Yesterday, I started on the Human team that comes with Dreadball.  Today, I painted the 2 guards. They were a test for my color scheme, and I’m happy with it.  The light blue didn’t come out very strong, but I’m good with that.

The assembled models.  From left to right:  a striker (there are 4), jack (there are 4), and guard (there are 2).

 

I primed all the models, and washed them.  This is so I can play the game with them, even before they are painted.

Today, I painted the 2 guards. I had half a plan when I started, and it evolved as I went.  That’s pretty much how I paint most things.

This is a guard basecoated and ready for a wash.

 

I washed it very heavily in black.  When it was dry I highlighted and drybrushed it.

Next, I need to apply the number decal, then spray on a few coats of Dullcote varnish.  The Dullcote puts the finishing touch on it, plus it protects the paint.  I just love how minis look after a coat of Dullcote. It’s hard to describe, but they just look “finished”.  After that, I’ll put just a dab of Citadel’s ‘Ardcoat on the eyes to make them shiny.

Then it’s 2 down, 8 to go!

After hearing such great things about Dreadball on the Meeples & Miniatures podcast, I decided to pick it up.  It’s around $55 on Amazon.com, which is way less than the $75 MSRP.

I have not played yet, but I’ve read the rules, and it seems pretty straightforward.  The main holdup it that it took me 3 weeks to paint just one team!  I usually paint 15mm, and these are 28mm, with the giant Orx guards more like 35mm.  I was very surprised by how much longer it took to paint this larger scale.

Now that one team is done, I’m going to assemble, prime and wash the other team, and start playing.  Then I’ll paint that team gradually, so that I can actually play the game sometime this month.

The time it took aside, I’m really happy with the way they came out.  Here’s some pics along with my comments:

This is how they come straight out of the box.  They are a plastic resin – not quite resin, and not quite plastic.

 

Sorted into the pieces for each figure.

 

The Orx / Goblins, ref and balls assembled and primed.  Everything fit fine.  No trimming or bending was needed.

I did clean up a lot of mold lines and some flash.  I used a file on the mold lines, and it did not file as cleanly as metal.  As some point I decided I was doing more harm than good, and just left the mold lines.

In hindsight, any “damage” I did was easily covered by the paint, but the mold lines I left are still visible.  So I wish I had proceeded to clean up the rest of the mold lines.  Too late now.

 

I did one Orx first, to make sure my plan was going to look OK.  You can see the other 3 Orx in progress.

 

Goblins in progress.

 

Goblins basecoated and drybrushed, ready for a wash.

 

After a wash and highlights.

 

The back, with the number decal.  I bought the official decals from Mantic, for , I think, $1.99.

 

Completed Orx.

 

The back of the Orx with the number decal.

 

The whole Orx / Goblin team, along with the ref and balls.

 

Here is the size of the different figures.

 

I learned a lot painting these figures, my first foray into a scale that’s not 15mm.  Also, my first dealings with resin / plastic.  I’d assembled and painted 1 vehicle in the past that was a mix of resin and metal, but these were my first all resin minis.