ISSUE # 1

REVIEWS FROM
AX FACTION
CLOCKWORK PALADIN

MAY 2013

www.figurepaintermagazine.co.uk

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#001
visit us online: www.figurepaintermagazine.co.uk

Contact Figure Painter Magazine

Web www.figurepaintermagazine.co.uk
Email info@figurepaintermagazine.co.uk
Editor Shane Rozzell

editor@figurepaintermagazine.co.uk

News Editor Robert Monnar

news@figurepaintermagazine.co.uk

Sales Sarah Evans

sales@figurepaintermagazine.co.uk

Proof Readers

Martyn Dorey
Ian Pursey

Reviewers

Mario B Delgado (mbd)

Robert Monnar
Jake Cannon (Gamespace)

Cover Artist

Other Contributors

Karol Rudyk

Karol Rudyk
Martyn Dorey
Sam Costidell
Marko Paunovic
Sean Fulton

First up let me welcome you to Figure Painter Magazine (FPM), our new publication. It has been a hard slog over the last few months getting it ready. I have
managed to gather a great team of fellow miniature enthusiasts of all whom have
a proven record in what they do and I offer each one my most sincere thanks for
their efforts and because of that this issue is dedicated to them.
I would also like to pay tribute to our social media followers and to those who
have used our pages as a hub for news about this wonderful hobby of ours.
The views and opinions relating to all material herein
does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Figure
Painter Magazine staff, editors or publishers who are
not liable of said opinions. Figure Painter Magazine
cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies in any of
its publications. Furthermore, responsibility for any
losses, damages or distress resulting from adherence
to any information made available through this magazine or its website is not the responsibility of Figure
Painter Magazine or its publisher, Robot Pigeon Publishing. Adverts and advertisers appearing in Figure
Painter Magazine carry no implied recommendation
from the magazine or the publishers. Artwork has also
been either taken from company websites pertaining
to the image and may not be reproduced (except for
personal use) without prior written permission from the
said author / artist. Most product names are trademarks
owned by the companies that publish those products.
Photos sent to Figure Painter Magazine will be treated
as offered unconditionally for publication and copyright
purposes and are subject to editing and comments by
the editors. Please ensure that all photos have credits
attached if necessary. All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced without prior consent
from Figure Painter Magazine.

We all know this is issue one and hopefully the beginning of something special.
Our main goal is for FPM to grow and become the leading miniature painting
magazine. For this to happen we know we have to listen to our readers so if you
have any suggestions or wish to participate with the magazine feel free to drop
us a line.
To start us off we have an interview with one of the best painters around at the
moment, Karol Rudyk and we hope to have more of his work in future issues. We
also have some great reviews and two superb tutorials, one of which will become
a regular feature. As well as all of that we have the latest news from the hobby,
a roundup of the recent shows and what is trending on the web.

Web www.figurepaintermagazine.co.uk
Email info@figurepaintermagazine.co.uk
3

CONTENTS
8

Insight

36

Show Report

18

Gamespace
4

22

Expos

CONTENTS
28

HIGHLIGHTS
EXPOS

Page 22

TRENDING
Page 17

EXHIBITION

Page 49

Tutorial

40

FEATURES
6

The latest news from the hobby

Insight

Insider Interviews

13

Review

Ax Faction Unboxed

17

Trending

Whats hot on the web

18

Gamespace

Regular game review

22

Expos

The best new releases

28

Tutorial

Malifaux gaming table

32

Review

Clockwork Paladin Unboxed

36

Show Report

April Roundup

40

Tutorial

Headlines

Tutorial

Award winning diorama

49

Exhibition

Reader image submissions

HEADLINES

Andrea Press

Hot on the heels of their two NMM (Steel & Gold)

paint sets, SCALE75 have brought out a third. The "Flesh
Paint Set". This is priced at a pretty reasonable 18.18 +
IVA and comes with an instruction sheet detailing how
to paint various ethnic skintones.
Each of the paint sets come with 8 paints in a dropper
style bottle and when used with the Scalecolor Acrylic
thinner can be used through an airbrush.

On 15th May Andrea Press release a new publication called

Painting Gold Award Fantasy
Figures. The book is by Julio Cabos and Diego Esteban
and promises to be a complete
guide from basic to advanced
figure painting. This is available
from their website and sells for
15,00 Euros.

Wyrd Miniatures: Puppet Wars

Unstitched

Unstitched is a new edition of Puppet Wars. Puppet Wars is

a fast-paced tactical board game set in the world of Malifaux.
Each player takes on the role of a voodoo puppet, animated
by arcane energy and trying to act out the part of its real life
look-alike. Claim precious workbenches, tear the stuffing out
of your enemies, and sew on bits and pieces of your fallen
comrades! Each player takes turns animating their puppets
with cards from their hand. Puppets can move, attack, and
claim important spaces on the board.
Also, SCALE75 has begun a new project for the production of an impressive series of 75mm Steampunk miniatures that they need our help to make real
After the great response they received with the launch
of the 3 model series STEAMWARS, they have decided to
take on a new, more complex and challenge, but much
more inspiring and detailed within their Steampunk
universe.

Tear apart your opponents lead puppet and win the game!
Use careful positioning and resource management to come
out on top. But be careful, or youll end up being the stuffing
under the couch.
Selling for $75 Puppet Wars Unstitched includes forty-four
high quality plastic models with amazing detail, two puppet
decks, tokens, a brand new board, and streamlined rules. Poke
around this site and get familiar with the rules. If you do, before
long, youll want to pick up a needle and join the puppet war!

HEADLINES

French company JMD Miniature are

closing. In a statement on their website
they say that theyre stopping trading
on 31st August 2013. Here is their statement in full.
Hello to all, We inform you that we stop
our activity on August 31st, 2013. After this
date, it will not be possible any more to place
order of the MINIATURE references JMD. We
thank you for your loyalty during these 6
years. Thanks to all for your collaboration.
Jean-Marie and Chrystelle.

Rothand Studio is a flourishing young company at the beginning of an exciting

and long journey. Rothand love war gaming and their greatest passion is developing
the most beautifully designed crafted gaming figures. Rothand Studio is dedicated to
designing and creating their own finely cast figures in order to offer fellow players
and collectors epic scale, gaming works of art at a reasonable and affordable price.

The Goal
Rothands goal is simple. To offer the greatest gaming figures to the largest
possible community at the most affordable prices. By using Indiegogo as a funding
platform, they aim to raise $5,000 which will allow them to take the next step and
finance the production of their own figures. In addition to producing our product,
this start-up campaign will allow Rothand to introduce their ideas and vision to
the growing community of gamers. More importantly it will give Rothand Studio
interactive feedback about what you, the customer, thinks about their designs and
will allow them to grow with the demands and needs of the gaming world. Below
is a sneak peak of their work.

However FPM has learned that they

are not selling off the rights to any of
their products so we hope and speculate
they will resurface again in the near future. What ever happens were sure that
like ourselves youll wish them the best
in their future.

Staples will sell 3D

printers
Staples, the worlds largest office
products company and second largest ecommerce company, today became the
first major U.S. retailer to announce the
availability of 3D printers. The Cube 3D
Printer from 3D Systems, a leading global
provider of 3D content-to-print solutions,
is immediately available on Staples.com
for $1299.99 and will be available in a
limited number of Staples stores by the
end of June. The Cube 3D Printer, ready
to use right out of the box, features WiFi, is compatible with Mac or Windows,
and comes with 25 free 3D templates designed by professional artists, with additional templates available online. With
its ultra portable design, the Cube fits
easily in the office, classroom or living
room, making it the perfect 3D printing
device for designers, small businesses,
students and kids.

