I should really put a title on this post

The madness begins to take shape.

Productivity was up in all sectors today, hobby progress included.  I kicked things off by getting a start on the Doomies.  Nothing much yet, just roughing in colors as has become my habit of late.  For the first time in a long while, possibly ever, I took a single look at these models and knew what colors would go where.  Is it possible I'm just getting more comfortable with my scheme for the army?  Is it possible that these particular models are better suited to my scheme than others that I've painted?  Is it really possible that I'm dipping a third time into a reference that no one is likely to get?  Whatever the cause, knowing what I'm going to do before I do it (in a painting context) is such a pleasant experience that I'll have to do it again.  Ordinarily I'd describe what it is I plan to do, but with any luck I'll have the Doomies to a point that the scheme is evident via pictures in the near future.



Next up was the sort of frumpy, unglamorous work that doesn't merit photographing but is essential to getting finished pieces on the table.  First I did arc markings for pButcher, Strakhov, and Harkevich.  Then I primed Black Ivan (black) and the Bombardiers (grey).  I used the stick-covered-in-tape method for the Bombardiers but went back to the good ol' box top for Ivan as the idea of him tumbling off the stick and onto the concrete was both plausible and frightening enough to make me not want to chance it.  While (lightly) pressing a Bombardier onto the stick one of the arms came loose.  My displeasure with the kit grows daily, and I'm now considering pinning the Shock Troopers.  This is ridiculous to contemplate for a plastic kit, but it's where I'm at.  Perhaps I'll just putty up every joint (which is also ridiculous) and see how that goes.  I also put a second coat of gloss varnish of the above trio of warcasters, but there was a step between the arcs and the varnish: snow.

Horrible picture, but it shows what it needs to.

I've been meaning to figure out snow basing for a while now and finally got started on it today.  Trying things out of casters probably wasn't the best of ideas, but when the inspiration hits it's a good idea to just ride the train straight to glory.  I started off with Harkevich and the same approach I use to apply static grass: super glue.  A small puddle of glue, a pinch of snow, a tap on the bottom, and that's that.  This works great on for grass, but not so hot for snow.  As soon as I tapped the excess off I could tell it wasn't the result I was after.  The snow looked like the road snow that we get here in the DMV when we actually get enough snow to stick around for a few days, packed down, frozen then thawed then frozen again into a pile of nastiness that's a semi-opaque grey.  Not appealing.  After doing Strakhov I put a bit more snow on the pile figuring that there was still wet glue available for sticking and that looked a little better.  For Strakhov I went with white glue straight from the bottle.  This method looked great at first, if a bit puffy, but by the time I got to varnishing the pile had deflated and lost some of the luster that made it appealing.  For Orsus I applied some well-watered white glue with a brush.  I was underwhelmed with this approach at first, but after all three had dried and been varnished I think this one might look the best, or at least the most consistent from initial application to post-varnish.  The snow isn't as deep as the other two, so it's less of a drift and more of a permafrost/last gasp of a storm, but the consistency is encouraging.  For the next round I think I'll try a mix that's heavier on the glue, more akin to the mix I use now for basing.

As a parting shot (across the bow), assuming that we're go for gaming as usual on Thursday, EV will get to see an awful lot of new things across the table.