Let’s go to Casablanca!
I was so excited to receive the Exotoc Locations set from Sally 4th last month that I forced myself to finish the musicians so I could start on the Casablanca project.
Now I need to get a board put together to base this little vignette, but at least they are off of the workbench!
I have assembled everything I need from the Cafe kit, and the Rick’s Place set dressing.
I am not going to bother building the chairs, from experience with other interior games they just get in the way of moving models around.
I also have the Museum of Antiquities and the Ancient Souk set dressing kits, which I can use in conjunction with Rick’s.
On the workbench right now are some French Foreign Legion and police, including Renault. I also have models for Rick and Ferrari.
To save time I base-coated the police in dark blue, which I have had a lot of trouble with in the past. All of these figs will be going on the clear bases I got from the Pulp Alley store. Like this:
What’s Next
Finally, after almost three years of waiting, I received my Kickstarter from the RAFM Airship Pirates!
Really looking forward to working on these and building the Airship from Crossover.
I have a busy Summer ahead!
As always C & C welcome.
I have diligently been hammering away at the Arkham Investigators and have finally finished them!
Here they are, drying and waiting to be clearcoated and based:
Now there are only 8 minis on my workbench to be completed. Sadly they have been there since October…
These dadgum Musicians
This is actually my first attempt at making a set-piece/diorama. The musicians will be mounted on a large base of plywood. Originally it was planned for part of the set dressing for General Bartleby-Smythe game, but then I got sick and blah, blah.
The worst part? McG has the game board in NH and I was going to go up next weekend for a mini-con but the car needs work and other emergency $$$ spending. Sucks.
Did I share this stuff yet? The Adventuress and the Hollow Earth Simians. Annalisse Kirchner is from Warlord Games, survivor of a mission to the Hollow Core of the Earth…
Annalisse Kirchner is a recent arrival to these lands. She is an anthropology major from Heidelburg University.
A prominent member of a research expedition to the Core, she is the sole survivor of the disastrous and ill fated project. She has given up all academic interest in the environment, currently seen waving a revolver at any inhabitant who may help her escape the nightmare she has found herself in.
Should be a fun addition to the Campaign story.
They live on Bone Island, a very remote and uncharted place that Jacquie Cutter flew over one time and made a note about in her pilot’s log.
I’m really motivated now to finish the Musicians because, now that the Arkham bunch are out of the way, my next project is Rick’s Americain, (yes, Casablanca) from Sally 4th.
This is going to be awesome
Rick’s Cafe Americain
I’ll be adding this to the Yangzee City setting, which will also incorporate the new Arkham characters in an all-encompassing uber-campaign that will feature Tales from the Gold Monkey, Bartle Bull’s fictional Shanghai, and, now, Casablanca!
One of these days I need to start writing the Character notes for all of these people…
How have I not posted in two months?
Good grief, I’ve been busy with work, I know, but I have been getting some painting done.
So, let’s go back and see what’s been accomplished: (sorry, you may need to be logged in to google to see the pics)
First, most recently, vacation to Jekyll Island with my Lovely
Bride
In April I’ve been working on the Arkham Investigators, which included this statue of Cthulhu
And these lovely ladies:
And this from Warlord
These Simians were a blast to paint, I can’t wait to write up their leagues
Also, I picked up these fun sea creatures for a pirate/whaling game concept we’re working on
I also received my battle mat for the Pirate game, and the Blood & Plunder kickstarter stuff. Here’s one of the ships
Finally, I received the Exotic Locations from Sally 4th, so I can add Rick’s Cafe Americain to the Yangzee City Campaign!
Obviously, I am going to be Hella busy with all of this, which is why I Have instituted a new rule, “Paint at least a few minutes every day”.
So far it’s going good, I am down to 22 models WIP on the workbench.
I’ve actually completed 8 minis!
the Deep Ones
30+ WIP
Sometimes you get the eyes right, sometimes not
Sadly, I squandered the warm weather this past week and didn’t get any priming or clearcoating done…but my parents were visiting and we had a great mini-vacation.
I’m shooting to get these done in the next three weeks so I can start on the Blood & Plunder stuff!
Wow. It’s already three weeks old.
Amazing. But time flies when you are working all the time. Things have been nuts, I worked every day from Jan 5th to 18th, then literally slept all day on the 19th. My Lovely Bride woke me up when she left for work, and I went back to bed and slept until she got home.
Good grief. So, obviously, no Hobby work has been done this year. Or blogging.
But I have been shopping! I just can’t seem to get motivated to finish the musicians, so I picked out some cool Cthulhu figs at Crucible Crush:
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear. And the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.
H.P. Lovecraft
I’ve been a Cthulhu Mythos fan forever, and have recently been reading The Book of Cthulhu
The box contains 10 figs, bases and the Gate of Yog-Sothoth with a translucent green resin roiling ectoplasm that begs to be backlit!
For $50 it’s a great deal. I am not sure if the offer is still on, but at Christmas-time when I ordered if you bought all three boxes you saved a dollar on each and got free shipping. Sold!
The Deep Ones look like they’ll paint up nicely, lots of detail and expression.
The models are very well done, with only minimal flash and not much in the way of mold lines. I like the variety of poses and the fact that the ladies aren’t “sexy”, so they look more “real” and have more character.
With any luck it will be warm enough to prime these tomorrow and I can get started o them this week.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Things have been very interesting around Casa Esteban what with the Holiday season, my discovery of some serious Hypertension issues and my boss at work has resigned to spend more time with his family.