Battlefront miniatures to take over distribution

of Dust Tactics and Dust Warfare
Dust Studio have announced that Battlefront Miniatures will become its publishing
and distribution partner for the Dust Tactics and Dust Warfare miniatures game lines.
Fantasy Flight Games, Dust Studios current publishing partner for those games, will
transition sales and marketing activity to Battlefront Miniatures on June 1st, 2013.
Dust has had a wonderful few years, during which we have seen the games community
grow exponentially, said Dust creator Paolo Parente. Both Dust Studio and Fantasy
Flight Games have evolved significantly during our relationship, and we now mutually feel
that we are both better served by moving in new directions. And I can say that this decision
is a truly amicable one.

INSIGHT

Place of Origin: Poland

Years Painting: Almost 8
Major Awards: Gold in monster
category on GD UK 2006. Gold in
diorama and slayer sword at GD
UK 2012. Two bronzes at Polish
Hussar contest. Three golds and
Grand Prix at Master of Imagination which is a Polish painting
competition. Recently, silver at
Russian Alternative Battle 4 painting contest.
Future plans: To be better and a
better painter and sculptor.

Last year he divided

the painting community
by selling one of the
most sought after
prizes the hobby has to
offer but one thing we
can all agree on is the
outstanding quality of
his pieces. There is only
one Karol Rudyk!
8

INSIGHT

Q1:

I dont want to dwell on your

making the decision to sell your slayer sword,
I personally think you were perfectly in your
rights to do so but it has caused quite a bit
of controversy throughout the hobby. Has
this affected you in any way or the way the
hobby perceives you as a painter?

A1:

The slayer sword was sold because it was of very poor quality. I collect
unique swords. I have Japanese katana
sword, limited edition of Anduril of Lord
of the Rings fame, Atlantean Sword made
by Albion company from the Conan: The
Barbarian movie, and some others. The
slayer sword was to be next. Unfortunately,
GW changed the quality of the prize. They

changed a beautiful, hand worked sword (which I saw personally, in 2006) for a cheap, Chinese made, factory produced,
sheet metal version worth about 20 USD. It is really ridiculous
that such a big company like GW is trying to save some pocket
money on its most prestigious award; well, it is their policy, it
seems. Many people still dont get why I decided to sell this
sword, thats their problem, not mine.

Q2:

So, are you interested in winning more Golden

Demons or have you set your sights on winning other painting
competitions; Euro-Militaire here in the UK or Crystal Brush
in the US for example?

INSIGHT

A2:

Yes of course, during this year I took part in Russian

alternative contest in March and plan to attend Hussar 2013, a
Polish contest, then Crystal Brush maybe in 2014.

10

INSIGHT

Q3:

OK, Id like to move on to one of your most

famous pieces to date, the Vampire Lord on the Zombie
Dragon. What inspiration did you draw on to get the idea
and how detailed were your plans and how close is the final
piece to your original concept idea?

A3:

Before I build a mini I think about it and construct all visions in my head. After, I can prepare what I
want so the project is 90% exactly like my vision. I prepared
several drawings before about the position of the dragon
on rocks. When I finish a miniature it looks like the first
drawings. I always work as if this is my project not a commission work.
Firstly I have vision and then I prepare it. I do not change
a lot from the first ideas of the project. I also plan the banners at a very early stage.

Q4:

After putting so much time and effort into a

project do you not get emotionally attached to it like some
people do or as soon as its finished are youre looking forward to you next piece?

A4:

When I finish my vision I am happy. But after

several days I want prepare something new and better so
my older minis soon begin to bore me. I like to think about
new projects and not be tied to the past. Im always looking
to the future. I am happy a lot of people want to have my
minis in their collections. I think this is better place for my
work than in my studio.

11

INSIGHT

Q5:

So do you have a favourite stage in the production of a piece. Is it the planning,

the sculpting and converting or the painting?

A5:

I like to paint and sculpt but it depends from miniature. If its not commission
but one of my own visions I like every stage of the production; Planning, converting, sculpting and painting.

Q6:

So what does the future hold for you,

do you have any plans to paint other types of miniatures, historical or military. Or other scales such as
54mm or 75mm?

A6:

Yes I am thinking about

other types of minis like busts
and historical, but at the moment mostly about big daemons and dragons. At the moment Im painting a knight on
horse in 75mm but in fantasy
style with a lot of freehand.
Id like to thank Karol for his time
and patience while we we conducted
this interview.

12

REVIEW

Unboxing

Ax Factions
Forest Guardian
and Broadfoot
Beast Hunters
By Mario B Delgado (mbd)
Ax Faction is a new Board game that has released some nice
32mm models. I found out about it surfing the boards of the
most popular social network places and was very impressed
with one of their first releases, The Forest Guardian riding
a big bear, Broadfoot and thanks to a special promotion I
got it P&P free!

Material: Resin
Scale: 32mm
Price: 24.50 +P&P
Available from Ax Faction
Web Page
www.axfaction.com

After ordering via the online shop and with easy payment
the mini arrived within a few days. I must add that the communication from the shop was superb on acknowledgement of
sale and informing me about postage within hours of placing
the order.

13

REVIEW
The model is 32mm resin and came packed in a cardboard
box with a large copy of the artwork and a thank you card.

The model itself consists of five separated pieces and two

sprues on which are the smallest pieces. The largest piece is
the body of the bear to which is integrally sculpted the bottom
half of the guardian body. Next is the bears two forelegs, the
top part of the body of the guardian, the large axe with the
hand sculpted on it and on the two separate sprues the little
details for the belt on the chest of the bear and the parts for
the guardian (two arms, hair plaits and belted axes).

The package is not the most high tech possible but is

functional. Inside, and in two bags, there are the parts needed.
Missing is the presence of a play base which I wonder if it
is not included as standard as there was not much available
extra space on the box.

The quality of the casting and the

level of detail is great with a crisp sculpt
to the bears fur and other details. Little
flash needs to be cleaned, but the only
snag is the fact that the left hand of the
rider is also an integral part of the bears
body and its sculpt is not as crisp as the
rest. The joints are well engineered so
the fixing of the pieces Is easy and only
requires minimal filling.

14

REVIEW

Overall a nice model, nice concept, well cast and sculpted

and with a great service so I know Ill enjoy this once built and
painted.
Mario

15

Dear friends, it is time for the,

We are in the second decade of organizing Arena events

and this year's Agram Arena Summer is going to be
held over two weekends.
13-14th of July 2013 -Malifaux International tournament + Demo
Games / Open play (Innity and LOTR SBG on Saturday 13th;
Flames of War and Warmachine on Sunday 14th)
20-21th of July 2013 Warhammer 40K International tournament +
Black Queen Hobby and Miniature Painting Competition
Location:
MS "Cvjetni trg", Miskecov prolaz 3, Zagreb, Croatia.
Entry: FREE!
Refreshing drinks for all players will be free during the tournaments.
Accommodation for Saturday night is also free for the 1st time
comers (read more in the rules)!
Lunch is available at the price of 75 Kn (around 10 Euro) for both
days (= 5 Euro/day)!
Check out the tournament rules & other info with background:
http://www.ums-agram.hr/app/webroot/dokumenti/AAS2013.pdf
w/o background (printer friendly)
http://www.ums-agram.hr/app/webroot/dokumenti/AAS_2013_print
.pdf
Ocial languages of the tournament will be English and Croatian.
Registration:
40K - from 1st of June to 15th of July
Black Queen - from 18th of June to 15th of July (not neccessary - see
the rulespack)
Malifaux - from 1st of June to 7th of July
Demo Games / Open Play - from 7th of July to 12th of July
(you can nd guidelines on registration in the rules, check out the
above link).
If you need any other information please contact us at
ums.agram@gmail.com or GSM +385 91 7620584
Start your summer holidays in one of World's favourite tourist
destination - Croatia, by participating in free International
tournament!
Welcome!

