Ten Thunders - Misaki and Crew

I paint most of my own models, this is fairly well known to those who play against me and to those who follow the blog. I do, however, from time to time commission out some of my models in order to have some fantastic painters I know paint them up. Recently I had James Convy from 13th Hour miniatures paint up my Misaki crew. Convy is a friend and local who also happens to be a winner of a bronze crystal brush. Yeah, he is a damn good painter!

So it has taken a couple weeks to get all the models I received into the light box and pictures taken. Convy painted up the full set of the new Ten Thunders models that were released at Gencon. I was not a huge fan of the Master Misaki model, but I do like the Minion Misaki model a great deal. Convy painted up both for me, and I was amazed that after seeing his job on painting Master Misaki, I actually like the model.

So, without further ado, check out his painting them go to his website and get a quote for some of your own models!

First we have Misaki. This view of Misaki is fantastic as you can just make out the Koi fish painted in the water, which Misaki is checking out while exercising. This detail is what really won me over on this model after Convy painted it up. I was a bit disturbed that the model in general was in a pose that said (to me) "Looking for my Contact" more than Kung-fu fighting. Now this is more relaxing Kata before kicking your ass and I really like it.

Here are a couple other views as well, which just look really really good. The yellows are nice and crisp and overall she looks good with the crew. I hope the layout of the blog gets the pictures lined up to not throw off the entire flow of the article.

As I mentioned, I was not a huge fan of the Master Misaki model until after I got it back from Convy. Due to that, I had pushed her back on the painting queue and had him initially paint up Minion Misaki which I used with the Master card. I love the paint job with the Red dress and details he did for this Misaki model. We did have a good laugh after he finished the paint job and pointed out that Minion Misaki has a blow-up doll face. Even so, she is a great model and I am now swapping between the two models for the crew. The red makes a nice contract to the mostly yellow Ten Thunders crew.

So, with a look at the variety of Misaki completed, we move into the rest of the crew. Starting out is a picture of Shang, Misaki's totem. When I originally heard about Shang I was expecting a wiry little dragon similar to the character from Mulan. Shang ended up as a nine tail fox made from fire. Shang is an absolutely massive model for a Height 1 model on a 30mm base. While I really like the model, I wonder if the plastic sculpting was a little off on this guy.

We also have Misaki's Mentor in the crew, Yamaziko. Yamaziko looks very different from the overall crew in her darker green robes. She is a fantastic model to play, fitting into several Ten Thudners crews outside of ones led by Misaki. She was also the first of the Wyrd Plastic models I got to see, on the day before Gencon fully kicked off this year. Eric J was walking around outside the exhibit hall with a Yamaziko he had just assembled. What was most amazing was how sturdy the spear is. The new plastics are very strong while still holding very good detail overall.

That brings us to the montage of Ten Thunders Archers. The Archers are really great models with a lot of detail around the bows and arrows. I love looking at these guys. The heads were rumored to be a real bitch to assemble and get on the model. Overall, I found that letting Convy assemble them for me worked out to my benefit and was very easy! I like the way they look, and love the painted eyes on the front of the helmets/hats.

Following the Archers we jump to another group of yellow painted Ten Thunders models. These are some fantastic models overall, with a whole lot of character between their poses and weapons. The Torekage rarely get used in more than 1 or 2 in a crew, so I find I am constantly swapping out which 2 are in my case for games. Convy actually did a tutorial on his website on how to paint these guys up. Its the same rich yellow he used on the archers. If your interested, check out the tutorial here.

The last model Convy painted for me (for this crew) was Ototo. Ototo is the big beater melee model for the Ten Thunders. I am getting a fair amount of feedback from folk that they do not like the sculpt for Ototo. I have to admit that I like it, its very reminiscent (to me) of Captain Cave Man and his big club. It also has a Flinstones Bam Bam vibe to it. Overall, Convy did a fantastic job painted him up and I am finding use for him in my crews.

So that brings me to the end of the models painted by 13th Hour Miniatures. I also have some Ronin and Ten Thunders Brothers that I use with Misaki, but I painted those myself. I wanted to give a showcase to the models Convy painted along with starting to show off my new crew. I will get the Ronin and 10T Brothers posted later this week. In addition to that, this will be a series of pictures with all the new models I have painted up. I have been on a roll since Gencon and have nearly all the models for Storm of Shadows crews painted and photographed. I will also be updating the Malifaux Crew's list at the top of the page with pictures of the new models. I know I opened with it, but lets close with a picture of the full crew.