The last couple of weeks have been eventful hobbywise so there is a bit more than usual to discuss. As always, we’ll start with painting progress. I’ve mostly worked on Henry the last two weeks which has required some patience and persistence. Almost everything I worked on took two attempts to get it looking the way I wanted. Unfortunately, one part I’m not happy with and I’ll talk more about that in a sec. Here’s a look at Henry good side.
As you can see, the purple lighting is a lot smoother now and his hair and eyes are done. I’m pretty happy with how things are looking here. Well, other than his cigarette which I broke off while trying to drill a hole in the bottom of him. I’ve got one last cig left so I’ll attach it in place of the old one and paint it at the end, just to be safe. Let’s take a look at the side I’ve been working on and am not happy with yet.
On his other side, I wanted to use another cyberpunk color and show that he is somewhere where there are lights bouncing off both sides of his head. I did a fair bit of research into cyberpunk art and I wanted Henry to really epitomize the genre. I also wanted to try and be bold with the coloring as everyone online has painted him really close to the box art. I tried using more of a rich, navy blue on Henry initially and didn’t like it so I pivoted on Friday to this look instead. While the colors look better, I still think its a bit too much. I’m not completely sure but I may have gone too dark and just need to brighten it up a bit more. But honestly, I’m not sure where I’m going to go with it and I’d be glad to hear everyone’s thoughts on the face so far. I’m definitely in uncharted territory and am going to have to slowly figure out what direction to go in.
In the wake of the most recent battle report where I discovered some damaged terrain, I knew it was time to rectify that problem. I was using the following container and essentially had a bunch of stuff piled on top of each other. Much more than what is shown in the picture, in fact.
There is a lot less in the box when I took this picture because I went ahead and got myself a new plastic box that holds a single “layer” of terrain and fits the storage containers perfectly.
After I took this picture, I taped bubble wrap on the sides of the plastic container so everything is protected from damage when shifting around. I think this will work a lot better and prevent future damage. For whatever reason, it seems like the gloss varnish has a bit of a sticky surface and damage was happening when something rested against that surface. The gloss varnish would pull some of the paint off essentially. I think I’m going to try using more matte varnish on the bottom of terrain to prevent this from happening (even though gloss varnish is much sturdier which is why I used it in the first place). We’ll see if that doesn’t help solve this problem and I will keep working on getting better organized and having more sensible storage going forward.
On the gaming side of things, I did play Kingdom Rush on my week off and unfortunately, the feeling that it was not the right game for me only grew. I’ve made the decision that I’m done playing it and will get rid of it in the future to free up space in my closet for other things. The bummer is that the game costs way more than its worth to sell and I made what now seems like an obvious mistake by buying everything for the game. Its tricky because I had fun the first time or two I played it and so I started buying the expansions because of FOMO. A lot of the expansions were getting hard to find but its clear that if I had been patient, I would have realized that I didn’t like the game long before I needed to buy any of that content. You live and you learn or hopefully at least anyway!
If you thought this might have doused my interest in board gaming, it did the opposite! I decided to pick up a new card game called Astro Knights. It is a deckbuilding game, which is a type of card game that I haven’t had the best results with in the past but Astro Knights is essentially a reskin of Aeon’s End, which is a very popular game. Aeon’s End is one of the few rivals to Fantasy Flight Games’ LCG trio of Lord of the Rings, Marvel Champions, and of course, Arkham Horror: The Card Game. I’ve played Astro Knights three times thus far and after winning my first game on Normal difficulty a little too easily, I’ve moved up to Expert difficulty and am finding that to be a good challenge. I haven’t won either game but I am learning the game’s strategies and improving. I think I’ll be playing quite a bit in the coming weeks as there are four bosses to conquer and three difficulty settings.
I plan on getting some other lighter and fast playing board games as I have the time and budget in the rest of 2024. I don’t think I’ll be able to play much more Fallout Wasteland Warfare this year and I need to paint about 20 more Hellboy miniatures to be in a good place to play that more so I’ll work on those hobby tasks and hopefully find a new board game or two to keep me gaming in the meantime. My only rule is that I’m going to avoid games that have many miniatures because I don’t need more of those to paint right now. We’ll see how I get on with this plan and I’ll certainly share my purchases and game experiences as they happen.
Kuribo's Painting 
I really like both sides of his face, it really gives that instant cyberpunk feel to it, the colour choice is spot on to me, I can almost see the street with bars on he is in.
I wonder if the “blue” side will work better to your eyes when you start on the clothing and they have the same colour on them, with it all being base coat at the moment it could be looking like he has a blue face to you, so I recon that go as the clothes get painted.
On the scenery storage I’ve more recently got some metallised paper on bottom of boxes and some magnets in the bottom of the scenery bit, it’s a little faffy to do but works really well, and you can get all the stuff cheap off Ebay (or you can this side of the pond).
