When I posted about painting Magneto a couple of months ago, you may recall I had a few issues trying to reproduce the colour purple and its variants in the photos. I suspected it was down to the glossy finish of the Xpress paint I’d used, as it occasionally dries that way, especially when used as a glaze.
Well, I finally found the time to get him varnished and am pleased to report he came out looking great. The matt finish brought him all together and also meant I could get better accuracy of the colours in the photos, which I quickly snapped with my phone.
So, without further ado. Here he is…
Whilst I’m at it, here’s a quick update on other things…
Painting has been slow just lately, as I’ve had other things to concentrate on over the weekends, which has impacted on my painting time. That should return to normal now and I’ve just prepped a batch of Bolt Action figures, as well as put together four MCP characters for Yasmin to use next week, when we catch up on some gaming (She’ll have to play them grey for now!).
Talking of gaming. As Yasmin in at home for the summer we’ve started to get a few games played. Arcadia Quest, Root, and Heroes of Land, Sea, and Air, have all hit the table in the past week. Hopefully, I’ll pop my thoughts in a post or two.
I’ve been making slow progress on writing up some of my old reviews into my ‘Rated‘ format. Once I’ve done a decent amount I’ll start publishing them – want to get several completed so I can compare the ratings and ensure their reflective of one another.
That’s about it for now. Time to do some research on what colour to paint my Soviet tank!
The Solo Meeple 
Nice work, Justin! 🙂 I like that purple! The easy bit about Russian WW2 tank colours is that they’re green! The tricky bit is that I believe there was a lot of variation in the colour! I now use Vallejo Model Color Camouflage Olive Green 70.894 but if you have an airbrush then there’s Vallejo Model Air Russian Green 4B0 71.017. Not sure how the Model Air paint covers as it’s sometimes thin and needs multiple coats.
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Thanks John.
Just started on my IS-2. Bascoated in 4BO and sprayed Olive Drab over that.
First tank I’ve done so I’m learning as I go. Thought I’d add the decals next before I start to add the detail and weather it all in.
Any pointers would be much appreciated 😁
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I allowed myself to smile at your last comment – I don’t think you can learn anything about painting minis from me considering how good yours look! 🙂 Your colour choice sounds good to me. For a 20mm scale IS-2 I’d have gone all in green but with the tracks and running gear in VMC German Camouflage Black Brown. I’d then add the decals over gloss varnish patches and then put a coat of gloss varnish over them followed by matt varnish. I’d fine line shade around the raised areas except the brown (people use a pin wash but I’m crap with washes) with a black/brown colour on an olive drab vehicle. After that I’d heavily drybrush the tracks suspension, lower hull and mudguard edges in dark earth (probably also some of the engine deck given the Russian habit of carrying tank riders). Finally I’d do a fine drybrush over the whole vehicle in an earth/white fix to pick out detail and make some sections look dusty if they need it.
However I think you’ll probably use weathering powders because you can! Being lazy and painting the tracks and suspension in VMC Black Brown saves me a lot of time since I don’t have to paint tracks and roadwheel tyres and then touch them all up afterwards!
I treat figures and vehicles in opposite methods – paint figures dark and add highlights, paint vehicles light and add shading (since vehicles have a lot of unshaded area on them)!
Sorry this is a bit of a lengthy reply!
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Thanks for the compliment, John, though I look at what you produce and feel the same!
I’ve never done decals before, so thanks for the advice – should be interesting!
Also, thanks for the insight on how you’d paint it up. I’m sure to incorporate much of what you said when I get around to finishing them off – sidetracked, as usual; painting a load of stone walls, lol!
Never used powders. Never had to. Unless I get into painting a lot of vehicles then I can’t really see the need.
Anyway, I’m sure to keep you posted. Probably won’t be a quick process, though, you know me 😉
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I was out of town this week and its nice to return to an update on Magneto! He really looks the part now and its amazing what that varnish did for you too. I’m glad to hear you’re going to get some painting in soon and I look forward to the Rated format articles as well.
I’ve been doing some board game research lately and wouldn’t you know it, I found a review from some chap named The Solo Meeple. It was thoughtful and well-written and now I’m considering buying a new game so thank you for that! 😀
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Thanks for the comments about Magneto – the varnish has made a big difference ( Vallejo Mecha Matt).
What board game are you considering?
Hopefully, you won’t blame me if it all goes awry 😉
It would be interesting to hear what you thought of my review. As you know, I’m working on doing condensed reviews now but I do wonder how useful these will prove.
I really enjoy writing the lengthy, in detail ones, but boy, do they eat time.
On one hand I want my reviews to be helpful, insightful, and detailed, on the other I want to put them out quickly. There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground🤔
Hey, ho! I’m sure it will all come out in the wash! 😁
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I’m having some trouble with Vallejo’s reformulated Matte varnish, so I’ll have to keep that in mind!
