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UPDATE: worked out Dakka's gallery and its auto-adjust...didn't realise how washed out and horrible my photos were until now. Going through the blog and updating them all to the new versions!

G'day all,

I'm a long time lurker, first time poster on Dakka, and thought I'd throw up a painting blog to keep me motivated as well as hopefully get some feedback and improve as I'm just starting out.

I first played 40k as a 10 year old kid, bought the 3rd edition box set with my brother and took the Dark Eldar while he took the Space Marines. We played a few games together and with a few other mates but the hobby quickly got too expensive, and I never found myself with the patience to learn how to paint (or even assemble models without burning my fingertips off with superglue) so it eventually got pushed to the wayside. I kept checking in every now and then to see the new models, or check out the lore (which is my favourite part of both 40k and WHFB).

Earlier in the year I started playing Dungeons and Dragons with my brother - and that's what got me back into the modelling side of things. I drew up my character sheet and really wanted to make a model for him - my brother had kept the hobby over the years and turned up to the first session with a really well-painted elf, and I got green eyes. I dug out an old Citadel Battlemasters boardgame and chopped up a few different things to create Fenech, the Dwarven Druid. Add in a Kinder Surprise toy bear, and you have the first models I'd painted in more than 12 years.





Hacked apart with a kitchen knife, painted with dollar shop brushes and acrylics, he was ugly as hell but I loved him. I've gotten some nifty tools since then and thought about repainting him but I think it would break my heart. You can see I tried to paint him half-decently (key word being tried) - with the world's worst NMM and some highlighting on the fur and axe tassle, so points for effort but not so much the end result lol.

His backstory was that he was a topside exile who lived the life of a drunken sailor and worked his way across the world. One day he got into a drinking contest at a port city tavern with a strange elf and woke up face down in a forest with one hell of a hangover. He dragged himself to the closest pond for a drink and the elf stepped out from behind a tree, told him it was magic druid water and he was one of them now (insert nelson ha ha! video here). Never trusted elves again, had a love-hate relationship with nature. Fun character to roleplay.

From there I was addicted, though, and I ended up trawling ebay and the classifieds and finding a bargain lot of old Warhammer models - mostly Undead and Orcs & Goblins. Worked perfectly for the campaign I was writing, and I'd been looking at tutorials on how to easily paint good-looking Orcs with just washes. As someone with limited painted experience and ability, that sounded right up my alley. I went down to the Games Workshop (which is now just called Warhammer??) and bought some primer and three paints - Agrax Earthshade, Biel-Tan Green, and Leadbelcher. Add in some dollar store black paint, and I set to work on some Orcs - and ended up really happy with the outcome.

(Note: basing came much later - until earlier this week they were sitting on unpainted bases covered in paint and glue).





Ended up painting a group of 10 of them - 5 archers and 5 with swords.



Oh - and one drummer!



I've since painted a few more things - skeletons mostly, and some fun old Citadel models. I'll post those up in the days to come as I find time and keep you updated on where I'm at. Short term goal is to paint up all the models I've bought in this lot, and then move onto terrain and getting a good array of models for PCs and NPCs for my DnD campaign. I already feel like I've accomplished something by starting this blog - might have to head to the work bench now...

Next up after the orc boys were some old Orc heroes - a shaman and a warboss. I'd gone out and bought some more wash colours and was eager to try them out - but they didn't come up as well on the metal as the plastic. Oh well, I'm still pretty proud of them. The warboss' cape was done with an old bottle of Mechrite Red my girlfriend's brother found laying around.

The gold was originally just a yellow wash over the Leadbelcher, but I later bought some proper gold paint and went back over it.





I also painted up this pearler of an old mini. He - or they - were primed with Tamiya undercoat instead of Citadel, and the washes liked that even less - they tended to leave the flat surfaces very white while the ink settled in the crevices. Worked out alright in the end, I thought - Goblins are supposed to be lighter than Orcs anyway!

I was going for a sort of Olympic medal theme with the breastplates running from bronze to silver to gold. I particularly like the trim on the bottom guy's cape - it hasn't photographed well but the black wash settled into the holes, giving it a sort of king's cloak look I was really happy with.





I also put together my bits order for Stock Dirwin. He's going to be an NPC in my campaign - basically the ultimate Ozploitation mix of Steve Irwin, Croc Dundee, and a bit of Russell Crowe thrown in (think Fightin' Round the World from South Park). In game terms he'll be a Barbarian/Rogue/Ranger with a focus on grappling - and of course a pet crocodile.