Words & Pictures by Sam Costidell

TRENDING

For issue one of FPM we

have found a great blog
post for you to see.
This is my most recently completed project, a 1/12 scale
figure of an Eldar Striking Scorpion from Warhammer 40,000.
Warhammer was definitely an important step on my road to
where I am today, and although I dont play or collect the
figures Ill always have a soft spot for the universe. The Eldar
were my favourite race, and the Striking Scorpions my favourite Aspect Warriors. I nearly made a full-size Scorpion helmet
whilst at uni, but decided on the Bubble Bomber instead.
I actually started this way back in 2009 at the same time as
the Wesley figure - he was a great way to use up leftover magic
sculpt. Once I got my job though, my time spent commuting
stopped my working on it and he was stuck in the WIP box for
years before I dug him out in 2012 and decided to finish him.
I went all out, took him way more than any other figure Ive
done. The base figure is a Spider-Man, chosen for his lithe frame
and great poseability. The armour is sculpted, as always, with
magic sculpt. Where he deviates is on some of the details - the
mandiblasters, weapons, runes, wargear and dreadlocks were
all drawn in Rhino and 3D printed by Shapeways. This allowed
me to get a crispness of detail I wouldnt be able to achieve
with sculpting by hand. My hat goes off to those who sculpt
at 28mm, I dont know how you do it! The dreadlocks were
paired up, moulded in silicone and cast in rubber, so they flex
around very nicely. I bought gold links to connect the runes
and wargear to his belt, and printed custom waterslide decals
for his thigh armour and kneepad.
He isnt entirely accurate to the mini. Im never usually very
fussed by complete accuracy, I believe entirely in artistic licence.
Im also a fan of practicality, which became tricky when I was
considering his pistol, the pouch/holster, and the cable connecting the pistol to his arm. None of that seemed to work together,
so I compromised and went for aesthetic appeal.
First time Ive used pigments to simulate mud, Im definitely
doing that again! Once the weather warms up a bit, Ill take
him into a forest and get some shots there. Im chuffed to bits
with him, and the best bit? I get to keep him!

For more information....

http://angryhedgehogtoys.blogspot.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/AngryHedgehogToys

17

X-Wing is a tactical ship-to-ship combat game in which

players take control of powerful Rebel X-Wings and
nimble Imperial TIE fighters, facing them against each
other in fast-paced space combat. Featuring stunningly
detailed and painted miniatures, X-Wing recreates
exciting Star Wars space combat throughout its
several included scenarios. Select your crew, plan your
manoeuvres, and complete your mission!
X-Wing is a tactical miniatures game that uses the Flight
Path system, similar to Wings of War/Glory. A game of X-Wing
can take anywhere from half an hour up to two hours for a
large scale battle. The purpose of the game is to destroy your
opponents ships in some intense and tactical dogfighting. Although tournament play favours dogfighting other more casual
scenarios are provided within the X-Wing core set as well as in
the larger Millennium Falcon and Slave 1 boxes.

Components
Within the core set you get everything you need to start
playing, 3 ships (one X-Wing and two Tie fighters) as well as
manoeuvrable disks for each ships, upgrade cards, tokens, ships
cards, a damage deck, manoeuvre templates, dice, more tokens
and a set of flight stands,. Oh and a rule book, and more tokens.
Lets start with the important part the ships. These ships
are simply fantastic, the level of detail is impressive and the
paint scheme that is provided on the models is good. You
can quite happily play with them without the terrible paint
schemes/mistakes of other systems; Im sure some of you will
have experienced the wandering-eye syndrome of Dungeons
and Dragons miniatures. The detail on the ships lends itself to
extensive customising in painting. Already people have started
adding additional details to engines for the Falcon and Slave

18

GAMESPACE
with its simple layout, diagram examples
and index. The whole game is designed to
flow very quickly from turn to turn with a
minimum of downtime and this rule book
has been written and laid out in such a
way as to facilitate swift rules referencing.

Gameplay
This is what is going to make or break
any dog-fighting game, how much downtime between turns? How quickly do you
lose ships? Does the game suffer from
analysis paralysis? Lets have a look.
Before playing you and your opponent
will select a points limit, 40 75 is probably right for around half an hour and 100
points is tournament level, taking around
and hour. Then comes one of my favourite
elements of the game fleet building. Im
a sucker for customising. Give me a rule
book with a thousand options and Im happy, I love nothing
better than finding fun combinations or exploring ways to use
rules and items others said were unplayable.

1 as well as repainting entire squadrons of A-Wings into Blue

and Green squadron.

Each ship has associated cards with it representing different

pilots, for example a standard Rookie Pilot in an X-Wing costs
21 points and Luke Skywalker costs 28 points. So what do you
get for your extra points? Luke comes with an extra upgrade
icon over the rookie, Piloting. He also has a special ability
that can help him survive longer and he has a higher piloting
skill which means he will move after less impressive pilots and
fire before them.

The card board dials, tokens and templates are exactly what
you expect from Fantasy Flight Games, good quality and interesting artwork. The cards for the various upgrades and pilots
all boast brand new artworks and really add to the feel of
the game. Although I would recommend sleeving the damage deck as most of the damage you will receive is face down
but occasionally you will take a critical hit and the card will be
resolved face up with some extra detrimental effect, last thing
you want here is for your deck to get scuffed and marked thus
giving things away as to what fate may befall you next time
you take a critical hit.

Now the X-Wing itself has the same attack, defence and
health statistics for both pilots but what each individual can
do with it is different. After selecting ships and pilots you
move on to select upgrades for your ships. Each card has a list
of icons that represent upgrades available to that ship. The
standard Tie fighters have no room for upgrades, named pilots
can sometimes take piloting skills but on the whole Tie fighters
are as they come, this is a theme across the imperium whereas
the Rebels get lots of customising options, all at a cost of course.
You want a deadly Ion cannon well that only comes on a Y-Wing,
you want droids on youre A-Wing, sorry no joy there.

The plastic stands are superb and functional as you can

mount different pilots on them for different games and they
hold a specific token snugly in place which shows all your vital
stats beneath each of your ships for you and your opponent
to easily see.

Once youve build you fleet its time to play. Set up a 3x 3

space, chuck out some asteroids tokens and start playing. First
each player will take a dial for each of their ships and pick one
of their manoeuvres then place it face down next to their ship.
Different ships are able to perform different moves, Tie Fighters can move fast and still perform tight turns at low speeds
but a Y-Wing cant reach the same speeds and certainly cant
turn anywhere near as well so you have to play differently
depending on your and your opponents loadout.

Finally the rule book - this is an area in which you cannot

please everybody, people like different layouts of rule books
and its impossible to please everyone. This one comes close

19

GAMESPACE
end up flying too close
to an asteroid.
The actions available to each ship are
different and can be
added to with up grades and can range
from defensive actions
such as evade to establishing a target lock
so that proton torpedoes or cluster missiles
can be launched. If a
ship ends up bumping
into other ships or asteroids they will forfeit
their actions, potentially leaving them vulnerable to enemy fire.

