Rolling along

Gotta start getting things off the chopping block, so I spent a litle bit of time tonight finishing up Cthulu, a side project for a buddy of mine. Pretty happy with the outcome.  Not a huge fan of the Reaper Bones models but I get their point and the quality is high considering their inexpensive material.

Next up!  I'm leaving you guys with a bit of metal to go along with your slumbering darkness.  Happy Painting.

A Glorious Death

Just a quick update before I go to bed.  I'm very happy to show off my completed Dwarf Slayer.  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I wasn't able to spend much time painting this week, but I made up for it with a weekend marathon.  It's really awesome when you have a bunch of projects on your table and you pick up something just to mess around with it mix it up and then it ends up being a slam dunk.  I think this guy has turned out to be my finest miniature yet and I'm glad to say I learned a lot in the process.  More dwarves will surely follow.  (Sorry for the picture quality - I tried to print a background and my printer was being garbage). Enjoy!

When I look at him, I have to imagine him screaming "I'll chop your heads off!!!"  But that may be because of my recent referral to and subsequent love of Axe Cop.  Check out the first episode here.  It's pure win.

Crazy WIP Saturday

Lately, finding time during the week to paint miniatures has been tough.  I've been counting down the minutes until today all week so I could spend some time working on the plethora of models sitting on my workbench. Cthulu isn't that fun to paint, but hes easy, so last night I found myself wanting to do something else for a few hours.  Spent some time trying some new blending techniques for skin on my Dwarf Dragon Slayer model (the new one - which I love).  I got it through all of the stages and then completely destroyed the paint job trying to paint a tattoo...  Only having a couple hours to work last night, I put down my brush pretty frustrated, sure that I would have to start over with a new model.  But I learned.  

Today, I decided to go ahead and re-basecoat his skin so that I could just practice.  I have to say, I'm glad I did.  The colors for the skin are pretty simple - Bugmans Flesh, Cadian Fleshtone, and Kislev flesh, which I mixed with White for the last few layers, and then pure white.  I used blending and glazing techniques to shade and highlight the model and then glazed it very subtly with Bugman's flesh.  I also painted his hair, which I used the Reaper Master Triad for red hair (Red Shadow - with a touch of Rhinox hide for the darkest shadow, Carrot Top Red, and Red Highlight, plus white to mix and use as a final pure highlight).  Finally, right before jumping on to post before I head out to work for a bit, I painted up the stone on his base (I still have to paint the gold trim and other details.  I think this part still needs some work, but I'm liking the effects.  Its a bit difficult because of the miniature's pose - hard to tell where to highlight and where to put a shadow.  Here are the current WIP pics: 

I did also get a chance to work on some other things on my table.  For Cthulu, since I had broken out the airbrush, I started to work on the base, especially the stone with the runic etching on it.  I still have quite a bit to do with it, but its a start.  

The Wreck-Age Capybara Herder also got some more attention today.  They are fun, but I'm not used to (and still need to work on) painting fur.  Its one of those things that I find really hard to make look realistic - but a lot depends on figuring out which technique is best to use for the type of sculpt.  For these, I drybrushed a few colors and then used a couple washes and glazes to tone down the drybrush look.  Once I get some details picked out, I think they'll start to look much better.  I'm still trying to figure out what kind of color scheme to use on the herder.  

And... finally, I put some primer and zenithal lighting down on my newest project.  I finally decided on Pandora and her crew to start with in malifaux.  Can't wait to start painting these miniatures.  I have some resin bases coming in the mail from Dragonforge and the new Teddy miniature on the way (super-pumped about that one).  Have some great ideas for painting these, so hope to put those ideas to work soon, so I can get to playing the game.  I'll leave you with a pic of them.  Thanks for reading and happy painting!

Pulling the trigger... and some updates.

Its been a very fast week, and lots of trepidation on making my Forge World order for my World Eaters army has been completed.  I made the order this morning and I can't wait to get those tubs of dishwater ready for the resin.  As my next big project, I will be prioritizing these miniatures and posting regular update.s Stay tuned.  

