New Post-Apoc Gang: The Bass Reeves

    The Bass Reeves - a black post-Apocalyptic force for my newest period that I am gearing up for

I have been intentionally taking a break from painting Saga miniatures lately. The pause may not last forever, but it did allow me to finish another post-Apocalyptic gang. These are figures from Foundry's Street Violence range. Most of them wear long "duster" style jackets, which remind me of what you see gunslingers wearing in stylized Hollywood Westerns. A couple of them had dreadlocks, which led me to paint them as black. That also inspired the force's name -- the Bass Reeves. Reeves was a famous African-American cowboy and was the first black U.S. Marshal in the West. I seem to have settled on painting seven figures up per group, which I hope will be enough to provide a good game in whatever rules I end up using (my own home brew or otherwise)!

    The figure on the right is my favorite - I love how his captain's hat and striped shirt turned out

 The first batch of two figures pictured above feature my favorite miniature in this group. I really like how the captain's hat and striped shirt lends him character. Stripes are never my strong point, but I couldn't imagine any color for a shirt other than the classic, stereotypical red and white striped sailor shirt. I decided to give all the poses jeans for pants in this gang. I postulate jeans would be standard apparel after the apocalypse for their rugged nature and common availability from looted stores or warehouses. For the duster jackets, I decided to use Howard Hues "Bay" horse paints color. It has a nice leather look to it, but was light enough to look like faded material. I dry brushed them khaki and washed them brown to give the jackets depth of color.

    My second favorite is the one wearing the Jamaican-inspired hair bag for his dreads in the middle

My second favorite miniature in this batch is the Rastafarian-looking guy who carries a boom box over his shoulder. Doubtless, it is playing Bob Marley or Peter Tosh for as long as the batteries hold out! I actually Googled "dreadlocks hair bag" for inspiration on what color to paint it. Lo and behold, a Jamaica-looking one popped up in my search and I had to adapt it for this figure. It mean more stripes, though! The miniature is a great casting and has a lot going on. He wears headphones, has rolled up sleeves, a vest, and of course, the boombox. Normally, I might look askance at such whimsy in my figures, but this guy was too good to pass up. Like the captain, he also has a great face. 

I debated whether I was going with too garish and bright of a color for the other dreadlocks-wearing figure to the left. I always picture Rastas in bright, garish colors, though, so I went with this bright green. I think it adds a nice splash of color to an otherwise dull-colored group. I honestly don't know what the piece of equipment is slung over his shoulder, though. I painted it in a brushed steel color, so it can be another boom box or whatever the controlling player decides! The third figure in the group has a gray suit jacket or vest on underneath his duster. He carries a high power sniper weapons of some sort. I like the variety of firearms these figures have. Not everyone carries an assault rifle or shotgun -- there is definitely an irregular aspect to their weaponry. This fits for a post-Apocalyptic force, of course.

    These guys have similar dramatic poses and sport goggles - which were a challenge to paint!

All of the weapons were painted Iron Wind Metals steel. I had realized recently that my newest batch of the color was noticeably brighter than it has always been. I was disappointed because I have always liked the dark steel look of it -- especially when dry brushed silver for things like chainmail. This new tone didn't have as much contrast with silver. So, I dug through my box of paints and found a half-used jar of the old steel color. About half of it had dried up and was unusable, but when I pried that out the remainder seemed okay. I asked Rich S of Iron Wind if its possible to get the "old recipe," and he said to bring that jar along next time we meet and he will match the color. The highlights of the weapons were done with craft paint metallic pewter. I think the two tone look of the guns really gives them a nice, weathered look -- also perfect for post-Apocalyptic!

The last two figures above have very dramatic poses, I think. They have a lot of character in their hair and faces, made even more interesting by the goggles either perched on their heads or around their neck. I wasn't 100% sure how to paint the googles, but decided on a light gray with sky blue lenses. I'm not fully sold on how they look. If I were to go back and redo them, I would have done a black line around the sky blue lens, at least. Otherwise, these two have very interesting shirts. The one on the left is loaded up with ammo pouches so much his shirt is invisible. The one on the right has a very unusual texture to it. So, I painted it a light, gray green and did a medium green wash over it to bring out the texture in the folds. I like the patch on the shoulder of his duster, so did that in bright reds and blues, wanting it to stand out. The skin for all seven figures was done with a dark brown base coat and dry brush of Howard Hues Camo Brown. The hair was painted back with medium brown hightlights. However, the final black wash I did over the figures seems to have hidden the brown highlights, unfortunately.

