I have the painting bug! Don't worry, it's nothing dangerous but it is contagious. The last few days, I've been wanting nothing more than to paint when I get home from work. Like most of us, my time is limited and it's hard to justify "me" time, especially when there are so many other things to get done (getting the oil in my car changed, acquiring food and cooking for Other Half, cleaning up the house, and even simple things like bathing, etc). Joking aside, it's hard to find time to paint, especially when it's 11pm and I think, "I could paint for an hour or I could get one more hour of sleep before the busy workday tomorrow". I won't lie, sleep usually wins.
When I worked on Carla McCarthy, I conquered one of my personal demons in this hobby: pinning. I dislike the pinning and gluing process so much since it stresses me out-- there are just too many ways to ruin a miniature before you even start painting. However, I don't have the luxury of sticking Carla miniature on the Shelf of Shame. She's just too awesome and I can't disappoint Ludo! Now that she's been assembled, it's time for gap-filling. However, I needed some time to research and practice some 50/50 Water/Milliput "painting" technique that I found on Massive Voodoo's blog.
I also took some time to paint on my first Kingdom Death pinup and assembled my second Infinity miniature. Since Carla will be the focus of my time this weekend, I wanted to use the momentum I have to assemble things and paint some NMM (which is rare for me!). I'm just gearing up and making the "Power Hour" a habit on most workdays.
Assembling the Infinity Miniature
Our Zerat Sniper is primed and ready! While her primer dried, I decided to work on my Kingdom Death "Twilight Knight" and researched how segmented armor would reflect light off the different sections, which I learned are called "lames".
“A common construction technique utilized “lames” or strips of metal which overlapped, somewhat like the shingles on a roof. These laminations were often used in the collar, shoulder, and abdominal areas to facilitate movement.”
“A lame is a solid piece of sheet metal used as a component of a larger section of plate armor. Multiple lames are riveted together or connected by leather straps or cloth lacing to form an articulated piece of armor that provides flexible protection.”
I decided I wanted the highest reflection to be on the front of her legs and forearm, so I attempted to blend my darkest color into my lightest "Leather White" color. I used pure white as the highlight on the knee armor (which I painted as jewels) and I'll use it as the final touch on the edges of the armor as soon as I'm done. I was able to paint the front of one of her greaves as well as her forearm armor. I also temporarily attached her head and cape since I was getting tired of photographing a headless miniature. Ha! I still have a long ways to go, but as soon as I finish her metal armor, I can paint the underside of her cape and attach it permanently to her body. Well, Painting Power Hour is up! So far so good-- plenty to do tomorrow :) Have a great night!