Time's a wastin': A Walpurgis 2 Crew Update

Walpurgis creeps ever near. While I've made excellent progress, I still have plenty to do. Sense an all nighter prior to the event, I do. Let's go ahead and run through the items I've finished since the last update:

Be forwarned, you may notice some gloss to my finished work. While I'm in the minority, I simply prefer them that way. I use a satin finish to make it shine just a bit and give a full "finished" look.

Here is Seamus. I was very pleased with how he turned out. I highlighted Lice Purple up to Warlock Purple instead of white and I'm not sure if I prefer it. Each model after Seamus I've highlighted the old fashioned "add-white-for-each-layer" and those turned out very well, too. Either way, I like how Seamus still looks dark, despite wearing a cartoony purple suit.

Here is Madame Sybelle in her Sunday's best. She turned out much better than I expected. Once I started on the highlights, I was convinced she would look terrible as a finished product. Low and behold, I'm actually very pleased with it.

Ah, the belles. I wanted each of these girls to stand out, but still be tied to Seamus. I'm a huge fan of continuity. I decided to make each of their umbrellas the themed color(purple) and then have each girl dressed in an alternate color of Seamus'. I wanted to stay away from completely purple dresses, as I wanted it to be a color of honor(well, as much honor as a zombie hooker is going to have, anyway). Thus, I went with a white dress and purple highlights on the above Belle.

Here is my favorite of the Belles. Unfortunately, her arm and parasol were a total pain to get assembled, so she lost some points there. Luckily, she also ended up with my favorite paint job of the bunch. I accidentally fitted her with a drooped, lazy eye that fits beautifully with her zombie face.

She also fell victim to a clear coat mistake. I've finally discovered first hand exactly why you do not apply finish when it is very humid out, especially if it is raining. My first reaction to the massive cloud she was now covered in was immense frustration and a desire to just leave it. However, I calmed down and applied various inks in the cloudy recesses and the final product looks pretty damn good.

Finally, my least favorite of the Belles, both in sculpt and paint job. By the time I started on her I was growing rather tired of painting harem. Still, I pushed through and gave her a quite passable (even for me!) coat of paint, albeit lazily.

And there you have it! The entire Red Chapel Gang painted up. I've also since finished the Convict Gunslinger and have about 20 min. left on one of the Crooked Men. That leaves a second Crooked Man, Bette Noire, the Copycat Killer, and Jack Daw (who still isn't even based or primed...) left and 3 days to finish them. All of which are full work days. That is where the Friday night over-nighter comes in. What's a weekend event if you don't push your painting to the very last second?

Seamus in Progress: The Road to Walpurgis

14 days.

In 14 days, Walpurgis weekend will be here and hours of glorious Malifaux gaming will be upon me. Until then, I slave away painting. The bulk majority of the crew is now base coated, which is the good news. The bad news, is that I still have models to PURCHASE, prep, base, prime, coat, and highlight. Bette Noire and The Copycat Killer are each based, but unprimed.

No progress update would be complete without pictures, so here you go. To keep it simple, I only shot a couple varieties to get the idea across.

I think I'm going to scale back the "production line" style of painting and focus on each model for the highlighting process. I've found that if I focus on a single miniature, I can extend my motivation during each painting session longer. When I'm moving along a production line, I start to get a cabin fever feeling and walk away for the sake of walking away.

 For each of the next updates, I will presenting groups of finished miniatures. These categories will be Seamus himself, Madame Sybelle and her Belles, the Crooked Men, Convict Gunslinger, Bette Noire and the Copy Cat Killer, then whatever else I end up adding (probably a Hanged and Jack Daw).

On a side note, throw me suggestions on what I should add for Seamus.