    Two Patrol Bots search the ruins for signs of humanity, continuing their war of eradication

Next up, are two poses of what I will use as Patrol Bots. These were 3-D printed by my friend Joe from the Thingiverse website. I love the retro look of these figures. I decided that I would mix in a gold-colored bot to go with the colored metallics I used for the Scout Bots. I really like how it came out, but then again, I like the robin's egg blue one, too! I know the prints are not as crisp as metal miniatures, but once you see the next two stages of large bots, you'll understand why I saved money going with these. Joe always gives me a good deal on stuff he prints for me. Of course, who knows? A day may come when I purchase my own 3-D printer...but it is not THIS day! Ha-ha! Anyway, I painted the bots the new Iron Wind steel color as a base coat, then added the gold or blue over it, leaving the steel in the joints and creases. The equipment festooned to the back of the bot was painted in contrasting metallic colors, and the gun was given pewter and silver highlights, as with the Bass Reeves, above. 

If you remember, my post-Apocalyptic world is modeled after the Terminator movies. The main difference is humanity is fragmented into quarreling and fighting factions. The machines have been seriously depleted in the Holocaust, and are more of a constant menace rather than an invading and organized horde. 

What's next? Well, I have decided to give Jenny a birthday present by painting up the demon models she bought for Reign in Hell. The first four Armored Demons are complete, but their bases are not done, yet. They will take priority on my painting table as I would like to finish the dozen or so figures up in time for the holidays. And her demon lord is a HUGE figure! It will easily be the largest miniature I have ever painted. So, look for some new demons in future updates. I've also laid out my next unit of Mongols for Saga to be cleaned and primed. See? Told you that my break from Saga may not last that long!

The Blood Brotherhood - repost of some post-Apocalyptic figs

    Painted years ago, the Blood Brotherhood has been patiently waiting for the Apocalypse...

I believe these were my first post-Apocalyptic figures that I painted. I purchased the figs at Cold Wars or Historicon many years ago when Sgt. Major Miniatures were still in business. I always loved perusing their stall. Their selection of unique and characterful figures was inspiring. I think I may have actually used these in a random game on one of our Sunday evening game sessions, but they've essentially been waiting for me to run some games (and paint up a lot more opponents!).

    Purchased when Sgt. Major Miniatures were still in business, these were my first post-Apoc figs

One of the things I liked about these were their weirdness. They look like cultists for a Pulp game, but the gas or face masks make them look acceptable for post-Apocalyptic, as well. I debated back and forth about a color for them. Hoods not being politically correct, I wanted people to NOT think KKK when they saw them. So, I came up with the "blood red" color and a name of the Blood Brotherhood. I also kicked around the Red Sun Order, but I think I'll stick with the brotherhood name. 

    The figures have a cool variety of weapons, as well as subtle differences in clothes

I like the weapon variety, too. I am not sure what the long-barreled gun is above, but it looks like a shotgun or elephant gun or something along those lines. Fun stuff! Little things like that make a line of figures really jump out, even if your chosen rules don't go into the detail of representing every variety of firearm that ever existed...ha, ha!

    Three more members of the Blood Brother prowl the wastelands scavenging for useful finds

I posted these older figs mainly to have a consistent record of this project. I honestly am not sure WHEN I painted them. Anyway, look for more on this project soon as my school and personal schedule has opened up a bit and I have more free time.

Followers of the Dark Prophet & Scout Bots

    The Followers of the Dark Prophet fan out as they advance across the post-Apocalyptic wasteland

I have begun my break from painting Saga figures in earnest. I have been wanting to put on some post-Apocalyptic games for years, and have been kicking around some ideas in my head. I really like the dark future world that the Terminator movies created, with the machines warring against humans. So, I decided to set my games in a version of that, with humanity disunited and broken into warring gangs squabbling over local control over resources. Food, fuel, weapons are their goals, as well as promoting their bizarre ideas of how humanity should begin anew. They know the machines are enemies, but the nuclear holocaust took them down a few pegs, and their bots also are scattered and under intermittent control of local programs and Artificial Intelligence that weren't taken out in the big boom.

    I individualized the head wraps that each figure wore, in fact, only the shirts and hats were uniform

I'd already painted up a couple gangs already, F Troop and the Blood Brotherhood. Both were from figure lines created by Sgt. Major Miniatures, now reissued by Battle Valor Games. I've always liked these figures, especially the way there are multiple poses and variety. Each faction or related figure packs have a unique and recognizable theme. This batch of seven figures I would paint are labeled "Space Terrorists," and were from their Sci-Fi line. They could easily be a gang in my Terminator world, though. After painting them, I dubbed them the Followers of the Dark Prophet to keep with the somewhat Muslim or Middle Eastern look to their clothing. I had painted their shirts and headdresses black, so it all seemed to fit.

