Today I slept in late. The Benedryl I took for all the allergies and itching likely helped me sleep. At 10ish, it was 80F already. It was 102F by 3ish.
Today I was working on painting more figures. These are Scythe mechs. Scythe is an excellent board game that came out a few years ago and set a new standard for dudes-on-a-board, resource management, and area control Euro-style game. I have lost count of the number of times I have played. I have won once against the large Portland gaming group. The journey is just as important to me; otherwise, my friend Will would never have the pleasure of just beating the crap out of me over and over in Scythe. I have a premium game with most of the add-ons that make sense to me. I have also painted the dudes, and now I am painting the mechs.
(This is the initial priming and then white dry brushing to bring out more detail)
(this is the initial painting before the oil paints)
I am taking this as an opportunity to learn yet-another-painting practice: Oil paint shading. A new set of oil paint products from the German company Abteilung 502 are available to better shade and even create effects that are not possible with acrylic paints. These products are for creating oil and rust marks on tanks, ships, and even space models and not for 28mm work, but it is time to try them. I am using the ABT510 Starship Filth from the Fantasy & Sci-Fi Colors Set for shading. I am also using Mr. Hobby’s UV protecting spray to create a layer of protection for the underlying acrylic. I can then wipe off the oil and start again and never damage the underlying colors.
I just put a dot of Starship Filth and some Odourless Thinner (ABT111) to let me turn it on to a wash. I then brushed it on to the figure where I wanted to shade it. Unlike the inks I use from Army Painter, the oils dry to precisely the color I put down and do not change the underlying color. I can also paint acrylics over the oils so I can touch up still. No guesswork and not color changes I get from the inks.
(the mechs do now look much more like something you would see in a movie or a steam-punk painting)
I am now waiting a bit for the oil to try. It seems to dry fast as a wash, but I will wait a few hours. I am thrilled with the look. I will be giving them their final protecting coat of anti-shine from Army Painters, and then I will remove the masking from the base exposing the stark white plastic I wanted to keep. I wanted the base to still fit the dudes who I also kept the faction color, in this case, white.
While painting, I was also waiting for my grocery delivery from Safeway.com. With the second-wave infections in Oregon, I am not ready to take a cart down the aisle again. The groceries were late, twenty minutes, so I slipped in my shower and all of that while waiting.
It got hot. I went to The Rock Fire Wood Pizza for lunch and a beer. I get a salad and a meat pizza, full-sized, to take home. I had a large glass of red ale. Next time it will be the pint–I need a nap after that.
I got gas in the car, the fifth time this year. The temperature was 102F and the gas guy, an older man of color, said it was hard on him, I gave him a tip, but he believes this year is not as bad as last year. I agree with him. Oregon weather keeps getting more livable and less damp as the rest of the world faces more and more difficulty from climate change. We have had a beautiful spring and summer, which we cannot enjoy due to Covid-19!
We met Mariah for a short late dinner at Wild Buffalo wings. They are still running their specials of cheap ten wings and beer. Mariah and I did not need any more beer, so we stuck to soft drinks and water. Susie had a Long Island Iced Tea.
Before we left for dinner, I wanted to give an update on some of the roses.
The Herbalist rose is full in bloom again. It is withstanding the lack of rain and heat without much stress. I would strongly recommend this David Austin rose to anyone.
Picasso is a painted rose. I am not sure it can be easily found anymore. It, too, is showing well this late summer.
The China Rose is showing stress but is at least flowering and will likely light-up in September when the rains return (unless we get an extended summer from climate change)
I read Lovecraft Country and loved it. The HBO series is starting tomorrow. It is race issues, Lovecraft styled horror, and investigators running around–just great!
More than one thousand people in the USA are reported to have died from the virus today.
I picked a newish hymn that I did not know: Now Let Us from This Table Rise.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 