Many readers are familiar with, and probably use, Vallejo's awesome line of military airbrush paints: the Model Air line. Can't say enough about Model Air paint. Great pigment density, brilliantly pre-thinned for airbrush use. Fantastic coverage. What could Vallejo possibly do to make their line of airbrush paints any better?

Well...how about a line of bright colours more suited to fantasy and science fiction figures? That's just what they've done. Released in Europe a few months ago, their new Game Air line got great reviews...and it's finally available in North America.

Nothing tells you more about the differences between Model Air and Game Air than this single photo. On the left, there are the muted historical military tones of the Model Air line: USAF Dark Grey, USAF Green and IDF Green. Now, on the right, we have some of the new Game Air colours: Ultramarine Blue, Magic Blue and Electric Blue. Perfect for so many fantasy and sic-fi projects. So, my first project to try out the Game Air colours was this Mage Knight metal figure of a Crypt Worm. Once I had finished it, I realized that it probably wasn't the best example because I did it up in muted organic colours...but it did at least utilize pink...something not in the Model Air line! Anyway, starting with the base figure, this two-part model was glued down to a base, primed and inked...and I painted up the flagstone base first. Now to move onto the paint job. The Vallejo brochure that came with the Game Air colours suggested a few triads of paints that can go well together. I wanted a rotting flesh look for the Crypt Worm, so I used their suggested Khaki—Dead Flesh—Bonewhite progression. At first glance, this didn't make much sense to me; This wasn't a progression of a single colour. But I wanted to give it a try anyway. I'm glad I did. the subtle brown from the Khaki and green from the Dead Flesh worked really well together. I added in the Squid Pink to provide colour interest around the mouth and underbelly areas of the worm. To pop out the model's detail, I washed with Sepia, Fleshtone and Red. I then went in and brush-highlighted the raised portions of the sculpt. This is where I would normally go to standard hobby acrylic paints...but I wanted to see how versatile the Game Air line was, so I used them with a brush. The highlights were painted on with the Dead Flesh, Bonewhite and Stonewall Grey colours. Super-happy with the results. The thin, but dense, Game Air paints provided great coverage and translucency during the highlighting pass. And the tonal variations I was able to lay down initially with the airbrush carried through to the final figure. So, overall, this new line of paints from Vallejo gets two thumbs up from me. I picked up my set at the Game Store in Red Deer, south of Edmonton. Posted by Kevin Barrett at 3:05 PM 5 comments: Labels: 28mm, Mage Knight, Paint, RPG, Tutorial

Woodland Monsters

Many years back, I was involved in the creation of the game Mage Knight, put out by our (at that time) company, WizKids Games. The figures for the game were pre-painted plastics, with masters sculpted in the USA and mass-produced in China.

A little-known fact was that 32 of those initially released Mage Knight figures were struck in white metal as limited edition hobby releases. I've had a box of them stashed away in my basement for well over a decade.

Anyway, as my thoughts and efforts have recently turned to RPGs, I remembered having these models and dug through some boxes to find some new RPG monsters. And the result... We have the Wood Golem and the Living Elemental. Of all the initial Mage Knight releases, these two were my favourite models, and I was glad to find them in metal. Super fun to paint up, and I went to town on the Wood Golem giving him some extra love on the base and covering him with moss. Hope you like the end result.

Posted by Kevin Barrett at 6:27 AM 5 comments: Labels: 28mm, Mage Knight, RPG

Two Everblight 'Casters

For central Alberta's October Warmachine painting challenge, I decided to bulk up on some Legion 'casters. I've had Kallus sitting around the hobby room since he first came out a few years back. Epic Absylonia, on the other hand, has just recently been released. As soon as was able to get her through the LGS, I picked her up...very cool flying model. I'm gravitating more and more to the blue-skinned theme in Everblight, so here they are. Kallus, obviously, was super-easy to paint. Tons of armour, with just a face, some hair and a leather skirt. Absylonia, on the other hand, with her wings, tail and so on, was more of an interesting challenge. Love the model though.

Posted by Kevin Barrett at 6:18 AM 2 comments: Labels: 30mm, Everblight, IABN, Warmachine/Hordes

Friday, October 17, 2014

An Assortment of RPG Figures

This week I dedicated some time to starting to clear off a bunch of half-painted stuff from the hobby table. I've been tinkering around with a bunch of RPG models recently. 18 are on the table, and finishing off these six brings me down to an even dozen. This is a mishmash of figures. First were three "baggage"-class models from Otherworld Miniatures. They came from Otherworld's Henchmen boxed set. These three are random figures from Reaper. The farmer is from a Townsfolk blister. The panther came from a Pathfinder pack along with a Gnome Druid (which has gone into the parts bin). Finally, the female ranger was a personality figure from the Dark Heavens line. Anyway...they were all nice figures to paint. Lots of detail on the Otherworld stuff...but I particularly liked the Reaper farmer...nice exaggerated detail in the face.

'Til next time!

Posted by Kevin Barrett at 5:50 PM 4 comments: Labels: 28mm, RPG

Saturday, October 11, 2014

I was waiting for some time for an order from Otherworld Miniatures to come in. I'd sent away for some RPG henchmen, and a few giant rats. Because the order was delayed, the guy who runs Otherworld threw in some extra figures for free. Lucky me!?!

Anyway, I'm working away on a group of henchmen, but in the mean time I knocked out 5 of the rats.
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