Once the planning phase is completed players work through

the ships on the board revealing and resolving their movements
and selecting actions for their ships. This happens in a horseshoe fashion. The ship with the lowest piloting skill moves first
then selects and action (more on those in a moment) after
this the ship with the next lowest skill activates. This leads to
a back and forth with your opponent where you are trying to
work out who moves in what order and what they are likely
to select. This in turn leads to amazing miscalculations where
ships end up avoiding each other by millimetres or where they

Once all ships have

moved and made actions the combat step
will start. This is the
second half of the
hor seshoe, jus t as
movement went up
the piloting skill ranks now ships will fire in decreasing order
of piloting skill. Ships attack with a number of custom D8 equal
to their attack stat, usually with a bonus for attacking at short
range. Defender will roll defence dice equal their defence stat,
with bonuses for shooting through obstacles or at long range.
Damage will come off shields before hull (good luck if you
like Imperials by the way as clearly the Empire didnt see the
point in putting shields on their ships, just make more, thats
the Imperial way) if a ship takes hull damage it will be dealt
damage cards, some of these will be face up if they come from
critical damage. The variety of damage cards in the deck are
immense, you could have a secondary weapon destroyed or
maybe a cockpit fire. The flavour of these cards are amazing
and they really add to the feeling of the game, specific types
of damage affect a ship in realistic way, damaged stabiliser
means you might take damage by pulling off stressful moves.
Keep playing until the required time is up, your opponent
is destroyed or the objectives are completed. In the event of
a draw you can see who has destroyed more points and they
win meaning that games will very rarely end in a stalemate.

Criticisms
I have 3 very simple criticisms of this game and each of them
can be minimized.

20

GAMESPACE
Conclusions
OK, what do I think? This game is amazing. It comes together with an amazing amount of fluff and flavour. When
you see Tie fighters barrel rolling around asteroids you do
start humming. When you see a Tie Advanced flanked by two
Tie fighters chasing X and Y-Wings you cant resist declaring
that you will stay on the leader. When you take damage with
R2, well you know the quotes, and thats what happens whilst
youre playing, you talk to your opponent, you interact with
them and appreciate when each of you pulls off a good manoeuvre or a lucky shot.

1. Availability This is not so much a criticism so much as

something to be aware of. This game sells out, straight
away. It is so popular we have people ordering from
America to get some of it. America, where its sent
from. Thats right, it is that popular. Now I have to
say I respect Fantasy Flight Games for their less
than popular decision regarding the second wave
of ships. Wave 1 sold out pretty much worldwide
within a month. So what did they do, made more
and delayed Wave 2 so they could make more in
the hopes that everyone would get some. So ships
of Wave 2 still sold out in less than a week but not
all so I guess it worked
2.

Price This isnt really my criticism but its the

one I hear about the most so I may as well voice
it here with my opinion. The individual ships are
12 before any discounts. Thats for one painted,
licensed ship plus all of its tokens, dials, flight
stands, upgrades and pilots. Compare it to other
licensed games and its not so bad (cough Batman
Arkham city cough)

3.

This is one of the few games like at a tournament level, especially as you see people playing individual lists with Twileks
(get it tweaks, Twi-leaks, oh never mind) and each one being a
challenge to adapt to and play against. The vast differences in
factions and ships mean that a meta-game is already developing, especially with the addition of large based ships like the
Falcon and Slave 1. With this comes forums, and there are a lot,
Ill shamelessly plug the one Ive found and enjoyed so far here
but there are so many out there, this is what shows the quality
of this game, the amount of players talking about it, posting
up custom paint jobs, list ideas, looking for tournaments. Its
really something and I urge you to head down to your local
store and give it a try if you havent already, although as we
all know there is no try, so do it.

Finally its the old Magic the Gathering issue, so

far everything is great, ships, upgrades, Tier 1, 2
and 3 lists nothing really broken yet, but there
will be something. Look at Lord of the Rings LCG,
look at Warhammer Invasion, look at any of their
LCGs products as where games go with lots of expansions. Something breaks. Now usually Fantasy
Flight are great at getting FAQs and erratas out
but this is still something to recognise is going to
happen at some point.

21

EXPOS
EXPOS is
where Figure
Painter
Magazine
highlights the
very best new
releases from
around the
Figure Painting
hobby

Beelphegor, Fire Wings

Company:
Scale:
Contact:

The Huntress
Company:
Scale:
Contact:

22

JoeK Miniatures
32mm

www.joekminis.com

Andrea
54mm

www.andreaeurope.com

Anglo-Norman Crusader, 1189

Company:
Scale:
Contact:

Heroes & Villains Miniatures

1/12

www.hvminiatures.com

EXPOS

Hulk Vs Wolverine Pre-order

Company:

Ur-Fildyr
Company:
Scale:
Contact:

Studio McVey

Scale:
Contact:

Fantasy Realms Models

1/3

www.fantasyrealms.co.uk

32mm

studiomcvey.highwire.com

Thorunn Frozenfang
Company:
Scale:
Contact:

Freeman Sculptures
Unknown

freemansculptures@
hotmail.com

23

EXPOS

Female Prometheus Engineer

with the Early Xenomorph
Company:
Scale:
Contact:

24

Garage Kit
Approx. 14 inches tall
email to www.facebook.
com/apikittm

EXPOS

Cleopatra
Company:
Scale:
Contact:

Kabuki Models
54mm

www.kabukimodels.com

ROMAN TRIARY
Company:
Scale:
Contact:

Mercury Models
54mm

mercury-models.com

Dwarf Warlord
Company:
Scale:
Contact:

Elan 13 Miniatures
1/12

elan13.co.uk

25

EXPOS
The Dragon Lord
Company:
Scale:
Contact:

War Griffon Miniatures

Approx. 80mm tall

www.modeldisplayproducts.com

Fagin
Company:
Scale:
Contact:

Captain,Royal Welsh Fusiliers

Company:
Scale:
Contact:

26

Tommys War
54mm

www.tommyswar.co.uk

Miniaturas Fortes
1/24 (75mm)

www.miniaturasfortes.com

EXPOS

The Fiddler Mech

Company:
Scale:
Contact:

White Dragon Miniatures

28mm (Stands 150mm tall)

whitedragonminiatures.co.uk

Aykroyd, Paranormal Investigator

Company:
Scale:
Contact:

Guild of Harmony
32mm

www.guildofharmony.com

27

If you have any questions regarding this project, feel free to email us at terrain@figurepaintermagazine.co.uk.
Marko will do his best to answer these questions in the next issues of the FPM.

TUTORIAL

Some time ago, Shane approached me with a crazy (I

thought at the time) idea of building a modular board for
FPM and writing a series of articles about it.
Some of the things Shane listed as wants were:
Electronics
Modularity (for easier shipping and storing)
Steampunk theme

Being a total Malifaux fan(atic), the third requirement didnt

come hard. As to the first two requirements, Ive done electronics on a board and Ive done my share of modular boards but
never have I combined the two. That proved to be the challenge
that tickled my fancy the most how to connect the electricity to all (or most) of the modules and not to have a need for
millions of sockets.
During the course of this series of articles, Ill go over various stages of building a modular gaming board for Malifaux,
such as planning, purchase of materials, cost-cutting, electronics (both theoretical and practical), actual building (with tips
and tricks) and pimping out with extra features like shelves
for your cards (Malifaux is a game played with a deck of cards
instead of dice).