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Thank you, mate! I did quite a bit of research into cyberpunk colors so I’m glad to hear you like what I’ve settled on. I think you’re also right that without more of the mini done, it will be hard to fully tell if everything looks right. After a couple days off, I’ve resumed working on Henry and we’ll see if I haven’t made some improvements in him next week.
I wouldn’t have thought you could magnetize terrain like that. I’m glad you mentioned it as that is something I’d definitely consider doing in the future.
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I look forward to seeing how he progresses!
I’m making a bit of terrain at the moment so when I post about it I’ll make sure I photograph how I magnetised it.
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That sounds great to me. I look forward to seeing what you make!
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Wow, Henry (or at least one side of his face!) is looking good already.
I wouldn’t sweat too much about the resale value of Kingdom Rush. Hopefully you had plenty of fun with the games you did play, plus the time painting the minis, that it still works out as a good way to spend your money.
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Interesting head with the challenge of painting two different faces. Does the part in the hair on the second picture require color too?
On some of my terrain pieces I actually use black duct tape on the bottom to make it easier to stack and the paint doesn’t rub off on the table.
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Indeed it does. I didn’t realize I could do it, but I can compartmentalize the parts I’ve worked on and the ones I haven’t, so the parts I haven’t worked on don’t really bother me but others have noticed things that are unfinished. There’s no doubt that getting everything done will help bring it together and I think I’ve figured out the problem or at least what was bothering me about the blue part so that’s progress anyway.
I would have never thought to use duct tape and anything is better than gloss varnish. I’m going to switch to matte varnish (which is less tacky) and see if that doesn’t help solve that problem. I’ll keep working on improving my storage too.
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Thank you, mate! I didn’t play Kingdom Rush nearly enough to feel like I got $250+ value out of it so that is why its a bit of a disappointment, especially when it is worth $100-125 on the secondary market. I did have fun painting the minis for the most part though so that helps the value proposition a bit anyway!
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Part of what throws off the blue side, is the flesh coloured ear, you also want to incorporate some actual flesh colour in the blue, even if it’s just spot highlights. also the hair on his head and moustache need the blue and purple tones added, to help tie it all together. Last where the two lights meet on the face, there would be some crossover of the colours.
Great that you found some more storage for your scenery, would suggest some form of packer between the pieces so that they don’t rub against each other.
Shame on the boardgame, but hopefully you can move it on quickly, and hope the new one keeps you entertained.
Look forward to seeing more Hellboy models.
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I don’t know if its good or bad but I’m able to compartmentalize and ignore stuff I haven’t painted pretty easily nowadays. Its like I can tell my brain to ignore stuff I’m not done with somehow. Regardless, you’re spot on that several parts need the additional lighting for the mini to look right. I’ve started reworking the blues a bit and that seems to be helping my opinion of the paint job too.
I think your idea on packing material between the terrain is a good one too. I’ll give that some thought and see what I can come up with.
I think you’ll see some more Hellboy wolves in the nearish future, especially if I need a break from Henry. I’m chipping away at something relevant to the current challenge as well, I just don’t have enough to be worth showing yet.
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I love the idea of the lighting you’re going for, that is going to look very cool indeed and very cyberpunk.
For advice here’s a couple of things:
1) you’re actually playing with three light sources right now, you have the pink and the blue but also a natural light as well right now as we can see the normal skin tone. Most extreme lit cyberpunk portraits have very little light other than the coloured lights. That’s going to make things a little trickier because you need to blend in 3 zones rather than 2 with some dark spots.
2) this is one of those ones where I would take a photo in the dark of the model, taking 3 photos, each lit with your phone torch from a different angle: one with your phone light where you want the blue light to come from, one for the pink light and one for the natural top down light. Turn them black and white and use them as a reference for where the colours would land and that should give you a good guide for where the transition zones should be.
I think that’s a benefit of the larger scale, the light you get from that should be quite realistic.
Terrain storage is very tricky, I get so much breakage myself. Bubblewrap is a good idea I’ll have to try that myself!
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I’m glad to hear it, Nic! I haven’t seen too many people go for it online which is surprising but I’m starting to see why. Its not easy!
I very much appreciate your advice as well. I have taken some photos that I’m working off of though I think there are some adjustments to be made to make the lighting “more correct” so I think you’re spot-on there. I’ve decided to tone the blues down a bit and I’ve tried to introduce some flesh color to them as I think that is what bothered me about the blue lighting. We’ll see if that doesn’t get things moving in the right direction!
I hope bubblewrap helps with your storage woes. Its not fun having to fix paint damage or at least not in my opinion!
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Ah, I see now that Henry’s purple side is neon light reflected and that’s really cool. Plus an excellent job making that work. I’m not sure about the other side. It almost looks like half his face has turned metal or into a Dali painting. If that’s the shadow side, I think I’d tone down the highlight on the cheekbone and that might help a bit.
I have the same issue with paint pulling off the bottom base of our minis. It doesn’t help that I use metal washers. But I airbrush a matte black. Then airbrush prime semi-gloss followed by a matte. I used to use some floor polish, but that seemed less effective. I haven’t figured out a good way to keep that paint from sticking/pulling off yet. I’m sure there has to be some way though.
