Goku

Back in 2016, at the Hispania Wargames, with each ticket they were giving out a limited edition Son Goku sculpted by RN Estudio. I did not go there, but DarthBLU managed to get a couple of them and gifted one to me.

The miniature is based on the following famous image of Goku reaching Super Saiyan in Namek after Frieza having killed Krillin.

DarthBLU painted his in 2020, and challenged me to paint mine back. It took me a couple of years but I finally sat down to it!

I was very inspired by his version as I think he captured quite well both the colours and the landscape from Namek, so I tried to use the same ones on mine.

The miniature is brilliant, although quite tiny (you can see a picture below next to a 2-cent coin). I did not need to fill up any problem with green stuff or to remove any extra resin leftover, like with Citadel Finecast, it was simply put, perfectly printed. You cannot buy this miniature anymore, as far as I know, which is a pity, because I'd love to have more of them!

I had only two things in my head when painting him: light & contrast!

I wanted to use very bright colours to make sure the miniature would not be as bland or matt as my miniatures usually look like. So I chose very bright blues, bright reds and pale yellows. At the same time, I knew that the key to make the miniature look great is having the right contrast level achieved, so I tried to go to maximum lights in all areas that I could think of, with a zenital approach.

I am quite satisfied with the end result. I could have done a smoother transition on the skin, but I am still fine with it. Unfortunately, my skills as painter are better as my skills as photographer so the pictures are not really good, they show much more abrupt transitions than what one would see when holding the miniature in hand.

Lastly I ask DarthBLU to apply the energy aura for a very cool looking last picture.

Painted in 2022

Valten - Exalted of Sigmar

Finally I am happy to post the first miniature painted in 2022!

I have not been painting much lately, and when I did, progress was extremely slow. I really do not know why, but the mojo was not flowing as it used to.

Only lately I have been inclined to paint again, so I am hoping I will get a nice streak the next few months.

This miniature was released in 2003 so it can already be considered oldhammer I think, although for me it will always be "quite new". This one is the old metal version and not the slightly new Finecast model, it is out of print for a while and I believe it is still quite sought after.

It has been sitting on my pile of shame for years, but not since 2003, I believe I got him somewhere around 2016 or so.

For this miniature I wanted to push my limits and spend as much time as I felt I needed for each component. That is why I chose NMM and not TMM for the metals, since I know using NMM is way out of my comfort zone and the only way to get better at it is practice.

I have spent countless hours watching videos on how to paint, streaming sessions and reading tutorials and one thing became clear about my own technique, aside from the fact that I am not a very good painter: I do not have enough contrast on my miniatures. As a result, they usually end up looking quite bland and are rarely an eye-catcher. Therefore, I decided to go for more contrast, use zenital lighting, and in general paint with lighter, brighter colours.

In the end I am quite happy with the result, it really stands out next to my other Fantasy Characters which are way darker. Still, the transitions are not as smooth as they should be, the NMM is poorly executed and I chose wrong colours for the red/brown leather. I am quite happy on the other hand with the work on the horse's skin and eyes, which is something I usually do not enjoy much.

Here are the final pictures, which vary wildly in quality, as I am a very poor photographer. A few with black and a few with white backdrop, as it really changes the colours of the miniature.

Painted in 2022

Proyectos para 2022

Revisión anual

Este ha sido un año muy flojo en cuanto a hobby. Creo que ese es el mejor resumen que puedo dar.

Si miramos el número de posts en el blog se puede comprobar que en 2021 hay la mitad o menos de posts (24) que en los años 2018-2020 (entre 50 y 60 cada año).

Eso se traduce automáticamente en una drástica reducción en la cantidad de miniaturas pintadas y en el tiempo dedicado al hobby, tanto en pintar, como en jugar, leer libros, atender a eventos, etc... esto se debe a una mezcla de factores como aumento de carga en la vida familiar, laboral y por supuesto la pandemia que aun sigue coleando (y lo que te rondaré).

En realidad no es el único motivo. En el post de Junio pensaba que me daría tiempo a alcanzar todas las metas, pero de Agosto a Noviembre he estado muy ocupado preparando el lanzamiento de la LABB. Ahora mismo, aunque no está totalmente terminada, está ya en marcha y la carga de trabajo se ha reducido considerablemente, por lo que puedo dedicarme de nuevo en mis ratos de ocio a pintar.