28

Words by Marko Paunovic

TUTORIAL
In this huge project Ill need some help. So without further
ado let me introduce a couple of my mates who will assist me.
First up is Ana (or Gujozec as shes known on many forums).
Shes a student of cultural anthropology and English and a

long time member of my club called UMS Agram . The other

is Andrija (or Walker not named after George W., or so he
claims). Hes played a crucial part in many projects UMS Agram
has done in the past.

Ana: Ive been in this hobby for the

last seven to eight years I painted my
first miniatures in my early teens. Some
would say a bit of an unusual choice of
hobby for a girl, but I have always preferred playing with toy cars and plastic
soldiers over dolls, even when I was very
little.

Andrija: I came into the hobby world

by chance. My friends and I used to play
Bloodbowl. We played with Lego and
Kinder Surprise toys proxies and improvised cardboard gaming boards and we
werent too interested in the hobby aspect of gaming.

I was always an artistic type, so I taught myself how to

paint my miniatures fairly quickly, and soon attempted my first
conversions. Even though Ive converted and painted several armies for various tabletop games, I havent done much playing.
Until about a year ago, that is, when I got into Malifaux. Ive
been a member of UMS Agram since 2005. Nowadays I spend
my hobby time painting my ever growing Malifaux Crews, attending tournaments and painting competitions, and working
on my slow, Malifaux-related side project Gardens of Hecate.
This gaming board project will benefit from my painting
and sculpting skills. Besides that Ill be doing research digging
through games, books, Malifaux rulebooks, TV shows and films
for useful reference material.

To better organize ourselves we

wanted to use an internet forum, so we started using the one
from a newly formed miniature wargamers club (UMS Agram).
At the time UMS Agram was organizing one of their first
international wargaming tournaments and there was a need
for many pieces of terrain. So I started helping out. A few
months later I was making terrain and painting minis almost
all of my spare time. This was all back in 2003-2004. Since then
I worked on many bigger and smaller projects and almost always my partner in crime was Marko. Most notable projects
were the: Cities of Death gaming board, Pirates Cove gaming
board, Bloodbowl human team Rastoke BMFs and running
the terrain building school. I also took part in a few fantasy
wargaming tournaments with some success (Agram Arena Summer 2010 LOTR Champion).
Nowadays I play Malifaux. For this project, Ill be doing a lot
of the boring work like mass fabricating essential parts such
as walls, floor tiles, furniture similar to my work on a project
we had a few years back, when we were building a completely
modular wargaming town for fantasy skirmish games.

Anas Yan Lo crew

Anas McMourning crew (conversions)

R2D2 conversion

29

TUTORIAL
Andrijas Pirates Cove gaming board

Andrijas favourite BB team Rastoke BMFs

Marko: It all started for me in the

early 90s with the building of model
airplanes. I used to love WWII planes,
especially the German ones. Couple of
years into it, just building and painting
the planes wasnt enough and like most
of the model builders I started making
scenery around my airplanes.

president of UMS Agram.

All the while, Ive been the
manager of the clubs terrain workshop and have
been a part of all the major
projects Andrija has already
mentioned. About t wo
years ago, I got into Malifaux and all things Wyrd.

Through these I got into toy soldiers but that wasnt

Markos first fantasy minis:
enough of a challenge. I wanted something where I could express my creativity and not just paint the way it was. During Saruman vs Gandalf by Mithril
one walk about town, I noticed a store that had some cool looking minis in the shop window. I went in and bought my first
fantasy miniatures. They were some Lord of the Rings minis
from a company called Mithril (anyone still remember those?).
A couple of years later, GW produced their LOTR Strategy Battle Game and I was hooked. At about that time, a couple of us
painters/wargamers decided to form a club (association, to be
more precise). Thus, in 2003 UMS Agram was formed. UMS
stands for Association of miniature painters, modellers and
tabletop wargamers. Since then, Ive been an active member of
the club, being the president of the Supervisory board, later a
member of the Executive Board and for the last four years the

30

TUTORIAL
Markos Iron Painter VIII entry

Anas and Markos Seraphicus

During the course of this series, there will be

some small text boxes precedeed by certain icons.
Here is the list of the icons and their meaning:
Anas Research whatever Ana finds
out about the Malifaux fluff and rules
that will be usefull to the building of the
board.
Andrijas Bitz and Bobz here Andrija will discuss the methods he uses to
build/make cool little features (and ones
not so little).
Markos Lamentations (usually)
useful tips about making scenery or just
my random ramblings about this that or
other.

Planning Top Tips cool stuff to be

taken into account when planning a
project.

Electronics Top Tips everything concerning electronics, be it theoretical or

practical.

31

REVIEW

Unboxing
ClockWork
Paladins

Ikari of Fire
By Robert Lobo
Monnar

Company: Clockwork Paladin

Contact: www.clockworkpaladin.com
Material: polyurethane resin
Scale: 30mm (height of the miniature: 52mm), comes with
50mm plastic base.
Cost: 25.00
Manufacturers info for this miniature
Sculpted by Valerio YRO Terranova
Painted by Matteo Durgin Donzelli
Concept by Matteo Durgin Donzelli
Design by Valerio YRO Terranova

32

Shaped by shadow
and flames, the Ikari of
Fire is a god of war, a
relentless hunter whose
sole purpose is to delete
the mortal races by Shin.
This Ikari of Fire is for
The Third Key.
The Ikari of Fire by Clockwork Paladin (www.clockworkpaladin.
com) arrived in the mail today. I received the miniature from the
manufacturer in a packaged envelope. The miniature is packaged in a nice quality transparent see through plastic box with
labelling on the front, back, and opening flaps. The miniature
itself is in a transparent bag in the box for added protection
and comes with a certificate of authenticity and what do you
know, I got #2 out of 50 first run!

REVIEW
Unpainted version with mask on sculpted by
Valerio YRO Terranova

Opening the packaging you can see that the miniature

comes in five pieces on two sprues and includes a 50mm round
base.

The miniature is made of polyurethane resin and its scale is

30mm (height of the miniature is 52mm). The parts are included
on two sprues. The first has the one piece head and body of
the miniature with a separate smoke plume, a bell, and an
optional mask included. The second sprue has both right and
left arms with the staff weapon cut in the middle and attached
to each hand.

33

REVIEW
The Sculpt
The figure sculpt by Valerio YRO
Terranova is well done and finely detailed
with all details very visible to the naked
eye and the resin used is of high quality
and has a dull lustre, not shiny at all.
The pose of the miniature is dynamic
and also very well done. While holding
up the two sided staff weapon of pain,
Ikari is just staring straight ahead with
his fiendish grin. There is the optional
face mask which is full of terror seen in
familiar antique Kabuki art. The added
smoke plume to his back gives it a demonic presence, dripping with character.

The Cast
Ikari is cast in a firm polyurethane
resin that is still easy to work with. There
are no visible flaws (cracks, bubbles, or
blemishes from the casting) to the naked
eye. There is some light flash along the
lower extremities and accessories close
to the sprue frame that can easily be removed. The parts fit together snugly and
need no filling at all. All the details are
nice and sharp as youd expect with resin
miniatures and its an excellent quality
cast. As in most cases regarding long
slender cast material, the staff weapon
is slightly warped at the ends, but this
can be remedied by soaking in some hot
water.

