Category Archives: Rackham Entertainment

Cadwallon via Pardulon, doors, doors, doors…

Many moons ago, Rackham produced some fantastic doors as part of their line of scenic elements.  The doors have a strong Aarklashian look to them, and are ideal pieces for anyone venturing to build a three dimensional representation of, for example, a Cadwallon neighborhood.  Unfortunately, Rackham only made two.

Rackham's "large door"

Rackham's "manor door"

Enter a small European company called Pardulon, who make four resin-cast doors (sculpted by Karsten Radzinski) that are perfect for any Aarklashian setting: French, wizard’s, merchant’s, and simple.  The photos of their doors speak for themselves:

Pardulon's "French door"

Pardulon's "wizard's door"

Pardulon's "merchant door"

Pardulon's "simple door"

I don’t know anything else about Pardulon save what is on their Web site and some good reviews about their products I’ve heard from a friend.  That being said, I’ll be placing an order with them very soon.

P.S. For those of you ambitious enough, volume 13 of the print edition of Rackham’s Cry Havoc! magazine has a fantastic article about making your own Aarklashian doors.

Cry Havoc!, vol. 13

Koren the Chosen, finished

I finished Koren (left) last night.  It was a much longer process than I anticipated, but mainly because I got distracted by some other projects at the midway point.

I’ll need to upload some better pictures soon, but for now I hope these suffice to demonstrate the direction I went with this model.

Koren, last WIP update

Here’s where things stand as of last night (I’m taking this evening off).

I almost made a complete mess of the sash around his waist, and still need to fix some things here and there; but for the most part that is done.

I still need to finish the axe (saving that for last), base, buckles (bull heads x3), straps, and cape.  He’ll be done on Friday, I think, Saturday at the latest (since I’m taking the night off).

You can see the mess I need to clean up on the sash in this photo.


Koren, almost done

Koren up close

I’m almost done with Koren.  I was supposed to have this finished yesterday as part of a Rackham tribute over at Dragon Painting, but got distracted for too long by all my other projects.  I wanted to share some WIPs, but none of the pictures turned out well enough to upload here.

While investigating the photos using the zoom function, I realized that many of the details I added to his face are nearly imperceptible to the naked eye.  The reddish touches I added under the eyes, for example.

Koren should be done in a few days.  I’ll wait until then to upload more pictures of him.

Koren the Chosen, a work in progress

I should have been posting this here all along, my latest Rackham kelp WIP, Koren the Chosen.

The kelts were always one of my least favorite factions.  But since painting the musician, I’ve come around; and they are now one of my favorite.  I’m fickle, you could say.

The Rackham studio job for Koren is beautiful, but I’ve decided to take things in a different direction.  Both the sculpts and the palette for the studio model are meant to convey the beastly nature of Koren.  In the process, his human incarnation looses its voice, so I’ve decided to paint the model with a standard human kelt palette and let the sculpt demonstrate the beast.  I hope it works.

Koren the Chosen (Rackham studio image)

More this weekend…

Another Cadwallon WIP Sculpt

Cadwallon mage?

This is the latest WIP for the yet-to-be-released Cadwallon: City of Thieves board game.  For more information, see the Dust Cadwallon page on Facebook.

UPDATE: From the DUST page:

10 City of Thieves figures are ready to be molded and produced. Paolo is flying to China with them. At Gama and probably Cannes you will have the opportunity to see and touch them!!

Jean Bey is No Longer with Rackham

As reported on dragonpainting.net and awaiting confirmation by TGN, Jean Bey is no longer with Rackham:

Hi my Friends,

After several months of silence, it is time for me to give you some news: as of yesterday, I’m officially and definitively no longer part of the company.

I want to say thank you to all of you, for all your support, your confidence and your passion for CONFRONTATION and AT-43 all these years, and for some of you for more than 10 years! I have really liked being on board with you, meeting some of you each year at conventions, sharing with you every day all this passion for the CONFRONTATION and AT-43 minis lines and gaming universes.

CONFRONTATION has definitively changed the face of the 30mm miniatures industry and the way of playing a miniatures game forever by becoming a standard. Nothing would happen without you and as the creator of the game and the miniatures lines, I want to personally say that you have been the best supporters a creator can have. You are great!

See you soon again!

Thanks for all guys.

Jean.

NB: Carlo, send me an email when you come to visit Paris. Scott, Aaron, Francis, Antoine, Tracy, Duncan, Nicolas, Johan, and a lot more you have been fantastic partners.

