My computer is back up and running
I’ve read through the rulebook since going offline a week ago, and have started re-reading it (it’ll take me about 3 times before I start playing with confidence (especially since I’ll be teaching also)). I really do like the rules, very clean and clear and simple yet with a level of tactical challenge I can tell will be fun. Elements like the card deck and terminology give a nice western “feel” tot eh game that should hopefully translate during game play.
A day before I got the rules I started on this Outlaw posse (assuming that I would be able to use the figures). It took me 3 days to complete the first 5, and another day to complete the two main heroes. Needless to say this wasn’t constant painting; this was a little here and there as time permitted.
I’ll say right upfront, I’m not an “eavy metal” painter, so many people will be disappointed with the pictures below. I don’t have the patience or skill to paint like that. Not only that, but, I sort of like having my own personal style, even if it doesn’t knock anybody’s socks off.
What I lack in detail I make up for in speed
. I’ve always been a very fast painter. Give me a couple solid hours of painting and I’ll knock out a unit of goblins. Not spectacular works of art, but if I can be so arrogant to say, better than the “average” paint job (and enough to win me one “best painted army” at an RTT…although that was many years back).
I like to think of myself as the drybrush king
. Basically I paint in layers; starting with the bottommost layer on the miniature (so I can be sloppy), applying a basecoat, then a drybrush, then pick out a few details if necessary. That’s pretty much it, nothing fancy. I very rarely use any washes or anything and don’t do a lot of blending. I use the cheapest equipment I can find, like industrial metal primer (Grey is $.99 a can, and white is $3 a can from WalMart) and those cheap $.50-$.99 paints from department store craft sections. They seem to serve me just fine and don’t cost me a fortune.
So without further ado, here is my outlaw posse. I’m writing up brief histories for them just to make them more interesting….but this thread is about painting, not posse construction, so I’ll get on with the pictures.
Needless to say, the first thing to do is get everything together and trim off the slag and superglue the figs to the bases. Have you ever met someone who paints right over the slag? Man, that has to be one of my hobbyist pet peeves…how can someone do that?
I primed them all up using white. Usually I use machine tool grey. It’s cheaper and gives good coverage…but it makes the colors look a bit dirty. I figured since I wouldn’t be painting many figures I would use white and go for the crisper colors. For some reason it takes me longer to paint the figs when I use white primer.
The first thing I always do is flesh. I’ve painted more goblins than anything, so I have greenskin down…flesh is always a bit harder for me, but these came out pretty good for me. Usually I pick out eyes and such, but for some reason, most of these models looked better to me without seeing the whites of their eyes. So, accept for the heroes, I left the faces as is…and I kind of like the way they look without the crisp little eyes staring out at you. Makes them look a bit grittier IMHO.
Next I painted the shirts, pants, and gun belts (picking out the details on the belts). I’ve gone with a very basic color “theme” with the posse to give them cohesion, instead of being a random mishmash of colors. The main colors for all the figures I’m going to paint are white, brown, black, and grey. For each posse I’m going to pick one additional color to create unison and give instant recognition on the game table.
Next I did the dusters. Black…because they are the bad guys…and that’s what bad guys wear! Just ask Darth Vader.
At this point I started reading the rulebook. Looking at the army list I saw that I could only have 5 Toughs, and I had 7 figures started. One of the figures (the one with it’s head down and the two pistols, got promoted to Gunslinger…and one (the loner not wearing a duster) got kicked out of the group and will be a Cowboy now…guess he just didn’t have the guts to ride the lonely range with these desperados!
Next I added the Outlaw color…Red (well, actually a sort of maroon, red would be too bold). The Lawmen are going to be Blue, while the cowboys are Yellow (not to be confused with “yella!”)
All that was left was to paint up the guns and pick out a few details.
“Go ahead punk…make my day!”
I based these bad boys up using some drybrushed sand, some flock, and a few pieces of kitty litter…and they are ready to go!
Cue western music…woooowoooowoooo dum dum dum!
Now I set about working on the heroes. After reading the rulebook I decided I would want a “Kid”. I figured I would have to order something…but looking through what I had, I found this innocent looking little girl with a huge gun. It seemed very appropriate for little Annie (which I instantly named her) to be the kid for a posse led by the notorious prostitute turned outlaw, Diamond. Rescued from a similar fate by Diamond, Annie totally idolizes her and follows here everywhere.
The girls got the flesh tone painted. I have Diamond on a horse, and even though I don’t plan on using mounts the first couple times I play, I figured I’d paint them at the same time.
I’m using the same colors for the girls, but less black and more white, to make them stick out a bit more…and give Annie that “innocent” look.
I add the black and get ready to pick out the details. I’m going to give the girls eyes and a dash of lipstick, since their faces are a bit softer than the guys and they wouldn’t benefit from the rough appearance of the fellers.
Now it’s time to whip up that horse. Since Diamond is a cool figure and an interesting character I want her to have a cool looking horse, so I decide to try my hand at an appaloosa type horse. A few drybrushes of grey, and a little color here and there to supply contrast, and a few quick spot and I have my horse done. About 10 minutes of actual paint time…I wish all figs where this easy and big
I based up the figures, painted those eyes and lips, and glued down Diamond to the horses back (I really should name the horse!).
My outlaw posse is ready to go (I haven’t worked up the exact points yet, but I think it will be very close).
I’ve gotten started on the Lawmen for my first game. I admit I’m not as excited about painting those figures, just because the bad guys are always the most fun. I’m not going to do paint by the numbers pics of those, but will post a pic of the posse when it is done. Things are going a bit slower as the holiday gets close and I find myself without a lot of free time. Not sure if I’ll get my first game in before Christmas or not.
FYI…I picked up an Ertl Cow Town for $35, and plan on using a lot of those bits to flesh out my town even further. I’m still trying to get my hands on one of those darn trains everyone else keeps posting pictures of, but don’t even know where to start looking. I’ve visited 3 Walgreens, and they all remember them from a few years back…but no clue how to get one.
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August 29, 2008, 01:40:53 PM