Ok, not animals but Avars!

Well decided to get caught up on some of the posts I was planning. This one is a saga in itself, about the painting of a SAGA army. I originally bought these figures for SAGA v.1 and their Steppe Peoples from one of the books. When SAGA v.2 came out was not convinced that it was an army I wanted to run. Well eventually I put it on the paint table and got started. The build is all mounted, warriors and hearth guard, the sting them like a bee then hit with a sledgehammer idea. Well these Aventine miniatures painted up nicely, after gluing men, horses and accessories together. I left a few of the accessories off as I could see them being the pieces I was gluing back on continuously, such as bow cases, the javelin quivers and bowmen shields. Hanging shields for horse archers had been a pain with one of my DBA armies until I removed them and touched up the minis, in 28mm I could see a real problem developing. Oh, do I wish that was the biggest problem I ended up with. 

Well first some pics of the Avars.

Above and below are of my Leader base, flag is based off what is believed to be the Avar nation Flag.

Next two are of the Princess and Priestess I pained up for use in scenarios. Not sure of manufacturer of these two minis, but did add some of the extras from the Aventine minis to them, to make them look a little more important. 

Next are the three groups of Hearthguard, still working on my list setup for this army. 

And last but not least at all for this army, the 3 Warrior groups. 

Ok, one thing that  happened and I can't figure out. I use Polyshades tudor, black or walnut to finish wash and protect the paint jobs on my miniatures. Since this is a satin finish they come out very shiny, so I then spray them with a Dullcoate sealer to remove the gloss. Well the old standby has always been Testors, which is a little expensive but did a great job. Most of these were done with that combo. Still some shine on them from using the new cans, not sure if it is a new formula or not. So I started looking for a better one Dullcoat. That was when the trouble started.

Ok, when polyshade is dry you can see how glossy they look, and this is with the satin not the gloss.  Well I always leave the minis sit for at least 24 hours between steps, finish painting, wait, add polyshade wash, wait, flock base, wait and then dull coat. Well on a group of four I used Rustoleum Dead Flat finish spray. Much to my horror two of the minis had their paint start crinkling up as you can see below.

What is strange is while all four had some spots that did this, two of them were very bad and it covered a large obvious part of the minis. Well I didn't totally panic, I pressed down on the haunch of the one horse to see how soft it was. It pressed back flat on the minis and the paint seems to be holding. If you look at these two minis you can see the problem I had, but with a little quick work and luck they are fit for the table top.

Below is a pic of the lazy Susan in my paint box, just wood that has untold layers of paint on it. When I did the minis it was a flat smooth surface, after I sprayed the minis it bubbled up and became tar like. Bottom picture is of the knife I ran over part of it to see if it would scrap off. I went and got a drink, of water, to walk off my pissed and when I got back it had hardened into what the first pic shows.

I have no idea why this happened. I use a mix of craft and miniature paints on my miniatures. Have been using the Polyshades and Dullcoate for years with no problem. Have even used the Dead Flat on other projects and was very satisfied with it, it dulled nicely. but some combination on this day almost ruined a part of the army.

  So to keep up the Post Apoc theme I have going right now, a few minis. Some I thought I had already done and a few new ones.

These are Reaper Miniatures Ghoul and Ghast pack if I remember correctly I have them painted to represent Fallout 76 Wendigo. 

These are from Modiphius Fallout miniatures, they are the Super Mutant companion Mutant Hounds.

 

These are Yao Guai, Fallout irradiated bears that are always in a bad mood. Yao Guai supposedly comes from Chinese POW's calling them Yogi Bear.

This another Reaper miniature representing a Gatorclaw from Nuka World in Fallout 4.

This is a giant Hermit Crab, irradiated to gigantic size uses cars and truck bodies for shells. ( Think I need to rust out the body od the van to make it look better. Future Fix.)

And for those that don't recognize these minis they are from the first edition of the Zombicide Game. I was looking for more minis to use as feral ghouls in the fallout world, I would like to have 20-30 for a Convention game. I was move things around in my game closet and it hit me. While they are plastic they are well sculptured minis with a variety of poses. Still need to finish basing these, but they painted up nice and fairly easily.

Thinking the Zombicide miniature Zombivores, humans that have turned but still think close to normal might make some great plain Ghouls. Will have to pull some out and paint them up to decide.

Next post will be something completely different, were off to Africa, Asia and maybe the Pleistocene.

 Ok, Last post was about how I got started on street blocking debris for post apocalyptic games. Well now we can look at part of what I have gotten done along this line. The screen shot below is from Fallout 4 and gives an idea of the look I was going for. Just debris flung everywhere with it sometimes blocking the entrance to buildings and at other points just blocking the street.

First a look at the MDF ruins I bought a few years ago for this project, fairly plain as in the Fallout world not much is left inside of the buildings. Planning on a couple of more to fill a 4x8 table nicely.

Now combining these buildings with the neoprene roads I bought and adding in the debris I made.

The fist up is a fairly plain one with just a destroyed delivery truck laying in it.

Second up is the debris from Finn's A-1 car lot, most of it blown into the space between two buildings. Wall with sign in still upright position, can't say that for the rest of the building and stock.

Next is just plain debris, may add something more later Like a car...... or two.

Next one involves some of my failed 3D printing, the legs sticking up for what is left of the Museum of Natural History are from models that failed to print right. Otherwise those legs would be painted and added to my collection of prehistoric and extent animals. There are horns and tusks as well. Two bronze species examples are from a tube.

Next couple are alleyway blockers and if you look can see they are a little more narrow than the street ones. I think these turned out well.

And if needed some pieces can be butted together for wider spaces. 

So far the only one thing I would have done differently, the base would be slightly thinner, to look more like a curb, But over all, it will do. 

I did 11 street blocking debris pieces and the two for the buildling base. Which should be enough for any game I put on.