As for progress, I wasn't able to dedicate much time this week to the hobby, but the weekend finally rolled around.  I spent the majority of the day yesterday at a buddy's house assembling some models that I have picked up both recently and in the past.  Of those, I was able to put together one of the new Astra Militarum Taurox vehicles, which I must say is much more pleasing in person.  For whatever reason, the pictures of the models in magazines make it look tall and narrow, but it actually has a nice wide base to it that makes it look pretty tough.  After finishing the Taurox, I was able to stick together a Dwarf Runesmith and a Gyrocopter.  Man, the gyrocopter is small - it has to be one of the most expensive price per square cm plastic model GW has ever produced.  And such a bear to assemble - well, the rotors were bad.  

Additionally, I was able to assemble the World Eaters Contemptor Dreadnought that I picked up back at Adepticon, which I guess is my first official model for the army.  I magnetized the joints that connect to the weapons so that I can change them out later once I pick up more options.  I am missing one of the knee plates, but I have emailed Forge World for a replacement.  They are always great at fixing problems.  

Today, I started out with this on my plate (below).  I'm ready to get these last few ogres that I have started done so that I can officially move on to other projects.  I will be posting army pics soon for the "completed" project.  Of course, I'll be working on additions slowly as time goes on.  Very happy to have my first completely painted army.  I've only been playing for about 20 years.  :)

Base for the vulture.  I think it will actually be fun to paint.

Got to put some primer down on most of these models today so that I can start the real work.  Also got to work on Cthulu, who is coming along pretty nicely.  I still think the material for the Bones models is pretty awful, but its not too bad to work with.  Some of the fine detail leaves much to be desired, but I think I'm making the most of it.  

Hopefully I'll have some time to work some more tomorrow.  Here are some more pictures to hold you over.  Happy painting!

Completed assemblies for the weekend.  Boring!

Primer down.  Paint next.  Loving the smooth primer coat that the airbrush is providing.

Cthulu!

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Got some rushed progress in over the last couple of days.  Not much, but its something.  At the moment, I'm still just prepping projects for painting, so its not that exciting.  What you won't see below are pictures of the Wreck Age Capybara and Herder - I flocked their bases, so they are ready for primer.  

Between yesterday and today, I've gotten most of the Vulture assembled.  As my plans are to make the Vulture more of a display piece, with a very nice scenic base, the normal GW flight stand wouldn't do.  Months ago, I prepped some bits for the base and purchased a bicycle spoke to use as a flight stand.  With the Vulture's fuselage being a pretty heavy, solid block of resin, the base needs to be reinforced.  I followed some tips from the Buypainted guy (check out his Youtube channel).  

The bicycle spoke will fit into a hole drilled pretty deep into the fuselage.  However, still not enough - the ruined building will also have a hole drilled into the very corner, where the spoke will sit and be fastened with super glue.  I bent the piece of the spoke that will go under the base to make a sort of stand on its own.  Then, using two part epoxy resin mix, I turned the base over and filled the bottom (spoke in) to the top.  I will let this cure over the next couple of days at which point the whole base will be a solid block of resin... in theory.  Hopefully this will allow me to pose the Vulture at a swooping angle without much wobbling.  Here are some shots:

I was also able to put a coat of airbrush primer down on Cthulu.  Still trying to figure out how I want to paint him.  I think I am going to go with the traditional shades of green.  You can see in the pic below that the bubbles from the resin have settled.  Kinda cool.  

In addition to a new Taurox model (not pictured), I picked up a mini Malifaux 2.0 rulebook.  This game is pretty fantastic and the miniatures have a style that is different than most other games.  Still trying to finalize my decision on a faction, but thinking the neverborn (dreamers and such) are the best match for what I want to work on.  

Still planning on doing the Foldio review, but haven't had much time to play with taking pictures with it.  Got a paper to write for school by Wednesday, so my next couple of days' progress will largely depend on the progress of my homework.  Thanks for reading. 