I was looking at Arkham Horror: Third Edition and Eldritch Horror. I’m also curious about other Ameritrash games like A Touch of Evil, Waste Knights, and a few others. I’m looking for fun and thematic games that don’t require a campaign. I don’t have the time and focus for a campaign game unfortunately. Too many interests and not enough time! I’m slowly but surely figuring out what kind of games I like to play as well. I like games that have a good emergent story, thematic rules, and I don’t mind a lot of luck. Games that are more focused on a challenging puzzle don’t do as much for me on the flipside.
I’m a bit biased, I’m afraid because I also like your long form reviews and I found myself writing in that way recently too. I reviewed Sentinels of Multiverse: Definitive Edition and while I didn’t have any review length in mind, I found it was most satisfying to try and describe the game as well as I could so that someone could read my review and get a good idea of what the strengths and weaknesses of the game are.
So in that sense, it is a tough task to write a short but effective review. I think it certainly can be done and I think its very much a worthwhile endeavor on your part. You’ll have to try and get maximum value out of the words you do use and find ways to convey information in a concise manner, I reckon. Not sure if any of this info helps but I wanted you to know that your good work helped out a friend of the Black Country 😉
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Personally, I’d go with Eldritch over Arkham 3rd Edition every day of the week, but then Eldritch Horror is one of my favourite games. Arkham probably holds a better story, as Eldritch requires a bit more imagination to create a story from its parts, if you know what I mean?
Arkham, however, hasn’t got the same replayability, as once you’ve played a scenario you know what to expect and can plan accordingly. I think this is why we find it so challenging, because we don’t play it often enough we can’t remember precisely what we should be aiming for in a given scenario.
Another game to consider, is Cthulhu: Death May Die. Quick to learn, set up and replay. It doesn’t present the challenge of the other two but it holds a great story and, I would say, is more fun to play, especially with others.
I’m with you on the review side. I’ve always liked to try and get the reader running on my wavelength, which usually means a good amount of detail, especially giving examples, however, this inevitably leads to a lengthy review. Coupled with taking pictures and editing it all, it certainly eats up time but, in my opinion, is a rewardingly satisfying experience.
You’ve really got me thinking now. As I have written a couple of reviews for my Rated! series (so far I’ve not posted them), I’ve found them to be far less satisfying and, to be honest, they haven’t saved me a great deal of time – I’ve found it quite difficult to cut a long story short!
I’m sure, though, that once I get into the right mind frame they will start to roll of a lot faster. I just have to ask myself is this what I want?
Of course, the answer, deep down, is no. However, with time a big factor I just struggle with writing longer reviews, as I like to have a couple of hours free to get the base content down in one go, otherwise I lose the thread.
I think I need to sit down and give myself a good talking to over this, lol!
I must check out your Sentinels review. I’ve cast an eye over the game several times but never dug into what it’s all about – I have heard good things about it on Podcasts, though.
All the best on the game hunting…
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Thanks for your thoughts on all this, mate! It sounds like 3rd Edition has some replayability issues like Mansions of Madness has. That is something I will keep in mind. I’m almost tempted to buy the base game for Eldritch and 3rd Edition and then see which I like best before buying expansions. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Death May Die. If I didn’t have a backlog of minis and terrain to do as it is, I’d definitely consider it. As it is now, I’m trying to avoid increasing my backlog if possible. With that said, new miniatures are very appealing and that is hard to resist!
If I remember right, I’m the one who put you up to the idea of shorter reviews since you had limited hobby time back then. If it is more satisfying to write one longer, comprehensive review than a five short ones. I know which way I’d go! Hopefully I didn’t send you in the wrong direction awhile back and if I did, I humbly apologize, me ol’ mucker!
Sentinels is a very interesting game. It is a strong alternative to the Living Card Games and I enjoyed my time with the base game quite a bit. You do have to give up the ability to construct a deck with Sentinels but I was more okay with that than I expected. So there you go, a free teaser for the review 🙂
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The purple looks amazing and goes so well with the orange, which is surprising given that not even Slaanesh fans use that combination LOL!
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Lol! Had to look up what Slaanesh was🤣
Thanks, Matt, the purple turned out pretty much as I had hoped… eventually!
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Beautiful. I love how rich the purple of his cloak has come out. One of my friends has been terrorising us with Magneto lately, he’s very hard to deal with if he doesn’t need to go anywhere.
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Thank you, I’m really pleased with his cloak.
I’ve only used him once and found him interesting to play, though it only twigged just how powerful he can be half way through the game.
I’m currently using a combination of She-Hulk and Ghost Rider in an A-Force set up – really powerful duo!
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Wow, She-Hulk and Ghost Rider together sure is a lot of power to have available! You must be Penance Stare-ing a fool every turn 🙂
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