Here's where I got up to last night - starting to get a liiiiittle more adventurous with the basing. Honestly I find basing to be pretty boring and tedious, but I think the end results are 1000x better than plain black or coloured. The big pile of skulls will get some use in DnD, probably as a trap for the adventurers to run over to, only to discover there's a Flameskull hiding within...



And these are the beasties going on the bases. I'm going to make 3 giant spiders and 3 spider swarms ($1 for a pack of each - thank you Halloween! Still looking for some giant rats though...), a crocodile pet for Stock Dirwin, and the last big base is for an old metal Bloodthirster that's lying in pieces at the moment until my pin vice drill arrives.



I'm a bit stuck on how to paint the spiders - I originally wanted to go for a dark brown, but they'd end up nearly the same colour as the bases....I might go out and buy some black primer and keep them sort of redbacky, or else go full albino. Or just make them lighter brown. Decisions decisions...

That's all for now! I've still got a bunch of skeletons and a few other characters I've already painted, but imgur isn't being my friend, so they'll get put up later. Happy painting!

Cool stuff. Really liking the Orks, you've some some really interesting models.

EDC

Looking forward in seeing Stock Dirwin! Isn't Mad Max originally from your part of the world?

 evildrcheese wrote:
Cool stuff. Really liking the Orks, you've some some really interesting models.

EDC

Thanks mate, and good on you for stopping by! I do love the old Citadel orcs, back when they had a bit of character to them. Speaking of greenskins, I painted this guy up - though I'm not sure if he's actually Citadel - as a sort of skin tone test because I want to try something other than washes over primer but I didn't want to go out and buy an orc flesh paint...he's a layer of Skrag brown, then Ogryn Camo, hit with Athonian camoshade, and a couple of drybrushes of camo + white. I'm pretty happy with the outcome - it's a more natural, LotR-type orc. It's also my first attempt at freehand - though you can see the light reflecting off a particularly thick section...





speaking of skin tests, I also painted this guy up as a test for Stock Dirwin...I might even leave the final highlight off to keep him as bronzed as possible. I'm not sure why, but I really like this guy. He makes me want to pull out the 10 other guys from the Battlemasters box and paint up a unit...

 Invicta wrote:
Looking forward in seeing Stock Dirwin! Isn't Mad Max originally from your part of the world?

Haha, that completely slipped my mind. There's an even deeper level to his character...I might have to write him up a huge hockey-masked archenemy now, ala Lord Humungus.



In modelling news, I did a bad thing. I saw a bargain deal on a bunch of old 3rd edition Dark Eldar models...and I just couldn't say no. So I went out and picked them up and now have myself a small army.

Included in the deal was:

1 Archon
1 Urien Rakarth
4 Incubi
3 Grotesques
1 Talos
38 Warriors
and 1 Raider.

They'll have to get stripped, and I have to start thinking of colour schemes....they don't exactly fit the DnD theme of the blog, but they will definitely get used - Urien Rakarth will make a great sorcerer/vampire, the Grotesques will fill in nicely as zombies or ghouls, and the Incubi could fit as heavily armoured warrior cultists or something.

I also have plans for the Raider - I've already gone about pulling off the guns in an effort to de-40kify it for future use...





I also got the bases done! I'm very happy with how they turned out. And I decided on redback spiders, I'm gonna go out on the weekend and pick up some black primer. Should be quick and easy jobs!



For reference, this is what my minis looked like before I discovered basing...yeeeuch.



And finally we have this guy - like the barbarian archer, he's one of my favourite models, despite how simple he is. He will definitely see some use in DnD, either as a paladin/heavy armored opponent or a suit of animated armour.





That's all for now - but without wanting to jinx it I've found a way to get imgur to play nice, so expect a photo dump in the next couple days of all the stuff I've already painted so far. Keep your eyes peeled!

Nice work on the Dirwin, the skin tones cane out really well, and the purple Mohawk is a stroke of brilliance.

EDC

Thanks Doc! I bought the purple wash just for the Shaman's batwing earmuffs so I figured I should try and use it as much as I could.

Warning: pic dump incoming! I finished up the beasties tonight, and figured out how to upload and embed a bunch of pics at once, so I'm gonna put up the rest of my pics all at once.

First up we've got the spiders - I made 3 giant ones and 3 swarms out of the dollar shop plastics. The citadel plastic glue didn't like them for some reason, so I had to use craft glue, and had a lot of fun cleaning up the mess...at least if anyone notices the strings I can just say they're web. These were a really quick and dirty job, primed, drybrushed, added the red details, and done.





and a group shot of my 8-legged friends.



