Flower Queen II

The model I was pleased to take to to Fen Model Show (https://fenmodelshow.co.uk/) this weekend. I received a Silver in Standard at Fen for this.

It's a sculpt from the talented Romain Van Den Bogaert (www.instagram.com/romainvdb1) and I've only seen two other versions to-date; Ben Komets (https://www.instagram.com/p/CH-WskZniko/?img_index=1) and Roman Gruba (https://www.instagram.com/p/CSEXHWotGjs/?img_index=1) so ... no pressure, hey?

I've used a more harmonious colour palette than usual, and definitely benfeitted from more thinking prior to painting. It's Kimera Magenta and Pthalo Blue at the base, then Caribbean Blue, Ice Blue and Greenish White for most of the remainder. The only outlier is a Dark Vermillion on the headdress fabric and hair to offer something a little different.

There's a hundred things I could improve, and the judges found every single one but that's a problem for Future Dave to address before it goes to SMC (https://www.scalemodelchallenge.com/) later this year. It was a real experimentation on getting better at texture, contrast and I'm genuinely pleased with the comments from fellow painters and judges on this.

  

Ultramarine Captain

With Fen Model Show (https://fenmodelshow.co.uk/) last weekend, I thought it would be fun to paint a light-hearted entry to go alongside my main entry.

A friend had a few spare original Epic models and was kind enough to give me one of the Space Marine captains as a painting project. They're very small and trying to work out what the shapes are was sufficient challenge alone.

I drew stripes over the banner to give a feel of fabric. It's hard to gauge success of painting techniques on something this size, as I can't decide whether I should be assessing the impact close-up, as per the photographs, or from tabletop, when you need a microscope to see the damned thing.

While it didn't win anything, and I had no expectation it would, it was a fun one to have on the display.

 

Cap'n Annie of the Bad Squiddo

 This was the model you received free for attending Salute in 2024 courtesy of the fabulous Bad Squiddo (https://badsquiddogames.com/shop) and it's a great one. Not enough female pirates out there, and I'm a sucker for piratey sculpts.

However! I have two problems with this model. The flag is at the wrong angle to benefit from a golden angle shot, so everything points in a particular direction apart from the absolutely MASSIVE flag over her head! The second issue is the sheer thickness of the flag. I tried to bend it a little, but it was fast becoming a chore, and I didn't want to sand it down or replace with foil. Two minor details overall on a nice model.

   

Slightly worried that I accidentally turned her into Liz Truss at one point, but going back over the hair with red saved the day. Phew. 

 

Bugbear Chieftain

It's another one from Fenris (https://fenrisgames.com/shop) and yet another Kev Adams sculpt. Really, really happy with how the copper NMM turned out, and his club. The face is decent too, and overall it's a decent piece. My photography continues to let the side down, but that's fine.

I will never be a fan of sculpted fur. I get the reason for it; basecoat, drybrush, wash and win, but when you want to paint it with a bit more detail, it's a real pain in the bum.

   

At the end of a project I often (most of the time) forget to take a picture of my palette as a guide for what colours I used. There's a good amount of mixing as the project develops,

 

Army of Duckness

I don't get to paint many models for companies. I'd like to do it more often. These were for the wonderful Ian at Fenris Games (https://fenrisgames.com/shop) for his Army of Duckness range, and I was pleased with the result.

It's such a characterful group and glad I had the opportunity to paint them and do something a little different from what other people had done. The sculpts are fantastic but a touch frustrating in a couple of places where a detail feels unfinished. Not a major problem, but the rest of the sculpt is so good, you feel the pain of small irritants more. If you see Fenris at a model show, you may see them in a display cabinet too!

But honestly, you can't beat a nice selection of D&D ducks, can you?

Trying to determine which elements should be the standout is tricky in a group setting, but the beaks and weaponry felt like the natural choices. The feet and basing don't need much attention. Chief Duck was a touch harder as it has so many fantastic elements that I wanted all of it to be the focal point! In the end I opted for the beak, speartip and helmet.

           

 

Eru-Kin Elite in Guardian Power Armour

This splendid model is from Die Hard Miniatures (https://diehardminiatures.com/). When I saw it at Salute in 2024, it was quickly up the to-do list. Can't decide if I'm reminded most of an angry badger, a Mondoshawan ... or yes.

I tried for shiny power armour, and I know the angles are unrealistic in places but this is more a rule of cool than an attempt at accuracy. Would definitely paint more of these, it's a fun sculpt.

    

Logan

Logan, from Hera Models. This is a great academic bust and I originally painted it at a workshop a couple of years ago, but wasn't happy with the result.

I wanted to try painting a cooler skin from a green base, and doing the classic yellow spandex X-Men outfit would have felt at odds with that. Instead he's painted as Ultimate Wolverine using an old comic cover from Arthur Adams as my guide for the uniform. Pleased with the result. Even the badge turned out okay considering it's freehand.

   

The badge was a challenge though! The sculpt is smooth at that point so I had to gauge what worked then paint a big fat black X across my handiwork. Urgh.

 

 

N-gauge Railway Shed

 Not for the faint hearted. N-gauge railway scenery for a friend. But it's done, complete with weighing station out the front. Fun as a one-off for a friend's burgeoning railway board but I won't rush to paint more - it's just too tiny! Nice brass etched kit though.

Hard to convey how small this model is, even using paint bottles and coins for scale. There should be two weights, but I lost the smaller of the two. You can understand how. There was much cursing. Especially after I'd painted 1kg on it; only one side, not two - I'm not a madman ...

There's no value in painting fantastic detail on models at this scale, you simply can't see it. You have to paint blocks of colour, then add a little differentiation. Too much subtlety and it isn't readable as the piece you intend it to be. Colour and value alone do enough to make visual distinction. 

    

Learning oils

 I've never painted with oils before. Sure, I've thrown black and brown on miniatures as panel lining or weathering, but never actually painted with them. There was a workshop in early 2025 run by Jakob Skovgaard Villien (https://www.instagram.com/pink_label_studio/) in St. Albans, and it was a real blast to try them out for model painting.

 

 I tried to pick a base and a theme that gave a feeling of nature attempting to bring warmth to someone. There's lots of different ways you could interpret the piece and meaning, but I was aiming at temperature and texture contrast really.

Such a different piece to my usual choices, and a beautiful scupt by Leila Khalili (https://www.instagram.com/leila_khaliliart/).

Zombicide: Black Plague redux

So what's been painted over the last year? Quite a few things. I remain mediocre at photographs, but here's a little group shot of the Zombicide heroes painted to-date. There's been an accidental focus on a lot of blues of late. Unintentional, but what I happened to have on the palette at the time.

  

A few of them were done as speed paints for a one-hour challenge on a painting Discord I'm part of. It's great to concentrate the mind in frantic action. I found that painting a couple in the same evening helped to get a feel for the colours on the palette and what areas to focus on.

 

 

 

 In addition, I've spent a little longer trying to produce an effective-at-scale NMM for tabletop. I don't want to spend too long on these, because it's literally for gaming and throwing around a table with the kids, and it's going to take a beating. But it's fun to see what works.

 

Dusting off the blog

Social media has very much taken a backseat for the past couple of years. I've posted here and there, but with no regularity or intent. But I've ignored my blog! Poor blog. It didn't do anything wrong and didn't deserve to be shoved in a corner like that. Let's see if I can do better ... again.

 (blog reboot number 7, or whatever)