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Very much enjoying the D&D style models. Would be fantastic to see a grand melee of all the heroes and all the villains for our viewing pleasure.

Those are some good looking spellcasters, Para!

Thanks guys! Group/action shots will certainly follow once more stuff is done.

Looks like today will be sans pics, as while the Rogues are technically done, I'm not too pleased with them, so it might be back to the drawing board there. Still want to get the Paladins done tonight though, and a combination of a conversion Nev did of an Eviscerator-wielding Captain and the Monsters challenge has me slowly starting on something on the 40k side as well...

 Paradigm wrote:
Thanks guys! Group/action shots will certainly follow once more stuff is done.

Looks like today will be sans pics, as while the Rogues are technically done, I'm not too pleased with them, so it might be back to the drawing board there. Still want to get the Paladins done tonight though, and a combination of a conversion Nev did of an Eviscerator-wielding Captain and the Monsters challenge has me slowly starting on something on the 40k side as well...

You could always just black wash the rogues a few times. The shadows hide all sins. Love the D&D minis. Makes me want to expand my shelf for PCs for my RPG sessions.

While I do enjoy all the assorted minis you paint up, 40k is alway fun to see. You can always juggle a few projects at once.

Hah, I think washes are the problem! I went for 'Dark and sneaky' and came out with just 'dark' which I would have been fine with a few months back but I'm in a phase of neat and relatively bright stuff right now, and they're bugging me a bit.

All these D&D adventurers are looking great, and as always I'm in awe of the way you're able to pump them out while maintaining such a standard.

I'll have some stuff for you this weekend, as well.

I promised Paladins, so naturally...

For The Emperor!

Captain Vinciano of the Blood Angels First Company, slain in action aboard the Space Hulk 'Spire's Ascent', 784M37.






The base still a bit of touching up, and I'm umminh and ahhing over whether to add some freehand text/scrollwork or not, but he's as good as done.

He will be a part of my challenge entry this month, and as with the last two, I've set myself a new area to really work on this time. With the Chaos Lord it was the face, with Althran it was NMM, so this time I decided that as all as carrying on both of those, I would work on cleaner highlight blends, focusing on neat layering with nary a wash in sight! I think it's worked out, he does look neater/smoother in person than my other BA commanders.

And here's a WIP of the other half of the entry, the broodlord from Space Hulk. Again I'm going for blending here rather than my normal wash/drybrushes style, for a shinier insectoid look.



That's it for now! I did start the Palkadins so they will show up soon, but I want to get the Beastie done while I'm in the 40k mood. Also another Blood Angel coming, as I painted 2 faces for this guy and didn't want the second to go to waste!

Thanks for looking. Any thoughts welcome!

Cracking work Para. Am working on transitions and smooth layers as well this month. Takes a bit more time but so satisfying !!!

Ooo I'm liking the Brood Lord. Can't wait to see him painted up fully in all his Xenos glory.

Kinda wish GW had put him or his Deathstorm version out for general sale. That beast would sell like hotcakes!

That is a mighty sword that Blood Angel is swinging. Hate to see the results after charging through the enemy.

Cheers guys!

Mostly done on the Broodlord armour now, them I need to work on the flesy areas. I've also put together another BA Marine that might get used in the duo, crawling forward for a desperate last shot.

Yesterday was very productive on the 40k front, here's the fruits of my labour.

First a random Vet Sarge, built basically because I wanted to make use of the other face I painted for the Cap. He might end up in the Assault Squad, or possibly an Honour Guard unit if I build him a few friends. He still needs some Chapter/Squad markings, but in waiting on a new detail brush.





Next we have another Marine cobbled together from parts and a little GS.






Either he'll end up in the diorama or get used as an objective marker ect. I'm pretty happy with the final result considering he's just a mashup of old bits.

The Brooodlord is also mostly done. I almost feel he needs something more, but I'm not sure what. Thoughts?





And now to put all this in context, the start of the diorama. I'm not sure which option I prefer, but I'm leaning towards the first one, as it plays up to power/monstrousness of the Broodlord, and just flows better as a scene. I'll also be adding q back wall to this scene before I call it done.

Option one: Last Man Standing






Option Two: Monster Versus Monster






Any and all thoughts welcome and please do be critical, this will be my challenge entry so I want to make it as good as possible.

Thanks for reading!

I like both your dioramas. As a piece, I like the second. But the topic of the month is monster. And the first, I think, captures that spirit better.

Part of me wants to see them combined, with the chainsword coming to aid his nearly-fallen brother

Nice!!! Cracking work there Para. Kinda leaning more towards option one m'self

Thanks guys!

@Nev: my trouble with the second one is that thanks to the angles and poses, it's hard to get a good look at the Captain without the BL getting in the way, whereas with the difference in height/size means in the first one you can get good angles on both models.

I am considering doing a combined dio. Round base, the Broodlord reaching down for the injured Marine while the Cap hacks through some Stealers to the rescue. My only problem there is that it might take focus away from the BL, which is a good or bad thing depending on what the viewer thinks of the paintjob!

Might do a few more mockups and see how it goes.