Si repasamos los objetivos del año pasado, podemos ver que dije lo siguiente:

Gracias al buen impulso de estos años, en estos momentos me encuentro muy muy cerca de conseguir el objetivo que me marqué allá por el 2018 de reducir a cero* (<10) miniaturas la montaña gris.

Como no puede ser de otra forma, el objetivo de este año será terminar con la montaña (ver mas abajo la lista completa).

Es decir, el objetivo era reducir a menos de 10 las miniaturas que tengo pendientes de pintar. Por lo tanto puedo decir que he cumplido los objetivos por la mínima, ya que tengo ahora mismo nueve miniaturas pendientes de pintar. 😅

Objetivos 2022

¿Qué objetivos me marco para 2022?

1. Pintar las nueve miniaturas que tengo pendientes 🖌
2. encontrar tiempo para jugar. 🎲

Quiero apuntarme a una liga de Blood Bowl y participar en algún evento en el que pueda usar alguno de mis ejércitos de 40K o Fantasy. Bien sea usando reglas OPR o bien sea usando otras. Al participar mas activamente en el club de Berlín creo que acabaré encontrando el tiempo y los contrincantes. De hecho he participado en dos eventos a finales de año a través del club. Me planteo incluso jugar/organizar un torneo de DBA.

Quiero evitar quemarme ante todo y centrarme en divertirme y disfrutar o bien jugando o bien pintando. Lo poco que me queda por pintar son todo miniaturas a las que quiero dedicar tiempo y cariño, salvo un par que son cosas sueltas, no quiero sentir la presión de tener que pintar rápido para acabarlo cuanto antes.

Montaña de pintado

¿Cual es la evolución de lo pintado vs lo acumulado?

Llevo un par de años comprando o bien nada o lo mínimo, y este año no ha sido una excepción. No he comprado absolutamente nada, sólo hay dos miniaturas añadidas a la montaña, y ha sido porque me las han regalado.

Se puede ver que este año 2021 he pintado mucho menos que otros años, pero aun así la montaña ha caído espectacularmente hasta ser casi cero, que era el objetivo original marcado en 2018.

Lista pendiente de pintado

Colección Héroes y Villanos Señor de los Anillos (2)

• Balrog
• Nazgul en bestia alada

30K (2)

• Perturabo
• Legion Falchion Super Heavy Tank ** lo cuento como una miniatura

Miniaturas Sueltas (3)

• Goku
• Eddie de Diego Serrate
• Sumothay en 54mm

Colección Héroes y Villanos de Fantasy (1)

• Exalted Valten

Nighthaunt (1)

• Dreadwarden

Posibles futuros proyectos

Además de pintar estas nueve miniaturas, tengo varias ideas en mente y me encantaría tener tiempo para poner hacer alguna de ellas:

• añadir personalidad a las minis de The Walking Dead, compré hojas, botellas y otros pequeños elementos de resina para poner en las peanas pero nunca tuve tiempo de hacerlo.
• comprar (y pintar) algún Primarca mas (que era el objetivo original de este blog)
• hacerme con alguno de los nuevos Praetors para los Hijos de Horus
• pintar cada uno de los (nuevos) Grandes Demonios del Caos
• hacerme con un aerógrafo y pintar la escenografía que tengo
• revisar mi ejército de Khorne y rebasear una unidad de Desangradores que mi hermano compró para usar con ese ejército pero que nunca fue adaptada. Seguramente cambiar el maletín que uso para almacenar porque la solución actual era temporal (y lleva siendo usada mas de 10 años).
• revisar mi ejército de Caballeros Grises y adaptarlo a las reglas actuales, seguramente para OPR (requiere rebasear todos los marines, además están en peanas con césped y tierra y les quedaría mejor alguna pintura técnica texturizada).
• pintar el Kill Team tiránido que tengo con el mismo esquema que el Culto Genestealer asi puedo jugar Tiránidos y Genestealer
• pintar un busto a gran escala

My best figure of 2021

Continuing the tradition started last year, I am going to repost the miniature I like the most among the ones painted in 2021.

I did not paint too many miniatures this year, but some of the ones I painted are among the best I have done lately. I really spent quite some time on some of the Blood Bowl ones and tried plenty of new techniques, so it is only natural I pick one of them!

After careful consideration I have chosen...

Varag from the Black Orcs team.

Although the Troll and Ogre came on a very-close second place.

One thing I really need to get better at is taking photos :)

I hope you like it as much as I do!

DBA: Early Imperial Roman

It has been many years since I last painted a DBA Army or any other 15mm miniature. I almost forgot how much I love this scale.

