Sky's Painting Blog - The Mercs from Grayhaven

[Skywise]

Thanks for checkin' out this blog. A quick bit about me: I have been wargamming and painting since the early 90's. In 1999 I was diagnosed with cancer and had less than a 30% chance of survival. My life in late 1999 and early 2000 was spent mostly in a hospital. In one span, I stayed there for nearly 5 months, never able to leave my room. One of the things that keep me sane was they let me have my paints and miniatures, and in that long hospital stay, I had managed to paint 2500+ in Iron Warriors Chaos Marines from the 'other' game company. I even had a short story in one of the White Dwarf magazines (I forgot the issue, I'll post it when I look it up).

Eleven years later, I have a clean bill of health, am cancer free, have a loving wife and a happy life. One thing I retained from the ordeal was my passion for modeling and painting. I switched to playing Warmachine/Hordes a couple years ago due to my friends pushing me into it. I have never looked back since.

[Skywise]

My current goal is to have 3 fully painted Mercenary lists done in time for Lock 'n Load. I currently have about 20 figures left to paint before the convention.

Note: Grayhaven is the name of my gaming table. I may post a thread on it in the terrrain section when the time come


MACBAIN!!!, Nomad & Mule


MACBAIN!!! Front Shot


MACBAIN!!! Back Shot

[Skywise]

Nomad - Front View


Nomad - Rear View


Mule - Front View

[Skywise]

Mule - Rear View


Dannon Blyth & Bull


Dannon & Bull - Rear View

[PG_gdaybloke]

I approve of your name, I approve of your use of MacBain, I approve of your kicking a life-threatening condition to the curb to ring in the new millenium (I did it with Meningococcal Meningitis). Also, MacBain's arc markings look awesome.

[Skywise]

Reinholdt & Gorman


Reinholdt & Gorman - Rear View


Orrin Midwinter & Alten Ashley (Note: Ashley was a gift from a friend. I re-did the base to fit the scheme. Thanks Jeff!)

[Skywise]

I approve of your name, I approve of your use of MacBain, I approve of your kicking a life-threatening condition to the curb to ring in the new millenium (I did it with Meningococcal Meningitis). Also, MacBain's arc markings look awesome.

Thanks G-day! I'm glad you made it through your ordeal also.

The base colors match my Zuzzy mat. I'm trying for a 'storming the trenches' look ffor my Merc's.

The pics are looking a little darker than I hoped. I may try to rredo them soon. I'm still a novice with a camera.

[Skywise]

Eyriss & Ragman


Eyriss & Ragman - Rear View


Steelheads

[Skywise]

Kayazy Assassins & Underboss


Boomhowler & Co.


Boomhowler

[PG_hendybadger]

Thats some great looking Mercs there.
Cant wait to see what else you do.

[NoUse31]

Your Boomhowler and Co. make me want to break mine out their box and paint them. And, now I wanna pick up some Steelheads as well. My wallet does not thank you.

Despite that, I am glad to hear about your recovery and how well life is going for you now. As a person who also has had a "near death" experience coupled with long term hospitalization and recovery, not from Cancer but from how haphazardly I used to ride my bike, I can empathize with your pain. I've seen the effects Cancer has had on some of my family members and its heart warming to hear about the success stories.

[KavinCross]

Your recovery is badass, that's awesome to hear.

As for the figs, I like how the cracks painted on your bases just "coincidentally" seem to line up with the front arc of the fig.

[Skywise]

Thanks guys. The gaming community on this site is awesome.

I wanted my front arcs defined on the bases but I didn't want to settle with just a couple of out of place paint lines. I decide to paint the entire base like stone and add cracks as arc lines.

I think I'll redo the pics with better lighting and have my wife take the pics. She is better with a camera than I am.

[Gladius]

Your arc markings are awesome! I realized about halfway through this thread that I hadn't actually looked at any of the models; I was just looking at the bases and had to go back up to check out the minis themselves!

[amazonwarlord]

This is all full of win (and not in the Charlie Sheen sense of that statement). I love the basing and arcs ... really sweet. Tartan looks great ! Love the name !

[KrankyPanda]

I really like your base work and the arc lines are clever. I may have to borrow that idea in the future

[KavinCross]

Thanks guys. The gaming community on this site is awesome.

I wanted my front arcs defined on the bases but I didn't want to settle with just a couple of out of place paint lines. I decide to paint the entire base like stone and add cracks as arc lines.

I think I'll redo the pics with better lighting and have my wife take the pics. She is better with a camera than I am.

I'm going to add front arc markings to my figs when I get back. Im going to experiment with adding raised bumps similar to the battle engines, or if I can get some type of precision etching tool to create uniform indents.

[raincaller]

Sky I love your jacks they look great!