Gang painting - The Scale Creep Methods

When it comes to our painting it seems that the most common goal at the moment is a 'Gang Sized' project. Around 10 or so figures in a thematic group, whether it be a unit, a warband, a gang or some other kind of group, it's the kind of thing each of us will do a couple of in a year (at least).

But how do we do it? Each of tends to work in isolation, showing WIP's or finished items to group but we never have the opportunity to sit and watch how the others work through it. Occasionally WIP's will illicit responses such as, 'Why the fuck do you do it like that, you awkward sod?' or 'For the love of god will you tidy your painting desk!', occasionally 'Tell me you only keep your paints in a plastic bag to wind Paul up' can be heard over the tumult of 'Cut your fucking fingernails!'.

Artistic view of WIPsters group painting, actual process may differ

So we thought it might be educational to get each of the Scale Creeps that are willing, awake, sober and paying attention, to blether on a little bit about how that go about painting a gang of mini's (mostly so the rest of us can point and laugh).

Of course we all have our views and it's only natural we'd want to confront them in the most gentlemanly way. Here's our personal observations on each other's methods :

Assleman :JB
WP
Axiom
Captain Crooks 

Necromunda High - Why Necromunda is a teen comedy.

With the release of the new edition of Necromunda, many of us have got back into the lore, wondering how to approach this new immersion in the underhive.

On a saturday morning (in the old world that is), some of us were discussing the basic psychology of the main houses (which started with what kind of marine chapter you'd most likely expect in the underhive and how Imperial fists suck)[Editors note: you suck].

Then the revelation that the major houses in Necromunda are just the archetypes of teen comedies just fell on us.

Now just play that song and follow us...

Why would you make the ghost of HG Wells cry?

Playing war-games with unpainted figures makes HG wells cry. He is also dead. Therefore it's his ghost that is crying. Making a ghost cry is not big or clever. It is mean. Why are you being mean to the Ghost of HG Wells?

Lets examine the reasons you have and rip them to shreds.

How to count painted models ?

It's a common thing amongst painters to count the number of models painted over a given period to see or show how productive we are. While most of us get satisfaction from exceding the numbers from the previous period and frustration from not meeting them, one thing is far less common amongst us : the way to count painted models.

"How is that even a question ?" 

I've heard it in the back, don't lie. Well if you're asking the question, it probably means you do not paint enough models, or don't count them or even worse... you don't care.

Do you feel we should count bases, heads, models, profiles ?

Now we at Scale Creep® believe that fun is too serious a thing to mess with and if something is worth doing, then its worth doing right.

We're going to expose you to the multiple model counting techniques we've developped over time so that you can pick the right one (the Predator one).

Riffing on the Rip-offs

Like a rotting corpse crawling from the grave to chew your innards and suck your brains, Scale Creep rises again to bring you more genius from the gutter.


This time we're going to lash together a post based on the flimsiest of ideas and make it float down the river of inspiration through sheer force of will.


Being gamers of a particular persuasion, we are always on the lookout for means of fuelling our ludicrous ideas. New madness to bring to the table top in inch high form. Being lazy old men we love to be sitting on our backsides in order to find these nuggets of ingenuity. And if we are going to rip off other peoples ideas then it's even better if we are ripping off people who have already ripped of other people!
Ever wondered what Rogue Trader's Helsreach taken to the disco would look like ?

The HeroQuest Hero Quest: The Sixth Orc

Or, the THIRD Heroquest orc, as I suppose this post might originally have been called as I signed up for orc number three.

Now the astute among you may notice that this means that orc number three comes after the fourth and fifth orcs, and that this means this orc is both three and six, but that's not a mistake as you might initially assume. Nor is it that I am spectacularly bad at finishing things (like, for example, blogging about a figure that has been painted for months) - what a suggestion! No, it is deliberate because it follows the infamously non-linear, occasionally non-Euclidean, and perpetually non-sensical counting pattern* of orcs themselves. I'd go into this in more detail, except the requisite chemical consumption for it to make sense is not a suitable topic for a family-friendly blog like this one.

[note from the producers : Since herding painters is even worse than herding cats, this will be the sixth orc that should have been third since the third will come later. Please don't ask.]

What's that? You want a picture of a painted miniature, not a monograph on orcish numerological peculiarities? Suit yourself. *grumble grumble* Peasants! Ignoramuses! 

The Hero Quest Hero Quest: The Fifth Orc

Hi all,

I'd like to start with a quick word of thanks to the ScaleCreepers for the invite to participate in this "event" and to guest author on this august Blog!  Cheers boys!

I guess there is supposed to be where I wax philosophical about HeroQuest and about how great it is, or was, and how discovering it changed my life and lead me down the path to proper wargamming enlightenment.

...Well I'm sorry to disappoint...but, I'm actually not that fond of HQ and had managed to avoid  playing a game of if until the summer of 2015 when AirborneGrove introduced it to me at the OHNW event in Allentoen PA...this was followed by one other notable game in the fall of 2016 that was GMed by Crooksy from the other side of the world...sadly I think I slept through the second half of that game....I got tired of watching Lopez's character fall into pit trap...after pit trap...after pit trap...zzzzzz