Since I started playing DBA many years ago I always wanted to have a Roman army. I think that every DBA player I have met so far has at least one Roman army :)

Trajan thinking about his next DBA Army

Corvus Belli's romans were always among my favourite miniatures for romans at this scale, so back in 2016, when a friend of mine told me there were some leftovers available in a local shop, I quickly got my hands on everything I needed for an Early Imperial Roman army with all possible options. Sadly Corvus Belli has all of its 15mm range out of stock for years as they just focus on Infinity, so it was a one of a kind deal.

The only thing that was not available was the Artillery, which I purchased from Campaign Game Miniatures because after checking online it looked to me that the size comparison was ok. At 15mm range it is sometimes a bit odd when you mix different manufacturers.

For the camp I bought two tents from Baueda. A Praetorium for HQ, based on depictions on the Trajan Column, and a standard legionary tent. I have placed them in separate bases so I can use one as a base camp and one as ZOC. I always buy my camps from Baueda, as they have exactly what I need and the price is very reasonable, together with high quality models

I wanted to depict an Army that could have fought under Trajan during the Dacian wars. The list II/56 which you can see below is a perfect fit as it is based on armies within 25 B.C. to 197 A.D. that fought at the height of the Imperial Roman power.  The Baueda tent is based on the Trajan column so it all fits nicely.

One thing missing on my list is Trajan himself. I know that Forged in Battle has a miniature for Trajan that they released in a kickstarter, but sadly, I was not able to find it online. I remember back in 2016 I almost got into this kickstarter, I am happy I did not do it, as otherwise it would still sit on the pile of shame 5 years after... yes, I would have my Trajan figure, but at what cost! :)

II/56 Early Imperial Roman

• 1x3Cv or 4Bd (Gen), 1x3Cv, 1x3Cv or 2LH or 4Bw or 2Ps, 4x4Bd, 4x4Ax, 1xArt

After spending a bit of time re-reading my books about the Dacian wars I picked the Legio II Adiutrix as the chosen Legio for my army. This is why you can read "LEG II" in some of the miniatures, if you squint your eyes just the right way.

Colours and shields are based on some of the reconstructions of the Trajan column like the ones seen below. I also looked online for inspiration and in the end chose these two as main sources, here and here.

They were painted with slightly more tuned down colours, even though I tried to make them brighter than my usual style, they are still quite matt. The good thing is that I can pick this Army again at any time and add another layer to bright the colours up. If I would have had more time or energy I would have done it now. But at least they are painted!

There is even a small conversion, the first one I have done at 15mm scale. Since I did not have a standard bearer for my 1xCv (Gen) I took one standard cavalry figure and modified the spear to make it a standard with a little bit of greenstuff.

All in all, due to the amount of miniatures and the free-hands on shields, it still took me quite some time to complete.

Painted in 2021, here are the pics, hope you like them!

Mandatory whole Army with bad light pic

4Bd (Gen)

4x4Bd

4x4Ax

1x2Ps

1x4Bw

1x3Cv (Gen)

1x3Cv, 1x3Cv

1x2LH

1xArt

Gotrek & Felix

It has been a long while since my last post!

I have been unfortunately away from the hobby for a few months due to holidays, work and other topics.

I was quite optimistic about my year-end goals but now that we are entering the last stretch of the year I am no longer.

I think I will be happy if I manage to finish my DBA Romans and leave the rest for next year, let's see about it.

Today I am sharing Gotrek and Felix, painted somehow in between July and September, but only recently found the time to take pictures and prepare the post.

These figures were a gift from a friend that found a whole Dwarf Army while going over old boxes. He was kind enough to give them to me and they were in a very good shape, just needed to strip Felix of its original paintjob, which was not bad for its time to be honest.

I chose a very classic scheme for them, even though I tried to make Felix look a little bit more rugged than usual as I think it suits him. I struggled quite a bit between NMM and TMM and in the end chose TMM but had no real good reason for it.

These are very classical characters with a lot of charisma that I gladly add to my Fantasy collection of selected Characters.

You can see all posts here:

Character Collection

1. Archaon
2. Aekold Helbrass
3. Doombull
4. Harry the Hammer
5. Morglum Necksnapper
6. Skaven special characters
7. The Green Knight
8. Trollslayer
9. Tyrion
10. Gotrek & Felix

Hope you like them as much as I enjoyed painted them.

Painted in 2021.