The Call of Cthulu, the Circling of the Vulture, and the... vicious, diseased bite of the Capybara?

I've been chomping at the bit to spend some of my time on the hobby since returning from Adepticon, but being away from home for nearly a week has it's drawbacks - most notably, catching up on lost time while I was visiting the holy land of the hobby.  

Regardless, I was able to spend the last few hours of the evening working on several projects that are waiting for the touch of paint.  Usually, I'm not a fan of cleaning up and assembling miniatures (at least i don't have the passion for it as I do painting), but its a necessary step in the process of producing the desired outcome.  

Having put Cthulu through the dish soap wash and brushed him clean, it was time to examine the parts and decide how to assemble/paint.  It's a huge model and since I will be using the airbrush to paint the majority of the model, its important to be able to paint him in sub-assemblies, while reducing the possibilities of noticible gaps.  The model is pretty well sculpted to reduce the gaps, so I decided only to attach the tail and body and leave the arms, base, head and wings seperate, as the folds in his skin will hide the gaps between these in the final assembly.  The joining of the tail and body left a pretty sizable gap, so I used my newly learned greenstuff skills (sarcasm) to fill in.  

The trip and purchases that I made at Adepticon reminded me of last year's trip and the models that I had brought home that still haven't had much progress.  One of which was the Forge World Imperial Vulture Gunship.  I spent some time a few months ago working on a base for the flyer, but set it aside to work on more pressing projects.  I plan on using the urban scenic base to have the Vulture swooping and firing it's punisher cannons (still trying to decide how to depict that) with a flurry of spent shell casings underneath.  I'm wanting the Vulture to be competition level, so I'll hopefully have some time to devote.  I was delighted with how well the model is fitting together.  As you'll see below, its pretty workable and I've not glued the wing bits.  So much cooler than the Valkyrie/Vendetta!

The basing bits I threw together months ago.

Death from the skies!

And finally, I cleaned up and prepped some Wreck Age miniatures, which are ready to start basing.  These models are part of the Capybara herder kit... Looking forward to getting some paint down on these models. The Reclaimers were a blast to paint.  

I'm hoping I'll get some decent time to spend on these projects this weekend, but we'll see what happens.  I'll also be reviewing a product that I received last week from a recent kickstarter that I backed.  Its called Foldio and its a small, portable, folding light box for smartphone photos.  It comes with several sweep colors and LED lightbars.  As I learned how to make a lightbox and use my SLR camera at Adepticon, I'll also be posting progress on my own lightbox and photo setup and comparing the results between the two.  Here is a preview shot of the Foldio.  

Thanks for reading and Happy Painting!

Post-Adepticon Report and Project Limbo

I broke my one blog post per week vow again, but this time for good reason.  I spent the majority of the past week at Adepticon XII and had an awesome time!  I had intended on posting right before I left but I spent every last second up until the wee hours of the morning prior to leaving for Adepticon putting the finishing touches on those last 3 Ogre Maneaters.  I did get them finished, but more on that later.  

If you are a miniature wargamer, no matter which of the holy trinity of hobby you prefer - be it painting, gaming, or collecting, and you have not been to Adepticon, you are missing out.  The innumerable hosts of people who make this grand event happen deserve the gratitude of all gamers and I can only hope that they continue to put on this amazing spectacle for years to come.  Last year was my first go and I really just observed, took a couple seminars, and took it all in.  

This year, I was able to participate in the Warhammer Fantasy Big Brawl event, a 3000 point brutal competitive tournament.  Finished 0-3... yuck... but I learned quite a bit.  Not a great start, but I've never played in a tournament for Warhammer Fantasy before, so I can't be mad.  Good news - The Ogres got a lot of attention and praise, which was great.  From the feedback, I would have had a good shot at best painted in the tourney had I finished my display base, which I will be working on very soon.  Here are are a few pics from my first couple battles (before I was too tired to take any more pics):

Surrounded...

Really cool battle against the lizards... just too much skink annoyance to stand.

First time seeing Chaos Dwarfs on the table.... ouch. 