And here's Stock Dirwin! I'm really happy with how he turned out. I didn't paint over his crocodile as it came painted better stock (hehehe) than I could do, plus I don't think it looks out of place on the base. The close ups do show some areas I need to go back and retouch, but still I'm fairly proud of him.





This isn't a great pic - but you get the idea...



And more of the old stuff - first up is this cool old model. I'm pretty sure he's Citadel, but not 100%. Love the sculpt, and I was really happy with how his eyes came out - my first attempt at pupils that didn't go horrible wrong (see poor Fenech and his bear form in the OP!)

These pics make me think that he looks a bit like Mario...







And some halflings - whose eyes didn't turn out quite so well. I do like the guy's backpack though.





We've got a sneaky lizard, painted by my girlfriend, who will probly find use as a kobold somewhere along the line.





Then the orc on a horse! I should have posted this guy up with the other orc heroes. He's an old metal boar champion, a plastic shield, and a spear arm from a Ral Partha (?) troll model that I dug out of my classifieds goodie bag, sitting on a Battlemasters horse that I painted way back with Fenech.







Lastly, a bunch of skeletons that I painted up. Few different coloured washes on their robes to make them stand out a bit. These were really fun (and quick) to paint.









and that's all of my painted models so far!

Next up on the painting block is an old metal manticore (not pictured) that's still in parts as my drill still hasn't arrived...and a bunch more old greenskins. You can really see the difference in white between the Tamiya primer and the Citadel one here!



That's all for now folks. Happy painting!

Been batch painting the last of the greenskins (and their lizard friend, who I painted to match the last one. I thought this was a wizard-type holding a magic orc, but he's just rubbing his hands together!) and got them finished last night. Meant to take PIP photos as they were done in pieces over three nights, but clean forgot. Bugger.

I much prefer painting models one by one. This method was much quicker, but I get frustrated/lazy and make a lot more mistakes than I usually do. Oh well, they look good enough as a group, and that's the last orc I'll have to paint for a while.









Next up - a chimera, who has since been stripped and primed along with the metal Dark Eldar minis. He'll make friends with the manticore as my two big beasties. Also based up a packhorse and an undead necromancer/lich. Still waiting on that damn pin vice drill to put the manticore together...





And finally some PIP of the incubi. The masks look really chalky in the photos, but I'm actually quite happy with how they turned out. Going for a classic scheme, weapons will be bronze hafts with silver blades. Still unsure of how to paint the black armor - whether I paint it dark grey and wash it black or just go with edge highlighting. Might try one of each and see how they turn out...



That's all for now. I'm really liking painting the DE - also primed up are Urien Rakarth and his grotesque buddies, who i think will get a bit of a zombie treatment. I know the models were much maligned, but I really love them - especially considering they were my first army.

Until next time - happy painting!

Got the Incubi done. Just layered them through two different shades of dark grey. Really happy with these guys - I wish I had 30 more of them to paint!

On a side note, I've decided that I much prefer this sparse style of static grass basing than the bushier ones I'd been doing with the orcs. Still learning as I go!









Just noticed there's a bunch of grass on their feet - don't worry, it's not glued there, but the ribbing on their undersuits likes to catch everything - sand and grass included - and not let go. Will brush it out no problem.

DOUBLE EDIT - also just found the dakka gallery and it's auto-adjust - that I think really helps with the crappy iPhone photos...

this changes everything!

Until next time, happy painting!

Pin vice drill finally arrived!

had some fun (read: pain) getting the Bloodthirster assembled, but I'm happy it's finally done! Getting to work now on the manticore...

Quick update - had a productive day today. Last night I found a bargain at K mart - 250 pcs of pirates & dinosaurs for $20. Our campaign is kicking off this Sunday so I got to work making some terrain for the first game. Quick & ugly but it will do until I find time to repaint them!





Also been working on de-40kifying the 3rd ed Raider - planning on turning into a warcrafty goblin zeppelin. Took off the top saily bit, added an old screaming skull catapult arm as a rudder/support for the balloon, glued a wall of shields along the walkway, and added a cowcatcher underneath I pulled from an orc catapult. After gluing the dragon's head on one side the other looked bare, so I added another shield and an orc facemask to the other side as trophies.

The crew so far is an old hobgoblin, the goblin chariot crew, and of course the Olympic gobbos. Really looking forward to getting more work done on this!






and the $1 styrofoam egg that will act as our zepp balloon.



Until next time - happy painting!

Just a quick update for now - got some more work done on the zep and the terrain. I told myself I wouldn't flock the terrain, but it was too tempting...but turns out I forgot to paint one of the rocky outcrops - bugger!

Had our first DnD session of the new campaign today so had a lot of fun actually playing with some of the models. Next time I'll try and remember to take action shots!