    I like how the different pants, boots, and kit colors give the gang a ragged appearance

Black is always a tricky base color, but I was pretty happy with how the understated gray highlights I used turned out. After clear coating them, I had to go back over and brush on Vallejo matte clear to take off the shine that was unfortunately left by the Testors Dullcoate. It seems some batches of my favorite clear coat are less "dull" than others! I gave them a dark red belt or sash as an accent, but used a variety of colors for their pants, pouches, bags, and such. I like how this gives them a common theme, but irregular appearance. For a splash of color and individuality, each got their own unique face wrap. My favorites turned out to be the red and white and black and white checkered wraps.

    Some face wraps were simple, some were fancy, as a way to keep track of who's who on the tabletop

Their boots were done in a range of browns and grays, all heavily dry brushed to give them a well-worn appearance. I used khakis and olive drabs for most of their ammo pouches, haversacks, and other equipment, though I did throw in a few other colors here and there to keep with the slightly irregular look. The weapons were done with a steel color, highlighted with a brighter pewter. With a black wash to tone them down a bit, I think they weapons turned out nicely, too.

    Scout Bots roam the wastelands searching for signs of humans & calling back locations to their AI

Before painting this batch, I also began work on the first of my Bot miniatures. These were 3-D printed from Thingiverse by my friend Joe. I had him print up four different types of Bots for me -- Scout Bots, Patrol Bots, Military Bots, and Assault Bots. I did two of the Scouts first. They were a cool looking wheeled robot with headlights and two weapons. These patrol the wastelands looking for suspicious activity or signs of humans. They then report this information and position back to their local overlord program, which then sends out progressively heavier forces to investigate and neutralize. I decided to go with a colored metallic theme on these. I purchased some craft metallic paints in various colors and made them the main color theme, along with a steel base coat. Yes, I realize the red looks way more pink and is somewhat garish. However, I wanted to see how it turned out and have to say I think both it and the green one look pretty snazzy! The 3-D printed castings aren't necessarily the sharpest miniatures, but they were incredibly cheap and allow me to get a handful of each size painted up for a pittance.

Both the next batch of Bots and the next gang are primed and underway on my desk. So, hopefully, I will have more finished minis to post pictures of soon!

"F" Troop - More Post-Apocalyptic Figures

The two different poses of "Chem Soldiers" from Sgt. Major Miniatiures shown above

I decided to keep working on some Post-Apocalyptic figures, so chose another batch form Sgt. Major Miniatures to paint up. These are labeled as "Chem Soldiers," and are every bit as cool as the Blood Brotherhood ones I painted up earlier. My idea for this gang was to be an army unit that somewhat stayed together after the fall of civilization. They were a long way from home, so decided to try to make their way back. Discipline has fallen by the wayside to some degree, and equipment needs to be scavenged. Some prefer to wear the "NBC suits" (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical), though the likelihood of everything being in perfect working order is slim.

Each figure was individualized to represent scavenging of equipment

For their uniforms, I decided to paint their helmets and greatcoats a faded Army green. I have a craft paint that is a very faded light green, and used this as a base coat. Then I watered down a darker olive drab, and applied it as a wash, experimenting to get the right shading effect. There were two main poses in the packs -- one pack of four had gas masks while the other had a cloth of some sort over their lower face. They were all holding some type of sub-machine gun, it appeared. The gas masks were painted the dark olive drab, with the eyes and filters in steel, with a lighter gun metal color in the eye lenses.

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The cloth covering the lower face was individualized to represent the unit having to scavenge for equipment to replace their's as it wears out. The same was true for the packs and pouches. I used a variety of colors to represent them not having a reissue source for army equipment.  Each helmet was also customized with some sort of graffiti. This is, of course, inspired by images of U.S. soldiers doing the same overseas in Vietnam and other conflicts. I figure that with the world undergoing an apocalypse, it would bring out a very morbid sense of humor.

I added graffiti to the soldier's helmets and greatcoats -- like I figured might happen as discipline breaks down

It was a lot of fun adding the various customizations to the poses. Each pack of four figures had slightly different poses, but were the same basic equipment. This individualization makes them a more interesting looking unit. Plus, it will make it easier to tell them apart in skirmish games!

Lead Painters League: round 7 through 9

What? A victory in an odd-numbered round?? And even more, an above .500 winning percentage for Lead Painters League 10???

Yes, a fortunate series of events (my apologies to Lemony Snickets) led to me ending Round 9 with a 5-4 record. I had back-to-back victories in rounds 8 and 9. Perhaps this is a sign of the Swiss Chess format settling into matchups with approximate skill level opponents. Perhaps I just got lucky. Either way, I'll take it!