Final thoughts
The quality and cast is superb in this
miniature. The dynamic pose is robust
and is aesthetic to the eye. The cost
seems a little excessive at 25.00, but being a first run figure and for most large
creatures on a 50mm base is reasonable.
Now I will have to think of a pleasing Asian inspired colour theme for this
miniature other than the already magnificent box art as the cencept and sculpt
suggests this influence.

34

We are looking for people to contribute to Figure Painter Magazine. Tutorials,

Step-by-Step articles, interviews, Show Reports and reviews.
If you feel you could contribute then please dont hesitate to drop us a line.

www.figurepaintermagazine.co.uk
info@figurepaintermagazine.co.uk

DIOBASES
only available
from
www.modeldisplayproducts.co.uk

Words by Martyn Dorey, photos by Mario B Delgado.

SHOW REPORT

I have been in the hobby for a

very long time having started way
back when all I could get my hands
on were Airfix kits or the OO/HO figures which I used to paint with a pin
and enamels. I have since progressed
from the pin and enamels to a roller
and acrylics but have also used other
mediums, I gave up making planes
and tanks a long time ago, having
played wargames and various RPGs
in between then and now.
My main interest has always been
in figures though, be they full figures or busts, historic or fantasy/sci-fi
(dont ask about the size of the grey
army) but I do like to consider all aspects of the hobby including tanks,
aeroplanes and even model railways
as there is a great wealth of information and techniques out there used
by one or the other that the other
aspect of the hobby doesnt know
about and in some cases arent interested in sharing because, believe it
or not even in this day and age some
people dont like the other part of
the hobby!
The other aspect of the hobby I
enjoy is the shows and during the
course of a year I will attend somewhere in the region of 25 to 40 shows
here in the UK, most as a trader but
some just as a member of the public
or to sit and paint on the club display table. It is therefore my intention each month to bring you a round
up around the shows here in the UK.

36

A Brief Look
Around the UK
Shows
April sees one of the busiest months
of the year here in the UK show circuit
with plenty for everybody regardless
of interest be it planes, tanks, trains,
figures or wargames.
We had the Welling MMS Show, for new products not just kits or figures
Shropshire IPMS Show, Forgeworld open but accessories as well and many of the
day, Sword & Lance, Salute, ModelKraft traders will have the latest releases from
(IPMS Milton Keynes) and the BMSS Na- other companies at these shows.
tionals. Seven shows in total all vying
Welling was no exception for this and
for attention, out of this lot I did five
of them but could have done 6 but time SK Miniatures used the show to re-launch
and other matters cancelled out two of a bust, MDP launched The Dragon Lord
them, all this does however mean that bust and their latest 54mm female figure
because of the Easter weekend next year Cerys and El Greco had some of the new
April is going to be a disaster for some releases from Draconia, Scale 75 etc.
clubs shows but I will speak my thoughts
I often find the more relaxed atmoson this at the end.
phere of the smaller shows more enjoyMany of the more popular shows or able than some of the larger shows as it
larger shows for that matter see compa- gives you the chance to have a proper
nies using these shows as a launch pad look at what is on show with the at-

SHOW REPORT
tending clubs as well as the traders and
of course it is not so packed around the
competition area, it also gives you a relaxed atmosphere to sit and talk to other
modellers about the hobby or just catch
up with friends. Welling is excellent for
this a small friendly show with a good
representation of the hobby covered in
their competition and many of the people that judge the competition here have
won awards at some of the larger shows
including Euro-Militaire and are on the
invite list for judging at Euro as well so
there is a wealth of knowledge to be
gained by talking to folks.
Having travelled the width of England
from Wales to Greater London on the Saturday to get to Welling I decided that
going north to attend the Forgeworld
open day or the Shropshire IPMS show
wasnt going to happen that weekend
especially with two of the shows coming
up that month so the following weekend
saw me travelling the length of England
up to Darlington for Sword & Lance via
my figure casters to collect two more new
releases that were assembled in the hotel room on the Friday night prior to the
show on the Saturday.
I have heard a lot about Sword &
Lance over the years and how it has
grown in the last few years as well, normally it clashes with one or two of the
southern shows but this year it was the
only show that weekend so the trek north
was undertaken and well worth the journey it was too.
Sword & Lance changed its venue last
year and is now held in the College and I have to say that it is an
excellent venue for a model show as the main area of trade and
club display is very bright although it did get a bit warm during
the day because of all the glass which was surprising given the
piles of snow by the side of the road on the journey up.
One thing I have noticed so far this year is that show attendances seem to be up on the whole compared to last year which
I think is a good thing and Sword & Lance seemed no exception
to this with people travelling down from Scotland and even all
the way up from the London area for the day and quite a few
making a weekend of it with a large contingent going out on
the Saturday evening for a meal together.

Once again the competition was well represented with all

aspects of the hobby which is always nice to see and again the
judging was undertaken by experienced modellers and judges
with many available to give advice and criticism to those that
wanted it afterwards as well as during the day.
Well that was another weekend and another show done it
was then into panic mode as the third weekend of April meant
Salute on the Saturday and ModelKraft (Milton Keynes) on
the Sunday.
Salute is an annual event put on by the South London Warlords and is increasing in popularity every year although primarily a wargames show a lot of figure painters now use

37

SHOW REPORT
all areas of the UK and Europe that havent seen
each other since the last large show.
Over 150 traders attend Salute and a similar number of participation games are put on
by various clubs and companies including new
and pre-release games, traders vary from the
run-of-the-mill wargames manufactures such
as Battlefront, Kalistra, Front Rank, Smart Max,
Freebooter, Hasslefree and Heresy etc to the
more bespoke small designer type companies
such as JoeK, McVey, Infamy and even book
sellers (you can never have too many reference
books can you?) and accessory manufacturers
such as ModelMates and Sphere Engineering.
All in all Salute has something for everyone
not just the wargamer but as it grows I often
feel that some things stand still, the one area
for this that stands out more than anything is
the competition. Although well attended with a
good selection of categories to enter including
a category for the previous years give away figure, it is still a
the show as a warm up for Games Day later in the year and
the competition goes a long way to prove this as it is now also first past the post competition despite some big UK names enused to put the winner of the Best in Show at Salute forward tering and many models dont even make it out of the cabinet
to attend Crystal Brush over in the USA. Salute is also The to the judging table...
largest one day gaming show in the UK and this year proved
Having had 3 hours sleep on the Saturday night between
no exception as they had over 5,000 people through the doors
not including clubs and traders and each year the pre-booked getting home and unloading then reloading the car it was time
ticket queue gets longer and longer and the space inside uses to head off again this time to ModelKraft in Milton Keynes,
up more sections of the Excel Centres Halls, a very far cry from this show used to be held in February but having got snowed
when the show used to be
held at Olympia in Kensington and spread over a couple
of floors.
For traders and some of
the clubs the show starts on
the Friday afternoon with
set up, some turning up in
cars others in vans and even
some in trucks so the planning alone is something to
be admired for a show of this
size let alone the amount of
manpower required as it is
not just the venue staff. Like
so many of the larger shows
the social side plays a large
part and the bars and hotels
around the London Excel
area on the Friday night can
be found with a hobby related topic being discussed
by friends meeting up from