Trying to avoid the skullcrackers was a pain... getting hit by them was much worse.

After spending a whole day at the tournament, it was nice to kick back.  Again, if you've never been, there's plenty of different types of events for everyone in the hobby.  For the 40k/Fantasy crowed, there are competitive, team, and narrative/friendly events, each different sizes.  One of the highlight events for me, event though I didn't participate, was the Adepticon Titanicus battle, featuring only 40k titans.  I'd love to do this next year, provided I have a Titan to play with - it looked like way too much fun. 

All that money... 

This year, I was able to attend even more seminars.  I took a glazing, photography, and freehand class.  My favorite, of the four I took however, had to be the Intro to green stuff with Joe Orteza.  The class was short, but taught me such a great deal about how to create simple things, such as purity seals, with little effort.  Very much an aha moment with sculpting for me, which was something I have completed avoided in the past.  Can't wait to try some things out and take the more advanced version next year.  

One thing that I love about Adepticon and other gaming conventions is the indie and upstart games and companies that show up.  Over the week, I was able to try out and see the miniatures for lots of new games. You almost have to be careful, because you can end up signing up for lots of stuff that you'll never have the time for.  Relic Knight looks good and the Kickstarter package should be arriving in May (fingers crossed).  Also got to try out Deadzone.  Oh man... Its gonna be tough not going all in on that one.  And the figures for Wild West Exodus might be unmatched in the hobby... especially for a game so young.  

And then, finally, there is inspiration.  SO many beautiful armies and models - so many that you start failing to notice them.  Just like my failure to create a display board, it will be easier now to do so because I have ideas and had the chance to see them executed on the tabletop.  

Which brings me to upcoming projects...  Its been nearly a year since I put paint down on my first Ogre and they are essentially done.  I will continue to add more to their ranks over the years, but with adepticon out of the way, I can start to focus on other things.  With a fully functional army list, I can spend more time on those additions, bumping the quality up to competition level, hopefully.  As far as the ogres go, there are only a few things to add aside from more troops - Gnoblars, a Giant, some Characters, and a Stonehorn... exciting but there is much more to be excited about.  

I have a large contingent of Dwarfs that I neglected to work on because their book was so old. Now, a new book.  But the great thing about them is that with the Ogres done, I can work slowly on them.  

Imperial Guard?  Sure.  Maybe the new codex will re-spark my interest in 40k... Maybe.  I do have that awesome Vulture Gunship sitting un-assembled on my WIP shelf.  I can add some of those paddy wagons.  Part of me wants to repaint the imperial guard... but I'll stick with the red and figure out a way to make it look better... besides, I picked up two more squads of Krieg this weekend.  

I've also got quite the collection of miscellaneous miniatures.  Things that I bought because they looked cool or fun to paint and I said "Hey, if I can't make it look good, it'll be good practice."  The flower knight diorama is still there and I hope to begin work on it soon.  A friend of mine even dumped his Reaper Bones Cthulu model for me to paint.  I said sure... it'll be fun and good practice.

But what I'm most excited about... are you ready?  I've decided on my next major army project.  If you've ever been to any convention where Forge World has a presence, then you have experienced that burning sensation in your wallet.  They just invite you to spend money on their beautiful models.  While the bulk of my order is going to have to come from their online store, I purchased my first miniature for my new Horus Heresy World Eaters army.  I played Khorne/World Eaters for years back when Khorne really had a presence in 40k.  The last couple of editions have left the Blood God wanting for better rules and models.  However, in Horus Heresy, they seem to rule the roost (Maybe the Sons of Horus get some of the spotlight).  I've not painted an army white before, so I look for it to be a challenge.  Either way, I'll be throwing up all my progress pics online so my 14 followers can see... and maybe somewhere in there more will show up and read my ramblings.  Either way, 2014 should be fun.  Hope to see you all at adepticon next year...  For now... I gotta figure out what to paint...  Here is my loot pic and the underwhelming work from this week... some resin soaks... haha.