Looking back at last quarter’s goals, I realize I took on more than I could handle. Out of the three projects I planned, only one was fully completed. I started the quarter with three main goals: finishing the dragon from Reaper Miniatures’ Dragons Don’t Share 2013, painting Games Workshop’s Ironskull’s Boyz from Warhammer Underworlds, and completing a diorama regiment base for my elf Kings of War army, which included multiple miniatures from various sources.

Completing the dragon from Dragons Don’t Share required significant time, effort, and planning. I managed to finish two of the four models in the Ironskull’s Boyz set and made some progress on the remaining two. Unfortunately, I encountered issues with the Forest Guard regiment models for my elf army and only managed to prime six of them.

Do I consider this a failure? No. The goal was to make progress on long-stagnant projects, and I achieved that. I either painted or primed previously untouched or incomplete miniatures, which is a considerable improvement from where I started.

The Ironskull’s Boyz set is in a good place, with only two models left to paint. To clarify, these are larger Games Workshop Orcs, which take more time to finish. The blue and yellow armor I chose also adds to the time required, but I believe it’s worth it.

Now, onto the choice that turned out to be quite a large undertaking in hindsight: the elf regiment. I started this project over a year ago, beginning by painting a 3D-printed tree and gluing it to the base. I also painted two models, placed a stump for a third model, and painted the dragon whelp mascot for the unit. It sounded like a decent start.

However, when I started to dry fit the other 11+ models on the base, I realized that the tree took up too much space. The base size for this unit is 100mm by 80mm, and after some internal debate, I carefully removed the tree, leaving a large blank spot on the left-hand side of the base. Now, I’ll begin to dry fit some cork and models to plan the best arrangement. All in all, removing the tree and priming the six minis marked good progress on this project.

Next, the finished miniature: the dragon from Dragons Don’t Share 2013. According to the manufacturer, it’s supposed to be a red dragon. Honestly, I disagreed with that color choice, as it didn’t align with my vision. I envisioned a Rust Dragon instead. This idea struck me some time ago, but after priming the model in the first quarter, I realized I needed to plan it out. This process took some time, as multiple ideas flooded my mind on how to achieve the desired look.

The next step involved eliminating ideas that seemed too complicated or wouldn’t read as rust. In the end, two ideas remained: a striped, tiger-like coloration or a more weathered steel look. The striped look would rely on greys and browns, but after further consideration, I realized it would be difficult to make it appear rusty. Therefore, I went with the second option. The process was quite simple: establish the brown rusty look, dry brush with a metallic color, apply a shade, and then add further weathering to the overall body. I also focused on giving the face a smooth skin look and weathered leather wings. Ultimately, I loved the result, and it turned out exactly as I envisioned.

With the second quarter finished, I continue with the goal of completing unfinished projects. For the third quarter, two of my three goals are to finish Ironskull’s Boyz and the Forest Guard regiment on a diorama base. This leaves me to pick a third goal for the quarter. I’ve decided to go with the Cyclops from Massive Darkness, a single large model that I primed three years ago. My objective is to finish two of these three projects and make significant progress on the third before the end of September. In conclusion, paint fearlessly. It’s just paint; you can fix any mistakes.