Administrative Update, 11 December 2009

Over the coming months I’ll be working on a new section to the site devoted exclusively to Rackham miniatures, the Aarklash Archive in the Athenæum.  I’m currently building the Factions department, which, when finished, will be a complete catalog of every miniature (including WIPs and back stories for some) Rackham created from their inception until the end of the metal line circa late 2007.

I’ve got a bunch of comparison photos to share as well.  Expect to see them soon.

Meanders of Darkness Painting Challenge, Final Update

Kelt Musician - finished front and back 5999 6005

Rackham's Kelt Musician

Be sure to visit Dragon Painting to see more completed entries for this challenge.

Meanders of Darkness Painting Challenge, Update 06

Kelt Musician, front

Kelt Musician, front

Under the Mountain 01 November 2009 5944

Kelt Musician, back

The leather, metal, and a few odds and ends are obviously not done, but this project is finally nearing completion.  Be sure to visit the Dragon Painting forums to see more entries here (WIPs) and here (final submissions).

Meanders of Darkness Painting Challenge, Update 05

The skirt is done for the most part. The highlights are brighter in real life, and my light tent may help show that later; although it’s possible I will need one more pass with a shade color and another with the final highlight color.

The cords on the front are also done; I’ve only finished two on the back.

The bronze has been washed. Next I need to add highlight and patina colors.

There is a problem with the base colors of the scabbard and skirt. Also, there’s a lot of bronze on the back. I was aware this would happen before committing to the palette, however. The scabbard will get a deep wash with VMC 822 German Cam. Black Brown and then highlighted back up just to the base color. Ditto for the mallet and sword handle leather. The patina for the oracle plates should help distinguish that bronze from what is on the scabbard, which will lack oxidation.

Anyway, after two hours worth of shading and highlights to the skirt and cords + wash to the bronze:

Under the Mountain 27 October 2009 5814Under the Mountain 27 October 2009 5815

TH Miniatures, NMM Formulas

TH Miniatures, in English and French

TH Miniatures, in English and French

I discovered TH Miniatures a few years ago, when I was really into Rackham miniatures and ready to take my painting skills to the next level.

THM has not posted an update to the site in the past year, and I’m not sure how much longer they will be around.  In the meantime, other than the gallery of beautifully painted models, I highly recommend the page on NMM formulas.  I made a backup copy for myself, just in case the site disappears, and plan to ask the owner about hosting a duplicate page here.

Meanders of Darkness Painting Challenge, Update 04

More work on the skin, added paint to the eyes and hair.

More work on the skin, added paint to the eyes and hair.

Added thin basecoat layers to cloth and leather.

Added thin basecoat layers to cloth and leather.

Added basecoat to the base.

Added basecoat to the base.

Obviously there’s still a ton of work to do, but the model is starting to come to life…slowly.

Rackham Army Boxes Unboxed, Lions and Wolfen

Click on the image to see more at Raphael's blog

Click on the image to see more at Raphael's blog

For those of you who missed the announcement at TGN, Raphael Da silva Gomes has uploaded to his blog a ton of pictures featuring the contents of Rackham Entertainment’s first two army boxes for Confrontation: Age of Rag’narok.  Rackham reportedly skipped some stages in the painting process (mostly highlights) to make these sets affordable.

I have no plans to pick up either of these, but the undead box slated for later this year (early next year?) has me tempted.

NOTE: Image featured in this post is Copyright © 2009 Raphael Da silva Gomes.

Meanders of Darkness Painting Challenge, Update 03

The beginning of the highlight stage

The beginning of the highlight stage

A detail of the face

A detail of the face

Obviously a lot of work still to go, but I’ve started the highlight process.

My skin formula for this piece is as follows:

  • Base coat with Vallejo Game Color (VGC) Dwarf Skin (041),
  • First shadow wash (general) is VGC Tan (066),
  • Second shadow wash (recesses and undercuts only) is VGC Tan + VGC Sombre Grey (048),
  • Blend between the shadows and basecoat with a glaze of VGC Tan,
  • Blend first highlight onto the skin with VGC Dwarf Skin,
  • Highlight with VGC Elf Skintone (004).

There’s still a lot of shaping to do, as you can see. I’ll repeat this process on the skin all over the model.

The other areas of the model–cloth, metal, etc.–won’t get this kind of treatment, but I want the flesh to be as good as I can get it. Also, I’m enjoying this experiment with adding blue to the shadows.

I took the detail photo with my 100mm macro lens. The actual size of the photo is way bigger, but it seemed pointless to show greater detail with something this small. The focus is a tad off, because I didn’t bother with a tripod. I’ll take an appropriate photo with this lens when I finish the face.

Be sure to check this thread on the Rackham forums to see the other entries in this challenge.  There are some incredible pieces in the works, including one oil painting.