38

SHOW REPORT
out last year and several times in previous years they decided
to change the dates rather than risk not being able to hold a
show at all as with a lot of club style shows the takings of the
previous year pays for the following years show so it can be
quite crucial as failure to meet attendance levels etc can be
the end to a show.
ModelKraft is one of
the larger shows in the
IPMS circuit but also
has a lot to offer the
figure modeller and not
just the plastic modellers, the venue is large
with ample parking and
traders are usually kept
in the main hall and
exhibiting clubs take
up all the other spaces,
this year there was a lot
of exhibiting clubs from
all around the UK and
a few from Europe as
well with several people
stating it took them over
two hours to view all the
club stands before they
got to the trade hall!
Traders included El
Greco, MDC, Just Bases
and MDP as well as plastic kit sellers and traders for supplies as well
as a few demonstrating
products sold via other
trader s rather than
themselves selling to the
public direct. The show
also has a well attended
competition although I
was unable to view it
due to being kept busy
at the stand.
The final show for April saw me back in London for the
BMSS Nationals, this show has a bit of everything for the figure collector by way of old school figures (Britains) as well as
new figures and busts the main downside to the show for me
is that it is in the middle of London on a Saturday but to me a
Sunday would be no better I hate having to drive in the middle
of London full stop but they tried putting the show just outside
London a couple of years ago and people complained so back
to the middle it went :(

I have purposely tried to keep this a short report for each

show simply because of the number of shows this month, future
reports will be a little more in depth hopefully. One thing that
I have noticed this year though is that the flat figure seems to
be on a revival which is very nice to see as there is some very
nice subjects out there and they are a great challenge for the
traditional round figure painter.
As I mentioned at
the start of this report
next April is going to
need a lot of planning
by the smaller clubs, this
year has seen good attendances at most of the
shows I have attended
but with Easter falling
where it does next year
already the preliminary
dates for Sword & Lance
and Welling are going
to fall on the same day
as Salute a lot of people
who go to the smaller
shows will also go to the
larger but when they all
clash who will win?
As a trader I need to
go to the larger show
but as a member of the
public I have always attended Salute every year
as well. In the current
climate a lot of people
are choosing the shows
they attend more carefully and I believe this
may well continue for a
few years yet, last year
Sword & Lance clashed
with Welling and previously Welling if not
Sword & Lance as well,
have clashed with Salute which meant traders and club members/public who would have liked to do one or more of these
shows had to make a choice where as this year they could do
a few more shows. I know venue availability dates play a big
part in when a show is held but I feel clubs need to start looking at their calendars more closely and talking to each other
the age old argument of But we have always held our show
then isnt going to carry on working for much longer and it
is always sad when a club can no longer put on a show.

39

TUTORIAL

Sean Fulton explains

how he made his award
winning diorama base
Dark Carnival
40

Gold medal, Gold Sophie in the

Diorama Category and Second Place
Best in Show at ReaperCon 2013

TUTORIAL

This is a rundown of how I constructed the base for my

diorama Dark Carnival. Its not a step by step per se, but I
took pictures along the way and will comment my thought
process as I worked on the piece.
As with most of my models Ill start by referencing various
pictures, either created by other artists, or photographs taken
by others. In this case, I wanted to create a Venetian type setting and so looked at various pictures of the canals and streets
of Venice.

The Substructure
For this piece I was going to create a street and buildings.
I have found that Lego bricks provide a very nice basis for the
substructure of a building, steps, or streetbasically anything
man-made. The Lego bricks are lightweight, can be fit together
in various ways (and can be redone as you toy with various
set ups) and have sharp corners and straight edges. I am not
inherently handy and trying to do this on my own with wood
or some other material would be time consuming and most
likely would end up being crooked anyway
Here was my initial set up. I like the leaping pose of the
assassin and the calm demeanour of the Master Spy. Does the
assassin know that she has the knife out?

41

TUTORIAL
I liked the elevation of the assassin. In reviewing my reference pictures, I knew I wanted to have a footbridge, the canal,
and a small landing where the gondolas could load and unload.
I also wanted to create some depth to the piece and have a
street going backwards away from the scene. However, at this
point, the base overtakes the minis. The focus should be on the
minis and as you add more elaborate backdrop, one runs the
risk of losing the minis amid the scenery.
I began working on the walls that I was sure I was going
to include. Once the initial Lego bricks were glued together,
I began laying out the general design of the wall. One wall
would have a door and some windows. I started laying out
bricks one by one, gluing them in place with superglue directly
to the Lego bricks that I had glued together. Again referencing photographs, I also laid out the door frame and the base
masonry. The masonry for the door frame was thin cork cut to
size and the wooden door itself was done with coffee stirrers.
The architectural detail above the door was a piece I picked
up in the jewellery crafting section at Michaels (a craft store
in the US). As you can see, I have clipped the attachments off
of the Lego bricks on those areas what would be flat for the
street. I did the same on the tops of the walls.

At this point, after discussion with some friends, I began

moving the pieces around to try and get a more focused scene,
but still retain the elements I wanted to include. I removed

42

the side wall and

placed the assassin
so that he would
be leaping off the
bridge onto the spy.
There were two
problems with this.
First, I lost the nice
height elevation of
the assassin, which
really helped to
promote a dynamic
scene. Secondly,
the way the model
is sculpted, in this
position his face is hidden. With the backdrop in place, there
really would be no way to easily see his expression. Additionally, the bridge is somewhat outside the scene and again would
serve to drawn attention away from the two models.
I finally settled on the final configuration:

TUTORIAL
This kept the scene tightly around the two characters, maintained the height elevation I liked and kept all the other elements I was hoping to includethe bridge, landing, and narrow, winding alley.

Structural Elements
Now that the basic design of the scene was set, I began
adding the elements to hopefully add realism and interest to
the scene. The first step was to finish the laying of the bricks
as well as the architectural elements of the walls. The bricks
were obtained from Andrea Miniatures and were 1/35 scale.
The building masonry was cork and the door made from coffee
stirrers as I mentioned earlier. The wrought iron windows were
obtained from a company called Grandt Lines (http://grandtline.
com), which specialize in hobby railroad building. These were
selected from a grab bag pack I stumbled across in a local hobby
store. I put in a piece of plasticard behind the wrought iron
window to mitigate some of the depth of the window.

The next step was laying the pavers down one by one as
well, again securing them with superglue. I bought the pavers from Secret Weapon Miniatures. The edge of the street
was once again made from cork cut to size. I also cut a very
thin piece of plasticard to size to cover the lines of the Lego
bricks. I wanted a smooth
looking side to the base. I
would eventually do this to
all the edges of the scene;
the tops of the buildings,
the back of each building
and the sides of the base
itself. As you can see under where the bridge is to
be ocated, the Lego bricks
are readily evident. I could
have taken some Milliput,
Greenstuff, or filler putty
and done the same thing
to fill in the cracks.

This is the part

where my wife began to question
my sanity. I took
some spackle and
covered the bricks
completely. Hours
of bricklaying work
gone! Spackle is a
compound here in
the United States
to fill in cracks for
p a t c h i n g w a ll s .
This is what I used:
The end result
of this was that the
bricks were comple tely cove re d
and as an added
bonus, now had
mor tar between
each brick! Once
this dried, I then
began to chip away
at the spackle, revealing the bricks
underneath.

The construction was nearly complete. I added another small

Lego for the balcony base and more Grandt Line architectural
elements for the balcony railing. A small pin was placed in the
corner of the balcony to support the assassin as he leapt off
the balcony. The pin was painted black and as it was tucked in
snugly amongst all the other railings it really gave the illusion
that he was in mid-air.

