Bikou and another Wargaming Show

So I'm still working on the mission to clear my painting desk, which is just as well as I'm now starting to paint presents for Christmas, as well as getting started on the next article for the Ancible.  My latest finished piece is Bikou from Bushido.

She's painted in the same colour scheme as the Prefecture of Ryu warband I painted for the Ancible Issue 11.  The black was done slightly differently though:

• Base coat:  Chaos Black
• First highlight: Vallejo Model Colour German Grey (big thanks to Pirate Viking Painting for recommending this one)
• Second highlight:  Adeptus Battlegrey
• Final highlight:  Codex Grey
• Glaze:  Very diluted Chaos Black was painted thinly over the black to tone down the highlights

I know the red and yellow aren't exactly "Ninja colours" but I wanted her to tie in with the rest of the Prefecture guys.  This is also why I used the ubiquitous GW grass - if I could do it again, I'd get rid of the GW stuff and use some more realistic stuff for all of them, but hey, it's done now and it doesn't look bad.  In the next week or so I'll post up some pictures of the whole group

The skin tones are different to my normal method:

• Base coat:  P3 Beast Hide
• Shade:  1:1 mix of Gryphonne Sepia and Leviathan Purple
• First highlight:  Beast Hide
• Second highlight:  Beast Hide and Ryn Flesh
• Final highlight:  Ryn Flesh

As I've mentioned before, the base is from Dark Templar's rather splendid Malcontent range of resin bases - the bamboo set fit the Bushido game perfectly.  I haven't seen many other Japanese themed resin bases about, so if you're thinking of giving Bushido a try, get some quality funky bases to match!  Here's another picture to show how my first attempt at green stuff worked with the base and the tree trunk of the model:

Bikou was a blast to paint, really simple and fun, and it was nice to add something to the original Starter set. I'm going to get my hands on Mikio (crikey, not sure whether I can do something that looks THAT good), and the yet to be released Shujenga who I think is going to rock in the colour scheme I have.

Last weekend I attended Warfare in Reading.  It was very much in the mould of Colours, but maybe a little smaller.  It was mostly Historical wargaming (particularly the traders stands), but I managed to find some really good stuff:

• The Deadly Gamesman from Black Scorpion - a fantastic miniature, absolutely oozing character
• Mad Jim Jones again from Black Scorpion - I know I was going to get Elven Pirates, and I still might one day, but this chap was far too good to pass up.  To be honest I could have spent SO much money at Black Scorpion, but I have enough to paint already and I may have had an unhappy wife if I'd come back with too much!
• For a long time I've hankered after a Freebooter's Fate miniature, so I got myself Apagado - not the most colourful miniature by any means, but one that I think suits my painting style pretty well.
• 30mm Dockside Bases from Kerr and King - these are pretty fantastic and I bought them specifically for the Black Scorpion pirates (of which I only have one so far...)

So not the biggest haul, but I got to meet some interesting people, and see some really interesting stuff, and come away with some good ideas.  The range of scenery you can buy at these shows is astounding - well worth a visit just for that.  I can thoroughly recommend Oshiro they are really high quality and fantastic looking.

I really hope I can make it to Salute next year...

I'm currently painting the Fellowship of the Ring (a present for someone), then I'm going to do a little more to my Eldar army, and get started on my Malifaux crew.

As always, comments and criticism welcome!