Merc Month & Throughput Goals

Part of my motivation to put this blog together initially was to allow me to post some status updates and WIP shots of my miniature painting since I only posted completed pieces over at Diminutive Denizens. However it always seems like I have things I rather do than take pictures of uncompleted models and write up how they’re going. At least I’ve gotten a healthy respect for people who do this regularly. 🙂

A few months ago I decided to set a goal for myself of painting as many miniatures as I bought each month. That certainly flew in the face of my figmentia but I figured it would at least give me something to work for. And since I had mostly caught up with purchases for my Protectorate of Menoth and Legion of Menoth forces, my purchases were mostly going to be limited to new releases. Still, I soon realized that keeping up was going to be much harder than I first thought.

July worked out pretty well. I finished up my second Forsaken and my unit of Striders (6 models) and only purchased an Angelius. It helped that there was only one real release for my factions for the month. In August some new Legion miniatures came out and I picked up Saeryn and a unit of 5 Raptors. Fortunately I was able to burn through some painting as well, churning out the Harbinger of Menoth, 2 Harriers, Rhyas, Saeryn, and Vayl.

Things went a bit down hill in September. I had decided to do a “Merc Month” and began working on some of the Mercenary solos that had been on the back burner for some time now – First Mate Hawk, Doc Killingsworth, Kell Bailoch, and Alten Ashley. On top of those I had a second Hawk and Doc that a local player commissioned me to paint. I also spent a hefty amount of time assembling my Raptors, which required a lot of gap filling and sculpting on the ulk. Finally I stared a couple of non-PP models (gasp!) – a necromancer by Reaper that I was using as a test piece for some colors and a Confrontation piece, Alahal the Messenger, that I have had for years. Unfortunately with the combination of the time spent sculpting, getting tired painting multiple copies of the same model, and moving back and forth between the various detailed sculpts I didn’t actually complete any of the models I had started. On top of that I picked up 8 Bog Trog Ambushers and the Testament of Menoth, putting me 9 figures in the hole for the month.

However October 1st I finished half the Mercs – both Docs and the commissioned Hawk. It was just too late to count for September but I got off to a good start in October. My Hawk and Alten are very close as well, which is good. Kell’s about half done as well so I have a good chance of getting them all finished relatively soon before moving on to my Warmongers, the 5-man unit that’s next on my list. Unfortunately the Blighted Legionnaires and Farrow Bone Grinders are going to be released later this month, meaning I’m going to be picking up (and wanting to assemble) between 10 and 14 models. I have a bad feeling I’m going to stay negative, we’ll just have to wait and see.

As for my current WIPs, I’m starting with Alten Ashley. As a byproduct of my Merc Month I was able to break out some of the non-craft paints I had acquired over the last few years but haven’t used. These solos aren’t in my factions’ standard color schemes so I was able to try new colors without having to worry about matching something I already had. For Alten in particular I got to play with a lot of my browns – Reaper Master Series (RMS) Driftwood Brown for his trench coat and RMS Yellowed Bone for his scarf. The coat was washed with a mix of P3 Armor Wash and Delta Ceramcoat Dark Umber then highlighted back up with Driftwood, eventually adding a little RMS Yellowed Bone for the highest highlights.

The pants under his chaps (not visible below) were Basecoated in P3 Idrian Flesh and washed with the Armor Wash again then, cleaned up with Idrian Flesh and left like that – they are a deeply recessed portion and I didn’t want to highlight them any further. The rest of the brown areas – the hair and boots – were done with craft paints I had used before. The gun stock was a mix of Delta Ceramcoat Golden Brown and Territorial Beige that was then stained with a dark brown wash. It (as well as the rest of the gun) still need finishing but it gave a good blond wood color for my base. The gun and gloves still need work (gloves are still just primer) and he’ll be done.

Next up is a weaponless Kell, who’s the least complete of the PP models. I did his basing while I was doing the others then basecoated most of the model. Some folks may recognize the color scheme as that of a certain TV character who’s dressed similarly, sans hat. Speaking of which I’m not sure I like the color of it, but I haven’t redone it yet. The hat and coat are based in Idrian flesh and then washed with P3 Armor Wash and Ceramcoat Dark Umber. I haven’t done any clean up or highlighting yet, but that should come soon. I need to do some layering and a little wet blending to add some better shadow before I do any highlighting. The shirt is painted in P3 Skorne Red and the pants are RMS Driftwood Brown. The pouches slung across his chest will probably be the same color as the pants when all’s said and done.

After Kell is my third Hawk, and I can definitely say I’m getting sick of painter her. The first was a blue and tan scheme and the second was the red scheme that was used on the studio model. For my own version I kept the red bandanna and skirt and went with a black vest and dark brown leathers. Pretty much everything on this model still needs cleaning up, but I haven’t been able to force myself to work on it any more – I’m too burnt out on the sculpt for now.

I’m also working on a scenic base for her that’s in a few pieces on my painting desk. It’ll be a slight variation on the decking style that a lot of people seem to be using on the new Privateer solos but I think it will stand out as different. I just need to do a little assembly and decide what to use to fill in the relatively empty areas on it.

The last model here is the Confrontation Alahal the Messenger. I’ve had this model for ages – it’s always been one of my favorites and I’ve finally decided to try to paint it up. His robes are base coated in P3’s Coal Black and the flesh in P3 Medium Flesh. Coal Black is a very dark blue intended for use in highlighting black. I’m going to try it out as my basecoat here. I’ve also been playing with P3’s flesh colors for all the models I’ve done since the start of Merc Month, trying them out. So far I like them better than the Vallejo Model Colors I’ve been using – the P3’s are nowhere near as thick and easier to use. VMCs were even thicker than my craft paints. Granted they’re more pigment intensive but they’re still a pain to work with on the pallet.

Anyway I’m still finalizing the scheme for Alahal but I’m using the Reaper necromancer mentioned earlier (no pics here) as a test piece to see how some colors look next to each other. Alahal should start coming together more as I work on him as a break from Privateer Press models.

That’s it for now. If all goes well I’ll post another update after the end of October to see how my painting commitment is holding up.