"Don't Let The Nickname Fool You."

"The B2-series battle droid wasn't really all that super."

These four 32mm scale B2 Droids are by "Nyverdale Tabletop" and can be downloaded for free as part of Duncan's fifteen-figure strong B2 Droids Collection (Fan Art) of STL (Standard Triangle Language) files on "Cults". Clearly based upon the Super Battle Droids from "Star Wars", they were produced using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 3 Pro 3D Printer.

Having spent a significant amount of time scraping off and sanding down a staggering number of printing 'pimples' on each figure's front (which quite badly battered the odd droid's torso), they were individually based upon 25mm round bases and primed with a coat of "Citadel" Abaddon Black. I then treated them to a generous application of "Vallejo" Gunmetal, heavily washed them with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and dry-brushed the lot with (more) "Vallejo" Gunmetal.

"Papsikels Miniatures" WIPs - Three E-800 Exterminators at various painting stages

Whether as a result of me using a flat make-up brush for these 'rough' highlights or not, I disappointingly discovered that the process really emphasised all the pits, dents and deformities of the heavy troops' production, so I initially went back and gave each of the quartet's heads an extra splash of "Citadel" Nuln Oil and 'picked out' their softly-detailed eyes with a line of Abaddon Black. Frustratingly, this didn't seem to distract the eye from each figure's flaws, so ultimately I decided to simply apply a second shade of "Citadel" Nuln Oil over the quartet to darken their overall tone.

In addition, I attempted to contrast some of the Baktoid Combat Automata-built robots' joints, heads and midriff with a further application of "Citadel" Nuln Oil (as I did when pigmenting some 28mm plastic Battle Droids by "Wizards Of The Coast" in April 2019. Infuriatingly, this didn't really work either, so eventually I settled upon carefully painting their waists with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and 'spotting' a light-emitting diode on one of their chests using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

"Papsikels Miniatures" WIPs - These E-800 Exterminators have been primed and shaded.

Setting aside all my grievances with this latest submission to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC), I have started working on a number of E-800 Exterminators by "Papsikels Miniatures". These models are causing me the odd 3D printing failure on account of some dubious pre-supports. But in the main I've been really happy with both the success rate and quality of the sculpting; especially when you consider how complicated the (not) Terminators are with all their pistons and tubing.

Furthermore, the models are giving me another opportunity to settle down with "Duncan Rhodes Two Thin Coats" paint range - most notably his winning combination of Sir Coates Silver and Doom Death Black. Hopefully, these futuristic automatons will prove pretty quick to complete, as, having subsequently joined "Papsikels Miniatures" Cyberpunk tier on "Patreon" with a view to using many of the "Shadowrun" styled combatants for "X-Crawl", I am quite quickly building up an intimidating backlog of their figures.

"Nine He Gave To Mortal Men..."

"...Proud and great, and so ensnared them."

This 28mm scale metal model of a Nazgul is produced by "Games Workshop", and these days can only be bought as part of the Nottingham-based manufacturer’s nine-piece resin Nazgûl boxed set. Luckily, I was able to purchase my 'dreaded ring-servant of the Dark Lord Sauron' separately at a wargaming show's second-hand stall several years ago.

The Ringwraith was quite embarrassingly still primed from when I had planned to enter it into last year's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC), so I simply smoothed this out with a single application of "Citadel" Abaddon Black. I then robustly dry-brushed the figure with “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal before drenching it with “Citadel” Nuln Oil.

"Artisan Guild" WIP - This Giant Clay Golem is slowly having all its details 'picked out'

The Nazgul's armour and sword were ‘picked out’ using a combination of “Vallejo” Gunmetal and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. These areas were later dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Gunmetal. Finally, in order to better tie-in the palette with that of his master Sauron, I applied a little “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade to the former King’s armoured gloves and boots.

With my latest submission for the AHPC completed I have made some more progress on the 80mm tall Giant Clay Golem (Kneeling) by "Artisan Guild" I plan to field as a 45-point unit for "Age Of Fantasy: Skirmish". This 3D printed monster has now had its impressive bulk layered, shaded and repeatedly dry-brushed with a handful of "Vallejo" primers/paints, and now predominantly just needs all its numerous runes to be carefully 'picked out' with the "Citadel" Contrast colour Flesh Tearer's Red.

"Nyverdale Tabletop" WIPs - These four B2 Droids have been primed, and shaded.

Alongside my Golemmar Gnomes' 'slow moving strider', I've started another small-scale project using some STL (Standard Triangle Language) files from "Nyverdale Tabletop" on "Cults". All of these "Star Wars" Super Battle Droids can be found for free inside Duncan's B2 Droids Collection (Fan Art) and probably demonstrate both the best, as well as worst, aspects of semi-professional 3D printing.

The figures themselves are absolutely excellent, with the set containing no less than  fifteen different B2 Droids. However, their pre-supported versions are all quite bizarrely placed face down onto the build plate, so suffer quite horribly from the pimple/acne effect of their struts. Admittedly, the fact the miniatures are so low to the ground does result in a fast print-time, yet this is debatably off-set by their rafts' significant footprints only allowing five models per batch. So with hindsight, I may well have been better off standing them upright and supplying them with my own supports using "Chitubox" Basic...