Solo wargaming table base established

This is the beta version and is subject to change. It is 3' wide by 3.5' long and sits 38" off the ground. It rests on wall brackets on either side so it is removable and can be taken down and stored against the wall.  I made the frame out of scrap wood I had from the upstairs renovation and the foam is 1" thick. It sets down inside the frame on a ledge so I can switch to 2" foam later on.
I still need to decide if I will attach the backdrop to the table or attach mounting slots to the wall on either side. I would like to be able to switch out backdrops so I think the mounting slots is the way to go.
I planned to have a 3'x3' area to game on so the extra six inches on the end will be out of bounds. I can use that area for staging, dice rolling etc.

The minis on the left are 25mm. The ones in the center are 15mm.

Party meets troll!

Orcs vs slayers by the old crypt!

15mm/25mm Orcs/Goblins

These are 15mm orcs from Splintered light miniatures. They actually size up pretty well as 25 mm goblins. Not as bulky as say a 25mm Heritage goblin, but I'm going to use them in  25mm skirmishes and they should look pretty good. The ones with the brass colored armor were painted awhile ago but I painted 11 this weekend with the acrylic inks and it goes much faster than with regular paints. 

I have a small 12x18" terrain piece that is under construction for these guys and some of the hobbits once they are done. 

Hireling #2 done

This one was primered white, washed with black, painted with inks and then minor highliting and dry brushing. This hasn't been sealed. I will seal it with matte medium to see if it decreases reflection. I also put a parchment paper screen in front of the light to cut glare. It's lighter in shade without the full wash than the previous hireling.

The helmet looks like a weird old time football helmet. I''m guessing its supposed to be some type of leather helm. I may add more brown to it or just seal it and be done with it.

Hireling

This is a Grenadier hireling #2004e from the Hirelings fantasy boxed set. He's driving a spike with a mallet. I used white surface primer and acrylic inks ( white, black, burnt umber and red ). I was surprised how many different shades I could get using just the white, brown and black. I used a small amount of red for the skin tones and I also used red in his  neck collar to give a bit of color to the piece.
 It's hard to say whats around his neck, could be a bandanna or some kind of leather wrap so I decided red wouldn't be out of the question. I put on a coat of gloss acrylic and then did a black wash. The wash worked well as far as outlining, but still darkened up the piece more than I wanted. I'm painting one of his buddies right now and will forgo the final wash and compare the two pieces to see the best result.
While these castings are a bit flat compared to ral partha, hertitage and others, they are solid pieces for the gaming table and really have that dungeon expedition feel; extra bags, pouches, etc. The run of the mill colors are on purpose and I think they fit the figures.

Another wizard finished

This is a Grenadier 2001 (d) from the Masters of Sorcery small box set.  There were a few of these wizards that were included with the hireling set I picked up online.
I primered this with a Vallejo white primer (first time using it), then painted with a combination of Amsterdam acrylic inks and liquitex acrylics, then sealed with a matte medium.
I usually use rattle can primers, but the Vallejo seems to work quite well and it can be used in doors. I have an airbrush but I just used a soft bristle brush and applied it with deliberate strokes to avoid bubbling. It dries slower than spray primer, but it coats better than the white spray primer from the hardware store. 
I only had black and white for the inks so I used regular acrylics for color and then darkened or lightened them with the inks as needed. I've never used inks, but they were really fun to work with so I picked up the 3 primary colors and a burnt sienna today and I'm starting a figure tonite just using inks.

Pics are the best I can do with the limited lighting back in the hobby room. Always tough to get a good shot of something black. Its either no detail or too much glare. 

Just in!!

Postman came late today because of holiday mail, so didn't get this till 800pm.

Finished Wizard

After looking thru the Wizards, Warriors and Warlocks set I came to the conclusion that LOTR had a bit of a influence on the series, so I changed my first thought on paint scheme and decided to go ahead and paint it similar to Gandalf. I don't have a Gandalf figure so I figured I would cover that base and be done with it.
After I started I got a line on someone doing repros of the elan merch set of LOTR figures and will be ordering the Fellowship figures so apparently I'll have 2 "Gandalfs" now.
I layered on liquitex acrylics with flow aid and just used some basic colors so all the shading is mixed colors. I used high flow sepia to muddy the back edge of his cloak.
 I've decided to mix colors instead of having a huge library of specific colors. I think back to all the money we spent on Humbrol paints at the cost of purchasing cool figures.
I like this figure but like most sculpts from the '70s it's pretty crude in some areas so good blending and shading results are difficult for me to achieve.

A couple of pics with his friend.

1976 Ral Partha wizard

I got this online ( painted) a couple of weeks ago. Its a wizard w/staff  E 112 from Ral Parthas Wizzards, Warriors, and Warlocks series. I applied stripper to it last night, gave it a scrub, cleaned out some casting lines and applied a white primer coat. Since it just started snowing I have the whole day to think about color scheme and get some painting done.
It appears this figure was listed in the 1978 RP catalog, but I don't think it was purchased by any of my gaming friends.  Back then, we tended to buy what was pictured because you knew what you were getting, and the catalog had more listed product than pictured product.
I bought the Land dragon with Lancer back then, and also the Assassin (which is MIA).
                                             
                                           Some pics of original paint.

Finished Troll

I brushed on a matte medium for a dull coat.  It worked pretty good and no smell. I also threw together a make shift photo base with my resin cast hedgerow and trees, which I will continue to improve upon. I used the sepia india ink for a wash and it really darkened up the figure more than I wanted. I need to start limiting the final wash and use more pin lining to finish. On to the next figure!!

1983 TSR Troll painting

I picked this up from a toy website that has a selection of minis for sale. It's a 25mm figure, but it also looks good as a giant troll with 15mm figures.
I did a gray primer coat then acrylic washes. I blended the arms, legs and body wet on wet. I have high flow acrylic and india ink ( both in a sepia tone ), for a final wash but haven't decided which one to try.
I'll seal it with matte medium once it's done. Trying to avoid spray sealers as they are super stinky.
These are the first 25mm I've painted in awhile and they are good figures to practice on. Not many details, but lots of areas to shade.

Posing primered pieces

I brought up some 15mm Blue Moon minis and some of my resin cast terrain from the basement storage. They've been primered for awhile but never painted. The round outpost was a freestyle piece I made to practice some sculpting techniques so it definitely isn't some type of standard fortification.
I have a few more shapes and sizes of trees, but I'll have to dig around for them.

I purchased the minis from Blue Moon ( Now Old Glory). The set of Slayers have really good detail and is an interesting mix of poses and personalities. Some of the werewolves were 2 piece figures ( separate head) so you can do a bit of positioning and the arms and legs are thick enough to adjust the shape.

 I actually managed to bring up some rinse water for my brushes, but that is the extent of my progress.... very pathetic!! I really, really need to get started.

New battlestation

New battle station for painting miniatures is in the upstairs storage closet. I need to get more shelves up and see how many of my 15mm figures and terrain I can move up from the room in the basement.

The figures on the shelf now are some of the 25mm fantasy figures I bought in the late '70s, mostly Ral partha, Heritage and Elan merch ( popular back when Bakshi's LOTR came out).   

     

15mm walls on a hill

A group of  15mm Saxons(?) from Splintered Light on original resin cast terrain. 

 Blog background picture - my original resin cast Skull hill terrain and Splintered Light undead orcs.