Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Back from Memphis!

So, this past weekend I took a trip down to Memphis for Games Day North America.  This is my fourth Games Day, having gone in 2003, 2004, and 2012 to Chicago.  This is my first trip to Memphis however, and I was pleased.  

It also marks a first for me - entry into Golden Demon.  Went in with little hope, thinking I'd get lucky - maybe low number of entries or the fact that the year has been 40k heavy and my entries were fantasy.  There was plenty of competition!

So the first night, Games Workshop held a Bar-B-Q at the Memphis World of Battle, their North American HQ.  Me and the girlfriend went to another restaurant, which was delicious and so we didn't partake in the food, but I was blown away by the World of Battle and its displays.  Plus, they had a cool inflatable Space Marine outside!



Let me tell you that while my expectations were low, it was really cool to make first cut and see my miniatures in those glass Golden Demon displays.  Again, I've been to these events many times and usually I'm the one standing in awe, peering into the glass at the talent.  It was an accomplished moment for me to be on the other end, watching others look at my work.  

My Ironguts in the back left corner

The Slaughtermaster faced some fierce competition, but he looked damn cool in the case!


So, the time dragged on, as I was ignoring most of the other events and just nervously awaiting the end result of the Golden Demon.  I happened to go by to check on the judging and they had pulled three miniatures from the Warhammer Monster glass to take pictures - the one you see int he picture is my Slaughtermaster.  You can imagine at this point (and my girlfriend was laughing at my face) that I'm very excited.  I'm thinking they have selected their winners and took pictures to put up on the screen....  

Unfortunately, they took pictures of everything.  Haha.  My Ironguts barely fell out of the last cut - placed below the top three on the top shelf... But the Slaughtermaster made it into their little judges tent with some of the top monster finalists... but when the guy came out to put the winners in the top shelf, my miniature fell into the next rung.  

Disappointed, yes, but the talent on display was humbling for sure.  I did receive this nifty medal below for being a finalist - something that will motivate me to sharpen my skills for next year.  Went to a couple 40k GTs last year and did well - thought that was a rush - now I find myself a competitive painter - at least in my own eyes.  Good thing about painting, no jerks across the table - haha.  



So now I'm back in Louisville and busy at work - my real job that is.  However, at night, I'm prepping the next thing on the chopping block.  Very bored with the Imperial Guard and eager to play some Ogres, I've prepped the Mournfang Cavalry below.  Tomorrow night I'll finish cleaning them up and then prime - ready to start painting on Friday or Saturday (Saturday I'm having an all day group painting session).  Done for tonight - going to turn in and think about entries for next year!


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The Progress does not stop!

I said I'd take a break, but why do that when I'm on a roll.  Been working on putting together and cleaning up the mold lines for these Mournfang Cavalry.  Very cool models!  Can't wait to paint and post!


There likely won't be a new post until next Monday.  I'll be finishing up some things, dropping off my dogs, and packing tomorrow for my trip to Memphis on Friday.  Games Day here I come.  I've enjoyed going to Games Day over the years, but having gone to Adepticon for the first time this past April, I will have to keep my expectations low.  Now, if I were to take home one of those awesome statues, that would change my mind  :)

Off to bed!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Almost ready for Games Day!

So much progress...  I had people over on Saturday for an all day painting event.  I had started my SM/Butcher the night before and gotten the airbrushing on his skin finished.  Much to my surprise, I got the main model finshed on Saturday, then spent some of Sunday evening finishing the Gnoblar and Base.  Easy peasy.  

Here are some pics of the finished model:









Very happy with the finished model.  Again, hope to get lucky at Golden Demon.  All I have left is the display bases for the SM/Butcher and the Ironguts.  The base for the SM/Butcher is a 50mm resin display from Secret Weapon that I will paint black and put down a satin varnish.  

The display base for the Ironguts is a prime Hobby Lobby wood base (lol) that I stained and clear coated.  Tonight I textured the top and primed white for airbrushing.  Also magnetized the bottom of the ironguts to prevent fall damage :).  

Here are some better pics of the completed Ironguts and also my Ironblasters I finished back in March.  Thanks!













Friday, July 19, 2013

Down to the Stretch

Been working, working, working.  Gotta get these miniatures done before Games Day.  Been having lots of progress and paint on models despite a busy work week.  So much that I haven't updated this page simply because it would have impeded the progress. 

Here are some pics.  The ogre ironguts unit is essentially finished.  I will spend the next few days staring at them and fixing any small things that need touch-ups before I put a dullcote on them.  

I'm working on a small wooden display base for them.  I haven't stained anything since I was probably 6 years old working in my dad's garage... but hey, its like riding a bicycle.  

I also started work on my Slaughtermaster.  

Having recieved my new airbrush last week, I decided to try it out.  It is a Harder and Steenbeck evolution silverline.  It works like a charm but you have to thin the paints much more than in the Iwata Eclipse.  

More to come - I'm having people over tomorrow for an all-day painting session.  Enjoy the pics.





Monday, July 15, 2013

No update in a while, but plenty of progress!

