don't? Complete disappointment.

Yeah, Contrast paints requiring varying levels of dilution with medium to work consistently. That has been my major disappointment with them.

Game from last night…

I didn't know you could get maple syrup from palm trees.

Isgrimnur wrote:I didn't know you could get maple syrup from palm trees.

Oh sure…point out the one bit of terrain I didn’t have finished yet…

Don't know anything about the game, but that looks pretty cool!

I can’t tell, does that fire actually light up?!

Or is it just really bright paint?

Fardaza wrote:Don't know anything about the game, but that looks pretty cool!

It’s a minis game called Pulp Alley. I currently am running 3 leagues (Ace Burnham’s Flying Circus, The Shadow Tong, and Sable Salle Fencing Academy) all trying to find The Tomb of the Serpent. We just completed our 9th game in the campaign. One of my players is actually down in St. Louis so I run the games on Zoom for him (a bit of a challenge but we are managing OK. )

Pulp Alley has become my top game right now. If you want to learn more about it, I would recommend you head over to YouTube and check out their channel. The creator does at least 3 videos a week, including a live streamed game with players from around the world on Sunday mornings, 10 AM Central. Check it out.

baelthazar wrote:I can’t tell, does that fire actually light up?!

Or is it just really bright paint?

The fire and the lamp on the table in the background both light up. I 3D print them in translucent filament, paint in the dark parts, then add a flickering LED and battery holder.

hentzau wrote: ↑Sat Mar 05, 2022 9:38 pm

baelthazar wrote:I can’t tell, does that fire actually light up?!

Or is it just really bright paint?

The fire and the lamp on the table in the background both light up. I 3D print them in translucent filament, paint in the dark parts, then add a flickering LED and battery holder.

That is just plain amazing!

So I have foot surgery on Friday, so I set myself a goal a few weeks ago to finish Batman: The Animated Series before that day. I finished yesterday and it feels awesome. So I thought I'd share a few of my favorites:

Alfred


Ra's Al Ghul


Gone, gone the form of man! Rise, the demon, Etrigan!


Harvey Bullock


Clock King


Killer Croc


Bane


Scarecrow

Malificent wrote:So I have foot surgery on Friday, so I set myself a goal a few weeks ago to finish Batman: The Animated Series before that day. I finished yesterday and it feels awesome. So I thought I'd share a few of my favorites:

Alfred


Ra's Al Ghul


Gone, gone the form of man! Rise, the demon, Etrigan!


Harvey Bullock


Clock King


Killer Croc


Bane


Scarecrow

Very nice!

Great job! And great job matching the colors, too!

Even if they did use the Bane from the New Adventures of Batman and Robin instead of the original Animated Series version! But at least they used the original Scarecrow - the NA version was... weird. It gave me Ralph Bakshi flashbacks.

I have been SOOOOO tempted by this game. I actually pre-ordered it last year but canceled after it kept getting delay after delay. Kind of wish I had kept it now because I'm such a huge Batman fan and with IDW getting out of the games business I may never get another chance at it.

A few Pulp Alley figures painted up with Army Painter Speedpaints.

Those are great!

Nice, desperately waiting for my set to be delivered.