Showcase: Infinity: Ariadna... Devil Dogs Team, Antipode K-9

Well I finally got this little beast done. I was a little more stressed about how this was coming along as it is a gift for a friend, so it had to be a little better than I would except for my gaming purposes. I hope I've hit the mark. I need lot's more practice to get smoother transition with the highlights and shadows, but still I am pretty pleased with how this came out. The next thing I need to do is buy a little portable shooting booth and light set up. Looking at the figure in this picture and in person is definitely different. Mostly I think it has to do with my light set up. Another hobby related skill I need to acquire. Anyways I hope you enjoy the end result.

Cheers

Kevin

WIP: Infinity: Ariadna... Devil Dogs Team, Antipode K-9

Well I've been knocked out by the flu for a few days and couldn't stand being in bed any longer so I got up and put some paint on a figure. This is the partner to the Devil Dog of the Devil Dog team, the Antipode K-9. I've worked around the face and other furry areas, as well as inside the mouth etc. It's coming along. Still quite a bit to do yet.

Cheers

Kevin

Infinity: Nomads... Mobile Brigada

Not sure if I like the direction I went with this one. I wanted more Red to Orange highlight instead of the red to white. The last picture here shows a size comparison to give you a feel of the different pieces in the range, but also shows an Alguacile so you can see what I mean about red to white highlights etc.

I am having fun painting these as well as experimenting. Sometimes I feel like I am on the edge of a breakthrough with my painting, that I am discovering something new, and then it fades away. Just have to keep tooling away and hope I get better with the practice. What is fun is painting just one figure and moving on to a different one. Hopefully it will help me when I need to paint a dozen at a time. Time will tell.

Cheers

Kevin

Infinity: Ariadna... Devil Dogs Team, 2nd Assault Btn. of the USAMC

Well my friends I've been working behind the scenes and meaning to post earlier than this, but this time of year is always hectic and I've had a few added hiccups this time around. But here I finally am and I am excited to show you some of my latest work.

This piece I am about to show you I have been painting up for a friend as a gift for Christmas. He has helped my family out in time of need, and though he expected no repayment I still felt I had to show him in a special way thank you from my heart. So I attempted this project and gave it my best paint job I could. Unfortunately I have only completed one piece, but working on the second piece is coming along nicely. I chose this piece for several reasons. The first reason is that my group has had a sudden interest in the miniature game system Infinity and I hoped the piece would draw him in. The second and more important reason is that he served in one of our Countries finest institutions the United States Marine Corp. I personally have never met a Marine or ex Marine that isn't super proud of serving or having served. With time honored tradition, honor, loyalty, and all that goes with it, I felt it the perfect selection. It is from the faction Ariadna, and the pack is called the Devil Dogs Team, 2nd Btn, of the USAMC. Now while not USMC, I still thought he would get a kick out of this. He has shown interest in the grunts for this faction, and I am sure he would feel right at home with these lads, charging them straight up a hill into the teeth of an enemy machine gun nest.

Here a few pics of what I have done and the piece I am still working on.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

First game of Infinity played!

After having collected Infinity miniatures over the past eight years and having done nothing with them, suddenly, I painted up a few because of a friends recent interest. I guess it always helps ones motivation when a friend goes "oh wow, those are cool" then immeaditly dives into it. Not only did this friend go and buy some stuff but he painted up three models quickly which had me painting up some so we could play the first game of Operation: Icestorm. Last Friday evening we got a chance to get together and play a few games of the first scenario in the book called "Mission 1: Perimeter Control. First game took us about 40 minutes because we were rechecking what we thought we knew about the rules. Once we had a firm grip on the rules after playing the first game we played two more in less than 30 minutes.

It's just the basics, learning how to move and shoot etc. but our overall impression of the system was positive and we are both excited to continue painting up these beautiful models. Not only was it a success but two more friends have since bought stuff and are motivated to start playing this system.

Wow! After eight years of having these things and having resigned myself to having to paint up a bunch of factions so as to get my friends to play, magic happens and suddenly I can paint the factions I have for myself as I have a grass roots interest movement happening among my friends. So it is a win win situation for me.

Here are a few photos from our first game, the buildings and mat are paper products, but they are nice. With a low investment we were able to paint up a few models set up some of the terrain that came with the game and figure out if we wanted to invest further and buy model buildings and more figures.

A game system that I highly recommend trying as you don't have to paint a lot of figures to start playing right away.

Cheers
Kevin

Infinity: Nomads... Alguaciles from Operation: Icestorm set

I've had Operation: Icestorm set for a little while now and this past week I got the Art book from one of the painters I admire very much "Angel Giraldez". He works for Corvus Belli which produces "Infinity" figures and is head of their painting department. He also does work for the painting company "Vallejo" and tests their products and arranges painting sets etc.

Though he is only one of the several painters I follow, Angel has a special place in my heart. He basically stumbled onto the painting scene in 2002 or 3 and this from watching an ad on TV! I've been painting for quite a bit longer than that and to see him just pick up a brush and go like he does is just amazing to me. He is the "Tom Brady" of the painting world.

I probably will never be as good as Angel is but one thing he does for me is make me want to try. So these last couple of days I looked at the art book and a few online pictures as well and gave it a go at painting up three grunts for a game I will be partaking in this Friday. It's a learning scenario from Operation: Icestorm and the rules are a read to here stop play a game type, then next scenario adds a bit more and so on until you've learned the basic system.

My first foot soldier I have painted here for your viewing pleasure is a black soldier fighting with the Alguaciles. I was very excited to try as it was my first attempt and I really enjoyed doing so. I still have a bit to learn in getting the colors just right and blending. Here are a few photos of my first soldier.

 I went with a more orange-ish red than what Angel describes doing, and I did all the work by brush as I don't have my new airbrush yet. Though that's another story.

My second soldier looks like a hard case punk rocker and I just dig his hair cut. This guy was a blast to paint as well. It's not often I get to go off the beaten path of historical's and paint crazy hair. Here are a couple of shots of my second soldier.

My last soldier is a woman. Infinity, understand, is an anime based science fiction story line and with that you have, well, women that are all anime looking, for lack of a better word. I had fun painting up her hair as well, and though I am still working on the basics of doing faces well, thought I did a pretty decent job on hers. The last photo I tried to show a closer look.

It's a simple color scheme but lots of subtlety and I still have a ways to go in learning proper blending (and patience), but they are gaming figures and I am not trying to win a competition, though I am finding painting now a days is just as fun to me as gaming.

Thanks for looking as always
Cheers
Kevin

Infinity: Yu Jing... Yaokong on the street

You may remember a while back that I was working on this little fella and totally botched it. This led me having to ask my friend about his trick of soaking it in pine-sol to strip it. I gave it over to him and it worked beautifully thus saving the little guy from being thrown in the trash and saving me a few bucks as Infinity figures are not cheap.

Well I finally got around to finishing it and am happy to present it here to you now with a little better paint job than I did at first. Hope you like it.

Cheers
Kevin