Should be done with this unit tomorrow night.  They are turning out much better than I expected.  Going to do some work and put them on a display base.  My plan was to throw in the Slaughtermaster at Games Day.  Might go ahead and enter these into the Warhammer Unit category... wth :)


Very happy with the standard bearer all the way around.  He is probably the best model in the unit.  Since the standard for the Ironguts really is based on the regular bull models, he gave me an appreciation on how they will look.  I look forward to painting a unit of them... They'll be faster to paint even since they have less detail and the airbrush really works the skin :)

Anyway.  Never really painted gems like this... wanted to get it perfect... Probably not perfect, but good enough for me.... I thought for a minute about doing some OSL on the area around the gems, but I didn't wanna screw it up.  



This is the progress at the end of tonight... one more night and I think I'll be finished... one more night.  Then I'll think about a display base.  But for me, its time for bed.  :)



Thursday, July 11, 2013

Taking longer than I expected, but turning out great.  I still have quite a bit to do and, unfortunately, a busy weekend ahead.  The metal is almost finished - will need to build up rust but I finished the 3rd coat of agrax earthshade tonight.  

Also finished the heads for the most part and attached them.  I probably should have waited, but I glued the gnoblar onto the unit champion... had to see how it would look.  

Next I will construct the bases, texture them, and prime them for painting.  I will also prep the shields I've picked out for them.  Since the Ironguts box only comes with a limited variety, I "borrowed" some from a buddy.  I think they will go nicely.  

Here are some pics.

Off with their heads!

Uh... ON with their heads!

The Gutlord with his trusty gnoblar sidekick


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

More progress tonight... didn't get as much done as I wanted, but meh.  Tomorrow I will start the washing process on all of the basecoated parts of the ogres.  My ogre metal is a long process... 2-3 coats of agrax earthshade, rust weathering pigments, and silver highlights.

Also trying to decide how i'm going to paint a couple pieces in this unit.  The tusks for the unit champion and the tusks on the standard... might try to use the airbrush on it... I hate taping models off... :(



Monday, July 8, 2013

It's been a busy holiday weekend. I got to spend some quality time off.  Had people over and played some Warhammer and Zombicide and spent some time yesterday and today putting some paint on models.  Games Day is coming up and I badly want to finish my Ogre Slaughtermaster to put into the Golden Daemon competition - hey, I might get lucky.

Even though I really, really want to finish my Imperial Guard, its painful to paint more Krieg - they're just not fun.  I have been putting a little bit of color on them, having put a basecoat down on their bases.

After making myself get that done, I quickly switched over to the Ogre Ironguts... I love painting these models.  Just like most, there are some really dull things about them, but once you get into the detail, they become a delight to paint.  The Airbrush just makes their skin pop.  I've almost finished basecoating all six of the models, then the fun part begins!

I don't have my picture library posted on the blog yet, so below is an example of one of my finished Ironguts.  The goal is to paint up 18 of them - I highly doubt I will ever use more than that in a single army - and its a fashionable number to run a huge block of them if I really want to put the hurt on another force.  I'm keeping around the 6 finished ogres for inspiration.  Here is one of my favorites along with a Gnoblar I'm working on that you'll see more of below.  

The only gnoblars I've painted are the drivers on my two completed Ironblasters - however you really can't even see them on the model because of the cannon.  I love Gnoblars.  I've always been a fan of Orcs and Goblinkin, so the Gnoblar models helped draw me to the Ogre Army - they provide some mixup in the color and brutality of the theme.  

Unlike their Goblin cousins, I've always imagined they look much more drab and dirty.  They are a bit softer than goblins and, in my mind, more mischievous.  So I wanted them to have a more pale gray look instead of the bright green often associated with their kind.  I scoured the internet for a paint scheme, but finally just tried something out.  

For the base I used Skavenblight Dinge.  Then I worked up some highlights.  Using a 1:1 mix of Stormvermin Fur and Loren Forest, I used thin layers to build up the highlights on the raised edges of the skin.  Once that highlight was done, I added in some slaanesh grey (I love this color!) and voila, the highlights helped tone down the green.  As a final touch, I used some pink and flesh color to blush up the tip of his nose and ears - a tiny bit on his knees to tie it together.  

The Gnoblars' noses are very pronounced, so you really want to bring that out on the model.  Brightening the color helps draw the eye to the part of the model.  For the eyes, which are tiny - I used black - this helps them look a bit more subterranean.  Here is the model in it's current state - the skin is essentially finished - I've only started on the rest.  This particular Gnoblar will be resting on tusks that I added to the unit champion's Gutplate.  For the next Gnoblar, I'm going to add a small glaze/wash before the final highlight to help him look a bit more dirty.  I'm still happy with the outcome.  





I'm hoping to be done with this Ogre unit by the end of the week.  I still have some work to do - but the large chunk is out of the way.  I've yet to put their bases together and I'm working on some new shields - Since the kit only comes with 4 varieties, I'm bumming some shields from other kits - thanks to a buddy and a box of savage orcs I got on clearance!  Score!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Got some paint on some models today!  Ha.  On the working man's schedule, progress is slow but sure.  Got first basecoats on the Krieg bases and on the leather parts of the Ogres.  

Four day weekend coming up for the holiday - so I hope to get a bunch done.