New (Temporary) Painting Table

I thought long and hard, whether to set up my painting table in a new part of the house, or whether I would wait for the leaking roof to be fixed, and then resume painting again. I finally decided that I couldn't wait any longer, so I measured up my old painting table, with the water damaged top. I took those measurements to my bedroom, and after moving some stuff around, I SQUEEZED the old painting table into its new (temporary) home.

It is not perfect, and it is a tight fit, but it works for now. At least I can get some much needed painting done. I will take photos of it when i put my paints, brushes and other tools back into place.

Water Damage

My hobby table has been damaged by a leaking roof. After a bad storm, the roof over my hobby room, let in a lot of (unwanted) rain. The rain poured all over my painting table, via a downlight. The vintage (1950s) wooden table was completely soaked, and table top is ruined. I really liked that table, I still remember when and where I purchased it from, back in 1997. All the papers, sticker sheets and labels on the table, were ruined (luckily my painting dairy was in a different area, and was not damaged). My paints, paintbrushes, tools and minis did get wet, but were salvaged (mostly). A few minis had their bases ruined, and some labels on my paint bottles are a little crinkled or torn, but this was minor damage.

Anyway, the roof is currently being looked at by our insurance company, and is still not repaired. It has been about 4 weeks now. The quote I received was AUD$8000 (about USD$8000) to replace the entire roof. Which at the moment I simply cannot afford. So I have packed everything up, and stored them a couple of large boxes/crates, and I am catching the leaking water in a bucket.

Here are some photos.

Here is the bucket catching all the leaking water.

Here is what my painting table did look like.

My Ork skin formula

I am sharing my ork skn paint formula. I personally don't like bright green skin on my orks or orcs, so I try and paint them a little darker and a little less green. How do I make green, less green. It's sile, I mix in some brown.

Painting the Ork skin 1. Undercoat black. 2. Mix Flat Earth (VMC)  and Scorpion Green (GW), at about a 4:1 ratio, and paint 2-3 thin layers. 3. Mix some Filthy Brown (VMC) into the above mix, and paint the raised areas if the Ork skin, like the muscles in the arms. 4. Add a small amount of White to the mix, and lightly over-brush the skin. 5. Apply a few wash layers of Devlan Mud and Badab Black, to the skin area. 6. Finally lightly drybrush some Foundation Knarloc Green (GW) over the skin, and your done.

My Original Minis - Part 2

Here are some orcs I painted in the 80s. If I recall correctly these were some of the earliest slotta minis I purchased. I didn't have any other orcs, so these guys were never part of any army. I dry brushed these with too much white. At least they are matt. I'm fairly sure these were painted with Tamiya paints.

My Original Minis - Part 1

I still own most of my minis from the 80s. I was definitely not a good painter back (I'm only slightly better now - ha ha ha). So I thought it would be a good idea to share these early minis from my collection. Most of them still have their original paint job. Here is the first photo.

The mini was painted using enamels, which I purchased these from a local hobby store. The paints were intended for plastic model kits, and not minis. I had to use my father's turpentine to clean my brushes. Oh what a mess.

 You can see an early attempt at black-lining between the feet and the pantaloons. I don't think I black-lined anything ever again.

 I would love to re-paint these minis, especially the one on the left.

Bugman's Dwarf Rangers

My first minis I ever painted were the Citadel Dwarfs from the mid to late 80s, and even though I collected a few blisters of Imperial Dwarfs (I'll post photos of my early work, sometime soon), I never had enough funds to aquire a whole army. One of my desires was to own Bugman's Dwarf Rangers. In my mind it was a "must have" unit for my Dwarf army. Now, it is some 25 years later and I have just received the last few minis to make up my own Bugman's Dwarf Rangers.

These have taken about 2-3 years to collect. They have come from various sources. I am now ready to get them preped for painting. Some paint stripping, some undercoating and I am ready to paint my childhood (teenagehood) dream of a unit of Bugman's Dwarf Rangers.

I know, I am missing the musician, and I have find shields for them, but I am farily happy with my little unit. Here they are in their current state. I plan on posting more photos of these guys as I start painting them.

I'm back - what have I been doing?

It has been a long time since I have posted on my blog. Actually it has been a long time, since I have had any time for my miniatures. Life has been very interesting in the last 6 months. I have taken some time out  for myself, and to look after my health. I have separated from my wife, after 10 years of Marriage, and life has been a little hard for me. The good news is that I am doing OK! and because of that I want to return to the hobby that give ME a lot of pleasure, and that is painting little toy soldiers. So I am back.