Monday 22 February 2010

Lt. Kara Black - Kit Review


A nice little present arrived today!

Lt. Kara Black by Studio McVey, a wonderful 35mm figure sculpted by Kev White, with the concept art produced by Sam Wood.

Studio McVey is run by Mike and Ali McVey, husband and wife and two extremely talented painters and modellers. Any long time Games Workshop fans will recognise the name as Mike was the original Eavy Metal team, producing many classic paint jobs, including much of the renowned "red period", along with some classic dioramas such as the Dark Angels chapel, Horus versus the Emperor and the Lizardmen execution pit (all of which can be seen on the Studio McVey website). Mike's work was certainly a great inspiration for me growing up, and both Ali and Mike's recent work continues to inspire, influencing my own ever evolving style.

Bandana On!

The figure itself is cast in a nice grey resin and comes in 6 parts including the base insert, legs, torso, weapon, ammo hopper and ammo feed. The concept of female with giant weapon in hand (oh no he didnt!) reminds me of a large scale figure Mike painted long ago, a Catachan female with heavy bolter, sculpted by one of the Perry brothers (I forget which) to be precise!


What is immediately apparent is the quality of casting, there are very few imperfections, and those that do exist are minor at best. With very few mould lines, the quality of sculpting really shines through, with nice smooth lines - very much a figure painters dream!

But don't take my word for it, check out the incredible job Mike and Ali have produced on their blog!

Limited to 750 casts (each with a numbered certificate), you best get your skates on and head on over to the Studio McVey website to order yours today, before it's to late!

Having looked through the range of figures available, and having seen first hand the quality of sculpts and casts, I certainly plan to pick up some more soon!

Saturday 20 February 2010

Ariadna Zouaves Sapper - WIP Painting

Finally got started on painting this guy this week, with much of the progress coming in a couple of hours today!



The inspiration for the paint scheme comes from Call of Duty - Mordern Warfare 2's Task Force 141 and the gear they wear in the Quarry multiplayer map.

Particularly pleased with how the helmet, goggles and face have come out. The face looked like it was gonna be a pain in the ass due to being hard to get at with the brush, but was pretty easy in the end. The goggles were a bit of a play about that came off nicely and I think they look properly see-through to the helmet, while still reflective.

I'm going to give him a spray with some dullcote through the airbrush before applying the metalics to remove the sheen from some of the washes and glazes.

First time painting in about 2 months so a little rusty again, but it's been good fun.

I also recently found some daylight bulbs that fit in my Ikea painting lamps so these have helped a lot too when it comes to painting. Unfortunately they don't seem to be as helpful at the moment for photo taking! Think I'll need to adjust to them so sorry for the poor pics in the meantime.

Hopefully finish him this evening and can then finish a commission I'm working on and look at starting up these:


Can't wait! :D

Sunday 7 February 2010

The Vendetta (WIP 2)


A quick post this one, just to show that I have actually been working on some stuff lately!

I've been adding more to my Vespero figure lately and it's really beginning to take shape now. I know it looks a little scrappy in the pics but that's due to the figure having received a thin milliput wash.

Since the last pics I've been working mainly on the arms and sorting out the jerkin etc. The sleeves on the arms have been giving me some headaches determining what to do with them but it's getting there now.

More soon!

Wednesday 3 February 2010

To Infinity and Beyond! - New Figs Inbound

So with a welcome and healthy pay day last week, I decided to treat myself to a new figure (I know, I have loads of unpainted stuff already but this one will be painted, promise!). The figure in question comes from a range that I had caught glimpses of occasionally but never truly checked out...

Now I won't lie, I'm a bit of a GW loyalist. I've not painted a non-GW miniature in over 10 years, though I have bought some for bits and pieces for conversions (some Victrix Napoleonics). However, this figure was just too good a sculpt to pass up and at a cool £6, I couldn't resist!

So what is the figure? Well it's an Infinity Ariadna Zouave Sapper.


So what swayed me to broaden my figure painting horizons? Well just look at the pose and detail of the sculpt, it's perfect! It's a one figure diorama!

I particularly the base that comes with the figure too. It adds a lot to the narrative as well as creating a better silhouette for the figure.

Anyone have any experience with Infinity figures? Anything to look out for (bad flash, miscast sections, rough surfaces etc)?

Also, you may have noticed a bit of a re-design for the blog, would love to know what you all think. Does it look better and have a better, easier to navigate layout?