Miniature painting for toddlers

Recently I have given in to my son's continued pleas to paint one of 'daddy's figures'. I was in doubt when to start indoctrinating introducing him to the hobby. I thought I'd wait until he was around five. Then a good friend from the local hobby club told me his (almost) three year old daughter started her first foray into the hobby. I couldn't resist handing my son a (very cheap) brush, an abandoned Space Marine and a choice of colors. This is the result.

When to get started on the painting and gaming hobby? As soon as you're able to hold a brush!

Skitarii Rangers and Vanguard at the ready!

This week started with a Monday off. As I actually had time to take the day, I decided to do a (virtual) arm swipe over the painting table and start fresh.I already have an impulse buy of Belisarius Cawl on the plastic pile and with the Forgebane box getting split up by everybody I took the opportunity to pick up two units of Skitarii and two Tech-Priest Dominus models. I love the Tech-Priests. They manage to combine the character and horror of old school models with all the complexity that makes new-fangled plastic miniatures great (sorry I can't help being a heretic). To add to the challenge I decided to see how fast I could paint two full infantry units to a reasonable standard. Well Thursday morning before work I put the finishing touches on the bases (I globbed on crackle paint) and here is the result.

The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, he said.

Zzzzap! Finished Skaven Warp Lightning Cannon

I have to admit I'm behind on my blogging. Too much work and the strange need to see my family seem te be blocking my attempts to blather about my hobby online. I haven't even found the time to wax enthusiastic about the newly announced Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay edition (or the yet to be expanded upon announcement of the Age of Sigmar rpg). Then again, it will only arrive around August so there will be plenty of time for ranting and raving with an actual product in hand later. Around the last post I was preparing to paint a lot of different Skaven. As usual I did not finish them all (just yet). I did strip, repair and repaint this classic metal Warp Lightning Cannon.

Blast, blast, blast away my loyal chained up crew....as soon as I've moved to cover away from the machine...

Surprise, surprise manling! A Skaven Assassin jumps forward!

Busy, busy, busy and due to a small shipment error there is a slight delay in getting my workspace finished. In the meantime I finally found time to sit down and paint a bit. I was planning to get started on Necromunda so I took out some Skitarii sprues, put those aside, picked up my undead, dropped them again and looked at my Kharadron. To end this confusing story, I started work on a group of  (mostly) ancient Skaven. By going through my boxes (and friend's lead piles and the second hand market) I managed to acquire a nice collection of older Skaven to add to my horde. The first one to end up painted is this Skaven Assassin.

Quick, quick, kill, kill, and then run, run, I'm too valuable.