First things first, my cardiologist was so concerned with my health that I had to cancel my trip to Carnage. That was a real bummer. The Lovely Bride saw it as a mixed blessing, of course, she got to spend some time with me as I had the time off from work, but she is very worried about my health.
Funny thing about high blood pressure, knowing you have it makes you worry about it, which makes it worse. The doctor has me measuring it at different times of day and keeping a log. All I can say is, the medicine isn’t working.
Anyhoo, I’ve been doing a LOT of reading because I can’t seem to get motivated and I want to get my mind off of HBP. According to my Reading Journal I am on book # 105 for 2016. That is a record! I’ve had more time to read this year because my commute includes a 20 – 40 minute Metro ride two or three days a week. Also, I’ve been reading instead of painting or blogging. Which I intend to rectify in the new year.
This painting project has been on my workbench since October:
Here are some pics of what we’ve been up to lately:
Continue reading »
My friend McG spotted this on facebook, and suggested it might be good for the gameboard for the Wake of General Bartleby-Smythe. I have to agree, and I also have to order pretty much anything McG suggests…
The floors do look bare.
They came in the other day, and I have to say they are good quality. Rugged, with a foam rubber backing. They are intended to be novelty drink coasters.
You can order them on Amazon, here 28mm Hobby Rugs
I am a week late for my October post, but we moved! We are all in the new place and still unpacking.
I managed to pack up my workbench much more carefully than last time, so it’s now all unpacked, set up, and ready to rock!
The current project is the Orchestra from Eureka, which I want to complete in time for the Gen. Bartleby-Smythe game at Carnage on the Mountain next month.
These figs have some good detail and I’d love to be able to bring out their best.
We’ll see how much time I have. This week I lost my Tuesday to a meeting at work…
I am trying a new technique for the skin on this project. Starting with a base of the P3 Midlund Flesh, shading with Army Painter Soft Tone, THEN paint in the eyes and highlight around them. I usually do the faces and shading and everything first, which makes doing the eyes something of a struggle. If I can get that out of the way first, the rest may be easier.
The Red Dragon Tong keeps a small farm out in the Delta where they grow, um, hops, as a cash crop to support their other enterprises. Every week or so they make a trip out to harvest some of the crop and return to sell it in the city.
Unbeknownst to Dr. Koo and the Red Dragons the mysterious Standing Stone near the farm (which emits strange lights and sounds from time to time) is a sacred spot for the Sisterhood of Kin-Yan. Not very active, this Standing Stone is only utilized when there is a full moon on the night of the Summer Solstice. On that night, which only happens every 70-some years, the Stone becomes a tremendous source of mystical energy.
Today a group of the Sisters travel to the Stone to make preparations for their ceremony. Imagine their shock to discover this little farm! Enraged to find this blasphemy of their sacred ground, the Sisters attack, attempting to destroy the farm and drive off the Red Dragons.
Since this is just a simple pick-up job, Dr. Koo visits his office in Huang Pu Downtown District (success = shift die type up rolling for initiative) and sends Number 10 Ox to the Warehouse in Port City District (success = +1 Backup or Gear at end of scenario, yet he fails to get 2 successes on 3d8 vs Might, so is delayed, arriving on Turn 2).
Chao Sing of the Sisterhood stopped in to the flophouse they maintain in Port City District and recruited a sailor to accompany them (to help carry the supplies no doubt, and unlikely to be missed if he happens to not return!). Meizhen went to the Temple in the Delta District to perform a blessing ritual (success = start game with 1 extra Fortune Card).
Plot Point 1: Farmhouse
Plot Point 2: Crops
Plot Point 3: Bales of hops
Plot Point 4: Sampan
Plot Point 5: Innocent Bystander (Lookout on the trail)
The Red Dragons begin the scenario in and around the Crops & Sampan. The Sisters begin on the trail.
Some highlights of the story:
Dim Sum and Chow Fat open fire on two of the sisters from the field, but miss. The Sisters managed to get across the river and dispose of the two Followers easily.
Chang and Wong dispatch a Sister as she prepares a mighty enchantment
Sisters Chao Sing and Jiao are embattled by Swamp Goblins!
Meizhen and Lily battle near the eldritch stone, too near it turns out, as Meizhen’s magic is mirrored by the stone and a terrible dark presence begins to manifest
What has become of Lily!?
At the end of the scenario, all but one of the Sisters have been Knocked Out or driven off, while the Dragons’ Leader and Sidekick maintain control of the plot points. Koo’s Ally Lily has vanished, replaced by a Daemonic figure of unknown provenance!
What more devilry may occur ad darkness falls and the moon rises over the Eldritch Stone on this auspicious night?
Tune in next time for the thrilling continuation!
I did not accomplish much this month, being busy with work and looking for a new apartment. We found a good one, a little smaller, but MUCH less expensive. We didn’t have a lot of time to look when we first moved to Maryland.
Any hoo, here we are:
You remember the Yangzee figs from July? The blue-clad gal on the right front corner is new, Princess Koji in her “Sexy Koji #1” outfit. The fig is Katelyn Sarong Bikini – Modern Civilian from Effin Cool. She didn’t get a lot of time, as the fig has a serious mold line I couldn’t overcome.
Here she is with the third Koji variant, you can see the mold line up her arm and across her face.
Here we have Koji (Sexy Koji #2) and Sarah Stickney-White almost complete, they just need a little more work on Face and Eyes
Here is one of the Karlov League gals (I haven’t named her yet…)
I need to get these done by the first week in Sept, after that we have to start packing. It took 17 hours to pack up my hobby room last time! The good news is that a lot of stuff is still packed, as I have only been playing at Huzzah! and Carnage Cons.
Stay tuned…