43

TUTORIAL
I then sponged
on RMS Driftwood
Brown, RMS Shield
Brown, RMS Creamy
Ivor y, RMS Terran
Khaki, trying to keep
the pattern irregular. I used the lighter
colours more heavily
toward the top and
the darker colours
more heavily toward
the bottom. The next
step was to pick out
the deep cracks and where the stone plaster had been chipped
away and applied a Sepia Wash followed by RMS Brown Liner
for the deepest cracks
and crevices. The metallic were highlighted
with VMA Silver and
VMC Metallic Medium
for the spot highlights.
As you can see, I have
begun some weathering of the metallic as
well with some Old
Rust and New Rust
pigments.

At this point, I turned my attention to laying down some

paint. I was tired of building, quite honestly, and wanted to add
some colour. The bridge I would finish after a break. I began
once again with the walls. The base paint was done with Reaper
Master Series (RMS) Stained Ivory. I based the masonry with a
black undercoat, followed by RMS Aged Bone. This was shaded
with RMS Bone Shadow and highlighted successively with RMS
Polished Bone followed by RMS Leather White. The lower edge
of the masonry along the street was covered with Dark Mud
Pigment. The door was also undercoated with black. This was
followed by Shield Brown as a base coat. The shading was done
with RMS Russet Brown and Brown ink. Edges were picked out
with Vallejo Model Colour (VMC) Deck Tan. Once again, I used
RMS Blue Liner for the deepest recesses. As you can see, Ive
added some hinges (once more drawing from Grandt Line)
as well as a small piece of card stock, a bit of greenstuff, and
some brass wire for the door handle. The metallic bits were
undercoated with black and at this stage have only been base
coated with Vallejo Model Air (VMA) Gunmetal and black in
a 1 to 1 ratio.

44

Next I turned my attention to the pavers of the street. The

pavers were scraped and chipped to simulate wear and tear.
I randomly
painted a few
of the bricks
with
VMC
Dark Sea Blue
to add some
visual inte rest, followed
by a generous
application
of the Dark
Mud pigment
again. At this
point
the
walls and the
pavers were
looking very
similar.

TUTORIAL
I ultimately used a very thin wash of RMS Blue Liner toward
the bottom to darken the building even further and to tie in
with the assassin and master spy, both of which had their deepest shading done with RMS Blue Liner.
O n c e
this was
completed,
it was time
to chip off
the plaster,
add some
more visual
interest to
th e b rickwork of the
canal, and
re tu r n to
the bridge.
I took a
woodcar ving tool and
carefully
chipped off
pieces of
the spackle
to reveal the bricks underneath. The bricks of the canal where
painted with the RMS Redstone Triad along with some of the
Redstone Shadow mixed with black to provide some variety.
The Lego bricks were glued together and the railing attached
on either side along with some plasticard on the individual
steps to cover the holes left when I clipped the Lego bricks. I
took Milliput and filled in the underside of the Lego bricks to
give the bridge a more arched appearance.
The step of the
bridge (as well as
the landing) were
painted with RMS
Mis t y Grey and
then heavily covered with a mixture
of the Dark Mud
pigment mixed
with Black Smoke
pigment. This was
sealed with Dullcote to preserve the
pigment so it would
not wipe off. I was
then able to paint
over this with RMS
Grey Liner and VMC
White to do freehand cracks.

The railings were done once again with a black undercoat,

VMA Gunmetal mixed with black, pure VMA Gunmetal, washed
with GW Devlan Mud and then highlighted with VMA Silver
and VMC Metallic Medium. I took some of the Dark Mud pigment mixed with the Black Smoke pigment and attempted
some rainwater streaking down the bridge. Looks like I got a
bit aggressive at the base of the steps and a bit of the Lego is
showing through.
The rust effects
were again realised with RMS Dark
Skin along with
New and Old Rust
pigment. I added
a bit of bird dropping as well with
Leather White.
I found I was enjoying the weathering and decided
to go back and add a bit of dirt streaking to the walls where
the plaster had fallen away.

45

TUTORIAL

Finally, I added the flowers and the poster to include a bit of real
life to the scene; something else to catch the viewers eye and keep
them interested.

The Water Effects

Unfortunately at this point, time was running short and I didnt
get many pictures. I took a piece of relatively thick plasticard and
created a base for the whole piece and extended it out underneath
the bridge and perhaps one quarter of an inch (0.5cm) or so past the
gondola landing. The exposed plasticard was under coated in black
and then I painted VMC Dark Sea Blue mixed with RMS Clouded Sea.
I then created a barrier to the front part of the base and poured the
water effects slightly tinted with RMS Clouded Sea . This was done
several times to get an adequate depth. I then sanded down the water
effects, which have a tendency to climb up the edges of the barrier
as the water effects dry and contract slightly. Birch seed pod leaves
were added to the water and the whole thing was covered in gloss
varnish. Leaves were also added to the street to provide continuity.

46

TUTORIAL
The end result was this
I hope you find this useful. Good
luck with your own projects!

47

A Free Plinth
Every Month
Simply upload an image of
your painted miniature to
our facebook page and the
miniature with the most
likes in one month wins a
free display plinth from
Model Display Products.

courtesy of

www.modeldisplayproducts.com

Go to our facebook/photos gallery and vote for your favourite miniature

EXHIBITION

Winner: March/April

Chaos Lord by Camelson

49

Go to our facebook/photos gallery and + Add Photo to upload you miniature image to be in with a chance of winning
a free plinth and it appearing in Figure Painter Magazine

EXHIBITION
Dark Carnival by Sean Fulton

Winner: April/May

50

Go to our facebook/photos gallery and vote for your favourite miniature

EXHIBITION

Meteors of Aegis, Platan Band by Sergey Chasnyk

51

Go to our facebook/photos gallery and + Add Photo to upload you miniature image to be in with a chance of winning
a free plinth and it appearing in Figure Painter Magazine

EXHIBITION
Mark Hawkins

Mark Hopper

Dave Eyles

Mark Hawkins

52

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EXHIBITION
Mihalis Skalkos

Mihalis Skalkos
Myles David

Myles David

53

Go to our facebook/photos gallery and + Add Photo to upload you miniature image to be in with a chance of winning
a free plinth and it appearing in Figure Painter Magazine

EXHIBITION

AOBR Ork Warboss by Sublime Brushwork

Painted by Barry Ford

Minotaur-bear ( Beartaur? ) and Battle Standard

Bearer Beastman. Modified by Drakkols workshop
and painted by HellPaint Studio.

54

Go to our facebook/photos gallery and vote for your favourite miniature

EXHIBITION

Foundry Miniature Seven Years War Prussian Grenadiers (28mm) Painted by James Brewerton

Front Rank Miniatures Seven Years War French light Troops Painted by James Brewerton

55

Firestorm Games is an Independant Wargames Retailer

in Cardiff, South Wales. As well as the webstore, we have
our own bricks and mortar store, a short walk from
Cardiff City Centre.
Attached to the store is our gaming area known as 'the
Battlefields' which consists of over 35 6"x4" gaming
tables, full of scenery for your pleasure! We are open late
nights on Tuesday and Thursday and attract a large mix
of people ready to play whatever takes your fancy! The
Battlefields now also has a fully licensed 'Khador
themed' bar, great when playing a casual game against
your mates or in one of our regular tournaments or
events.

Firestorm Games Ltd

8A Trade Street, Penarth Road

Cardiff, United Kingdom
CF10 5DT.
Tel: 02920 227117
www.firestormgames.co.uk