Picture Week opening Post!

I have not been doing a ton of painting lately, but I have been doing a little bit. As I was updating my variety of blog pages (see the top) tracking my models and my variety of tools (see left and Fridays blog post) I realized how far behind on model pictures I have gotten. To that end I carved out time over the weekend to clean up my Malifaux picture list and get some updates done.

That set of pictures have been uploaded to both the Flickr account (to the right) and to my Photobucket account, which is what I use to link pictures. I figured we would start out with the non-malifaux model that I picked up at Adepticon this year. The opening picture to this article is the Lady of the West model from Wild West Exodous. This is one of the limited edition models for the WWX kick-starter which was also given out to swag-bag recipients at Adepticon 2013. I did not base the model with anything, just gluing it down to the WWX base provided. I plan to use it as a display model over a model to use in game. Despite being just table top quality, I am pretty happy with how she came out. I still have issues with Eyes but I am continuing to work on them from time to time.

I am not sure where to go from there, as I have a lot of models with updated pictures. Sticking with the mildly western theme might not be a bad choice, so lets jump over to McHammish and some of his models. I have not yet gotten the man on the table to play but hope to do so this week. With the 4th of July coming up I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to dig up a Malifaux Classic opponent to grab some games with. I thought I was going to enjoy painting up McCabe more than I actually did.

I started with his horse using the horse skin painting directions from an old GW fold-out guide I had sitting with my paints. I augmented the scheme they provided (Mid/Shadow/Highlight) with a couple washes using Devlin Mud. Overall I am happy with the horse himself, but McCabe did not work out as well (in my opinion). I painted the rider and the McCabe on foot at the same time, hitting each of the areas with the same paints and washes to maintain a consistent look. I wanted Foot McCabe to match the mounted McCabe so that in game he looks like he just dismounted.I believe this was successful but the fiddly bits on both models just did not come together as I would like. I also wanted to get both an orange flair onto the model to represent the Ten Thunders ties along with a red flare to represent his Guild ties. The red worked out OK on the Horse, but I think the orange ended up too muted. Perhaps I should have gone with a red shit

in place of the linen shirt, but I am just not sure. I am happy that the pants, vest, and boots all came out different colors of shaded grey, with the boots actually black. I think the gradient worked well on the model. I suspect he will work out well on the table considering the distance most people will be looking at him and how he blends into the crew. The grey colors work well with my guild guard and dogs, and I will be aiming for a similar scheme for my riflemen and guild pathfinder that are still to be painted up. The third model in this little group is Luna, McCabe's trusty hound. I have heard great things about this little guy although I have not used him. He has magical extension so I should be able to squeeze in a cast or two of McCabe's stunner spell to paralyze a model that is already slow.
More importantly, Luna has synergy with the Guild Hounds, counting as a hound for purposes of On the Trail and Guild Kennels. I actually painted Luna up back in March as a side model to paint, and he has been sitting in my case since then.

The leader of the crew and his totem in place, we take a look now at some of the other models that work well with McCabe. One of the biggest boons Storm of Shadows brought to the Guild were the Wastrels. I only have two of the three wastrels currently painted up, although the third is sitting on my painting table currently.  I love the look of these guys and the models really stick to the art overall. I have had two of them painted up since April and have tossed them onto the table a couple times with other Ten Thunders crews. Two of my favorite Cast Off relics are the Earths Elixir and Petrified Feather. The feather is nice for those movement based schemes such as Breakthrough and the like. I can advance with the wastrel early on then make a critical jump to the opponents side of the board with an 18 inch move one time per game. This is something that has provided a key portion of my strategy in a couple games. Earths elixir makes the Wastrel unkillable for a turn,

allowing them to sit in a key position and guarantee its held. Both of these abilities are nice, slightly edging out the magical melee weapons in my mind. Overall, Wastrel's are fantastic models for both Guild and Ten Thunders.

So, that brings us to a close for today. I plan to write up a series this week with a number of the models I have pictures of now. Of key note, I will be doing two separate articles with some pictures of fantastic models I had commission painted. I have had these models for too long and have been remiss in showing them off.  Keep an eye out for those later this week.