Round 7: Hunters of the Forest

 I honestly thought I had a pretty good chance winning this round. I really like these Flint & Feather miniatures, sculpted by Bob Murch from Pulp Miniatures. The poses are dynamic. I especially like the guy on with the wolf headdress. That is just a cool figure all around. I thought the warpaint turned out well, and the photo was bright, colorful, and atmospheric. The best-laid plans, though, are always subject to contact with the "enemy."

In this case, my opponent had a wonderful entry. His yellows on his Chinese temple dogs were outstanding. I fully admit my weaknesses. My number one weakness as a painter is that my skills at shading and blending are very pedestrian. I am a block painter at heart. I do an occasional watered down acrylic paint wash, I regularly dry brush, and do a finishing black or brown wash to bring out the shadows. One day, maybe, I'll learn to use inks and do a better job of blending. However, for now, when I am matched up against someone whose entry shows off their superior skills in that aspect of miniature painting, I freely admit mine is worse. My hunters lost soundly, 369-94. To see my opponent's excellent entry, check out the matchup page.

Round 8: To the Blockhouse!

 

 I have to admit, I was pleased how this entry came out. I was a bit worried in that miniatures were from Blue Moon (Old Glory), and their castings are not highly regarded in Europe -- where many of the members of the Lead Adventure Forum are from. However, the poses were unusual, and the Acheson Creations blockhouse a nice piece of terrain, and the stream of refugees heading towards it atmospheric. So, I felt fairly confident. I was a little surprised when I saw my opponent's entry and that mine was losing to it. I feel I am honest and admit it when I'm outclassed. I didn't feel this was the case with this pairing. As the round progressed, though, my frontiersmen rallied and took the lead. It was a near thing, though, and I probably kept checking the score in this race more than any other this competition.

I enjoyed painting the Blue Moon figures. It is interesting, as I came very close to choosing Blue Moon Indians over Conquest Miniatures way back when I was getting into this period. Blue Moon is very affordable. However, the fact that Conquest were reasonably priced, and the fact their poses were so darned nice, sold me on them. So, this was an interesting "What if?" batch to paint up. I failed to mention, though, that the center figure with the coonskin cap is actually Reaper Miniatures' Davey Crocket figure. The rest are all Blue Moon, and I have about six more to paint up from the Ohio Frontiersmen box. The castings are better quality than the standard-issue Old Glory bags of 48 (or whatever huge amount they sell them in, now). However, they are a step beneath the Conquest and other manufacturers I tend to paint up, nowadays. The guy at the far left of the line has a serious mar on his face where the two halves of the mold must have not lined up perfectly (which is why he is turned away from the camera).

In the end, these guys were good enough to win a close race, 258-212. To see my opponent, click on the matchup page.

Round 9: Gorilla Slavers

 

 Okay. I will say it. I was tired of painting Indians. There! You happy? I also figured the voters were suffering from warpaint fatigue, so I dug through my figure box and found something that I would be excited to paint. The gorilla infantry are from Sergeant Major Miniatures' Science-Fiction (we can't call it "Planet of the Apes") line. I honestly don't know who makes the mounted gorilla general. It was given to me half-painted by a very generous HMGS Great Lakes member who knew I had a soft spot for the period. I reprimed it, and all the painting is my own, of course.

Honestly, this line of apes is not as finely-cast as Eureka's (we can't call it Planet of the Apes, either) figures. However, a couple years ago, I'd picked up these six figures because...well, Planet of the Apes figs don't grow on trees! They're relatively rare, and I have always been interested in doing some post-Apocalyptic gaming using them. I actually did use my Eureka 28mm apes in my friend Dave Zecchini's campaign he ran using Mutants and Death Ray Guns rules. It was a blast, and I look back on those games fondly.

So, I Googled a lot of images of gorilla infantry and found this purple color being fairly common in the movie still photographs. I did this as one of my acrylic washes, the primary color being the old Ral Partha excellent "Tongue Purple." I think the uniforms turned out great. The leather armor was a nice dry brush of dark brown and medium brown. And the gorilla faces turned out bettrer than I expected. I admit I am not that talented at taking black and giving it definition and shading with gray dry brushing. The mounted general is an awesome figure, but I almost messed it up with too many layers of color on top of a half-painted miniature. Honestly, that is why he is slightly in the background. I think a close-up reveals some mistakes. I love the dappled gray horse, though, and the uniform with its black, steel, and gun metal colors.

The voters must have agreed, as I won this one by a more comfortable margin of 337-115.  Shocker of shockers, I was above .500 at 5-4!!!