As compositions go, the first one is amazing. The varied height really pushes the sheer physical and alien menace of the Broodlord.

The second one is just another run of the mill (albeit very well painted) face off diorama. The Broodlord loses a lot of its monstrosity due in part to the massive chainsaw wielding marine.

Therefore, I would go with the first. In regards to whether the Broodlord needs something more? Maybe some viscera dripping from the outstretched hand to add some motion or gravity to him. But that would be a bit picking idea.

Looks fantastic though and absolutely love the color choices.

I'm in agreement with everyone else- 1st pic wins it for me. Kinda looks like the Brood Lord is trying to use his Hive Mind influence to stop the Astartes from shooting him with his plasma pistol.

The first one is more of a struggle to overcome the barriers that are present during combat. I love it.

Thanks for your thoughts, guys! I'm pretty much sold on the first one myself, at least for now. I think there's definitely more of a story in it, and the composition flows better as well ( probably as the dying vet was built with the scene in mind, rather than just a mini fitting in the slot on the base).

 angelofvengeance wrote:
I.Kinda looks like the Brood Lord is trying to use his Hive Mind influence to stop the Astartes from shooting him with his plasma pistol.

The noise was alien, utterly devoid of sense or reasom, but somehow, Sergeant Montano could still discern the sentiment. The towering beast's thoughts we're all bent on one, single warning: "Don't you fething dare!"

Is the base it from a fantasy movement tray flipped over btw?

It's actually an upturned 50x100mm Chariot/Monster base, with plasticard over the top (cut to shape so the minis can slot into the recess 'inside' the base.

Let's be honest though Para, that Brood Lord would kill him in the blink of an eye lol.

First composition is best, but I agree if it could be elongated or widened to have the chainsword dude running to the dying guys aid, that could work

 TP^DC Deputy Manager wrote:
First composition is best, but I agree if it could be elongated or widened to have the chainsword dude running to the dying guys aid, that could work

Even if he doesn’t make it into the final composition, we will all know that vengeance will be swift and absolute.

 angelofvengeance wrote:
Let's be honest though Para, that Brood Lord would kill him in the blink of an eye lol.

Hey, it's one of my Marines against a Nid, he's done well to even get the pistol out! I have a very poor on-tabletop record against the bugs!

Nevelon wrote:

 TP^DC Deputy Manager wrote:
First composition is best, but I agree if it could be elongated or widened to have the chainsword dude running to the dying guys aid, that could work

Even if he doesn’t make it into the final composition, we will all know that vengeance will be swift and absolute.

True

Paradigm wrote:

 angelofvengeance wrote:
Let's be honest though Para, that Brood Lord would kill him in the blink of an eye lol.

Hey, it's one of my Marines against a Nid, he's done well to even get the pistol out! I have a very poor on-tabletop record against the bugs!

I like the first one but would have the marine crawling away

More stuff, now with 100% more tangent!

First off, I've added a removable back wall to the diorama that I need some thoughts on. I've tried to capture the weirdness of 40k a bit, hence you've got a bit of classic sci-fi with the warning lights/slashed walls ect, a bit of Gothic with the marble plinth with skulls and candles, and of course the servo-skull hanging around. My concerns, though, are that it takes focus away from the minis and/or drags the piece down thanks to my thoroughly mediocre scratch build 'skills'. Am I worrying over nothing, or does it look OK?







Next, I decided to give the 'spare' BA from the last post a job in an Honour Guard squad (as in C:SM, not the BA not-Command Squad one), so cobbled together a few mates for him. Obviously one guy still needs the banner adding, I haven't decided whether to risk freehand or just use decals/printouts.






And finally, the aforementioned tangent. After reading Manchu's excellent overview I took a closer look at the Lion Rampant ruleset from Osprey. Initially I was looking for a suitable LotR/WFB substitute for mid-size games, but then decided that while waiting for the Fantasy version coming later this year, I'd bust out some old toy soldiers and do some proper historicals. Simply because of the minis I accrued years ago, I've ended up focusing on the 6-4th Centuries BC, so Greco-Persian war, Alexander the Great, maybe expanding into some Roman/Carthaginian stuff later on. With the minis organised, I set about painting a unit of Persian Archers to get a feel for the scale.





The prettiest they ain't, but for the size and the time it took (about 25 mins per batch of 6) I'm rather pleased with the impression as a unit. Once I grab some more superglue, they'll be getting based on pennies, just for a bit more stability.

On the historicals note, are you guys actually interested in seeing more of them (I've about 120 to do for the first two armies)? I know they might seem very boring to some, so I'm considering just starting a separate thread for my brief foray into that genre. Either way, there won't be any geeking-out going on, add oddly for someone about to start a history degree, I'm not hugely fussed about these minis being 'accurate'. Fear not, you won't be getting 300-line posts on the types of spears used by Hoplites or anything!


Anyway, that's it for today, any thoughts welcome as ever! Thanks for reading!

Looking good, particularly fond of the dirty BA look, they're look significantly more gritty than the normal bright "parade" look and fit in far more with the grimark appeal.

I'm always interested in seeing what folks paint. So yes. Also, excellent diorama!