Zep slowly coming along, building it has probably been the most fun I've had since getting back into the hobby. Still feel like I need to fantasy it up a bit more though - any ideas Dakka??

G'day Dakka - been a long time between posts. Started out with a full head of steam but as always life kicks in and gets in the way!

All I've managed to do in the past month or so is finish off the zep. I added a propeller to the back from a 40k ork helicopter and that seemed to pull together the 'fantasy' aspect a bit better. The paint is definitely rushed, and you can see that in certain areas, but overall I'm very happy, particular for my first serious conversion!

Enjoy the pics - hopefully I'll get some more time over christmas to get some more paint on things.

Looks good. It's great so some kits looted and turned to the service of Gork (or Mork).

EDC

Lovely work, I love what you have done with the goblins! I love some of the old goblin models too, you have done them a treat, that Zeppelin is ace!

That kinderegg bear is top notch too!

Thanks for the comments guys! It was a lot of fun to build & paint - still haven't gotten to use it yet, but the next DnD session is coming up on the 28th - so now I have a deadline to get things done!

Today I found some time to work on something I've had on the backburner for a while - sort-of-modularish-with-a-little-bit-of-imagination terrain that will initially be used as city walls for a seige-style combat, then will later be expanded on to represent bandit forts, castles, dam walls, whatever.

Made out of a bunch of cardboard I had lying around from beer cartons, boxes of popcorns, and packaging for a clock, plus some bits from the dinosaur & pirate bags. Should hopefully get some paint on them in the next couple of days as i have some minis I need to assemble and paint up for the session as well!









Until next time - happy painting!

Nice terrain, it's always satisfying when you can cobble some cool looking terrain from bits you've got lying around.

EDC

Long time between drinks! There's been a lot happening, including moving house - which has left me with a whole lot of packing foam to make up some new goodies.

I managed to get some paint on the castle walls, a bit rushed but I think they look good on the board.







And here's what I'm doing with the foam at the moment - a terrain board and some smaller modular pieces for dungeons etc.



And a paint test - nice and simple, black all over then sponge over white.



Still got a whole shed full of foam in different shapes and sizes, so got a few ideas on the backburner. Stay tuned!

I managed to get my dungeon tiles done up in time for a session over the weekend - I always seem to work better to deadlines.



Also managed to throw together some trees while having a play around - they were pretty simple in the end, paperclips with a bit of hot glue, wrapped up in tissue paper and PVA. Add some of the bubblier black packing foam and you've got a quick bit of foliage. I think I might have to make a few more of these!







I think that next up I'm gonna try and somehow jig together some foam to make multi-level dungeons possible. Whether it's just a wall with a one-inch skirting for baddies to sit on, or a whole removable level to go over the bases will depend on how creative I can get and how bothered I can be. In the meantime, happy painting!

Cool trees dude.

EDC

Thanks doc!

I was so happy with how the first bunch turned out that I made another and got them painted up.



Also, I finished the game board! I don't think I'll be making another one of these in a hurry...I glued sand to all the raised squares, painted it with a poster paint I picked up for $6 a litre that is nearly 1:1 Mournfang Brown (woo!) and drybrushed it a few different shades of brown and green before static grassing it.



And here are some action shots:

G'day Dakka!

Been lucky with a few public holidays lately, so used the time to get cracking on some new terrain projects.

First up, I made some houses out of craft boxes from the dollar shop, paddlepop sticks, and cardboard. The cardboard door you see here would eventually be replaced with double doors made from the cornerpieces of canvasses - I had a bunch of these lying around for some reason, and decided to put them to use.

I also made a set of 8 pillars out of toilet paper rolls that were cut and reglued, topped with cardboard.



Windows, edging and rooves on, plus a statue/shrine that started life as a $5 windchime from Spotlight, plus those corner pieces again! I also made up bases with floorplans on them - so that you can lift the building off and play combats within.





We then rendered the walls up with some tissue paper and PVA for a bit of texture - mrs Woof had to help with this one, she has a lot more patience than I do.



And painting is under way! I'm happy with how the texture came out on both the wood and the concrete/stone - but the larger house still needs to have the terrace painted, and I'm not sure how to go about it. The smaller house is calling for a third colour too, I think. Any ideas Dakka?

Basing is on hold for the moment as I'm all out of materials after making the game board. New static grass is on the way, and my doggo will be happy with a trip to the beach where I can load up on sand.

Apologies about the photo quality!







Will hopefully have some more updates sooner rather than later as once I get a roll on it's generally hard to stop - without trying to jinx it!

Until then, happy painting 8-)