Growing Confidence in the Wasteland

While the model count may be low, I have a pretty action-packed update this week that I’m excited to share.  I think it is fair to say that I’m finally figuring out how to paint the Fallout minis to the best of my abilities and each one I finish is becoming more rewarding.  I am also really enjoying painting a true skirmish game where the model count is low and you can spend a lot of time on a single mini but still feel like you’re advancing towards your gaming goals.  Let’s start with a model that will see a lot of use on the gaming table.

I painted up the resin Sole Survivor because I was pretty dissatisfied with how the plastic one looked.  I found this guy to be a bit of a pain to paint for some reason and was surprised it took nearly a week to get him done.  It took a long time to get all of the little details painted and some things like his hair were really finely sculpted and took a lot of concentration to paint too.  I do think his face came out fairly well and I like the Pip-boy which has a bit of the greenish glow just like in the game.  I also used a new technique for painting rust which looks more realistic at this scale than what I had been doing (more on this later).  While there are some things that I goofed up on or could have been painted better, he is much more to the level that I shoot for when gaming.  Plus, seeing him and Dogmeat above just feels right.  All I need is a bit of terrain and Fallout will be coming to life on my table!

Next up is my first Super Mutant in resin.  In addition to being a better all around sculpt (love the helmet!), I really experimented with rust because I wasn’t happy with how the rust looked on the previous two super mutants.  I also found the right metal color that fits Fallout’s post-apocalypse palette.  The super mutant’s base also has some pretty nice details on it, I was proud of how the wood turned out and the barrel.  Changing away from darker brown wooden planks was a great move and help me improve the look of the bases.  My only concern is the nail board weapon feels really flimsy and it could definitely break if this guy was dropped or hit with anything.  This is reminding me that I need to get some miniature storage issues worked out (something I’ll talk about in the future, I’m sure).  Just as a point of comparison, I’ve included the previous super mutant below this one so you can compare.  The level of improvement is quite stark!

Lastly, I have my first piece of Fallout terrain to show off and it is probably the best part of this week’s update.  I have to thank my good friend down under, Azazel, who runs Azazel’s Bitz Box (an excellent read if I do say so, myself) for the idea on this terrain.  It is actually an inexpensive terrain piece from Deep Cuts Miniatures (more commonly known for their Dungeons & Dragons miniatures) that is scaled exceptionally well for Fallout.  Even a super mutant would fit in there (well, at least one without his weapon raised!).  While it was a paint to clean off the mold lines (which are very prevalent) and it is disappointing that the wooden part on the bottom is warped, it was $9 with shipping so I can’t complain.  You can actually remove the metal cage from the wooden base and put something inside the cage if you want.  Unfortunately, doing so chips off paint (even with varnish applied) so I will not be doing that but if that doesn’t bother you, it could be an option.  Alas, a picture with Dogmeat inside won’t be happening as I hoped.  Obviously, I’m really proud of the rust which looks really realistic on this thing.  I will probably write up a guide to painting rust as my method is very easy and the results are better than what I have seen in other guides.  I’m not sure if I will attach this cage to an mdf base to make it blend it more with the battle mat I plan on getting for Fallout or not.  It takes away some of the versatility of the cage but I think it would make the cage look better than if it is just plopped down on a mat.  What do you all think?

That’s it for this week!  I’m still waiting something I ordered from the UK to arrive so I can make some more Fallout terrain (which I am even more excited to work on).  I could use a bit of a break from painting Super Mutants and survivors and I’ve got an urge to build some basic terrain for Fallout so I will probably pursue that further this week.  I’ve also got something LOTR going on so it will be interesting to see what all I have to show off next time around.