STATUE STARTED

Decided to paint the statue itself as a Bronze figure.  Used a black wash for the shadows and then a slightly stickier green wash to represent verdigris.  That doesnt appear via the camera very well but does in the "flesh".  Quite pleased with that.

Mixed a kind of bleached and weathered bone shade and did the skulls.

Then I did the dead and dying roses bushes (or whatever they are) and then gave a few "dirty" washes over all the statue and plinth.
Not too sure about any highlighting - the bronze of the statue shows ok - so will have a think about that for tomorrow.  Any hints are welcome :)

Clicking on an image will enlarge it :)

Statue and Plinth

Statue and Verigris

Bit sad that my new paints didnt arrive but I will tuck into a Curly Wurly and cheer myself up!

Havent used any gravel/grass etc on the base itself yet.  That will be done when ALL the Garden is completed and I add a base for it all.

More tomorrow....

GARDENS OF MORR - START

Materials needed for the House arrived yesterday.  I am now able to complete the roof parts.

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I de-sprued and cleaned up the parts of the "Gardens of Morr".  To my great surprise there was no "flash" at all - a great improvement in the moulds since I last touched Warhammer models.  All that was need was a smoothing of the areas where the mouldings had been attached to the sprue.  That was accomplished with a Mora wood carving knife (razor sharp) and a small wood rasp.

There are 5 distinct parts to the Model and I placed the parts for them into separate boxes to avoid mistooks and errors ..... (translation - I dont want any Senior Moments!).

As the Crypts and Chapel have windows and doors that can be seen through it will be necessary to paint the insides of them - including the detailing on the floors and tombs.

I have decided to paint one part at a time.  I never did like "batch" painting and this way I get some fruits of my labours sooner.

Have started with the Statue and Plinth as that will be the quickest to do and will reward me faster.  I first primed it with a mid grey from my airbrush.  Using the airbrush gives me a thinner coat and helps retain the deeper details.  The reason for mid grey is that, although the model overall will not be bright, there are vines and roseheads on the Plinth.  I will use a dark green and dark red for those and then a dark wash.

The Statue itself will probably be painted an aged bronze.  I will practice on a sprue piece first to see if I can get the effect I want.

I tend to keep some sprue pieces as they can be made into battlefield wreckage, building adornments etc by carving and warming/bending.

So that was it for yesterday.  Today I need to get some Acrylic paints (I gave my old Citadel ones to my daughter).  I will NOT be getting the Citadel ones as the coverage they give is not really good enough for the scratch Buildings etc that I usually do.  I also prefer the Dropper Top bottles such as Vallejo as precise colour mixing is easier to do.  For example: 3 drops of white to 1 drop of red gives a certain shade of pink.  If I want that shade again then I mix it the same.

The paint I mix doesnt dry out as I use a Wet Palette.  You can buy them but they are easy enough to make and I have several small containers to use as wet palletes.  I used to put 3 or 4 mixes into one long box but found that they intermingled too easily so now will do one mix per container.  If you fancy making one then there is a tute here:-

http://forums.brushthralls.com/index.php?showtopic=4806

Right - Off to build a new desk tidy, then to the shops, then start painting the Statue, then...... ??  Retirement life is a busy one .....





  

RIDING TANDEM!

OK back again after a day off playing games :)

My daughter expressed an interest in the piece of Warhammer Scenery "Gardens of Morr".  I had a look at bits and pieces on the 'net and decided to buy it and have a go.

I like making my own buildings etc but I really like the detail on this product and it lends itself to modification possibilities by adding my own scratch built objects to it for a large Diorama.

I walked up to my local Games Workshop (just 10 minutes away) and was lucky to get the last one in the shop!  Buying it involved a process of refusing paints, glues, brushes etc as I already have a large stock of such items - even after gifting my daughter a few items .... but it has always been "hard sell" at GWs.

Surprised to find that they no longer do rule books etc for games such as "En Garde" that I used to play through the University Zines in the '80s.  Maybe the students today spend more time in the Nightclubs than playing such games (?).  A shame really as it would be much easier now to play such "play by mail" games via todays electronic means.

I digress.....

Walked back home and opened the box.  I was pleasently surprised to find it filled with 4 sprues and no padding!  Also surprised by the level of detail on the mouldings and lack of the many moulding marks I was used to in my old "Games Workshop" days

I am looking forward to painting this Piece and will do so in tandem (hence the title) with the House.  That will help prevent me getting "browned off" with doing just one thing.  I am the same with quite a few things.  For example I always have 3 or 4 books on the go at a time

Just a couple of Images:-

The Box

Just One of the Sprues

Stick to the task - not the glue!

TIME OFF

Took some time off to have a go at the PC game Anno 2070.  I like it as it gets quite deep gradually without being impossible to play.
Unfortunately the official forums are down for the moment and wont be back up until after the 9th January.  They are also German forums apparently but I can understand written German quite well due to having being stationed 3 years in Munster, Westfahlen, in the early '70s.
Having Fun! with Anno 2070 anyway - it eats time.....!

BUTTERFLY DAUGHTER

http://imaginarycolour.blogspot.com/

I have mentioned my daughter a few times here and she is the reason I am working on the building and have this blog.

The above link will take you to her blog where she is busy assembling and painting undead figures that will eventually occupy this house and surrounding area.

She is a beginner at painting figures but have a look at her video and I am sure you will agree that she has talent in that area....

I am looking forward towards how this project will turn out - but we must work slowly and keep the quality as high as we can given our little combined experience.

We both treasure constructive criticism so dont be afraid to comment :)

EDIT

Just noticed I had Comment set to registered users only - have changed the setting and will see how that goes.

HALF THE ROOF

Have now got half of the roof done.
I have decided to go with having the front half of the roof flat to accommodate the Warhammer figures that my daughter is so nicely painting.
The rear half will probably be host to a small building with a tiled roof.
The railings are made from 3mm dowel and I found a better way of mass producing those in a more accurate way.

As I may have mentioned before - the rear of the house backs onto a graveyard, hence the lack of windows and the large cross and wall intended to keep the spirits at bay!
The graveyard will be another opportunity for Warhammer skeletons etc ....

WORKSHOP IMAGES

Here are a couple of images of the part built Haunted House:-

Left Side

Right Side

Back

... and a few of my machines:-

Proxxon

From the right - Proxxon table saw and a small Proxxon router table (Shaper).  The other machine on the left is a Scrollsaw.

Disc and Belt Sander

The machine to the left is a Dremel Workstation and serves as a miniature drill press for 1.5mm and less drill bits.

Drill Press

Cheap but does the job - and that is what matters!

Wood Lathe

I also have various other small machines such as a Pyrography burner from Peter Childs, a Dremel with 2 Flex cables one fitted for drilling and one for carving and a few others.

As I have stated before - Jack of all trades but Master of none!

Keep eating - but for sustenance not just enjoyment.......