That’s a bummer on Kingdom Rush, and I know all too well how that goes. I’ve kind of given and just learned that there is some stuff I’m going to buy and maybe not like and lose money on. But if I tend to buy a lot of additional items related to the game, book, etc. then I bump them up the queue to either start reading, start playing, etc. Of course that’s not foolproof, because like you said, you played a couple of games and it seemed fun. Which happened to me with Newcromunda too.
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Thanks, Brian! Yes, after much thought and deliberation, I think what is bothering me is that the blue side is too dark (especially compared to the purple side) and that there isn’t enough flesh color mixed in. I’ve started working on that and I would say there’s some improvement in the early stages of the process anyway.
It is reassuring that you’ve had a similar problem. While I haven’t done a ton of research into this, it doesn’t seem like something that is widely discussed online. I’ll keep experimenting with how I handle the underside of terrain to see if I can find something that works better, in addition to having a better storage system overall too.
I’m glad to hear you know what I’m talking about with Kingdom Rush. It is indeed a bummer but I’m also realizing that if you want to play wargames or board games, you have to do your research and buy things to see if you like them. There’s just not many other ways short of playing them at a friend’s house first or maybe a board game cafe. I’m okay with buying a base game and not enjoying something but I don’t want to buy everything for a game and not even finish the base game before falling out of love with it. That is a mistake that seems preventable so I will try and do better with that in the future!
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If it’s any reconciliation, I’ve also played a boardgame at friends a couple times, ended up buying it, and after 2-3 plays at home found out I didn’t like that much after all.
I’m glad to hear you’re getting some progress on the mini. Sometimes there are spots where it’s really hard to tell if you’re going in the right direction and it sucks. But often the answer is right around the corner. 😃
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That is definitely good to hear. I think I might have swung and miss on another board game so the learning continues…
Yes, it was quite tense working on the bust the last day or so because it was becoming sink or swim with the whole thing. It looks like I’ve pulled it out though I’ll let everyone be the judge of that this weekend!
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That’s awesome to hear! It’s a great bust and you’ve got a good start on it, so I definitely hope you don’t give up!
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A lot of progress all round, Jeff! 🙂 I’ve found that acrylic gloss varnish can be “tacky” and I’ve seen it lift from base edges that are in contact with other surfaces! Matt tends to be fine in my experience. Enamel gloss is fine but there is a risk it can yellow with age!
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Tacky is a great word for it, John! I think that matte varnish is probably the way to go. A lot of my terrain is MDF and I want to protect the “wood” from moisture so that is why I varnish it. I would think that matte varnish does the same as gloss in that regard so I will definitely stop the practice of using just gloss varnish on the bottom of terrain and that should go a long way towards preventing damage. That’s my hope anyway.
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Gak, was suppose to a general comment vs one on Argentbadger
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No worries! WordPress’s commenting is really finicky but for the most part, no matter what happens I can see it okay. I’ve certainly done this before by accident too as well. Mr. Badger is one of the good ones and won’t mind at all either!
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oh man. Do I know what it’s like to only have one last cigarette…😀
the face looks great to me though just from looking at the pics I thought his skin was different colors and didn’t get it was supposed to be from colored lights. But I’m the worse painter ever so take anything I say for what it’s worth (nothing).
terrain storage is definitely an issue so I hope you got that worked out nicely. 😀
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Haha! It becomes a precious resource at this point for sure.
I think there is a good reason why you couldn’t tell that it was different lights. I’m going to try and rectify that this week and we’ll see if you think the effect is better or more realistic next week.
Fingers crossed on the terrain. I need to put more time and effort into storage and then I won’t have to put time into fixing terrain, hopefully anyway!
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Henry looks great mate. The purple hue looks fantastic and as much as I like the colour of the blue I feel like it should fade or something, like the purple does. Like Faust said, the blue almost makes him look half metal. To be honest I actually really like the blue, the more I look at it. All I can really suggest is possibly taming things down a bit. Definitely the right colour though mate because as soon as I saw him, before even reading, I had cyberpunk vibes.
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Cheers, mate! I think the blue was too dark and there isn’t any skin tone left in it and that is the problem with the paint job. We’ll see if that doesn’t solve the problem and I’ll be curious to hear what you think when you see it next week!
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I actually felt bad giving any critique because, honestly mate, youre one of the best painters I’ve ever seen. I have every faith in you that this will be, yet another, masterpiece
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Never feel bad about it, mate! One of the best ways to get good is to get as much feedback as you can and try to learn from it. That is a big reason where I am where I am. I think I’ve turned the corner on it so we’ll see what you think soon enough!
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Hehe ok cool. Just wanted to be clear. I’ve always spoken before I think and I’ve upset people, unintentionally, before.
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Totally understand. I rarely get upset about anything said or done in our hobby. I think we’re of similar minds in that this is a refuge from the world’s problems so we aren’t looking to get mad over something.
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Haha well said sir
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