Nanananana Mattman!!!

This is going to be one comically long post! So be prepared to have your mind blown! (Or not… :D)

Knight Models released their new Third Edition for the Batman Miniature Game this year (it reads pretty awesome!) and I decided to just go full blown nutcase and dive into the dark nights of gotham and kick some butt!

What to start with? Well, I do have some specific ideas! Two of my favorite characters from the DC Batman world are Poison Ivy and Batwoman. The new edition features some nifty Batman stuff I can use with Batwoman, so I opted to go for GCPD + Batfriends for my baby steps into BMG.

Here I got a nice and small starting group, consisting of Batgirl (my starting “Boss” character for the first few games), Catwoman (Dark Knight Rises), Grifter (Never really heard of him but I really liked the model) and a handful of Gotham City Police Department cops (from Dark Knight Rises).

In the photo above you can see Knight Models old resin sculpts (I kind of like them, though they are brittle in some places and occasionally you get a miscast [Catwoman’s Pistol…]). I made the bases myself, as the paved stone ones you get with the models just aren’t enough for me. The cool thing about Batman is that Gotham City has so many different places and lots of scenery to be depicted. You can basically make anything and it will look cohesive. Options! Science!

Here I primed them and added some coats of grey for a zenithal effect. I recently talked to one of my buddies about this as he primes black and spritzes them from the top with white creating a spotted fog effect. He says it helps him see details better and helps him paint in general. I figured why not give it a whirl, though I decided to do a more subtle transition to see if I can use it in some cases to glaze over and maintain the naturally created shadows from airbrushing.

I started off with the simple cops. Easy and fun models to paint. I tried glazing over the airbrushed sections but the paints and consistency I used was a bit too potent on the first model and I just kept to my usual painting style on these folks, to maintain a sense of uniformity. I have to complain about some of these models. Especially the female cop was affected by it hard. Her face was pretty deformed and thus she has kind of lopsided eyes. You wont see it really unless you actually look at her face, which is luckily mostly covered by her cap. Haha.

Catwoman and Batgirl! Its hero time!
Catwoman was the first model on which I attempted glazing over areas. It worked pretty well and I am pleased with the results. I added some blue to tint her grey suit a bit and give it some color.
Batgirl I had to paint entirely by hand. The yellows I used aren’t great for glazing, as the coating is just not even enough. So I had to ‘oldschool’ it all… I think all in all she pops pretty damn well and that makes me happy! A great center piece for a small gang!

On to the next group! (Yes Grifter was missing from the first, as he is such an expensive big boy and I cannot field him in small demo games…).

On this picture you can see the next upcoming models I plan to paint (sans Alfred, as I cannot really use him yet). “WHERE IS BATWOMAN!? DIDN’T YOU SPOUT SOME FAVORITE NONSENSE BLA BLA BLA EARLIER?” You, sir or mam, are very accute. I still do not have Batwoman. At the moment I am waiting for my delivery on her. So I went with the next best thing: Commissioner Gordon from the new 3rd Edition models (and damn is he awesome!).

Here I started off with some regular cops again. These are ones I airbrushed directly with their main color. Testing things out and seeing how they work. Thus far I am pretty pleased, though I could definitely push for more contrast. I didn’t dilly dally too long with these guys, as I just want them finished.
These guys are from Knight Models’ new rubber resin crap plastic they use for 3rd Edition models. I am really not fond of this product. The sculpts look amazing but cleaning them up is an actual chore and not fun at all. You cannot really use anything like sandpaper or files to clean up, as this just tears the surface area and creates a really messy looking area. In addition when you cut off stuff, as its rubbery like you often have snip bits hanging around and you have to use the knife again to get those off. With my clumsy skills I manage to cut off more the second swing than I originally did, which really blows!

Here you see two more special characters from the world of Gotham! Grifter a kickass gunning hero! Here I used the glazing technique again and you can see on his green cloak how well (or poorly…) it turned out. This guy really made me want to experiment with that technique more and I decided to dedicate another project entirely to glazing models (preshaded with zenithal lighting) and using ONLY SCALE 75 paints! BAM!

Gordon here is one of my all time favorite models from the KM range. Definitely a kickass and well designed miniature. Here I attempted the glazing technique again, especially and mostly on his trench coat. I like how it looks, though it could use a bit more contrast again… Something I really need to work at getting better at. Its fun none the less!

With that I even have a fully playable 350 reputation force for the game! Gordon and his daughter Batgirl can go out and kick some bad guy butt! I am really looking forward to my first games and immersing myself into this awesome comic world I grew up with.

Despite the different looks and appearances, these models look somewhat cohesive, as they all share similar styles in basing/paint jobs. Especially the colorful leaves really help make this clear. I also used them on my objective markers!

What? Did you think I was finished? 😀

BMG uses various sorts of objective markers and here I have the ones I can use. Lamp posts and manholes are staple BMG items and really look snazzy, imo.

I used an airbrush to paint the majority of the objective markers. Really fun to do actually! Its quick, messy but still looks good enough to be decent for tabletop. Add in some more color and a bit more definition through highlighting and you get yourself some awesome loooking additional scenary for the game!

NOW THAT IS IT! Post over! Thanks for reading, if you even got this far and see you next time! Gotham City will soon be safe again! (AS IF!)

P.S. This got me really far in our HEAT IS ON event! ❤