Warmachine: Captain Victoria Haley

Finally getting back in the saddle, metaphorically speaking, when it comes to painting. I'm using Ammobunker's OMAM challenge (One Mini A Month) as a lovely way to start those good habits again, and happily completed my first proper figure in nearly four years - Cygnar Captain Victoria Haley from Warmachine.

I've had this figure primed and in storage for about ten years, so thought it would be a nice choice to start with. You can see how it should actually be painted here on the Privateer Press site.

It's evident I have a lot of relearning to do and tried quite a few different approaches on this figure, but as a starting point I'm reasonably happy. The lady's a Warcaster and that means magic and voodo, so I tried to make the blue cloth have a slightly glowing quality to it by highlighting up with green but it didn't work out quite as planned.

Also my highlighting needs practice ... a lot of practice. Metallics almost worked, but I think playing with bright, shiny, dull, worn and verdigris on a single figure was pushing my luck.

Discovered the Vallejo pigments last weekend, so excuse the enthusiastic coating of Natural Umber on the base. But my word - that pigment is amazing, and I need to learn how to use it properly.

Figure mounted on a GW base (complete with Marine helmet) as I don't play Warmachine so it doesn't make me twitchy crossing the gaming streams.

Painting Little Metal Men

Outside of being a professional curmudgeon, one of my goals for 2015 is to get back into my miniature figure painting.

The timing is good fortune rather than a resolution - so let's ignore the nonsense of assuming good plans need to wait until the 1st January to be followed.

A combination of getting used to the rigours of parenthood with children, work pressures easing and a desire to re-establish a hobby with a tangible output have been the driving factors here. While I love computer gaming and reading, there's a satisfaction to be had from seeing the result of work from your own hands.

Painting sits comfortably inside my sphere of nerdery. It's an on/off hobby of mine for the last 25 years in conjunction with wargaming ... and I'm not totally shit at it - see exhibits A & B.

In addition, painting is a hobby I can enjoy with my kids as a shared pleasure. There's a lot to re-learn, and I won't be any jostling for position among the top tier painters any time soon, but that's just fine.