Weekly Waffle #330 – Hired Muscle
27th April 2024
For this week’s Weekly Waffle, the main challenge has been keeping the Mojo flowing. It’s taken a while this year, but my enthusiasm has been flagging a little this week. I don’t think there is anything in particular that has resulted in this slump but it has had an impact on my painting this week. If I was to try and pin one thing down, I think it would be that I’m not enthused with the miniatures I have on my work bench at the moment. Which is really weird because they are very nice miniatures, and I was really enthused to be painting them when I started. Some of it may be that I’ve set myself the task of finishing what I currently have on the bench before I start anything new and shiny. Although quite what that new and shiny will be I’m not sure. I have also been taking my first juddering steps into trying to learn Non-Metallic Metal (NMM).
So, let’s start off with this this week’s miniature and it is staying in the 40k universe but has moved away from the fun and brutality of the Ork’s and back into the sinister world of the Inquisition. Continuing to fill out the Inquisitors war band with a little bit of muscle in the form of Adeptus Arbites Arbitrator, the Godwyn Fischig. The miniature itself is from Artel W Miniatures and is called ‘The Chastener 2.0’.
It’s certainly not my best work but I think it works well for the tabletop and there are some bits of him that I like more than others. One of those areas where I’ve tried out a couple of small things has been his face. I’m not even sure if you can see it on the pictures but what I’ve done once I’ve painted the flesh colour has been to add a couple of different washes. I’ve been using a purple wash to add some depth for a little while now but this time I’ve also added a red wash and have been more specific about where the wash is placed. Instead of just applying a purple wash all over I have added the purple to lower part of the face. The red wash to the middle of the face and left the top of the head with no wash. The idea has been about shading the lower part of the face to draw the eye up the face. The washes are very thin and it’s hard to actually see the effect, but I do think it adds a little bit more interest to the skin tone and is something that I can certainly work on going forward.
There isn’t anything fancy, on the painting front, for the rest of the mini. It was more about working through the week and just getting something that I would be happy to put on the table top. Thinking about the Limitless Painting principle has helped a little here because I know I can come back at a later time. Although if I’m being honest with myself I don’t think that will happen. I do think you get the feel of a policemen seconded to another organisation. Quite grim and determined to do their duty.
The finishing touches were to add some weathering powders. What I was trying to do with these was to tie the mini in with the base. To make it look like the mini really looks like it belongs in it’s setting. It’s a simple process of just dusting the lower part of the mini and base with a couple of different coloured weathering powders. I have used some rust colours from Secret Wee we Weapon but anything that works with your bases would do the job.
To finish things up I gave the mini a coat of mat varnish. This was a little bit of a change for me. Not in the fact that I used a mat varnish but I switched from Vallejo to AK and used some ultra mat varnish for the first time. I’m not a hundred percent sure I can see the difference but it does go on very well.
But what do you guys think.
You can also see more of my Necromunda minis here.
I think that a large part of why I have been struggling to keep the mojo going at the moment is that I have other projects I want to start. Now I could just leave the couple of things I already have lined up but they are things I actually want to get finished. So it is either leave something that I’ve started, which is what I said I wasn’t going to do. Or just dig in and get them finished. In my favour it’s not like I have an army to paint. Just a few really nice models that will fit in well with what I already have. So I’m not going to flit off and start on something new for a couple of weeks. I’m going to finish what I’ve started and then move on.
But I do have a few projects in the pipeline. I have a couple of different gangs for Necromunda. One is an existing gang but with a non standard colour scheme. And it’s a colour scheme I think works really well for them. The other is a counts as gang. So something that exists in world and has some official minis but no gang. I saw something on line which has inspired me to do some kitbashing and I think the end result could be very nice.
The third project is some D&D inspired minis but I think I need to get my head in the right space to paint them which I’m hoping will be on the back of the new gangs. But I’m not going to start them until I’m feeling ready. There are lots more things in the bits box to keep the content flowing.
Well that’s it for this week. I’m a little bit short on the word count but I’ll try and pick things up again for next week. Until then I hope the mojo keeps flowing for you. That you enjoy whatever you have planned and the you keep safe and sound.
