Greetings everyone, welcome to a slightly delayed update on the Brotherhood of Blood. Before I start talking about what progress I have made, I wanted to talk a little bit about how I have continued to maintain excitement for this project.
An army project is a HUGE undertaking, and I like many hobbyists have a slew of failed projects haunting my shelves. Often I lose focus and get distracted by my next hairbrained scheme, before finishing what I am currently working on.
In order to keep momentum going, and to stay invested in the army, I have tried a few techniques. First of course is this blog to hold myself accountable. I also find that frequently what I am reading amps me up to paint within those themes, so I dug out one of my old Black Library books on the vampire wars. I have finished book one, tracking the rise and fall of Vlad Von Carstein, and will probably shortly be diving into book two.
While the writing quality of these books is questionable at times, they are filled with great images and scenes to get me excited to put my Vampires on the tabletop!
I also have found that if I am really invested in the audio I am listening to, that it helps me push myself to paint longer. I recently finished Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan, and am now listening to Cold Days by Jim Butcher. While the Dresden Files isn’t quite the Medieval Fantasy of my army, it is still filled with cool images and ideas, and more importantly it is really good, so I want to sit longer and paint.
Right, so enough about my motivating techniques, let’s see how I did. Last week I had just started my first unit of Soul Reaver Infantry, using Dark Elf Blackguard models. I am happy to report that I finished my first test model, as well as the unit’s base, and the finished mini stands ready to be joined by his comrades.
I wanted these minis to tie into the scheme of the Undead Footman, while looking more self-important and elite, these are Vampires after all. So their colors are cleaner, their armor brighter, and the gold filigree gives just a bit extra pop and just a shred of arrogance to the unit.
I was given the tip by a friend to break up the silver of the weapon some, so not pictured yet is an added blood spray on the weapon’s edge. I was pretty pleased with this end product, and with the progress; however, I was aware that I couldn’t afford to just paint one mini a week and hit my deadline.
With that in mind I dove into the unit as a whole, first gluing his compatriots onto popsickle sticks so that I have something to hold while painting them. I used hotglue, so when I am ready they will pop right off (thanks for the tip Billy Smith!)
Here are my work in progress first batch of three. Their armor is largely done, and their skin is finished. I really love these minis, there is just enough detail to have fun, but not so much it gets overwhelming.
You will notice that I only have 3 more minis here, that is because while batch painting I find it easier to do them in smaller groups, to a completion, and then start on the next group. between 3-5 is usually my go to, its enough that I am making progress in chunks, but not so many that each step takes me the whole evening. Seeing progress on the individual models gets me excited, and makes plugging away longer more enjoyable.
I am aware that in order to have a finished product by the end of April I need to continue to push myself, and realistically need to paint more each week. With that in mind I am hoping to finish these three, and hopefully finish, or mostly finish the next three all next week. With MLK Day as a day off for me, I am taking advantage to log several longer painting sessions.
Wish me luck!
Nice! Thanks for the shout out!