From SamuliS: Infinity Nomads (20 points)

Time for my next entry with 4 Infinity miniatures from the Operation Icestorm starter set that came out this Autumn.

These guys are part of the Nomad faction and consist of 3 Alguaciles and a Mobile Brigada. They were actually supposed to be submitted with a further 4 more guys from the PanOceania faction, but I managed to mess up some of the edge highlighting and after some frustration decided to push them to the back of the painting queue for a while.

I never thought I would curse at miniatures for being too detailed, but these really started to get on my nerves as there is just so much to paint if you want to do it. Looking at what the Corvus Belli studio team had painted up as inspiration definately didn't help either as my efforts didn't seem very good compared to that :) Luckily I came to my senses after attempting to individually highlight all the tiny hexagons in the armor of the Mobile Brigada and resorted to drybrushing etc. to bring out detail and to finally get them finished.

I basecoated them red and did a few different highlights with an airbrush before adding some sharper highlights by brush. After that I desperately tried painting all the other areas and highlights with small layers to achieve a smooth blend. After coming to my senses I finally just drybrushed most of the black areas and followed up with a black wash to shade them. It would be nice to paint them even better as the miniatures are absolutely gorgeous, but frankly it's getting way over my skill level and I don't really have the patience to use days on a single model. And these are still going to be used in gaming and they won't just stay in a display cabinet.

The bases are from Micro Art Studios. I did a simple paint job on them and added some variety with Vallejo pigments to make them look worn and slightly rusty. And finally there is the orange area to mark the 180 degree front sector on the miniatures to speed up the game a bit. I went for a matt varnish on these, but as an afterthought a satin or gloss varnish could have looked better especially on the Mobile Brigada. Might have to go back and apply gloss on his armor to make it look shiny and polished!

Next up something easier to gather up some points to get me on track for my goal of 1000 points and maybe gather some motivation to finish the PanOceania forces.

From Curt:
Very cool figures Samuli. I'm always amazed by the incredible detail packed into these Infinitiy models, though sometimes I find the animation on some of their figures (especially the earlier models) to be a little affected and over the top. I really like the red/orange tone that you came up with for these guys - a wonderful colour choice - very 'Space 1999'. Also, I agree with you in that they might benefit with a soft satin finish to emphasize their hi-tech nature? Not sure. I look forward to seeing what you do with your next group from PanOceania.  Well done!