Corvus Belli Libyan Spearmen, one stand done

Enjoy!

Studio McVey, Vitharr Bearclaw

Vitharr Bearclaw, sculpted by Thomas David (2009) and produced by Studio McVey.  Get this model while you can; all SM models are strictly limited.

To stay informed about Studio McVey, be sure also to check their blog.

Studio McVey, Raven Priest

The Raven Priest, sculpted by Jacques-Alexandre Gillois and produced by Studio McVey.  Beautiful.

Studio McVey, Pan

I received my first order from Studio McVey this morning.  Featured here is Pan, which was sculpted by the very talented Jacques-Alexandre Gillois.  (I also got the Raven Priest and and Vitharr Bearclaw, and will upload photos of them soon.)

These are some of the most beautiful models I have ever seen, and by far some of the best in my collection.  I can’t emphasize that point enough.  If you’ve been on the fence about placing an order with Studio McVey, take the plunge; you won’t regret it.

Be sure to click on the photos for larger images.  (Not feature here are the blade of the scythe and stand-alone fairy.)

Corvus Belli Libyan Spearmen, a start

My goal was to finish a stand of Libyan spearmen for my Corvus Belli DBA Later Carthaginian army today, but it’s not going to happen.  I finished two models (see photo below) and got a good start on the other two, but I want to move on to other projects with what remains of the day.  Saturday is the only day of the week I get to paint most of the day, and I need to make the best of it.  I plan to finish the evening painting Grenadier goblins.  Nice and simple.

Libyan Spearmen, WIP

My Later Carthaginian army to date

Copplestone City Guard, update

For those of you following this site for my 10mm Middle-earth project, I want to assure you that despite my interest in other things the project is not dead.  Case in point, my Copplestone City Guard.  I have one stand finished, and six more will follow very shortly.  The only thing left to do on these six stands is the shield insignia.  I’m doing these by hand, so the process is slow and tedious.  But I prefer this method to transfers, and will press ahead.  Once these are done, I’ll be halfway done with the City Guard spearmen.  The others, fortunately, are half finished and shouldn’t take too long.  I’m looking forward to having these out of my queue, as I’m eager to finish the Rohan Royal Guard cavalry.

Corvus Belli Shields, solutions

Even before I started working on my Corvus Belli Later Carthaginian box set, I could tell at a glance that the shields were going to pose a problem.  This was especially true, since I planned to use this army regularly for DBA.  Pinning the flat shields on the Libyan Skirmishers, for example, would be impossible, because the shields are too thin; the only option being a little superglue and hope.  This would not work as well with the Libyan Spearmen or any other model outfitted with the round, domed shield, however, due to limited surface area.  Were I to glue them on as-is, they would no doubt begin to pop off during play, and in the end I’d probably become frustrated with the army and abandon it altogether due to the required maintenance.

Fortunately, however, I thought up a solution while working on the the howdahs of the elephants, which feature a shield on each face.  I pack the concave back side of the shield with a little Green Stuff (formed into place with a rubber clayshaper), set a thin piece of brass rod in the center, and then snip it to my desired length.  (It’s better to snip the rod at the end of this process, as it would be too much of a hassle trying to fit the tiny piece required for this procedure.)  Once the Green Stuff dries (and I’ve finished painting the main model), I apply a small amount of superglue to the rod, and insert it into a hole predrilled in the shield arm of the model.  One word of caution: be sure to dryfit the shield with the brass rod before applying any glue, as you don’t want the rod to be too long.)

Concave back side of the shields packed with Green Stuff and a brass rod.

Hole drilled in the arm of one model where the shield will sit.

Shields with Green Stuff and piece of brass rod.

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…

Carthaginian Elephants, by Corvus Belli

I haven’t posted an update on my DBA Carthaginian army project since September 2009.  I’d like to remedy that, and hope to post something once every week or two.

To be honest, the elephants are partly to blame.  They were fiddly to assemble and paint; and I hope never to work on a Corvus Belli elephant again.  That being said, I’m generally please with the results.  One thing that bothers me, however, is the driver.  I dry fit him several times prior to painting, and a couple times when the elephant and howdah were done.  once the shields were in place, however, I couldn’t get him to sit right, and by then it was too late.

I should also not that I’m largely following the studio palette for this army.  I’m making a few changes here and there, some greater than others.  But I’d like to finish these in a timely manner, and this seemed one way to expedite the process.

Carthaginian elephants (front)

Carthaginian elephants (side)

Up next, Libyan spearmen.

Pathfinder Red Dragon

Reaper has uploaded a photo of a painted version of their new Pathfinder red dragon.

Reaper's Pathfinder red dragon

According to their Web site, the dragon is scheduled for release in March 2010.  No word on the price.

Rust Monsters from Otherworld

DM18 - Rust Monsters (2) - sculpted by John Pickford

Richard from Otherworld Miniatures writes:

They should be available around mid-March. They will each be cast as 4 seperate pieces (body, tail, 2 x antennae) although the smaller pieces may be sprued. They’ll be supplied with 30mm round bases, as pictured  Dimensions are:  Length, beak to rump – 25mm approx Length of tail – 30mm approx Length of antennae – 30mm approx

Aragorn MARKS, Brutal

Aragorn's sculpts for the Brutal board game

For those of you who may have missed this, Aragorn Marks has sculpted five limited edition models for Dark Art Miniatures’s new board game, Brutal.  You can find out more about Brutal at the official blog, online store, or the Dark Art Miniatures main Web page.

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.

“The Physics of Space Battles”

Kotaku concept art from the Ninja Magic Web site

There’s an interesting article on Gizmodo.com by PhD candidate Joseph Shoer about the physics of would-be battles in space that’s worth reading.  From the article:

First, let me point out something that Ender’s Game got right and something it got wrong. What it got right is the essentially three-dimensional nature of space combat, and how that would be fundamentally different from land, sea, and air combat. In principle, yes, your enemy could come at you from any direction at all. In practice, though, the Buggers are going to do no such thing. At least, not until someone invents an FTL drive, and we can actually pop our battle fleets into existence anywhere near our enemies.